Tried but Not True: Melt in Your Mouth Chicken

So, the other night, we couldn't figure out what to make for dinner...and I was rummaging around Pinterest for something quick in the chicken department. I didn't find anything quick for that night, but found this recipe for "Melt in Your Mouth Chicken" that I put on the lunch menu for Sunday. (For once, I actually had EVERY single ingredient required.

I followed the directions to a T....a big, capital...T.....and yet, THIS is what came out of the oven: 

One of these things is most DEFINITELY NOT like the other. I don't know if it's because I lined the baking sheet with foil (because I didn't feel like scrubbing a pan) or if it's because I used grated parmesan cheese instead of shreds. I just do not why mine does not look like the picture above. 

It was an odd, odd thing, this recipe. Granted, I've never baked with Greek yogurt before, so maybe this is normal and what they used was NOT Greek yogurt? I can tell you that I opened the oven at about the 25-minute mark and they were SWIMMING in what I assume to have been yogurt liquid....runny, gross looking, yuck and so I drained the majority of THAT off. Maybe that's why they didn't brown properly? I baked it at the indicated temperature, for the indicated period of time. The only thing that got golden brown was the bottom of each boob, after I got done peeling them off of the aluminum foil. 

The flavor was different. Good, but different. My husband said it got better the more he ate, and that we had a winner with this one.  Allow me to show you my face at hearing this:  

No, this is NOT me.....but that most certainly had to be my expression at that particular moment. 

This is Mister Sam. Meet him.

He's an artist. He draws pictures and stuff. Rock your world, he will. 

Anyway....back to that chicken. Yeah. Next time, I will be omitting the aluminum foil, and if it's still not browned by near the end of the cooking time, I think I'll stick it under the broiler for a minute or two to see if that does anything other than burn the stiff peaks. 

PS: This is NOT a non-messy kind of proposition. Sure, the yogurt spread mixes up all nice and neat in the bowl, but then you have to somehow get it to spread over the slippery chicken. Of course, NOW, after the fact, I realize that I should've patted them dry before applying the spread. I'm on the ball, yes I am! The spread is so thick that I didn't feel it would be feasible to put it in a pie pan or something and then try to dip the chicken in, so I just used the good ol' digits and slopped it on each side, then around the edges as best I could. 

I will let you know what happens the next time I try this!  

If YOU have any clue why it did not brown like the chicken pictured in the recipe picture, please do share!  

The Lighter Side of Chicken Cacciatore

On Lidia's Italy the other day, she was making her version of Chicken Cacciatore, and I was immediately reminded of this recipe from Michael Chiarello: Chiarello's Chicken Cacciatore. It may very well be the first recipe I ever made that ventured outside the lines of spaghetti and meat sauce or some version of Helper. The kids were small, so I know it was YEARS ago, back when I barely knew what olive oil was and had never cooked with fresh herbs before. (Yes, I am that old.) I loved Mr. Chiarello's PBS show, so much so that I signed up for his catalog and ordered these:

Yes, they're old. Worn. And mainly sitting up there on the shelf for decoration...along with a can of Arizona Sunshine that I found in my grandpa's house after he passed. I miss my grandparents. I hold on to the tiny things to help me remember the best times in life. ANYWAY!  Back to cacciatore.  This recipe made me see parsley as something more than a garnish. I have never stopped using Italian parsley since I first made this. It's amazing. Try it, if you never have...the fresh stuff!!! 

So, I went searching for the recipe and found it on another food blog (see link above). I was overjoyed!  However, having recently discovered that my digestive system is not what it once was, I am now trying to lighten everything up, that and I'm not all that fond of chicken thighs, so I revamped the recipe to fit my dietary and budgetary needs.  

The Joys of Spinach

This week, during one of the rare times when I catch part of an episode of Dr. Oz, I saw this recipe for a Spinach Walnut Citrus Salad. I like spinach. I like citrus. It's a go! Took all of 5-10 minutes to put it together. I highly recommend this, not only for the health benefits, but also for the lovely flavor! 

As for the vinaigrette, I am not one to waste, so I added the juice from the grapefruit. Or, rather, I was letting the juice fall into the bowl while I was sectioning the grapefruit and then decided "HEY, this would add even MORE ruby red grapefruit flavor!  All in all, it probably amounted to two tablespoons of juice. 

Being the ARTISTE that I am (HA), I dressed the spinach before adding the rest of the ingredients, because I like to create a somewhat photogenic plate, even if I'm not shooting it!  I added enough baby spinach to fill an entire dinner plate, since this WAS my dinner last night. To be honest, next time, I will combine spinach with romaine hearts. After about 1/2 the plate, the spinach was just, well, too much spinach, not enough crunch for me. 

Here she is, the finished and lovely salad. I did sub mandarin oranges for a fresh orange, just because I really need to use up items in my cupboard. It was just a fairly delightful combination of sweet and sour and a little kick with the cayenne in the vinaigrette. 

Simply NOT Organic-The Followup

Back on October 6th, in Simply NOT Organic, I shared with you some rather disturbing findings about a rather stubborn zucchini and some "fresh" rosemary that I bought back in July. In October, the zuke and the rosemary were still going strong, looking and feeling like I'd just bought them that week.

I checked them again on November 1st. Behold, we have SPOILAGE! FINALLY!

The rosemary is starting to decay, with some leaves turning black and a bit of mold developing on the base of the stem. Only took a little over three months. THREE. MONTHS! How organic is that really? 

The zuke, bought at a local farm, was still fairly solid, but was starting to look just a tad withered. No bad spots on the outside though and no mold on the stem or blossom ends. 

I knew I wasn't going to eat it, so I chopped it up. This is what I found. Actually, the picture makes it look more browned than what it really was. I did not try to do a taste test, because...EWWW. So, I'm going to presume that had I wanted to, I probably could've still used it back at the beginning of October. However, since it frightened me, I just left it on the counter.

So, yeah. That's what they call "organic" now in the herb world. And I don't think it matters much whether a veggeble is grown locally or far away. What matters is the seed. Clearly, a touch of genetic modification occurred at some point to produce a very long-lasting fruit. 

I'm still kind of conflicted, because I like fresh vegetables and frankly, it's quite obvious that it doesn't matter where you get them, you just do not know what kind of seeds were used to produce the PROduce. All we can do is buy local, ask questions, keep calm and hope for the best, right?