Kitchen matters

Too tired this morning for a new post - grab a cuppa and enjoy last night's adventures!

Let's be honest: one of the highlights of our "craft days" is the meal we share. But in order to spend more time crafting and less cooking, I like to do as much ahead of time as possible.

Last night, I cooked the wild rice for the soup. Tonight, the plan was to make the flourless chocolate cake, but I realized I was short four ounces of chocolate chips...somehow, I don't think I could substitute dark chocolate M & M's, the only other cacao-based substance in the house. Had already changed clothes - too lazy to go back out tonight.

So...cooking the chicken seemed to be the alternative prep work for this evening. Rather than simply nuking boneless, skinless chicken breast, I decided to try poaching it, with the hopes the end result would be more flavorful and moist. This may or may not have been motivated by last month's purchase of The Way to Cook.

Ahem. Throw cut up carrots and celery in the pot. Layer in the chicken breast. Throw on more veggies. Pour in a generous cup and a half of white wine plus chicken broth to cover. Bring to a simmer, simmer covered for half an hour (boiling over onto the stove due to the pan being a tad too full, optional). Turn off heat and let sit 15 minutes for the chicken to absorb more flavor.

Let me just say, had I tasted the Chateau St. Michelle chardonnay before I poured it in the pan, I would have used a less generous portion. Darn, that stuff is good.

The contents of the pan were poured into a strainer on top of an 8 cup measure. The poaching liquid will be used with more chicken broth for the soup; the carrots, at least, I'm munching on now (not a fan of cooked celery). The chicken is indeed moist and full of flavor - I'll call this one a win.