The menu challenge: Come up with a meal that could be prepared mostly in advance so as to be served at an uncertain time to guests who included a person who can’t tolerate gluten, eggs or dairy.
The menu decision: Chicken Marbella from the The Silver Palate Cookbook; Baked Risotto with Asparagus, Spinach and Parmesan, from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria cookbook; Poached Pears with toasted pecans and chocolate. The pears was something of a blend of the Poached Fruit recipe in The Silver Palate Cookbook and the Poached Pears in the second Mastering the Art of French Cooking. They’re all wonderful recipes, meaning easy and full of flavor.
Chicken in marinade
Decided yesterday to have the meal at 1 p.m. (having to work around a critical basketball game). Made the chicken and pears on Saturday. I used chicken breasts (bone in) and thighs instead of the chicken quarters specified, and I removed the skin.
Chicken fresh from the oven
Pears in syrup with cloves and cinnamon
I hadn’t done the pears in years, and I was thinking I’d done them whole, coring them but leaving the stem intact. Well, I can tell you that attempting to core them thusly was (a) a pain in the neck and (b) not worth the effort. As you can see in the photo, I quit with the last one and quartered it. I’ll do the same in the future, which also will make for easier eating, even if a somewhat less interesting presentation. I’m not too good at presentation most of the time anyway.
Today, then, all I had to do was warm up the chicken (which I did inadequately, alas) and put the risotto in the oven 30 minutes before guests’ expected arrival.
I’ve never been so well-prepared for a meal in my life. (I have the bad habit of thinking things won’t take as long as they do.) When the first guest arrived, I could actually sit and talk.
The finished products, ready to serve:
Chicken Marbella on platter
… and pears in bowls awaiting nuts and chocolate
The only flaw in the dinner plan was that I forgot about the sensitive guest’s dairy issue, but there wasn’t that much cheese in the risotto, and she went for it anyway. Feather in my cap: This culinary-school alumna said my poached pears would have gotten an A in the culinary school’s exam. Rah! This is the first time I’ve done them without part of the syrup being red wine. They tasted lovely, but I’d have to say the red wines ones are prettier.
It was rather nice having the meal pretty much ready—and cleaned up—in advance. All I had to do was throw dishes in the dishwasher, hand wash a very few items and head out to watch the game. Hmm…I may have to try that again sometime.
Joanne // Apr 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
This meal sounds delicious! I’ve been too overwhelmed lately to keep up with all my reading and now I’ve seen I’ve been missing your wonderful posts. Happy first b-day! Congrats!
You are absolutely right, by the way, in saying that where one lives makes such a difference to one’s well-being. I’ve struggled a lot with that, and right now,my husband’s job options don’t look like a perfect solution. We’ve actually decided to turn down a couple of options that just didn’t feel right to us (good for us, following our gut!) and now I just hope that we’ll bump into something right for us…eventually, if not right away. I do love a collegetown, and it’s been wonderful for me to wander out to farms for my food when I get the chance. I don’t want to give that up for an entirely suburban or urban lifestyle!