And Bob's your uncle........

The tart I made yesterday was a bit of a disappointment, mostly because the fruit had no taste. The cherry pie I made the other day so good because the sour cherries were bursting with flavor. These sweet cherries from California look nice but they don't make you want to sing. Anyway, the new tart is wet and sweet. Wes liked it so it's not a loss. The lesson here is that a fruit tart is really only going to be as good as the fruit you use. I made granola today. I've been on this kick for almost six months now, ever since my friend, Beth, brought me some that she'd made when she and her husband came over for dinner last fall. I've taken her recipe and tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it. What have I learned? Unrefined coconut oil is my favorite fat and maple syrup is my favorite sweetener. Beth uses olive oil and that's really very good but the texture of the cereal is awfully nice when you use coconut oil. I've tried adding a little butter, too, and while it tastes wonderful, it's a little too rich. Beth says to use brown rice syrup and that's perfectly fine but i like the texture of the granola when you use maple syrup. My next best favorite sweetener is brown sugar. Honey didn't work for me. It was too sticky whereas with the maple syrup, the ingredients stand apart better and makes it all crunchy. I'll do a more complete post about it later. Halas, I digress. I just marinated some chicken thighs for tonight's dinner. I trimmed fat thighs then made a twiggy paste out of garlic, coarse salt and rosemary using my mortar and pestle. I smeared the thighs with this mixture then put them in a ziplock bag and squeezed a lemon into the bag. In a couple of hours I'll brown them on top of the stove then put them in the oven to finish cooking. I'll take them out, put them on a plate and cover them with foil. I'll pour off the fat and deglaze the pan with some white wine and add some chicken stock. After that reduces, I'll add some lemon juice. Sounds good, n'est-ce pas? I have some leftover cooked couscous that I'm going to mix with soaked currants and toasted pine nuts. I'll put that in a buttered ramekin, put them in a pan and pour in boiling water to cover about halfway up the sides of the ramekin and put them in the oven until I'm ready to serve the chicken. I'll cook some tender green beans I bought yesterday to go with it all and ... Bob's your uncle!!! Until another day....