the Friday Feeding; VOL: 16

February is LOVE month but it doesn’t have to be a celebration of romantic human love [cue the violins].  Here at the Canterbury Country Store we are celebrating our love of food all month. That ‘other’ kind of love could (and sometimes does) get pretty disappointing but a steaming bowl of homemade goodness or an oozy chocolate brownie never does!

A few of our own Valentines Day offerings in the store right now…

Food as love.

Most people grew up with grandmothers.  This writer did not.  But what I did know about ‘Grandmothers’, gleaned through my school mates, was that they loved you through the food they made.  

Over the years as a young woman I adopted Grandmothers and have had a rich life because of them. Agnes who lumbered across the field to teach me wood stove cooking, Helen who lived up the road and taught me canning and even a very distant step-grandmother (whom I only met face to face a few times) passed her Gourmet magazines on to me that took me to flavor places previously unknown.

Food is necessity but food can also be an expression of love.

We are cooking here at the Canterbury Country Store because we love to do it and because we want Canterbury to feel loved.  Sounds corny we know, but nothing gives us greater pleasure than when you smile and say, “That tastes good”.  See our menu for next week by clicking here..

Preorder your Valentines Day take-home meal for two, Wednesday 2/14. Served up warm as you pick up late afternoon…choose your time slot. 603-783-9933

• Ruby Chicken; pomegranate glazed & grapefruit studded
• Almond & rice pilaf
• Butter braised brussel sprouts
• Chocolate raspberry cream custard w/almond shortbread
• Naturally gluten-free. $39.95 two dinners

Agnes said that as a girl she loved cooking on a wood stove because the heat built up and stayed up.  Modern ovens did not suit her* but she did like electric ring stove tops because the rings stayed hot for a long while after being turned off.

*Side note: all electric ovens are calibrated so that the heating elements heat up to temperature then shut off then come back on again only when the temperature drops.  They vary as much as 50º up and down during any baking period.  This is why letting your oven heat for a long time before baking or roasting or pizza making yields a better result; more heat is accumulated evenly so the temperature is less likely to vary.  Pizza or meat roast? Preheat one hour for best results.  Scones? 30 minutes  Roasted veggies or cookies? 30 minutes.  And if your oven is on an outside wall like mine is, during winter you may need even longer.

Agnes’s Wood Stove Chicken

To mimic the idea of her wood stove she advised using a cast iron pot.  We know this from baking bread, right?  The seasoning on this is my own blend, thinking of and enjoying the flavors of this love month.

Preheat your oven to 400º.  Place your cast iron pot in it for at least 5 minutes to heat up.

Meanwhile, remove a roasting chicken from its wrapper and remove the neck and gizzards from  the cavities.  Rinse the chicken with cold water then pat it very dry with paper towels.  Set on a dish then rub 1 tsp olive oil over the entire bird.

When oven is preheated and pan is hot, carefully plop the chicken into the pan – sizzle! NOTE: I bend the wing tips forward and twist them underneath so they do not burn in the roasting process.  Let roast like this uncovered for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare this rub so that it warms to room temperature.  Mix together:

• 1/4 cup Blackwater Chocolate Stout mustard (any mustard will work but the final result will not taste the same) Available at the store
• 1T olive oil
• 1 tsp granulated garlic

After 30 minutes remove from oven, closing the door to keep in the heat, and spread half of the above mixture all over the chicken.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350º.  Put chicken back in the oven uncovered.

After 30 minutes remove chicken again as above and retrieve the drippings in the pan with a bulb baster, mix them with the remaining mixture and pour it over the chicken.  Sprinkle the chicken with flaked sea salt. Continue roasting, basting every 20 minutes until chicken has reached 180º when a thermometer is inserted low between the leg and the body of the chicken.  The breast meat will continue to cook as it sits out.  Let rest for 20-30 minutes then slice and serve!

This week, Storm Central at the Canterbury Country Store…for our friends afar.

Friday night pizza, February 2 . Order ahead 12” organic sour dough pizzas to take out or sit down and eat here.  $15.95. Call ahead to order and choose a pick-up time slot. 603-783-9933 

Choose:

1. Pepperoni on red sauce.
2. Vegetable choice of mushrooms, green peppers, onions and pepperoncini on red sauce
3. Fig with gorgonzola and a honey drizzle over olive oil (no garlic)
4. Cheese only on red sauce always by request
5. SPECIAL Hawaiian with prosciutto ham, onions and pineapple.

Have a great week!

Jane and Dave