Friday, September 21, 2012

Chicken Basquaise

A bit time consuming, but the results are worth it !
Per Tricia~
The good news is that I got one of my taste-testers back.  The bad 
news is my college freshman came down with mono AND strep :( 
He is already on the mend but will happy be providing his opinion 
on "Dorie food" until Spring semester. And he started off with two 
thumbs up for this chicken dish.
Peeling the peppers and tomatoes was not practical for me. 
So I skipped that step.

 I gave it a try but it would have been a deal breaker if it was mandatory.
The recipe was overall quite simple and mostly just took time-for prepping
 the veggies and then waiting in between steps. I am not sure how I managed
it but my chicken thighs stuck terribly to my Dutch oven. Since we reduced
the pot remnants with wine, not was all lost. Nana and I also enjoyed
trying the Piment d'Espelette that Dorie recommended.
 (Have I mentioned how much I love Amazon for this stuff ?)

My husband enjoyed the dish as well and wants a repeat.

 He was surprised at how sweet the overall dish was but enjoyed
it thoroughly. I did as well and look forward to adding that new spice
 to other dishes for a little "heat".
Per Nana~

This week's selection, chicken basquaise, was the most
 time consuming recipe I have worked on. Normally, 
I do not peel peppers but Dorie suggested this method.  

I remember  using red bell peppers in a chicken dish before, 
and it was not pleasant finding the skins in the sauce.
Peeling the peppers turned into a chore so the next method 
was broiling them. That did the trick and went quickly.  
I then had to blanch the tomatoes. At this point I had been 
working for a hour and had nothing accomplished.
Since Hubby and I have a preference for chicken thighs,
 I took Dorie's suggestion rather than the whole chicken 
cut in pieces. When it had finished cooking, it looked so good.  
Not having rice, I decided to go with some pasta -"acini de pepe", 
 which is like couscous. The minute we tasted this combination it 
brought back memories of Paris.

We were staying in a small hotel near the Parc Monceau and 
walked around the corner toa little Middle Eastern restaurant. 
 Never having tried this food before, we had the waiter
make some suggestions.
When our dinners arrived, it turned out to be exactly the same 
as this chicken basquaise served on top of couscous.
It was scrumptious.
After all my griping about the  preparation of this recipe, 
it was one of the most delicious recipes from FFWD.  
I hope everyone  enjoyed this as much as we did.

20 comments:

  1. Wow, Nana - I tip my hat to you for actually peeling/blanching, etc. I didn't bother. How lovely that this meal, for its trouble, brought back memories of Paris. Looks great!

    Hope your son feels better soon, Tricia!

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  2. We really enjoyed this, too - I would simmer it longer next time, but the flavors & aromas were great!

    Just lovely!

    From a fellow amazon-a-holic!

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  3. Wow Nana - you took the skins off the peppers? I think you're the only one! Loved this one too!

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  4. Kudos for peeling everything Nana! I left every skin on except for the chicken. Both look gorgeous and I´m glad they were a crowd pleaser. Have a nice weekend!

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  5. Congrats Nana, I think you are the first one I have seen who had the patience to tackle all that peeling. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

    And Tricia, so sorry to hear about your college freshman. Hopefully he's on the mend.

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  6. I'm glad you both approved of this dish! And, I skipped peeling the veggies as well. The two-step process and 40 minute simmer time was consuming enough.

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  7. I am surprised and impressed that Nana went ahead to peel all the vegetable! I can't even begin to imagine the time it took. Both your versions looked very saucy (mine wasn't). Must have been wonderful to mop up all the delicious sauce with that pasta!

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  8. Nana gets the gold star for preparation this week :-)
    Tricia - glad to hear everyone is on the mend.

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  9. It was definitely worth the time and effort! I hope your son gets better soon, Tricia. I imagine it mus be so disappointing to him to have to miss his first semester.

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    1. Oops! That should be 'must.' I think it's almost time for a new keyboard...

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  10. It looks totally worth it...I bet your chicken was ohhh so tender =D

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    1. Delicious recipe, everyone seems to have enjoyed this. The nice part is the various peppers that can be used in the recipe for a different flavor. Have a great weekend.

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  11. Tricia: I am glad that yoto your son for a very speedy recovery!

    Nana: this dish was a bit time consuming, I agree but I also agree that it was delicious - although I did not use green peppers, as I never do in my cooking.

    Have a great weekend!

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  12. Tricia and Nana, a great job once again. Both look delish. I didn't peel the peppers because I didn't read that part:)

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  13. Wow, great job, both of you! It was a yummy dish and glad it lived up to your memory of it!

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  14. Great story Nana! I didn't peel my tomatoes or peppers either Tricia. I was hoping they would be tender because of the long cooking time and they were fine. We also loved this one!

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  15. Tricia, I didn't peel anything either, and the dish didn't seem to suffer. Glad to her your freshman is on the mend.
    Nana, serving this over couscous sounds delicious.

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  16. Tricia, sorry about your son's mono! I have a freshman, too...he'd be bummed to get sick :(
    Nana, how fun you recreated a recipe from your past. We enjoyed, too :)

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  17. wishing for a fast recovery for your taste tester nut also that you enjoy that time together!! :)

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  18. Your dishes look fantastic!
    I hope your son gets better soon!
    And nana I didn't peel the peppers, only the tomatoes, I didn't have the patience! Tasted amazing!

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