In the Kitchen

Afternoon Kitchen
l-r: Jerusalem Articoke Pate baking in the oven, a pile of dirty dishes, the sink and little dishwasher connected to it, fuzzy bright light (jar with tea lights), crock pot of potato leek soup, big measuring cup of chicken stock.

It was simple enough, put a freshly defrosted chicken in the oven for dinner - my Gmail calendar popped up and reminded me at 2:30pm yesterday. Lots of time to get it in the oven so it and a host of other veggies from our veggie box would be ready for Bruce when he got home at 5pm so he could eat before he headed off 5:25pm to his second night course at the college, this one on tree pruning. I intended to put the chicken in and then come back to my desk to start some thesis work. That didn't happen.

Instead, I stood in that kitchen (quite happily I might add) for the next 7 hours. I woke up this morning (don't ask what time, but yes it was 9:30am) and promptly went right back at it and spent another 4 hours in there. It's a happy enough kitchen despite its lack of counter space. The light in there can be really nice in the late afternoon, especially in summer, and we're pretty well outfitted with good tools to get the job done. The 60s plywood cupboards were not my favourite when we moved in but they have grown on me and they are sturdy and simple and don't pretend to be something they're not (like the faux wood, plastic veneered ones in our last apartment). And I love the counter tops too. They are fully 60s vintage and are in amazing shape.

The photo above is probably a very typical scene after I have been in the kitchen for several hours (hey, sometimes it only takes minutes!). I don't really like to do dishes - hence our tiny portable dishwasher (aka the Marriage Saver) - and Bruce , I'm not sure he likes to do dishes either, but he really likes a clean kitchen and clean counters. I could work around things for weeks until I'd used every dish in the kitchen and then I'd think about doing dishes.

So what was the edible result of this lovely scene (the stack of dishes is now smaller - I have just put the dishwasher on for the second time today)?

1. Full Roast Chicken dinner, including garlic mashed potatoes, family favourite cabbage salad, roasted winter squash, steamed fresh crinkle cut carrots and frozen corn served with cheese cubes, slices of kohlrabi and garden green tomato relish (made before Thanksgiving & it still tastes delicious).

2. Crock pot chicken stock from said roasted chicken carcass, veggie box carrots and leeks

3. Leek Soup (kind of like French Onion Soup - my dad used to make leek soup out of wild leeks with toasted bread and melted cheese on top - yummy!) - the veggie box leeks were sauteed in some bacon fat from the freezer that we had rescued from the baking pan from a breakfast feast a few months ago. The beef broth was some of the 16 litres that we were able to make using the bones from Glory, the heifer a group of us bought butchered from a lovely farmer in the Cowichan Valley.

4. Potato Leek soup using the crock pot chicken stock, veggie box leeks sauteed in the crock pot with some more of that thriftily saved bacon, island potatoes and the cooking water from the dinner potatoes and steamed veggies.

5. Tahini to make the Jerusalem Artichoke Pate

6. Jerusalem Artichoke Pate (recipe from Saanich Organics, doubled & modified as described below)

1 cup Jerusalem artichokes, washed & chopped***
4 tbsp nutritional yeast****
4 tbsp each olive oil, tamari, tahini
4 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup hazelnuts, finely ground*
1 cup almonds, finely ground**
2 tsp rosemary leaves*****

Place all ingredients except for rosemary and hazelnuts in food processor and process until smooth. Add ground nuts and pulse again. Oil a loaf pan and sprinkle with rosemary leaves. Spread dough over top, evenly in pan. Bake 350 degrees F for 55 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Spread on crackers or use as a sandwich filling.

* purchased from Village Family Marketplace, sourced from Butler Hazelnut Farm
** left over ground almonds from almond milk making, frozen awaiting such an opportunity to use them)
*** from our Saanich Organics veggie box
**** I used a tiny sliver of Village Cheese Parmesan we had left
***** growing on our balcony (they grow like trees here in Victoria)

I'm having some serious motivation issues with thesis work these past few weeks so I am struggling with that, though I'm feeling a bit better about it at this moment and I think my marathon stint in the kitchen may have helped.

So, now that the fridge & freezers are full of left overs I think I can turn to some thesis work (sigh).