"our orange pot is famous!"

that's what my husband said when he saw today's copy of the Wall Street Journal.

dig.drop.done ad with orange pot

(close-up of pot at home)

so maybe the pot's not famous...but it was part of the set i designed for one of our clients, dig.drop.done, that the Journal wrote about in an article on the bulb industry's efforts to encourage women to consider planting bulbs.

(you can see the online article here, with the ad featured in photo 5 of the slideshow.)

 oh, and that cake? it's a fake. styrofoam disks and spackling. made that too.  

trickery

back to the pot....it's an old 13-quart le creuset i found on ebay a few years back. ebay is a great source for these pots if you're willing to go with "used" as the retail prices are ridiculously high (the 13-quart goes for a whopping $445).

here's a link to one of the really tasty, almost as famous, dishes that has come out of that pot to date.

chicken 'n dumplings

and since the weather right now is just begging for chicken 'n dumplings, let me encourage you to make some this weekend, in any pot. it doesn't have to be a famous one.

sarah g's favorite dish

i made this last week for "teeny tiny group" (hi broomski), and was thrilled to find out that chicken pot pie is a favorite dish of one of my favorite "groupers"- sarah. she especially liked this version because of it's secret ingredient.....and i quote sarah here: "Omg, I'm never not putting bacon in chicken pot pie again!!!".   and i'm encouraging you to make the same commitment. because like so many other things, bacon just makes it better.

the recipe is not very different from the one i use for chicken and dumplings in that they both start with a homemade chicken stock:

some sauteed veggies (this time in bacon fat):

fresh herbs (thyme here):

thyme and wine

and cooked chicken (i cook mine in a mixture of water and milk as it's supposed to make the chicken more tender. could be an old wives tale, but i do it anyway):

ew!! raw chicken!

here's what the pot looks like after you've crisped the bacon, sauteed the veggies in the bacon fat, added some butter and flour to make a roux, poured in the strained chicken stock, a little cream, a glug of sherry and the herbs:

after this thickens, add the cooked chicken that you've now shredded or chopped and pour the whole gloppy mess into a baking dish (cast iron if you have it) and cover with pie crust (thank you mikey!).

bake for 15 minutes in a 450 degree oven then turn the heat back to 350 and cook for another 45 minutes or until the crust is golden.

i can't believe i didn't get a picture of the finished product, but it was a HUGE pot pie....cooked it in our 13" x 16" roasting pan....and it disappeared rather quickly.

hope you get the chance to make some for the people you love. it's comfort food at its best.

ingredients you'll need:
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
6 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces
s & p
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 T butter
2 diced onions
3/4 c flour
1/4 c heavy cream
2 c diced carrots
fresh thyme
glug of sherry
pie crust 

pollo y dumplings

 (a.k.a. "the one dish i can make without a recipe in front of me")


i love chickens. even raised them once upon a time. but the name the english bestowed upon them is just wrong. say it....CHiCKen. it's all hard edges and staccato.

then you look at what the spanish language writers did. they clearly understood the grace and beauty of this humble bird...pollo. round and soft and smooth. as is this dish.

it's a combination of my favorite parts of two or three recipes...and if you happen to make a batch yourself...it just might be the best thing to hit your stomach in a long time.