Kitchen Safety

We have no new recipes to share today. Scott's work schedule is askew this week and he hasn't had a day off yet, so we probably won't make it to the store until Thursday. I was planning on making the Country Apricot Tart last week, but I left my dozen apricots in their plastic bag a few days too long and they rotted.

So... I thought I'd post a little about stupid kitchen injuries. We have already discussed the perils of grabbing the probe thermometer with our bare fingers. And just this morning, I learned that the stove top gets really hot after you've had the big front burner on medium-high for 45 minutes. I learned this lesson through a wet paper towel. Ahh, steam-cleaned finger tips!

Of course, I should have realized that the drips of pancake batter that I had spilled were actually turning into mini pancakes right there on the stove. I guess I had it coming.

...sort of like how Scott had it coming when he decided not to bother with the hand guard when he was julienning some zucchini with the mandolin. The result? Julienne Hand. Look for it on a menu near you!

Perfect parallel cuts...the mark of a true artist!

Pesto Chicken Breasts with Summer Squash

Page 49.

I cooked this one last week, 06/04. Going back to the apple fritter post, again, I am the "chef" of the family, so leave it to me to pick the cooking for beginners recipe. *insert head shake here.*

I picked this one because Jamie likes pesto. I figured, "well, chicken and pesto, that's a winner, can't really go wrong here! And there's cheese on it as well! Psh, good times!!"

I won't do this for every post, but I really think I should list all the ingredients to this one. All of them... keep that in mind. Chicken breasts, pesto (they suggest store bought), chopped zucchini and/or summer squash, and asiago or Parmesan cheese. Yeah, that's all. Notice anything missing? I did, but thought "they obviously know what they're doing!

So, instead of using store bought pesto, I decided to make it myself. I mean, it's not hard. I have a basil plant on the balcony, we have all the ingredients in the house, and Jamie just busted out the Magic Bullet! Pesto was a success.

So, I followed their directions... Have you ever sauteed chicken and it only taken four minutes per side? I don't know that I ever timed it before, but yeah, if I had done that this time, I'm pretty sure I would be posting this from the hospital dealing with the salmonella poisoning, telling you to never EVER try this... for THAT reason. It recommends four minutes, then turn the chicken, placing your chopped veggies, zucchini julienned on my mandolin (I LOVE that thing!) in this case, and cook for another four minutes. Yeah, needless to say the cooking time was increased sllliiiiggghhhtttllyyy.

Anyway, after that, you take out the chicken and slather on some of your pesto, then top it with your cheese. And that's it! Serve that bad boy up, and everyone enjoy! Right? I mean, if you can get past the subtle green theme to your meal that is....





Did you notice a lack of salt? Pepper? Any other type or seasonings? Yeah. I actually re-read the recipe about four times, just looking to see where they threw that in and I missed it. Nope. Not there. Granted, pesto has some flavor to it... but not enough for a chicken breast let me tell you. Jamie and I both said the same thing... that is some GOOD zucchini! And the rest of the chicken breasts sat in the fridge until this past weekend. I "made" some focaccia, aka I took a Pillsbury french loaf and manhandled it into a not loaf shape, put on some olive oil and herbs, and baked it. Took that, sliced it into a giant sandwich, made some more pesto, and put on some cheese and made a paninni with the leftover chicken. THAT my friends, was a success.

So, the next time you are looking at a recipe saying to yourself, "surely the meant to have some salt and pepper, or SOMETHING..." trust your instincts... really.

Autumn Apple Fritters

P. 273.

This is the dessert we had the night of the yummy pork dish Jamie did last week. So, leave it to me, the "experienced chef," to pick quite possibly the easiest recipe out of the entire cookbook to start with, while she picked one of the more difficult ones. The prep was pretty darn simple. The fritters were super easy. First off, get some oil in a pot and heat it up...

Small aside... That's pretty much the reason I did this one, and Jamie never would. Jamie hates frying anything. There had been a minor frying accident not too long after we were married in which I let the oil heat up wayyyyy too hot prior to frying some french fries, and we all know what happens when you introduce a frozen fry to screaming hot oil, don't we? That's right, immediately the oil boils over to the burner, causing a small flash over, lots of smoke, and some freaking out of those around... No fires, just a permanent fear of frying from Jamie.

Anyway, back to this incident. The mise for the dish is simple:

Core two baking style apples, in this instance, Granny Smiths. I used my mandolin to make thick slices. Mix AP flower, powdered sugar, baking soda, lemon zest, and a bit of oil for your batter.

Dunk those slices in your batter, and then, three at a time, throw them... well, you know what I mean... into your burning hot oil.

It will literally only take about a minute to minute and a half to cook them. When they turn golden brown on one side, you flip them over, and let 'em do the same on that side. Carefully remove them from the oil, placing them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

To plate, I simply dusted them with powdered sugar, and put on a mint sprig for some color. They were good, but the bad thing was with them resting, the apples, being super hot obviously, released their moisture into the breading, making it a bit soggy. The second plating was better, Jamie added some cinnamon sugar we had to the top, giving it a bit of spice and a little more sweetness.

Lessons learned:

Next time, I think I'll cut them a little thinner, and fry a little longer, to give the breading a bit more of a chance to stay crispy. Also, while we are trying to follow the recipes as much as possible, next time, definitely will be adding a bit more spice to the batter and possibly some more sugar. Yeah, it's a diabetic cook book, but still! Maybe a nice raspberry sauce for more color and a bit of flavor!