Saturday, March 30, 2013

Garlic Caramel....


I, much like many woman with internet connections, am addicted to Pinterest. I gleaned a lot of useful and useless information from Pinterest. I have learned how to water marble my nails, build a nail polish storage shelf and make my own laundry soap. I figured there had to be good recipes there too.

I figured if something had 'easy' in the title it would be safe for me to attempt. I also assumed that if it had 4 ingredients it would be hard for me to screw up. I was wrong.

This is what the chicken should have looked like.....


This is what my chicken looked like...

Sad ugly chicken.

This is the 'easy' recipe.


Easy Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

    • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
    • 4 garlic cloves, minced
    • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • additional herbs and spices, as desired

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil.
  2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add additional herbs and spices as desired.
  4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes, or until juices run clear. Cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your chicken.
    http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-garlic-chicken-5478



Seems simple enough no?
When I added the brown sugar to the garlic and oil it began to form a caramel. It solidified and looked like this....


Needless to say, this was not that great. My valiant boyfriend ate the chicken but was not thrilled about it. I had one bite and tossed the rest.
I am not sure if this failure was a result of the recipe or the girl cooking it, but I don't think I would recommend the solidified garlic carmel as a new trend in flavors.



Monday, March 25, 2013

Risotto and Bad Chicken

I decided that I needed some inspiration. I have no idea what I should cook! So I googled what the best cookbook would be for a beginner. How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman came up as a common recommendation. I ordered it and then ordered some takeout.



When my new cookbook arrived I was excited to look through it, but I was disappointed to find there were no pictures, but I suppose I can use my imagination.

I picked two things from the book to attempt. One was a mushroom risotto and the other was a panko crusted chicken. Risotto because it seemed fancy yet manageable and the chicken because it seemed like it would 'go' with the risotto.

I invited a friend over to give a second opinion on my endeavor. She observed that I seemed a bit scattered when preparing the meal. NOTE TO SELF: Read the recipe before you start cooking. I noticed that I was hurried and my timing was off because I did not realize how long each step would take.

Risotto is one of those things that even the contestants on Top Chef have trouble with so I was pretty happy when mine came out edible. It was a bit undercooked, but overall, it had good flavor. My boyfriend and my guest were impressed.

The chicken is a different story. It was so bland it was hard to eat. It wasn't dry, but the panko made your mouth feel dry. The recipe did not call for any real seasoning so the chicken had no real flavor. It was a failure, but my two 'testers' salvaged it by adding creole seasoning to it.

Not a terrible first effort, but left a lot to be desired. For my next meal, I will take pictures as I go.



Sunday, March 17, 2013

Burning Jello and Other Things I Do Because I Can't Cook







I have been dating my boyfriend for five and a half years ( six years in May) and he is still my boyfriend. I spend a lot of time trying to determine what it is that makes him so slow to seal the deal and let me tell you, I have theories. I am not done with my Bachelor's degree and I know that bothers him. I don't put my dirty dishes in the sink and that annoys the crap out of him. I watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I know that makes him want to kill me. Over the last few weeks though, I have decided that he isn't marrying me because I can't cook. By that I mean, I CAN NOT cook. I mean, who marries a girl that can't cook? Not only will he not get fed, how will I feed our children?
There are a few things I do and I do them well. I make fantastic eggs. Scrambled, fried, but not boiled....that requires boiling water and timers and stuff. I cook eggs so well because I hate the way everyone else makes them. I can also make potatoes. Fried, baked, and hash browned but not boiled. For the same reason as before. These I do well just because I like them

I literally can not cook anything else.

So here begins my attempt to learn to cook and get my boyfriend to make an honest woman out of me.
I work full time and go to school full time, so it is hard to make time to cook really, but I am going to put forth the effort.