It’s the second week since we came home from our honeymoon. We swore that we would ease into eating better (i.e. healthier) and that the second week would be the start of this healthier lifestyle. Well, a few days into week 2 we wanted another nice meal. Next up, chicken with garlic. We decided to add in strawberry risotto since it’s one of Luke’s favorites and we had just bought fresh strawberries. See the other posts, for notes on that recipe. As for the chicken with garlic dish, it helped us learn some new facts about our new pots and pans (thanks Mom and Dad Rogers!). Fact #1 – our new pots and pans conduct heat a lot better than the old pans. We couldn’t understand what was sticking to the bottom. They were supposed to be non-stick. But as we washed them we realized that they didn’t really stick, it was more that the heat was so hot that they were burning to the pan. When you wash the pans everything comes right off. So they are non-stick after all. 
Chicken with Garlic (pg. 924) – Pollo All’Aglio
Just like the chicken roulades, you are supposed to cook the chicken in oil turning frequently before letting the chicken simmer over low heat for a while. We realized again that it is important to sear the chicken quickly over the high heat before covering on low heat. The chicken got a little dry, but we realize now that part of that is getting used to the heat conduction of our new pans vs. the old set. Not that the old set was bad, but when I say old. They were my grandma’s set from the 70′s, so I consider that old… Although since I’m from the very late 70′s, maybe I should watch that comment.
A couple days later, we decided to have over our friends Ryan & Amanda for dinner. We just got a dining room table before we left for the honeymoon, so we were excited that we can now invite people over for dinner. We decided to make the chicken roulades again since we had chicken, bacon and sage in the fridge. We also had eggplant in the fridge since that is my favorite vegatables, so we decided to try Eggplant Risotto as well. (note: we got used to calling this aubergene when we were in Europe – apparently that is the proper English name).
Eggplant Risotto (pg. 333) – Risotto alla Melanzane
We ignored the first part of the instructions that said that we should sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let drain in a colander. We decided that a little extra juice from the eggplant will be fine and as it turns out, it really didn’t matter. Once the eggplant and risotto have been mostly cooked with the vegatable stock, you add in the diced mozzarella cheese. Having had issues with fresh mozzarella, we used shredded mozzarella and it blended in perfectly. It made the perfect gooey consistency. We added salt and pepper to it and kept it warm in the oven. It turned out amazing. Like the kind of pasta you expect at an authentic Italian restaurant in Italy. Definitely keeping this one around.
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