Victorian Mini-Series and Classic Roast Chicken

We are watching “Cranford” — a PBS documentary. This is one of the Emmy-nominated DVDs Seth gets in the mail (he gets a LOT of them) since he is an Emmy award winner. It’s one of those “for your consideration” DVDs.

“Cranford” stars Dame Judi Dench and is based on novels by Dickens and Carlyle contemporary, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 – 1865). It’s very Jane Austen-ish.

I’m enjoying it very much. Seth is not really watching — he’s working on his laptop. I think he prefers “The Wire”, which is what we usually watch. I love “The Wire”. But sometimes it’s nice to watch something that appeals more to women. This is the kind of show I would normally watch with my best friend, Sarah.

I admit, it’s a bit sappy. It’s a miniseries after all. But it’s really interesting to watch — all the history. Plus I just love stories set in Great Britain. (Oddly enough, Sarah is “on holiday” in London right now.)

Tonight I made the roast chicken from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. I didn’t follow her recipe exactly — there’s so much basting involved (every 10 minutes) and with a baby, that’s not so easy to do. I did my best.

I deglazed the roasting pan with beef stock according to the recipe — and the gravy that resulted was absolutely wonderful. When you deglaze the pan, you reduce the stock in half — so it’s just concentrated broth with plenty of good fat (the drippings from the pan plus extra butter). Not only is it delicious, it’s very good for you. The stock is excellent for digestion.

I also made patty pan squash (which I got at the farmer’s market). I sliced it, layered it in a pan, and added dollops of butter and olive goat cheese (also procured at the farmer’s market). I don’t know if Seth liked it (he didn’t eat much) but for me, it was almost as good as potatoes au gratin. And GAPS legal! (As long as you can do dairy, that is — Seth seems to be doing fine on it.)

Disclosure: cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5

Tagged as: books, cranford, deglazing, gaps diet, goat cheese, julia child, mastering the art of french cooking, patty pan squash, roast chicken, sarah, seth, tv