Menus, January 30, 2013

Full fathom five thy father lies; 

Of his bones are coral made; 

Those are pearls that were his eyes: 

Nothing of him that doth fade 

But doth suffer a sea-change 

Into something rich and strange. 

William Shakespeare

With that little ditty, the handsome young hero of  Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' learns of the death of his father. He's been storm-tossed, shipwrecked, and washed up on a beach- all in all, a pretty weird day. And then an enslaved spirit wanders in singing a song that imparts more bad news along with bad but interesting news.

The bad news?

Your father has drowned in a magical storm.

The bad and yet wonderfully interesting news?

Your father has been transformed into a prime coral condo.

It's not the stuff of Shakespeare, but happier sort of sea-change happened here last Sunday afternoon.

The good news?

We had an errand that necessitated a trip to a bookstore, which in turn necessitated a stop for coffee.

The good and wonderfully interesting news?

Mermaids are real! And they run a great lunch spot.

Our mid afternoon caffeine craving led us to the discovery of the Mermaid Bar at Neiman Marcus in Northpark. It was here that an ordinary coffee stop was transformed into the the best part of a good day as a magician/waitress named Dori uttered three magic words: Chicken Velvet Soup.

Chicken Velvet! A forgotten comfort food from years gone by! A recipe I'd lost long ago! What a treat!

And then Dori, despite her diminutive size, vaulted over the top of the above-and-beyond. She actually photocopied the recipe and brought it to me. 

For real! Look!

Amazing!

And here it is: 

Get a load of those mass quantities!
never fear- I've found it in homier proportions.

Thanks Dori- you brought back some great food memories, and turned this week's planning into play.

 Friendliness + excellence= awesomeness

Let's get set up for a recipe that uses leftover chicken by cooking some chicken to be leftover, shall we?

Wednesday: Roast Chicken and Potatoes 

This is the ever reliable America's Test Kitchen recipe and I'll be using skin-on split chicken breast and I'll be cooking enough to provide meat for three meals this week. Rotisserie chicken is a great option here; if the people you're feeding aren't rotisserie resistant, then save yourself some  time and grab a couple of chickens before you hit the check out line.  

Thursday: Chicken Velvet Soup!

This soup, like many cream soups and gravies, starts with a roux. Rhymes with stew. Or with this:

It's a kangaroux.
unless she's carrying a few regrets in that pouch.
In which case she may be a little kangarue.

 A roux is simply flour incorporated into melted butter (or oil) and cooked a little (or a lot). The resulting mixture is just the tastiest way ever invented to thicken soup or stew or gravy. Learn to make a roux, and you'll feel like you've gained a kitchen superpower. Here's a great tutorial (with bonus recipes!) As the tutorial explains, roux changes flavor as the flour in the oil/flour mixture darkens, and when I realized that I'd never actually timed how long it took to cook from white to brown, I decided to experiment.

zero minutes= white roux        about 3 minutes= blond roux   about 7 minutes=brown roux

The Mermaid Bar version of this soup included celery and parsley and in the interest of veggie goodness I may add those. If I do, I'll saute the celery in a separate pan, and let it tenderize in the broth of the soup before  adding the milk. Because eating a cream soup that's been allowed to boil is like eating really runny chicken flavored cottage cheese. You can make up your own story about how I know this.

Friday: Black Beans and Rice and Brazilian cheese bread

It's the big guy's birthday, and that means this meal. That's right. His favorite dinner can be made in a crock pot. Lucky for me, right? I'll be substituting smoked sausage for the ham hocks, and using a bit of pork tenderloin that's in the freezer instead of the pork shoulder. The little cheese breads deserve a try if you can find tapioca flour; look for it an an import store or in the gluten free aisle of your usual grocery store. Proceed with caution though- they're extremely addictive.

Saturday: Gumbo

Believe it or not, I've never made gumbo. Even though I like it. It's all that thinking about roux that's persuaded me to at last give it a go; a deep, dark roux is essential to a good gumbo. The recipe says I may be stirring for 45 minutes before the roux is dark brown, and I kinda doubt that, but I'll time it and let you know what happens.  I can easily find andouille sausage here, so I'll be using that along with some frozen shrimp and some of Wednesday's leftover chicken. 

Okra haters, you too can play with roux. Here's an okra free version that looks great.

Sunday: Chicken and Spinach Flautas

My (insert adjective of superlativity here) daughter tried these last week and pronounced them wonderful; since she's usually (always) right about what I'll like, and since they look like a great way to use up any remaining leftover chicken, I'm going to give them a try. I'll be dishing them up with a nice salad and some salsa. 

Sea-change. Yet another phrase that Shakespeare, that wily wordsmith, snuck into our vocabulary. The dictionary says it means "a striking change, often for the better"

Striking or subtle, we all know what it feels like when unseen forces flow around us, transforming the everyday into the extraordinary, faded into fresh, loss into gain. 

Maybe you'll feel that this week.

Maybe you feel it now- deep currents pulling you toward a different course that the one you'd charted. Pulling you toward something new and rich and strange.

Maybe it's time to hoist those metaphorical sails, mate, and let the quieting sea carry you to shore.

If you're lucky, you may even hear the mermaids singing.