Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Chicken and Mushroom Stew

The basil plant died. It is in a better place now (the green bin) I have a new one and it is doing ok. It isn't growing much but it looks healthy. I have a little thyme plant as well that thinks it's weeds and is growing madly. I guess I will have plenty of thyme on my hands later on! Hardee har har har.

I wanted to comment on a loverly dinner we made complements of my favorite chef, chef Michael Smith. Please view the recipe here. We followed it almost exactly except we used boneless skinless thighs. Oh. My. God. It was, like, the best chicken ever. We used Kumala Shiraz (South African) for the wine. I didn't care for the wine to drink (we had bought it the night before because we wanted a glass of wine) . I found it rustic tasting. I can't explain it exactly but it sort of reminded me of a log cabin or something. I am not good at explaining wine. However the qualities I disliked in the wine went absolutely phenominally with the chicken and mushrooms. It really brought out the earthyness of the mushrooms. I didn't have any left because I dumped it all in the dinner so I don't know if it drank any better with the meal than it did with sitting on the couch. However, I do know I would buy it again if only to cook this dish.

This meal would have been better with mashed potatoes, as it was served on Chef at Home. We used Lundberg Jubilee Gourmet Rice Blend (which is available at Superstore in the Organic section) I liked the rice, Lundberg rice is always good, but Travis prefers white rice, so it wasn't such a hit with him.

So that was the mushroom and chicken stew. Please try!