All posts by Clif Graves

Another Two-for-One Meal: Chicken in a Crock-Pot and Chicken Pot Pie

August 20, 2013 Clif Graves

We are more than halfway through August, and what a lovely month it has been. The excessive rain has stopped, and while some crops have been harmed by all the moisture, others are doing just fine. When I called Lakeside Orchards in Manchester to get a progress report on their apples—specifically their organic macs—I was told that if things continue as they are, then there will be a bumper crop of organic macs along with conventionally grown apples, and the organic macs will be available mid-September. Good news! Lakeside’s organic macs are usually very affordable. I don’t know what the price will be this year, but generally they have gone for about 99 cents a pound.

With all the rain, Clif and I fell behind in our bike riding, and it looks as though we won’t be going on any long bike rides this season. Ah, well! Most nights we are putting in 10 miles, and in a week or so, we have planned a ride from Hallowell to Richmond, about a 20-mile ride trip. Maybe next year we will go on a 50-mile bike ride.

But rain or shine, any time is a good time for a Crock-Pot meal, and I want yet again to thank Shari Burke of Craftivist in the Kitchen for giving me so many great ideas for the Crock-Pot. One meal that I have been making regularly is with chicken thighs, potatoes, and carrots. After everything has cooked, there is a lovely broth left behind, and I have mixed it with rice and chicken to make a burrito filling. Then I started thinking, what if I cooked extra potatoes and carrots, mixed them in the broth, added some leftover chicken, and put everything in a pie shell for a chicken pot pie? How would that work?

Last week, I decided to see how this would indeed work. I was so confident of the results that I promised half the pie to our friends Steve and Margy. Steve recently had knee surgery, and it seemed to me that chicken pie would be just the thing to perk him up. At the same time, a part of me was worried. What if the pie did not come out as well as I thought it would? What if it didn’t come out well at all?

I pushed those nagging little thoughts aside and commenced with the process. On the night before I made the pie, we had meal number one—chicken, potatoes, and carrots. But, following Shari’s model, I cooked extra—10 potatoes, sliced small; 1 1/2 cups of carrots cut in rounds; 7 chicken thighs with the skin on; 2 cloves of garlic, chopped; 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme; 3/4 teaspoon of dried sage; as well as salt, pepper, and olive oil sprinkled on top. The potatoes and carrots went on the bottom, and the chicken thighs went on top in one layer. I sprinkled the garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil on top of the chicken. I always like to bring the food to a boil on high and then let it simmer on low until everything is done, about 7 hours from start to finish. (A family of four would probably have to use 2 Crock-Pots and double the ingredients. My Crock-Pot is 6 quarts.)

Clif and I ate and enjoyed the chicken, potatoes, and carrots. After we were finished, I used a slotted spoon to scoop the leftover carrots and potatoes into a dish. Discarding the skins, I took the leftover chicken off the bone and put the meat into a separate dish. Into yet another dish, I poured the chicken drippings.

The next day, the fat had risen to the top of the drippings, and I skimmed off this fat. I always feel bad about doing this. Chicken fat is pretty tasty, but enough is enough. We would be having pie, after all. In a big bowl, I combined the vegetables and the chicken. In a small pan, I heated the chicken drippings—they had congealed—until they were runny and warm. I added the drippings to the vegetables and chicken.

Next came the crust. Now, I like making pie crust, and I seldom buy store-bought ones, but there are some good ready-made crusts at the supermarket that could be used.

I made a pie crust, filled the pie, crimped the edges, and put foil strips around the edges so that the thin edges would not burn before the thicker middle was done. I preheated the oven to 425 and set the timer for 25 minutes, at which point I took out the pie, removed the foil strips, and returned the pie to the oven to cook for another 15 minutes or so until the whole top was nicely browned.

The results? Here is what Clif said: “It couldn’t be any better.” High, high praise coming from my Yankee husband, and I have to admit the pie was pretty tasty.

With a light heart, I delivered the pie to Margy and Steve, and I already have plans to make another chicken pie again soon. I do want to note that the filling is very stiff, which I like. It makes it easier to slice the pie. However, for those who like the filling to be a little softer, milk or cream could be added to the potato and chicken mixture.

I’ve been thinking that the chicken mixture could also be put into a pan and topped with biscuit dough. But that is an idea for another post.

News

August 16, 2013: Bits and Bobs from the Internet

August 16, 2013 Clif Graves

The acorns have begun falling on the roof of the little house in the big woods. Ploink, ploink. The sound of mid-August. From my backyard, I can still hear the call of the loons, and hummingbirds are still coming to the feeders. But make no mistake: September is just around the corner. So let us enjoy August while it is here—-the warm, sunny days, the cool evenings, and the songs of crickets and grasshoppers.

From NPR’s the salt: Ever think about who picks your berries? Eliza Barclay’s piece illustrates why you should.

From the Bowdoin Daily Sun: Volunteer night at the Bowdoin Organic Garden.

From Huffington Post: A very funny guide to bad lobster rolls.

From the Portland Press Herald: “Mainers feeding Mainers.” Maine Farmers have begun growing food for the Good Shepherd Food Bank as well as for various food pantries.

And now, some suggestions for everyone who has too much zucchini or, as a substitute, summer squash.

First, from epicurious: Zucchini patties with feta.

Second, from NPR: Three recipes using zucchini.

Animals - especially dogs, People

Of Melons and Gophers

August 14, 2013 Clif Graves

Yesterday, Farmer Kev delivered our CSA share. In his nifty wooden crate, he brought us cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, garlic, green beans, dill, basil, and red potatoes. But no melons. In an email to customers, Farmer Kev had mentioned that soon there would be melons in his deliveries.

“I can’t wait for the melons,” I said to him as he handed me the crate.

“Let’s just hope I can keep the gophers away from them,” Farmer Kev said.

“Are they getting a lot of the melons?”

“Yeah, the gophers are a real problem. We’ve tried using Have-a-Heart traps, and we are going to sprinkle cayenne pepper around the plants.”

Farmer Kev smiled at me and shrugged. He’s very young—just out of college—but he’s certainly well aware of the many challenges farmers face, from too much water to tomato blight to gophers. Yet on he goes, planting crops and hoping for the best.

“Wile E Gophers,” I said.

“Wile E Gophers,” Farmer Kev repeated. Then with a slight wave, he went back to his car, which was loaded with crates and vegetables, and drove off to finish his deliveries.

Will we get melons in the next week or two? Will the gophers prevail? Or will Farmer Kev?

The contest continues. Stay tuned.

People, Recipes

An August Soup for Diane: Includes Recipe for Mediterranean Chickpea Soup

August 13, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

Not long ago, my friend Diane broke her elbow while she was hiking, and as is so often the case with such things, she needed surgery. Because she can only use one arm, cooking is a real challenge, and Diane is someone who likes to cook and eat well. “Could you make a simple soup for me?” she recently asked. “Now that the nights are getting cooler, I am really craving soup.”

Of course I could. Soups, simple or otherwise, are one of my specialities. They fit in with my improvisational approach to cooking. (Although I can follow a recipe, too, as long as I’m not too distracted.)

What kind of soup to make? Outside, on my patio, I have herbs in pots. Because of the rainy summer, the herbs are not exactly thriving, but there are certainly enough for a soup or two. I have basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, and cilantro. I decided to go with the rosemary, thyme, and parsley, which meant it would have a Mediterranean taste, which I just love.

What else did I have? Two 28 ounce cans of diced organic tomatoes, 2 cups of frozen chickpeas, zucchini and summer squash from Farmer Kev, and onion and garlic. To me, mushrooms add a lot to a vegetarian soup. But then, I am a mushroom lover, and I think they add a lot to many dishes. Therefore, I picked up some mushrooms at the grocery store.

I made the soup on Saturday so that I could bring it to Diane’s house on Sunday. As it turned out, Saturday was an extremely busy day, and out came the Crock-Post, which has become one of my favorite little appliances. There are no worries about burning or sticking. Just throw everything in, let it simmer gently for hours, and voilà—supper! The Crock-Pot was especially handy on Saturday as I was volunteering at a benefit concert for our library expansion.

On Saturday, around noon, I made the soup. Into the Crock-Pot went the 2 cans of diced tomatoes, one of which I puréed in the food processor to give the soup a smoother texture; 1 (28 ounce) can full of water; 4 cloves of chopped garlic; 1 whole onion—onions often bother my stomach, and with a whole onion, I can remove it after the soup has cooked, still get the onion flavor, and not feel sick to my stomach; 2 cups of cooked chickpeas; 2 small zucchinis, roughly diced; 2 summer squashes, roughly diced; and 12 ounces of mushrooms, roughly chopped. I like biggish chunks of vegetables in my soup.

Now here comes the clever part, if I do say so myself. Because I was so busy, I didn’t want to take the time to chop the herbs, especially that dratted thyme, with its little leaves that must be plucked from the stem. I came up with the idea of making a bouquet garni, the French term for a bundle of herbs. I cut a couple of sprigs of parsley, 2 sprigs of rosemary, and 2 springs of thyme and tied them together with black sewing thread that I had rinsed. Never having done this before, I figured that if the soup wasn’t flavorful enough, then I could add more herbs afterwards. But it seemed to me the quick way was worth a try. Into the Crock-Pot went the bouquet garni. I set the temp on high, let the soup come to a boil, and then turned it to low, leaving it to simmer gently while I was at the concert. After the concert, I removed the onion and the garni.

Readers, this soup came out so well and was so flavorful that from now on I will be making a bouquet garni when I am making a soup with fresh herbs. (According to Mother Earth Living, you can do the same with dried herbs if you use little muslin packets or something else to bundle them.)

On Sunday, Clif and I bought a baguette to go with the soup—what is soup without bread?—and off to Diane’s we went. We had supper at the small table in her cozy kitchen. We talked about the art exhibits at Colby and at the Portland Art Museum. I told her to put the movie Museum Hours on her must-see list. We talked about family and friends and gatherings. For dessert, I made a blueberry crisp that didn’t quite crisp, but it was good anyway. As the sun set, the air become cool, and the sky changed from bright blue to night blue, a beautiful August evening at the end of a very fine day.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:29]

News

August 9, 2013: Bits and Bobs from the Internet

August 9, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

Another rainy Friday. But the weather forecast promises—I say, promises—to be good this weekend. I sure hope so. There’s lots to do, including making some soup for a friend who recently broke her elbow. I’ll also be helping out at the Dave Mallet concert, which will be at the Winthrop High School Performing Arts Center this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. It’s a benefit concert for the library expansion. In between, I plan to get some bike riding in. Have a terrific weekend!

From the New York Times: Great news for someone like me who loves fruit—it’s really good for you, and the sugar in fruit is not equivalent to the sugar in soft drinks or candy. So eat that fruit!

From NPR’s the salt: “After three months, $330,000 and a high-profile media blitz, the world’s first hamburger grown in a lab made its worldwide debut Monday.” The verdict? “[T]he burger was edible, but not delectable.” A modest suggestion: maybe we should eat mostly vegetarian, with a bit of meat now and again to jazz up our diets.

From Farmers Market Coalition: This is National Farmers Market Week. I don’t have to tell you where to get your local food, do I?

From the Portland Press Herald: As someone who loves pie, I didn’t think it would be possible to improve on this delectable dish. However, Meredith Goad writes about hand pies, a new (yet old) trend popping up in southern Maine. Give me a couple—one for each hand.

From the writer Ben Hewitt: “Fin and Rye have reached the age at which they are eager to prove they are growing into the young men they will become, and there is perhaps no better proof of such a thing than successfully driving a herd of 30 milk cows across a high, green hayfield and down into the barnyard below.” A beautiful piece about time, change, and the rural life.

From Eat Maine Blog: Kathy Kelleher’s review of Small Axe food truck in Portland, Maine.

Recipes

A Quick But Good Meal Using Sauce from a Jar

August 8, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

Yesterday was one of those days. The day was sunny and warm, but I had two back-to back writing projects that kept me at my desk. However, I was determined to go on a bike ride with my husband, Clif, when he came home from work. I was also determined to make a nice but quick dinner. Time to put on the thinking cap as I rummaged around my pantry—actually a coat closet repurposed for a pantry—and looked for the makings of a quick dinner.

I found two jars of Muir Glen Spaghetti sauce—purchased on sale, of course. One was roasted red pepper and the other was roasted garlic. Now, I could have stopped right there. Clif loves spaghetti sauce, and Muir Glen makes a good one. He would have been happy with jarred sauce and pasta. But, pressed though I was for time, I wanted to go a little further than just jarred sauce and pasta for supper. I thought of the peppers and zucchini in the refrigerator as well as a package of spicy chicken sausage.

There, I had the makings of something approaching a home-cooked meal. Out came the Crock-Pot and in went the two jars of sauce, a chopped green pepper, a small chopped zucchini, and the chopped chicken sausage—it came precooked. I set it on high and let it bubble.

I know you are not supposed to lift the lid of a Crock-Pot before the meal is done, but I can never resist tasting and stirring. It was a good thing I did. Because while the sauce tasted pretty good, there was a little something missing, and that something was red pepper flakes to jazz it up. I added about a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and let everything simmer on high. When the vegetables were cooked—four hours or so later—I turned the temperature to low.

I finished my writing projects, and I even had time to make a batch of corn bread. Clif came home, and we went on our bike ride. The evening was just perfect. Warm, but not too warm, and Maranacook Lake rippled with shades of blue and gray.

After we came home, I put on the water for the pasta and chopped a small bunch of basil to add to the sauce. Clif’s verdict? “Pretty darned good.” He had two-and-a-half helpings.

I know that with the use of jarred sauce this concoction has a Betty Crockerish feel to it. (In fact, the corn bread recipe did indeed come from a Betty Crocker cookbook.) But sometimes, when the day is busy, and you just want something easy and relatively healthy for heaven’s sake, you have to cut a few corners.

When the meal is tasty, and there are leftovers, well, that’s a real bonus, too.

Food for the Soul

Digression: Being Moved by a Movie

August 7, 2013 Clif Graves

This post is going to be a digression, being mostly about art and movies and hardly about food at all. On the other hand, the subject of this post could be considered cultural food, which art in all its wonderful variety—movies, dance, music, theater, literature, visual—most certainly is. At least to me. While we need actual food for the body—and lord knows how food obsessed I am—we also need cultural food or else, as the late great Canadian writer Robertson Davies put it, we will get “cultural rickets.”

I have realized the importance of art since I was a teenager, and I have known it is something I need and crave almost as much as I need food. My husband, Clif, feels the same way, and once upon a time, we were diligent about going to plays and art exhibits. Although we live in rural central Maine, we are within driving distance of many places that host cultural events—the art museums at Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin, the Theater at Monmouth, and the Public Theater, to name a few. Clif and I took full advantage of our many opportunities.

But then, as the saying goes, life happened. The recession hit, and like so many baby boomers, we got hammered. Clif lost his job, but luckily, we did not lose our house. My mother died. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Clif broke his arm. Unfortunately, the usual stuff of life. We rallied, somewhat, from these challenges, but in dealing with all these things, we got stuck in a bit of a rut. Part of it was financial—our budget has never recovered from the hit it took during the recession—but part of it was that we just stopped making the effort. (The college art museums are free. There is no reason not to go to them.) We hunkered down, and home, family, and community became our world.

Now, home, family, and community are not bad things. In fact, they are very good. To use a food metaphor, you might even call them the cake of life. But cake needs frosting, and when I saw the movie Museum Hours, I realized that’s what our life was missing—the frosting—or art, if you will. (Do watch the trailer if you have time.) Several posts back, I wrote about Museum Hours, where a museum guard befriends a Canadian woman who has come to Vienna to be with a cousin who is critically ill. The movie is very leisurely, and much of it was shot in the fabulous Kunsthistorisches Museum. Some of the museum’s art was examined in beautiful detail—in particular work by the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Vienna is also featured, and the movie’s gist is that art is all around us. It never stops. We just need to take the time to look. I felt as though the movie were talking directly to me and that I’d better darned well find the time and the energy to start looking at art again.

And so I have. To begin our return to art, a couple of weeks ago, Clif and I went to the Colby Museum of Art, where unexpectedly, we met our nephew, Patrick, who is majoring in art. We walked around the museum together, where we looked at art in the fabulous new Alfond-Lunder Family Pavillion. It was one of those special evenings where everything just clicked—the art, the company, and, yes, even the food. (There was a reception with some very tasty appetizers, among them little biscuits with ham and mustard, and chicken with toasted coconut and a tangy dipping sauce.)

It took some effort to do this. We only have 1 car, which meant that I had to bring Clif to work and then pick him up again in the evening. But the evening was terrific, and the effort was worthwhile. A very auspicious return to art.

Museum Hours (2012) Poster

Food for Thought

August, Here We Come

August 6, 2013 Clif Graves 2 Comments

Barbara's plate of goodies — Barbara’s plate of goodies

My husband, Clif, and I have made an August resolution. We have decided to squeeze out as much fun and enjoyment as we can from this last month of summer. We both know what’s around the corner—-many, many months of dark and cold where we spend way too much time inside. So this month, our philosophy is this: let us bike when we can and eat on the patio as often as possible. In addition, we want to go to the summer art exhibits and get together with family and friends. (But then again, we always like to get together with family and friends, regardless of the time of year.)

The month is still new, and already we are off to a good start. Last weekend, we went to the Portland Museum of Art to see the William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism. Our son-in-law, Mike, joined us as did our nephew, Patrick, who is majoring in art at the University of Maine at Orono. We spent an absorbing hour or so looking at works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Rodin, and many other artists from that period. I especially enjoyed hearing Mike’s and Patrick’s take on art. Both young men have a terrific feel for art, and they bring a fresh perspective when they look and comment.

On Sunday, our friends Margy and Steve came over for a barbecue. The day started out sunny and warm, but this summer, the rain never stays away for very long, and on Sunday it came just before Margy and Steve arrived. Never mind! When we saw the sky turn gray and heard the thunder rumbling nearby, Clif quickly made some of his legendary grilled bread, which we all ate inside while it poured outside. However, by the time we had finished with wine, beer, grilled bread, and other appetizers, the rain had stopped, and the sun came out. With towels to mop up the water, we went to the patio for grilled chicken and grilled zucchini topped with feta and a sprinkle of thyme. We also had Farmer Kev’s new red potatoes and his green beans. Lots of good talk about theater, politics, and other matters. Then back in we went for dessert—-Margy’s tasty banana bread and my homemade vanilla ice cream.

Yesterday, I went to my friend Barbara’s house for talk, tea, and dessert. She served a selection of goodies, and while they were all tasty, her chocolate chip pie was especially good. Because the chocolate chip pie is a Hannaford recipe—unfortunately it’s not on their website—I can’t really share it with you, but this recipe from Southern Food comes close. The Hannaford recipe uses 1 cup of brown sugar rather than the granulated sugar and an extra teaspoon of vanilla. It cooks at a very low temp—300 degrees—for 55 minutes to an hour. The taste is similar to that of pecan pie, but not as rich. I plan on making it for our next gathering.

So August, here we come. A great beginning to what is usually a beautiful month.

News

August 2, 2013: Bits and Bobs from the Internet

August 2, 2013 Clif Graves

Another rainy Friday, but at least we had several days of fine weather this week. High summer is here, and I’m hoping for a lot more of that fine weather. In the meantime, today will be a good day to make cinnamon pie knots for a friend who fell while hiking. She’s recovering from surgery, and we both agreed that those pie knots would be just the thing to cheer her up.

From the Bangor Daily News: How Skowhegan became Maine’s breadbasket.

From the New York Times: Too much rain in the South means a very poor crop of fruits and vegetables. This is bad news for all of us who live in the eastern United States.

From the Portland Press Herald: Brunch is one of my favorite meals, and French toast is one of my favorite brunch items. Brooke Dojny gives a recipe not only for Maple French Toast but also for a Mostly Summer Fruit Compote. I could eat both right now.

From NPR’s the salt: Workers at fast food restaurants went on strike last week. Their demands? That they be paid a living wage of $15 an hour. Good luck to them! Every working adult deserves a living wage.

From the blog Craftivist in the Kitchen: Shari might be “from away,” as we Mainers call those who live in Maine but aren’t born here, but her fish chowder is fast becoming legendary in the Brunswick area.

News

Backyard Report: August 1, 2013

August 1, 2013 Clif Graves

August is here, and at the little house in the big woods, it is a month of promise. So far, it has been a terrible summer with either too much rain or too much heat. However, the past few days have been lovely—hot, dry days and cool evenings—and it has felt as though the end of July was getting ready for August, usually one of the most beautiful months in Maine. My husband, Clif, and I sure hope August will be true to form this year.

Because of the weather, we’ve hardly ridden our bikes, but with the first of August, we are filled with determination—that we will ride most every day and then plan a couple of long treks at the end of the month. We’ll pack our granola bars and our lunch, and off we will go. This year we want to ride around Lake Cobboseecontee, which spans 5 towns—Manchester, Winthrop, Monmouth, West Gardiner, and Monmouth. It’s a long, long lake, but what makes this ride a challenge isn’t the distance but rather the hills. It’s got some big ones, that’s for sure.

We also want to host a couple of gatherings on our patio. Fresh vegetables are coming into their own, and I have plans for grilled zucchini stuffed with feta, fresh thyme, and honey. Our friends Steve and Margy are coming over on Sunday, and we hope to have a leisurely afternoon on the patio, starting with grilled bread and ending with dessert.

Right now in the backyard, the bee balm is in bloom as are the dwarf snap dragons. The flowers are abuzz with insects, some beneficial to the garden—the bees—and some not so beneficial—the Japanese beetles. Hummingbirds whizz from the trees to the feeders, and grasshoppers pop from the flowers to the patio. In my little vegetable patch, there are cucumbers and tomatoes, which I will have with my lunch today as I sit on the patio and read my New Yorker.

Why can’t August last longer?