Archives for January 2013

Ham and Cheese Slider Melts

January 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I thought I would share my take of one of the first recipes I saw when I joined Pinterest that I immediately pinned: Ham and Cheese slider melts, highlighting Hawaiian sweet rolls and ham and cheese and mustard and butter. It’s great for a quick but simple recipe that is also very comforting and good for a group (say… an upcoming Sunday Superbowl party… or using up leftover holiday ham). Or you can just eat it all yourself, that’s fine too. I did both.

The recipes that you can find sometimes have onion but sometimes not.  I did not use the versions of the recipe that used mayo. As to be expected of home cooks, there are lots of variations of the recipe out there tailored based on personal taste (and they really vary on how many sliders the recipes yield). Naturally I still made my own variation.  I decided to make two different kinds of the sauces- one for the slider insides that has the onion, and then a separate one without the onions that I would use to top the sliders because I didn’t want sweet caramelized onion everywhere on my hands/wasted on plate and napkins, just enfolded in the sandwich.

ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls

In the photos below you will see there is a lot of ham in the sandwich so you might want to reduce further to about 12 large slices- depending on the cut of your ham this will vary the weight. You can also substitute fake meat aka vegetarian deli slices like from Tofurky or Yves or Lightlife, or if you can’t find Hawaiian sweet rolls then regular dinner rolls will work and add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the dijon butter mix topping for some sweetness. Not that the substitution will make this a healthy sandwich. For my get together, it was the main snack I was serving (along with chips and baguette slices topped with a cauliflower parmesan spread) and the sliders are a great absorber for alcohol which is exactly what I was looking for as my friends and I shared a growler and a few pint sized bottles of beer one evening!

Ingredients:

  • 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided into 6 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons: I made two batches, using most inside and another smaller version as topping.
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard, and 1 separate tablespoon of mustard
  • 3 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce, and 1 separate teaspoon of  Worcestershire
  • 3 teaspoons of poppy seeds, and 1 separate teaspoon of poppy seeds
  • 1 package of 12 Hawaiian sweet rolls
  • 1  pound of shaved deli ham- I used Black Forest. You need at least a minimum of 12 slices
  • 1 cup shredded cheese + 6 slices of cheese of your choice- popular options might be Swiss or Havarti or Provolone or Monterey Jack, or indulge with Gruyere. I used shredded Monterey Jack and slices of Swiss

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a saucepan melt your first half (3/4 a stick or 6 tablespoons) butter. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent. When this occurs, now add the 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 3 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 3 teaspoons poppy seeds. Stir and then simmer for 5 minutes.
    sautéed onion sautéed onion sautéed onion
  2. Meanwhile, open the package of Hawaiian sweet rolls and slice them all down the middle. Place the bottom part of the rolls in a greased baking dish, or you could use a lined pan. Now, pour this onion mustard Worcestershire and poppy seed mixture on the bottom part of the rolls
    ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls
  3. Now time to assemble the rest of the roll with the ham and cheese. I wanted cute chubby sliders so I used a lot of ham, and then I used a cup of Monterey Jack and 6 slices of Swiss on top of the shredded cheese to add a little complexity to the melted cheese layer. Put the top half back on the sweet rolls.
    ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls
  4. In the saucepan you used before, melt the second half of portion of butter (4 tablespoons), and stir in the separated single teaspoon of Worcestershire, teaspoon of poppy seeds, and the tablespoon of mustard. Pour this mixture on top of all the tops of the rolls.
    mustard butter sauce mustard butter sauce
  5. Bake for ~25-30 minutes,  until the cheese has melted and the butter mixture starts to caramelize. . Cut the sliders where each roll already was in the package and serve warm and gooey.
    ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls

But, you don’t have to buy the 12 pack of rolls either – you can buy a 4 pack and make a smaller portion. You can even do a lazier version using just the microwave and oven and no stovetop if you leave out the onion. When I did this another time a few weeks later just for a lazy weekend dinner, I used the

  • 1 package of 4 Hawaiian sweet rolls,
  • two 90 calorie 2 oz deli packages of ham,
  • 4 slices of reduced fat Swiss (no shredded cheese this time round),
  • 4 tablespoon of melted butter (nuked in the microwave) which I then mixed
  • 1/2 tablespoon each of dijon mustard and Worcestershire and
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons each of brown sugar and poppy seeds.

Spoon part of the mixture on the bottom half of the rolls that have been placed on a greased baking dish, top with the ham and cheese, put the top of the rolls on and spoon the rest of mixture on top. And then eat all of these yourself, ha ha!

ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls  ham and cheese slider melts with Hawaiian dinner rolls

What make these ham and cheese slider melts so much more than just a regular hot ham and cheese sandwich are the buttery toasted tops of the buns while it is still all soft and all oozy and gooey inside, be it fresh from the oven or warmed up the next day, and then the mixture of tang and sweetness with an undertone of sharpness from the mustard all from the sauce. Mmmmm.

If you are looking for other Super Bowl recipe possibilities, you might consider beer cheese, spinach or squash pinwheels, ranch oyster crackers, or the slightly healthier cucumber topped with ricotta (you can buy ricotta and don’t need to make it like I did).

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Smoothies at Local Choice Market

January 27, 2013 by 1 Comment

I had some time to kill before attending I Love to Eat, so I decided to visit the just opened Local Choice Produce Market in the Pearl district. They specialize in really focusing on local produce, hence the name. It is still winter and cold (hovering just above freezing), so all the glass garage doors that I’m sure they will throw up during warmer weather were down but I can imagine it will seem even more like an open air market once the season changes.

One of the things I noticed immediately is that it seems like half the store is devoted to being able to enjoy the foods immediately- there is a section as soon as you walk in where there is a “Farmatherapy” area that offers juices and smoothies and shares the space with coffees as well. It also has various baked goods, including gluten free. It has its own register and so it gives it an independent feel almost as if you were at one of the stands at Pike Place Market on a much smaller scale: limited and specialized to focus itself. They even have two different register areas that just have a couple registers each in order to pay for your groceries, rather than the normal layout where there is a “checkout” row. I also don’t remember seeing any carts that I would have to navigate through- just baskets- and no traditional aisles, just “areas” in the store.

In particular, I was drawn to the Farmatherapy and its wide combination of juices and smoothies offerings- with ingredients also able to be combined into your own desired blend. Base drinks included a parsley carrot green apple cabbage ginger one, or a pear pineapple wheatgrass green apple mint in the Fresh Juice Blends section. In the smoothies section I was particularly curious about a rice milk, banana, cocoa, fig, lecethin, espresso, cacao nib, hazelnut, and bacon smoothie, but I went with the oatmeal, hazelnut, cinnamon, flax seed oil, and date sugar smoothie.

So as you can imagine, you can add whatever ingredients they have to one of the drinks. Their juices include apple, grapefruit, orange, carrot, and also wheatgrass. Their extras include whey protein, hemp protein, flax seed oil, bee pollen, cacao nibs, hazelnuts, dates, date sugar, figs, oatmeal, bacon, and a ginger shot.

If I lived closer I would stop by every morning for a smoothie. In fact, I found out later that the Farmatherapy section is actually “doctor designed”… though I’m not sure yet on what this means when a Naturopath and Nutrition Therapist contribute to creating the menu. Everything you can add into it (ok, maybe not the bacon) sounds healthy- but I’m not sure what each option offers.

Farmatherapy smoothie menu at Local Choice Market Farmatherapy smoothie menu at Local Choice Market

I’m guessing that the intent of having such a large amount of space devoted for easy and more immediate eating is to support the farmers market, but in a prepared convenient way (aka using the stuff from the grocery side of the store directly into the prepared food offerings). For instance there is also an area where you can get rotisserie chicken, and a beer and wine bar also offers happy hour and you can order local cheese plates and charcuterie plates. In the deli section, they had a variety of food options that were more along the level of Whole Foods and Zupan’s, such as vegan meatloaf and wine marinated mushrooms and roasted beets and a blue cheese potato gratin, the latter of which I asked for two pieces and they heated it up on a white glass plate for me to enjoy with my smoothie.

The deli in the back also supports you ordering a build of your own sandwich.  The sheet to build your own dream sandwich includes

  • what kind of bread (three kinds of Grand Central Bakery and three kinds from Gabriel’s Bakery),
  • meats (8 different kinds, including mortadella and Painted hills pastrami),
  • cheeses (8 different kinds including herbed goat cheese),
  • lettuce (yes, 5 choices in lettuces, from butter lettuce to arugula to micro herb greens!),
  • 9 veggies and condiments (roasted red pepper! mama’s lil peppers! avocado! and 6 more!) and
  • 7 sauces (including herbed aioli, romesco sauce, or basil sauce).

The sheet listed $8.50 as a base price with additional meats and additional cheeses beyond the initial one as extra, so I wonder if the other options you could just stack on like you’re Dagwood Bumstead. But, as a bonus, you could eat your sandwich right there and probably even get one of the local brews or local glass of wine to wash it down with.

beer and wine bar at Local Choice Market

I was impressed with how selective they are in what they offer. As a specific example, their cheese section for instance isn’t as large as what you would typically find at your local Fred Meyer or Whole Foods or Safeway (the latter two being also in walking distance away from Local Choice). None of their sections will be as large- even City Market Northwest and Food Front Cooperative have more honestly. But what they do carry is of high quality, such as Rivers Edge Chevres’ tortes and rounds and crottins, and Mt Townsend Creamery cheeses such as the Off Kilter that is washed in Pike Brewing’s Kiltlifter scotch ale, or their creamy decadent Trufflestack with Italian black truffles…

Essentially really artisanal premium stuff that I would have had to go to a specialty cheese shop like Steve’s Cheese on the other side of the river to find. I spent a lot of time gazing at the cheese section (I love cheese, what can I say), but I recall the same was true of their pickles, granola, crackers, jam, chocolate, meat and seafood, even the salts. And these are all made in Oregon or Washington, fulfilling their promise of local focus in their name.

Everything here is thoughtfully curated, obviously looking to fulfill the needs of a sophisticated foodie shopper who is also savvy enough to recognize what is being offered here. The consumer also is one financially comfortable enough and conscious enough to vote with their dollar for organic sustainability and supporting local businesses versus just the lip service and still wanting cheap prices. Local Choice is not about cheap prices, that’s for sure. The intended audience is also this actively eco-conscious foodie who would be glad to have something finally on the west side of the river and not just the area on the east side of the river and the suburbs.

But, you won’t be able to get everything you need here- clearly you’ll still need to get to your larger chain grocery for other needs such as household and toiletry products. This is a specialty stop. It’ll be interesting to see if this will work- will people appreciate the quality here and be willing to go to more than one place rather than a get it all single big box store? That model does seem to have some success- you can’t necessarily get all you need at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or Zupan’s either. Trader Joe’s is actually very similar to Target in a way in that you generally know that everything is good there (and TJ even mimic’s with the grocery circular a chatty “local” newsletter recommending a product like a neighbor), and their customer is willing to accept less choice in order to trust that it has been selected based on proof of quality. Local Choice is attempting this same niche, more so at a very local curated farmers market scale- though I didn’t quite see any information promoting that connection from farm to fork beyond just hoping the consumers recognize the products and know the story behind the producers.

Particularly, I wonder how the parking situation is going to work out too for Local Choice, I am not sure just the neighborhood population will necessarily be enough, even if it is the Pearl. Still, when i was there on a nice sunny though chilly Sunday early afternoon, I definitely saw quite a few people wandering in out of curiosity to check out what Local Choice has to offer- at one point there was a sudden, surprising rush at Farmatherapy and a line 10 people long. But, I didn’t see anyone doing any real shopping- just browsing and then any purchases were more in the prepared food side.

Since I had the I Love to Eat show to attend I wasn’t ready to do any shopping, but I hope to come back to try their beer and wine bar soon, and see if things have picked up since their opening week.  I also hope they can help form a base of community like you would have had at the local neighborhood grocery store back in our parents and grandparents time… we’ll have to see. Let’s see if Portlanders are willing to really spend the money to walk the walk of supporting all the principles and causes that Local Choice Market embodies.

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A Winter dinner at Oven and Shaker

January 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

So I’ve already raved about their savory Wild Fennel sausage pizza with potato, tomato, chilies, scallions, smoked mozzarella, and their heavenly Bianca cheese pizza topped with teleme, truffled sottocenere, bufala mozzarella, and fried sage. These two are regulars all year round. The brussels sprouts pizza is part of their winter menu, replacing what during the summer included the smoky and tangy Cauliflower pizza I had with roasted cauliflower, mozzarella, provolone, olive, spring onion, Mama Lil’s chlies, and crumbled salami.

See, I haven’t even shown you what I ate yet and you probably already want to go to Oven and Shaker.

This time I will roll my eyes back as I bite into their Brussels sprout pizza. After seeing I Love to Eat, it was only a block away to Oven and Shaker, and I had no problem waiting the 15 minutes or so until their dinner menu began to be served (this was perfect for vegetarian F who immediately ordered off the Happy Hour menu). He started with the salad of Semplice with spring greens, fennel, carrots, scallions, pear, red wine vinaigrette, a nice starter if you don’t want the heavier Nostana salad. He also ordered from the Happy Hour menu the Margarita pizza which had lots of tangy tomato sauce.

Oven and Shaker salad Oven and Shaker margarita pizza

I will also sip these beautiful new cocktails they offer. The Caribbean Snowflake with 2 oz Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, 1/4 oz St Elizabeth All Spice Dram, 1/2 oz freshly pressed lime juice,. 1 oz freshly pressed grapefruit juice, 1/2 oz simple syrup, 1 small egg white, and silver flake sparkled before my eyes and as I sipped it, I think it also added sparkles to my eyes too.

Oven and Shaker cocktail Oven and Shaker cocktail

I also loved the Pisco Noir with 7 fresh blackberries and 2 oz Capel Pisco, 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz freshly pressed lime juice, 3/4 oz simple syrup and 1 small egg white with its dark berry and citrus flavor. Ok, I admit maybe my eye wandered a few times to the Pepper Smash and Lost Cosmopolitan cocktails at the table over, but I wasn’t cheating. I was reminiscing and admiring beauty.

Oven and Shaker cocktail

And I loved you most of all, Brussels Sprouts pizza with brussels sprouts, bacon, robiola, pecorino, a mix of flavors of the leafy shreds of brussels sprout and salty bacon and creamy robiola. I had to force myself to stop eating you all up because I totally good you are so delicious, but I wanted to wrap you up to go so I could have some more of you later. I have to stop looking at you now or I will go pull you out of the fridge even though I told myself you are a reward after going to the gym. Miss you already, brussels sprouts pizza.

Oven and Shaker brussels sprout pizza Oven and Shaker brussels sprout pizza

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I Love To Eat Review, and backstage at Portland Center Stage at the Armory

January 22, 2013 by 2 Comments

I Love to Eat

Rob Nagle stars as James Beard in I Love to Eat by James Still. Playing January 8 – February 3, 2013, at Portland Center Stage. Tickets and information at pcs.org and 503-445-3700. Photo by Patrick Weishampel.

So as you saw from my post a couple weeks ago, I was psyched to see this production of I Love to Eat at Portland Center Stage and I had tickets to watch the Sunday matinee show on January 20. Before I get into the I Love to Eat Review, I have some extra bonus activity. I went with a Meetup group called Foodie who had arranged a backstage tour at noon for us before the show (PCS offers a similar tour  every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month that are free to the public).

Being able to join this tour before viewing the play definitely deepened my appreciation of the effort it takes to produce what we saw in those 90 minutes, and I had no idea there was so much going on in this building every time I pass it by. We saw the “before” photos when this armory was just one huge cavernous hallway that still was quite the host (including Teddy Roosevelt!) since even then it was realized what a marvelous public space it was. It’s impressive that this building from 1891 was eventually renovated in 2006 into what is now the Gerding Theater and actually exceeds LEED platinum requirements in being an eco-friendly energy efficient building!

As we stood in the lobby admiring the beautiful modern space, our guide pointed out a rain drain that uses rainwater in the toilets, and all the skylights. Considering how many lights (and we saw SO MANY lights) that are required in theaters, and the natural original drafty nature and echo-y acoustics of this historic building that have been updated as well, this is quite an astounding accomplishment.

Then, we took a small stop to get a preview of the set before watching the performance and admire the seats made from recycled material and the clever ventilation system they have under every other seat to provide comfort but also efficiency. From there, we headed backstage to gape that it turns out dressing rooms are not really as glamorous as shown in the TV/movies, walked past a dressform that has the nightrobe that Rob Nagle wears in playing James Beard and it was gigantic (turns out, just like James Beard, Rob is 6’3″!) and got a glimpse of a vestige of the original armory in the corner of their Main Stage green room.

Next, backstage we were taken aback by the number of ropes and pulleys and how deep the stage could really get, especially if you open up back all the way to the original front doors (the back doors are now the Gerding Theater’s front doors). We also got to learn the secrets of the refrigerator, and hear how Rob is actually using Greg Higgins’ knives (graciously lent after getting some food prep lessons with Chef Higgins) and the knives have Chef Higgins’ initials on them.

A walk through the Costume Shop was amazing the number of pieces that the staff needs to track be it clothes or shoes or the hairlines painstakingly dressed into actors’ wigs, the costumes required for a production, or the measurements of the cast as they make full mockups in muslin before redoing the whole thing in the actual fabric- look how detailed even the mockup is!  P.S. That corset is a preview for their upcoming production of Venus in Fur…The slight padding on some of the dressforms which are there to “fill out” the extra of an actor/actress, that must be awesome for self-esteem…

It is a very thorough tour- I think we weaved our way back and forth on all four floors. Yes, the remodel of the armory single hall into a theater included adding 4 floors- you can see the outline in this diorama of the Armory. You can also see a little diorama that was created for the stage design so that everyone knows what the intention is even while it is being built- and there are so many artists involved in creating all the details, it really is so many moving pieces and parts. I also learned that stage design, and even sound and directing, can be copyrighted (and which it is for this show). Look at how simultaneously adorable and detailed that is, and how it really communicates the feel of the play. There were lots of these little dioramas in the Bruce Carey Canteen. I felt so much lost opportunity that since I moved to Portland I haven’t really attended many shows- I have to definitely correct this now. I’ll be back for Somewhere In Time and The People’s Republic of Portland


And now about the show I Love to Eat.  It was amazing how one man was able to keep several hundred people entranced for 90 minutes,  feeling like a guest in his home as he tells us stories or doles out advice, getting glimpses of his yearn for connection and extroverted personality with his interactions on the phone, a somewhat believable sequence as he converses and with Elsie the cow, admiring his technique and watching as mayonnaise is made right in front of our eyes and assembled into parsley raw onion sandwiches (hundreds of people were so jealous of the people in the front row. They should consider offering that in the Armory Cafe after the show).

Yet, there is also an underlying sorrow and disappointment and loneliness that life did not turn out as he had hoped, and that all the episodes of the first cooking show in which he hosted are lost, that he never realized he would accomplish the fame he hoped for (the James Beard foundation which carries on his enthusiasm for food and education was founded after his death). He was trying to make food accessible but broaden everyone’s horizons at the same time, a harbinger who didn’t get to see how Portland would become a foodie city and pioneer the food cart scene and celebrate local cuisine to a point it is poked fun at on Portlandia.

There isn’t really a narrative to the play- mostly it is as meandering as you would expect if you were having natural conversation, abruptly changing course just when it hits on something that you are really interested in exploring more in depth, as if (and ok you are) sharing him with a group of people. But as we all well know from our own gatherings with friends, that can still be a good time. Just don’t go in thinking this is going to be a penetrating biography- this isn’t a foodie version of the movie Amadeus.

The director Jessica Kubzansky did an excellent job in having Rob move everywhere on stage just as if he lived in it and using all the space- including all around the stage area- to make it more dimensional, and the scenic designer Tom Buderwitz crafted a space that felt charming and thoughtful and warm. That flowing, fluttering silk robe looked gorgeous costume designer Jeff Cone. Thank you playwright James Still for writing this play to help breathe more into the name James Beard. And Rob Nagle, your eyebrow control is amazing.

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Pike Place Market wanderings + Dinner Spur Gastropub

January 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I went to Seattle the other weekend because F had to work at the office there, and since he already had work paying for a hotel room, it seemed like a nice mini-vacation to just take the Bolt Bus up there to visit. It’s about 3 hours from Portland to Seattle depending on if there’s traffic may be more- the times of arrival of the bus tries to account for it so often the buses arrive early. The buses are new and include a charger for every seat and wireless, and fares can range from $1-$25 each way, depending on when you buy how full the bus is. So the cost was very minimal (you can go round trip for the cost of 1 way on Amtrak) and with no trouble for me at all to travel there since the pick up and drop off are not far from where I live. As an example, I bought tickets on Fri to go Sat-Sun for this trip and it cost me $49. For my future trip in Feb, I bought 2 tickets for Sun-Mon and it was $50 (admittedly, one of them was a $1 fare!).

In fact, I find the Bolt bus much more peaceful than the Amtrak, and unlike the Amtrak I never get stuck in awkward seats of 4 that face each other… though there also is no dining car to escape to since you’re on a bus. Unlike the Amtrak the Bolt bus arrives about 15-20 minutes before departure and boards by letter (sort of like Southwest), so actually has less lead time needed than the Amtrak coach where you have to line up for your seat assignment. The bus is also direct with no stops. I can’t speak for anyone who is tall on the leg space comparison- I know there is room to put bags in the seat in front on Amtrak but not on the bus.

I was only there in Seattle for 28 hours (from Saturday to Sunday- I still had full day of work Friday and Monday before and after), so it was a very fast visit. My motivations were romantic and out of pity because he sounded pathetic about how if he had known he would have told me to come with him, and since he doesn’t plan mainly so he wouldn’t end up sitting in his hotel room watching movies the entire weekend. Instead, on Saturday we watched the sunset from the 28th floor of his hotel as I shared earlier. And ok… so maybe his legs were tired from being on them all day while at the office on Saturday, so we did just get room service and watch random movies like The Grudge (only partially- once it got scary I went up to RView instead for cocktails and the view and left F), The Big Year (which I actually really liked but never would have picked to watch- hardly any action, just about ordinary people who are dorking out on a hobby and learning a bit about why people like what appears to have so much work and little payoff as a hobby), American Reunion, and Green Lantern.

On Sunday though, I had more aspirations. We had brunch first- I had a list of options for F and then we ended up at Bacco Cafe as previously covered. Then we visited Pike Place Market where I adored one vendor with cute stuffed dolls, including squid and little chickens by Adorable Seattle (the chickens i purchased are shown posed with my kitty at home), wandered to taste some interesting vinegars at DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine (and was jealous over the variety of fresh pasta offerings such as raviolis of crab, lobster, beet, drunken sweet potato…, and cheeses at Beecher’s (you might even see them making the cheese) and Mt Townsend Creamery (love their truffle cheese). Next, after walking past the disgusting Gum Wall, we spent some time at the Seattle Aquarium where their exhibit lets you really see the otters, and I found a great otter wristlet for me to use during the spring/summer, before resting our feet at Pike Brewery.

My intention was to have a few small plates at Spur Gastropub and then the dessert, which I remembered as being really interesting last time I visited. However, since it took 30 minutes to even get our first small plate, and I had to catch the Bolt Bus leaving at 8pm so wanted to leave the restaurant by 7 (after getting there at 5:45), we did not have time. As it was, I only had a few bites of the entree (F skipped because he had eaten at out previous stop Pike Brewery) before I asked it to be wrapped up to go.

We started out with the Tagliatelle with duck egg,, oyster mushroom, and pine nut, which I wish the pine nut had been more mixed in because even after I broke the egg and mixed, all the pine nuts were in the slight indentation of the plate so never made it into the mix and were discovered when there was barely any pasta left. What fared better was the Baby Beets salad with chevre, flaxseed, and coriander. The entree of Mad Hatcher Chicken with pear, hedgehog mushrooms and watercress started out with the skin crispy but the actual meat dry until I dunked that chicken into the gravy. I thought it actually tasted better as a leftover the next day as the gravy had all soaked into the chicken, though the skin had lost its crispness on reheating.


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