It's all about that soup, 'bout that soup, no chowder.....

Week of 1/25-1/31

We here at Chez Klein are slightly under the weather, not full out sick but almost.  Lots of kleenex is getting used and once again my new Le Creuset is being used to make chicken stock for soup.  I made one batch last Sunday with chicken carcass and various parts from the freezer.  Today I've bought about 3 pounds of chicken legs and roasted them.  They are now in the big oval pot simmering gently on the stove.  Hannah is all better now, but Rachel and I are the ones who are sniffling.





Total Le Creuset uses to date:  16
Cost per use:  $31.25

Week of January 18-24

Well things are really slowing down cooking wise, which is a good thing.  We're back to a good routine and that means quicker, easier week night menu planning.  I only used one of my Le Creuset pots this week when I used the large oval pot to make four quarts of turkey stock.  I got a 12 pound turkey at Target for $8.64.  That turkey gave us one dinner and several lunches before all of it went into the stock pot.

I beg to differ......I love soup on any day.

Total Le Creuset uses to date:  14
Cost per useage:  $37.71

One Herb that Does it All

Turmeric.......

Chicken thighs with turmeric and sumac!  I love this recipe.  The recipe is courtesy The Splendid Table and you can find it here.  Also, turmeric is very good for you, apparently it has natural anti-oxident compounds.





Total Le Creuset uses to date:  13
Cost per use:  $38.46

Still Cooking after all these days.....

In the round pot I made French Onion Soup.  I followed Chef John's recipe, who "Americanizes" it by cutting the onion into dice instead of strips according to him, and using Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese instead of gruyère.

You can find his blog post here.

This is my soup

It's a horrible photo but it really came out good.

Total Le Creuset uses to date:  12
Cost per usage:  $41.67

The best chicken recipe on the Internet?

This photo is from Jamie Oliver's website.

I've seen this recipe online for some time now.  It sounds weird but in light of the fact that my new Le Creuset has been begging me to make something new, I decided to make it for once and for all.  The recipe is all over the Internet, but it is apparently credited to Jamie Oliver.  It is call Chicken in Milk and you can find the recipe here.

From what I've read, if you don't care about the skin, cook the chicken breast side down for some really fabulously juicy meat.  So that's what I did.  I also cooked it partially with the lid on, about one hour.  Then, since my chicken was 5 pounds and the original recipe calls for a 3 pound chicken, I cooked it for another 40 minutes uncovered.  I think 30 would have been enough.

This is my chicken 

It was really good.  Rachel liked it.  [Joel ate his homemade Seitan (poor boy)]....the chicken was tender, juicy and flavorful.  I would totally make it again.  I would cook for a total of 90 minutes, add a lot more sage and salt it a little more.  If you're wondering where the missing chicken wing is...........well, never mind.  Haha!

Incidentaly, I made a chicken soup over the weekend so my total usage of my Le Creuset pots is now up to 11.

Total Le Creuset uses to date:  11
Cost per usage:  $45.45

What I've Made So Far

I haven't kept a good record of what I've made so I thought I'd try to recount things to date.

1.  Turkey carcass soup.

2.  Chicken carcass soup.

3.  Pot roast, always good.

4.  French Onion Chicken with Gruyére.....recipe can be found here.  This was very good, I used thighs and I would definitely make this again.

5.  French chicken in a pot....recipe can be found here.  The chicken came out very tender and flavorful with a really nice broth.  It was a good chicken to make for the subsequent chicken carcass soup that I made.  Hannah and Rachel prefer my roasted butterflied chicken instead.

6.  Glazed Oxtails for Elise's "Simply Recipes" blog.....recipe can be found here.  The oxtails were delicious but the deboning process left for a very small amount.  I would leave the meat on the bones next time possibly.  HOWEVER, due to the high cost of the oxtails I think I would like to make this recipe using a chuck roast in the future.

7.  Chicken and pasta, I can't remember which recipe I used.

8.  I boiled frozen snow crab legs in the big oval cooker.  Not a special recipe, but the large oval pot allowed for the large crab legs to fit quite easily.

9.  Tonight I am going to cook a small 3 pound boneless pork loin roast in the round Le Creuset.  I found the recipe on the "Food" website......here.

So that's 9 uses in two weeks.  So assuming both pots cost in total about $500, that's $56 per usage.  Definitely not close to break even.  I wonder how many years will make the purchase of these pots financially wise.  But it is nice to have them.

Days of Cooking......

......will now come to a big slow down now that the holidays are over.  I made 6 pounds of oxtails which came out really good.  I started by browning the oxtails:

Oxtails browning

The recipe was called Glazed Oxtails and I got the recipe from the Simply Recipes blog.  I love the way the pots really hold the heat.  The cleanup is easy too.  Just a short soak in hot soapy water and a sponge washes it all clean.