Skip to main content

A whole chicken, part 5

Since the next piece I thawed was the other breast, I decided that I wanted a remake of part 3 with a slight do-over on part 4 with a better executed roasted veggie sauce concept.

I did the same M9 seasoning on the chicken breast and roasted it in the oven. Nothing special or different there. The sauce is where things got a little different.

I used orange bell pepper, carrot, onion, wood ear mushrooms, and kale tonight. See? I can cook without garlic, especially if I...forget the garlic until halfway through cooking because I'm distracted by other bullshit. 

I removed the leaf from the kale and chopped it up, then quartered the mushrooms. 

The carrot, bell pepper, and onion were sliced up, thrown on a baking sheet, doused with extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and roasted at 425 until the onions started blackening around the edges, at which point I dumped them (and the olive oil) into my food processor.

I mostly pureed the veggies, then added about a quarter cup of my pasta water and about a quarter cup of cream (one at a time, both while the food processor was running) until everything was well blended.

While the chicken was cooking and the sauce was blending/sitting and waiting for my slow ass, I started sautéing the mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil on a fairly low heat. Once they were spitting pretty good, I dumped in the kale and let them cook together (with a pinch or two of salt) until the leaf had cooked down a bit. I added a dash of white wine during that time, too, just to keep a little liquid in the pan.

Once the kale was cooked down a decent bit, I poured in the sauce from the food processor, mixed everything fairly thoroughly, and then let it reduce a bit (the sauce was runnier than I preferred, but that was so it could cook down some). Once it hit the consistency I wanted, I dumped the fettucine in and got everything nice and coated.

I kept plating simple again. I semi-spun the pasta and got it set near the center of my plate, sprinkled a little shredded parmesan on it, then cracked a little extra black pepper on top. The chicken was sliced and laid alongside because I'm not really sure what else to do with chicken with pasta. I haven't found anything better yet. Sue me.

The sauce definitely came out better than the last time, which was really just soup, but still wasn't quite what I was going for. I think the carrots are my first misstep because they definitely come through a bit stronger than the other flavors. I also noticed when eating leftovers of the soupsauce that the onions ended up bringing a flavor reminiscent of pho, which is cool if you want pho, but not if you're looking for a sauce. I'm definitely going to keep going with the bell peppers, but may try red next time. Also, I'll probably forego adding pasta water and just opt for cream for extra liquid to add. Maybe a little butter? Maybe an egg for a carbonara-style thickening? There are plenty of options, so I'll have plenty more to try.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voices in my head, or: Why do I cook?

Every time I chop a vegetable, slice a steak, drop garlic into oil, or scrub a pan, I hear voices in my head: my mom, my dad, my grandmothers, friends from college like James and Liz, friends from adulthood like Rick and Claudio, internet friends like NerdyCap , and tv chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Jeff Smith, Anthony Bourdain, Jacques Pepin, and Alton Brown, all of the folks who have taught me, directly in person or indirectly through books, tv episodes, or live streams, about cooking.  Steak frying with minced onion and minced garlic Sometimes I hear them instructing me on what I'm doing, the same words I've heard repeat in my head hundreds or thousands of times. "Don't let the garlic overcook or you'll get a bitter taste," mom says every time. Claudio often hits me with "If you hear them sizzling, they're sautéing. If they're quiet, they're caramelizing." "Why the fuck are you fucking doing this, you stupid donkey?!" ...
1 comment
Read more

My Mexican restaurant

Some nights (and weekends), I just don't feel like cooking, so I do go out to local restaurants from time to time. My most frequent haunt is El Idolo, a Mexican place just on the edge of Bartlett, TN. It sits a good 1/8 of a mile from the geographic center of the county, so it's reached easily enough from everywhere. They also have the best damn margaritas in town. I've come here frequently and long enough (since they opened, to be honest), that I don't order a drink - my server brings my drink when I've been seated. Incidentally, I go for the medium (used to be large, but they added a new size that's for my Sundays only) margarita on the rocks, no ice, no salt. When a new server starts at "the 'Dolo" (as we call it), it usually takes them 2-3 visits before they remember, and then it's smooth sailing again. Most places that I've ordered this just mix a normal margarita, then top it off with their mix; the 'Dolo says, "nah, hermano,...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Spicy Tuesday Night

 In my younger years, I did not enjoy spicy foods. Luckily, I grew up... Recipe for habanero cream sauce Tonight for dinner, I made chicken and veggies with a new favorite: habanero cream sauce. I started with a couple mushrooms, a couple radishes, some shallot, a little yellow bell pepper, and a few cloves of garlic.  I generally try to group ingredients by when I want to add them (I call them "firm," "soft," "aromatic," etc.). In this case, the sliced baby bellas and diced bell pepper were "soft," the sliced radish and slivered garlic were "hard," and the minced shallot and minced garlic were "aromatic." A little knife work, and they were ready to go, which meant it was time to tackle the habanero.  I cut it up last just to help prevent getting that heat mixed in anywhere it didn't need to go. I mince that shit down so I can mix it around pretty thoroughly, and I threw that into the a...
Post a Comment
Read more