sometimes you just have to detach yourself from the crowd and be a little different...
44 Comments on Illustration Friday - Detach, last added: 9/8/2008
Display Comments
Add a Comment
new posts in all blogs
By: Kathy Hare ,
on 8/19/2008
Blog: kathy hare illustration (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: boy, hanging, different, branch, crowd, Add a tag
sometimes you just have to detach yourself from the crowd and be a little different...
By: Paintgranny,
on 10/17/2006
Blog: Middle of Nowhere (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: plucking pheasants, game smell, pheasant stew, hanging, Add a tag
After much Googling, I rang a friend. We discussed 'ways with roadkill' until I had decided to prepare it after only one days hanging. Although the internet threw up some basics of plucking and drawing, I couldn't find a really detailed description. So I turned to Hugh, as he's known in our house. He is the chap who knows everything meatwise and 'The River Cottage Meat Book' gave me just what I wanted - step by step instructions clear enough for a novice pheasant plucker.
Day two and there was a bit of a pong in our tiny kitchen. I got a black bin liner, changed into a tee-shirt, put an audio book on the cassette player and began. Holding the legs firmly, I plucked small fingerfuls of neck feathers, working my way up the bird. The skin was quite thin and despite my gentleness, it tore in places. Round the wings was a bit tricky, and by the time I got to the business end I discovered the source of the strange aroma filtering through The Hovel. Holding my breath, I defeathered the rest of the bird, including the slimey bit at its bottom, and transported it to the kitchen to draw - or gut - it. By now I was feeling a bit wobbly, having never been quite so intimate with a prospective meal. Chopping the extremities off was ok, though I missed the crop and had to manually clean it out. I can only decribe the final gutting as - an experience. I tried to get round the inevitable by spooning the cavity out, but in the end, Hugh was right again, and I plunged my hand inside to get the final bits of glop out. It reeked. Really. Sickeningly. It was worse than dead badger. I rinsed the inside out, plucked out any remaining quills and put the kettle on. The whole process had taken about an hour and twenty minutes. Time for a cup of tea.
It was very small. Casserole seemed the best option. I rubbed it inside and out with cinnamon and chutney, and added about ten crushed juniper berries. It marinaded for 24 hours in the fridge. Then it went into the slow cooker on 'high' for a morning, with a couple of pints of water By now my nose was highly sensitive to any noisome odour and I could still detect a faint whiff of inner pheasant. I removed the meat from the main body and discarded the carcass, as gutty remnants still clung to the bones. Leaving the wings and legs to stew some more, I added two fat cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs, a handful of pumpkin seeds, two handfuls of unsalted cashew nuts, a slug of sweet chilli sauce, ditto of brown (HP) sauce, a beef stock cube, gravy granules to thicken, and a couple of bay leaves. Then I sauteed a small aubergine in sesame oil and a red onion in balsamic vinegar, which also went into the pot. Left all afternoon on a low setting, it gently simmered as I got on with making a bread dough. Instead of using sugar or honey in my warm water mix, I used black treacle, which gives the bread a rich, sweetish taste. As usual, I used flour from the mill down the road, FWP Matthews. When the loaf was baked, it was brushed with olive oil, giving it a softer crust. The final step was to remove the last few bones from the casserole, before serving.
It was, if I say so myself, a rather good supper. Even Clover got a small helping. Though by the cross look on her face, I think she would have preferred the whole bird, in its original state.
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: hanging, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 2 of 2
By: Kathy Hare ,
on 8/19/2008
Blog: kathy hare illustration (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: boy, hanging, different, branch, crowd, Add a tag
sometimes you just have to detach yourself from the crowd and be a little different...
By: Paintgranny,
on 10/17/2006
Blog: Middle of Nowhere (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: plucking pheasants, game smell, pheasant stew, hanging, Add a tag
The countryside resonates with the whirring wings and squawks of panicked pheasants, released into the surrounding country estate in time for the shooting season. Unpenned and unused to their relative freedom, they have no road sense at first, and many lie at the sides of roads, squashed, with a few sad tail feathers pointing to the sky. But not this one...this was still warm and in one piece. Almost perfect. So in keeping with my aims to source our meat locally (and you don't get more local than a mile down the road) I popped it in in my bike basket and covered it with my fleece. Waste not, want not. Although it is quite legal to pick them up when they have been hit by a vehicle, (unless you were driving it, in which case it is illegal to bag your victim) there are usually gamekeepers and estate workers going up and down the lanes. Best not to invite argument.
I hung the bird in the backyard, until some rustlings betrayed fat Clover, seen waddling down the garden path in hasty retreat with a long feather sticking from the side of her jaws. Into the kitchen it came...but how long to hang it for, in this unseasonably warm weather?
After much Googling, I rang a friend. We discussed 'ways with roadkill' until I had decided to prepare it after only one days hanging. Although the internet threw up some basics of plucking and drawing, I couldn't find a really detailed description. So I turned to Hugh, as he's known in our house. He is the chap who knows everything meatwise and 'The River Cottage Meat Book' gave me just what I wanted - step by step instructions clear enough for a novice pheasant plucker.
Day two and there was a bit of a pong in our tiny kitchen. I got a black bin liner, changed into a tee-shirt, put an audio book on the cassette player and began. Holding the legs firmly, I plucked small fingerfuls of neck feathers, working my way up the bird. The skin was quite thin and despite my gentleness, it tore in places. Round the wings was a bit tricky, and by the time I got to the business end I discovered the source of the strange aroma filtering through The Hovel. Holding my breath, I defeathered the rest of the bird, including the slimey bit at its bottom, and transported it to the kitchen to draw - or gut - it. By now I was feeling a bit wobbly, having never been quite so intimate with a prospective meal. Chopping the extremities off was ok, though I missed the crop and had to manually clean it out. I can only decribe the final gutting as - an experience. I tried to get round the inevitable by spooning the cavity out, but in the end, Hugh was right again, and I plunged my hand inside to get the final bits of glop out. It reeked. Really. Sickeningly. It was worse than dead badger. I rinsed the inside out, plucked out any remaining quills and put the kettle on. The whole process had taken about an hour and twenty minutes. Time for a cup of tea.
It was very small. Casserole seemed the best option. I rubbed it inside and out with cinnamon and chutney, and added about ten crushed juniper berries. It marinaded for 24 hours in the fridge. Then it went into the slow cooker on 'high' for a morning, with a couple of pints of water By now my nose was highly sensitive to any noisome odour and I could still detect a faint whiff of inner pheasant. I removed the meat from the main body and discarded the carcass, as gutty remnants still clung to the bones. Leaving the wings and legs to stew some more, I added two fat cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs, a handful of pumpkin seeds, two handfuls of unsalted cashew nuts, a slug of sweet chilli sauce, ditto of brown (HP) sauce, a beef stock cube, gravy granules to thicken, and a couple of bay leaves. Then I sauteed a small aubergine in sesame oil and a red onion in balsamic vinegar, which also went into the pot. Left all afternoon on a low setting, it gently simmered as I got on with making a bread dough. Instead of using sugar or honey in my warm water mix, I used black treacle, which gives the bread a rich, sweetish taste. As usual, I used flour from the mill down the road, FWP Matthews. When the loaf was baked, it was brushed with olive oil, giving it a softer crust. The final step was to remove the last few bones from the casserole, before serving.
It was, if I say so myself, a rather good supper. Even Clover got a small helping. Though by the cross look on her face, I think she would have preferred the whole bird, in its original state.
0 Comments on Pheasant stew from scratch as of 1/1/1970
Add a Comment
Absolutely! Now if only more kids understood how true that message is! Beautiful illo!
A+ dorable!!
Love it!
Agreed...superb and Adorable!
Beautiful and brilliant. I love the touch of color!
Absolutely blown away!!!We love the monochrome imagery!!!EXCELLENT REPRESENTATION XXX XXX
Lovely, I like the bit of color around him, it really makes him stand out. Well done!
Lovely with the blue sky aura around him.
Great. Great illo !
what an adorable message for kids. love how you set this up with the juxtaposed b/w and color character. wonderful illo!
Oh my GOSH, that's SO WONDERFUL! Such an inspirational message told in an incredibly cute way. This is detached at its best.
love the use of color and b/w in this piece. and the children are adorable!
This is a wonderful illustration! My favorite part is the upside down boy in color! Your line work is superb! Your characters are so cute and adorable! What a great take on this week's theme!
It's wonderful. I love your take on detach. The contrast of the color against the gray is very nice. My DH was looking over my shoulder this morning as I was checking out your blog. He usually isn't that impressed with other art blogs. He's a business guy who puts up with being dragged to art galleries. Well, you impressed him. He especilally likes your Illustration Friday "Poof!" Me too :)
Very nice! I totally agree.
nice nice i like the kid on the tree very much!!! :D
Well but this is not little different. This is the greatest way to detach oneself from the crowd.
Brilliant illustration as always!
This is so wonderful! So creative! It's a great way to be detached. :)
Great take on the theme! I love your style.
WOW Kathy!!! This is wonderful! What a great piece!
...and let your belly show!
so cute!
Wow, excellent concept and drawing! One of the best for this week!
adorable illustration :)
love the color pencil rendering!
Amen to that! This is especially wonderful. Love the color on b&w. Fantastico!
Absolutely!!!
Adorable, Kathy!
Cata
this is absolutely fantastic! I love the absents of color and then color on and around one child. this is so inspiring! Love your blog and website.
Brilliant.
this is superb...I think the juxtaposition of color and B&W really adds to the spirit of the piece...
WOW !!!!
Thanks for your comment on my blog kathy - your work is truly amazing!
This is brilliant. LOVE your use of color on this one. Wow!
Thankyou so much for your comments, I really appreciate all of your kind words.. :)
Very nice and beautiful illustration. I like the way you use color to make a statement that he is 'detach' from others. Very smart. Cool/.
That beautiful illustrations! are so delicate and beautiful your work is the first step in here and I will come more often, your work is very precious, very expressive, you're really a great artist.
Greetings, Pau.
Aw, Man! Kathy, you do beautiful pictures!
Absolutely fantastic! Love the detail.. perfect.
I think I just found another favorite site!! I love your work. It's very beautiful.
Beautifully done and very meaningful.
oh my gosh, i just hiked over from bella's blog and i'm so glad i did. this is SUPER! and how true is this... so priceless is the one willing to stand out from the others. beautiful job :)
Great job,love it so much!!!!!!!!
This is wonderful ! Sorry I missed it last week.
Another great illustration Kathy, I look forward to your posts every week!
Cool! Love the monochrome with a touch of color.
true indeed. i love this!
Oh, this is wonderful! Sorry I missed it the other week. :-)
I love your colouring! you have very interesting style and wonderful ideas!