Convenient Dinner
This was a delicious dinner that was easy to put together. And yet, every part of it involved some measure of “convenience food.”
The poussin is one of the pre-marinated ones from Griggstown Farm, the “herb” version with olive oil, thyme and vinegar (they also do a soy/ginger version). It comes in a sealed bag, so when it’s time to use it, you just slit open the bag and plop the bird on the grill or, in my case, in the oven on bed of potatoes and shallots that I’d already roasted for 15 minutes. I love these, they are always deeply flavorful, juicy, and tender.
The waxy yellow potatoes were the kind you can microwave in the special plastic bag they come in, although I’m not a fan of cooking in plastic. I picked them up on a whim at McCaffrey’s, curious, but ended up only needing to use part of the bag for this, so cut the bag open and quartered some of the potatoes. (They are not pre-cooked, but they’re pre-washed and very tender.) I also had some nice-looking shallots to use (I like the ones with the rosy undertones), so I peeled and halved those. I tossed the quartered potatoes and halved shallots with olive oil and s&p, and roasted them at 350° for about 15 minutes before plopping the bird, skin side up, on top (with some, but not all of its marinating juices). I drizzled a little olive oil on the bird, and let it all roast for 45 minutes, stirring the veggies about halfway through.
On the side, I had leftover Trader Joe’s Fire-Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions. They come frozen, and I’d previously sautéed them, adding halved olives and a tad of sugar and vinegar near the end. That was an approximation of a recipe for Sweet and Sour Peppers with Oil-Cured Olives from Domenica Marchetti’s new book, The Glorious Vegetables of Italy. I’d come across the recipe and realized I had the TJ’s peppers already in the freezer, plus olives that needed to be used up. Those were quite good, although I’m sure had one started from scratch, according to Domenica’s recipe, they would have been even better.
This may all sound pretty involved, but the actual time spent prepping and cooking was minimal, considering what a nice dinner it provided on a cold winter night.
NJ SPICE 