The book has an interesting method of organizing recipes. Since they're all one-pot meals, it's not like you could have the usual appetizer, main dish, etc., method. It also doesn't organize by the protein involved. Instead, it's organized by the type of cooking vessel.
At first, I thought that was a little odd. But then it made sense. Some days I want to cook something quickly on the stove top. Another day, I might want to chuck something in the crock pot and let it simmer away while I do other things. If I'm planning ahead, I can browse that section of the book and see what my options are for the type of equipment, and then pick a recipe that looks good.
On the other hand, if I want to use a particular ingredient, I can look for it in the index. The best of both worlds.
Since I knew I was going to make at least nine recipes from the book, I browsed through the whole thing Every page and every recipe. By the time I was done, there were so many sticky notes jutting out of pages that it looked like a porcupine. When I went through those to narrow down my options even more, I saw that there were two recipes that started with a whole chicken. One cooked in less time in a dutch oven on the stove, and the other was a long-cooking crock pot dish.
I decided to make both. With one chicken.Or, more accurately, I cut up one chicken and used half for each recipe. Am I the only one who likes cutting up chickens? It make me feel so cheffy.
And of course, to make the recipes come out right, I halved all the ingredients for those recipes, so the proportions were correct.
First on the agenda was chicken cacciatore, which was made in a dutch oven on the stove. This was the third recipe I made from the book, and the second one that used the rind from parmesan cheese as a flavoring ingredient. I need to keep that in mind for my own recipes.
On the first night I served it, I didn't bother with rice or noodles, as suggested, but I think noodles would have been perfect. And while the recipe suggests serving it right away, this is the kind of dish that makes great leftovers. I could also see making this ahead, then pulling the chicken meat off the bones cutting it into serving-sized pieces, and serving with the sauce over pasta. That might make it a little less messy to eat, if that's a consideration.
The book suggests drizzling a little olive oil over the top before serving, but I think that a little Poof! of parmesan on top would also be nice. I mean, how can you turn down grated cheese? Or the chance to say "Poof!" in the kitchen?
Oh - and if you're a mushroom fiend, I see no problem with adding more. Mmmmmushrooms!
The second chicken post will be along a little later. One at a time ...
And now for the giveaway! (Contest is closed)... and the winner is Sara!
Since it's my birthday week and I was planning on doing some giveaways, the nice people at Morrow offered to give one my my readers a really sweet 12-inch covered anodized Emerilware skillet made by All Clad.
For your first entry, leave a comment here telling me what your favorite chicken dish is.
For your second entry, follow me on twitter and tweet a link to this contest, then come back here and leave a comment telling me that you tweeted.
Entries will remain open through September 22, at midnight, mountain time.
This contest is open to US residents only.
For my part in this party, I've been given a copy of the cookbook, a jar of Emeril's Essence and some serving bowls made by Zak! I'll also have a book and serving bowls to give away (stay tuned for that). Bloggers who participate in this party and complete the 3-week assignment will receive some additional books by Emeril as well as a small cash reimbursement. One blogger will be chosen to receive a 6-quart Emeril-branded crockpot made by T-Fal.
For more information on Morrow's cooking blog, see The Secret Ingredient. Want to pre-order the book? Clicky-clicky right here.
Are you on Facebook? The Secret Ingredient and Emeril have pages there. Or if you prefer Twitter, you can find Morrow Books and Emeril there as well.
Cookistry went on hiatus for a while, but I'm back and blogging. Possibly sporadically, but I plan on updating it more than in the previous years. Thanks for reading!
