This week's menu

Well, with everything I've been cooking over the weekend, you can rest assured that I have a plan for suppers this week. Suppers and some lunches too...

If you'll recall, I cooked a brisket, prepared stock and butchered a couple chickens... We've had the brisket as lunch on Sunday, and again yesterday when the kids had a snow day. Last night we had a split roasted chicken with roasted squash.

The family is looking forward to having a tasty soup tonight - likely a nice white bean soup with a little rosemary... However I think the hit of the week was Tuesday's Poulet en cocotte with mushroom risotto and sauted beans.

Here's the recipe for the Poulet en cocotte:

1 2 kg chicken, cooked and pulled apart
4 med celery stocks, chopped
1 lg spanish onion, chopped
250 ml frozen peas
15 ml fresh thyme (yes, I like thyme especially in cold season for its health benefits, you can safely cut this back to 5 ml)
I'm allergic to carrots, so I leave them out, but you should add 3 med carrots, chopped
1 l chicken stock
1 l milk
50 ml butter
50 ml All-purpose flour
1/2 recipe of pie dough
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Nutmeg
1 egg for egg wash


Since I have French onion soup bowls, I like to use these as my cocottes.

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F)

Divide chicken evenly between pots, and a handful of peas into each cocottes.

Sautee the onion, celery and carottes (if you have them), and set them aside.

In a medium sauce pan, make a blond roux with the butter and flour. Add the cold stock, milk and thyme. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the mixture has come to a boil, remove from heat and add the sauteed vegetables. Add a light sprinkle of nutmeg to taste.

Cool the sauce to room temperature by placing the pot in a sink filled with 10 cm (just over 3") of cold water, and stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Laddle the sauce over the chicken mixture, leaving 1 cm headroom maximum. Gently tap the pot to settle the sauce in the pot.

Roll out the pie dough to 3 mm (1/8") and cut circles 1.5 cm (3/4") larger than the diameter of the top of your pot. Once the circles are cut, cover the pots, crimp the edges and brush with egg wash.

At this point, you can place the pots on a cookie sheet and store in the refrigerator for up to two days.

When ready to cook, place the pots on a cookie sheet and cook in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.

Serve hot with an earthy mushroom risotto, or with sweet roasted root vegetables.

Welcome back

Well, it's been a few years since I last posted a blog... Life kind of got away from me and I was just too busy to blog. I was in and out of industry, I moved from one town to another, I met up with an old friend and we fell in love. We were married this past summer, and we moved the same weekend. Yes, my life has been that kind of crazy for a while now, so I'm sure you'll forgive my virtual disappearance.

What brings me back is that things have settled down somewhat and I'm having a lot of fun in the kitchen. For example, right now, I have beautiful roasted chicken stock simmering gently on the stove, and a wonderful beef brisket on a low braise in the oven. Meanwhile for supper we had a really nice rustic cream of brocoli soup, blackened haddock fillets and fresh smashed potatoes.

I hope that you will join me again on my culinary adventures. I will be blogging about new restaurants I've found, talking with the farmers, butchers and other food purveyors, and whatever I can pull together in my own kitchen... See you next time!