Monday 12 November 2012

Weekend Eats 17 - Roulade, Experiment Plans and Pig

I've just witnessed Nigella doing something unthinkable on The Food Network. No she didn't skip the midnight fridge feast, she put frozen glazed King Prawns into a Paella. I'm disgusted. They were whole prawns, not butterflied, whole, the exact kind that I use. This can only mean one thing.

There is prawn poo in that Paella.


I didn't think that I could be anymore aggravated by the use of prawns, my usual bugbear is when people on cooking shows use already cooked ones and then cook them again. I just want to ask them why they're doing that, making the prawns chewy and overcooked when you can flash fry a raw prawn in one minute and have perfection.

Now I'm yucked out by the lack of deveining. Why would you not devein a prawn?! I don't think I'll ever not associate Nigella with prawn poo now.

Anyway.

Due to not having Quesadillas as planned I had avocados that needed using up, I looked around for inspiration but most recipes were for dips and salads, I wanted to make something hot. I found a photo of a Chicken and Avocado Roulade that looked appealing so I figured I'd give it a go having never attempted one before.

It was actually quite easy, thanks in part I think to my experience rolling Bacon Bombs.

corn fed chicken breasts
Corn Fed Chicken Breasts
kenwood mini chopper
One Of My Kitchen Essentials
chicken breasts in mini chopper
Blend The Chicken
chopped chicken
Perfect Texture
avocado
The Reason For This Experiment
guacamole
With Sea Salt and Lemon Juice
sliced taleggio cheese
Taleggio One Of My Favourite Cheeses
chicken roulade base
First Layer
building the chicken roulade
Strips of Ham, Sliced Taleggio and Guacamole
rolled chicken roulade
Rolled Roulade
chicken roulade rice flour
Coated In Rice Flour
chicken roulade cooking
Shallow Frying In Corn Oil
golden chicken roulade
Golden Coating
chicken roulade
Is It Going To Work?
sliced chicken roulade
End Result - Chicken and Avocado Roulade
I decided to put some off the bone ham in as well to give another layer but I wouldn't bother including that again. Overall it was okay, I wasn't that happy with the flavours which is why it isn't a recipe post. It had a similar vibe about it to the Low Key Bacon Bomb, thus called because it was very subtle in flavour and we just don't do subtle that well here at Free From G.

I'm coming to the conclusion that avocado - as wonderful as it is - is best suited to cold dishes. I'd happily eat one by itself or made into Guacamole but it's not working for me as a useful ingredient.

I'm on a bit of a slices kick. First the Roulade, next I'm going to attempt Pork Pate. I love good pate but I can't find any that are suitable for me, it's either gluten, pepper or both included. So I'm fully armed to make my own. Whether it ends up as a documented experiment or a recipe is probably going to be a close call.

I'm also going to attempt a Terrine. I love a good Terrine but again, can't seem to find any that are suitable. I once ordered a Terrine in a restaurant only to be told 10 minutes later that I would have to order something else as "sadly, the Terrine has collapsed". Great, that was presumably a trained chef who f*%£$" it up, how the hell am I going to pull it off?
Time will tell, I may start praying to the cooking gods now.

There is a fresh Tarragon shortage in these here parts, I cooked our favourite meal without it on Saturday which was a feat as it's one of the main ingredients. Dried came to the rescue but it's not the same, you can't beat fresh herbs and I'm still so annoyed about my growing disaster. Seven different types and not one survived to be used, seven. The only time I'll ever have green fingers is if I get gangrene.

There was a bit of an indulgence yesterday in the form of my gluten free Pancakes, Maple Syrup, Clotted Cream and Crispy Bacon Weave. To say that I had a sugar rush is an understatement. Delicious though.

I am off to make Pate. I have four different bits of pig and no real idea of what I'm doing. It's going to get messy.

Verdict tomorrow.

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