Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Two of Hearts, Two Hearts that beat...oh I'm so full!

Happy Valentine's Day Kittens!



So last week I posted what was being made tonight....here are the results!

First up: Chicken Breasts with Brandied Cherry-Chocolate Sauce

This was tasty. Not bad at all. But if I were to make it again, I would make some changes!
1) The recipe calls for 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate. I think this was too much. I would go to 1/2 oz, or 1/2 a block of Baker's chocolate.

2) There is 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar. This is alright, but maybe make that a 'scant 1/3 cup'. When you add this and allow it to simmer, it is going to make you nose tickle and want to sneeze! Have fun.

3) After you add the balsamic and the cherries, the recipe says to let it simmer for another 8-10 minutes. I think this is too much. Maybe only go 5 minutes...watch this closely. You don't want to the sauce to get too thick!
With this, we had our favorite salad ever!!!! Mixed greens with pears, cashews with basil balsamic vinegarette. Yum yum yum. The vinegarette is from Ken's Steak House. Good Times!

Next Up: Tiramisu Fondue

This was incredible. But sometimes even those of us who can cook up great things can be total fuck ups...pardon my french.
1) I read the recipe 3, 4, 5, 6 times. Yet I still messed up royally. But then I thought I saved everything...and messed up again! Lesson to everyone. Read your recipe until you are familiar with it.

2) OK, all that said, here's what I did...recipe calls for dissolving 1 1/2 cups instant coffee in 1 TB boiling water. 1st mistake I made...brewed a full cup and a 1 1/2 of regular coffee....oops..but I caught that soon enough...that's ok. Then I remembered that I actually wanted to try this Australian Wattleseed....ok, no problem. So I put a few tsps of that in a bowl and added a cup of boiling water to that...and then ADDED THE WHOLE DAMN THING! So, instead of what should have been a thick, rich, velvety fondue, I had a rich, creamy, tiramisu soup! It was really tasty! The Wattleseed was great. Just don't add so much liquid!
Here are some strawberries...because they are good!
Except if you allergic...you know who you are...LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!

Alright. I hope you all had a good night!


A small bit of housekeeping: I'll picking my mom and aunt up at the airport this Friday and showing them around DC for the weekend. That said...I won't be doing much in the way of food, postings will probably be few until next week. But if I get bored with my hosting duties you might just hear from me! Have a good week/end.

Here is another photo of the chicken with the cherry/brandy/chocolate sauce. We thought it looked a little obscene/dirty....so this is shown down here. Alright...I'm tired...I'm going to bed.

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10 comments:

Brunette said...

I'm so glad the chicken turned out well- I just *knew* the sauce would be great!

As for the fondue... glad that you enjoyed the flavor, even if the texture wasn't exactly right. It takes a true chef to persevere through the glitches!

And now... mea culpa! Mea maxima culpa! The recipe should read "1 1/2 teaspoons" of instant coffee, not 1 1/2 cup. I think in my haste to get it out to you I misread my hand-written recipe and saw "tsp" as "cup." My apologies to you and anyone else who may have tried to make it with the incorrect measurement. I sentence myself to a month with no Wegmans!

ScottE. said...

Brunette!!! No blame!!!!! Please don't deprive yourself of no Wegman's!

Think of it like this...we now I have recipe for Tiramisu soup! The flavor was great. I was eating it with a spoon. Some 'fondue', a strawberry, some chocolate...all on the spoon...it was great!

But that said...I will make an edit to the recipe post for future reference!!!!

Rich Marino said...

AH!!!! That explains it!

We also made the fondue - I kept thinking it was something that I did.... Anycase, still tasty - and I had extra Heart Cookies as a standby...

And Edna LOVES Wegmans too... (great store)

Dancer in DC said...

The sweet/savory mix on the chicken is quite good. Can anyone recommend a good wine to pair with it?

Love the salad - I like it best with baby arugula.

Um...tiramisu soup...it was...soupy. Good flavor, though.

Anonymous said...

I can't believ eyou actually posted this last night. You were suppose to be getting some...not posting on your blog! hee hee
Food does look good, though.
I hope to be trying the fondue this weekend...with Brunette's update of course!!

ScottE. said...

;o)

Anonymous said...

Mmm... chicken and chocolate. Reminds me kinda of mole sauce, with chocolate and chilis. Anyway, the whole meal sounds great.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm... pears on the salad with balsamic vinegarette!! I usually do spinach, pears, walnuts, either gorgonzola or bleu cheese, and a balsamic vinegarette made by my own little hands... my mouth is WATERING!!

I see Red Truck wine in the pic. Is it good? I've been wondering about that one.

My parents recently introduced me to a new wine... I think it's called Timbuktu, from Australia. A house red? Or merlot? Can't remember, I'll have to get back to you on that one for sure, if you're interested. It has a very smooth, chocolate finish. Too much chocolate with the chicken and fondue?? Maybe... maybe NOT! :)

Anonymous said...

How was the Red Truck, Scott? Charlie and I bought a bottle a few weeks ago and we haven't had a chance to give it a try yet. I know you're not supposed to choose a bottle of wine based on the label, but it was just too cute to pass up.

Marie

Dancer in DC said...

The Red Truck for those who haven't seen it, is a red wine blend from California. We bought it as part of a wine tasting we went to at a store in Gaithersburg.

I think that we might have left it on the shelf a bit too long - it was much more tannic upfront than I had remembered at the tasting. But it does have a very nice finish - no nasty aftertaste.

I like it, but it was not the best wine to pair with this meal. Something spicier like a Shiraz would probably have worked better.