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cjsmith ([personal profile] cjsmith) wrote2005-12-04 10:57 am

Recipe Tryouts #2: Rosemary Chicken

Recipe from [livejournal.com profile] erisian_fields. Mmmm, rosemary!

Lesson Number One: It is much easier to separate a chicken breast from the little pantiliner it sits on when it's not frozen. Often I repack such things, but this time I had the space and wouldn't have them in there long. Oops.

I put a big pile of chicken breasts in the crock pot. Then it said to sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Oh, maybe I should have sprinkled each layer? But the meat had started to fuse. It had been in the freezer only overnight in a big stack and thus some wasn't fully frozen. I pried the layers apart to do the sprinkling. The rosemary smelled so good!

Liquids in -- and all the stuff I'd sprinkled on the topmost piece washed off. Duh! As the hours went on I stirred the top ones under.

Many hours later I pulled the meat out and tried for sauce. I strained some of the fat off, the stuff that wasn't liquid at crock temperatures. There was an awful lot of that floating around and I probably halved it. I poured all the rest (rosemary and all) into a pot on the stove. I stirred a couple tablespoons of cornstarch into cool water until it was smooth, then poured that in the pot too. I boiled it, and boiled it, and boiled it, and boiled it... and then gave up 'cause guests were coming! I poured the still-very-thin "sauce" onto my single-portion bits of meat and popped them all in the freezer for the future.

This morning I took one portion out, opened the lid a crack for heating, and mmmmmmmmm did it smell good. Even frozen! I adore rosemary, have I mentioned? I noticed the sauce did have little spots that looked like they had tried to become thick. I made some rice with that broth/sauce.

The kitties followed my every move. BOY were they interested.

It was good! Rice with the broth was a good idea. Next time, a tinch less lemon (I kinda went on the high side for that) and a bit more rosemary and pepper. The chicken breast was falling apart at a touch, and was a tad dry, so maybe also cook it less long?? And if I want a sauce, maybe more cornstarch.

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-12-07 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
For me "really fancy" tops out before a place starts having "this menu" and "that menu". Probably $80 a head? See, there are things I can't/won't eat, and I've heard that some places with Menus (or even some places with Chefs) get seriously aggravated when their customers have individual issues. I have chosen to simplify my life by not going to places that would feed me (or charge me for) fish or seafood without giving me a choice about it.

I also tend to avoid crowded high-traffic snarly city situations with no place to park and long walks (particularly with the feet now). And then, well, there's Rob. So... I'm sure some of the things presented would be truly wonderful, and I do have a tinge of regret that I'll miss them, but I think maybe you can have my share of Acquavit's delights! :-)