Friday, September 16, 2011

French Fridays with Dorie - Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken

For such a simple recipe with only three ingredients (chicken, Speculoos cookies, and crème fraiche), that was supposed to knock my socks off, I would have been happier eating the box of cookies for dinner.  However, in respect for Dorie, I blame my disappointment on several factors:

I stopped by Albertsons first, thinking they would have Speculoos - thin, buttery cinnamon and spice cookies, aka LU Cinnamon Sugar Spice Biscuits or LU Bastogne.  Nothing even close.  I read you could substitute Gingersnaps, but that slot on the shelf was empty.  Strike one.

I then went down the aisle to the back of the store, to the dairy section, in search of crème fraiche. Strike two.  If you must, Dorie advises, you can substitute heavy cream, but not sour cream. Sour cream will curdle and break over heat (keep reading). I didn't want to make substitutions for two out of the three ingredients, so I decided to try another store.

I knew I had seen crème fraiche at Boney's, but doubted they carried Speculoos.  I abandoned Albertsons, got back in the car, and drove two blocks to Boney's. Correct in my assumptions, I was successful in finding crème fraiche, but no Speculoos. Making the decision to settle on Gingersnaps, I then debated over two brands for at least 10 minutes. Neither one contained cinnamon, but I figured I could add a teaspoon or so to the recipe. I wandered over to the meat section, grabbed the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and then to the bakery section, where I found a more appealing package of Gingersnaps.  I tossed the organic Gingersnaps back on the shelf, grabbed a few things for a salad, and made my way to the checkout, 30 minutes later.

Once I got home, John had the stove and refrigerator pulled out from the wall and was painting in all the areas I needed to be preparing and cooking (you don't even want to know what colors we are trying to cover up in our new house). And, of course, Dooley was also sprawled out in the middle of the kitchen floor, taking his eighth power nap of the day.

I proceeded to read through the recipe, which calls for slicing the chicken breasts crosswise into one-inch strips before sautéing them in butter or oil. I felt keeping the chicken breasts whole would make for a prettier photo, so I ignored that step  (when you're a food blogger, you must consider how you are going to plate the finished dish for the camera -  I also note that a photo of this dish was no where to be found on the net).  Once the chicken is cooked, you add a cup of crème fraiche and folded-in, crunched up Speculoos to the pan.  Apparently, the cookies melt into the sauce, like they do in your mouth, and flavor it with cinnamon and spice.

In my case, I transferred the chicken breasts to a plate, and added the crème fraiche with folded-in Gingersnaps, and teaspoon of ground cinnamon, to the pan. The crème fraiche, which was not supposed to break, broke. Strike three.

I was able to make a recovery, of sorts, with some sour cream (I was out of crème fraiche at that point and had no heavy cream) and chicken broth. My pan was probably too hot when I originally added the crème fraiche, but I blame that on the electric stove we also inherited with this house and its turquoise and yellow kitchen (those colors are now on their way out,  and I'll be talking to Santa in a few months about a gas stove).

Anyhoo, in an effort to end this very long and sad story, I did not feel this Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken was a "stroke of brilliance" - as Dorie describes her friend's creation.  John said it liked it, and compared it to a Thai peanut sauce, but it was a bit sweet for my liking.  I did enjoy the salad of baby greens, apples, red onion, cashews and sherry vinaigrette...and I truly enjoyed the leftover Gingersnaps with my coffee the next few mornings.  Sometimes, things are not as simple as they may seem.


On a much sweeter note, as we roll into fall, I encourage you to try Bobby Flay's Throwdown Pumpkin Pie, with Cinnamon-Crunch topping, a much better use than on chicken.


French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

14 comments:

Cher Rockwell said...

Oh - that is rough. Some weeks are just like that, aren't they?
It always amazes me the colors that people choose to put in their decor... Not always a great fit for the next owner :-)

Adriana said...

If and when I get around making this, I'll definitely add either garam masala or Chinese five spice - I've read that other bloggers felt that the sauce had Asian flair/undertones. I couldn't find creme fraiche or the cookies, so I baked a batch of Dorie's speculoos and called it a week.

Elin said...

Your chicken looks delicious with the sprinkle of cookies crumbs on them. Well done ! Mine was a bit drier but it taste good :)

Eva said...

I have had issues finding crème fraîche in our neighbourhood in Toronto. So I've had to resort to making my own, and it's so easy! I found this recipe:
http://homecooking.about.com/cs/atozfoodindex/ht/creme_fraiche.htm

Unknown said...

Gosh, it sounded like you went through a lot to make this dish, and still managed to make it look SO good in your photo! Yep, you're a TRUE food blogger, alright ;-).

Elaine said...

I'm sorry you didn't like it, but it sure looks pretty. I'm not a fan of gingersnap cookies, so I probably wouldn't have liked this dish with those either.

Carmen said...

Yum. Even your disasters look good, Denise. And the turquoise and yellow didn't look so bad. I kind of liked it - but, then, I don't have to live with it.

Bunkycooks said...

The photo was a save. :) The chicken looks tasty even if it wasn't. That is an odd mix of stuff, so now I am curious to see if I can track down some Speculoos!

Steph said...

Denise, you and I could be sisters based upon our similar experiences on this one (missing ingredients and damn electric stove). I did find a swiss cinnamon cookie at Albertsons (might have been the last pack, sorry)...but didn't really matter. Just not a fabulous experience with this one. Hope your new kitchen colors brighten your day!! PS. Hopefully Santa's got room for two stoves in his bag this year...that's on my list too.

Anonymous said...

I buy dishes, one or two at a time, instead of in a set nowadays just for my blogging! LOL! Go figure, huh? I think if you were able to get the creme fraiche to cooperate, it wouldn't have been as sweet tasting...? Hope your kitchen looks amazing when your done!

stacy :) said...

Well, at least it looks good. I love this dish, but my photos are cruddy - it's not a photogenic recipe at all! I love the thinner slices, because they get more of the delicious sauce, but if you're not a fan of the sauce then that's probably not much of an endorsement...

Marie said...

I let my creme fraiche boil too long and enthusiastically, so it was no longer pretty, but the strips of chicken hid the sauce weaknesses more easily than the whole chicken breast. Am easy recipe loses some of its charm when you have to go all over town to track down two of the three ingredients!

Unknown said...

I'm with you Denise. The recipe was easy but the ingredients weren't easy to find! I think I can find a better use for creme fraiche. Your chicken looks good though!

Anonymous said...

Well, your chicken looks lovely. It's too bad that it wasn't a hit, especially after all the running around you had to do for the ingredients. Good luck with your painting - it doesn't feel like home until you've made it your own.