A Triumph in the Kitchen IMHO

I did a slightly different version of my Chicken Baked in Sauce with Vegetables, and I wish you could have been here to taste it. This time the vegetables were leeks and carrots and the soup was cream of celery. (No mushrooms because my brother is here.) But instead of just slicing the leeks and putting them on top of the chicken with the carrots, I sauteed the leeks and added them to the sauce.

To saute the leeks, first I cooked a slice of bacon in olive oil. I had cut the bacon into about 10 or 12 pieces. When most of the fat had cooked out of the bacon, I added the rinsed and chopped leeks (three fairly thin ones) which I had sprinkled with mild paprika, and sauteed until they were softened and lightly browned, sprinkling with ground savory along the way. I added several generous sprinkles of dried dill and twelve drops of Tabasco sauce to the celery soup before I stirred in the half can of milk as I heated it. I added maybe 1/4 teaspoon, maybe less, of Beau Monde Seasoning. Then I stirred in the sauteed leeks and bacon.

 I seasoned the chicken pieces with mild paprika, ground thyme, ground savory, a little pepper, and a generous amount of dried tarragon. Then four sliced carrots, dusted with ground thyme, and the sauce over all.

Though I say it myself, after an hour in the oven at 350°F, it was delicious!


Edited to add: Apart from the leeks and bacon and other variations mentioned above, there was one other difference in the meal as a whole. We had had rice pilaf the previous evening to accompany Baked Stuffed Haddock cooked with sliced summer squash instead of green peppers. So to go with the chicken dish I baked some Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits.