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December 31, 2008
Kitty Mourning and Leek Stew
Thank you so much to all for your sweet comments. It really does mean a lot to me. Especially the beautiful poem... I've cried a lot but now am crying more because I'm grateful that she had a peaceful, happy ending. It's hard to walk by the bedroom knowing that she won't be there to sit up and meow at me, and that I won't be able to walk in and give her a little scratch on the head and a kiss and cuddle, but I'm doing better. I promised her I'd be okay so I will be.
Meanwhile, many have asked if Kieffer will be allowed upstairs now. The answer is no. He's used to being downstairs cat, patrolling the first floor and the basement, and MR has no wish to sleep with Kieffer. He's also much stronger and more inquisitive than the elderly Miss Philomena ever was, so while we could easily keep her out of MR's office, Kieffer would be in there first thing, disturbing books and papers and howling all day at MR to feed him. So we will keep the current arrangement, just with humans upstairs and cat down. Kieffer is quite content, and grateful for the extra Christmas turkey that the passing of his feline colleague somehow awarded to him.
It's a windy, slightly snowy day today and MR and I are staying in tonight. We never go out on NYE: I am scared of drunk drivers. I'm making a special dinner tonight and we'll eat by candlelight, then we'll snuggle up and go to bed at our normal time.
This afternoon I made a fabulous stew, so yummy that I wanted to post the recipe. I made it with the homemade turkey broth that MR's mother put together while she was here from the remains of our Christmas turkey, and it's really the broth that makes the stew, so I suggest that if any of you are thinking of using up stock from your Christmas dinner, try this.
Turkey Leek Stew:
Homemade turkey stock
One long leek
Quorn (I used, you could use more turkey which would be even better!)
Button mushrooms
cauliflower
asparagus
garlic
black pepper
olive oil
Boil the broth and add the protein and the leeks and garlic. The leeks do best if they cook down for quite awhile so they can infuse the rest of the dish.
After the leeks had had about half an hour to simmer (I turned the heat down after they boiled for a few minutes) I added the mushrooms and the harder, lower parts of the asparagus, the parts that most people throw out. Let them steam for a few minutes, then added the cauliflower florets and asparagus tops so they steamed for just a minute or two before serving.
Added black pepper. Removed from heat and added olive oil.
The dish was amazing, mostly due to MoMR's brilliant turkey broth. I strongly recommend it. From now on I'm making stock anytime we eat a turkey.
A Happy New Year to all. May 2009 bring us health, happiness, and most importantly, love.
Posted by april at December 31, 2008 11:50 AM
Comments
Glad you're making good use of the broth! Just a minor point, though: It was actually made by simmering the giblets and neck for a few hours with a chunk of onion, a couple of little carrots and half a celery stalk (plus Half Salt & pepper). Making stock from the carcass is exactly the same process, except you use more veg, etc. (and you wind up with a lot more stock)! Will try the stew recipe later in the week. MoMR :-)
Posted by: Judith at December 31, 2008 1:57 PM
Made the Leek & Turkey Stew this evening for dinner and it was really delicious! Your creative cooking talents never cease to amaze us, dear April. Yumminess rules! MoMR :-)
Posted by: Judith at January 2, 2009 8:06 PM