Tuesday nights supper. Ignore the green globby grossness of it all. I swear it was the greatest ‘pesto’ I’ve ever made. It was made mainly with a bunch of spinach, parmesan cheese, garlic, oil and pine nuts. Bake’r in the oven for a bit and boom. Nice chicken that smells the kitchen and apartment with yumness.
The chunk of white stuff is mozza cheese by the way. lol
Last night I made chicken parmigiana for the FIRST time, ever. Ever! I think the only time I’ve had it before then was in my lean cuisine. Oh wait. Boyfriends mother made it for me the very first time I met them, and had supper at their house. I raved about it so much she sent down a recipe for me to re-create my own. Oh was it ever DISGUSTING. You see, our oven musn’t be accurate with the temperature.
The recipe called for a cooking time of 50-60 minutes, I left it in for 65 minutes. The chicken I used I put in raw (I assumed you were supposed to do this) and let it cook with the sauce and whatnot. Either way, it completely ruined my taste for any chicken parmigana again. We used frozen chicken breasts that I thawed in the fridge for two days. Once the chicken was “cooked” (not pink lol) it was spongey. I’ve been having issues with cooking frozen chicken for ages now, and it’s difficult to make it not spongey, especially in the oven. Usually I have to leave it on the grill (George Forman style, but not) for FIFTEEN MINUTES. I’m was so turned off, I barely ate anything for supper last night. Sigh…
We’re buying a meat thermometer this weekend.
The boyf ended up doing a ‘scientific experiment’ with the spongey chicken in the microwave and ended up burning the bottom of it for cooking it so long. It was still spongey. I swear I feel like I’m turned off chicken, at least for a few days.
On a happier note, if you subscribe to my other blog, you may or may not have already noticed that I booked a hotel room for the Boyfriend and I for a weekend getaway to Niagara Falls coming up!!! Isn’t that super exciting? It’s a discounted rate with a free $45 gift certificate to The Keg! Go visit my site to find out more info, and if you’re eligible to get a deal too. I even gave the link to one of my co-workers. The boyf and I are thinking of going to the water park the next morning. Hello waterproof cameras coming right up!
4 Comments
Oh my. too bad about the chicken. I would have cooked it for about 30 mins. from raw—if boneless. And 45 mins if you have the bone in type. Let let it rest for 10 mins to continue cooking. Should be perfect then. A thermometer is an excellent idea. I use one all the time. I use both the instant read type and the put in the oven type. But try not to get them mixed up.
Tuesday’s night seemed yummy.
Sorry about the chicken though. I also hate when cooking goes wrong.
Definitely use a meat thermometer. Boneless skinless chicken can be tricky. There is a fine line between under-done and over-done. As a rule, I use bone-in chicken when baking. I remove the skins though. Boneless skinless is better on the grill or stove-top, not so good with baking, unless you’re making stuffed chicken breasts or chicken cordon bleu, etc. Also, depending on your oven, you may need to follow the original recipe, in regards to temperature, just be careful using pyrex at 400.
Oh yeah, I bought a good meat thermometer at winners!
Nancy says: All great tips. Thanks, never thought about going to Winners for a meat thermometer. Will pyrex break ~400º? I’m disappointed how it turned out – literally turned me off parmigiana.
HOLY yum!!!!!