ROULADE..


Just the mention of the word conjures up images of sophisticated dishes that only rich royalty is privy to indulge.  Dishes that are so skillfully, yet delicately, handcrafted by the masterful royal Chef de Cuisine.  A skill that no Chef de Tourant would even dare to try.

Although anyone in the know would just smirk, immediately following it with their signature phrase, "Ain't nuthin' but a thang..."  For you see my curious friends, 'Roulade' is merely a term used to mean rolled food.  The term 'Roulade' is derived from the French word 'Rouler' which means 'to roll'.  In essence, there are many dishes that would fall into this category; from various countries and various eras.  In the true sense of the word, even 'sushi' from Japan or 'dolmathes' from Greece could be considered a Roulade...

Let's get real!  True culinary aficionados know the real meaning of the word.  Roulade, traditionally speaking, are dishes that are of European in nature and prepared using thin cuts of meat rolled around a filling of vegetables or other types or cuts of meats.

Good examples of these types of dishes would be 'Braciole' from Italy, 'Paupiette' from Normandy or France, and 'Chicken Cordon Bleu' from America.

The process is really simple and if you would like to try this method, you would be amzed at the results.  Consequently, I found an old recipe that dates back to sometime in the middle ages.  The author is unknown but was thought to be one of the lesser, yet quite ahead of his time, cook who served as one of the staffs to the then King of France at the time.

Pheasant de Roulade

Prepare thy bosom of one dead deflowered defeathered pheasant to lay upon a small wooden plank and proceed by covering with thin translucent material which thou shall finde in thine own cupboard.

At which where raiseth thine hands clutching the mallet that thou hast borroweth from thine blacksmith ally, thou comest down heavily onto thy bosom of pheasant so as to flatten to the thickness the same as that of a frog's leg.

Thou shall uncover thy bosom (of pheasant, you idiot!) and adorn it with slivers of pork meat that has been cured and comest from the Italian region of Parma bearing the title "Prosciutto de Parma".  Add to this, fresh leaves of spinach and soft crumbly aged cheese that has been made from the milk of sheep.  Thou findest this cheese, 'Feta', in the Greek section of thine favorite market.

Then thou shall rolle thine meat into a tube and wrapping it with thin translucent material to keep in a cold chamber of the castle, lest ye have an ice box, for halfe the hour's time.  This shall aide in the presevance of thine shape.

At the while, grab thy enchanted goose and sharply squeeze thine underside until it produces a golden egg.  Breaketh thine egg onto a shallow bowl and with thine (clean) fingers, lest ye haveth a fork, whisk thy golden egg until forthy.  A second shallow bowl shall thee placeth flour, and a third shallow bowl shall thee placeth bread crumbs (preferrably those that cometh from the land of Japan nameth 'Panko').

Remove from thine rolle of meat thy thin translucent membrane (for this the taste would conjure the monstruous demons from within one's soul if ever added to the fire).  Sprinkle upon thy rolled meat a healthy pinch of salt and black pepper. 

Prepareth thy skillet by placing atop a couldron of fire with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Ye may find thyself indulging in a pool of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for as all knowest, Extra Virgins run abundant through these ages), but a tablespoon will do.

Rolle thy meat in golden egg, then onto flour, then onto Panko breadth crumbs.  Addeth to the skillet and browneth thy meat of pheasant on all sides.  Finisheth it off in thine oven pre-heated to 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes time, or until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 165 degrees.  Thou shalt checketh with an mideval thermometer that hast been properly calibrated.

Once done, sliceth thine Pheasant de Roulade on a bias and serveth to thy Royal Highness.

So, there you have it, my friends - a recipe from the past that you may want to try to decipher and prepare.

Until next time, "Savor the sweetness of life!"

After a long stint of silence, I thought it's now time to re-emerge and start this blog back up.
I've been so preoccupied with work that I've not spent any time on any social activities, let alone share my thoughts with my four followers.  For that, I humble myself in a very apologetic, yet not so much as to seem needy for attention.  I think you get where I'm coming from here...

I've been following the footsteps of those individuals who are living off the land and eating what they grow.  This past March, my wife and I started planting our vegetable garden and in doing so, embarked on our membership to the world of backyard farming.  It was very exciting seeing those little buggers sprout out a few weeks later.  They're like little kittens or puppies and you want to just hug them and squeeze them (but you can't because they'll die)...

Then a few more weeks later and flowering begins and the excitement builds up even more.  Now, all through this, it's important to water the vegetable garden often.  Dave, the botanist who works at Armstrong Garden Center in Long Beach (California) told me how to exactly water my vegetable garden.  He said that I should soak the root ball and then wait to soak them again until the ground was fully dry.  He said that some people (we won't name any names but you know who you are...) constantly water their plants even if they don't need water.  What happens in this case is that the plants get root rot and then the plant eventually die.  I said, "Really?!"  He said, "Well, it's like shoving food down someone's throat even when they can't eat any more. They want to spew but they can't because you've got that shovel sticking right in their face FULL OF CHICKEN FRIED STEAK AND GRAVY AND ALL THE FIXIN's.  EVENTUALLY they can't BREATH ANYMORE and then they DIE!" I said, "A little too intense, Dave; but I get the point!"
Dave continued by saying, "Others don't water enough.  They only mist their plant because they're afraid of over-watering.  Much like giving someone a tiny morsel of Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon and saying - oopsy, that's all you get!...  Imagine having to endure that day in and day out!"

"A little too real, Dave?"

"It's not right, I tell you, it's just not right... sob, whimper..."

"Dave!  FOCUS!"

So how do you tell when it's time to soak your root balls?!

When to soak your root balls is really a personal thing; but soaking your plant's root ball is done when the ground is dry and is most important when planting in pots.  Most often you can tell when the ground is still wet because of the color or shade of browness of the ground.  You can't always rely on sight though.  You must poke the ground with your finger to get the feel of the land (sort of speak...)  When the ground around the root ball is dry, it's time for another good soaking.

Until next time, "Que nostro con puendo para los pestos..."  (Which means... absolutely nothing except it sounds good...)