ShareThisBy LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER
Monday, November 13, 2006
Dear Lynne: Last year I vowed not to have another insane Thanksgiving, so I made and froze (among other things) my special baked custard in October. What a mess! Other dishes didn't do so well, either. So the big query remains: What can I freeze ahead? _ Trying to Ease Down Turkey Day
Dear Easing Down: Freezing basics for the big day work this way ...
Do Freeze:
Baked pumpkin, butternut squash and yam casseroles or merely the baked vegetable. The squashes could throw off a little water when defrosted, but that can be drained away.
(Add pumpkin-pie-filling ingredients, or butter, or spices for side dishes a day ahead of finishing and refrigerate.)
Breads _ from biscuits to cornbread, to cranberry bread, whole-wheat or zucchini.
Soups without cream or eggs.
Gravy.
Cranberry sauce and relishes.
Roasted hard-root vegetables like parsnips, rutabaga and turnips. (Heat through completely in a 325-degree oven.)
Unbaked apple pies. Bake frozen, adding 20 minutes to the baking time. Yes, the bottom crust will be fine (or you could do a deep-dish pie with no bottom crust). One caution: Use only metal pie plates. Glass or china ones will crack in the oven if they go in cold.
Unbaked pie crust already rolled out and in the pie pan.
Cookies
Cakes without custard fillings.
Don't Freeze:
Custards (which you already know), which include pumpkin-pie filling.
Cream sauces.
Leafy and watery vegetables like greens, onions, broccoli, green beans and cabbage.
Jell-O salads.
Marshmallows.
Salad dressings.
Dear Lynne: My wife always buys jumbo eggs. She says the size of the egg doesn't matter in recipes. Is she right? Is there a "correct" size of egg? _ Doubting "She Who Must Be Obeyed"
Dear Doubting: In this case, she shouldn't be obeyed, at least not regarding most recipes. Large is the standard egg size in recipes. It is particularly important to use only large eggs in baking because balance is crucial. Jumbos could throw it off. Keep the jumbos for scrambling and sunny-side up.
Dear Lynne: How do you pot-roast a chicken? This might seem like a stupid question, but when I have tried to do chicken like pot roast, it falls apart or is dry. _Alan in New York City.
Dear Alan: Cooking for too long at a heat that's too high might be the problem. Beef pot roasts are more forgiving than chicken because they usually have more fat to keep the meat moist. Also, they usually take longer to cook.
Try this recipe. There is a relatively small amount of cooking liquid, which produces the gentlest cooking environment _ steam. So the driest part of the bird _ the breast _ cooks slowly for maximum moistness. It doesn't hurt to have a farm-raised organic chicken, either.
You know long lists of ingredients don't necessarily mean difficult recipes. This one involves a saute and then unattended oven cooking. Figure on 20 minutes of actual effort and about 90 minutes of oven time.
Like your pot roast, this is one of those classic braised suppers that get better with a day or two in the refrigerator. Serve with rice, polenta or egg noodles that have been tossed with garlic, olive oil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
OLD-TIME POT-BRAISED PROVENCAL CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES
Serves 4 to 6
Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
3-1/2- to 4-pound chicken
2 chicken legs and thighs (about 1 pound)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 medium-sized shallots, peeled and root ends removed, but left whole
4 large carrots, peeled and cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces
10 large cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
Zest of 1/2 a large orange, cut into a few strips
2 thick slices smoked bacon (if possible, one with no nitrates or nitrites), cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves, broken
Generous 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon each dry oregano, thyme and ground allspice
1 heaping teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1 cup dry white wine
14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
A handful pitted black kalamata olives
1 to 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
Have a 6-quart heavy casserole handy, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Film a straight-sided 12-inch skillet (not nonstick) with olive oil. Make sure chicken pieces are dry and lightly brown them over medium heat. Salt and pepper them as they cook and don't worry if the skin sticks to the pan when you turn the pieces. Just scrape it up and put it into the casserole. Pile the chicken on a plate.
Have the heat at medium high when you add the shallots and carrots to the saute pan. Lightly brown them, without burning the glaze on the bottom of the pan. Stir in the garlic, orange, bacon, all the seasonings, and the white wine. Stir, scraping up the bits sticking to the bottom of the pan, as the wine boils down to practically nothing. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with 1 cup of the broth to swish out all the flavors.
Now pour everything into the casserole. Set chicken-thigh pieces in the bottom of the pot and nestle in the whole chicken breast up. Sprinkle with the olives, and spoon up some of the vegetables and bacon over the bird. Bring to a gentle bubble on top of the stove.
Cover tightly and slip into the oven. Cook 20 minutes, uncover and spoon pan juices over the chicken. Check that pan juices are bubbling slowly. If they are boiling, lower heat to 325. Recover the pot and cook another 40 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting an instant-reading thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. At 170 degrees, the chicken is done.
To serve, lift the chicken and vegetables onto a serving platter. Skim some of the fat off of the pan sauce and then boil down the sauce over high heat until it is rich-tasting. If necessary, add another 1/2 cup chicken broth. Pour sauce over the chicken and serve. You could garnish the dish with a bouquet of fresh thyme.
(Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table," American Public Media's weekly national show for people who love to eat. Be sure to join in on her holiday special "Turkey Confidential," a live call-in on Thanksgiving Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST on public radio stations nationwide. For more information, visit www.splendidtable.org or call 1-800-537-5252.)
