Quiche de Reciprocation

Matt and I decided that, after my mom’s success with the Pollo de Casarol, we’d try our best to add a little French flair to the dinner menu. We chose three recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I know, it’s not “the cookbook” guiding this blog, but I still think the meal is worth mentioning. I made Quiche Lorraine while Matt made a-beef-steak-with-red-wine-and-mushroom-sauce-type-thing. His recipes took a little longer and were way more complicated than my quiche, but in all that work, we learned how to “revive” canned beef stock and thicken gravy pretty easily. I got to use pinto beans as weights as I baked my quiche crust, something I was excited to try. I don’t know why I look forward to these kinds of things! Anyway, it all turned out pretty well. I think quiche might become a staple in our new home, since it is just a high-falutin’ word for bacon and eggs.

Chicken Casserole or Pollo de Casarol

My favorite daughter, Sarah, is moving across the nation to Champaign, Illinois. We thought having dinner together in different locations would be a nice way to be together, even though we will be apart. I purchased two copies of a cookbook with regional recipes. One for me and one for Sarah to take with her. I hope it will help to remind Sarah of her heritage and home.

Sarah's fiance, Matt, was at our home last evening. We sat round the dining room table looking at cookbooks and reading recipes to one another. I chose one from our duplicated cookbooks and tried it out for supper. It was chicken casserole. Simple to make and delicious. Basically, it was chicken breasts layered between bacon and onions, with milk and butter on top, baked for 1 hour. I must say that it may have been my extreme hunger that made it so tasty. I began cooking it at 7pm.

Matt purchased some chef's books with procedures and techniques at our local used bookstore (same place I found mine and Sarah's cookbooks). From them he learned to make some really great garnishes. He made a pig and a bunny rabbit out of limes, while Sarah made Tequila Dorados (tequila, honey, and lime) from the cookbook, and I cooked. It was fun. I hope that we can continue to do this at least one night a week, preferably Sunday. It will be a nice way to be together apart.