Marinated Balsamic-Dijon Chicken (Disaster!)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH, 2009

1 star (out of 5 - SB's rating: oopsies!)
3 stars (out of 5 - LX's rating)

I decided to try this recipe because the ingredients looked good (and simple!), and I loved the idea of the 24h marinating. Yummy! However, I was incredibly disappointed with the outcome. I made a note at the bottom for suggestions to improve this, but basically the sauce turned out to be extremely strong, and the chicken extremely overcooked. One good thing about this recipe was that I learned that another advantage of being a vegetarian was that simulated meat is way less prone to overcooking. Sorry SB!

Ingredients*:

Chicken pieces (thighs or breasts)*
Onions, sliced (~1 onion per piece of chicken)
~1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
~1/3 cup dijon mustard**
Seasoning, as you prefer (I added Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper)
1.5-2 tsp lemon juice concentrate
3/4 cup wine**

{*Note. Please read through blog before attempting this recipe! There were some problems, as you will see.... I would first start with chicken thighs, as they will withstand longer cooking times. **The marinate is good with the vinegar and mustard, although I ended up almost doubling the amounts just to be able to cover the chicken. More importantly, there needs to be another liquid besides the wine in the sauce, otherwise it is extremely acidic. On this note, the white wine was something I was forced to do, mid-cooking, as the sauce without it was more like a paste. Suggestions, please!}.

1. First, I sliced the onion (keeping the pieces quite large).

2. I then spread the chicken out in a pan for marinating.

Chick'n version for me and LX:

3. To make the marinate, I simply mixed the balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and lemon juice together...

4. ... until creamy and smooth.

5. I then added the dried herbs to the chicken, which included Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, and crushed red peppers (add the spices you prefer).

6. I then topped each dish (one chicken, one Chick'n) with the onions...

7. ... and poured over the marinate, mixing it to make sure everything was coated. I then placed it in the fridge, covered, for 24 hours.

Chicken:

Chick'n:

8. The next day, I baked the chicken (saving most of the marinate in the dish) in the oven at 400Funtil it was cooked and set it aside. The recipe said to bake it for 35-45 minutes (!!) but I took it out after about 20-25 minutes.

9. I added the onions to the frying pan, which the recipe assured me would create it's own liquid (so not to add water). At first it was good:

10. However, as they softened, it was clear that this was not going to suffice as a sauce:

11. I decided to add some white wine to the mixture, which looked good. I added the chicken to "simmer", like the recipe said, for 25 minutes (I cut this down to 10-15 minutes). Big mistake!

12. And served over basmati rice...

13. ...with a side of baked asparagus.

Overall, this was another lesson for me to try out recipes before attempting them for the first time with guests. This recipe smelled delicious as it was cooking, and I loved the 24 hour marinating. However, the overall flavour was SOOOOO strong. The kind that burns the back of your throat. I was so disappointed because of all the work I put into it, and because it smelled soo good. I did add the white wine to increase the liquid in the sauce, but I think it was too strong and only added to the acidity of this dish. LX really liked it, but told me that she really likes tart things (and was probably being nice!), but SB didn't eat much of it and neither did I. In addition, the chicken was cooked WAY too long. It wasn't so much a problem for the Chick'n, but for the real meat, SB told me it was pretty bad. Oopsies.

Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions about how to improve this recipe (both the sauce and how to cook the chicken), please let me know! I think there is potential here, but I am too inexperienced to think of anything else besides the wine!

Honey-Dijon Chicken

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH, 2009

4.5 stars (out of 5)

I had a bit of time this afternoon (for once!), so I decided to use it to try out a new recipe. GV from my internship tipped me off about a website (pioneerwoman.com) which has recipes and photos at every step (very similar to mine, but much much better quality!) and I thought I would try one of the recipes there. It was great! Here is the link to the recipe (with better pics: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/ranch-style-chicken/).

Ingredients (for 6 chicken breasts... I halved this for 2):

1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Chicken breasts
Bacon
Cheddar cheese, shredded

1. First, I mixed together the dijon, honey, paprika, salt and lemon juice, and whisked until smooth. I also added just a few red pepper flakes to spice things up!

2. Next, I (or actually SB) took a mallet to the chicken to ensure it was an even thickness (this prevents overcooking).

3. I then marinated the chicken in a bowl (covered in the fridge) for an hour and a half (anywhere from 1-3 hours).

4. During this time, we had some appy's: olives and some dips with a fresh baked baguette (they sell these in the frozen section of the grocery store, and I highly recommend! Stick it in the oven for 14 minutes and voila! - you have a fresh baguette!).

5. Once I was ready to start cooking again, I prepared some asparagus by washing, salting, and covering in olive oil. I placed these in the oven at 425F for 7 minutes. I did this because our (convection) oven does not cook food that is on the second rack very well. This way, I cooked these first, and then put them on the bottom rack to keep warm. If you have a normal oven, just place them in the oven for 10 minutes (with the chicken, after it has cooked for about 3-4 minutes).

6. During this time, I also cooked the bacon (approx. 2 strips per chicken breast)...

7. ... and set aside, keeping approximately 1/2-1/4 of the bacon grease set aside. We kept it in the skillet, but as suggested in the original recipe, you may want to clean your skillet to prevent a lot of smoke once you cook the chicken.

8. Once the chicken was marinated, I removed the excess marinade and seared the chicken in the pan of bacon grease for a max of 1.5 minutes per side. You want it just blackened, but not the chicken inside cooked.

Veggie version:

9. I added the chicken to the oven, now at 400F for ~10 minutes (with the asparagus).

10. At this point the chicken was done and I added 1-2 slices of bacon to each breast...

11. ...and covered with cheddar cheese.

Finished asparagus:

12. I cooked this for another 3-5 minutes until the cheese was melted and the bacon hot.

Veggie version:

13. Served with the asparagus:

Overall, this was a very delicious meal, and SB loved it. The only downside is that it seems a bit fatty with the cheese and bacon. I am thinking that this will be reserved for special occasions, but that I will use the chicken and marinade for regular dinners as it was super tasty (and served with veggies and a salad, a fairly healthy meal). One other thing... with the bacon cooking and then the seared chicken, my place smelled soo good!

Dijon Chicken Thighs with Artichoke Sauce

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009

2.5 stars (out of 5 - not so much recommended)

It's slow-cooker time again! I like to do slow-cooker recipes on Tuesdays, as I prefer to work from home those days. This recipe looked very unique, so I thought I would give it a go. I'm a bit afraid that the dijon will be overpowering....

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dijon mustard*
2 tbsp fresh garlic, chopped
3/4 tsp dried marjoram*
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs*
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 (12 ounce - ~370g)jar marinated artichoke heart quarters, w/ liquid*

{Note changes: For the dijon mustard, it is highly recommended that you use the mustard in the picture below. I bought a cheap jar of French's Dijon and when I tasted it I basically burned my mouth so I switched to the Maille brand. Much better. I also used marjoram; however, the recipe actually calls for 1/2 tsp tarragon (I mistakenly thought that I had some in my kitchen... oopsies). Finally, I only bought a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, so make sure you don't make the same mistake. I ended up slicing some whole canned artichoke hearts in half and adding them. To do the veggie version, just substitute the chicken with chick'n}

1. First I combined the mustard, garlic, and marjoram in a medium-large bowl.

2. I then added the chicken thighs and stirred to coat them. I didn't cut the fat off of them this time, so we'll see if SB notices. I just can't do it.

3. After the chicken thighs were coated, I placed them at the bottom of my 4.5 qt slow-cooker.


4. I then topped with the onion, mushrooms, and artichokes (with the liquid from the jar).

5. I covered the pot, and placed it on high for 45 minutes, and then on low for about 6 hours (recipe says anywhere between 6 and 8 hours).

6. After cooking and smelling it all day, I was very disappointed to see that the sauce had, yet again, separated.

7. I served the chicken over a bed of basmati rice.

SB's:


Mine:


Here is what the sauce looked like after it was done:

I have to admit, I am quite discouraged with this cookbook. I bought it because it is the official "CrockPot" cookbook and came with great instructions, seemingly delicious recipes, and nice pics; however, this is the second time that their sauce has not turned out at all like what is supposed to. Furthermore, none of their recipes thus far have been anywhere close to fantastic. I am really questioning whether they actually tried these recipes out themselves. The picture they display is all creamy and perfect. Nothing close to the dish I produced.

The combination of artichokes and dijon seemed like a winning one; however, in the future I will look for a recipe that uses these ingredients in a casserole. SB seemed to like it enough, but I couldn't eat mine. It had that "slow-cooker" taste to it (see Easter - Vegetarian Edition). I'm not sure when I will be using it again :( It's too discouraging to put in so much effort to produce something so subpar. (SB is disagreeing right now... but I'm disappointed anyways!).