Coq au vin

Time flies.  I forgot all about this delicious dish I tried in February.  This is my first attempt with Coq au vin.  I used the chicken, instead of the rooster.

Produce and Pesticides: What You Need to Know

Disturbingly, many farmers are using pesticides to prolong the lives of their crops. These chemicals enable foods to travel long distances and...
Click on the picture above to get to the full story at Dr. Oz's website.
My goal this year is to plant more veges in my garden.  Let's see how it goes.

Shoestring French Fries and Hamburger Dinner

After following the simple recipe in the Bouchon cookbook on how to prepare french fries, I made shoestring French fries.  I have so many different cuts of potatoes left from me practicing cutting the potato tourne, etc, etc, I thought it's a great idea.  The length and width are bit irregular and would not meet the standard, but they turned out great for our dinner.  We love the texture of crispiness of the shoestring French fries.

Sauteed Onion Glazed Chicken Breast with jus lie

I think by the end of March, I will be going through the Chickens as I have with pounds and pounds of flour for my baking adventure.  The more I learn about this "European" cooking method, I like the idea of adding varieties to the dishes prepared for my family - and economically. 
I was testing the Saute method to prepare the chicken breast slices.   They were lightly powdered with seasoned flour, and sauteed in butter.  I didn't have any recipe to follow.  I decided to saute the onion slices afterward in the same sauteuse.  Onions were sauteed till they are caramelized, then, smeared all over the chicken.   I prepared the jus lie with the drippings left in the pan.  Chardonnay + salt + fresh ground black peppers + sugar to taste.  Thickened slightly with Potato Starch (Japanese HOKKAIDO Potato Starch).

Chardonnay Roasted Chicken

Hmmm..... well.  After the fact that I made this, I found out the new info on "Dry-Heat" method of what is "roasting" is.   After I made this I decided to dub this Chardonnay Roasted Chicken.... Well, learning is a progress of failure and success.  I am still happy with the result.  But,  I will try to correct the 'roasting' method the next time.  I am getting good at preparing this 'potato tourne', however.

And this chicken are boneless.  I carved the meat off the bone.  Seasoned with Cilantro Lemon Salt Pepper rub with fresh thyme.  Clasped the no-skin side together and tied it with strings.
Prepared mirepoix and spread them on the bottom and set the chicken on the top. 
Bones are frozen because I already have enough clear chicken stock from the last chicken.
Roasted covered at 375'F for 1hr 30 min.  Added 1/2 Cup of Chardonnay after 55 min of roasting.  As this chicken is roasted in my favorite roaster with cover, I broiled the chicken for 5 min to brown the top.  The broiling would be unnecessary if I had used the right technique.

Scaloppini Chicken with Chardonnay Sweet and Sour Spicy Sauce

Scaloppini chicken - my first attempt at home turned out a new addition to my food adventure -  fairly thinly sliced chicken pounded further and coated barely with flour sauted butter.  Swirls of chardonnay into the pan to deglaze the food bits at the bottom of the pan.  The aroma of heated Chardonnay tingled my nostril.  That's when I got the idea of making the Chardonnay sweet and sour sauce.   I thought it is perfect.  It has the perfect acidity and mellowness that the ordinary mixture of vinegar and sugar can't bring out.  Addition of chili pepper flakes brought the flavor really together when tossed with mangoes.  The smaller pieces of chicken were served over steaming hot Jasmine rice.