Hi, and thank you for tuning in to read part two of the Abundant Refrigerator!
I’m happy to report that Mr. Stone Soup Cook and I both tested Covid-negative a few days ago and other than still being tired, we are more or less recovered. I’m also happy to say that my abundant refrigerator stepped up and provided us with tasty and more or less healthy meals until we ultimately tested negative and I was able to get back out for fresh provisions.
As the week of Covid wore on, I felt better in some ways and not in others. This virus is fickle and you can feel better one day and be down for the count the next. I also found that I became very tired if I tried to do anything too ambitious, so I stuck to some tried and true meal items and took lots of naps.
On night four, I roasted the chicken, which always makes me feel better–especially because I know that the next day, I will be simmering the chicken carcass to make chicken stock, which fills the house with such comforting smells!
I looked to see what I had left in the way of vegetables. By this time, I had used up the salad things: the lettuce, sugar snap peas, bell peppers and a few of the asparagus. But I still had the celeriac and cabbage left. I also had about three bunches of carrots. I decided to make glazed carrots and celery root and red cabbage salad to go along with roast chicken for dinner:
And if I do say so, this meal hit it out of the park! Not only was it pretty to look at, but it was delicious. And here’s a quick tip for the celeriac salad: since I had made the vinaigrette already at the beginning of the week, I mixed that with a little bottled ranch dressing for a yummy, creamy (and slightly less fattening) dressing. And those carrots were a perfect tangy counterpoint to the rustic, richer flavors in the chicken and the celeriac salad.
The next day, I made the chicken stock. I put the chicken carcass in the pot to simmer and left it there simmering all day–so, I started it at about 8:30 and really didn’t mess with it until about 6:00, so…9 1/2 hours or so. By the time I strained the bones and vegetables out, the stock was a deep, rich caramel brown color. I tasted it, and it really didn’t need a thing added to it.
Instead of plain soup, I decided to make chicken and okra stew. I still had potatoes left, plus the carrots and the okra. What happened next, was a little bit of kitchen magic.
Mr. Stone Soup Cook, who had already succumbed to the virus by this time, also, inhaled the stew and then announced: “honey–if you’d made that stew earlier, we’d both be well by now!”
I served it with some French bread I found in the freezer and fresh butter. The potatoes and carrots were rustic and comforting and the okra provided a nice, herbal slightly crunchy counterpoint. For this stew, I left the vegetables and the chicken in larger, more rustic pieces, so each mouthful has a lot of good flavors and textures.
By day six, I was reaching the bottom of the barrel of vegetables. I still had asparagus, a few of the okra, plus some celery, onions, garlic and like that. But neither of us was yet negative, so it was time to get extra creative.
I remembered that I had ham leftover from ham week, and retrieved a chunk that I had frozen the week before:
As I’ve said before, ham and asparagus play beautifully together. I didn’t have any pesto sauce, but I did have spring garlic, good olive oil, dried sweet basil, salt and pepper. I was in business. I ground up the sweet basil, salt and pepper in my mortar and pestle, chopped the spring garlic up fine, and mixed it all with the olive oil. I boiled up some pasta–I did happen to have pappardelle–sliced the asparagus and the ham up and added it to the boiling pasta water for the last couple of minutes of boiling the pasta, drained the whole thing and then added the dressing. It wasn’t as flavorful as real pesto, but it got the job done. I added a little grated parmesan cheese to it, and–viola. Dinner was served.
By day seven, we were well and truly done with being on quarantine. Fortunately, by Thursday, I tested negative. I still stayed in another day, just to be safe, and because I was pretty well exhausted.
Thanks for visiting for part two of “An Abundant Refrigerator.”
Until next week–
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
