At My Kitchen Table: Risotto alla Kemahnese
Well, how do you like that? I go to the trouble to write up my latest recipe for risotto, and I have an amusing time doing so, but only to find that I wrote a page on pretty much the same subject last March. That’s research for you. Hey, I’m a convalescent!
Regular readers know that the title of this feature is ironic, in that my kitchen is too small to cook in, much less to accommodate a kitchen table. I was aching for one this weekend, though, because the kitchen was the only warm room in the apartment. The building’s heat hadn’t been turned on, so I kept the oven on at 250º. Now, however, we’re all quite agreeably toasty, and my kitchen has reverted to the chamber of horrors from which I can’t wait to escape – back to normal, in other words. Because of my delicate condition, we’re having our Sunday night special, a chicken pot pie from Eli’s. Eli’s pot pies are so good, so full of a pleasantly-sauced chicken and so sparing of vegetables, with a lovely pastry crust, that there is no point to making them oneself. At least forty percent of success in the kitchen depends on knowing what one had better buy in the store. After all, would you try to bake a batch of Triscuits? Of course not.
Actually, I rather enjoy making chicken pot pie from scratch. I get to experiment with crusts and different combinations of fillings, though the traditional peas, carrots and onions are always the best. I don’t like to brag too much, but I also think my bechamel is superior to any of the pot pies I am likely to get out of the freezer section of the market. Also it is a nice way to stay warm indoors on a cold day, which is when one always craves comfort food.
Tho I have never had yours (sorry to say it’s true it) for the rest of us, Eli’s has the Chicken Pot Pie Market wrapped up-there’s just no use in most of us trying to compete. I’ve even served it at buffet dinner parties-with full credit ,of course-they’ll put it in your own pyrex dish-just ready for heating and serving.