making things better

From a Scottish recipe book: stock made from s...
Cock-a-leekie! All of a sudden, I see this method everywhere!

Nigella Lawson is a woman who knows food, and she’s not afraid to show her love for it. ?áIn the last few weeks I have discovered a great recipe from her latest cookbook called Kitchen. ?áBeyond being tasty, this recipe has made my life much less complicated.

It is her mother’s Praised chicken. ?áIn the last while, I have made this recipe once a week. ?áIt gives me enough soup stock and chicken to make tasty soups and salads all week long. ?áLong ago, I remember someone from Saskatchewan telling me this is a great way to cook chicken because it made a delicious and clear stock. I thought that roasting chicken is the best way, so I never bothered with this other method. ?áWell, years pass, and I now see that I have been missing out on something both great and efficient. ?áBoth the soup stock and the left over chicken are delicious. ?áAND?ámost importantly, it saves me time by making a stock and cooking a chicken, all at once.

What I do each week goes something like this. ?áI enjoy the chicken as a hot meal on the first day. ?áWithin the same hour of preparing the chicken, I distribute the stock into individual portions that I can reheat during the week. ?áI then take apart the chicken (by far, my least favourite job!) and put this in individual jars, so that I have portions ready for any kind of salad. ?áThe rest is a matter of finding a little lettuce and a few veggies, and then I am set for the week! ?áTruly, this is fast food. ?áAnd it is affordable, even if I buy an organic chicken.

Earlier this week I also discovered a similar recipe in the New York Times. ?áIt is a sak?® steamed chicken with ginger and scallions.

So, with many of my lunches being ultra-healthy and fast, it seems to make for a really nice week. ?áAnd as a bonus, I feel that I can relax when I decide to go for a small treat at my favourite caf?®. ?áWith balance, living is very beautiful.

Tammy Schmidt, Montreal


Comments

5 responses to “making things better”

  1. deborah Avatar
    deborah

    I tried this sake steamed chicken recipe and it is really good–really good!

    1. Great! I will have to try it too. 🙂

  2. Me too, my first meat-cooking in months and months. It turned out divine… I didn’t have any alcohol to cook it with, however, it was so tender and flavourful. Using organic chicken really helps.

  3. […] like to eat well. Every couple of weeks I make a chicken, I buy (and sometimes take the time to grow) organic sprouts. I prefer unpasteurised?ácheese?á(less […]

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