Slow-cooked Chicken in a Clay Pot with Winter Vegetables

Taste: clean, strong chicken flavor, herbal, fresh from the lemon, slightly earthy from the paprika, buttery from the potatoes, sweet and rich from the carrots

It’s not in my nature to slow-cook food, I’m too spur of the moment and I like to fiddle with my food too much, but every once in a while, it’s nice to be able stick something in a pot and let it do its thing for a few hours.

Slow cooking leaves the food incredibly juicy and tender, and because it usually requires a tightly sealed vessel - you can’t afford to loose moisture otherwise your food will dry out or burn - this method effectively concentrates flavor and preserves more of the nutritional value of the food. Cooking things over the course of a few hours also has the added bonus of gradually steeping your whole house in luscious aromas, drawing the occupants to peer longingly through the oven door like a troupe of slightly sad zombies. Continue reading »

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Marjoram Chicken Soup

Taste: Chickeny, bursting with umami, herbal flavor from the marjoram, slightly lemony and caramel-y from the onions.

Apparently there are certain dishes which you’re not supposed to use when ‘entertaining.’ I’ve got several cookbooks which caution that certain recipes aren’t for guests. Well, I wasn’t aware of this distinction until recently and I’ve been serving non-guestworthy foods to my guests for a long time, shockingly no one has ever called me out on it. Continue reading »

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