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Recipe No. 10: In which Martha surprises me
By Ann | March 24, 2008
After making nine recipes from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics, I thought I had the book figured out: Ethnic recipes, good. Continental recipes, bland. And then along came chicken cassoulet with crisp breadcrumb topping.
Upon first glance, this dish seemed hearty but plain, with white beans cooked simply with carrot, onion and celery, and boneless chicken thighs. Despite its name, there’s only a passing resemblance to the rich, luscious traditional cassoulet, which is filled with sausage, duck confit, goose, and other artery clogging (but delicious) meats. Could cassoulet sans saturated fat be any good?
Suprisingly, yes! The chicken (I used white meat) is marinated in balsamic vinegar, herbs and lots of garlic (so very un-Martha), then simply baked in a dish. After it’s cooked, you pour your white bean mixture into the same dish, sprinkle with fresh breadcrumbs and heat until bubbly and lightly browned. The chicken was tender with the vinegar adding a pleasantly sharp (but subtle) counterpoint to the smooth, velvety beans. The crisp crouton-like breadcrumb topping provided a pleasant textural crunch.
The beans were cooked with lots of fresh sage (thanks to Chris for special trip to the store, thus averting a sage-mergency) and, though I quick soaked them, were surprisingly tender. I have to credit the Whole Foods bulk bin for superior freshness (and 3/4 of a pound was only $0.79!).
Finally, for today — when I started the review of this cookbook, I decided to make at least two recipes per chapter. I just did a count — there are 21 chapters; I have made 10 recipes — only 32 to go…
P.S. I just realized this is the third dish I’ve made from the “poultry” chapter. Arrrggh!
Topics: Cooking the Books |
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