Winter has arrived which means it’s time to start using the slow cooker regularly.
For me, the main appeal of the slow cooker, aside from tender meat, is tossing all the food in with no prep.
I would probably love a Thermomix (but not for 1200.00 euro)…..
For now I am very happy with the results from my little slow cooker even without the suggested browning and pre-cooking.
Chicken with Tomatoes and Capers, Slow Cooker
Total time: 5 hours
Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs, skinless
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs capers
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp lemon pepper salt
- 1 tsp marjoram
- 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) tomatoes, peeled, chopped
Instructions:
- Put onion and celery in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Lay chicken on top.
- Sprinkle capers, paprika, marjoram and lemon juice over chicken.
- Top with tomatoes.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 1/2 – 5 hours.
- When ready, remove to a platter and serve.
Last week when I was playing tourist we visited one of our local wineries.
Chateau Monbazillac is near Bergerac. One can tour the chateau, taste wines and enjoy the views overlooking the city. One of our favorites is a sweet wine that is lovely with foie gras…. In case you’re wondering.
We’ve been in the chateau several times and each time there is something new – more furniture, more art, etc.
But this time I saw something that totally baffled me:
I have no idea if it’s a sculpture or a toy.
It looks like a skull attached to 2 twisted human lower legs with a hand at the end.
Or not.
It has antlers and tiny hands (no comments, please…) below the head and a string in the foot-hand (hand-foot?) attached to balloons.
On one side is the usual sign saying ‘Do not touch’.
On the other sign it says ‘Le Sergon’..
I have not been able to find anything, in French or English, to give me a clue as to what ‘Le Sergon’ is or means.
Any help?
It looks like it should be a mythical creature or something from a fairy tale (or monster tale).
I remain clueless.
And it’s so ugly…..
And why is it on a rug?
Any ideas?
Yes that Sergon thingy was definitely out of place ….very weird ! Loved that chateaux….loved everything about my visit with you….xxxx….thankyou for playing tourist with me !
Love having you… I’m so glad you finally made it – and do come again soon so I have an excuse to play some more!
My guess is that Sergon is an amalgamation of the names of two different creatures and this is a chimera of some sort. I would say it is modern and made to reference the taxidermied and mummified scientific fakes that popped up in the 16-19C from time to time. There’s a famous one of a ‘mermaid’ but I can’t remember which collection holds it.
Ahhh – like a jackalope! I never thought of that. I really couldn’t determine if it was modern or old. If it was modern they did a good job of making it look old and decrepit, but parts of it seemed more modern in construction. Now I need to go back for a closer look. Thanks for the info!
Ha and here I was thinking it was just designed to raise eyebrows and questions. Very cool.
Well, if that was its purpose it succeeded lol
Modern artworks can be so out there! Did anyone at the winery know anything about it? It looks so out of place in such an elegant setting.
Um…. by the time we got to the winery we had other things on our mind (like wine) and never thought to ask. Good idea, though…
There’s an artist on Deviant Art by the name Sergon. I’m a member and he occasionally pops up in my feed. He does oddball things like that on canvas. Maybe someone decided to do a 3D in his honor.
We have a very tiny little winery about 5 miles from me that makes the most exquisite Cranberry wine…it’s absolutely wonderful and so smooth…but they don’t have weird things like Le Sergon. Just tastings, lunch…normal stuff 😉
I learned yesterday that there had been an art show at the chateau during the summer. This could be leftover…. My mother used to make great rhubarb wine. Cranberry wine sounds interesting.