The Days and Nights of Tiny Montgomery: February 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

White Chicken Chili/White Not-Chicken Chili

Who wants chili? We seem to have another week of less than lovely weather coming up with cold temperatures and possibilities of snow. I think that forecast calls for chili and this week I'm going to try something new with some of the familiar flavors of regular chili with a bit of a different, brothier spin.

This week it's White Chicken Chili made with rich, homemade chicken broth, plump, white, great northern beans, different types of green chiles, herbs and spices, and lots of chicken. This is going to be really good, I just know it!

For the vegetarians, I will make a version of the white chili using a veg "chicken" product and vegetable broth; it shall be equally delicious!

I think that small round loaves of bread made of white, whole wheat, and cornmeal are the perfect accompaniment for $3 each!

Soup is priced as follows:

1 quart/$8 2 quarts/$15 3 quarts/$22 4 quarts/$28

To order, please email me at clp772@gmail.com or cattmkitchen@gmail.com. I will take orders until Wednesday evening, with deliveries/pickups starting Friday and continuing Saturday (if it's available earlier than Friday, I will let customers know!) Delivery is available to City residents and the inner ring suburbs (no further than 170 to the west).

I can't wait to make this chili!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ratatouille Stew and Baguettes

This week I am craving the flavors of the south of France so I hope you are too! To satisfy that craving, I'm cooking up my take on the classic French ratatouille. Rather than a baked casserole, I will transfer all those flavors into a thick, savory vegan stew. Traditional ratatouille combines eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes, along with the wonderfully fragrant herbs de Provence; my stew will have all that and more!

To accompany the ratatouille, I'm baking crusty baguettes this week!

Serving suggestion: To make the ratatouille into a side dish, you could serve it over a bit of brown rice or couscous with a nice piece of roasted or poached fish!

Soup:

1 quart/$8 2 quarts/$15 3 quarts/$21 4 quarts/$28

Bread:

$3/loaf

As usual, I accept cash, check, Paypal or Visa/Mastercard/etc. Delivery available as far as inner ring suburbs (Webster, U City, inside 170), and you can always arrange pick up here in South City. I'm aiming to have the ratatouille done and available for delivery/pickup by Friday afternoon. Email me to order: clp772@gmail.com or cattmkitchen@gmail.com.

Thank you!

What I'm Reading

Complicity by Iain Banks - Continuing my exploration of Banks and Scottish literature I delved into my third Banks novel, this one yet again completely different. The story of drug and drink addicted journo who gets inadvertently involved in a serial killer's revenge murders.
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby - It had its moments, but I got rather bored with it about 2/3 through. I'm not sure ole Nick ought to make his main characters female.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley - This book was recommended by the librarian who goes on NPR all the time and talks about summer books, etc. As it was about vampires, I had to try it anyway. And I kind of loved it. A completely new twist on vampires in a sort of alternate universe now. Unfortunately, the sex, while teased, wasn't what I hoped for. I thought I'd try some of her other titles, but the covers alone had me running away, screaming. Very florid, fantasy-type illustrations. Think I'll just stick with this one and the hoped-for sequel.
The Braindead Megaphone Essays by George Saunders - I'm only a few pages in but I've already belly laughed -- out loud while alone and at work! -- something I don't ususally do. I appreciate, very much, written humor, but it seldom makes me actually laugh out loud. George Saunders is so brilliant and so completely right on and so fucking funny. I love his surreal, absurdist fiction, but this book is so completely perfect.
The Business by Iain Banks - Completely unlike the Wasp Factory, but compelling nonetheless. The female main character doesn't always ring true, but the story turns out to be wotth it, despite my initial reservations.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Since she wrote a book I really loved, The Little Friend, I thought I should give this a try. I'm only a chapter or so in, so I'm withholding judgement for now.
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks -- Whoa. This debut novel is like nothing I've read before. I have been known to physically throw books that feature animal abuse across the room in disgust, but this book uses it to further the story in a very effective way. I couldn't put it down.
You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem. Since I originally said I was reading this, I've read it at least three more times. (What? You listen to a record you like more than once, don't you?). I still can't really articulate why I love this book so much. There is just something that really speaks to me. Lethem is to be commended for writing a female character so perfectly.