Well, kittens, here I am again at jury duty! Goddamned Baltimore City gets me every year. Back in 2013 I picked up a guy at jury duty. I wrote about it (and some Veal Parmigiana) I tell the story about how I went out with him only once because he was too young for me. I mused:
The older I get, and the longer I stay single, the younger my dating pool will become. You see, I don’t get hit on by single men in their thirties because They. Don’t. Exist….So I am left with Jury Duty Guy. And the 22 and 23-year-olds who hit on me at ibar.
But really, is that all there is? Am I now destined to be with children of the mid to (and god-forbid) late 80s?
Fast forward to now: I’m turning 40 later this month.
Mr. Sauce was born in 1988.
I fucking called it.
But I digress. Back to the joy that is Baltimore City Jury Duty!
I arrived late today. 8:20 AM instead of 8. But that didn’t matter a smidge. My group (in the Quiet Room) wasn’t called for registration until nearly 11 AM.
My dear friends, as I write this, it is 11:44 AM and lunch is scheduled for 12:30. Not a single group has been called in for voir dire. Since they forgot about us, I think they should just let us go home. Right?
Whatever. This is card 159. Turkey Wings in Dill Sauce.
I used my Instant Pot for this dinner. I love my Instant Pot and use it at least once a week; but this was my first foray into pressure cooking. Very exciting.
Mr. Sauce wanted to eat at 7:30. So 7:30 was my goal. This is one of those dinners where I took notes the entire time. Let’s get to it.
5:45 to “blanch” the wings, I place them in the pot with 2 cups water and select the “poultry” setting on “more” because I had 4 wings that were about 2.5 lbs and were a tiny bit frozen in the middle. That seems about right.
6:05 the pressure cooker sealed. Apparently “more poultry” is 30 minutes.
6:23 I slice the apples. This morning I said “fuck it” on the apple fritters and settled on baked apple slices.
6:28 I add 10 extra minutes to the IP because as I was cooking I was reading reviews and many said that it ALWAYS needs extra time on meat.
6:32 Apples into the toaster oven
6:49 IP is done so I take it off and wait for “natural release.” Whatever that is.
7:00 time to nuke the vegetables!
7:05 I accidentally hit the switchy dingly thing on the top of the IP to “venting” while grabbing saran wrap for the vegetables. No natural release for me. Steam is shooting out of it like crazy. Am convinced I broke it.
So, as the steam escapes I prepare my sauce. in the spirit of using what I have in the house and not buying more shit, I mix corn starch with flour into a paste.
7:10 the IP is fully depressurized. I open it to find completely decimated turkey wings. Well, they’re definitely cooked enough!
I remove the wings and switch the IP to “saute.” To the existing broth I add the paste, lemon juice, egg yolk, dried dill and wisk it to thicken. I…
OH! IT’S LUNCH TIME!!!!
(scurries out of the courthouse like a bat out of hell)
Aaaaaaand back to the courthouse.
The only good thing about jury duty is that Mr. Sauce is an attorney and is in court every morning; so I got a free ride and I get to enjoy lunch with him. Today we went to Ida B’s which is an absolutely delightful little soul food restaurant. The jury duty people give you $15 to cover lunch and parking–which, btw it does not–but since I didn’t have to pay for parking, I instead spent that $15 dollars on 2 glasses of Pinot Grigio. I don’t get to day drink at work, so…
Where was I?
oh, yeah. I’m on “saute” and thickening the sauce.
Well, there isn’t anything after that. I thickened the sauce, threw the wings back into the sauce, warmed it up a little more and then DINNER IS SERVED!!! (at 7:27)
I learned to cook the turkey less. But since I was an IP virgin, I had no idea what I was doing.
How was it?
Turkey wings: meh
Apples : meh.
Vegetables: meh.
Dinner as a whole: meh.
But I do get better with the IP. I promise. I mean, you already know that. You’ve seen the Holly Ball.
I’d been out of high school for a year in 1988! And on to one of PA’s fine state schools.
Oy, vey. I *am* getting old.
Meanwhile, re: jury duty…it’s that damn registering to vote business that usually gets you picked for that.
I’ve got you beat, Emily. I’m a bit older than you (ahem…cough) and while my, I’ll call him Mr. Tech, was born in 1984, we have an even bigger age gap than you guys. But somehow, it works 🙂
I’ve been really curious about the IP for a while. My only issue is that I have very little counter space and/or storage space, so it’s going to have to be on my wishlist for a bit longer. It’s good to see you back to posting about your cooking adventures.
Is someone born in 1988 OLD ENOUGH to be an attorney?
I must be getting old…
ha ha ha ha ha!
I know, right?