While they roasted, I started in on Bobby Flay's creamed kale recipe. It looked good and easy on TV, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. After cutting up and washing the kale, I started by dicing up a small onion and sauteing it in a tbsp of butter before whisking in a tbsp of flour and a cup of scalded milk. I cheated a bit by microwaving the milk instead of on the stovetop. I seasoned the roux with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisked it until it thickened up, which it did rather nicely to my surprise, considering I used nonfat milk. The kale boiled in salted water for about 12 minutes before draining it in a colander. Finally I combined the two together. I also caramelized some shallots in butter, sugar, salt, and pepper and topped the kale off with them. It was surprisingly delicious. I'm not a fan of creamed spinach at all because of the mushy texture, but the kale stood up better to the boiling and had a bit more of a bite to it. Even though it was creamy, the dish itself was pretty light because of the nonfat milk. And a tablespoon of butter for two large servings of veggies is nothing at all. Of course, there was more butter in the shallots, but I think a lot of the fat got cooked off.
Anyway, the Balsamic Glazed Chickens turned out okay. They were pretty ugly, actually, and there was an awful lot of extra fat and oil in the drippings. Jim seemed to like them but couldn't detect any of the flavors. He took another one for lunch tonight, so he must have been okay with them overall. I was rushing a bit at the end, so the marinade, which I cooked off into a glaze, didn't have enough of the fat skimmed off. I finished the chickens off with lemon zest and parsley for a bit of added freshness. I guess the end result wasn't horribly hideous, but balsamic vinegar does not lend a very pretty color to chicken.
No comments:
Post a Comment