[mac-at-kearsarge]

*I've been on a sabbatical of sorts away from the forums for quite some time now, and I figured this would be an awesome thread to get myself back in the spotlight*

I'm planning on having some friends over for dinner next week and was thinking up what to have. I want to do something special for them as they're still in college and and barely sustaning on college food.

I watch Food network quite often and have been inspired to make an original creation, and I want to know if it sounds like somthing you would like. I thought it up the other night while going to sleep.

I'm plaing on calling it: "Apple country chicken with twice baked potato en croute and grilled summer vegtables"


I'm planning on putting it together as follows:

THE CHICKEN:

In going to fill my large baking pan about half way with real (not from concentrate) apple juice to which I'm going to add fresh minced ginger, orange zest and fresh herbs. In this mixture I'm going to marinate boneless chicken breats over night.

When it comes time to cook, I'll cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at low heat (This cover and low heat are to prevent to chicken from becoming dry and tough). It cook like this until the chicken is almost done.

At that point the chicken with be removed and the liquid strained into a sauce pan, to which I'll add some dark-amber maple syrup (Living on the NH/VT border using anything else would be criminal). This will be brought to a boil to make a thick reduction (corn starch will be added if needed).

The chicken will be finished on the grill.

At plating, the reduction will be drizzled over the chicken.

THE POTATO

For anyone who may not know what a twice baked potato is, it is where you bake the potato as you normally would in the oven. When done, you carefully cut the potato length wise and scoop out the meat, being careful to preserve the bowl shape made by the skin. The meat of the potato (being placed in bowl) is mashed and combined with other things. For mine I'm doing an upscale "The Works" filling which will be French Onion dip (you know the kind for potato chips) that's I'm going to add fresh chives and bacon bits to. Then the mixture in spooned back into the skins and baked again,

The highlight on this piece though is going to be the en croute made from Cabot's 'Hunter' sharp cheddar.

THE EN CROUTE/LE CROUTE CONFUSION

In the writing of this post, I went to google to make sure I was using the correct spelling for what I believe Alton Brown (Of 'Good Eats') told me was "Le croute: Cheese that has been baked to golden brown" (like when you're making a grilled cheese sandwich, and have some of the cheese melt and bake directly on the pan), for that is what I want to put on top of my twice baked potatos.

But I could not find anything on google (that I could understand anyway) nor on foodnetwork.com about 'le croute'. I did however find 'en croute' which means "something baked in a crust". After thinking about it, I realized that using 'en croute' would be appropriate as well. If any one could point me on the right track with this, I'd be most appreciative.

Either way, the importent thing is, I know it's going to be delicous!

THE VEGTABLES

Summer squash, zucchini, carrots, and broccoli stalk will be cut length wise into strips. The broccoli and the carrots will be precooked in boiling water for 1 to 2 mins, then all will be grilled and tossed with lemon-butter.

THE DESSERT

For this I'm going to make a lite fruit compote using strawberries, rasberries, and blueberries. This will be served in the middle of mini chocolate 'bundt' cakes, dusted with powered sugar.

THE DRINK

Since none of my friends, nor myself are big on alachol (with the obvious exception of the occasional beer), along with being in our early twenties we're not exactly 'wine people' yet, serving wine I didn't think would go over to well. However, with a meal like this, serving cola/beer would not be appropriate. So, I've decided to employ one of my favorite holiday beverages, Martinelli's sparkling cider. It should match well with the chicken and make the atmospher complete.


So what do you think? Are you salavating yet? If you have any thoughts or suggestions please let me know. If your interested, I'll try to remember to take pictures of the final product, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

[Zenbone]

Originally Posted by mac-at-kearsarge

...Alton Brown (Of 'Good Eats')...

...known in my household as The Anal Retentive Chef. Don't worry about what it's called, just use cheese and call it cheese.

Dessert sounds perfect, as does the cider.

[wdlove]

It all sounds delicious. Your wife must appreciate your being a chef.

[m a d r a]

Originally Posted by mac-at-kearsarge

...In this mixture I'm going to marinate boneless chicken breats over night.....

i think the "breat" is one of the most interesting cuts of chicken - for reasons of anatomical confusion, if nothing else!

[DigitalEl]

Sounds like your friends are in for a spectacular night.

<shameless pleading> Can I be your fwiend!?

[mac-at-kearsarge]

Originally Posted by DigitalEl

Sounds like your friends are in for a spectacular night.

<shameless pleading> Can I be your fwiend!?

Until a person gives me a reason to believe otherwise, I consider every person I meet a friend, and last time I checked, you have not done anything to make me believe otherwise.

[Cubeoid]

na..

[AKcrab]

I'm a bit worried about your reduction. I'm thinking the sweetness factor may be entirely too high, especially if you add maple syrup. You might think of adding balsamic vinegar, or maybe even some red wine to the reduction, in lieu of syrup. However, you'll know pretty quickly how the reduction tastes, as you'll be adding the syrup later, as it doesn't need reduction.

btw: boiling veggies for 1-2 minutes = blanching. Make sure you put them into a cold water/ice bath quickly after blanching.

For your 'en croute', I don't really have a clue what it actually means, but I would simply get your twice baked potatoes done, and just before serving, pile on some lovely cheese and pop em under the broiler for a few minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on them the whole time, cause if your broiler is like mine, cheese can go from golden lovely to black and icky in a very, very short time.

Speaking of potatoes, perhaps consider baking a clove of garlic, and adding that to the mashed mix instead of the dip? Emeril would think you kicked it up a notch.

A meal that sounds so lovely really deserves at least the *option* for wine. I might suggest a 'gewurztraminer'. A lovely fairly sweet white, that nearly anyone (especially non-wine drinkers) can appreciate.

[Randman]

Sounds pretty good. An alternative to drink is get a nice fruit punch you like and mix it up with sherbet that goes well with. Light and frothy and not as sweet but still fruity, to complement the rest of the dinner.

For dessert, I'd suggest some kind of apple one, a twist on the chicken. Maybe a nice slice of Apple pie and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream (nothing beats the basics) with a sprig of spearmint as garnish.

[sknapp351]

You might want to consider straming your vegetables intstead of boiling. Boiling vegetables causes many vitamins to be lost in the boiling water. I also find that I like the texture of steamed vegetables better. AKcrab was right in saying to shock them in an ice bath following blanching, just dry them well before grilling again.
Sam