~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/22/10) ~

This is the week that just won't end.  You know, the kind where no matter how much you did accomplish, there is still a lot ahead waiting to do.  Usually, after I post Q&A on a Friday afternoon, I take some time off  to enjoy a few T.G.I.F. cocktails and, in the Fall, a Saturday filled with college football games.  This weekend:

The fun-filled task of putting all of our deck furniture into storage for the Winter awaits! 

The good news is, as promised, with a lot of help from husband Joe, we got all of our sugar pumpkins roasted and pureed.  The recipes for ~ Roasted Pumpkin Puree ~, recipe found in categories 15 & 18, and ~ Roasted Pumpkin Seeds ~, recipe found in categories 2 & 18, got posted.  The bad news is, while I did get my ~ Tuning Up for Tailgate Thursday ~ menu planned, I only posted one of the two dishes I promised my friends at BSD.  If any of you are reading this:  I will get that apple pie recipe posted by game time tomorrow!!!

The pie got put on hold because I decided (on Wednesday) to develop a recipe for ~ Oven-Fried Cinnamon Chicken w/Honey-Butter ~, recipe found in categories 3, 10, 17 & 19.  If you are at all familiar with the series Little House on the Prairie, no more explanation is necessary.  It seems a lot of people search the internet for an authentic-to-the-time-period version of this dish and none seem to exist.  I decided to put an end to that situation, and from that standpoint, my recipe is a big success.  Apparently, there are a lot of LHOP fans out there because a lot of people have been in and out of that post... and I just posted it yesterday!  It even generated two great questions from one person:

Q.  Erika asks:  Your cinnamon chicken recipe looks great and I can't wait to try it.  I remember the episode of Little House where Laura switched the cayenne pepper for the cinnamon!  I want to try this recipe very soon, perhaps this weekend.  Do you think I can make it using boneless, skinless chicken breasts?  Also, you served it over couscous.  I have never cooked couscous.  Can you tell me something about it please?

A.  Kitchen Enounters:  You made my week Erika!  You are the first to comment on the cinnamon chicken recipe.  I suspect when my recipe hits the internet proper, it will become a very popular one. 

Oh yes!  Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves will work just fine in this recipe.  In fact, the recipe can easily be adapted to make tenders or nuggets too, which would be great if you're trying to please young children.  I didn't write it that way, because back in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, they pretty much used a whole chicken cut into 8 parts.  As I did write in the recipe, whatever type of chicken you choose to use, remember:  the smaller the size of the  pieces, the shorter the cooking time will be.  

Erika, I'm so glad you mentioned the couscous.  Nothing is easier to prepare.  Couscous is a granular semolina.  After cooking, which only takes 5 minutes, it has the texture of pasta.

To prepare a box of it, you simply bring water, salt and butter to a boil in a saucepan.  You stir in the couscous, cover the pan and:

Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Uncover the pan, fluff the cousous with a fork and serve immediately.  How easy was that!!

If you want to prepare the cousous that I served with my cinnamon chicken, add 1 cup of golden raisins to the water, butter and salt mixture, along with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, a pinch of ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper!

Great questions Erika!!!

 

Have a great weekend everyone, and once again:  To leave a comment or ask a question, simply click on the blue title of any post, scroll to the end of it and type away!

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2010)