Bug

Well the last 24 hours in this house was not fun! Friday morning at about 3am I was hit with a major flu. I will spare you the details, but lets just say nothing stayed in, not even water. My lovely husband went to the video store and stayed in bed with me caressing my hair in between bathroom trips, which were about every 10 minutes. It is sad when your spouse said "HEY! You made it 30 minutes this time!" So to say the least, our lovely date to The Market was completely ruined. Cancelled is more like it.
Alas, it is a new day. Onward to making
Galettes Au Fromage

Poulet Saute aux herbes de provence
Puree de pommes de terre a L'ail
Choux Broccoli a la Mornay Gratines
Mousseline au chocolat

It is 1: 30 and I am moving very slowly. But after a dear friend brought me some homemade mexican chicken and rice soup ( it is the only thing that works for everything). I feel I can accomplish this task.

I started with the Mousseline au chocolat because it needs at a minimum 2 hours to set. Kids were in the room while I started. Curiousity got the better of my 16 year old daughter (Sucker for all things chocolate).... soon she was in there helping whip up this and that. It is quite a long process with a lot of pans and beating going on. She almost tossed her cookies when I poured in the grand mariner. Too much liquor smell for her. It quickly went away though after burning off. It is sitting in the fridge now. I will now go trim the fat off the chicken and prepare the Galettes Au Fromage for munching. 

Time has now passed and I am now finished with the long meal that was so good. The potatoes.. eh, next time I will make more of the herbes de provence sauce to help make them more creamy. 
The chicken ...OH MY.. seriously to die for. Broccoli was great too. The boy went back for seconds on the chicken and I will for sure make it part of my regular dishes. I tried to take a picture with my crummy cell phone.

I guess I will need to take pictures with my camera from now on. Also I added a recipe for Grommet frommage. Cheesey wafers that I put in the garlic mashed potatoes.

Chicken:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 3- to 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry

1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill or with mortar and pestle

3 unpeeled garlic cloves

2/3 cup dry white wine or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth



Sauce:

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth

2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (optional)
For chicken:


Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken pieces and cook only until golden, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken breast pieces to plate. Sprinkle remaining chicken pieces in pot with half each of thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Add garlic to pot. Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 to 9 minutes. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Return breast pieces to pot; baste chicken with butter in pot. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes. Transfer to hot platter; cover.



Remove peel from garlic cloves; mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot. Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.



For sauce:

Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken. Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine. Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time. Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, if desired. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

 
 
The boy polished off 2 of the chocolate mousse with creme anglaise. The reason I have not mentioned the daughter is because she is busy playing in her Varsity Basketball game. She won't be home until late so bummer, she gets leftovers. She hates that. But I did make her a hot ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomatoe and vinigarette before she left. She ate it fast. But carbs, veggies, protien all in one will be good for her before her game.
 
I think I am going to be a heathen tomorrow and skip church. Which I try not to do. But I am still moving very slowly and now my husband is coming down with it. Time for me to take care of him.
So the menu is getting pushed back. Sunday is leftovers because with the husband sick, I will be taking care of him instead of cooking. However it just pushed back a day. All will return to normal after this bug leaves.