Easy Garlic Chicken with Stone Fruit Salad with Toasted Almonds

"All kinds of yummy smells are wafting up from the kitchen tonight."


That was my Facebook status at 6:30 tonight.   Miranda and Jason were making dinner. Which sounds like such a basic statement, especially for a family food blog.  Unless you're a regular reader of Necessary Pleasures and you know that Miranda rarely eats dinner with us, let alone cooks dinner.  


Proof??  She missed Homemade Mac 'n Cheese, Thai Noodle Dinner, Martha Hall Foose's Peanut Chicken and Michael Tzimmis, and a whole bunch of other meals. 


Oh to be 17, have a car, a little money, and friends who love to eat.  


But, you see, Miranda has a plan.  A college survival plan that goes something like this: When I go to college next year I'm going to offer to cook really good dinners for people as long as they buy the groceries and agree to let me eat some once I'm done cooking.   


The only problem with this plan? Miranda doesn't really cook that much. Sure, she's developed a taste for good food and she can read a recipe (she is going to college, afterall), but in terms of actual "in the kitchen hours" she doesn't have a whole lot to hang her apron on. 


But this week, when Jason asked if there was anything she needed at the grocery store she said "chicken", "garlic" and "brown sugar". 


Jason: What? 


Miranda: I want to make dinner. 


Jason: WHAT?!?


Miranda: I found a recipe on Pinterest and I want to make it. 


Miranda is a huge Pinterest addict -- follow her boards here.  This tweet from yesterday about sums up her feelings: 

@mirandafulmore "I'm pretty sure if you're a girl and you don't have a Pinterest then you also don't have a life."

So, armed with chicken and garlic and a couple other ingredients, Miranda set about making tonight's main course - Easy Garlic Chicken. And although she would have been perfectly happy having a Meat Fest, Jason insisted on adding fruits and vegetables, hence the Stone Fruit Salad with Toasted Almonds. 

Easy Garlic Chicken 


Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat over to 500 degrees (F) and lightly grease a casserole dish
2. In a small saute pan, saute garlic with the oil until tender
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar
4. Place Chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mix
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stone Fruit Salad with Toasted Almonds

Ingredients

• 1 cup riesling or other sweet white wine (Jason used a Chardonnay - it's what we had on hand)
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp almond oil (though we used olive oil, since he couldn't find almond oil)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 8 cups mixed salad greens
• 3 plums, sliced (we only used 2)
• 2 peaches, peeled and sliced (we only used 1)
• 2 nectarine, peeled and sliced (we only used 1)
• 2 apricots, peeled and sliced 
• 3/4 cup pitted fresh cherries, halved 
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Heat wine in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 10 minutes). ** Jason had a really hard time getting it to reduce. He ended up just pulling out 2 tbsp.
2. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
3. Toss salad greens and fruit with dressing. Sprinkle with goat cheese and sliced almonds. Serve immediately. 

Reviews:

Chef Miranda - Um, I made it! That's all you need to know.   No, seriously, it wasn't creamy enough, but it was good. Next time I make it I'd make it more creamy. (Jason: how would you do that?) By making it more creamy! (Tanya: How?) Okay, I'm done. We ate... let's get off dinner! 

Chef Jason - I thought it was okay. The chicken was a little dry. I think Miranda's idea of making the marinade creamier is probably good. I'd be very cautious about how long you cook it.  The salad was pretty good. Not bad. Good summer salad. 

Olivia - I liked it. I like goat cheese.  I thought the dressing on the salad wasn't that good. I don't know, it was, like, too heavy. 

Tanya - Funny! I thought the dressing was too light. I could barely taste it.  I liked the salad a lot, but then I'm a huge fruititarian.  The chicken was meh.  It was a bit too garlicky for my taste. I didn't taste the brown sugar and I would have liked to have more interplay between the garlic and the sugar. 

And finally, playing the role of the 17 year old meal misser this week is Hannah, who's away at Camp Nana & Papa this month.