Text 28161, 190 rader
Skriven 2009-09-01 12:58:24 av Michael Loo (1:18/200)
     Kommentar till en text av Hap Newsom
Ärende: deficits 107
====================
 -> What would be the practical application of this?
 -> Preservation of itsy bitsy clams by heroic measures?
 HN> Actually if a method could be found that 
 HN> would dampen the appetite and predatory 
 HN> habits of the invasive green crab, it would
 HN> be a very practical application in helping to
 HN> control said invasive critter. hopefully at least!

As we've discussed, the best way of staving off the invasion
of the appetiteful and predatory green crab would be to sic the
most effective of all predators on them. Worked for the passenger
pigeon and various other species.

 -> My 4 top teams went on to the next round, and two of them are
 -> now playing for the USA and international championships.
 -> Though I was rooting for Peabody, I didn't have a realistic
 -> hope of their moving up.
 HN> Have been so busy at the ballpark I have not 
 HN> been able to follow anything else this week!

The team that was #2 in my estimation (after seeing most of the
first couple days of play) beat the team that I thought would
take it all, 6 to 3.

 -> Who knows what evil lurks in the little harmless-looking bottle.
 -> Only the purchaser knows.
 HN> It never made it to the raffle...folks started using
 HN> it on just about everything in sight!

That rates a big ?! from me, but then there can be a big gap
between my tastes and those of the general public.

Pigeon Pasta Pie
cat: fxcuisine, fancy, game, starter, main
servings: 4 or 8

3 pigeons
100 g bacon
2 lg carrots
1 celery branch
1 lg onion
100 mL Marsala or Port or sweet red wine
500 g maccheroni (short tubular pasta, not the little horns)
h - Bechamel sauce
1 Tb butter
2 Tb flour
2 c milk
h - Short dough (or 300 g Puff Pastry)
200 g butter
200 g flour
2 eggs
1 pn sugar
Salt and pepper

Pasticcio di piccioni
Macaroni Pigeon Pie

Extraordinary 19th century Italian pie filled with
maccheroni in a pigeon sauce. The height of Italian haute
cuisine a century ago.

The climax of 19th century Italian haute cuisine dinner was
often a pie filled with macaroni in the most extraordinary
sauce. In Visconti's movie Il Gattopardo, the arrival of the
pie is the height of the dinner scene. And yet, for all its
past glamour, this is a dish nobody makes anymore. I used a
traditional Bologna recipe for this pigeon/squab macaroni pie.

This way of preparing fowl is called salmis [salmee] by the
French and was very much in favor in 19th century Paris.
Antonin Careme, the king of French chefs, uses it in about
every other dish. First we finely chop carrots, celery, onions,
and bacon. I used guanciale, seasoned pig jowl.

This mixture of finely chopped vegetables and bacon is
called mirepoix [meeruhpoy] by the French and it is a
fundamental ingredient in building up the flavor in many
traditional sauces - read on to see how.

Fowl's giblets - heart, liver and gizzards - are a wonderful
and tradition-sanctioned way of enhancing the flavor of any
meat sauce. Meat-eating European gourmet consider it
sacrilege to throw them away. I don't eat liver, heart nor
haggis, but in a sauce these parts have their rightful
place. Please do try it at least one, even with a little
piece. The giblets' flavor will dissolve into the sauce and
you won't be able to tell it apart from the rest apart from
that haunting hit-me-back taste.

Wash the organs carefully and make sure to remove any of the
bitter green matter from the livers (the ones that are liver
shaped are the livers). Not for the faint-hearted. I can't
say that I like this part but you have to admit the colors
are pretty spectacular. Gives a whole new meaning to the
color painters call pigeon blood!

Finely chop the gizzards and crush the livers under the blade
of a large kitchen knife.

We now brown the mirepoix and the giblets in a large pot
with a little oil to enhance their flavor using the
Maillard's reactions.

Once the mirepoix is nicely browned, add the pigeons/squabs
and turn frequently until browned on all sides. The same
chemical process is at work here to enhance the flavor of
the meat. In Scotland they would be boiled, but the French
know better and the Italians just copied this.

Add a glass of Marsala or Port or Wine. This will dissolve
the browned food that may have stuck to the bottom of the pot
and add a touch of tartness to the sauce. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, finely chop 2 slices of ham.

Add a glass of warm stock or water, the chopped ham and a
pinch of salt to the pigeon pot and reduce heat to low. Let
it cook covered until pigeon is cooked - about 15 minutes.
Fish the pigeons out of the pot and lay them on a cutting
board. Using a sharp knife, remove both breasts and slice
them crosswise.

Now it's our turn to call the French barbarians. To obtain
a smooth and homogenous sauce nobody will guess the
composition of, we strain the sauce using a conical sieve
called chinois [sheenoah], from the shape of traditional
Chinese hats. The cook can't help thinking it is a pity to
throw out vegetables, bacon and gizzards, but French
culinary tradition reasons that most of the flavor has
passed to the sauce by now. I suppose in the 19th century
there would be no lack of interest for this by-products - by
servants or pets.

Traditional French salmis is done slightly differently. The
fowl is roasted in an oven, then the breasts are removed and
slices. The carcasses are pounded and added back to the pot
to cook for a good hour, then the whole thing is strained.
This process makes good use of the carcasses which are lost
in our Italian recipe explained above.

Now we reach the stage where the real reason why these
macaroni pies are not made anymore. The whole thing is baked
inside a short dough, that horrible, tasteless culinary
horror of medieval descent. Sweet short dough may be all
right in a custard-filled pie, but present-day diners
outside the British Isles just can't bring themselves to eat
these huge yellowish shells. I am quite sure that using a
puff pastry would lead to more enticing results. Still, I
made my pie like the Italians did 150 years ago and
carefully mixed butter, flour, eggs, salt and sugar. That's
right, sugar. Most traditional Italian pasta pies use a
sweet short dough outer shell.

While we are at the confessional, I admit not having
prepared the bechamel sauce (besciamella in Italian), which
ought to be mixed with the macaronis to make the pie more
juicy. If you wish to do it, just fry 2 Tb flour in 1 Tb
butter until butter is fully melted and intimate with
the flour, then add 2 c milk and mix until it thickens.

Undercook your macaroni by 1 minute. I make my own from
semolina flour and freerange eggs, but feel free to use
bought macaroni. Just don't tell anyone!

Spread the dough and use it to cover the inside of a tall
cake pan or non-stick saucepan. I used a non-stick Dutch
oven with good results since all my cake pans were too flat.

Mix pasta and sauce, add the grated cheese and bechamel
sauce if using. Cover with remaining dough, make a
finger-sized hole or chimney on top for the steam to escape.
I think the egg wash on top is superfluous as this side will
be down anyway.

Bake in a medium hot oven for 1 hour. Let the pie rest
outside for at least 10 minutes before carefully inverting
it on a cutting board and unmold.

Despite my reservations about the short dough, I reckon this
is an extraordinary dish and very tasty. Definitely
something your guests will enjoy and remember for many
years. And you are travelling 150 years back to the time of
Antonin Careme and Rossini.

Published 28/08/2007
fxcuisine.com

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Telegard/2/QWK v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
 * Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)