A New Way With Chicken

When I was a kid, many years ago, I remember coming home to the wonderful aroma of roast chicken. My father, a cook, just had a knack for making roast chicken a truly gourmet experience. Today we find a whole new world of chicken: chicken wings, thighs, breasts, all prepared in a wide variety of ways. I am still a little amazed at the price of wings, and thighs. No one ate these when I was a kid. Of course now, wings, those wonderful , sticky, hot pieces of chicken that go so well with a cold beer are the rage. Actually I have spent hours, days, weeks, weekends trying to come up with the ultimate wings recipe. I will post this wonder later this month.

Recently I came across a recipe for boneless, skinless thighs in the September 2007 edition of Fine Cooking -a must magazine for all amateur chefs. I will post the recipe on http://www.thearrogantchef.com/ later this year.

I wanted to come up with a side dish to complement the recipe. For now I am calling it Asian Zucchini Rice.

3 zucchini chopped
3 leeks thinly sliced (white parts only)
8oz sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup soy sauce (not soya)
1 tsbp asian sesame oil
1 tsbp olive oil
2-3 cups cooked white rice

1. Cook the rice
2. While the rice is cooking add oil to a large saute pan and saute zucchini, leeks and mushrooms until they are tender. About half way through add soy sauce, and sesame oil (salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add cooked rice and mix thoroughly and let simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

A Successful Experiment

I said that I would post the ingredients that I used for the garden supper. I used four zucchini, three tomatoes, (I had to cheat a little here and added just a little clamato juice to add a little more liquid, about 12 fresh basil leaves chopped, I guess about 2 tablespoons, about a teaspoon and a half of fresh thyme, one onion finely chopped and 3 cloves of garlic minced and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. I started by sautéing the onions and garlic and zucchini and sliced mushrooms and then added the tomatoes and spices. While I was doing this I boiled the linguini. I must admit the pasta was a little too soft. I then added the sauce to the linguini and served. Overall I would rate the meal a 7.5/10. I think next time I might try adding a little white wine to the sauce and maybe a little more thyme to add more flavour. My better half rated the meal an 8! The best part was taking this outside to the backyard and enjoying the meal with a well chilled bottle of white wine!

Using the Garden to Create a Summer Supper

My wife challenged me to create a supper from my summer garden. I could only use one or two items that were not from the garden. Here is what I came up with. I am calling it Summer Zucchini Pasta with Basil Thyme and Garlic. Ingredients from the garden: 4 zucchini, 4 ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh thyme. Not from the garden: fresh garlic minced, sliced mushrooms and linguine. I will be attempting to prepare this and will post the portions that I used. Be sure to visit www.thearrogantchef.com