I'm prone to calling this time of the year "the dark days" but maybe I should just call it "the food days" — even though we try to make and eat good food all year long. It's just that the weather here in November, December, and January (let's not even think about February at this point) keeps us house-bound for days and weeks on end. I always have two projects for the winter doldrums — whatever I'm working on to better organize and optimize my computer and all the files on it, and whatever I can find to cook for lunch.
Here's one that we always enjoy: Sausages and peppers with pasta and tomato sauce. This short slideshow is pretty much self-explanatory. This kind of dish is not sorcier, as they say in French. In other words, you don't have to be a wizard, a witch, or a sorcerer to make it.
We happened to have two kinds of sausage on hand — chorizo from Spain (the one in the slideshow comes from Portugal...) and French chipolatas aux herbes (a mild pork sausage). And we had peppers from the garden as I described yesterday, as well as onions from the supermarket and home-made tomato sauce from the freezer. There was also a box of mini penne pasta in the pantry downstairs. Voilà — tout ce qu'il nous fallait comme ingrédients.
It's raining this morning (what else is new?). We had a fairly dry day yesterday but the soil around the vineyard is still more like gadoue (sloppy mud, sludge) than solid ground. Above is this morning's weather radar map, showing the front that is sweeping across France. Saint-Aignan is not far from the F in the word France on the map. And guess what. It's supposed to be worse tomorrow, with heavier rain and a lot of wind. To spend the winter here, you have to know the meaning of the expression "hunker down"...
I do enjoy your slideshows....I have been noticing the more frequent cooking posts and enjoying them. Any meat with onions and peppers sounds wonderful to me...Your neighbor gave you a wonderful gift with those pepper plants.
ReplyDeleteShe did give us a great gift. And we had the right weather last summer for them to produce a bumper crop. We still have some peppers down in the cold pantry. Time to cook those, I guess.
DeleteHunker down... that's a great expression. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI loved that Mongolian Beef post yesterday!
I always find it satisfying to cook meals with ingredients I put aside from the summer growing season and "found" things in the pantry. It makes having a garden a pleasure again.
ReplyDeleteBoth those sausages sound good. Of course chorizo is popular here. Often see it mixed with eggs and on the spic side. In this dark, damp, weather binge watching TV is an option...Season 3 of Mrs. Maisel just dropped. ;-)
ReplyDeleteEeek, pardon, that should be "on the spicy side." So much for my early morning proofing on one cup of coffee. Arrgh!
DeleteWe are binge watching. We have signed up and have been getting Netflix for about a month now. I don't know much about Amazon Prime. Is that where you get Mrs. Maisel?
DeleteSpanish/Portuguese chorizo is very different from Mexican chorizo, if I understand. The European version is like a dried sausage, kind of hard and very spicy.
Yes Amazon Prime is where you get Mrs. Maisel. I think you can watch the first episode for free. It is a trip back to the 1950s and 60s. Prime is like $140 a year and its free movies and TV series, many current. And free shipping on Amazon stuff.
DeleteWhat are you enjoying on Netflix? We found an Australian series called "Please Like Me" that we love. Also on Amazon.
"The Crown" is good on Netflix, but be sure to start with the earliest episodes if you can. "Black Mirror" rocks too!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to mention "Versailles," if you can find any of those episodes!
ReplyDeleteYes, we have been known to have several days of rain one right after another - (in Oregon) so one gets in the habit of utilizing the time for "inside activities" which can also include museums, libraries, classes or pickleball at the gym!
ReplyDeleteI will have to now use my anaheim chilies I found on special for a sausage/pasta dish like yours, Ken! However, I will need to buy the sausage, so a quick trip to the store (about 2 miles) will be necessary before dinnertime!
We like Netflix a lot- glad you have it now. These are the dark days for me, but I enjoy walking in my neighborhood at night which is full of lights.
ReplyDeleteAt this time of year, the weather is a good excuse to curl up with a stack of books. Working my way through the never-ending TBR (to be read) pile.
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