Day 6... Not going hungry yet...

  This looks like the cookstove I had for a time back in the 70's...it was the love of my life, even if it's co-owner and I didn't turn out to be a forever kind of love. It took, as I recall, (well--it WAS the 70's! )   6 big farm boys to carry in the cast iron top because it was thicker than the one in the photo.  It was made by the Sears Roebuck Company. That round spot on the front of the door was the heat indicator and it read  COLD--WARM--HOT.  lol  It took some practice to learn to use it, but it made the best bread in the whole wide world.  It kept the house warm all winter. It smelled so good all the time. It had a water reservoir over on the far right side and warming cupboards up top.  I baked everything imaginable in those days (and still do, kinda) .  People (especially my inlaws) thought I was insane for even wanting that monstrosity in my house. Of course, they thought I was insane for a lot of reasons, and that probably was the least of them. lol  They were farmers. An old family of farmers that had lived on their land for over  a hundred years. Commercial farmers--soybeans, wheat, corn...raised pigs and cows. Sprayed every godawful chemical on their acreage that was known to man. Anything their Farm Service guy told them would be better for--yield, weeds, bugs-- they bought it all and that's what they all did back then. And then came the crazies (me) who started talking about organic methods and no pesticides and they screamed and yelled and said that won't work !!  I remember one time, he came on our place when he thought we were both gone (I was hiding in the house) and sprayed pesticides all over my beloved peach trees.  I nearly had a seizure ! I called my husband screaming and crying and went outside and was told in no uncertain terms that I was crazy if I thought I could get peaches worth eating if I didn't spray for bugs and that this was HIS family farm by God and he'd spray whatever wherever he wanted.  (Looking back, that was probably the beginning of the end. lol)   BUT--I digress...I had a wringer washer too and hung my clothes out on a line to dry. Ah...the good old days...


  Pantries.  Oh right...lol


  Last night's supper was breakfast.  I didn't get to write this blog post last night because I lost my internet connection around 11:30 when I finally sat down to write.  By 1 AM it hadn't come back on and I had read about as much as my eyes could take for one night, so off to bed I went.  I dug through my box of potatoes from last year and found some nice sized ones, scrubbed them clean, pared and parboiled them. I had a smoked sausage in the fridge drawer and so I cut it into 3 inch pieces and then cut those in half, browned them in an electric skillet and set aside. Then I sauteed onions and red & yellow bell pepper , put the partially cooked potatoes in and set them to brown. In the meantime I fixed eggs and toasted bagels and had a fine supper. 

  
  Tonight I will have a simple supper because I will be gone all day. Tomorrow is himself's birthday...57 he will be. I will be making him a cherry pie, and I think I've decided on a pasta dish that is his favorite. It's called Aglio y Olio. I will make some soft garlic breadsticks to go with it and a salad.  I was going to share a recipe for a roasted vegetable pot pie for today. It is simple, tasty and nutritious.  It also uses up any root vegetables that need to be used lurking around the bottom of your vegetable drawer. One time (looking for more filler, I must admit) I diced up a sad looking apple and threw it in and now I NEVER make this dish without an apple. I have even used some of my dehydrated apples from time to time if I don't happen to have any left (--if the chickens got them all). lol   This recipe makes a lovely winter dish especially as it's comfort food at it's finest.   And it's beautiful...I make it sometimes for our vegetarian potlucks at the ecological center.

  I'm taking the easy way out today because I'm rushed, but here's the link to this recipe I have posted before, about 3 years ago.

https://dragonwomansmysticalmeals.blogspot.com/search?q=vegetable+pot+pie


It's a beautiful dish. I used my Christmas angel cookie cutter to do the topping. 

  Eat well my friends.  I'm off to the races...

Hey! It's my 5 year anniversary at Dragon Woman's Kitchen!!

And the angels are dancing!!    lol

  The Actual Anniversary was January 13, 2009. 5 years and exactly 2 weeks ago (on a Tuesday).  I can't believe I've been writing this for 5 years.  Not a lot.  Not enough.  But still, suiting up and showing up enough to keep it going. And loving it.


  This picture is a pot pie that I made tonight to take to our vegetarian potluck out at the La Vista Ecological Center, where we are part of a discussion group that meets twice a month.  We have random potlucks, and the food is always heavenly.  This one is a vegetable pot pie with a rosemary biscuit crust. I got this recipe for biscuits from a dear friend.  (Thanks Mary!!)

 I didn't feel like making pastry, which is how I usually do pot pies: top and bottom crust.  I just happened to have buttermilk. Voila.  I used a Xmas  cookie cutter to make the angel shapes. I patted this dough out a bit thinner than I do when making regular biscuits, so there was a leftover pan of little rosemary angels that I took along as well.

 I rummaged around in the fridge and pantries and came up with:

2 stalks of celery
1 nice onion
3 medium carrots.

  In my big cast iron skillet, I made a mirepoix of these three vegetables in a small amount of olive oil.  This sauteed for about 10-15 minutes on low while I peeled a smallish  butternut squash.  I scrubbed and cubed 2 medium red potatoes, skins on.  I rescued the end of a head of garlic that was about to be on it's way out and minced that.

 Put these things all into the skillet together and stirred them up and let them cook a bit. I had some crimini mushrooms in the fridge, so I sliced up about 5 of those too.  I had some lacinto kale all cut up in the vegetable drawer that I use for smoothies, and so I threw in a couple of handfuls of that.  I pulled an organic gala apple out of the fruit bowl as an afterthought, and washed, cored and chopped that into the mix. A little sweetness, and I love both apples and onions AND apples and squash together, so how could I go wrong?  I seasoned this with a little salt and black pepper, some hand crushed dried basil from my garden, then added a little water and put a lid on it.  (Right before putting the biscuits on, use a little thickener of your choice and make a bit of a gravy with those vegetables. Add about 2 tablespoons of butter make it a rich gravy)


  The biscuit dough is easy peasy...

  2.5 cups flour
  1 Tbsp. sugar
  3.5 tsp baking powder
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  1 tsp. salt
  1 tsp. finely chopped rosemary (I used dried)
  1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  1  1/4 c.  buttermilk


Stir together the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it's all fine and crumbly. I slice the stick of chilled butter into 3 pieces lengthwise. Flip it over and cut it 3 times again. Then slice it into tiny cubes and put into the flour.  It mixes easier this way. Once that's done, stir in the buttermilk, mix well.

 I use a piece of waxed paper on the counter, sprinkle it down with corn starch, and dump the ball of biscuit dough on it. Knead it 5 or 6 times and no more.  Pat it into a circle about half an inch thick. Use the cookie cutter (or a biscuit cutter, or a drinking glass) and cut the dough shapes.

Put the vegetable mixture into an oven safe baking dish.  Arrange the biscuits on top and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the biscuits start to turn golden brown and the vegetable mixture is all yummy and bubbly.  After it's done, bake the rest of the biscuits on a baking tray.  I melted some butter and brushed the hot biscuits with it as soon as they came out of the oven.

 I wanted to make star biscuits, but couldn't find the cutter.  lol  So--angels it was  (either that or snowmen). lol 

  And here  it is, fresh out of the oven, biscuits brushed with melted butter.  It was sooo good--everyone loved it.  The apples added just the perfect touch of sweetness. It was rich and satisfying and oh-so-tasty.

  And pretty.  Did I say pretty ?  lol

  And healthy. All the vegetables were organic. The squash, potatoes, rosemary and carrots all came from my own organic gardens. This dish is easily made with whatever you happen to have on hand...the possibilities are endless.




Bon Apetit !