Spring Begins

The calendar says it's Spring, but as I was driving into Burlington this morning I saw that the outside temperature reading was only thirteen degrees. It might as well be January!

By the time I returned home, I knew I wanted to make something hearty for dinner. 

I had a container of cooked chicken in the freezer, and pie dough ready to roll out. Since I also had potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion, I decided to make chicken pot pie. While the chicken and pie dough were thawing out, I made English Muffin Bread - a recipe from my cousin. (It's fun to make because each of the two loaves bakes for exactly seven and one- half minutes in the microwave.)

For a cold weather New England style dessert, I found my recipe for Indian Pudding. I made this while the bread was raising. The basic baked pudding recipe originally came from A Vermont Cookbook. 

When it was time for dinner, I sliced and toasted the bread, then buttered it while still warm. After baking, the pot pie was finished off under the broiler, so the crust was lightly browned and the filling was steaming hot.

A popular way to serve Indian Pudding is to top it off with ice cream while warm, and the ice cream begins to melt into it. Instead I layered it with whipped cream. 

Indian Pudding

2 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornmeal
2 Tablespoons molasses (or maple syrup)
3/4 Cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated

Combine all the ingredients except egg whites. Beat the whites until they begin to get stiff and then fold them into the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes.

Spring is off to an icy start, but with the oven going, it's always warm in the kitchen.

Sunday Afternoon - Boiled Dinner

It's mid-March and soon it will be St. Patrick's Day when many Americans - Irish or not - will be eating corned beef and cabbage.

I'm not a great fan of corned beef, but I do like cabbage in a boiled dinner. Yesterday I picked up the ingredients to prepare this meal: carrots, celery, cabbage, and a small 1- 1/2 pound chunk of lean pre-cooked ham. I already had the potatoes.

So for my preparation method, I cut the ham in half and set it in a pot with 8 cups of chicken stock. I added chopped carrots, celery, wedges of cabbage, and 5 large peeled and quartered potatoes. I seasoned it all with pepper, whole allspice, a bay leaf, and a dash of red pepper flakes (definitely optional).

It's snowing (again!!) and we have no place to go today. So the boiled dinner is on a slow simmer on the stove - to be ready for dinner early this evening. The meat and vegetables will give a nice flavor to the broth.

Enough for leftovers this week AND some for the freezer for a future meal!