Tonight is All About Butter and Cream

While I was working on my keynote for tomorrow, Rei took a look at Mastering the Art of French Cooking and decided on the menu.

Chicken cooked in cream, vegetable risotto, and creme brule. As we debated the veggie, I suggested adding asparagus, mushrooms, and peas to the risotto. Brilliant idea. It was super tasty and the chicken with cream sauce was perfect on top of the risotto.

Since Zeke is working tonight and we didn’t get our act together earlier to get the grocery list to him to do the shopping, we had to brave the heat (It was really hot today — like 90 degrees hot~Rei) and hop in the Jeep to get to the local market. As soon we got home Rei got to work on the dessert…creme brule.

Once these were in the fridge, it was time to tackle the chicken. I found a YouTube video showing us how to butcher a chicken. I got it started and Rei, not trusting that I knew what I was doing, watched the video and got to work. (To be fair, you hadn’t watched the entire video, and I didn’t want for us to miss something important. Also can I just say that I’m overcoming my dislike for raw poultry and I butchered an entire freaking chicken!!~Rei)

We decided we need a new knife so while I am in San Diego tomorrow, Rei and Zeke will pop over to Sur la Table to pick up a new knife. (Also I’m going to sharpen the knives we already have, because butchering that chicken with what felt like butter knives was not at all fun~Rei)

I found an onion and a leek that needed to either go into the stock or to the chickens and opted to toss it in with the chicken carcass to make our own stock. I picked some thyme and sage from the garden and wrapped in some cheesecloth to create a bouquet garni. (Fun times. It’s still cooking very slowly on the stove right now, multiple hours later. I don’t think it’s possible to overcook stock…~Rei)

Rei nearly browned the chicken and set aside while the onions cooked in the pan. Then they got started on the risotto which was remarkably easy. The method was not one I was familiar with. (Yeah, I’m really loving all of Julia’s recipes that are much easier than what we’re used to but still make really good food~Rei)

I minced some onions and Rei sauteed in butter and then added the rice. Rei cooked the rice until the stock was boiled and then poured it into the pan.

We covered and popped into the oven. (Jennifer…this is a super easy dish and I think you can add all sorts of things to it and make it a one dish wonder!) (In case everyone but Jennifer was curious, Jennifer is a friend of Mom’s who I don’t think I’ve ever met. Until now, of course. Hi Jennifer!~Rei)

I sliced some mushrooms and sauteed them in butter. I’d cut up some asparagus, cooked in the microwave and then added to the mushroom pan with some butter. Once heated and cooked a little, I emptied the pan and added some frozen peas to get warmed up. I set the veggies aside and waited for the rice to cook in the oven.

Meanwhile, Rei was working on the chicken. As the wine was boiling off, Rei brought some cream to a boil.

There was barely enough room for the cream. After 20–25 minutes, Rei removed the chicken and finished the sauce. It was sooooo tasty!

Rei added the veggies to the rice right before it was time to plate (or bowl). I pulled out some pasta bowls we haven’t used in a while. My aunt and uncle gave them to us for our wedding 23 years ago. Crazy that we still have them!

This was a dish in and of itself but Rei insisted on adding the chicken. I am glad they did. (What was I supposed to do, leave the chicken in the pan and just eat the risotto?~Rei)

Perfection!

I attended a women’s networking event last night and those of us who were there at the bitter end got to take home flower arrangements. I chose a huge arrangement just for the humor factor of taking it with me in the Lyft (I’d enjoyed a bit of champagne!). (lmao that thing is fucking massive — the picture doesn’t do it justice. There are like a million different types of flowers exploding out of that vase~Rei)

And then today I went and advised some woman at the Women’s Startup Lab and left with this gorgeous arrangement. Ari gave it to me as a congratulatory gift for my book, Piloting Your Life. Every room is beautified with flowers! (This one is a lot more tasteful and pretty, if you ask me~Rei)

And then it was on to the creme brules. Rei was concerned that they were not going to be set (justified concern) but crystallized the tops anyway. (I wasn’t concerned they weren’t going to be set, I was sure they hadn’t set. They were way too wobbly to have set properly~Rei)

I think Rei chose this dessert to play with the torch. Rei likes fire! (For your information, I wanted to make creme brulees because I was inspired by yesterday’s episode of The Great British Baking Show to either make cheesecake or creme brulee, and I chose creme brulee, thank you very much~Rei)

And that was it! We did the dishes (damn you Zeke for not being here!)(Oh, stop being so dramatic, Mom~Rei), cleaned up the kitchen, and sat down to watch The Great British Baking Show. I am partially packed for San Diego, partially ready for my keynote, and totally tired. (You’re not the only one. Tired, that is. My keynote is not until next week~Rei)(No, it’s not, I lied~Rei again)

Rei, want to add some spice and snark and wrap this up?

Nope!

JK I lied. I rated this dinner as a 9/10 on our homemade food scale — I would have cooked the risotto for maybe 3 or so minutes longer, and the creme brulees didn’t set quite right, but the flavor was fantastic in everything and the chicken was remarkably well done. I’m very proud of today’s dinner, and I think it made up for our hilarious mess of a meal on Saturday!

Okay, Mom is nagging me to finish this up (she’s even more tired than I am, somehow), so that’s about it!

Until next time, have a chrundulictous day!

Rei and Terri