Thursday, August 20, 2009...Inspired!

YUM-O! So, I just watched Rachael Ray’s TV show and, let me say; now I’m starving! Rach made a balsamic chicken dish with a stuffing that looked soooooo good! Prav LOVES stuffing too! I think he’ll be ecstatic that I’m going to serve him something other than microwaved Stove Top for once! Plus, she made a pear tart for dessert! Ok, now I’m on a mission…I’m going to attempt to make this dish.

First, I need to go shopping because I doubt I have most, if any, of the ingredients she used to make the meal. This should be interesting because I have no idea where to find leeks, how to cook them and, apparently, they require some special cleaning too. Uh oh. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever even eaten a chestnut let alone cooked one! I’m off the grocery store!

Ok, grocery shopping is not as easy as I thought it would be. Leeks are not kept in the same area as onions…I thought a leek was in the onion family? I guess they are the bad sheep of the family because they are not kept in the dry bins with the red, yellow, and white onions. They must be more of a scallion because I found them (with the help of the produce manager) in the cooler next to, of all things, the radishes. They’re much bigger than I thought they’d be too. I’m not quite sure how to use them yet. I’m glad I have Tivo and a TV in my kitchen because I think I’m going to have to replay today’s TV show while preparing dinner. Next, finding chestnuts…OMG, there are NO chestnuts in North Carolina, I swear!!! Rachael said I could use fresh ones or the jarred kind. So, since I am still a sub-amateur cook, I went for the jarred variety. However, there are NO jarred chestnuts in North Carolina either! I asked the store manager for help finding chestnuts and he laughed at me! Yes, laughed at me! He said, “Mam, chestnuts are seasonal and it isn’t Christmas time for another 4 months.” Ugh…as if I didn’t feel bad enough having to ask for help, but then to hear that I’m searching for an item that is only available around Christmas…pathetic. So, I had to improvise. I thought to myself, “What kind of a nut is similar to a chestnut?” Well, considering I’m a Jewish girl from South Florida, I’ve never tasted the loveliness of a chestnut roasted on an open fire. I’ve sung the Christmas carol before, but where in South Florida would I find an open fire in the 80 degree weather in December anyway…or a chestnut to roast on it? Ok, so my best guess was that this chestnut thing is probably a pretty soft nut since it is going into stuffing which tends to be kind of soft and mushy, right? Plus, Rachael said the chestnuts were buttery and smooth on the show. So, let’s see here…I need a nut that tastes good in a stuffing, is soft and buttery, and I can find in the middle of August. (By the way, I just discovered that the episode I am getting this recipe from originally aired in February when chestnuts ARE in season…lovely!) Alright, my best guess for a substitute chestnut is a macadamia nut. Lord, help me…I hope this is a decent choice. I also needed challah bread for the toasted bread bits that go into the stuffing. Thank goodness, an ingredient this Jewish girl actually knows what it is and how to use it! However, this will be my very first time ever toasting challah. Well, wouldn’t you know it, North Carolina, aka the buckle of the Bible belt, disguises their challah bread! Ok, maybe they don’t “hide” it per se, but the bakery clerk had no clue what I was looking for when I asked. Challah bread is pronounced with that guttural “ch” that sounds like you are hocking up a loogie where I’m from. I had to actually pronounce it “hallah” in order to get the bakery clerk to even think he might have heard of this product. But, he still had no clue. So, he got the bakery manager involved. He too had no clue what I was talking about. Funny, the one ingredient I know how to cook, what it is, etc and everyone is looking at me like I have 2 heads when I ask for it as if it doesn’t exist and I’m making some foreign food up in my head! Finally, a very nice customer, who just happens to be from New York, points out the beautiful bread labeled “braided egg bread” sitting on the shelf behind me near the pies and muffins. Whew! I’m not crazy…challah, aka braided egg bread, does exist! Lastly, I had to find puff pastry sheets for the pear tarts. I don’t exactly know what puff pastry sheets are, but I figured they must be near all the other pastry items; so, I started in the bakery. Well, there are no puff pastry sheets in the bakery and, being that I was so embarrassed by the chestnut and challah fiascos, I didn’t bother to ask the bakery manager for help. So, I checked the only other area I have ever bought pastry products from…the baking aisle. Nope, they aren’t there either. My last attempt was hoping that I could substitute Pillsbury crescent roll dough for this puff pastry stuff. Wrong!!! This is where I’ve gotten in trouble in the past with following recipes…I usually don’t know what half the ingredients are or where to find them and how to cook them, so I substitute other junk and end up with a mess and a large grocery bill! Ok, so I am standing in front of the sad little section with the Pillsbury crescent rolls and I must’ve looked lost and confused because this very nice woman, obviously a customer, asked if I needed help. Now, normally I would’ve just shaken my head, “no” since I was mortified at the thought of being laughed at again (ala the chestnut incident), but I decided to take her up on her offer to help since she looked just like Paula Dean! Maybe she would know if this was a good substitute or a nightmare waiting to happen. When I told her I needed puff pastry sheets she very politely informed me that I was in the wrong section. I guess I must’ve looked like a complete baking idiot because she personally walked me over to the frozen section and picked out the product I needed and put it in my basket for me. She was so nice, thank goodness. She even gave me a bit of advice and told me that Pepperidge Farm is the only brand to use for this type of recipe! Hooray for the kindness of strangers! My grocery bill was a bit higher than I’d hoped for because I had to buy some odd products that I don’t usually keep in my cupboard. Although, most people wouldn’t consider thyme and chicken stock an odd product, it’s foreign to my house!

The cooking…well, I survived. I set up my TV, next to my laptop and all the ingredients. It looks like I’m going to do international business rather than cook here. I carefully measured, mixed and chopped! I roasted my macadamia nuts and put them aside as Rachel instructed. The challah was toasted, the chicken was browned and the sauce was simmering! The leeks were another story…I didn’t know you had to soak leeks in order to clean them! Thank you, Rachael, for teaching me a very important step. Thank goodness for my mom, as well. She called me on the phone while I was running the very hot water to soak my leeks in…I was thinking, “well, I feel the cleanest after I take a hot shower, so the leeks should be the cleanest after a hot bath too, right?” Wrong again! Mom informed me that leeks need to be cleaned in an ice bath so that they open and you can get all the grit to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Rach said you have to chop them first and then clean them. So, at least I got that part right. I soaked them for a long time and wiggled them around in the bowl. Then, just for good measure, I soaked them again in another ice bath! My pear tarts didn’t come out quite right. I’m not sure where I went wrong, but the puff pastry never “puffed” and I couldn’t get the sugar/water mixture to brown. Hmm…I even tried a second and a third time to make the sugar feel like wet sand and then heat it until golden brown. It still didn’t work. I ended up with very sticky, hard, granulated sugar. How is that even possible??? It started as “wet sand” and when I heated it, it turned into a clear syrupy liquid and then spontaneously transformed back into a solid granulated substance again! That even defies the law of chemistry in my opinion! I probably ruined the 3 pots I used for my 3 attempts at this too! Ugh. So, finally, I grabbed the light brown sugar that’s been sitting in my pantry for probably 3 years (the last time my mother decided to cook something sweet in my kitchen in 2006) and used that instead. Voila! We have golden brown syrup…LOL! So, I cheated…sue me!. I only have a 12 cup muffin pan and Rachael only made 6 tarts. Again, thank goodness for friends. My good friend, Barbara, taught me a while back (after another kitchen nightmare) that I have to put water in the empty muffin cups otherwise something bad happens to the pan. Whew…a problem avoided!

Prav absolutely LOVED this meal! I can’t believe I made gravy from scratch! Who knew that flour, butter, and chicken stock (still not sure what stock is…looks like chicken broth) could make gravy! Oh my gravy!!! We were making yummy tummy noises and “ooo-ing and ah-ing” at how good this tasted!!! My macadamia nut substitution was a great success…whew! We devoured the meal and even had leftovers for Prav to take for lunch the next day. We both really enjoyed sitting down to a home cooked meal together. Maybe I should keep this up?