La Cuisine de Zézette

I enjoy cooking. I have been fairly absent from the kitchen over the past few months, but when I do shove the dirty dishes aside and sharpen the knife I perk up. We had a dish tonight that is quite simple, but puts a smile on the faces of the adults in the house every time it's served.*

There are two variations, appropriate for what's in the fridge and how much time you have to potter about. First, the faster one: chicken.

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- About half a kilo of chicken, diced. (I used thigh fillets tonight, which I think are better in a casserole like this than breast meat. You could use portions with the bones still in, too.)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Fresh rosemary (About a three inch stem)
- Fresh parsley (A good, big handful. Don't be stingey, now. No, dried won't do. Go and buy some seeds and grow some.)
- A bay leaf or two. Dried is OK here, fresh even better.
- A variety of vegetables; tonight's selection was mushrooms, zucchini and red capsicum.
- Chicken stock, just enough to almost cover the chicken and veg. (Do I need to tell you? Not that radioactive powdered shit.)

- Cook the onion and garlic (gently!) in an unfashionably decent slosh of olive oil. (Tip the bottle up a bit! It won't kill you! Give those onions a bit of room to swim.) Allow it to cook slowly so that the flavour develops.

- Crank up the heat a little and throw the chicken in on top to brown a bit.

- Vegies in next. Just saute them a little.

- Stock in (to three quarters of the way over the ingredients), then the herbs.

- Simmer gently, covered, until the chicken's cooked and the vegetables look to be done to your taste. For me, I think it was about 20 minutes or so. Maybe less.

- Serve with cous cous.

So easy, so yummy. Even better when you substitute some of the stock with white wine.

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The slower version involves beef and red wine (and new potatoes when I can get them), and takes several hours to simmer.

- Cook onion and garlic as before. (Still no meanness with the oil, you fashion slave, you.)

- Brown the beef.

- Add the stock (beef or vegetable, or a combination of the two), wine and herbs, put the lid on and turn the heat right down to simmer very gently. The liquid should fully cover the meat in this variation.

- Tie a bib around your neck; it'd be embarrassing to be caught with all that drool down your front as the house fills with delicious aromas. Do your best not to "sample" all the meat out of it before you serve it.

- After an hour or so, you can add the new potatoes if you're using them.

- Only when the meat and potatoes are starting to show signs of becoming tender, add the vegetables; harder ones first, softer ones later.

- Don't take the pot off the heat until the meat is really tender. Every time I make this I check the meat every half hour or so, and begin to wonder if it's ever going to be edible. Don't sweat it. It seems to stay tough for ages, then after a couple of hours suddenly relents and becomes pliable. Just be patient.

I've served this with cous cous, or if I don't add potatoes to the pot, steamed, baked or mashed potato. Or really nice fresh bread. And any of the wine I haven't swilled over the afternoon while checking the pot's progress.

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As I said, it's very simple. It's hardly ground-breaking. It's just something that's evolved since I've been a herb grower. I enjoyed it so much tonight that I thought I'd share it.

Next week: another treat from La Cuisine de Zézette: saggy, rubbery orange cake with a god-awful crack in the top. Don't miss it.


*The four-year-old spat it down her front tonight in a tantrum. At least she didn't puke, as she has done previously.