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Second Helpings of Roast Chicken
Simon Hopkinson
By
Published: Jan 01, 2008
Category:
Food and Wine
Second Helpings of Roast Chicken
Simon Hopkinson
Why did a British magazine name Simon Hopkinson’s first effort — Roast Chicken and Other Stories — “the most useful cookbook of all time”?
Because it’s a book for cooks, not chefs.
The irony, of course, is that Hopkinson used to be a noted British chef and restaurateur. It’s just that he much prefers being at home with his pets, cooking great food for friends. And he sees no reason why you can’t do the same. Seriously, he wants you to cook and enjoy cooking — not just “idly turn the pages…until the microwave pings.”
If his first book was a primer, Second Helpings of Roast Chicken is somewhat more exotic — a meditation on 47 of his favorite ingredients. Some are refreshingly common: apples, cocoa, milk. Others are more special: lobster, truffles, fennel. In each case, you get great stories, tart advice — and recipes he’s adapted from all over.
If you’re someone who likes great writing about food, there’s no one more amusing than Simon Hopkinson. But don’t listen to me. Listen to him:
Salt: “To be told that I was never to use salt in cooking ever again would remove the very essence of the joy of eating. I might as well give it all up and secure a job selling ties at Harrods.”
Chicken: “The only significant preparation known to us Limeys, of course, is Chicken Maryland, with its garnish of fried banana and sweet corn fritters — never, ever heard of in the United States, and particularly not by Marylanders.”
Fennel: “If one ever finds oneself cooking something one feels uncomfortable with, it is never going to be particularly special.”
Linguine: “I am absolutely sick and tired of this incessant desire to continually ‘garnish’ each and every dish with this cretinous coil of twiddled pasta turrets. My, how I loathe them. And then there is this other growing fashion: that witty little raviolo pillow, all plumped up with some nonsense — often wildly inappropriate — and slithering around a huge white soup plate like some demented dodgem car.”
Peas: “When you come to think about it — and most people rarely do — a more perfect frozen vegetable than the pea you could never wish for.”
Okay, you probably will never cook Yorkshire Pudding with Sweet White Sauce and Golden Syrup, Piedmontese Potato Gnocchi with Parmesan Cream, Thai Pork Rissoles with Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce or Creamed Scampi with Saffron Pilaf. Still, there are enough basics here to advance your expertise and make cooking more fun.
But before you make the Celery Soup, peel the celery. Simon will be cross with you if you don’t.
Cream of Celery Soup
serves 5-6
4 tablespoons butter
12 oz celery, cleaned and chopped
2 small onions peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
1 quart good chicken stock
2/3 cup whipping cream
Freshly ground pepper
Melt the butter in a roomy pan and gently cook the celery and onions for 20 minutes unit soft, but not colored. Add the celery salt. Put in potato and add the stock. Bring to a boil and adjust the seasoning to see if further salt is needed. Skim off any scum, and simmer for 30-40 minutes. When done, puree the mixture well and push though a fine strainer into a clean pan. Stir in the cream and pepper, and gently reheat without boiling. Serve with small, buttery croutons.
To buy “Second Helpings of Roast Chicken” from Amazon.com, click here.
To read more about “Roast Chicken and Other Stories” on HeadButler.com, click here.
