No Kitty... that's my POT PIE!

On Sundays I usually make a nice big meal that will give us leftovers for 2 days. It has to be good to warrant eating the same meal a couple of days in a row! With work, school and other things that come up I usually don't have the time or energy to cook something time intensive every night. So Jack and I trade off cooking 3-4 meals a week. This weekend my menu was inspired by a beloved South Park episode involving chicken pot pie. I got the hankering for pot pie so bad last night that I just had to make it today. I used classic pot pie ingredients to create my own version of this tasty dish by doing the following: instead of a heavy, tasteless pie crust I opted for puff pastry, used a roux-like base as a thickening agent for the sauce and added some tasty classic herbs like tarragon and thyme that marry so well with chicken. I saved myself some time by buying ready made items: whole roasted rotisserie chicken, fresh chicken stock from Whole Foods, veggies from the frozen aisle section and frozen puff pastry (I'm partial to Dufour pastry) . If you have any fresh thyme left over, stick the herb pack in the freezer and it will keep nicely for future use.

Caroline's Chicken Pot Pie

5 tablespoons of butter

1 large leek, finely diced

3 teaspoons of garlic, finely minced

4 tablespoons of flour

Salt/Pepper to taste

2 teaspoons of fresh thyme

1 tablespoon of dried tarragon

1 cup of heavy cream

2 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of white wine (for thinning out sauce if needed)

1 roasted chicken, shredded

1 1/2 cups of frozen peas

1 1/2 cups of frozen carrots, in bite size pieces

12 frozen pearl onions (optional)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 puff pastry sheet (Dufour brand is preferred)

1 egg plus 1 tablespoon cream for egg wash

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions. Once it is at room temperature you are ready to go.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Shred roasted chicken (bite sized pieces!) and set to the side. In a large skillet melt the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the diced leek and cook until slightly softened. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook until a light golden brown- it will have a dough like consistency. Slowly mix in the chicken stock until the roux has melted into the stock. Add salt, pepper, tarragon, thyme and cream to mixture. Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Thin out the mixture with a little white wine until you achieve desired consistency.

Pour the sauce over the shredded chicken, steamed veggies (carrots, peas, onions) and parsley and mix well. Transfer the hot chicken mixture to a 1 1/2 quart casserole. Roll out the puff pastry and place on top of mixture. Brush egg wash and cut slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees.Enjoy!

Thrill of the Hunt

I've used ebay off and on the past year or so and its been for small miscellaneous items (out of print books, games, cd's, paintball items for Jack etc). I'm usually very sceptical of beauty products being sold on ebay (an expensive eye cream could be in reality a fancy bottle filled with a generic substance) and couture items being sold for pennies. I tend to think that these items are fakes or have been used. But sometimes you have reputable sellers that are just trying to sell surplus inventory. I've been on the lookout for a nice dress to wear to my brother's wedding this October; a Fall inspired color, knee length and in silk. I was warned by my mother that I better start looking for something nice since she had to look at the photos for the rest of her life... (both of us are on the same page). I took a chance on a sweet little dress above by Carolina Herrera from her Fall 08 line whose starting price was what I would pay for any normal dress at Nordstroms. I only had one other bidder competing against me and I won! Only 50 bucks above the starting price. Holy cow was my adrenaline going. I hope this is not the start of a bad habit to come!

Anyway, I was on pins and needles waiting for the dress to arrive hoping that it was what I thought I paid for. I pulled it out of its package and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was so freakin' relieved! It was brand spanking new and in perfect condition. The material is a lightweight combination of shimmery blues, copper and yellow silk with metallic threads throughout the dress. I love the crystal clips on the neckline. I just thought I would share my triumph and I hope you guys like it as much as I do! Now, I need to find shoes to match... what color do you recommend? I'm thinking I will pull my hair up into a simple chignon and let the dress shine on its own. Suggestions are appreciated!!

Eye Candy

I'm totally inspired by these dreamy Vanity Fair photos taken by Michael Roberts of Emily Blunt to promote The Young Victoria. What girl wouldn't want to be dressed up in Givenchy and Dior? Love the pale blues and pinks... it makes me think of easter candy (which I'm still eating!!)

Easter Recap

I love Easter. It's a time of new beginnings, sunshine (mixed with a little rain) and family gatherings. It was Jack and I this year but I'm really trying to learn how to bake/cook so when the time comes for us to host friends and family for get togethers I won't be so freaked out. Hence Jack is my guinea pig and for the most part he enjoys his new role. Sometimes I fail miserably (I made blackberry scones over the weekend that came out mushy, yuck) but most of the time I do pretty good.

In this case my Easter Dinner was a success! The recipe was true to form for the most part. The rack of lamb is really a feast for the eyes and a true show stopper. If you want to impress then make a rack of lamb. And it really is easy to make (this is coming from a cooking novice so if you are semi-experienced in the kitchen you can probably do this with your eyes closed!). A couple of things to note: 1. When you sear the lamb fat side down it really is...um...pungeant. For me not in a good way. I was a little freaked out at first. The fat tastes the way it smells. As Jack said "You either love it or hate it". The smell dissipated once I started to work on the delicious garlic sauce which really made the dish "sing" 2. No two stoves are alike and in this case I had to cook my potato gratin for an hr vs. the recommended 30 minutes. I was also a little shy on the garlic since the rack of lamb was already going to be heavily infused with the roasted garlic. The gratin was simple to make and delicious!

Dessert was fantastic. We had creme brulee for dessert for the rest of the week (um, not so good for my figure). I wanted to include my own recipe for creme brulee in this post because I think its a great dessert to serve to guests. It's fancy sounding, it's fun to tap, tap, tap on the sugar crust and everyone gets their own individualized portion. Also you can make all sorts of variations on the recipe (coffee, chocolate, fruit etc). Here is my own New Orleans inspired variation (based on Tyler Florence and Emeril Lagasse recipes mixed in with my own) . Enjoy!





Chicory Creme Brulee:

Ingredients:

9 egg yolks

3/4 cup of super fine sugar (plus 6-8 tablespoons of sugar)

4 cups of heavy cream

1 whole vanilla bean

1 tablespoon of chicory coffee

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl cream together your egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and thick.

Pour cream into medium saucepan over low heat. Using a pairing knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the vanilla bean to the saucepan. Use a mesh tea infuser and add 1 tablespoon of chicory coffee and let the coffee infuse the cream in the saucepan. Bring cream to a brief simmer, but do not boil. Remove from heat, take out the vanilla bean and coffee infuser and temper the yolks by gradually mixing in the hot cream into the yolk and egg mixture. Do this very slowly in order to avoid "cooking" the eggs.

Divide the custard into 8 ramekins (6 oz) around 3/4 full. Place ramekins in a roasting pan and fill pan with enough water to come up halfway up the sides of the ramekin. Bake until the edges start to set up, about 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Transfer the ramekins to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top of each ramekin. Use a kitchen torch to brown the sugar. Let it stand for 3-4 minutes to allow the sugar crust to form.

On My Radar

It's Easter peeps! I'm lucky to have a three day weekend so besides doing school work I also have the following on my radar for this weekend:

1. Reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette blog fame). This is a quasi autobiography mixed in with some delicious recipes. Although I think my family has the best banana bread recipe around I'm anxious to try her chocolate and ginger variation. Yum.

2. Easter Dinner: Rack of lamb is one of Jack's favorites so I'm going to roll up my sleeves and make a valiant attempt tomorrow. I found this delicious sounding recipe from the Food Network: Crusted Fresh Herbed Rack of Lamb with Potato Leek Gratin and Roasted Garlic Sauce. I'm going to make an asparagus side to go with it and for dessert Creme Brulee! Move out of the way, the torch is coming!!

3. Shopping at Porte Rouge: I'm so sad this little gem is going out of business. They are selling many of their items at discounted price so we are going to go over and take a look. We did our wedding registry here and they were wonderful to work with (I love the porcelain dinnerware my in laws bought for us). We are going to see if they have any discounted lagioule knives and buy extra souffle dishes.

4. Savoring Farm Honey: My in-laws shipped us fresh clover honey collected from their farm. It usually comes to us in a big jug and we pour it into smaller containers for easy use. And yes, it really is better than store bought honey!

I hope you guys have a wonderful Easter weekend!!!

My Bird of Paradise

I'm a huge Planet Earth geek. I come home from work and I can sit and watch discovery channel all day long. It's a sickness Jack does not share. During one of my weekend Planet Earth marathons they profiled the gorgeous and crazy male bird of paradise putting on a display in search of a mate. If you haven't seen it you MUST! Anyway, I jokingly told Jack it was too bad he never put on such a display for moi (I guess I fell for him to quickly to give him the chance!) and not to be outdone he put on a crazy little dance/demonstration for me and it's now his new stand up routine. When I'm grumpy, or down and out he does his little shimmy and I peal with laughter every time. I usually have tears coming down my face from laughing so hard. Ah, the silly things we do for our loved ones:) I must say I feel properly courted!

In ode to the bird of paradise (and of course my husband), I'm thinking of getting some pretty antique hand colored bird prints from Panteek to hang on my walls down the road. I've reached my art quota for the year because my lovely husband got me this! And yes, I have proudly hung my Audrey silkscreen for the world to see! So next year I have my eyes set on getting these beauties and a couple of antique maps to boot (more on that later). The bird of paradise and the macaw below would do the trick:

Chelsey McLaren

I love, love love Chelsey McClaren's designs. So fresh, lovely, with an "uptown girl" feel to her designs. I want to be the girl in the red dress walking the puppy. Anyone know how to order her designs?!? I want....no need the "antoinette bleu" smock coat below.