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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Take me away Mustard Marscapone Marsala.......

Yes, I'm thinking about food and recipes again......forgive me friends for I can't stop....


 
There's a certain comfort to filling the house with the smell of a wonderful meal cooking.
There's a certain comfort that comes with the anticipation of that great meal.  
Over the holidays, my house was filled with all those smells that go with the season and the wonderful comfort of anticipating a great meal with family and friends.
But, now that we are temporarily in a house-guest-lull and the frenzy of holiday comings and goings is behind us, I think this is when we might need comfort most of all.....
This past Sunday, after a hallaballoo day of trying to reignite my engines and get some semblance of order, I found myself craving some de-stressing time in the kitchen, a comforting, lingering-at-the-table-type meal and a feel-good movie....oh...and....um...and  a glass of this amazing Barolo wine  from a West Coast friend that I am slowly and deeply becoming addicted to...
First, let's talk about the feel-good movie I chose......Hope Springs.   
If you took a moment to click the link.....you'll get the gist of the movie.
All I can say is.....well.....um......hmmmm......thank God for the amazing Barolo.  
I am not saying it was a bad movie...not at all.
What I am saying is that it's probably not the best movie to watch when you're at place in your life when you're married 30+ years, your husband is uber devoted to his work, his career is demanding, he is not home all that much, he is chained to his phone and his computer when he is home,  you have a very small amount of together time,  your life is busy with many things that are not in the least bit related to your relationship, you don't want  to complain because you are lucky enough to have a full life (plus you manage to make it all look good),  you are blessed with more than a girl could ever want and you just came off a holiday season that was filled with many, many good things and good times.....BUT....still......
So, you get what I am saying...it's all the unsaid things in your own life that are said in this movie that kind of nudges at you.....ya know?
I suppose a movie that sticks with you the way this one has.....3 days later....could be considered a good movie.....
Clearly, I don't want to get too personal here on my blog about any of what really goes on in my real life and in my head.   However, what I thought would be a feel-good movie for me ended up being one that....well.....got me to thinking about things that I prefer not to think about because they mess with my happy disposition and my mascara.
So, I cook.
I think that's called suppressing your feelings....
Thankfully, earlier in the day, I came across this highly-rated Giada DeLaurentis recipe on Food Network --Chicken with Mustard Marscapone Marsala Sauce.
Considering that I had every one of those darn ingredients, I just knew that was the comfort, linger-at-the-table recipe I was looking for.
Damn, it didn't disappoint.
You can always count on a great recipe to help get you over whatever you need to get over.   
The chopping of the onions and the garlic and the mushrooms were exactly what I needed.
Following a recipe that I never made before was exactly what I needed.
That Barolo......oh, I could go on and on about it....was exactly what I needed.
The sauce for this recipe is.to.die.for.   I mean....TO.DIE.FOR.
I used very meaty baby bella  and cremini mushrooms that I sliced a bit thicker to give them some weight in the sauce.   Excellent choice!  
And, since I have a bit of a problem eating pasta, I used a very thin angel hair instead of the fettucine.  But, in all honesty, a thicker pasta would have probably been better.....but, it was still super yummy.  It's really the sauce that makes this dish.....it's a plate-licker sauce! 
Did I mention that the sauce is amazing?
The only thing I might do differently next time is either use thin sliced boneless breasts or pound the boneless breasts thinner.   Especially since I'm a Lapbander....
Since the chicken was not thin enough to be comfortable to eat for me, I only had a very, very small piece of it....which was delish.
It's the sauce that makes this dish.
Oh....did I say that already?
Anyway,  I highly recommend this recipe....the sauce especially.  I've fantasized about all of the things I could do with it.....I can just imagine it smothered on polenta....I'm getting sweat beads on the back of my neck just thinking about it....
And, I recommend the Barolo.
As for the movie.....let me know what you think.

 






  






1 comment:

Mar's kids said...

Oh my goodness, that chicken looks wonderful.

And yeah, we watched HS together on New Years Eve - MISTAKE! I agree, very good movie in that it makes you think, but it takes some time while you're thinking to realize you probably have it pretty good, you know?!? And there's your hubby, sitting there while the credits and the tears roll, wondering what the hell??

At least we married two wonderful guys who can put up with us, right?