Monday's Sunday

Since we went out on Sunday, I didn't make the meal that I had planned. I was enamored enough of the plan that I made it last night. This is a bit beyond what I normally do during the week, but it simply had to be done. :-)

We had roasted spatchcocked chicken, cornbread stuffing with greens, roasted carrots, mashed potatoes and celery root, and a big green salad.

The stuffing was based on a CPV recipe and used the chard greens I didn't use when I made stewed chard. In addition to the chard, I used spring onions [box], parsley [box], garlic, finely diced bacon, lemon juice, butter, olive oil, and some bouillon. I didn't add either the milk or the egg called for in the original recipe. The sweetness of the cornbread (not present in the original recipe) plays well with the sweetness/tartness of the greens, the sour lemon juice, and the overall richness. This is very good stuff.

I mounded the stuffing in a baking dish, laid the butterflied chicken on top, brushed with a butter/olive oil mixture, and seasoned the outside of the bird. For good measure I tossed in some coarsely diced carrot and a couple more spring onions sprigs. After baking the whole thing until the bird was done (30-45 minutes, I wasn't really paying attention to the time), I removed the chicken and baked the stuffing+veggies alone at high heat for the 5 minutes while the chicken rested.

For the mashed veggies I boiled some all-purpose potatoes and some diced celery root [both from the box] until tender then drained them and mashed them with some warm cream. I really enjoyed the combination of flavors from potato+celery root.

A very fine meal.

And now for an aside: last night convinced me that I "need" a proper food mill. The plastic one I have now just isn't up to the task. Anytime I attempt to process food with the least bit of resistance (e.g. all-purpose potatoes), it turns into a festival of frustration and profanity. The problem is that the spring that holds the blade in place isn't strong enough/the shaft that holds it isn't long enough, so food with a bit of body to it ends up popping the shaft/blade out of its hole. The damn thing works fine for soft things like peas and long-cooked soups, but it just can't do mashed potatoes. And I really like mashed potatoes made with a food mill.