Weekend Cooking

The memory aspect of Modzilla Firefox reminds me of how uncreative most of my post titles are. Perhaps that is because my life is fairly unexciting as well. I only did a short hike today because I needed to leave time to cook for some friends coming over for dinner.

I made a four course meal of:

• Panzanella
• Spanish Style Chicken Fricassee and Rice Pilaf
• Cheese
• Raspberry Shortcake

I was inspired by Motherrocker's recent post to use the Panzanella for my first course. To change it from a meal to a first course, I eliminated the beans and substituted a light chiffonade of dried sausage just to give it a bit of salty zest without too much weight. My veggies were fennel, red and orange bell pepper (parboiled a la MR) along with cucumber and marinated artichoke hearts. Properly admonished by the estimable MR, I was not about to skimp on the croûtons. I flavored the with garlic and fresh oregano from Wife's garden.

Croutons in Raw State

My Garlic, Oregano, Olive Oil Mixture

Finished Croutons

I decided to leave each element separate in the bowl which I had out on the counter when our guests arrived. Then I added the croutons, fresh oregano and parsley, the vinaigrette and mixed it tableside. It was a big hit.


Our main course was a chicken fricassee with Spanish style flavorings. I used my classic chicken fricassee recipe and augmented it with carrots, celery, parsley and thyme. Then added pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika) and saffron. I cooked this all the day before. Then on the day, I separated the meat from the sauce. The finished chicken is below.

I made a sauce with some sauteed elephant ear mushrooms (don't ask, it's the first time I saw them or used them and the cooking juices.

My shortcake I made myself


I made the sauce from some raspberries we had frozen from last years crop. Turned out fantastic.


CinderCella

Somehow granddaughter C is under the impression that grandchildren are to be spoiled. I've informed her that it's more like Cinderella where she has to work for the wicked grandparents. While I was cooking she was working in our garden with Wife for around 4 hours. Actually she loves it and was making up songs singing to herself about working in Grandma's garden.

C doing Hard Time Mixing Soil Additives