Lilysunshine

We have this kind of ‘tradition’ with my husband to have a super indulgent Sunday afternoon and evening. I think we need that to get ready for the week ahead.

I generally don’t cook on Saturdays, we just have snacks. I know it’s bad and it will probably change when the wee ‘un is there with us. And come Sunday night, we both fancy something more consistent.

So we indulge. Take-aways: burgers from the very nice burger place just 10 min down the road, indian curries or even pizza from the place 2 min from here (good and really cheap). Sometimes we go out and visit one of the numerous restaurants on our high street. And some other times, I cook.

Last week, a butcher has opened shop just 2 min from our flat (next to the pizza place!) and I’ve been drooling over the goodies every time I walked past. So yesterday, I told hubby to go and get us some quails for our Sunday night’s dinner. He also bought some nice sausages that I can’t wait to cook too. Tomorrow night.

So, I had some wine left from a boeuf bourguignon earlier this week, and some lardons (thick cuts of bacon) and mushrooms so decided to mix that all together. A bit like a civet or a coq au vin, without the annoying marinade.

Basically, I just pan fried a sliced onion, the lardons and the diced mushrooms in a little vegetable oil and butter until soft and put that in an oven dish. I then browned the wee birds on all sides and put them in the oven dish, on top of the onion-lardons-mushrooms. I deglazed (is that a word in english) the pan with a little bit of the red wine to get all the goodies stuck at the bottom and poured than in the oven dish. I added some more red wine (about 1/3 of a bottle), some vegetables stock and about 2 good tablespoons of flour. I gave it a mix, covered and put in the oven at 180 degrees for about 45min – 1 hour. The only seasoning was a bit of pepper and a sprig of (fresh) rosemary. No salt at all: there is enough salt in the lardons and the stock.

It was absolutely divine. The meat was falling off the bones of the birds. The sauce was just the right thickness: runny but not liquid. Would have been perfect with a side dish of mashed potatoes and some bread to soak up all this juicy goodness. But I couldn’t be bothered. And it was already excellent and filling as it was.

I am in heaven.

None, nada, rien