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Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

Trial and Error

IT TOOK YEARS of persuasion for me to come to grips with the fact that MAYBE I could cook; after all I trained as a Nurse not a Cook. During the first three months of training, which usually separates the sheep from the goats, we did a course on 'sick' food or special diets. I felt a spark of interest, but to this day have never made 'Floating Island' again. For those of you who don't know what Floating Island is, it's a loose custard with a blob of meringue on top, best described as a custard soup!

I suppose that growing up in a household where food was important and having a father who was an excellent and innovative cook, paved the way. I actually started experimenting at about age 7, I think, though not at home initially.

Our family doctor had three sons with whom we were friendly and we gave one of them a lift home from school every afternoon. Hence we would stop there to have a swim or, in my case, visit the kitchen where Nanny was always ready to make a cake. Looking back now, I don't think Nanny was always ready to make a cake, but I would go in and persuade her to make a cake. She never told me 'no'. Those were the days without Mixmasters and it was elbow grease that did the work. Also the kitchen was antiquated with woodburning stoves. I wish some of these things had been saved but unfortunately they would have been dumped as progress took over.

I graduated from there to making cakes and then desserts at home. This pleased my mother as it eased her out of the kitchen. At the same time my uncle came on holiday from England and brought a Kenwood Chef, which pleased me and started me on my 'equipment' mania, which continues today. I never really got into heavy cooking at that stage as I went off to England to do nursing. As we lived in the nurses quarters food was provided.

I learned to cook by trial and error. I've conveniently forgotten many of my errors, but two come to mind at this point, one of which still embarrasses me and in fact surfaced not long ago with one of the victims! I had reached the point in my nursing career where we were allowed to 'live out'; in other words, have our own apartments rather than having to live in the nurses' home at the hospital. I invited a friend of mine and her father who were visiting, to lunch. I had it all planned: I was going to roast a chicken, didn't think it would be too difficult! I'm not quite sure what I did with that chicken but suffice to say that it was difficult to eat without globs of fat running down the chin! My friends were very polite but when Pat came to lunch with me a few months ago, she laughed and said 'Cath, you sure have graduated from that first chicken!' I was mortified, I thought she would have forgotten that by now, thirty years later. Ouch!

However, this time around, she was happy with:

ROAST GARLIC CHICKEN

To serve 4/6

• Chicken: 1 large, 4-5 lbs
• Lime, salt
• Seasoning (see April column for recipe)
• Garlic (To taste, I would use about 8 cloves)
• Margarine
• Stuffing of choice.

Oven temperature: 325F

Remove giblets from chicken and save for gravy. Prick chicken all over with fork and clean inside and outside with lime and salt, rubbing well. Leave to soak for at least an hour.

Rinse and pat chicken dry inside and out. Make your garlic butter with garlic and margarine (or butter if you prefer). Use the seasoning to rub the chicken inside and out, gently lifting the skin to rub the breast and the joint of the thighs. Repeat with garlic butter making sure that you leave a layer of butter between the breast and skin. At this point the chicken can be refrigerated till next day.

Stuff the chicken with your favourite stuffing and place breast down on rack in pan with water (but not touching water) and roast slowly at 325F till back and thighs are golden, about 2 hours. Turn on back and roast for a further hour or so till done. Test thigh to check if juices run clear. If roasted on a low heat the chicken will not be overdone but will be tender and juicy and skin will be crisp, it won't be greasy.

Serve with your favourite potatoes and vegetables. I like to add something sweet like Plantain or Pumpkin Fritters.

Have a glass or two and Bon Appetit!

Cath