Sunday, September 18, 2011

Cookin’ not talkin’


I cooked something amazing the other night … and I thought about writing about it … but I didn’t. And now I don't remember what I cooked.

Maybe it was the soy/maple glazed pork chops that I grilled – w/apricot/ginger/cinnamon/brown mustard seed/and star anise spiked couscous.

Or – the apricot/whiskey/pork chops, or the orange marmalade crushed red pepper pork chops with … roasted rosemary potatoes (yawn). (yes ... I eat a lot of pork!)

Or – I did lemon/ricotta spaghetti with rocket (because I couldn’t find arugula) as a one dish meal.  And it was yum.

This last Friday I made this roasted pork loin w/herbs (although it calls for tenderloin) and this cauliflower (which will now be making an appearance @ Thanksgiving). I mean, roasted cauliflower w/herb & cheese … I was a hero on Friday night … even though I didn’t show up ‘till 7:10pm – and we ate a little after 8pm.

But tonight – I’ll write about my two “no recipe” experiments that turned out … really good.

I bought skinless boneless chicken breasts the other night (although if I were to do this again, I think I’d want skin on … and I bet you could roast/broil them) … and then I had all the herbs (tarragon, thyme, and parley) left over from the cauliflower … plus the parmesan.

So I slit a pocket in the breast – stuffed it with the minced herb/cheese mixture – and seasoned the outside w/salt and pepper (d’uh).  I sautéed them in a pan with butter/olive oil.

While that was going on – I diced a shallot – and sautéed it in butter in a medium sauce pan w/butter. Then I dumped in some almond slivers and couscous (Israeli) … and toasted them. When all was golden I added thyme – and chicken stalk. Let it simmer until the moisture was absorbed (so ½ cup couscous & ¾ cup chicken stock) then added ½ cup of diced dried sour cherries and Italian parsley. Fork fluffed/mixed together and served.

Not a bad meal. I think with the left-over breasts I’ll sauté some eggplant slices – and then dress the chicken w/some crusted tomato sauce w/basil and parmesan … hello Italian night.   

1 comment:

ben said...

reading this makes me SO HUNGRY.