Okay, this is going to be fast because dinner is waiting. But I just learned something new. That’s been happening a lot since I started eating a lot more organic and local food.
So I was at the Regional Market and bought a chicken and a hen. Just because they were there, they were reasonably priced, and I didn’t know the difference, not really. I knew the hen was older. That’s all.
So tonight I tried making a sort of Indian curry-like Old Hen stew. In the pressure cooker. First I cut up the hen and seared the parts in some coconut oil (so healthful!), then I removed them and sauted a bunch of mirepoix in the same oil. I added some kind of Indian readi-spice mix, some ground cumin and turmeric and stirred. Deglazed with white wine, added the chicken back in, some golden raisins, some chopped up apples (using up calories I find lounging in the refrigerator) and a ton of hot water. Let ‘er cook in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes.
Well. Everything came out yummy, soft, voluptuous (from all the schmaltz). Except that bird. Expecting the meat to fall off the bone after this treatment, I had to take her out of the pot, tear off that rubbery skin and actually saw off pieces of meat… what meat I could find. As I cut this bird apart, I thought of the life she must have had. With muscles like that, she must have done a good deal of walking around, maybe doing some of that powerlifting Dave thinks I should do some day. I could even imagine her flying, with wings that just wouldn’t part with even a bite of meat. Wow! She was a tough old bird.
But the fact is, I got many chewy bits that taste like chicken! Into the pot they’ve gone. And we’re really hungry by now. The tastings were promising. There’s a small pot of cous-cous to pour the stew over. I think we’ll love it. Even if it’s only because la mejor salsa es el hambre (the best sauce is hunger).
Do you have a story about a surprise ingredient?
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