Weekly Recap | March 16th

Seriously, time is whizzing by. Do you also feel it? Doesn't it feel like a minute ago we all had Purim plans (lol, that was funny). And here we are, three weeks later, getting ready to cancel our Pesach plans. Insert saying here about planning, God, and laughing.

But as always, food must be eaten and I must keep myself busy, so we press on! Having this meal delivery service, aside from helping me stay financially afloat, also gives me a reason to leave my house for non-bomb shelter associated reasons, and for that, I am grateful. I am not grateful for this war, however, and think it's time we all just stopped lobbing death balloons at one another and hoping the other side runs out of patience/defences/military leadership before we do. Anyway! On to the important stuff! I'll start by talking about my favorite protein - chicken. If I had to choose just one animal protein to eat for the rest of my life, this would absolutely win. The opportunities and uses are endless. Recently, I've taken to buying and butchering whole chickens - mainly because it's significantly cheaper that way, but also because the yield is significantly better. I buy whole chickens, take them home, and begin the time-consuming process of removing all the bones while keeping the bird intact. I first cut the breast off the bone, then detach the meat from the backbone, and then finally cut out the thigh and drumstick bones out. I'm left with a whole half chicken - wing, breast, and thigh -- all deboned and ready to eat. This allows me to cook both at the same time for even, juicy meat, and I get to turn all the bones into a stock. Skin trimmings also become shmaltz - the best butter around. And this week, I kept the chicken super simple. I seared the chickens, skin-side down, before finishing them off in the oven. I then used the pan drippings (the fond) to enhance the flavor of various aromatics - shallots, fresh green garlic, lemons, and lots of hard herbs - which i then cooked down with some white wine and chicken stock. Finally, I strained that and stirred in some Dijon mustard and honey before letting it reduce to a thick, glossy pan sauce. I served that over the chicken with roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes and a crunchy kohlrabi, fennel, and radish slaw. Another menu item that I absolutely adored this week, and that may have flown under the radar, was a white bean salad. I first soaked dried white beans for a few hours to hydrate them and help them cook more evenly. Then, I added a generous (seriously, very generous) glug of olive oil to a pot and added - you guessed it - aromatics to the pan to get some color. Shallots, garlic, carrot, lemon, and thyme caramelized for a few minutes before I added all the beans, covered with water, and let cook for around 4 hours, topping up with water every so often. This resulted in a flavorful, soft, plump bean that I then mixed with roasted tomatoes and butternut squash, and dressed with lots of herbs and lemon juice. This got served alongside an absolutely adorable leek and pea custard tart. Anyway, that's all for me today - check back next week for a weekly recap!