Ad Hoc: Chicken Pot Pie

Unlike the asparagus salad-thing, this was a giant pain in the ass.  I realized this as soon as I saw "simmer each of the vegetables in separate saucepans for 8-10 minutes.."  This said so... nonchalantly... could only mean a giant pain-in-the-behind recipe.

And it was.  BUT.  It was worth it.  And, in Keller's defense, if I had actually *read* (rather than skimmed) the recipe all the way through, I would have done things in a different order and saved roughly an hour of time.

Earlier in the day, I made pie crust and stuck it in the freezer.  Then forgot about it.  Tip #1 in not taking 3 1/2 hours to make pot pie: don't freeze your crust all the way through and then take it out when its time to roll the dough.

The filling: a bunch of veggies and some shredded chicken.  I had a thing of pre-made frozen shredded chicken which was a giant time-saver.  Yeah, the opposite of my fancy-free-range-hippy chicken from when I roasted a chicken, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have.

So, as I alluded to earlier, I peeled the carrots/onions (this wasn't mentioned anywhere, but I figured no one likes onion skins), cut these and the potatoes up, and boiled/simmered them one by one with a bay leaf, thyme sprig, and eight peppercorns.  Yes, EXACTLY 8.  Oh, and I had to cut and blanch some celery.  I realized early on that (1) I didn't have enough saucepans to do them at once and (2) it would take even long if I did them all at once, so I basically cooked each as I finished cutting and dumped them on a cookie sheet to cool.

I moved onto the next "step" in the instructions, the bechamel.  Obviously, i've made this before.  I did not think about the fact that it needed to cook for a total of 45 minutes - the same amount of time it took me to do all the veg - or else I would have started with that.  Tip #2 - do the bechamel first.  Then prep the veg.

The roux:

About the same time I started the bechamel, I realized my crusts were currently doubling as hockey pucks in the freezer, so I took those out to thaw.  Then I made toddler vegetables and chicken with a "cheese sauce" that consisted of me stealing some bechamel base (which was nowhere near thick), tossing in some gouda and melting it.  It was rather grainy, but he didn't mind.  Enough that he asked for seconds, and thirds, and I ended up just pouring a spoonful of bechamel over the veggies/chicken for his last serving.  Upon simmering and thickening, I strained into a measuring cup and tossed in the herbs and spices.

After baby was in bed, I rolled out the dough -

- then put in dish (one upside: no need for re-chilling the crust, since everything was done and it was still pretty cold).

I adore pie crust, so I wasn't cutting any away.  Instead I just brushed some extra egg on it and rolled it up.  I also poked the crust with my nails several times, whoops.

In the oven it went:

And out it came, an hour later.  As you can see, bechamel leaked through where my nails punctured.  Plus, it probably should have been a little thicker, but I didn't care to wait any longer to get the damned thing in the oven.

It.  Was.  Amazing.  The crust was buttery and flakey and a little more savory than pie crust usually is (maybe because the cream had soaked in?)  SO GOOD.  I ate seconds even though I was bursting because it was so good I didn't want to stop.  Mmm....

So, timesavers for anyone that tries this:  don't forget about your dough and over-chill (30 minute savings).  Start with the bechamel (45 minute saving).  And have enough saucepans on hand that you can cook 5 things at once (at least 20 minute savings).  With those, this is a reasonable dinner.  Otherwise... save it for a Sunday where you can cook allll day if you want.  And still have time to do the 40 million dishes you have spread over your sink and kitchen counters because your dishwasher broke.

Ad Hoc: Asparagus with Poached Egs, Prosciutto, and Croutons

This recipe, more than any other, fascinated me every time I thumbed by its picture.  As i've discussed before, i'm scared of poached eggs.  I had never eaten a poached egg before I embarked on this project.  Technically, I still hadn't eaten a poached chicken egg until I made this.  I've always been grossed out by runny yolks and salmonella and overly bright colors.  Poached eggs were the biggest offenders.  The SMELL of them made me gag.  I even used to make my dad make me scrambled eggs for our christmas/mother's day eggs benedict.  (sometimes I wonder how my parents tolerated feeding me as a kid)

Until.  Until this.  The picture that I kept coming back to.  I decided it was time to try a poached egg.

And you know what?  I DO like green eggs and ham... oh, wait.. poached eggs.  I couldn't eat a lot, they are too rich for me to even try, but I just LOVED this.  To bits.  So much that I even want to try real eggs benedict now (I still haven't figured out how i'm going to break this to my dad).

Not only was it delicious, it was easy.  Like 30 minutes to table easy.  At least as long as asparagus is in season, this may be a go-to for quick dinners.

Now... enough talk, lets see some pictures!  (even though I say this sequentially, I was really pretty much doing this all at once)

First, I ripped up some bread, heated up garlic oil (that I luckily still had on hand from the lamb), and made croutons.  I overcooked them a teensy bit - they cooked quick! - but they were still buttery-garlicky deliciousness.

Next, I poached the eggs.  And did a remarkably good job for such a newbie - no broken eggs!  My only issue was that Brandon bought extra large eggs instead of large, so I had to poke them around a bit to get the eggs around the yolk to cook through.

Finally, I threw some olive oil, salt, and pepper on the asparagus and grilled them in my grill pan.

Because I was in a hurry, I didn't put the eggs in an ice-bath, cut the white "tails" off, or reheat the eggs.  But they were fine anyways.

"Artfully" arranged on each of our plates after all of the elements were done, along with a little torn up prosciutto, a drizzle of balsamic, and a sprinkle of fleur de sel.

The verdict:  Brandon cleaned his plate.  I savored half, then said if I ate anymore I would be sick... so Brandon polished off my other half.  Like i've said before: human garbage disposal makes me feel better about food waste!

Ad Hoc: Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

Doesn't the title sound comforting and just what you need on a cold wintery day?

That's what I thought too, so I made it on like the only day in the last month that it actually rained.  I don't know if I was just in a crappy mood or what, but this disappointed a bit.  I mean, it was good... but it was just roast chicken.  And, since I made it with a ridiculous $4 a pound organic free range no-hormone hand-fed (ok, at this point I think i'm making things up) chicken, I expected more.

I will give it this though: it was pretty easy.  Easy enough to make on a weekday night.

First you chop up the vegetables - carrots, potatoes, leeks, turnips, rutabaga.  I admit: I had to ask the grovery store man for help finding a rutabaga.  I think those delightful but obscure root vegetables were my favorite part of the dish!

Second, I trussed the chicken.  Simple enough, even though I had serious issues with his wings staying put.

Toss the veg in a big pan (I used my massive cast iron one, since I thought it would be nice, but I think if I ever made this again I would use a bigger one); build a "nest" for the chicken; then in the oven it goes.   Oh, yeah, and put big chunks of butter for extra deliciousness (or trips to the gym: you chose which).

 At least the top part of the chicken looked pretty when it was done:

After the chickem "rested" for 20 minutes, I heated the veggies up and used the pan juices to glaze a bit.

The result: meh.  It was roasted chicken.

All in all, I don't know that I would do a chicken this way again.  Brandon thought it was too "thyme-y" (having him ask me how much thyme was in the dish/vegetables/chicken in four different ways because I thought he was asking how long things took was pretty funny) -- but I loved the thyme.  And the rutabagas, which were like sweeter potatoes.  That I picked out from the pan until all were gone.

Ad Hoc: Asparagus Coins

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that I didn't encounter until I was an adult (to the extent you consider 'being in college' being an adult).  I don't know if it was because growing up we were too poor to afford the $15 you'd need to spend to have enough asparagus for a family of six, or if it was just because it's a lot more common now.

The first time my roomate made asparagus, I was like 'wtf are those... branches... that you are asking me to eat?!'  But, somewhere along the way, I learned that I love it.  I'm pretty sure it is now my favorite vegetable.  Mostly because its so easy and versitile - just blanch, toss a little lemon, oil, salt and pepper, or throw on the grill for a few minutes, or quickly sautee it - lots of ways to cook, they are all tasty.

So, where was I going this?  Oh, yeah, asparagus coins!

When I first read the recipe, I was perplexed.  Parsley water?  Honey?  This was all as foreign as the idea of asparagus when I first tried it.  But you know what?  Much like asparagus itself, the first bite was a little foreign, but it grew on me.

So, lets get down to business:

First, parsley water: heat some oil, melt some honey (still perplexed), and wilt some parsley.  Or in my case, italian parsley, which I think makes a more attractive substitute.

See the sad, sad resulting parsley water?  Its because the recipe said to use a Vitamix, but I only had my sad, broken blender.  Fortunately my birthday isn't too far out... hint hint to my loyal reader - yeah, there is only one :)

Next, cut the asparagus ends off.  Then run small bundles over a mandoline.  Ad Hoc suggested using a rubber band to bind the asparagus together before running it over the top of the mandoline.  I didn't have any, so I just held small bundles very carefully.  Once I got halfway through the first bundle, I was terrified that I was going to lose a finger (Aside: this stems from the amazon reviews of my mandoline where person after person recounted horror stories of rushing people to the emergency room because they had severed tendons.  I was like 'DUDE, USE THE SAFETY THING AND YOU'LL BE FINE'... but, here I was, with no safety so I was convinced my thumb was a goner).  Luckily, I still have all fingers intact, plus I had pretty little coins!

Cooking it was a cinch.  I tossed in some (questionable) chive oil that I had left from a dinner, sauteed the asparagus tips for a minute or two

tossed the rounds in and sauteed for a minute or two

then put some parsley water in.  In another minute or two, all done!

Taste-wise, it was interesting.  Usually "interesting" is code for "you screwed it up but are trying to be polite"... but here, it really means interesting.  The sweetness of the honey really came through.  I can't remember ever eating sweet-tasting asparagus, so I was a little thrown.  It tasted good though.  And, even with threatening a limb, it was really quick.

Ad Hoc: Buttermilk Biscuits

In addition to the lamb I posted about, I made fresh buttermilk biscuits from Ad Hoc.  I was shocked to discover that it literally took 5 minutes longer than making bisquick biscuits, but tasted about ten times better (and i'm about a thousand times less likely to get angry throwing away yet another box of bisquick since the buggys got to it!)

Basically, I just dumped the dry ingredients into the food processor, and pulsed a couple of times to combine.

Then, I put in the butter (cut into pieces), and pulsed a few more times until it was incorporated.

Next, that whole mixture was dumped into a bowl.  I dug out a well, and threw in the buttermilk.

Finally, I mixed (mostly with my fingers, so I could tell when it was "just combined"), tossed on the mass onto the counter, and "patted" into something resembling a square.  Or maybe rectangle.

Biscuit cutter in action, then a little buttermilk on top, and into the oven they went!

17 minutes later, I had beautiful golden brown biscuits.

 The whole thing took 30 minutes from start to finish.  And more than half of that was cooking time!!!!  I'm making fresh homemade biscuits all the time now.  The end.

Ad Hoc: Herb-Crusted Lamb with Honey Mustard Glaze

Finally, i've managed to dive into Ad Hoc!

I think i've said this before, but i'm going to say it again: i'm not a fan of meat in general.  I agreed to make lamb for my husband because (1) I had some extra time (a little slow at work) and I felt like cooking, and (2) he tolerates the fact that we eat chicken or frozen food an average of 6 days a week.

That being said... this was fairly easy and (much to my surprise) incredibly delicious!  And, after cooking so many French Laundry dishes as of late, it was a snap.

First: I made breadcrumbs.  I was supposed to tear the crust off of my bread... but lets face it, i'm lazy.  So I decided to just use my food processor instead.

After drying, it was back into the food processor.

Second: garlic confit.  Peeling the garlic took me for-ev-er, mostly because I was doing it the "slow way" (the way in which I do not bang the cloves with a knife), afraid of damaging the cloves.  Then I realized that I could puree them if I wanted, so why would it matter if the clove was a little crushed?  First head of garlic: 20 minutes.  Next 3: 15 minutes total.  Doing the whole 'whack your knife on the garlic' trick is so much more time efficient!

After I peeled FOUR heads of garlic, threw them in with some oil and simmered away.

Third: mince some rosemary and parsley.




Fourth: honey-mustard glaze.  Just mix honey and mustard.  That was easy.

Fifth: Combine softened butter and garlic cloves (I omitted the anchovies, because, as i've stated, i'm NEVER voluntarily deboning an anchovy again!), then mix with the herb and breadcrumbs.

Sixth: quickly sear the fat-side of the meat, then pat down with breadcrumb mixture and put into oven.

Seven: let rest, then chow down on yummy chops!

Seriously, like I said above, i'm not a fan of meat.  This is especially true of lamb, since I always feel like its a little gamey.  But this, this was fabulous.  Meat was a perfect medium-rare, tender, not too bloody.  The crust was buttery and buttery, and how do you go wrong with buttery?  The thin layer of fat was broken down by the sear, so no gristle or anything to chomp through.  And best of all: it took maybe two hours - one of which was really just spent cleaning up my kitchen while things cooked (unattended) - but looked elegant and fancy enough for a special dinner.