Food and Travel: Soup Flops, Homemade Chicken Stock, and Other Adventures (in Houston and Atlanta)

I've been fine tuning a long post regarding first impressions of Richmond restaurants, but since it's not quite finished, these are my latest ups and downs in the kitchen and on the road...

In the Kitchen

At home, I've been trying new recipes that turn out to be failures. Even though the colder temperatures beckon the comfort of soup, there was nothing comforting about either of my attempts this week. The first one started out beautifully with vegetables (below) that are roasted, but by the time the soup was assembled, the resulting flavor and texture was not appealing. The second soup, Barefoot Contessa's Split Pea Soup, was salty and bland.


Thankfully Thomas Keller redeemed the kitchen wreckage with his Simple Roast Chicken recipe. Preparing the bird was an experience - either Jacques Pepin makes trussing a chicken look far easier than it is without practice or my bird lacked some important bone structure. Mark and I were quite a pair shuffling between the computer screen and the bird trying to make it work. Once we read somewhere that there was no "wrong" way to truss a chicken, we just tied that baby up with a lot of string until it held. The French may not be proud, but it worked! (The end result was captured below in a terribly shot photo; while the quality is pitiful, I couldn't bring myself to delete my first chicken from the memory card.)


After we used up the chicken in various recipes, I made chicken stock for the first time with the leftover bones. This was a painless process that yielded 10 cups of stock. Definitely a money saver since we seem to use a good bit of stock around here and the organic quarts are $3 to $4 each at the store.

Homemade Chicken Stock

This recipe is a combination and adaptation of several online recipes that I found while surfing for how to make chicken stock.

1 large yellow onion
1 head garlic
3 stalks celery with ribs and leaves
3 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
Fresh herbs (I used a spring or two of thyme and one spring rosemary)
2 bay leaves
10+ whole peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 whole chicken carcass

Cut off and discard the ends of the onion, then wash the onion, leaving the skin on to color the stock. Chop the onion into four large pieces and add to a large stock pot. For the garlic, remove some of the outer skin, rinse and then cut the entire garlic head in half and add to the stock pot with skins and all. Add the other ingredients to the stock pot, breaking some of the chicken bones as you add them into the pot. (Breaking the bones is said to help access the marrow, important for the curative properties present in chicken stock.)

Cover with cold water and let simmer at least 4 hours, skimming impurities as needed. I divided my batch up into two stock pots since I don't have an extra large stock pot. I added four quarts of water in one and five in the other, about double what I read online. I let it reduce down until I could combine both sets of stock into one 8-quart stockpot, left it to simmer for another hour, and ended up with 2 1/2 quarts of stock.

When ready to store, strain the stock with cheesecloth and then cool over an ice bath before placing in the refrigerator or freezer. (I read somewhere not to pack the stock hot or warm or it could ferment!? I don't know much about science in the kitchen, but the ice bath was easy to implement just in case.)

Houston

This month I went to Houston for a weekend to hang out with my sister's family, especially this little beauty.


On Friday my sister treated me to a girls' night out and we visited Stella Sola. Bobby Huegel of Anvil Bar & Refuge and the Drink Dogma blog designed their cocktail menu. Bobby is a self-proclaimed "Vodka Abolitionist" who is devoted to the craft of mixology and creating cocktails from scratch using everything from house-made bitters to fresh-squeezed juices. My drink of choice that night, Smitten, was a refreshing combination of gin, campari, lemon, and mint. Let's just say it's a good thing that I don't live in the same town as one of Bobby's cocktail menus. I'm not much of an imbiber, but his creativity behind the bar would be difficult to resist.

As for the meal, we split the butternut squash ravioli appetizer with pear vinaigrette, pecans, and amaretti cookies. My sister ordered the seafood stew special which she enjoyed and I devoured the fresh pasta with fontina-stuffed meatballs and tomato gravy. The only odd point in the night was when the server extolled the virtues of using locally sourced products in a fish dish but then highlighted the special oranges imported from South America that accompanied the virtuous fish. Overall the company, atmosphere, service, and flavors made for a great night. (Though I have yet to encounter subpar service in Houston restaurants.)

After Houston, I boarded a plane for Atlanta to attend the bi-annual gift show market.

Atlanta

My trip to Atlanta was plagued by sickness one day into the trip. I regrettably had to cancel the reservation I made two months prior to visit Woodfire Grill, the restaurant where Top Chef finalist Kevin Gillespie works magic with local and sustainable ingredients.

I only made it to one day of showroom exhibits, but at least got a peak at holiday decorations for next year, like this Halloween booth.


The night before things went downhill, we had a solid meal at Pricci. The service was top-notch and the food was clearly a step above the chain Italian restaurants dotting the road. My fondest taste of the night: garlic and herb focaccia bread, semi-dipped in olive oil and still warm when it reached our table, accompanied by a flavorful tomato sauce and cheese for dipping.

As for our accommodations, we were able to score a lower price at the Westin Buckhead Atlanta using Priceline and tips found on the Better Bidding website ($93/night versus $299/night).


I just posted an extensive review on TripAdvisor.com, so I won't rehash it here. If you are headed to Atlanta, please read this before making a reservation.

And one last tip for travelers with lingering sinus symptoms: Do not board a plane.

Rent a car. Drive home. Postpone your trip. Do what ever is necessary to avoid the descent. The pressure was like nothing I have experienced and led to two ear infections. Apparently in-flight cabin pressure can push lingering infections further into your sinus cavity and ear canals, despite employing ear plugs, a decongestant, and chewing gum.