Valentine's Day Dinner: Champagne Chicken

You know, champagna is not champagna unless it comes from the province of Champagna. I learned that in Bartending School.

- The Continental

The Valentine's Day Dinner: Champagne Chicken

While there's always room for the occasional glass of champagne, my Champagne Chicken is best kept to rare and special occasions, like Valentine's Day.

Normally, my dishes have some semblance of healthy about them. But this dish is about the feelings that it evokes. Champagne, butter, AND cream.

While I certainly will not compare these flavors to chocolate, I will compare the emotions and feelings that these foods evoke. The fine bubbles and delicate flavor of Champagne takes me back to many romantic and blissful events. Weddings, celebrations, 3rd dates, etc.

Butter is decadent. Beyond it's flavor, it's use has been relegated to times when we're throwing caution to the wind, letting our guards down, and getting to know the person across the table. But, butter's flavor here, provides the savory offset to the slight sweetness of the Champagne. The whole sum of the parts thing. You've heard of that, right?

The cream is, again, decadent, but we're not trying to overdue that aspect. Instead, the cream provides body and mouth feel. Sure, flour makes a fine thickener for Thanksgiving gravy. But, tonight, I'm not really thankful for the world, I'm thankful that I'm sitting with someone that I feel passionate about.

Cream provides just the right feel, just the right touch. While it thickens like flour does, it mingles with the senses in a way that a floury gravy never can. It's mellowing and silky and while it mixes with the butter and Champagne, it never fully blends. It carries the sweet and savory combinations along with it. And you feel the flavor, rather than merely taste it. Back to the sum being greater than the parts, combined.

Well. That's that. I like all this dish. Bad be damned.

It's not that I think any of these ingredients are all that bad for us, it's just a lot of calories. And, we're going to use those rich ingredients as our sauce to top and cook our lightly breaded and beautifally browned chicken breasts, well... you get the idea. Let's stick to once a year.

Yep. Healthy eating at it's best and worst. But, it's worth it.

Champagne Chicken

Things you'll need

1 large ziplock freezer bag (easiest) or plastic wrap
a heavy cutting board or chopping block
a smooth meat hammer, a heavy, filled jar, or something like a small saucepan (that size that's useless)
a large skillet with a rim (the one that you use for your "hamburger helper," Not that you make that stuff...)

Ingredients

1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins

1 cup of dry Champagne or sparkling wine*

1 cup heavy cream/whipping cream

3 tbsp butter

1 cup flour

1 tbsp white pepper, ground

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Step one is to flatten the chicken tenderloins. While not critical, it makes for a better presentation. It also cooks faster and more evenly. If you're using boneless chicken breasts, you'll have to cut them down a bit, too. It won't look pretty to have 1/4 lb of flattened chicken breast on your date's plate. This isn't a drunken meal of chicken fried steak at Denny's at 2am! That was your first date...

Put a tenderloin into the bag and zip it closed while squeezing all the air out of it. Place it on the cutting board and gently pound it flat. Don't just hammer away, sort of work from the center, out. In waves. Repeat with all the tenderloins. Set them aside on a large plate.

In a large, shallow bowl, stir flour, salt, and pepper together. Dredge each piece of chicken in this mixture and return each to the plate.

Melt butter over medium high heat. Use the large shallow skillet here. The pan needs to be large enough for all pieces of chicken to fit at once.

Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, shaking the pan to keep it from sticking. Turn the chicken and add champagne into the pan. It will bubble up quite a bit. Gee, how fun! When you've recovered from all the fun, add just enough water to bring the level about 1/2 way up the chicken. Do not cover the pan.

Simmer for 15 minutes. The liquid should be reduced by about half. Remove chicken to individual, warmed plates.

Whisk the cream into the pan liquid. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Pour sauce over the chicken and put any remaining sauce in a gravy boat to use at the table.

* You'll only use about a cup or so for the recipe. So make sure to pick one that you like to drink.

Serve with a small portion of pasta or egg noodles, tossed in butter, and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. A little of the Champagne sauce goes well, too.

For your vegetable, I'd recommend a simple salad with olive oil and balsamic dressing or just a simple vinaigrette. Avoid getting fancy with the veggies, and absolutely no broccoli tonight, okay?



Of course, keep the Champagne cold throughout the meal.

Keep sipping.




I'd like to tell you I have the perfect Valentine's Day dessert coming up, but to be honest, I don't have anything new. I'm not a dessert guy, despite my absolute love of cheesecake. Cheesecake is everything, when it comes to desserts.

In this case, you're following a pretty heavy meal, so cheesecake seems questionable. But, it's one night and cheesecake servings are small in size. Go for it. Out of my cheesecakes, I'd suggest the ginger cheesecake. I've got a super secret vanilla bean cheesecake that's delicious, but I've never written it down. If you really want it, let me know. I'll consider letting you in on it.

The other option that I'd suggest is fresh, ripe mango. ONLY if it's ripe. It's always mango season, somehow. They ship from the tropics, I guess.

If you go the mango route, get a couple of them in various degrees of ripeness to be sure you have one that's perfect, come February 14th. That night, make a pretty fan of mango slices. Put them in the fridge, but make sure you let it come to room temperature before serving it. At dessert time, garnish it with some whipped cream. To put it over the top. a light dusting of freshly ground cardamom will absolutely do it for you. Very light and only if you can do it fresh. I'm serious, if it's preground, don't use it. Just go with the mango and whipped cream.

More Champagne works, too.

Enjoy. Happy Valentine's Day.

But! I haven't called for your car yet! Must you fly so soon, my little songbird? Must you fly so soon?

Very well, go... but allow me one last moment to drink the intoxicating vision of you. Eyes blazing, hair flowing, chest heaving as you flee to the lobby.

Wait! You forgot your coat.

What I meant to say... maybe.

Yesterday, I wrote the whole competence and consciousness thing.

What sparked yesterday's post, was reading Lou's latest book. In an innocuous little paragraph, he uses the word "training." I have a love/hate relationship with this word.

Currently, I'm not training. I work out. I don't have a problem with people using the term "training" when referring to what they do, but for me, it's not right. I'm not training for anything.

Gladiators trained to kick ass and kill the other guy.

Cavemen killed mastadons to get food. Each mastadon hunt left the surviving cavemen better prepared to kill the next mastadon.

I workout to get stronger and either leaner or bigger. So, I could say I'm training for fat loss or strength or size, but I don't. I like to use words that normal people use and in the ways that they use them. I'm not going to tell my coworkers that I'm heading to the gym to train.

Misc coworker -- "What are you training for, Roland?"

Me -- "Um..."

So, no... I workout. I'm going to the gym. I'm off to workout. These work.

What does all this have to do with consciousness and competence? Different words and different strategies work for people at different stages of consciousness and competence.

When I first started using TAP (Testosterone Advantage Plan is soooo much to type...), I said (only to myself) that I trained. I felt like I had a plan and a purpose. A good feeling and very motivational.

As I progressed, the term "training" sounded like something reserved for an athlete (don't even get me started on the 'we're all athletes" thing, either. Uh, no. We're not.). So, once again, I worked out. Still with purpose though.

Once, I signed up for a 10k. I trained for that. The USMC Bootcamp Challenge? Trained for that, too. If I ever sign up for something, I'll train for it. If I belonged to a gym or training group where we had ad hoc contests, I'd use the word "training" for that, too.

People get caught up in this weird word trap where they use words that motivate themselves to motivate others. Doesn't always work. We live in the real word, so use real world words and phrases, please. Your buddy can talk about his diet and not his lifestyle. I can workout and not have to train. I can try to lose weight, despite the fact that all I really want to do is lose fat. I can say something is hard to do without my use of the word "hard" making it harder than it should be.

Language is how we communicate with each other. We can strive to make it easier, but sometimes it seems like we strive to make it harder by nitpicking our word choices.

If you still don't see how this connects to yesterday, I'm right there with you. But, this is connected somehow. And, it's stuck in my head and won't come out.

I'll be back to try again...

The Four Stages of Competence

Everyone heard of this? The four stages of competence. Conscious and Competence

I'll give you the gist, but if you want to learn more, click the link, above.

There are four stages of competence.

Stage 1. Unconsciously incompetent -- you really don't know what you don't know.
Stage 2. Consciously incompetent -- you really do know how much you don't know.
Stage 3. Consciously competent -- you know stuff, but you have to really think about it to act on it correctly.
Stage 4. Unconsciously competent -- you know stuff and you no longer have to think about it. You just do it.

I think about this concept a lot. It applies to so many things in life. From skating, to swimming, to cooking, to training.

Training is what I was thinking about today.

I remember back to when I started to lift weights. I knew nothing. I was afraid to go into the weight room. I actually did the first stage of TAP (Testosterone Advantage Plan) on the machines on the main floor of the gym so I wouldn't have to be embarrassed in the weight room.

I moved on to Turbulence Training and a lot of Chad Waterbury's workouts. Eventually, I felt confident enough to make up my own workouts (using tools and other workouts to check my work).

Suddenly, I was just writing my own workouts and doing fine. Of course, I thought about it, but I didn't stress over it. The workouts were fine.

Then, you read something or hear something and it's like a curtain drops and something hidden has been revealed. You don't really know. You just thought you did. You were cruising along, happily living in Stage 4 (Unconsciously Competent) and all of the sudden you realize how little you know, yet didn't know it.

By the way, there's no single huge revelation or epiphany here. Just some little ones. Don't stick around for the end, hoping for drama. It's not coming.

Here are some little ones, as far as training and nutrition goes.

1. From Ross Enamait, I learned that intensity trumps a lot of things. Should have already known, since I've bought into the importance of intervals and giving your lifting your all, but Ross made it clear. Not by preaching, but by his simple plans and actions. He might as well be intensity.

2. Coach Hale posted at JP's that he'd never seen someone not lose weight on 8-12 calories a day, per pound of body weight. This was in the middle of a nit-picky period of discussion, where we all over thought nutrition and worried about the most trivial little aspects. Not that those things might not be important, but in the end, when you're not losing fat, look at the elephant in the room, first.

3. From Lou Schuler, I learned (or was once again reminded) of all the things that I've learned and acted on, then somehow unlearned and forgot. The importance of reading, reading, reading can't be overemphasized. Sure, the book jacked might look like stuff you know, but are you really sure you know it? Maybe you knew it once. Keep reading.

4. Chad Waterbury reminded me of all the things that I'd once learned from Turbulence Training.

5. Zach Even-Esh reminds me that not every workout needs to be planned out and detailed, as long as you have an overall plan and strategy. Do you have to progress on every lift, every workout? Do you even have to wonder or worry? No. Milestone lifts and exercises are enough to know if you are progressing, overall. Have some fun and relax with a sandbag, sled, or rocks in your backyard. Your weekly squat day is for knowing if you're getting stronger. Just know that your sandbags are "getting lighter," even if you can't feel it. To lamely paraphrase that guy in that baseball movie. Get stronger and your other lifts will progress.

Many people think that they start off in Stage 1, but for one thing, Stage 1 is a time of overall obliviousness. It's unconscious, remember? When I meekly walked into the gym with my copy of TAP, I was solidly in Stage 2. I knew exactly how much I didn't know. Because I knew squat.

I'm realizing that training is not one thing, popping through all these stages. Different aspects are at different stages at all times. So, strangely, I'm now consciously competent in knowing how little about training I actually know. There are areas where I'm in Stage 1, 2, 3, and 4. At all times. We all are.

Lesson? Listen to people smarter (or wiser) than you. Like Alwyn Cosgrove says... No one gets dumber from reading a book. He might say it better, though. and, he'll sound pretty cool saying it.

Individual Frittatas on Vegetable Beds

"Other than an omelet, how do I eat vegetables at breakfast?" Eat these.


Individual Frittatas on Vegetable Beds

While you can make these in a big bowl and scoop into the ramekins, I find it easier to make each one in a small bowl, mix, pour into greased ramekin, repeat.

You'll need 1 small ramekin per egg. Most people eat 2 eggs for a meal, so 2 frittatas each. Cook accordingly.

Mix and match your veggies, too. I give two examples, summer squash and greens, but you could easily do one with zucchini and the other with crookneck squash, or one with a mixture of squash and the other with a mixture of bell peppers.

The frittatas are easy, too. You can use leftover veggies, cheese, and meat as you like. The secret is finding a combination that you like. And, don't skimp on the fat in the frittata. If it's too much fat for you, cut fat from the the veggies and steam them, instead.

These two combinations of frittatas cooked in the same 25 minutes for me, so feel free to pop them all in the oven together.



Sausage Frittatas on a bed of greens


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the two this morning, I saved one link of breakfast sausage from yesterday's breakfast. I saved a few tablespoons of the sausage drippings, too.

Pork fat is the best!


Ingredients
per frittata, 1 ramekin each

1 extra large egg
1 tsp half and half
1/2 breakfast sausage, chopped
salt and pepper

Place all filled ramekins on a strong cookie sheet, baking pan, or flat bottomed broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the frittatas are set. Toward the end, they should puff up beautifully.


Green Pepper Frittatas on a bed of summer squash


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

The only thing cooked in advance is the bell pepper.

Chop all you need (1/4 bell for each frittata) and saute it in a little butter or olive oil.

Allow it to cool a bit before adding it to your egg mixture.

Ingredients
per frittata, 1 ramekin each

1 extra large egg
1 tsp half and half
1 tsp parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper




Place all filled ramekins on a strong cookie sheet, baking pan, or flat bottomed broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the frittatas are set. Toward the end, they should puff up beautifully (I waited too long to take that picture, so they aren't so much puffed...).



The Beds of Vegetables

It's more like a pile, but pile of vegetables doesn't sound good.

Cut and wash the veggies ahead of time, but cook them while the frittatas are baking. If you time it right, the frittatas will still be beautifully puffed up when you present the plates.

Any combination of summer squash (zucchini, yellow summer, crookneck, flying saucers, etc.) will work, as will bell peppers of all colors. I also like collard and other greens, which is a good combination, too.

I went with zucchini and yellow squash for the Green Pepper Frittatas and collard greens for the Sausage Frittata.


Bed of Summer Squash

Ingredients
per frittata to be served

1 medium squash per person/serving (or 1/2 and 1/2 yellow and zucchini, etc.), julienned.
1 tsp olive oil or melted sausage fat, per person/serving
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil or fat in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the squash and stir frequently until the squash is tender and slightly browned in places.

Using a slotted spoon or spatula, plate the squash. Make the bed attractive, and consider using a small (dessert size) plate. Use a paper towel or something to wipe up any drips on the plate.

Place one Green Pepper Frittata on the center of the bed of greens and serve.


Bed of Greens

Ingredients
per frittata to be served

I usually buy bags of prewashed. 170g is a serving. That's pretty big unless you are really cooking down the greens. I went with half a "serving" in this case, since we are going with greens that are less cooked.

80g of greens per person/serving
1 tsp olive oil or melted sausage fat per person/serving
1/4th cup water or broth (not per person, just 1/4th cup, period)
salt and pepper to taste

If you bought greens in a bundle, wash them well and cut them into bite size strips. They will shrink a bit, so don't go all anal on me. Don't worry about drying them, either.

In a large skillet or saucepan with a lid, heat the oil or fat over medium high heat. Add the greens and stir a few times to coat. Pour in the water, reduce heat to medium, and cover for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover the pot and all pour off the liquid.

Using a slotted spoon or spatula, plate the greens. Make the bed attractive, and consider using a small (dessert size) plate. Use a paper towel or something to wipe up any drips on the plate.

Place one Sausage Frittata on the center of the bed of greens and serve.

Sacrilege

I was never a heavy smoker, but what cigarette smoking I did do, has long ago stopped. I'm no longer tempted, either.

I'm not a big fan of cigarette smoking, but it doesn't bug me like it bugs so many people. For many people, non-smoking is a religion. And those people who smoke are going to hell.

Not me. I'd even date someone who smoked. Of course, I'd hope she'd quit, but there are worse things in life. Murder, shoplifting, boozing, low fat dieting, loving A Fish Called Wanda, etc.

I'd just as soon kiss a girl who didn't smoke, don't get me wrong. And, I don't find smoking to be sexy. But, I'm not disgusted either. But, when I see a pretty girl smoking, my mind wanders back to years ago.

A long time ago, I dated a smoker. And, I have a confession to make: I can still taste it. Still smell it on her breath. Right up close. I liked it then, and I've liked it since. I don't claim to understand it. I'm almost sure it's because I kinda liked her. Maybe. But, to many, there's some sort of sacrilege there.

Of course, she didn't just smell like cigarettes. There was ginger in her hair and she was religious about sunscreen. She also wore a wonderful perfume. I don't know which one, so I can't name it, but sometimes I smell it in the air. I know the scent when I smell it, but without the rest, it's just not the same.

Poll Comments -- Dating a Smoker or a Shoplifter?

Would you rather date someone who... smoked cigarettes or you know shoplifted gum?

I put down "smoker," myself.

I've dated a few girls who've smoked. I'd do it again. Especially if it was Kate Beckinsale.

What's your story?

The madness of blogging with images

Is it just me? I spend so much time making my images go in the right spots in relation to text and captions that it drives me nuts.














Click on the pic for even more fun!

The only way to see what it will REALLY look like is to publish it and then view it. But that's annoying. But, neither the "Preview" or the "Compose" screens look right when images are involved.

Anyone have a good system or advice?

Fitness Platitudes: Part Two

A long while back, I wrote about disliking that people tell the obese to "just move," and also not to use the word "diet." If you're bored, it's here. In the meantime, there are plenty more things that bug (I might have a list).

He's ticked 'cuz after working so hard, he
found out all he really had to do was "move."

No one ever got fat from eating fruit

That's todays bitch. "No one ever got fat from eating fruit." Sure, I guess it's sort of true. But, no one got fat from eating steak, or drinking milk, or eating sugar out of the sugar bowl, either. Basically, it's too many calories that cause weight gain, not any one item. Nor is any one item a purely "safe" food (I'll admit it's hard to overeat things like celery or spinach).

It's the calories. If you're maintaining your weight at 2,000 calories a day, and decide to eat that, plus some apples, you'll gain weight. So, was it the apples?

If you want to argue that apples are a food that you should include in your diet, then teach people how to fit the calories into their diet.

There is a good anecdote about fruit and dieting that I do like. It involves a Weight Watchers meeting where one woman is obsessing on the number of grapes that she can eat for x number of points. The WW councilor answered with "Ladies, none of us is here from eating too many grapes."

That's all I got for now.