Roast Pheasant, Gravy & Haricot Beans

This dish doesn't look like much in the photo - but my children loved it! And it smelled so good...

At a loss for what to make one day (not really, but it sounds nice) I decided to try something a little different - we all like beans, we love sautéd vegetables and I actually had a roasted pheasant on hand. Something else I had - was a lovely gravy made from the meat.

I soaked and cooked the haricots, they are such a versatile bean and we don't eat enough of them. Perhaps because they are mostly associated with baked beans and that's all. However, they lend an earthy, full bodied flavour to any dish as well as make it that much more hearty.

Next I sautéd a few vegetables - onion, garlic, leek, grated carrot, broccoli etc. and added these to the beans. The gravy and meat were warmed up - all of this was added together to make a little stew. It was thickened because of the gravy...

Steaming hot - I just seasoned it with a little salt and pepper (there were lots of seasonings already in the roasted pheasant) and served it with some thick crusty herbed spelt bread. The children loved it - what I liked about it is that it was fully balanced - so simple yet tasty and filling.

I am planning on making this again - perhaps with a different meat, a different type of bean (maybe chickpeas) and sweet potato or something similar. This is endlessly versatile - and when spiced up, it's also warming and seasonal.

April

Beans are so versatile!

Spiritual Growth & Expansion of Consciousness

Well, these last few days I have cooked, baked and eaten lots of nice things including one of our own turkeys - which I have mentioned on my other blog. But, needless to say it was fabulous and I am not sure what was better - the taste and texture or the fact that we raised it ourselves and knew exactly what went into it's every moment of life...

We finished the last of the turkey today - and I don't feel like I've had too much at all. It was enjoyable - the spiritual connection of the food is what has become so important to me. And now I feel as if I am finally experiencing it.

I also feel like this when I eat something from my garden and I can't wait for my winter vegetables to come into season - we have kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, winter spinach, and still lots of herbs I am using as often as I can.

When you plant, grow, tend, feed and otherwise get involved with your food on this intimate level, your own essence also goes back into you. All the energy you are expending to do this work, your effort and output, comes back wrapped up in little morsels of food.

However there is one difference, your own energy (which you want back by the way) has been transformed in some ways. It is now a little bit different - you are filling up on plant, flesh and blood which has expanded somewhat to take into itself elements of wind, earth and water. 

Your own energy has then come back full circle - completed a cycle of season, change, growth and renewal all for your benefit through the plants, herbs and animals you are raising for your food. Nothing could be healthier or better for your own spiritual growth and expansion of consciousness. 

This is an amazing process that I am certain the ancient Pagans knew full well...and we are only rediscovering.

April

Stuffed Wild Pheasants....