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I made Clam Chowder for lunch on Wednesday, using olive oil to sauté the onion. (I threw out the bacon grease when I went on the low-saturated fat diet). It was my usual recipe from an old Betty Crocker cookbook. I used two cups, unpeeled Kennebec potatoes from the farmers’ market. I used canned, chopped clams, but I prefer minced. The “secret” ingredient is celery seed, first added by my college roommate, who taught me to appreciate celery seed.
For Wednesday dinner, I soaked, then cooked a package of black-eyed peas—one of the few legumes that my husband enjoys. I also made a sauce for spinach noodles and broccoli using some defatted chicken-sweet potato drippings from the freezer, some onion, ½ tsp. dried sage, a couple Tbs. of my homemade pumpkin butter, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and a bit of the pasta water. Some rotisserie chicken completed the meal.
OK--it's time to get some baking going this week, especially here with highs in the 40s. (Update: it actually got into the lower 50s.)
On Tuesday morning, I baked a healthier version of my Harvest Pumpkin Cake. It comes from a recipe in King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (p. 194), but the texture is definitely that of a cake not a bar cookie, so I changed the name. It is a favorite of my younger stepson who often requested it for his birthday. I wanted to see if I could make some healthy tweaks to it, so I substituted ½ cup barley flour for that much AP flour, reduced the sugar to ¾ cup from 1 cup and the salt from 1 tsp. to ¾ tsp. I have always added ¼ cup powdered milk. I added 2 Tbs. chia seed and 1 Tbs. flax meal this time. I always use my own pumpkin puree. I will forgo the lovely low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel) frosting—which includes 3 Tbs. of butter—and serve pieces with pumpkin butter dollops on top.
I'll add a note this evening about how we like this version.
Note: The changes shifted the cake closer to a bar cookie, although it is still a cake. We liked the flavor, and we both enjoyed spreading a layer of pumpkin butter over the top. (Saturated fat content is 1.125 grams for 1/8 of the 9x9-inch cake.)For Sunday dinner, I roasted chicken thighs on a rack (and removed skin before eating). I made ratatouille for the last time this season, using our tomatoes, and two somewhat pitiful small bell peppers from our garden, along with yellow summer squash from the grocery, and two small eggplants, onion, and garlic from the farmers’ market. We had it over a mixture of brown and other rice.
Aurgh! I hate it when I do that!
For some reason, pumpkin pies are particularly susceptible to having ingredients accidentally omitted. I once put a pie into the oven, then turned to my left and saw the brown sugar in its cup on the table. (So much for mise en place when the ingredient stays en place!.) I pulled the pie out, ladled the filling back into the bowl, put in the brown sugar and mixed it, then put it back into the oven.
Len--maybe a small scoop of low-fat frozen vanilla yogurt on top would help?
Thanks for digging into the story, Mike. I remember when I split the half breast in half, I was having trouble cutting it, but I figured that was because a fresh one is harder to cut than one that is mostly defrosted. The cooked one was also hard to slice, likely because of the membranes. What Joan noticed went right past me, because I had not seen it before. It makes me angry that I paid more for what is supposed to be a more healthy part of the chicken ($1.79 on sale), and what I bought is actually not flavorful and may not even be that good for me. Worst of all, I have another three halves in the freezer. I'll follow Joan's method and try to cut it out.
I wonder if this is why Navlys said, "I'm done with Perdue," in an earlier post about cooking a chicken breast.
I'm not surprised that two restaurant chains are not going to buy these chickens--it would degrade the food they serve. No company is listed on the package that I bought, which is typical of chicken available at the one grocery store in town. I've also had issues with beef that I've bought at that store.
Maybe sticking with the small chicken thighs is not such a bad idea.
