Food returns

The project that has made the last four months of my life so difficult is nearing an end, so the last few days I have been able to cook again.

To celebrate a major milestone in my project on January 7th, as well as a significant date of a more personal nature, I served a first course of terrine of foie gras with a red currant coulis, followed by roasted poussins with gremolata butter. The coulis sounds fancier than it was - I simply cooked red currants until soft and passed it through a sieve. I find foie gras overwhelming alone, but the tart and sweet currants offset the richness enough to let me enjoy the pate. As for poussins, I recommend them to anyone who doesn't see the attraction of cornish hens. At once tender and tastier than even free range chicken, we enjoyed them very much with a compound butter of lemon peels, garlic, and parsley shoved generously underneath the skin. Leaving the poussins uncovered in the fridge overnight ensured a crispy skin.

As for wine, I decided to pop open one of our wedding gifts, a 1995 Henriot champagne. One ought not get too used to expensive champagne, I think.

I had foie gras terrine left over, and rather than throw it out, I worked it into a dish of simmered lentils last night. I simply diced carrots and onions, added already cooked lentils (yes, I used pre-prepared lentils) and simmered with my leftover terrine for about 20 minutes. I agree that the preparation is a sort of bastardization of what I really would have liked to cooked (foie gras poached in lentils) but it was delicious nonetheless, the dissolved terrine giving the entire dish an unplaceable richness.

We enjoyed this latter dish with a 2002 Argentinean mendoza, another gift from generous friends.