Chicken Fricassee

Chicken Fricassee is a meal that has survived many a century, considering it dates back to at least the fifteenth century according to wikipedia. Despite this fact, for me, this was my first time having this particular dish. I found it while going through my cookbooks completely by accident.

This is the cookbook I found the recipe in, 'Scottish Bakehouse Cook Book' by Isabella  M. White. I cooked the Chicken Fricassee in my dutch oven.

Chicken Fricassee
Serves 4 to 6
1 frying chicken, cut up
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used portobello)
1/2 cup orange juice (I used orange mango because that is hat I had in the house)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup butter (I use unsalted)
2 cups water
2 eggs
salt and pepper
Boiled rice
Paprika

Season frying chicken and slightly fry in butter. Add the cut up vegetables and water. Simmer until the chicken is tender about 1 hour and 15 minutes to a half hour (or however long is necessary).

Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a platter. Check the seasoning and season more if necessary.

Beat the eggs in a cup ahead of time  if you wish and add the orange juice. I then added the flour and mixed well. Add this to the stock mixture in the pot. Mix until thickened and of a gravy consistency.

To serve.
Place some chicken on one side of the plate. Place rice on the other side of the plate. Ladle gravy over chicken and rice, and sprinkle with paprika.

Related articles

• Breakfast:Silver Palate Thick and Rough Oatmeal
• Baked Yogurt Chicken
• Zesty Chicken with Corn Salsa in 15 minutes or Less
• Childhood: Growing up with Cream of Wheat
• Sh-boom, Sh-boom - Life Could Be A Dream
• How Do You Prepare Your Blog?

Sh-boom, Sh-boom - Life Could Be A Dream

Press Release

February 15, 2013

Sh-boom, Sh-boom - Life Could Be A Dream

The award winning ‘60s doo-wop musical

At The Ivoryton Playhouse

 Ivoryton: It’s been a long hard winter in Ivoryton. I think we are all tired shoveling and plowing and we are ready for spring and the first show of our 2013 season. And what better way to open our doors and welcome you back than with a trip down Memory Lane and the great classic doo-wop songs of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

 

Sh-Boom! Take a trip to Springfield and meet the Crooning Crabcakes, as they prepare to enter the Big Whopper Radio contest and realize their dreams of making it to the big time! Trouble comes in the form of Lois, who arrives to put some polish on the boys. Denny and Wally fall in love, Eugene falls apart, and along comes handsome heartthrob Skip to send the whole situation spinning. The '60s doo-wop songs say it all: "Fools Fall in Love," "Tears on My Pillow," "Runaround Sue," "Earth Angel," "Stay," "Unchained Melody," "Lonely Teardrops," and "The Glory of Love." Winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Best Musical Award, Life Could Be a Dream will leave you laughing, singing, and cheering—let’s hear it for the boys!

 

Pictured: Sheila Coyle and Christopher DeRosa*     Photograph by Anne Hudson

The cast features some exciting young talent – Evan Siegel*, Aaron Catano, Matt Densky* and Rob Rodems as the fabulous boy band - and we are thrilled to welcome back Sheila Coyle* who was such a hit in Ivoryton in last season’s Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. The show is directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, musical director is Jason Wetzel and choreographer is Schuyler Beeman. Set designed by Dan Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott and costumes by Kari Crowther.

 

Life Could Be A Dream opens in Ivoryton on March 13th   and runs through March 30th . Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org  (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

 

Members of the press are welcome at any performance.

Please call ahead for tickets.

*member of Actors Equity

 

Generously sponsored by Essex Savings Bank

 

Jacqueline Hubbard

Executive/Artistic Director

Ivoryton Playhouse

P.O. Box 458

Ivoryton , CT 06442

(860) 767-7318

 

www.ivorytonplayhouse.org

Breakfast:Silver Palate Thick and Rough Oatmeal

When it becomes cold and snowy outside it is time to have Cream of Wheat or Oatmeal for breakfast as opposed to Cheerios. I enjoy a hot bowl of oatmeal, too. Actually I grew up on Quaker Oats, but I if Silver Palate Oatmeal is on Sale! I'll add that to my grocery basket because I find that just as tasty. 

Here is my bowl of oatmeal with strawberries and honey. I sometimes put sugar, milk or blueberries on my oatmeal, depending on what is in season.

I make my oatmeal on the stove. The directions are very simple for the Silver Palate Oatmeal.  Put 3/4 cup milk (I use soy or almond milk, or you can use water) in a small saucepan with a little salt and bring to a boil. Add 1/3 cup Silver Palate Thick and Rough Oatmeal and stir and turn the temperature down to low. Let sit on the stove for 8 to 10 minutes watching and stirring every once in a while. Take off the stove and put the cover on and let stir for 2 minutes then serve in a bowl as desired. 

I am an oatmeal fan whether it is in a cookie or mush in a bowl. It is hearty breakfast. 

Related articles

• Childhood: Growing up with Cream of Wheat
• Childhood: Cheerios in the Pantry
• How Do You Prepare Your Blog?
• Baked Yogurt Chicken
• Fettuccine With Salami And Zucchini
• Kalamata-Lemon Chicken
• Pacific Natural Foods Thai Sweet Potato Soup

How Do You Prepare Your Blog?

Putting together a blog takes time and fore thought. Whether you are writing details to a recipe, or the parts of a story, or letting your readers know of a good book you discovered. There are things you can do to make sure you capture all the pieces. Some people may keep journals; others may keep some sort of notes in folders. Everything depends on how you work. If you are struggling with putting together your own blog this may document may be of some help to you.

I call this document a Blog Preparation Form.  Here is how to use it:
Subject Line: This is where you place the title of your blog
Date: This is the date you intend to publish your blog
Publish Date: The actual Publish Date
Main Topic: This is what the subject of the blog will be about
Sub Topic: This is for any secondary subjects you may include that you want to include that may or may not have anything to do with the main topic. You may have more than one.
Image 1, 2, 3: Images - You may have more than 3 images but in general I just included 3 on this form.
Story: Here is where you may want to write down what story you wish to include in your blog, little or big. Something about how you ended up included this particular topic in your blog. How it is special to you. Maybe why you wanted to share. A way to make a connection to your readers.
Layout: It helps to draw out how you wish to layout your blog if you are doing a step by step process. Sometimes this can help you give you more of an idea of how to handle your images.
Ideas for Your Next Blog: I put this on this form because often when you are working on a blog you can come up with ideas for your next blog while you are working on your latest you.

I hope you find this information helpful. Here is the link to the document.

Related articles

• Baked Yogurt Chicken
• Childhood: Growing up with Cream of Wheat
• Fettuccine With Salami And Zucchini
• Shrimp with Rice
• French Apple Pie
• Cohen's Bagel Company in Madison, CT

Fettuccine With Salami And Zucchini

This dish is simple and rustic. The recipe comes from one of the first chefs I started watching on PBS - The Jeff Smith 'The Frugal Gourmet'. I was interested in the recipes and stories around the dishes he made. This, of course, is one of them.

This recipe comes from Jeff Smith's Uncle Vic. When his Uncle Vic fed him this dish he thought his Uncle just must be so wealthy. You don't have to be wealthy to eat this dish.

Fettuccine With Salami And Zucchini

2 small zucchini (I actually used organic yellow squash)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 lb. Italian salami, sliced thin, cut matchstick style (I bought a 6-oz Genoa salami stick)
1 tbsp. capers, chopped
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 c. whipping cream (1/2 a pint)
Salt to taste
1/2 lb. fettuccine, cooked
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Slice the zucchini; put several slices together and slice again into matchsticks. Slice the garlic very thin. Saute the garlic in the oil until barely browned. Add the zucchini and saute for 3 minutes. Add the salami, capers, pepper and cream. Simmer until all is very hot. You will need little or no salt in this dish. Serve over the hot pasta. Top with the cheese.

It was pretty tasty!

Related articles

• Baked Yogurt Chicken
• Baccala Salad
• Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
• French Apple Pie
• Kalamata-Lemon Chicken
• Zesty Chicken with Corn Salsa in 15 minutes or Less

Baked Yogurt Chicken

As you can see from many of my recipes I eat chicken like it were here, there and everywhere. Sometimes the recipes I choose to make have to do with what I have leftover in the pantry. Other times I love to explore the vast wasteland of gourmet ingredients I have yet to try. After all, food is an exploration in new flavors to tempt and tantalize your taste buds.

The chicken recipe can be found on page 139 that I made in today's blog which came from Best Recipes by Ceil Dyer. This recipe more than likely came from Dannon.

Baked Yogurt Chicken
Serves about 4
1 cut up chicken, 2-1/2 to 3 lbs or more
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons paprika
2 cups Dannon Plain Yogurt (although I used Lit and Fit) Vanilla Flavor instead
1/3 lb fresh portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or parsley
Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Salt and pepper. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large pan and brown chicken on a medium high heat. While browning chicken butter a shallow baking dish. As chicken is browned take and place in buttered baking dish. Once all the chicken has been removed add flour and paprika to pan with grease. Mix well, do not leave pan on stove, take on and off frequently while mixing. Add yogurt and mix well on stove on a medium heat. Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon sauce on chicken in buttered pan. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and add mushrooms and lemon juice. Cook for about a minute or so, then take and spoon over chicken and sauce. Cover baking dish and place in oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.

The chicken is tender and juicy, and slightly sweet due to the flavor of the vanilla.

Related articles

• Roast Chicken by Julia Child
• Kalamata-Lemon Chicken
• Zesty Chicken with Corn Salsa in 15 minutes or Less
• Roast Chicken is in Vogue
• Childhood: Cheerios in the Pantry
• How to Make a Won ton
• French Apple Pie