Dinner Made Possible -- Robert Irvine this Week

5/9/10: Chicken Fricassee with Tomato Basil Pilaf

Meal details: The main course consisted of roasted chicken drumsticks that were baked with a tomato, white wine, cream, and seasoned sauce. And the chicken was served on top of rice that was combined with the remaining sauce.

Defining moments: First time I have done fricassee; I have heard about this dish but never knew the traditional ingredients. Fricassee, as it turns out, is a French term used to describe any sort of dish that has poultry stewed in some sort of gravy thickened with butter or cream. In my case, the sauce was tomato based and it was thickened with the latter.

This is my first time creating pilaf, too. Every now and then, I heard this word used on Food Network and never knew what it was, either! Through my research I gather that pilaf is a dish in which a grain (such as rice) is first browned in oil and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

OK, I think that's it for the culinary dictionary. . . Let's move onto where I found these recipes.

Recipe sources: Both the chicken fricassee and pilaf recipes come from Robert Irvine, the host of Dinner Impossible. I specifically chose it because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog.

What I learned: I learned by doing this recipe that sixteen drumsticks fit perfectly into the large steamer tray--this is very important info people! :D Other than that, I don't think I learned any new techniques or ingredients this week. However, I shouldn't forget that I learned two new terms. . . Fricassee and pilaf.

Any modifications? Yes.

1. Instead of chicken breasts, I used drumsticks. Why? They're cheaper here.
2. I didn't clarify the butter.
3. I used dry basil instead of fresh.
4. I used evaporated milk instead of cream. Why? Didn't have cream on hand.
5. Used granulated garlic instead of fresh. Why? Didn't have any fresh.

How it tasted? It turned out perfectly; everybody enjoyed it. The sauce was creamy and really flavored the rice.

How about a 2nd time? Yes.

And here are a couple shots of the Cranberry Almond Bars my step mom made the day before. Recipe came from Baker's Sheet, a newsletter King Arthur's Flour sends out.

My First Slice of Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

12/27/09: Chicken with Fresh Orange Cranberry Sauce and Whole Wheat Bread

Meal details: For the main course I browned some chicken breasts and made an orange, cranberry sauce to go with them. To round out the meal I made an artisan whole wheat bread.

Defining moments: First time making a whole wheat bread. And the first time I tasted orange and cranberry together.

Recipe sources: The sauce recipe came from the 1978 cookbook called The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. My family and I are not close to being vegetarian, by the way! I found this recipe on the internet when I was searching for sauces that will pair well with chicken. You can find the recipe here.
The whole wheat bread recipe came from the newly published book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It is the "Master Recipe" found in the book.

What I learned: What quickly comes to mind is learning a whole new way to bake bread. The Healthy Bread in Five book showed me how to make bread dough that I don't have to knead and how to make a bread with a nice chewy crust and a soft crumb.

Any modifications? No, I followed both recipes exactly.

How it tasted? Both the chicken and the bread tasted good! Everyone liked the sweet--tart--savory combination of the sauce and the bread was outstanding.

How about a 2nd time? Yes, to both recipes.

St. Michael's Angel Food

5/31/09: Hash Brown Casserole and Pentecost Cake in Honor of the Feast of Pentecost (May 31st)

• Meal details: Main course, hash brown casserole -- had cheese, eggs, evaporated milk, and bacon and was baked in two 13 x 9 pans.

Dessert, Pentecost Cake -- a special cake recipe that was topped off with cranberry cream cheese frosting. This specific frosting was chosen to achieve a reddish color to represent the Holy Spirit.

• Recipe sources: Casserole recipe came from verybestbaking.com. You can see it here. The cake recipe came from catholicculture.org and can be seen here.

• Defining moments: Using cranberries in frosting. Who would of thought! And I must mention here that this is my first time using bacon as an ingredient for a Sunday supper. Pretty big moment, don't you think? :)

• What I learned: I learned that it is very easy to cut bacon into pieces when it has been out of the freezer for thirty minutes, and only thirty minutes. I shouldn't let it sit out for much longer because it will be difficult to stand the stack of bacon on its side. My Papa said this is the easiest way to do it and he is absolutely right!

I also learned what a tube pan is; it is the pan that is normally used to make angel food cake.

• Any modifications? Yes, to both recipes. For the casserole, I didn't add onion or pepper, didn't use turkey bacon but rather good old pork bacon, and added more hash browns (4 oz.) and eggs (2 eggs yolks that were left over from the cake I made) to the bowl.

The cake recipe wasn't changed exactly, only the frosting. But I did have to resort to using an 8" bundt pan instead of the 7" tube pan that the recipe called for; we don't have any pan like that in my family's collection. Because I used a large cake pan the baking time went much faster. Instead of baking for 45 minutes, the cake was done in 30.

So getting back to the frosting. . . The frosting recipe called for strawberries and since I didn't have any on hand and I wanted a red fruit, I decided to substitute it with a cranberry frosting recipe. Here is the cranberry frosting recipe I used:

Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting
--recipe found on razzledazzlerecipes.com--

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 tb. cranberry sauce (I used the jelly kind you find in the can)
1/3 tb. salt
1 lb. powered sugar (that's 2 cups for you fellow volume lovers!)

Soften cream cheese. Add cranberry sauce and whip until light and fluffy. Add salt. Gradually add powered sugar and continue beating until mixture is creamy. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cake. Yield: enough for two 8" layers. (Note: the frosting I made was not very stiff. It will dribble off the sides of the cake.)

• How it tasted: The casserole was liked by all but I wish it had more of a flavor punch to it! However, the texture was great and it was really easy to put together. Just make sure you have an hour for it to cook!

The cake was also well liked and I found the cranberry frosting to be d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! Most of the time I find cake frosting to be too sweet, but with this recipe the tart cranberry flavor tones down the sweet-tooth quality I typically find.

• How about a 2nd time? I think the casserole can be made again but I would like to find that one important ingredient that it is lacking. The cake I love so that will have to reveal itself again next year!
  

My Papa said, "The texture of the cake is like a pound cake but the flavor is like an angel food. Perhaps a tough angel food would best describe it then? Oh, I got it! St. Michael's Angel Food!" Sounds good to me!

Am I getting high-tech or what? Here is a 360 view of the Pentecost cake on video. Take a look!