Kitchen Renovation: Phase 3: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Kitchen!

I don't need to say much here -- the pictures speak for themselves!

The contractor told us he hopes to be finished by Saturday. Hooray!!! I can start cooking again soon!

Provided I get a sink and a stove, LOL!

Kitchen Renovation: Phase 2: Walls and Floor

Things are moving a bit more slowly than the contractor initially predicted (thanks to the fact that this apartment rests on an uneven surface that causes the floor to appear slanted), but already I'm seeing vast improvement over what the kitchen looked like before.

Already we have freshly painted walls, a fraction of the cabinets installed, the refrigerator back in its old place, AND...

90% of the floor is complete! I know there's still a long way to go, but I'm really excited to see the end result. I'm especially impressed that our contractor put the floor down first, then is placing the refrigerator and stove on top of the floor. The kitchen's previous incarnation? Little more than tiles placed around the fridge and stove. Talk about shoddy workmanship!

Kitchen Renovation: Phase 1: Total Mass Destruction

The contractor and his crew arrived yesterday and went all Money Pit on our kitchen.

Funny, it never seemed that small when it was filled with cabinets, appliances, a counter and a sink!

There's no doubt I'm missing the peace and calm that cooking provides me, but eating out isn't so bad -- especially when there's jambalaya to be had at Char No. 4 :-) (After that meal, I don't know how I'm supposed to wait another two months until our New Orleans trip.)

So far the only glimpse I've gotten of our future kitchen has been the shiny black granite floors:

Hello, Studio 54!!!!

Fingers crossed that the renovation should only take a few days -- there are a ton of new recipes just screaming my name!

Squeezing one more in before the kitchen re-do...

Illness has claimed my time of late -- as well as a planned reconstruction of my kitchen. I hadn't even planned on posting for the next several weeks as cooking is about to be rendered impossible, but ever since my contractor postponed the start of the work another week I figured I might as well try one last recipe before my meals with A are provided by our local diner/Chinese/pizza/Thai/Indian/Insert-popular-ethnic-cuisine-here establishments.

I actually had wanted to try this chicken dish about a week ago for Easter lunch with A's family, but the aforementioned illness took me out of commission that weekend. No joke, as soon as I hung up with the contractor yesterday, my first thought was, "Now I can make that chicken with olives dish!"

It's a pretty simple recipe -- complete with my favorite Mediterranean flavors (tomatoes, olives, garlic). I like how the chicken is infused with the savory flavors of tomato and garlic by simmering everything together in a large saucepan. Even though the recipe says to cook the chicken for 30 minutes, next time I might even try cooking everything a little bit longer for a more intense flavor. The flavor was discernible, but I feel like it could be heightened even more.

Another observation I have about the dish is that I'd definitely save it for a special occasion with lots of people (there's always next Easter! Or even Rosh Hashanah). It felt a little much just for an ordinary weeknight dinner for two people.

Serve over couscous and a side of veggies and you have the makings of a fine holiday meal!

(I know, I know, my food presentation sucks. I promise I'm working on it!)

Chicken With Olives
Recipe courtesy of The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, by Janna Gur

Ingredients (serves six)
6-8 chicken parts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 lb green olives, washed thoroughly and pitted
Salt and finely crushed black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a wide saucepan. Add the garlic, saute for one minute and add the tomatoes. Cook for about three minutes, add the tomato paste and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

2. Arrange the chicken parts in the saucepan. Add the olives and pour in the remaining oil. Season, taking care not to use too much salt (Note: Good advice. The olives provide a lot of salt to begin with). Pour in the chicken soup, making sure the contents of the pan are covered with liquid, and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add the parsely and cook for another five minutes.

3. Serve over a mound of couscous or steamed rice. Note: I used whole-wheat couscous purchased at Trader Joe's. Delicious!

So if all goes according to plan the gutting will begin in a little more than a week. I promise I'll be back posting as soon as we have a usable kitchen. Until then, happy cooking! Send me fun recipes in the meantime so I can have something to look forward to!