Experimenting with new recipes in the fall
At this time of year when we seem to have summer weather one day, and fall weather the next, we usually find ourselves in the kitchen experimenting with something we've read or talked about, but never took the time to try. One weekend found us learning to bone a duck, using the trial and error method (and a couple of ducks); another time we spent an entire day making moo shu pork, including the pancakes. It was a very tasty experiment, but a little too time consuming for most people (that obviously includes us since we never did it again). As we became proficient with our pasta machine, we found that making pasta from scratch, along with various sauces was a good weekend project. Unfortunately, we also learned that finding a safe place to hang the strips of pasta while they dry was a challenge if you have dogs - who knew the dog was interested in uncooked pasta?
Although all of these food-related weekends were fun, we won't assume that you have that much time, nor the inclination to spend hours of it in the kitchen. So, today we have a modified chicken dish from Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country that can be made ahead of time, and reheated. With the chicken, we like the toasted orzo recipe that comes together quickly. These two dishes, along with a salad of your choice, provide a wonderful meal without spending hours in the kitchen.
