Happy as peas in a pot!

In spite of the ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano that has been floating over north-western Europe since Friday, the weather is nice and sunny. Temperatures are expected to climb as high as 18-20°C today; sheer bliss after the extremely long and cold winter we’ve had.

This spring feeling has somewhat influenced my shopping behaviour. No, I didn’t splash out on new summer cloths or shoes … but on fresh spring vegetables, the so-called ‘primeurs’. Although I’m not sure that they are of Belgian origin – or if they are, they have definitely been grown in greenhouses – they look so tempting and fresh that’s impossible to resist them.

Fresh unshelled peas

I got baby carrots and new potatoes (the potatoes are from Cyprus, or at least that’s what the label says) and … fresh un-potted peas! The last are a real find as even in full pea season, unshelled peas are very rare, unless you grown them yourself.

Happy as peas in a pot !

I’ve already glazed the carrots and a chopped onion in some lightly salted butter. I’ve added some pepper, salt, sugar, thyme and a bay leaf. The potted peas will go in at the last minute, just before serving. That way, they stay nice and crunchy and they will keep their delicate sugary flavour.

The potatoes are pre-boiled in their skin. Once they are slightly cooled, the skin comes off easily. Next I will pan-fry them in some olive oil, until they are nice and golden-brown.

The 'ballotin de lapin'.

Finally, the meat! I’ve bought a ‘ballotin de lapin aux herbes’. You can of course make this yourself, but de-boning a rabbit isn’t one of my best skills. It came marinated in different herbs. What surprised me most is that label showed ‘volaille – gevogelte’. I didn’t know that rabbits could fly, did you?

A rabbit; poultry?

That reminds me of a very bad translation that I read once about a South-American penguin species that –according to the translation – was related to rabbits because … it nests in burrows!

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