The Centaur is Back

Last summer, I had a dinner date with a Centaur (read all about it at Dinner with a Centaur).

Tonight, the Centaur bribed cats and sneaked into somerville kitchen asking for dinner.

Well, you cannot refuse a Centaur; they will get out of hand if you do. So I pulled out one of my favourite cookbooks, The Centaur's Kitchen by Patience Gray, and got moving in the kitchen.

As cats and Centaur hunted and wrestled, I was slowly cooking three delicious creations from the cookbook.

Here is the meal that was served to the Centaur tonight.


Poulet a la Creme

Centaurs, by the way, are immune to high cholesterol. This becomes very apparent as you open this cookbook.

The four pieces of chicken were supposed to cook slowly with chopped onions in 4 oz of butter (I cheated and used 1 Tbs).

Wait, it does not stop here.

Once they are cooked, you add 1 cup heavy cream, let it "bubble" for 10 minutes. 

The chicken is now removed from the pan and what is left in the pan is mixed with 2 egg yolks and lemon juice till thickened.

The sauce is drizzled over the chicken - yes, it is really tasty.

Okra & Potatoes

Definitely a much healthier dish.

Okras, potatoes (cut in chunks) and sliced onions are all mixed with olive oil and 1/2 cup tomato juice (yes, not tomato sauce, not tomato paste, but tomato juice).

You cook it on "fierce" heat for "few" minutes (I just love this cookbook). Then you reduce the heat and let the Okras and potatoes steam for a while.

Excellent dish. The okra collapses, the potatoes become really soft, the flavours of the olive oil and onions get absorbed in the vegetables. 

And the tomato juice? I am not sure what it did, but this dish sure was a perfection of taste and texture.

Pimento Salad

Centaurs are allergic to raw vegetables. So their salad is cooked.

The book specifies different coloured peppers, quartered tomatoes, chopped onions, one garlic clove (whole) and a wineglass of oil.

The vegetables are covered and steamed for few minutes. Two wineglasses of red wine along with a Tbs of wine vinegar are added to the pot. All is then cooked, covered, for 45 minutes.

Now you put it on a platter, chill it and serve it as a salad to your Centaur guest. Looks gorgeous.

Oh, when would the Centaur be back?