Stinky chickie

Today I went out and bought a roasted deli chicken from Costco during my lunch break. It was a big four pound bird that stunk horribly, but it's the cheapest one you can get compared to Safeway and other such grocery stores. I banished it to my trunk immediately on my way over to Safeway, where I bought some Coke (buy 2, get 3 free), tomatillos, and asparagus. Safeway did its usual price ripping off, not giving me the 3 free ones. I happened to take a cursory glance at my receipt and saw 12% savings and did a double take. It took additional time to clear up the error with Customer Service, but I scored because the not-so-bright girl refunded me all three packs of Diet Vanilla Zero without charging me CRV. By the way, I do have a point to my grocery list recitation.

I used the chicken to make Giada's chicken and orzo frittata. Jim carved up the entire chicken for me, which was a bith help both timewise and also the fact that it let me deal with dead animals less is a huge, huge, huge plus. Most of the breasts went to the frittata and the rest of the bird went into a storage container for the anticipated use as an ingredient in Tyler Florence's chicken enchiladas (the reason for purchasing the tomatillos). I could have swore I had the frittata recipe, but I couldn't find it, so I had to wing it. I read the recipe online earlier today and tried to recreate it from memory. I was mostly successful, only forgetting the scallions. Of course, there were leftover scallions that I could have used up. Grr.

Anyway, I had Jim start with the roasting of the red bell pepper and cooking the orzo. He chose not to listen to me on the pepper, opting to keep the pan on a middle rack in the oven instead of next to the broiler, so I had to redo it. He also couldn't find the orzo, but at least the water was boiling when I got there.

After the pepper blistered, I stuck it in a paper bag for 15 minutes while I got the rest of the ingredients ready. I used ricotta, creme fraiche, parsley, 6 eggs (5 yolks), salt, and pepper, plus the orzo of course. Finally I threw in the red bell pepper after I peeled and diced it.

The dish went into a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes and then broiled for an additional five. The online reviews indicated that the frittata was on the bland side, but I figured that would be okay with Jim. And I have made the recipe once before, almost exactly a year ago. I remember, because Jim ate the leftovers for breakfast at the airport on our way to Hawaii. As before, Jim liked it, even without the green onions. I remembered that I forgot 'em while I was at the vet's office picking up Midget. I can tell the dog is feeling better, as she has become beyond obstinate and difficult. Stubborn donkey. I ran by Lucky's after I picked her up and was horrified to see that tomatillos were 99 cents a pound, while I paid $2.49 at Safeway. Assembling the enchiladas may very well be a week-long process, since they are time consuming and I am quite short on time this week. But I am excited about the making of 'em.

I have to say, rotisserie chickens are pretty convenient items. I may purchase them a little more often.