The Pull of the Blog

Every time I think I’m going to abandon the blog, it just pulls me back in. And then I have to play catch up and write a monster post (like this one) that encapsulates weeks of ideas and meals.

Last weekend, "Bob" and I made a huge batch of chicken pot pies. We used our usual recipe, but amended it slightly by adding an extra cup of chicken stock (because we had it) and an extra cup (or two) of chicken meat (because I wanted to use it up quickly). Well, all those little bits of "extra" made a LOT of pot pie filling. That was fine, I now have plenty of bakeware for single serve pot pies, but I should’ve made extra dough. To conserve dough, we filled some of the Emile Henri bowls we normally use (two servings in each bowl for the price of one crust). For the record, the single serving sizes look awesome in all the Fishs Eddy bakeware I've acquired over the past few years.

We ate one of the pot pies that night, and still the freezer is packed. I also made a tragic mistake. Some frozen pizza was left out in the refrigerator overnight. I meant to keep it there for only an hour or so--until the tops of the pot pies firmed up so that they could support the weight of the pizza. I forgot and went to bed. While making coffee the next morning, I realized the pizza was done for since you shouldn't refreeze foods. The pizza has since been donated to Iz’s dog Kiki. He eats anything (including, unfortunately, an unsuspecting possum or two).

We’ve also been having yogurt parfaits for breakfast on the weekends. To a ½ cup (each) of vanilla yogurt (organic) we add a bunch of fruit (typically, fresh berries and canned pineapple) and either GrapeNuts or my homemade muesli/granola. We’ve also been using our new electric kettle and our old(er) French press and Mr. Coffee coffee grinder. Before decommissioning our old electric coffee maker (which had an internal coffee grinder), I used the Mr. Coffee coffee grinder for grinding spices. I dread the day that I’ll need to grind some mustard seeds. With my electric grinder completely coffee-encrusted and infused, I’ll have to use the mortar and pestle and put my back into it.

Last weekend, I also made my second batch of homemade yogurt. I never blogged about my first batch. That’s because it was nothing outstanding. I have a rule I try to follow: When making something for the first time, follow the recipe exactly. It’s not because I think that recipes as written are always better (okay, "Bob’?), it’s just that I like to have a baseline (or, control) to work off of (ah, the beauty of the scientific method).

With that in mind, I followed the recipe that came with my Salton yogurt maker (yay Christmas!). My maker is the 1-quart Model No. YM-9 (it has one big tub instead of several small glass jars). The basic recipe calles for 4 cups milk (whole, 2%, 1%, or skim), plus 1/4 to 1/2 cup no-fat dry powder (I think I used 1/4 cup). You also need 1/2 cup plain yogurt (to act as a starter). I used Stonyfield plain nonfat yogurt and Alba dry milk, which I had left over from a failed, make-your-own cocoa mix experiment (I wanted to control the sweetness and sugar content…turns out mine had more of everything--sugar and calories--than Swiss Miss).

The rest of the yogurt maker instructions are relatively easy. Combine milk and dry milk in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently to just below boiling point. That's the tricky part. How do you know something is almost boiling? Boiling is obvious. But almost boiling? That's tough. So, I searched around (Internet and cookbooks) and apparently, milk is just before the boiling point when tiny bubbles form at the edges and steam rises off the surface. When that point is reached, you take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool until lukewarm (between 100 and 110 degrees F). Then you prewarm the yogurt maker and add the plain yogurt to the warm milk, stirring gently to blend. Pour the mixture into the yogurt container and process from 4 to 10 hours. The longer it "cooks," the thicker and tarter the yogurt becomes. After processing, it should be partially set. Then chill at least 2 hours. It will thicken further in the fridge.

The verdict: Honestly, I think I surpassed "almost boiling," but it worked anyway. The yogurt was thick, but I could taste the dry milk. Just as you sometimes get a bit of freezer burn taste from old ice cream, I could taste the Alba. Yuck.

After those lackluster results, it took me a while, but I finally got around to making another batch last weekend. This time I made it with yogurt culture (my semi-friendly neighborhood Williams Sonoma keeps a stash in the storeroom; you have to ask for it). I followed the culture's instructions as best as I could. I had to recalculate everything since the culture (Euro Cuisine) recipe called for 42 oz of milk, and my maker can only accomodate 32 oz. Instead of the entire packet of culture (5 g), I weighed out 4 g. After that, the basic instructions are: heat milk to 180 degrees F (which I presume is just before boiling) and then cool to 111 to 113 degrees F. Place the lukewarm milk into a pitcher and stir in the culture and lightly stir with a whisk until dissolved (hint: premix some of the lukewarm mix with the yogurt culture in a small bowl first, and then add this mixture the rest of the milk).

After 4.5 hours in the yogurt maker and 2 hours in the refrigerator, the yogurt was tasty but very thin. So, I decided to strain it. There are at least two ways to do this: wrap the yogurt in a double layer of cheesecloth and suspend it over a bowl in the fridge OR line a colander with 3 layers of paper towel and pour the yogurt over that and let it drain for 3 to 4 hours. Since the question of how to suspend a ball of yogurt over a bowl in the refrigerator proved too complicated for me that night, I opted for the more straightforward paper-towel-colander method. Wow, after 3 hours, the yogurt lost 75% of its volume! Where I once had a quart of yogurt, all that remained was a single cup. (And since I used too shallow of a plate under the colander, a lot of the watery whey wound up on the kitchen floor. Next time I'll nestle the colander in another bowl or in a casserole dish).

Though much reduced in size, the remaining yogurt was delicious. I also used it later in the week as an accompaniment to the soup that "Bob" made: black-eyed pea and tomato broth. The soup was delicious but was way too hot because of some mighty powerful jalapeno pepper. The yogurt cooled it just enough, and the tartness was a nice touch with one of the soup's other prominent ingredients: lemon juice. I'll try and post the recipe at a later date. (FYI: "Bob" had made it once before without the pepper and it we had enjoyed it much more that time, which is preciseely why he doesn't always bother following recipes to the letter.)

As luck would have it, The New York Times had this article about homemade yogurt this week. Good information all. But I’ve been doing additional research. I'm on the hunt for a better culture that will assure a thicker yogurt and will post about it. The next time I make yogurt, I'll also post pictures of the entire process.

Menu a la Week: 8/24/08 - 8/30/08

I'll be making pickles again tonight. That'll finish off the cucumbers, and some dill I had tucked away in a Pyrex dish lined with paper towel. Tonight's stir fry should finish up most of the vegetables.

Some other weekend updates...The compost bins are looking good. Still no homemade soil but I think the first barrel is getting there (left) and the second barrel is still relatively new:

The tomatoes are also looking great. The romas are much more abundant than the Rutgers. According to my friend Louise, I was supposed to pinch them back; if I had, I'd probably have a lot more tomatoes on the way. Now the Rutgers plants are bushy, instead of fruit laden. Luckily I planted two of them.

Menu 8/22/08 - 8/30/08
Sunday August 22, 2008
Vegetable stir fry with lime-hoisin sauce over brown rice

Monday August 23, 2008
Soup du jour with slaw (cabbage, fresh fennel, and carrot)

Tuesday August 24, 2008
Tuna salad sandwiches and salad

Wednesday August 25, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad

Thursday August 26, 2008
Soup du jour and salad or sandwich

Menu a la Week: 6/14/08 - 6/20/08

Now for a very special menu. The freezer is overstuffed so it's time to clean it out. The best way to do that is to eat through as much of the frozen food as we can (including that ice cream in the upper right-hand corner). So, no new cooking for this week. To make this week even easier, we won't be home for dinner every night.

Our first CSA delivery is scheduled for this week. Rumor has it there will be lots of lettuce.

Menu 6/14/08 - 6/20/08
Saturday June 14, 2008
Turkey sausage with toast

Sunday June 15, 2008
Father's Day (eating out!)

Monday June 16, 2008
Turkey meatloaf and vegetables (or salad)

Tuesday June 17, 2008
Macbeth play (dinner out)

Wednesday June 18, 2008
Spinach pie and salad (dinner all by my lonesome)

Thursday June 19, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad

Friday June 20, 2008
Asparagus soup and salad

Fishs Eddy Expedition

Since the chicken pot pie we ate tonight was only "individual size" in name only, I went to Fishs Eddy at lunch today in search of true single-serve ovenware for baking future pot pies. At this very quirky housewares store, I bought six dishes: four (two oval-shaped bakers with tab handles and a set of two smaller oval dishes without any handles) were made by Hall ($2.99 each), and the other two (round with tab handles) were from Syracuse China ($4.99 each). The store didn't have many of the Syracuse dishes left (there were only a few marked up ones remaining), which means, given my luck, those will probably work the best for my pot pies. Feeling guilty about the number of paper cups I use for coffee at work each day, I also bought a large "notebook" design mug. Visit Fishs Eddy at 19th and Broadway for all sorts of interesting dishes and glassware or online at http://www.fishseddy.com/.

One last note: I haven't been including the nutrition information for the last few recipes I've posted. It takes time to calculate that information, so it will be posted later this week when I have a bit more time.

One Chicken Pot Pie for Two

Tonight's chicken pot pie is so big that even though it's too good to share, you really should if you want to walk, and not waddle, away from the table.

I've adapted this recipe from one by "Barefoot Contessa" Ina Garten. I've made this before and I knew that it would amount to too much of a good thing. The first time I used four 18-oz. Apilco lion's head bowls. So, this time I used smaller bowls: five 16-oz. Emile Henry lion's head bowls (yes, I have a lot of lion's head bowls), and still it made too much. My husband and I shared one of the pies tonight, and it was plenty (as the pictures show). So, by my calculations, this recipe makes enough for 10 servings, not 4.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we made the chicken stock for this recipe from two chicken carcasses hanging around in the freezer. The chicken meat also came from one of those already-cooked-and-eaten birds. After we had eaten the breasts, I picked the bones clean and saved as much meat (white and dark) that I could for future meals. (Don't worry, the next time I do this I'll write about it and take many pictures.)

The pot pie recipe was adapted from Ina Garten's recipe that was online at the Food Network at some point; I can't find it in any of her books that I own (and I'm pretty sure I have them all).

Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 10

4 cups of cooked white and dark chicken meat (shredded and/or chopped)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 cups homemade chicken stock
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups unpeeled, diced carrots (blanched for 2 minutes)
2 cups of frozen peas
1.5 cups frozen pearl onions
1/2 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley leaves

For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1.5 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/4 pound cold butter (unsalted), diced
2/3 cup ice water (you might not use it all)
1 egg

Directions
Make the filling:
1. In a small sauce pan, over medium to medium-high heat, dissolve the bouillon cubes in the chicken stock as you heat the stock.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until translucent.
3. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then add the heated chicken stock to this mixture.
4. Simmer over low heat for another minute, stirring until thick. Add the salt, pepper, and heavy cream, then mix in the chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley.

Make the pastry:
5. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor (with the metal blade already in it).
6. Add the shortening (in bits) and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour.
7. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is in small pieces and the entire mixture looks crumbly.
8. Add the ice water while the processor is on and stop when the dough just comes together (when most of it suddenly clumps together on the blade).
9. Knead the dough quickly into a ball on a floured pastry board (don't overdo this!).
10. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Assemble:
11. Divide the dough among 5 or 10 ovenpoof bowls (like pretty Apilco or Emile Henry lion's head bowls) and roll out until about an 1/8-inch thick (or maybe a bit thicker or thinner depending on the ovenware you are using.
12. Wash the tops of the bowls with the beaten egg and pastry brush.
13. One at a time lay the dough on the top of the each bowl, then crimp the dough over the top edge of each bowl to secure it. I pinch the dough along the top edge with my thumb (placed along the inside rim of the bowl) and forefinger (positioned along the outside the rim of bowl), essentially pinching the top of the bowl AND the dough between my fingers. This method leaves a depression along the inside edge while creating a raised, puffy center.

If you are freezing your pot pies for another day, stop here. Carefully wrap in aluminum foil and put in a freezer bag. Then store the pies in the freezer. Defrost in the refrigerator a day or two before baking.

Bake:
14. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle Kosher salt and fresh black pepper on top. Slit the tops (to vent for steam) and bake on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to an hour at 375 degrees, until the top is golden and the filling hot (about 145 degrees).

Note: Be careful of the pearl onions! They might be extremely hot in the center (like little balls of napalm).

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: 711; Carbohydrates: 49 g; Protein: 25 g; Fat: 45 g; Cals./g: 1
*Points:

Menu a la Week: 5/25/08 - 5/30/008

As promised, here's the inaugural edition of Menu a la Week. This feature is a list of the meal plans I devise every week to make shopping and cooking just a bit easier and more time efficient (I work in New York City and get home after 6 p.m. on most evenings, so knowing what's for dinner days in advance is a big help).

Often, the menu will feature items that get "reused/recycled" throughout the week. Some meals are already sitting in the freezer (or some major parts of a dinner are in there), and others will be cooked on a weekend day and then retooled as the week progresses. During the week, meals from scratch are limited to what can be cooked—or thrown together—quickly.

Each day, I'll post the recipes for what we've cooked (or links/references) as well as the best information I have regarding the nutritional content (often using Internet reources). Breakfast and lunch are usually some combination of yogurt, fruits, cereals, organic breakfast bars, hard-boiled eggs (well, the whites at any rate), sandwiches, salads, and, I admit, the occassional NYC bought—and not brought—lunch. In the future, I'll likely post about those meals as well.

Below is the dinner menu for the week of Sunday May 25, 2008 to Friday May 30, 2008. I may choose to substitute any of these dinners for another (it helps to be flexible). Asparagus is featured as it's in season and, of course, Memorial Day features a grilled meal. The dinners for this Thursday and Friday are planned as light meals because one of those nights, my husband will be meeting up with me in the city for the SOFA (International Exposition of Sculpture Objects Functional Art) exhibit at the Park Avenue Armory. We'll either eat out or fix tuna sandwiches when we get home.

Menu 5/25/08 - 5/30/08
Sunday May 25, 2008
Asparagus soup and small sandwiches (goat cheese and prosciutto?)

Monday May 26, 2008 (Memorial Day)
Grilled chicken (enough for several days)
Grilled Asparagus
Grilled potato wedges

Tuesday May 27, 2008
Asparagus soup and salad

Wednesday May 28, 2008
Chicken Pot Pies (already in the freezer!)

Thursday May 29, 2008
Tuna or other light sandwiches

Friday May 30, 2008
Grilled chicken Caesar salad

Work Day at the CSA

Today was a work day for our CSA (the Westfield Area CSA's home page is at http://westfieldareacsa.wordpress.com/). Our farmer, John Krueger of Starbrite Farms in Hardwick, N.J. (and also Good Hand Farm in Andover, N.J.), put us to work on the greenhouse—a humongous stainless steel frame structure (think airplane-hanger size) in the middle of a field. We needed to cover it with a plastic tarp. It was, for all intents and purposes, a modern-day barn-raising.

It took us hours to get the pre-existing frame covered in plastic. I wouldn't be suprised if it took less than half the time for wood barns to be put up the old-fashioned way. Though we had more than 20 people participating (most were members of John's CSAs, though a handful were farmhands), we had our difficulties. Most of us surbanites really didn't know what we were doing. No wonder we had to do it twice. It's probably best to just blame it on the wind.

After attaching hoist lines to the tarp with clips, about half the group stood on the south side of the greenhouse. One by one the lines (tied to stout sticks for weight) were thrown to John, who was hanging in the steel-tube rafters like a tightrope walker about 15 to 16 feet off the ground (which looked a lot higher to my eyes!). John would catch each rope then toss it over the center and topmost rib of the greenhouse, making sure it cleared all the other horizontal steel "ribs." A person on the northside of the greenhouse would then secure the rope to the frame temporarily. There were 11 lines in all.

The plan? To hoist the tarp up and over the topmost center support of the greenhouse, in effect, covering the entire top in clear plastic. As John, my husband, and another guy climbed around the rafters, I stood on a five-foot-high platform. Our job was to "scooch" the tarp up towards the center. As the people on the southside of the greenhouse helped unfold it, those on the northside would pull on the lines, dragging the tarp towards them. The whole operation required some finessing as just pulling on the lines to drag it over all at once could result in the tarp ripping, rendering it useless. So those of us on ladders, scaffolds, and in the rafters had to simultaneoulsy pull, hold, and guide the tarp towards the topmost support.

The tarp's leading edge had nearly cleared the entire center support, when suddenly a fierce wind kicked up. The tarp bellowed and flapped. Many of the clips tore through the plastic and the lines and tarp were ripped from most people's hands. After all that work, we had to start over.

We were disappointed but one CSA member suggested that as the wind was blowing northward, it'd be best if we hoist it up from that side instead. It worked. It wasn't easy and we still had the wind to contend with, but we got it up and over and then secured the plastic to the frame using a steel wire and track system.

We learned from John that this greenhouse will be used for drying onions and keeping a future crop of heirloom tomatoes (which are predisposed to fungal dieseases) out of the humidity and rain.

The CSA work day was originally supposed to be last weekend but the tarp hadn't arrived and the weather forecast was for rain. So my husband and I put last Saturday (May 17) to good use: we cleaned out our freezer. It is no longer the avalanche risk it once was. Several months' worth of bread heels, ends, and stale slices were baked and dried, including a Bobolink Dairy woodfired round loaf, some Calendra's panella bread, and bit of rosemary epi from Bobolink (Check out Bobolink Dairy at http://www.cowsoutside.com/). I varied the temperature but mostly kept it at 250 degrees. I tried grinding it up in our new blender (as suggested by some other web sites and blogs), but that was largely unsuccessful. The top slices never found there way down to the bottom and, therefore, the blade. I wound up using the food processor (which I had been trying to avoid). I have almost 1.5 lbs of unseasoned breadcrumb now tucked away in a plastic freezer bag in the freezer; it probably takes up a twentieth of the space all that bread occupied.

My husband made chicken stock from the two frozen chicken carcasses (one from a dinner in November and the other, a much smaller organic chicken, from a roasted chicken meal we had in March) and a bunch of leek leavings, some frozen diced peppers, onion skins, and some other vegetables and herbs that were laying around. In all, he made 14 cups of chicken stock. About 4 cups of the stock was the basis for some chicken pot pies I made later that Tuesday.

Chicken Stock
14 cups

2 tablespoons olive oil
16 cups water
2 chicken carcasses
½ bunch of celery
¼ cup frozen peppers
2 carrots
8 onion peels
6 bunches of leek tops
12 peppercorns
½ bunch dill (fistful)
¼ cup white wine (optional, for deglazing only)

Directions
1. Heat olive oil and brown chicken bones.
2. Add vegetables and cook until soft.
3. Deglaze pan with water (or white wine if you have any on hand).
4. Pour in 16 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours, replacing liquid as needed.
5. Strain stock and let cool.