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Feb. 6th, 2008 12:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mereilinI can only hope that the low I had today was the bottom of this month's barrel, because I can't remember the last time I felt so helpless and overwhelmed. By dinnertime I had a splitting headache from having spent a good part of the afternoon crying uncontrollably. I was able to get dinner on the table only because I'd decided yesterday what I'd be making so I could push through the process on autopilot. I ate it only because I hadn't eaten for hours and I was pretty sure part of my problem was that I was hungry.
I do feel better this evening.
I've been roasting chickens lately and feeling really good about getting three days' worth of dinners for the whole family from one four-pound bird. I feel even better about it when the local supermarket has whole chickens on sale for 79 cents a pound, but even at $1.49 it's a bargain.
Last night was roasted chicken (stuffed with onions for flavor), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and frozen peas and carrots. Then I picked the rest of the meat off the carcass and boiled it down for soup; the broth is in the refrigerator now in the ceramic part of the crock pot, ready to reheat tomorrow. Today I warmed up most of the leftover meat in all of the leftover gravy (and it was darn good gravy*) and served that over white rice with a side of steamed broccoli. Tomorrow what's left of the meat will go into the broth with a couple of sliced carrots and probably some egg noodles.
For the day after that I have a pot roast that was on sale; that'll go into the crock pot with carrots, potatoes, onions, some seasoned salt and a cup of water. Easiest stew ever, and the kids really love it.
I'm not really a fancy cook, but I cook plain food that tastes good. Lately I've been trying to do as much homemade stuff as possible for a couple of reasons. One, I'm here all the time so there's really no excuse to take shortcuts. Most things might take a long time in the oven or crock pot but very little prep time. I'm here anyway; might as well have a chicken in the oven. Running the oven also keeps the kitchen warmer. Bonus! Another reason is that I've been trying to pay attention to the additives in the foods I'm giving my kids. Last but certainly not least, it's really a lot less expensive to cook this way.
And yeah, that matters right now. At least my family is pretty easy to please.
Gravy -- While the bird is roasting, open the bag of giblets and put them in a small saucepan full of water with about 1/2 a small onion, chopped, and a teaspoon or so of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer during the rest of the roasting time.
Remove the roasted bird from the roasting pan and pour the drippings into a deep skillet. I use pretty much all of it because leftover gravy is good and leftover drippings are messy to clean up. If there's anything crispy or caramelized in the bottom of the pan, try to get those into your gravy; that's where most of the flavor is going to come from.
Figure out roughly how much oil is in your skillet and add an equal amount of all-purpose flour; i.e., if you have a cup of drippings you want about a cup of flour. Mix well, then brown the mixture on the stovetop over medium heat.
Pour in the water from the boiled giblets, little by little, and stir. If you boiled potatoes, you can also add some of that water; just reserve some when you drain the potatoes. The starch in the water will help thicken the gravy. Only add enough liquid to come to your desired consistency; you can discard the rest or refrigerate it for later use -- I've found that if I add it to the leftover gravy the next day it thins it back out nicely and adds more flavor. If you need more liquid, add plain water.
I just toss the giblets because we like our gravy smooth, but there's no reason they couldn't be whizzed through a food processor and added to the gravy if you don't want to waste them. I'm sure there are lots of good vitamins in there.
I don't add any seasonings; between the bit of salt and the onion I think it's great the way it is. YMMV.
I do feel better this evening.
I've been roasting chickens lately and feeling really good about getting three days' worth of dinners for the whole family from one four-pound bird. I feel even better about it when the local supermarket has whole chickens on sale for 79 cents a pound, but even at $1.49 it's a bargain.
Last night was roasted chicken (stuffed with onions for flavor), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and frozen peas and carrots. Then I picked the rest of the meat off the carcass and boiled it down for soup; the broth is in the refrigerator now in the ceramic part of the crock pot, ready to reheat tomorrow. Today I warmed up most of the leftover meat in all of the leftover gravy (and it was darn good gravy*) and served that over white rice with a side of steamed broccoli. Tomorrow what's left of the meat will go into the broth with a couple of sliced carrots and probably some egg noodles.
For the day after that I have a pot roast that was on sale; that'll go into the crock pot with carrots, potatoes, onions, some seasoned salt and a cup of water. Easiest stew ever, and the kids really love it.
I'm not really a fancy cook, but I cook plain food that tastes good. Lately I've been trying to do as much homemade stuff as possible for a couple of reasons. One, I'm here all the time so there's really no excuse to take shortcuts. Most things might take a long time in the oven or crock pot but very little prep time. I'm here anyway; might as well have a chicken in the oven. Running the oven also keeps the kitchen warmer. Bonus! Another reason is that I've been trying to pay attention to the additives in the foods I'm giving my kids. Last but certainly not least, it's really a lot less expensive to cook this way.
And yeah, that matters right now. At least my family is pretty easy to please.
Gravy -- While the bird is roasting, open the bag of giblets and put them in a small saucepan full of water with about 1/2 a small onion, chopped, and a teaspoon or so of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer during the rest of the roasting time.
Remove the roasted bird from the roasting pan and pour the drippings into a deep skillet. I use pretty much all of it because leftover gravy is good and leftover drippings are messy to clean up. If there's anything crispy or caramelized in the bottom of the pan, try to get those into your gravy; that's where most of the flavor is going to come from.
Figure out roughly how much oil is in your skillet and add an equal amount of all-purpose flour; i.e., if you have a cup of drippings you want about a cup of flour. Mix well, then brown the mixture on the stovetop over medium heat.
Pour in the water from the boiled giblets, little by little, and stir. If you boiled potatoes, you can also add some of that water; just reserve some when you drain the potatoes. The starch in the water will help thicken the gravy. Only add enough liquid to come to your desired consistency; you can discard the rest or refrigerate it for later use -- I've found that if I add it to the leftover gravy the next day it thins it back out nicely and adds more flavor. If you need more liquid, add plain water.
I just toss the giblets because we like our gravy smooth, but there's no reason they couldn't be whizzed through a food processor and added to the gravy if you don't want to waste them. I'm sure there are lots of good vitamins in there.
I don't add any seasonings; between the bit of salt and the onion I think it's great the way it is. YMMV.
