My epic fail story today is about Sicilian Chicken.
Someone had left a stack of Rachel Ray magazines in the break room where I have lunch. Thumbing through a few I came across Sicilian Chicken. It looked good. Lots of fresh ingredients such as lemon, scallions, garlic, red potatoes and one of my favorite meats – chicken.
Total disaster and I got half drunk in the process. Well now, how did that happen, you may ask. I’ll tell you. We were two very hungry individuals, anticipating this meal as we'd only had a bowl of cereal around 6:30 a.m. and then a larger breakfast of eggs and grits about 10:30. Seemed that would hold us over until dinner. In anticipation of this meal, we thought it would be a good idea to have a cocktail and bruschetta while the chicken cooked.
One martini and appie later we are setting the table up for the entrée. There was a bottle of wine already open (corked from previous night) so that was grabbed and placed on the table. We didn’t think about the fact that dinner had lemon in it, a starring role too, so a Riesling would have been in order. I don’t know what we had……it was either a Malbec or something but whoa…….clashing tastes! My face scrunched up, wincing, when I took a sip of wine after a bite chicken.
It gets better. Not. It was bitter. I mean very bitter, not citrusy and tangy. Bitter. Also, the cook time for this recipe is either off or my stove top cooks unevenly. After two slices into the thigh I saw raw meat. There was a bit of blood around the bone. Yep…we were done. So I had breakfast, a martini, a piece of bread and tomato tapenade, a few pole beans and wine. I couldn’t finish the wine.
The plus is, I guess it was a low calorie day.
The recipe is here if you want to attempt it but, you just read my story. Maybe I did something wrong or maybe this wasn’t a tested recipe. Sadly that happens more than you’d think; recipes going into print without the benefit of testing.
Don't you think it looks good, simmering in a large skillet?
Tags for this one – epic fail. I actually look on these little bumps in the culinary road as a learning experience. Sharing with anyone who attempts this one so you can avoid it or tackle it. Just one of those nights!
Coming up are garden updates, Wine Wednesday posts and menu planning.
I am sharing this with Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking Series.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.
Bummer. I don't know about the bitter; it doesn't look like this should have been too bitter. But one big fail with the recipe is the lack of a doneness test. You can't tell people to cook for x amount of time. Time depends on individual appliance and on size of the meat. So, she should have told you "or until the juices run clear," or some other tip like that. That would solve the bloody part, but not the bitter part.
ReplyDeleteBummer, indeed. I think we take the failures harder when it is a dinner entree. One can live without bread and desserts and side dishes if they fail. The main dish, not so much. You were good to just call it quotes and make it a low cal day. I would have ordered pizza. :)
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, wonder why it was so bitter? It does look good simmering in the pan. Did you also add the olives as per the recipe?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the disappointment -- I hate when I've invested time and ingredients and don't end up with something edible.
It looks so pretty! So sad it didn't work out. :(
ReplyDeleteAt least it made for a good blog post?
Great post - shame about the bitterness because otherwise you could have rescued it by popping the chicken into the microwave to finish it off - I might have tried adding sugar or tomato sauce to it to balance out the lemon. Cheers
ReplyDeleteI have had problems cooking bone-in thighs at times. I don't what it is, but the thighs have widely varying cooking times, and it is not just the size that causes the difference. It can be so frustrating!
ReplyDeleteIt does look good simmering away. I have to be careful with lemony recipes--I'll never ever ever forget (mostly because my husband won't let me forget) a time when I made lemon chicken and my husband was so disgusted that he tossed his serving. It has since been termed 'salt water chicken' and anytime I pull out a lemon I have to assure him that's not what I'm making.
ReplyDeleteBetter luck next time! So frustrating to try a published recipe and have it fall flat.
I don't even both to try Rachel Ray recipes anymore. I don't think I've ever had one turn out to my taste.
ReplyDeleteThat chicken looks tasty enough, must have been the martinis! Ah well, we all have culinary catastrophes in the kitchen and I enjoyed reading your humorous take on the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteToo bad! Usually chicken thighs are the one meat I can count on to get cooked all the way through without getting overcooked. Coincidentally, I'm trying a slow cooker (boneless) chicken thigh recipe for tonight. Just checked the recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-marbella-458089
ReplyDeleteNo lemon!
I've had moments like that, too - where I was baking or cooking up something specifically for a party or to share on the blog, and it just FLOPPED. Very instructive (and humbling) moments, aren't they? Ah well. Next time it'll be better.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought of choosing a day of the week to post about kitchen mishaps. The reality is, it happens to us all.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this meal didn't turn out the way you had expected, Tina. I sure hope you made up for it after the drinks wore off, lol...
Thanks for sharing, Tina...
Oh, Tina, a kitchen fail is never fun, but I agree that it's just as important to share those as it is to share the successes. Thank goodness for the martini and tomato bruschetta!!
ReplyDeleteHi all. I haven't had a phone or laptop for a week so, slow to be checking everything this week. Thank you for the nice comments!!
ReplyDelete