Cooking Attempt #1

I did it. I survived my first attempt at cooking one of the Pioneer Woman's recipes. It wasn't perfect, but it tasted freakin' DELISH!

I got off early from work today and had already made my grocery list, so I headed straight for the store. Of course I picked up some unnecessary goodies (ingredients for cookies), but I was on a mission to get home and get cookin'.

Despite the 80 degree weather, I was in the Christmas spirit. I had the Christmas tree plugged in and lit a cinnamon candle, although that was partly because my dooger, Griffyn, had taken a HUGE dookie in the bathroom, but thats a whole 'nother story.

The recipe I attempted and somewhat successfully mastered was Ree Drummond's Bowtie Chicken Alfredo. It called for 3/4 cup of dry white wine and I bought a brand spankin new bottle of vino. So before I even got to cookin', I poured myself a glass of wine and got the party started!

This fancy $4.00 bottle of chardonnay really hit the spot. As you can see, I value fine wine and spend big bucks to get the appropriate flavor and aroma desired. Ok, lets be real. I know NOTHING about wine, as long as its white and isn't too sweet, Imma be drinkin' the whole darn bottle!

Back to the recipe. So I started with the chicken and I think its safe to say that I am still a novice when it comes to cooking it correctly. I've decided there is a fine line between undercooking and overcooking and for the life of me, I can't seem to find that freaking line! I'm way too scared to serve my husband pink chicken, partly because I know my parents taught me better than that and partly because I don't want to clean up his puke in the middle of the night. So I stick my knife in the middle of the chicken breast and if I see even the tiniest hint of pink, I tell myself to give it another minute or so, but I'm too paranoid so I really end up leaving it in the pan for 5 minutes and next thing I know, I'm serving a meal full of tasty rubber for dinner.

Isn't it deceiving? At this point the chicken was so chewy, it would make your jaw tired within the first 10 seconds, but it looks so scrumptious. It was sautéed in butter and it was perfectly browned on the outside. It wasn't until I tried cutting it into strips that I realized how utterly inedible it really was.

This recipe had me at garlic. The two things I require in just about any meal, whether home cooked or ordered at a restaurant are jalapeños or garlic. I like my food spicy and I like to ward off vampires with my breath. This recipe called for two cloves of garlic, so I minced 3 cloves just to be on the safe side. I mean, come on, you can never have too much garlic.

The alfredo sauce consisted of half and half, cream, white wine, butter, garlic and shredded parmesan. The smell that wafted through the kitchen was incredible! Ms. Pioneer Woman mentioned that chicken broth could be substituted for the wine, but I think that would've really taken away from the flavor. Plus, then I wouldn't have a way to justify my midweek drinking. :)

The one thing I forgot to pick up at the store was bowtie pasta, but I figured I would make the recipe my own by using whatever I had at home. Well, I had three half empty boxes of rigatoni, shell and penne, so I decided to be artistic and I used them all. They taste the same, am I right?

Once the sauce had thickened a bit, I added the pasta and chicken. Then I topped it off with some more parmesan and parsley, just to make it look nice. To be honest, I don't really know if there is any other point to parsley. I've never noticed that it has a distinct enough flavor to really stand out in a meal. In this case, I think it sort of spruces up the otherwise bland looking dish.

I popped some garlic bread in the oven and had I added some type of veggie, I think I would've made my mother very proud with this meal. But veggies taste gross, end of story. So I made a very carb-o-licious dish and it tasted AMAZING! Brian agreed that the chicken was overcooked and thought the sauce was a bit too runny, but overall he enjoyed it.

For my first try, I'm giving myself a pat on the back. I have some definite room for improvement, but this recipe will be added to my recipe book FO SHOW!

Oh and not to toot my own horn or anything, but as I was making dinner, I was also being a hardcore multitasker because I was making snickerdoodle cookies from scratch for my hubby. I found the soft snickerdoodle recipe just by googling it and I was pleasantly surprised, as was Brian. They are his favorite cookie and for weeks I've been telling him I'll bake them and I just hadn't gotten around to it. But after realizing how fast the prep and bake time was and tasting their heavenly deliciousness, I know this recipe is a keeper.

Although I hate the cleanup (thats what a husband is there for, can I get an AMEN?!), cooking and baking is really a lot of fun. Tonight was also a little special because its rare that I get home in time to have dinner ready and on the table when the Mister gets home from work. I felt like I should've been wearing pearls and heels. June Cleaver better watch out, Mrs. Crosby is in the hizzle.

Now lets just hope my next post isn't so monochromatic.

Cheers!