Sunday Dinner

The cold and rainy weather in Paris has been decidedly disappointing since returning from the sweltering heat in Tuscany. Two upsides to the poor weather have been it's made my runs much easier and more enjoyable (the one day I decided to go for a run in Tuscany along the boardwalk in Porto Santo Stefano was possibly the worst decision I have ever made!), and I don't have to worry about turning on the oven and heating up the apartment. With this in mind, I decided to continue my adventures in flexitarianism with some delicious roast chicken and vegetables au gratin. These roast chicken legs - you can find the recipe here from Jamie Oliver were incredibly delicious: everything good chicken should be - crispy skin, with melt in your mouth meat. I would make this recipe again in a heartbeat - it has definitely won me over to eating chicken again. And I know I always say this, but it was incredibly easy. Just mix the few ingredients together in a baking dish and pop in the oven for an hour and a half.

I'm not a huge fan of French food, but I would like to try cooking more of it while we are here, so I thought what better way to start than making something au gratin (anything baked with cheese is always good!). I adapted this recipe and, as predicted veggies in a creamy white sauce smothered in cheese were delicious! Maybe I'll come around to French food after all...

Vegetables au Gratin

Ingredients:

A large handful of corn (fresh or canned or frozen)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp mixed dried herbs, you can also use fresh herbs if you have them (optional)
1 cup string beans, chopped
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup asparagus, diced

1 cup brocoli, chopped

1 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup bread crumbs
A very generous serving of grated cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan and aged cheddar)
Salt and pepper to taste

For the white sauce:
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1.5 cup cold milk
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

White sauce (this was a slightly different method than I'm familiar with, but it seemed to do the trick):
Warm the butter in a sauce pan. Make sure that the butter is melted and not burned. Mix the flour in the cold milk to a smooth consistency, ensuring there are no lumps. Do not use hot or warm milk as that is a sure shot way to a lumpy sauce. Next add this flour and milk mixture to the butter and keep stirring constantly over low heat until the sauce thickens. Take it off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

For the baked vegetables:

Grease the bottom of the baking dish with a teaspoon butter and then layer the corn on it (next time I would add the carrots at this stage). Grill this in the oven for 10 mins at 180 C / 350 F.

Next, add the remaining diced vegetables ensuring that all the veggies are evenly spread throughout the baking dish, then pour the white sauce on top of the vegetables. (I added some herb de provence to the mixture at this time.) Sprinkle the cheese and bread crumbs, in an even layer on top.

Bake at 180 C / 350 F for 15 to 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to ensure the cheese and bread crumbs get nicely browned.