Dinner was a little late tonight - Why - The sweetest little girls brought over our long awaited order of Girl Scout cookies and like shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving; we grabbed those boxes and proceeded to eat 2 of each type of cookies. Yes, our heads are bent in shame by the over indulgence but oh it was worth it!
My cooking was off tonight! But the family still liked it.
For tonights dinner I made
Artichokes steamed with lemon and dipped in tarragon-lemon butter with frisee salad inside the empty space- (a recipe from Martha Stewart) -a guilty pleasure and easy ....
Next I made Lidias savory stuffed peppers quarters which the family loved - I felt it wasn't quite right but I know I it was my error as the cook... I like rice stuffed peppers and may substitute cooked rice for the bread soaked in milk in this recipe. (my kids loved it!)
----------
As it is "my goal" to cook through Jacques Pepin's Essential Pepin book, I chose Normandy Chicken fricassee because I had all the ingredients :o) - Even with the tons of mistakes I made in cooking this dish - It was still tasty (my sweet husband especially enjoyed the sauce the chicken was cooked in, (I think the addition of 2 Tablespoons of apple brandy to the sauce at the end made my dear husband very happy).
-Oh the mistakes I made and my family still ate it-
1. under cooked the onions - as the onions are chopped to a 1" size - I felt that I needed more cooking time than the 5 minutes-ish time on the recipe (I didn't adjust the time to properly cook the onions- time in recipes are estimates as sometimes ingredients cook slower or faster - lesson learned again - use my experience and judgement when I cook- trust myself). I probably would cut the onions smaller depending on the audience I am cooking for. Some family members love the large pieces of well cooked onions where others don't want to know onions are there.. Personally I couldn't live without onions in my cooking.
2. I salted and peppered the chicken but I think it lacked flavor. The sauce was the main flavor in the dish. I think, (I know), that I didn't have the pot hot enough to cook the chicken on all sides and that may have lowered the flavor value.
3. I tested the chicken with a meat thermometer but I think I could have cooked it a little longer.
Even with all my mistakes, my family asked me to make it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment