A Chicken In Every Pot

I bought a whole frozen chicken from the local meat company (that will also process wild kill like boars and deers) the other day. And it defrosted in the fridge this week whilst I was too busy at work to do anything with it anyway.

  

So today I got out the old hacking knife and scissors and made the bird into pieces. Wings, thighs, and backbone found their way to stock pot. Legs and double breast were roasted. 

  

All cooked now with a rack of baby backs as well. I'm deep into protein this week. 

  

What to do with the stock, I wonder. Since my guy has dietary restrictions, as in no meat stock, it's all mine. I hope it gelatinizes. I love jellied stock. When that happens, I feel like I'm eating just plain goodness!

  

Well I'm off to hunt for a few good recipes of comfort food. Perhaps chicken and dumplings.

Perhaps homemade noodle soup. Perhaps mashed potatoes and groovy gravy.

Mashed Potato Chicken Pot Pie

For lunch today I decided to make these little pot pies. I have a set of six little ramekins purchased at the kitchen store awhile back. They are about the size for creme brule. 

  

This is sort of a Shepard's pie interpretation. First I make the mashed potatoes and set aside. I finely dice shallots, celery, and carrots, and saute them in butter. Add cubed cooked chicken that was leftover from our chicken dinner the night before. 

  

Next I assemble the pot pies. I add some meat and vegetable mixture to each ramekin, filling it up about halfway. To each ramekin I add a tablespoon of jar chicken gravy. 

  

Now I get a Ziploc or such large baggie and scoop in a good amount of mashed potato. Snip off a corner and extrude the potatoes in a way where each dish will have little peaky peaks that will get golden brown. Add finely grated Parmesan to the top.

  

Cook in a dish that will collect any overflow at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. 

A small tasty bite for lunch.

Two Cadillacs On The Rocks No Salt

Chips and salsa too. I love Mexican food, even the Americanized version, all cheesy and gooey. However I must say a good fish taco on a sunny day with warm white sand between my toes can make me twirl.

Miso Soup

I followed a recipe from epicurious.com and added wakame. The end result was quite a bit whiter than what I'm use to at the restaurant. So I've decided to try again using red miso and firmer tofu.