Showing posts with label Asparagus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asparagus. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A new twist on "Fried" chicken cutlets

Last night's dinner was on the fly. I was running home after working a little late, picking some things up quickly at the grocery, picking up DancerinDC at the metro, the swinging by the community center to pick up fresh eggs, first strawberries of the season and probably the last of this season's asparagus. What was I to do???

I got chicken in my mind and thought about doing a fried cutlet kind of them. But I wasn't totally in the mood. Well, I went that route and thought it through on the way home. Instead of frying the cutlets, I'll bread them and then grill them! It worked!

Chicken cutlets coated with flour, dipped in egg, then coated in seasoned bread crumbs. Great texture and good flavor.

Since the grill pan was out, I decided to grill the asparagus we just picked up. Tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and dropped on the pan. Leave them on one side until you can start to smell them cooking, then flip them over and give them another few quick minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, I wanted to revisit the Hollandaise Sauce fail from a few weeks ago. I learned from my mistakes and got it right this time. But I also went a step further and turned my Hollandaise into a Bearnaise Sauce. This may not be completely authentic, since I didn't have tarragon, but it was good. Prior to mixing the eggs and butter, I sauted some finely diced shallots in a little butter until they were almost tender, I turned the heat up and added some white wine, salt, pepper and a pinch of dried oregano to replace the tarragon. Simmer until the wine is reduced to about 2 TB and thickened. Halfway through whisking the melted butter into the Hollandaise, I stirred in the shallots and wine. I continued with the rest of the butter. So good!

The cutlets and asparagus would have been nice like this. Perhaps a wedge of lemon to brighten things up. But really...

...why not gild the lily and spoon over plenty of Bearnaise Sauce for the ultimate indulgence. The three items perfectly complemented each other. The sauce held and did what it was supposed to. The asparagus was perfectly cook, just a smidge before being tender and the chicken was crispy, crunchy and not fried or oily. All in all a good dinner. Also complemented with a bottle of white bordeaux.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Gardening in 2009

Asparagus officinalis Jersey Knight Hybrid

Woot! I bought two pots of Asparagus plants yesterday. Next weekend they will go in the yard. No veggies this season, but next season we will get to harvest about half the crop. The following season, we will have a full bumper crop...as long as things work out for us and the squirrels aren't interested!

Asparagus, I can't wait to introduce you to my friend Hollandaise!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Grillin' again

We had guests last night and there was great weather...after the varying rain showers and humidity moved out! So..there was going to be grilling.

I have a lot to learn, but I think I might know what I'm doing. We had pork chops and asparagus. Both on the grill. The chops were salt and peppered and sprinkled with rosemary. The asparagus was seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon when it was done.

The downside last night...I started the grill, planning on giving it 30 minutes to reach maximum heat...but I waited too long and I think the heat was waning when I finally got to cooking dinner...the chops were thin cut (I do hate that my grocery stores don't sell thick cut chops) and cooked very quickly...but they lacked color...so we had pale grey chops with no color...so I had to keep the chops on the grill longer, past their needed time...but they got a little color.

So, the flavor was good, but the texture of the chops was way less than ideal. It's all a learning experience. And yes I was a bad tree hugger and used paper plates.