Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Meat and Potatoes

I have never been one to have dinner with no meat and I'm pretty sure its because of the way I was raised. I can't remember ever having a meal without meat as the main attraction. Even now, it seems like the protein is always the center of attention in my dishes. Don't get me wrong, I am definately not complaining about this, just an observation I made while cooking dinner tonight.  I initially planned on making a marinara meatloaf, but when realized that there was no beef in sight I switched gears and decided to go with pan roasted chicken (which only cements my observation - find some meat!).

Pan roasting has become one of my favorite way to prepare chicken.  One of the tips I learned early on was that when you transfer the chicken from the stove top to the oven, make sure the chicken is skin side down - this will help keep the thickest part of the chicken juicy..  Not only that, but it makes the skin crispy. I know its not the healthiest thing to eat but I looooove crispy chicken skin.

gotta enjoy the little things, right?

Oh, and if you decide to try this, don't you DARE get rid of the brown bits that are left in the pan when you remove the chicken - this is the heart and soul of an amazing pan sauce.  With a little bit of chicken stock, butter, garlic, onions and herbs, you will have a great addition to your meal.

The side kick tonight was black garlic smashed (not mashed) potatoes.  I had never used black garlic before.  To be completely honest, I hadn't even seen or come in contact with it until about 2 weeks ago.  I have to say that its delicious - it has a much sweeter and milder flavor than regular garlic, and it also has a much softer texture. I decided to go with a smashed potato because they have a bit more texture.  As much as I love the smooth consistency of mashed potatoes, I also love the chunks of potato sticking to my fork with smashed potatoes.  With a bit of sour cream (prevents dry potatoes), just a liiiiiiiiittle bit of heavy cream, toasted black garlic, ample salt and pepper, the dish was done.

And here is the end result...








I had to go back for seconds...

5 comments:

Dave said...

Definitely agree on protein . . . a meal is incomplete without meat. Yay for protein.

As a side note, visiting your blog makes me hungry.

Lance said...

making people hungry and come back to read it is the point! maybe it'll make you hungry enough to visit us!

You will eat well when you visit, that is for certain :-)

Lynn said...

where do you find black garlic???

Dave said...

Nice! I'm in the airport waiting for my flight right now :D

Lance said...

I'm not sure where to get black garlic, I got this one from a friend who had some sitting in her pantry and she hadn't ever used it either! She gave me some and I decided to use it here. Its typically an asian ingredient. Its really regular garlic thats fermented at a high temperature which turns it black and changes the taste/texture. Theres an international market here off of 38th street called "Saratoga" that I like to go to. I'll look for it and if I find it I'll let you know.

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