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ffwd: chicken, apples, and cream à la Normande
I may have been cooking for a long time, but I always struggle with what to make for dinner. It’s partly because I’m not a big fan of what I call the “three-position dinner”: a meat with starch and a vegetable all coexisting separately on the plate. I prefer dishes where everything is all mixed together, but those dishes typically require more ingredients, hence, more planning and organization, which I’m not so good at.
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie was a mélange sort of recipe: chicken, apples, and cream à la Normande. It also had lots of mushrooms, even though that wasn’t in the name.
You start with boneless chicken breasts, my least favorite protein because it so often turns out dry (also we’re a dark meat family), but I was being open-minded. I thought, Dorie seldom steers us wrong, after all, and she calls for dark meat in many other recipes, so breasts must be right for this one. I did cut the chicken breasts in half crosswise to make a more realistic serving size for our eating style. The chicken is lightly dredged in flour and browned on both sides.
Then you add chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, and apple chunks until they start to soften. I actually cooked the apple chunks separately. (I’m sure I’ve shared that the other eater at my house can’t abide fruit in savory dishes. I do my best to please. Or is it appease?) Some chicken broth is added, and when the chicken is nearly done, some Applejack and cream. Voilà!
The whole thing took less than half an hour from start to finish. Good weekday food! I served the chicken over Israeli couscous with roasted broccoli on the side – a two-position dinner, but definitely all mixed up.
The chicken breast was moist, and the sauce was rich, but not too. Howard enjoyed it without the apples, and I enjoyed it with. I don’t know whether the apple flavor would have permeated the sauce, but sprinkling the apple chunks over the couscous before dishing out the chicken and sauce worked in my compromise situation.
This dinner was a definite winner, and I would definitely make it again, with a few minor tweaks. First, I would leave out the apples to reduce the hassle of extra pans (see above). I might add more mushrooms to compensate. And, I would cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks or strips, making it even more mélange-y.
You can find the recipe here on the Monterey Herald site. This recipe and hundreds more can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table (good holiday gift idea!).
To see what the other FFwD bloggers thought of Normandy chicken, check out their links here.
Happy French Friday to all!
ffwd: chicken tagine with sweet potatoes and prunes (and a giveaway)
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is a sweet, satisfying stew: Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes. It’s inspiration hails from Morocco with a mix of spices and honey.
Sliced onions are softened, though not caramelized as the base of this dish. Spices, saffron, honey (I was thrilled to finally use my own), prunes, and broth are stirred in, then, topped with browned chicken thighs, and chunks of sweet potatoes. I used extra sweet potatoes. With everything nestled in the pot, the tagine is left to braise for 45 minutes, ample time to prepare side dishes AND clean up.
For the non-fruit-in-savory food eater in my house (yes, Howard, I’m talking about you), it was easy enough to just not serve prunes onto his plate. No other special handling required.
I served this over jasmine rice with a side of roasted cauliflower (a mix of white and orange to match the tagine).
I loved the warm, sweet flavors of the vegetable mixture. I also liked the vegetables with chicken. However, we never seem to like the stewed quality of chicken with soft, no longer golden brown, skin. For the leftovers, I’m going to shred the chicken meat and stir it back into the vegetables.
I will make this again, but next time, I will roast the chicken thighs separately and serve atop the vegetables, rather than adding them to the pot. That way the chicken will still be moist, but the skin will also stay crispy. That will work better at my house.
We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see how the other bloggers enjoyed their tagines, follow the links for their posts here.
P.S. Amazingly, WordPress tells me this is my 300th post. I looked back, and the 3rd anniversary of my blog was on Tuesday, October 23rd. I totally missed it. In honor of these milestones as well as my first honey harvest, A Plateful of Happiness will have its first giveaway. I’ll be giving away an 8 ounce jar of just-harvested raw honey from my backyard.
To win, here are the rules:
- Post a comment on today’s post before Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Be sure to include your email address where WordPress prompts you. It won’t show up with your comment, so your privacy is maintained, but I will know how to contact you if you win.
- Thursday, November 1, I will randomly select a winner and notify you, so I can find out where to send the jar of honey so you can enjoy it. I will also announce the winner next week.
- Unfortunately, it looks like it’s illegal to ship honey outside of the country, so you can only win if your mailing address is in the U.S. (Leave me a comment even if you are an international reader, but I’m sorry that I cannot send you my honey.)
- Only one entry per person.
A Plateful of Happiness 