Deglazing and Fond

Chicken Kale Pasta - recipe from Pioneer Woman's Dinnertime Cookbook
Click here for the recipe

Since today is Crock-pot Monday I chose a recipe I could start in my crockpot during the school day and finish after work. 

The Pioneer Woman calls for you to cook your chicken and then deglaze the pan. This rookie in the kitchen didn't know what that even meant. After reading on the great food blog The Reluctant Gourmet I learned that:

"Deglazing is a fancy and intimidating word that means to pour some cold liquid into a very hot pan to get up all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Those brown bits are where all the flavors are, and it is called “fond.” (Fond is French for bottom)

When I got home I made my recipe in my Le Creuset stock pot and deglazed the pot. What I realized later was that my deglazing was totally useless because the pot was completely clean and didn't have any fond in the bottom of the pot. Next time I should probably look up confusing terms before starting the recipe. Oh well :)

Despite my mistakes it was an awesome meal! I would definitely make it again! When my hubby, Jeff, saw I was cooking with kale he was skeptical. Afterwards he gave a glowing review. He described it as a "delicious, light pasta. Very good even for having kale in it." 

Home cook lessons from today's recipe:

1. This recipe might be better if I cooked the chicken when I get home and try deglazing the pan correctly :)

2. This recipe will be moved to my Pack our lunch Sunday or Gourmet Friday recipe list.

3. I will try to look for other recipes where I get to deglaze the pan.

4. New terms to remember: Deglazing and Fond

Menu Planning…revisited

Since I last posted I have been discovering that cooking and baking have become a passion for me. I love reading recipes, cookbooks, and food magazines.

My two favorite things right now are:

1. America's Test Kitchen Podcast - I love this podcast!! This show has opened my eyes to the best way to make foods, what tools are most helpful in the kitchen, and the science behind cooking. I LOVE IT!!

2. I also am really into the Pioneer Woman's Dinnertime cookbook. My sister gave me this recipe for Christmas and I love it! I have tried 6 recipes from it and have loved every one! I plan to keep working my way through this one over the next few months!!

Both of these things have greatly impacted the way I cook at home. I haven't really used my menus I posted about previously. SO…I am going to try something new. I have separated all my entree recipes into the following 7 categories:

Pack our Lunch Sunday - a recipe that makes a lot of servings and is yummy warmed up in our lunch for the next couple of days

Crockpot Monday - a recipe that cooks all day while I am work and is easy to assemble on that first night of the week when I might be tired from a big day back to work

Salad Tuesday - a recipe that is a little lighter and won't leave many leftovers

Breakfast Wednesday - a breakfast recipe that is quick and easy 

Grill Out Thursday - a recipe that takes us outdoors to cook

Gourmet Friday - a recipe that copy-cats a restaurant favorite or takes more time to prep; this is the night I might try a new recipe that requires a page full of ingredients

Lunchtime Saturday - a recipe that would be a quick bite to eat during the day since we often eat out this evening; it might also be a brunch item that I enjoy making on a lazy Saturday morning
  
My goals:
- Create a structure for my menu planning
- Keep our menus full of variety
- Avoid re-inventing the wheel each week when I plan my menu

I invite you to follow along as I attempt to implement this new system. I hope to blog about the meals I make each week and share how well the system is working. I might make some tweaks along the way or maybe I will just throw out the whole system and start again.

Here is what I have planned for this week:

Week 1
Crockpot Monday -  Chicken Kale Pasta
Salad Tuesday - Taco Salad
Breakfast Wednesday - Meat and Potato Scramble
Grill out Thursday - Steak Fajitas
Gourmet Friday - Gyros and Fries
Lunchtime Saturday - Sweet Almond Pastries
Pack Our Lunch Sunday - Beef with Snow Peas and fried rice

I love sharing new recipes we love and I hope this is a place I can do that!! I hope you enjoy reading about this adventure I am taking!!

Alicia :)