Hooray, I have people to cook for! This weekend, my hubby’s cousins are coming for the entire weekend and bringing their appetites with them. John is my hubby’s cousin and he is bringing his old children Steven and Carly to hang out with us and our old children. Since the baby girl has been away at college and we have been getting her almost every weekend, I haven’t had the time to cook anything really interesting. So now that I have a proper gathering arriving intent on eating, I am going to take advantage of the opportunity.
Since it is apple season, I want to make a tarte tatin, an upside down apple tarte. Easy and provides a nice ooh when you serve it with home-made whipped cream. All that needs to be done, is peel and slice apples, nothing fancy, it’s a rustic tart, and sauté them in melted butter and sugar until they get a nice caramel color. Before hand, I’ll have made a flaky pastry dough in my cuisinart and put it to rest in the fridge. After I roll the dough out, I butter the pie dish, pour the caramelized apples in the dish and lay the dough on top of the apples, tucking the dough around the edges of the dish. It goes right in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes. As soon as you take it out of the oven, you flip it on a plate and voila, your caramelized upside down apple tarte.
Dessert is taken care of and now to one main dish. I am planning to make a wonderful comfort dish, a chicken pot pie. Normally I am not a chicken fan, but I have always liked the chicken pot pie. The chicken loses its blandness when it is combined with peas, carrots, a seasoned chicken stock béchamel sauce and the flaky pastry dough. It’s the whole textural and flavor contrast and complimentary aspects of the pot pie that makes it one of my favorite chilly day meals. I always use Ina Garten’s recipes for this, she is more commonly known as the Barefoot Countessa and her recipes are spot on, I have never been disappointed. What I really like about her recipe is that the chicken breasts, bone in and skin on, are roasted beforehand and seasoned with oregano, salt and pepper so you are already imbuing your pot pie with great roasted flavor.
This bunch are also huge fans of my whole wheat thin crust pizza. I am probably going to make at least four pies and they won’t be wasted, those youngins sure can put food away. We bought a bunch of ice cream (oh dear for me) and we also have steaks and pork chops to put on the grill if anyone is in the mood for meat. I haven’t decided on any supplemental vegetables, I am leaning towards green beans, my favorite, sautéed with garlic.
In terms of fruit, I’ll pick up some bananas and navel oranges. Breakfast will be cereal, yogurt or maybe pancakes. This weekend will be so much fun!
laurieanichols 