sesame chicken, tomato cream sauce and julia child's mushrooms

Don't worry - that wasn't one meal.


Instead of doing New Year's resolutions I'm going to have monthly goals that I (hopefully) will write about each month. For January, my goal is to try at least one new recipe a week. I rarely cooked for myself for the five months that we lived apart, and I think it's time to get back into the swing of things. 


Last night I decided to try a recipe for Lighter Sesame Chicken. Oy. I wish the recipe had been more clear. Make it so a third grader can understand it! When it came time to cook the chicken, I figured I was supposed to dredge it in the cornstarch mixture first, and then into the sauce, and then into the skillet (even though it never says to do this). That made a gooey mess, so in an act of insanity I combined both of the liquids. Whoops... clearly I was wrong. I looked at other similar recipes and realized I was supposed to dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture and cook it, THEN pour the sauce on. Reading the recipe again, I can see where I was mistaken, but at the time I imagined the cornstarch mixture to be the glue that would keep the sauce on the chicken. 

I cooked the chicken in three batches, then put all of the cooked chicken and broccoli into the pan and stirred in more sauce and sesame seeds. It was a frustrating and messy experience, but Andy seemed impressed and complimented the dish throughout the meal. I'm sure I'll make it again - the flavor was great  - but I'll do it right the next time!

(I think my dish looks more appetizing than the one on the website)

Tonight I jazzed up an Italian sausage and peppers dish by preparing it with a different sauce. This tomato cream sauce sounded yummy, so I gave it a shot. I've been dying to try Julia Child's mushrooms, so I figured they could be a random side dish.

I was a little overwhelmed because I cooked the sausage in one pan, the pasta in another, the sauce in another, and the mushrooms in yet another. Pictures were out of the question. The sausage dish was creamy and slightly spicy, and the mushrooms were crusty and buttery and heavenly.

Tomorrow I'm taking a break from cooking.