Rainy days and Sundays

I am lucky that I have one of those 9-5 jobs...heck, in this economy, I'm lucky to have a job, full-stop.  Anyway, my work schedule is great...Monday-Friday...and when I go home, work stays at work.

Work is getting freakishly busy, and I have started to help out the designers.  It is challenging work...a good kind of challenging.  But this helping out has led to my doing some weekend work...and that isn't something I'm used to.  As a result, I don't feel like I actually had a weekend, and that day off I was supposed to have this week has been cancelled.  I know that a certain amount of stress is healthy...but work coupled with other commitments I've made is starting to raise the needle in that pressure gauge that, to be honest, is generally higher than it should be...but this too shall pass.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel...8 little letters that keep me hanging on....V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.

I am approaching my first vacation in 8 years, and have found that I am filled with giddy excitement at the prospect.  It isn't like I'm taking off for some tropical destination...or a whirlwind European trek.  I'm going to Thunder Bay, Ontario...a city that would take me over 17 hours to drive to if I chose to drive instead of fly...but it isn't about where I'm going, really...at this point, it is just about GOING.  One of my closest friends lives there, and that is the main reason for my trip...but I am looking forward to having a change of scenery, a bit of silence...an afternoon nap...curling up with a book...having a few days where I don't have to answer the phone every time it rings, and where I don't have to stare at a computer screen all day.  I desperately need to recharge my batteries...and I'm getting to the point where it's a necessity to do so.

I had a touch of recharging on Sunday. The family was away, so the house was quiet.  It also rained all day, so there was that calm that comes with the rain, as well as that cozy feeling of being inside where it was warm.  That meant it was time for me to make a batch of what I call "Chicken and Dumplings, Sans Dumplings"...for you non-French-speakers, "sans" means "without".  I'm not a huge fan of dumplings, but also, I make the batch to freeze...and I don't think I want frozen dumplings.  What I normally do is make my great-grandmother's tea biscuits (a recipe that you won't find here...it will go with me to the grave).  It is the perfect thing for a cold rainy day...or a cold snowy day...or for a sunny yet cool day....any day, really!

Now, my pre-recipe warnings:

1.  Even though I don't make the dumplings (the main reason for rendering out fat when you brown the thighs and the skin), I still brown the chicken for the sake of building fond on the bottom of the pot.  And as we should all know, fond=flavour.  Don't skip this step thinking it is unimportant.  Also, I tend to put the lid on the pot at this point to minimize oil splatters all over my stove.

2.  Not being a big onion fan (as I've rambled on about before), I grate the onion because I don't want pieces of it floating around...and I used something closer to a small onion.  I add in extra carrots and celery, and cut them a bit bigger than described so that they don't completely cook down to nothing.

3.  The recipe originally calls for 4 tablespoons of oil, and for the thighs to be cooked in 2 batches.  Well, to get to 5 pounds of chicken thighs, I had to cook 20 thighs (they were very small, obviously).  And here is the truth...the fat that renders as you cook each batch is plenty...I only used 2 teaspoons for that first batch, and was fine from there.  Just don't overcrowd the pan...take as many batches as you need.  It is time consuming, but the end justifies the means.

4.  When you nestle the chicken thighs back into the liquid, you will actually trap onions, celery, and carrots under them...which means they will have the tendency to get welded to the bottom of the pot.  This isn't so bad, as it creates a nice flavour...the key is to get it scraped off at the point where you take the chicken out to shred it up.  I just take a plastic lifter with a thin edge, and work it around the bottom of the pot until you can feel that it's all freed.  Just stir it around, and it will all basically dissolve into the liquid, and add great flavour...and will save your muscles from scrubbing the pot at the dish-washing stage!

Chicken and Dumplings, Sans Dumplings

5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 ribs celery , sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large onion , minced
6 tablespoons flour
4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves, or about 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 bay leaves

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and remove the browned skin.  Repeat with the rest of the chicken, cooking in batches.  When done, pour oil out of pot, being careful to not dispose to of fond.

Add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the flour.

Stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add milk, thyme, and bay leaves. Nestle the chicken, with any accumulated juices, into the pot. Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, about 1 hour.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves. Allow the sauce to settle for a few minutes, then skim the fat from the surface using a wide spoon. Shred the chicken, discarding the bones, then return it to the stew.