I have been in a blogging funk.
So maybe it isn't a blogging funk as much as an uploading-pictures-from-my-camera funk.
So, what's new? Do I look... different? Well I should! Why? I cooked a whole chicken! I used my broiler! I successfully made a pie crust (as long as success isn't measured by how pleasant I was while transferring the crust to the pan)!
Ok, we'll go one by one. A few weeks ago, I was feeling listless on a Saturday. Pete and I invited Kevin and Laura over for dinner, and I decided it was time to poach a whole a chicken so I'd have real chicken broth. I have become kind of a broth connoisseur. At least veggie broth... So I made the leap into meat broth. I bought a whole (dead! I'm not that hardcore) chicken and attempted to follow Bittman's carving directions. Well, that went alright and I ended up with 6-8 pieces of chicken. I didn't cut in all the right places so I was trying to saw through bones, and the wings had their share of breast meat attached. But, I was poaching for broth and using the meat to shred into tacos for dinner. The poaching was EASY and only took 20ish minutes. Then I shred the meat, throwing skin and bones back in the pot. I let the pot sit most of the evening, until the broth was nice and yellow-y. The tacos were great (except I bought bobo brand corn tortillas for $2 that fell apart and tasted like cardboard). I stuck the broth in the fridge. A few days later, I skimmed the fat off the top and make some nice chicken noodle soup. With egg noodles and fresh dill. So tasty.
Moving right along to the broiler. I bought skirt steak at the farmer's market. All the recipes I found said to grill or broil. Now, most recipes I see describe adjusting the rack to be 5 inches away from the heat source. Well, my broiler is a cubby in the bottom of my oven. This created a lot of confusion for me. Finally, I manned up and turned the broiler on, after marinating the meat in balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary and EVOO. I opened the cubby, and hot damn, there was a flame down there! So I put the meat in, and flipped it after a minute. It looked done, so I took it out. I let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then cut it open. Well, it was not done. Not even by rare standards. So back in it went, for 3 more minutes on each side. The meat was pretty tough, even the rarer parts, maybe because it's a tough cut, maybe because I recooked it. But it took the marinade really well, and now I don't fear the broiler! In fact, I love it-- so quick! It was a little scary and I was afraid of starting a kitchen fire, but I'm game for more broilin.
And finally, onto dessert. Every time I attempt a pie crust, it seems like it's going fine, but then parts are too thin, it sticks to the counter (I floured it, I swear!) and Pete tries to help me and I end up P-I-S-S-E-D. I ball it back up, reflour, and reroll, it fails again. This has sometimes lead to me throwing it out, and sometimes lead to a patchwork top bake, which is pretty good too. Last night though, I did it. I decided to pre-bake the crust, so I would know if it worked before company came over. It still had some air bubbles in the bottom, but it was a crust! The key: putting more flour than seems reasonable on the counter. I made apple pie. Then I ate it with a plastic fork out of the pan at 2am. All in all, a success.
