I WILL PREPARE IT ONE DAY ...mmmm !

Reading about food is endlessly reassuring . There is always a predictable outcome , a vicarious pleasure and no one is ever threatened . It's early hours of the 7 th October 2023 , i have just read the last page of my favourite storyteller and my mind is remembering today would have been my youngest brother Michael Grunberg's 60 th birthday and am lying here in bed making plans to visit his memorial plaque that he shares with his dad Jackiw Grunberg . Happy birthday Michael . Sleep doesn't come , so I reach for a story book that covers chef and food writer Stephanie Alexander's odyssey into south west of France . So at the unlikely time of 3.20 am , I'm reading her mouth watering preparation of making a traditional peasant dish called POULE AVEC SA MIQUE ( chicken with dumpling )and it is really inspiring . First you bone a chicken and make a rich stock from the bones . The flesh is then stuffed with tarragn , chopped ham , pork mince and bread crumbs . The boned and stuffed chicken is then wrapped in muslin and poached , along with a large tasy , juicy dumpling , in the stock heavily laden with vegetables . I'm fascinated by the difficulty , the boning , the stock ,the dumpling and the finished dish when it all comes together in a slow simmer until it is ready to be served sliced in the broth along with the juicy dumpling and vegetables . I read and reread the recipe .... I will prepare this dish one day .