Spent most of Saturday cooking. The January birthday dinner was at Wilcox and our charge was scallop potatoes.
January birthday dinner? It should be noted that JQ and my younger sister manage to celebrate their January birthdays for at least a month and that accounts for this February dinner in their honor. It is basically a potluck affair, with the main course being ham so I figured scallop potatoes were called for.
Broke out the mandoline … before there was the Cuisinart or even the Robot-coupe the way you mass produced consistant slices was with a Mandoline (which is still the tool of choice). Nothing works better at production slicing especially potatos. It should be noted it is also considered by most chefs as a very dangerous tool.
There was also some left over chicken stock from a delicious fresh soup Gisela made thursday and pie crust discs in the freezer from holiday baking. JQ suggested we mass produce chicken pot pies. Thus the day in the kitchen. This was a hand chopping project, wanted lots of vegies. Started with a Saute of diced onion to the point of browning, add garlic with a crush of fresh tyme, oregano and of course chicken breast cubed. After the chicken had seared I deglazed the pan with some sherry added the vegies and stock just about to cover. Simmered until the vegies were almost done, and then strained off the stock. To that now empty pan I added some butter and flour, cooked long enough to get that flour taste off the roux, hit it with a little more sherry and then the stock and whisked it to a gravy.
These tiny loaf pans held about 8oz (by weight) of the veg mixture and a 3 oz ladle of gravy. Topped with pie curst and then frozen and all but three packaged … had those three for Sunday dinner.
Our main garden plot is 60 feet by 33 feet and I know this because today I encircled it with fence posts. About a dozen 10 foot T-posts set on 16 foot centers. Once the fencing is in place and a single bare strand of wire around the top this will be our deer proof enclosure for vegetables and berries. I guess there was a football game of some note but this is how I spent my weekend …. js
Yum on the Chicken-Pot-Pies! And now you have a freezer full of these treasures. Great way to spend the day.