tIt was hidden between a bouquet of parsley and cilantro flowers on a green grocery store display. The fat bundles of true spinach were so fresh and stood up in their own right. The leaves were as sharp as Stone Age arrows, tied with rubber bands. Something like spinach with crisp stems that makes you laugh in the face of sagging round leaves imprisoned in cellophane at a supermarket. I bought four bundles.
It was a sausage and bean night. Fat sausage from a traditional butcher, with coarse texture, freckles with thyme and black pepper.
I cooked slowly and turned it over and over again as the tight skin was polished in the pan. The beans are tin cannellini, simmered in chicken stock, tarragon leaves and garlic, and the ivory sauce is green with spinach.
Greens aside, most of the best seasonal vegetables are still grown underground. This week was the turn of the Jerusalem artichokes and it was the second time I've cooked it this winter. They are well combined with small potatoes, which is a stock and cider-rich sauce I did with cheesecrowned gratin. The leftovers were also well cooked and I ate them as a grilled chicken side dish. I think I've now been able to use spinach in my gratin. Some of the branch leaves are hidden inside creamy white tubers.
Spinach and cannellini bean sausage
Use spinach that you can get. Young heart-shaped leaves require little cooking. Small and tender, they are really salad-friendly, but sometimes it's the only kind available. It's still wet from the washing and wet in a pot with a tightly fitted lid so it's ready to steam. True spinach on the shiso leaves takes 1-2 minutes and may require trimming the stems. I want to sift the cooked leaves out of the pot and quickly plunge them into ice water. Colds will stop cooking and set the colour to bright green. Serve 3
Spinach leaves 250g
sausage Big, 6
Ground nut or vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
For beans:
Garlic Three Cloves
olive oil 2 tbsp
Cannellini beans 2 x 400g can
Chicken stock 250ml
Taragon leaves Chop 2 tablespoons
Double cream 150ml
parsley A handful of them were chopped
lemon 1
butter Thin slices (optional)
Wash the spinach leaves and discard the thick stems. Place the leaves in a deep pot, dripping wet and dripping in a still wet pot, and covered with a lid that is tightened over moderate heat. Steam for 3-4 minutes, steam the leaves with kitchen tongs, fold and steam until bright green. Remove from the heat, rinse the spinach temporarily with ice cold water, squeeze it thoroughly to remove the water, then chop it roughly and let it cool.
Cook the sausage: Place a large frying pan on moderate heat. Heat the oil in a shallow pot. Place the sausage in a pot and turn brown. Pay attention to them, turn when the bottom is a shiny golden brown color and continue cooking until it is your liking.
Peel the garlic cloves and squat down. You want just a hint of cloves. Warm the olive oil in a deep pan and add the garlic. Drain the cannellini beans and stir in a pot. Pour the chicken, add tarragon, add a bit of salt, heat up and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer the beans for about 5 minutes until you cut the beans in half.
Introducing the cream and spinach to the beans and stir for 1-2 minutes until foamy. Stir in the parsley. Modify the seasonings with salt and pepper and a small amount of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. At this point, I occasionally stir in thin slices of butter to enrich the sauce. Serve with sausages.
Artichokes, potatoes, cheese, cider
Noblee Artichokes are very devils, peeled. But we don't think it feels too good about it. It's better to leave a little skin on the spot, rather than losing the chunky skin to peel the plant.
Provides 4-6
Oval shallots 3, big
olive oil 2 tbsp
Vegetable stock 250ml
Jerusalem Artichoke 400g
Small waxed potatoes 250g
Normal flour 3 tablespoons
Medium dry cider 250ml
Grain mustard 2 tsp
Thyme leaves 2 tsp
The parsley is leaving Chop 4 tablespoons
Cheddar Grilled, 150g
Bread crumbs A handful
Peel the shallots and cut into halves the length. Warm the olive oil in a wide shallow bread, add shallots, soften it and color the colour into pale gold, and turn them over from time to time. Remove them from the pan and put the oil in place. (You'll need bread again.) Pour the stock into a pot and heat it with moderate heat.
Peel the artichokes, thin, not thicker than pound coins, but add them to the empty shallot pan with medium heat. Allow them to be lightly colored. (You may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of the bread.) Cut the potatoes into thick coins, lower the heat, cover with a lid, and cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and continue cooking for a few minutes, pour in the cider and stock and bring to a boil.
Stir in the grain mustard, shallots, thyme and parsley, season generously with salt and black pepper, continue to cover, partially covered with lid and eat sauce for a few minutes, if necessary. Add a little more stock or cider medium thickness. Stir in half the grated cheese.
Heat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Transfer the potato mixture to a shallow baking dish, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bread crumbs and bake for 20 minutes.
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