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Happy, Healthy Valentine’s Day!
 Posted by Michelle Butler Feb 12 2012, 9:29 pm in cooking, Expectations, food, Holidays, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, positive thinking, recipes Yes, I know Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, but I have become a big fan of the holiday recently. When I was a kid, it was a great excuse to eat candy. That was always better than counting how many Valentine’s you received in your class as I never won that contest in elementary school. As more mature, romantic expectations got piled on that day, it may have gotten even worse. It wasn’t a day that made me feel good about myself. But, I grew up and learned how to strike back! You need to take control of your expectations and the stories you tell yourself. I started to turn it into a sisterhood celebration day – kind of a Galentine’s Day to quote Parks & Recreation, a fun tv show on NBC. I started out by sending out Valentine’s to all my girlfriends who did not have a special man in their lives. I worked up to organizing happy hours or group dinners out. At times, they were even coed, but I’ve discovered that men can be even more morose on that day than women if they are not celebrating with a girlfriend. One year, I even had a dinner party at my home for some girlfriends and put on quite a yummy yet healthy spread if I say so myself. Last year, I learned how fun and special this holiday can be when you are celebrating with a man who really rocks your world. Valentine’s Day was one of my first dates with my fabulous boyfriend, and it was so wonderful. I’ll never forget how good he looked standing at the bar waiting for me. I couldn’t believe that such a handsome man was there for me. I had started talking to the hostess before I saw him, and I literally lost track of what I was saying as he took my breath away. I’ll never forget that night. This year, we are going to retrace some of our steps from that special night one year ago. We are going to a Spanish tapas restaurant in DC and will probably follow up with an after dinner tea at Teaism. (Yes, I am a wild girl!) I look forward to making more memories and enjoying celebrating romantic love with the man and with the other couples out that night. I realize the sap level of this post is reaching new heights, but I can’t help myself. We are too schmoopy often. So for this Valentine’s Day, I hope you spend some time thinking about how you can make it special. I had some lovely celebrations with my family growing up, with friends later and now with the fabulous boyfriend. If you are planning on cooking a special meal at home, I have a recipe or two you may want to consider. It is what I made for my ladies’ Valentine’s Day dinner party in 2009. America’s Test Kitchen French Chicken in a Pot Why This Recipe Works: Poulet en cocotte (chicken in a pot) is a classic French specialty—at its best, it’s a whole chicken baked with root vegetables in a covered pot that delivers incredibly tender and juicy meat. Sounds simple, but it’s actually more challenging than throwing chicken in a pot with vegetables. One potential problem is too much moisture in the pot, which washes out the flavor; another pitfall is overcooking. We wanted chicken in a pot that delivered moist meat and satisfying flavor. We removed the vegetables—the liquid they released made the pot too steamy—and cooked the chicken by itself (after browning it in a little oil to prevent it from sticking). We also tightly sealed the pot with foil before adding the lid. To keep the breast meat from drying out and becoming tough, we cooked the chicken very slowly. After developing the basic technique, we revisited the idea of vegetables, and found that a small amount of potently flavored aromatic vegetables could be added if they were lightly browned with the chicken to erase most of their moisture. Finally, defatting the liquid in the pot rewarded us with a richly flavored sauce. The cooking times in the recipe are for a 41/2 to 5-pound bird. A 31/2 to 41/2-pound chicken will take about an hour to cook, and a 5 to 6-pound bird will take close to 2 hours. We developed this recipe to work with a 5 to 8-quart Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. If using a 5-quart pot, do not cook a chicken larger than 5 pounds. If using a kosher chicken, reduce the amount of table salt to 1/2 teaspoon. If you choose not to serve the skin with the chicken, simply remove it before carving. The amount of sauce will vary depending on the size of the chicken; season it with about 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice for every 1/4 cup. Ingredients: 1 (41/2 to 5-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded, wings tucked under back (see note) 1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 250 degrees. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with the salt and pepper. 2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking. Add the chicken, breast side down, and scatter the onion, celery, garlic cloves, bay leaf, and rosemary (if using) around the chicken. Cook until the breast is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken breast side up and continue to cook until the chicken and vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. 3. Off the heat, place a large sheet of foil over the pot and cover tightly with the lid. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees and the thickest part of the thighs registers 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes. 4. Remove the pot from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 20 minutes. Strain the chicken juices from the pot into a fat separator, pressing on the solids to extract the liquid; discard the solids (you should have about 3/4 cup juices). Let the liquid settle 5 minutes, then pour into a saucepan and cook over low heat until hot. Carve the chicken, adding any accumulated juices to the saucepan. Season the sauce with lemon juice to taste (see note). Serve the chicken, passing the sauce separately. I have served this with a soup or salad starter, baked or dijon roasted potatoes and vegetables such as roasted asparagus, roasted carrots and fennel or not your mama’s brussels sprouts. The dessert is often apple oat crumble, a real favorite of mine. Are you a fan of Valentine’s Day? Any special memories or suggestions you would like to share?
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9 Responses to “Happy, Healthy Valentine’s Day!”Leave a Reply |
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Go have a wild and crazy Valentine’s Day, Michelle! I love reading your posts and how in love you are. I, too, wish more folks could enjoy Valentine’s Day no matter where they are in life. Finding love is often about patience and about celebrating who you are in that moment because each moment makes you who you are and who you’re going to be. One of my best Valentine’s Days was an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration in college. Of course, I’ve also enjoyed each and every one I’ve spent with my husband, too. I remember little gifts from my parents, and I’ve enjoyed leaving little gifts for my own children, too. It’s those poor teenagers we need to talk to. They need to understand it’s better to receive nothing at all than to receive something from the wrong guy/gal.
As to your recipe? It sounds divine, but you lost me at “it’s actually more challenging than throwing chicken in a pot with vegetables.”
Have a great day tomorrow!
I didn’t write the line: “It’s actually more challenging than throwing chicken in a pot with vegetables”. It’s straight from the America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, and they pride themselves on doing extensive testing to find the perfect way to make anything. They may overstate the struggle and sound a bit persnickety at times, but their recipes really work and are really tasty.
It’s a really easy recipe, and I highly recommend it. The chicken has great flavor. The one thing you don’t get from this recipe that you can get from a roasted chicken is crisp skin, but weight management struggles have ruined any enjoyment of that anyway.
Thanks for your fun comments too. I do plan to do it up tomorrow night.
The boyfriend and I have talked about the timing of it all – and how meeting earlier may not have worked (and we have discovered we know some people in common). I would like to help the poor teenagers – and other sad single people – get perspective on it all too.
Michelle, you know how delighted I am that you have found the Fabulous Boyfriend! You make me smile whenever I see you.
Valentines Day is a holiday I prefer to spend in a quiet way, with little gifts and cards. It is lovely to hear your plans to have a romantic celebration (Tea!!!)
I do think it is a holiday that can make people feel unloved and that is a shame. Your techniques to celebrate with the people who love you and whom you love–but not as “couples”–was brilliant.
Thanks, Diane! Missed you on Saturday.
I hope you have fun tomorrow. People should be careful about what kind of stories they tell themselves around Valentine’s Day – and around New Year’s Eve as well for some people.
I do plan to continue to have ladies’ teas (galentine’s day!) around Valentine’s Day, but this year it was a bit earlier because a friend just moved out of town and I wanted to include her in the tea.
Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with your fabulous boyfriend.
We do celebrate it, usually by going out for a very nice meal. I have to say though that we also celebrate lots of un-Valentine’s days throughout the year. I’m lucky to have a very romantic husband who is a great believer in celebrating life every day!
That’s great, Anna, that you and your husband celebrate life every day. Being able to do that is a great gift. And, thanks for the well wishes.
Chiming in super late, but enjoyed the post…and plan to check out that chicken recipe!!
I love how you have found ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day, regardless of whether you’re romantically involved with anyone or not, Michelle. The point of the day is to celebrate loved ones…and while that can be a romantic partner, it doesn’t have to be.
I prepared quite lovely art gifts for my hubby and daughter this year. This is the first time I’ve given my hubby a painting that I did…a small (probably 5 x 5) little thing that turned out surprisingly well (no, I don’t usually paint
. Hubby has made me a few things over the years. It was nice to make something in return for him.
Hope you had a fantastic Valentine’s evening! (I’m betting you did
I did have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Let me know if you make the chicken and how it turns out. I really do like the intensity of the flavor from this method of cooking. Wow, on the painting! I had no idea you ever did that, but I have seen how talented your daughter is in art. Perhaps some of that came from you.
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