I’ve decided to do a periodic review of new recipes, sharing my successes and failures while cooking with E, now 3 1/2 going on 45. He’s been by my side on his “standing stool” — a two-step ladder — since long before his second birthday, and he’s becoming a surprisingly aware little mini-chef.
From cooksillustrated.com, because their picture looks much more appetizing than mine.
Tonight’s meal featured two new recipes from the latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated: pan-seared chicken breasts and no-fuss creamy parmesan polenta. The chicken spent the majority of its cooking time hidden away in a 275 degree oven, so he spent most of his time observing and critiquing the polenta.
The polenta recipe is great, eliminating the constant stirring that makes the dish both tedious and preschooler-prohibitive. He carefully watched the water heat in the pot, getting very upset when I told him that a watched pot never boils. “But why not? It’s still on the fire!” Finally he declared that we had reached the boiling point and in went the salt, pinch of baking soda (sounds weird, I know, but I took the leap of faith) and the gentle whisking of the polenta.
As I covered the pan, he asked, “When do you add the butter and parmesan?” He’s watched me make polenta precisely once before, and that was an entirely oven-based method. I looked around; there was no butter or parmesan to be found on the counter to give him a clue. “How do you know to add those ingredients?” I asked. He pointed at the cookbook on the counter and said, “I read it in the recipe.” He was delighted to see me add both into the mix at the 25-minute mark.
He was less impressed with the cooking of the chicken. The idea is to cook it low and slow in the oven to retain moisture, adding a final pan-seared crust at the end. What emerges from the oven is plain and nasty-looking, almost like it had been microwaved. But with the addition of a magical butter-based slurry brushed lightly over the chicken, the pan-searing actually compensates for the earlier pasty-looking mess, giving you a perfectly cooked chicken breast. I watched it happen and I still have a hard time believing that it worked.
Results: While the cooking process for the chicken was unimpressive, it was very tasty and met E’s requirement that chicken must be soft (pan-seared boneless, skinless breasts often aren’t). The polenta was creamy and practically effortless, and offered plenty of leftovers to be served with leftover pot roast later this week. Both recipes earned gold stars and will be entered into the rotation.