This article caught my eye last week, and at the time I found it a bit twee. Today, the reality of working mostly from home for the next couple weeks has my mind just reeling with all the knitting, gardening, and cooking that is possible between emails, Slacks, conference calls and production work.
Really, the biggest gain are the 2+ hours of commuting every day. I’m excited to have time to cook weekday meals, which have become a rarity at Chez Vee.
Years ago, a fellow waiter asked me what my superpower would be if I had one. I proudly replied, “The ability to create tasty and nutritious meals with barely anything in the cupboard.”
He blinked at me and said, “How sad.”
I disagree. After all, an apron is just a cape on backward.
I have a lot of great stuff to cook, but am also excited to dust off my cape and use my super power.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been relying heavily on your Instant Pot and allowing your once trusty and well used dutch ovens to sit there just waiting to be loved again. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Instant Pot, but in all that hastiness I miss the lingering fragrance of a slow roasting chicken, beef roast, or baking bread, along with the anticipation it creates.
I am going to revisit a few of my favorite dinners, which are best suited to baking, roasting, or braising in a dutch oven.
The following chicken recipe is perfect. No lie. The brilliance of how the crusty bread and vegetables create a rustic dressing is really nothing short of genius. So simple and so amazing.
My 21-year-old oval 5 qt. Dutch oven has been benched for a while, it’s the perfect shape and size for a chicken and trimmings.
I roasted mine with ciabatta, carrots, and red potatoes because I’d already used my butternut squash for soup, and was not planning to put on real pants and go shopping. I drizzled extra virgin olive oil on everything before popping it in the oven. The recipe didn’t cal for it, but I felt it needed a litle. Next time I may make it without. Oh, and I didn’t bother trussing it either.
The ciabatta proved to be the perfect choice, the edges were toasted and the rest chewy and flavorful. A baguette would be great too. You want lots of crust in this dish. Trust me. The carrots and potatoes were yummy, but I’m already thinking of other veggie combinations:
mushroom, leek, and fennel
wild rice, mushroom, and leek
Sundried tomato and artichoke hearts
Note: Just leave all the leftovers in the Dutch oven and refrigerate. I popped mine in the oven at 350º for about 30 minutes to reheat. The trimmings were even better reheated. I swear.
I took this one step further and tossed in some aromatics, filled the pot with water, and placed on the stovetop to make stock. Why not?
But if you work at a certain Texas magazine… don’t, because I’m bringing these.
I’ve been bringing these to every cookie swap since forever. I’ve recently started making these with almond flour instead of all-purpose. The structure is still the same, and my gluten free friends can enjoy them too. You can use half the extract that I do, but they will be less fragrant.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
2/3 cup all purpose or almond flour 14 ounces shredded coconut 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 can sweetened condensed milk 2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla or almond extract
Mix dry ingredients together. Mix in condensed milk and vanilla. I use either a 1″ or 2″ cookie scoop. They only need to be about 2 inches apart since they don’t spread much. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. I like the edges a little crispy (see above)
Dip the bottoms in some melted chocolate if you must, but I like these just as is.
Cool on rack and enjoy. But be sure to enjoy at least one of them warm. Makes about 2 dozen cookies… depending on the size of your macaroons.
Bean & Noodle 