Time spent in the garden and kitchen is not time wasted; the essence of quality is attained through toil, not technology.

Friday, September 21, 2012

FFWD- CHICKEN BASQUAISE

 Nothing better....
 Chop, chop & then slice!
 Call me when this is done.
 Oh my- nap time for me.

"In the Basque style"- I like the way that sounds.....



Well, the jury is still out on this one- um, it was ok, pretty good; very good? and my DH seemed to heartily enjoy it for supper.   You see, I sometimes use this summary ratio of time spent in preparation compared to the 1-10 scale for the finished dish.   I must have chopped for a solid hour (understand though that I do consider chopping and slicing foods as rather relaxing & always a certifiable practice of knife skills).   And the finished rainbow array of veggies on the cutting board was most rewarding.
I had purchased a nice organic chicken that my husband cut up (no,no; I do not cut up chickens!) for me, and then it soaked in a mild salt/sugar brine for several hours.  This has become a required step to our chicken recipes now, whether we are grilling out or however.
The pepper/onion/spices went together well & smelled wonderful.  After simmering a while, I also just let it sit & absorb amongst itself while the chicken soaked.   Then I proceeded with Dorie’s simple instructions for the rest of the recipe.   I did modify on my wine; all I had available was a sorta disliked bottle of white zin that I had picked up God knows where- too sweet, yecch.   So I added a little balsamic vinegar & chicken glace stock along with a smaller portion of the wine- the sauce was tasty.
The only other small hurdle was my “raised in the South” dispensation to fry that chicken up with a beautiful crunchy brown crust when it went into the frying pan.   But I held off and did as directed.....ho hum.
My sweet husband prepared a perfect pot of rice; another thing I gave up on- it always ended up a sticky, gummy, stuck to the pan kinda thing.
I suppose I give it a 7, maybe a 7+?    Was it worth all the time & prep work?? What do the rest of the Dorista ladies and gentlemen think?
Please link to http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/?p=1225 and read more delicious renditions of this recipe.

8 comments:

  1. We really liked it - totally worth all the prep and cooking time. I think we'll be having this one regularly.

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  2. This dish was a bit time consuming, I agree, but it does smell so nice while cooking and we have no leftovers, no chicken, no sauce - the family liked it and that is always a good sign. This was a fun dish to prepare but in general I do not like to cook with peppers and I will stick to my tried and true vegetable sauce recipe without peppers.

    Thank you also for your lovely comment! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. It sure took some time to prepare but the result was really really tasty!!!

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  4. Beautifully done.
    I have a strong raw chicken aversion. Chopping up a whole one brings me to near hyperventilation.
    I finally gave up and bought a rice cooker and have never looked back. I think the purchase cost justified itself purely on the cleaning products that I no longer have to buy to clean the dried on starch water out from underneath my burners...

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    1. My sentiments exactly! By the time I hacked up my 1st chicken, I was too nauseous to cook the damn thing! And, believe me, I have seriously considered a rice cooker, except for the fact that my hubs prepares it so well & he is happy & willing to do it.

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  5. I am so impressed you guys cut up your own chicken! I have a strange reluctance to handling chicken meat. The whole family ate this one so I was impressed with it, but I did leave out the spices and only used hungarian paprika. Cute puppy!!!

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  6. What a nice looking pile of peppers! I think this was worth the effort too. I can definitely see making this again this fall. I agree with Cher, a rice cooker is worth it. Perfect rice, every time, though I have to put a cookie sheet under the rice cooker because it sometimes makes a little mess, but not like on the stovetop.

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  7. it took time and energy but it was SO delicious :) good job! Love the pup!

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