Monday, June 9, 2014

Le Creuset Mini Cocotte Set, Chicken Basil Pesto Recipe, Wilson Dog Quotation

Le Creuset Stoneware Mini Cocotte Set of 4

Do you know how often I enter a giveaway?

Almost never.

So I could hardly believe it when Jean of Delightful Repast contacted me to let me know that I was the winner of her Le Creuset Stoneware Mini Cocotte Giveaway a couple weeks ago.  I chose red because it was the perfect red, but I'll have to admit that it was tough making a decision because all of the colors available were also beautiful. And a good thing I hadn't chosen blue, for I know someone who might be plotting to relieve me of ownership.

Anyway, thank you so much, Jean!

Be sure to visit DelightfulRepast.com. Jean has gorgeous food photos and fabulous recipes!

Since these came in the mail just a few days ago, I've not yet used them, but I'll get on that project right away. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a recipe I threw together the other night. Here's the story. Buckle your seatbelts.

Since it was Bible study afternoon and I wanted to get dinner started early, I had put 3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) into the CrockPot along with about 1/4 c. white wine and 1 container of basil pesto (I had made and frozen pesto last fall since I had had an abundance of basil in the garden - but Classico pesto is good too and could be used in this recipe.) I turned the CrockPot on to Low.

Three hours later, still before Bible study time, I peeked through the glass lid and discovered that they were bubbling around the edges. What? Already? On Low?? I checked with a thermometer and found that not only was the chicken done (165 degrees), but was already 201 degrees. Oh great! This was going to be horrid and tough. Well, too late now. I put the chicken on a plate and let it cool down a bit before covering and putting in the refrigerator - before leaving for study.

Time passed.

Chicken With Basil Pesto...
I realize that it looks a bit scary.

When I got home, I put a little olive oil in a skillet and stirfried some sweet peppers and onions until nearly tender. After cutting that CrockPot chicken into chunks, I sliced up some Kalamata olives. The chicken and olives got folded into the pepper/onion mixture. I didn't want to cook the chicken all over again, but just toss it along with the hot veggies to bring it to temperature. If there's anything I can't stand, it's warmed up chicken. Yech! But this was not cooked a second time, so it didn't have that scalding-the-chicken-to-get-the-pin-feathers-off smell/taste. (And no, I've never done that, but I remember my mom doing it a time or two. That kind of thing stays with you.)

This was served on a small bed of Tinkyada gluten-free fettuccine with a side of black beans.  It turned out to be a delicious dinner, along with a good rescue of that poor CrockPot chicken.

Have you noticed that the new CrockPots run much hotter than the old ones? There's really no way that my new CrockPot could be called a 'slow cooker.' It's annoying. I suppose the temperature settings were changed because of those thousands of deaths from undercooked CrockPot meat.

Remember that? 

Oh, you don't?

Grrr.

***

Love the quotation below this page from an old desk calendar:


***

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27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your stoneware win from Jean. Jean has a delightful blog, too!

Your chicken looks/sounds delicious to me. I think John would especially love the addition of olives.

Hope you have a nice Monday.
Mildred

Susie said...

I think Crock pots burn hotter than they are suppose too. I love the red crock/dishes. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

September Violets said...

Congratulations on your win! The pots are so cute. Your chicken sounds & looks great, glad you rescued the chicken. Wendy x

Diane said...

Congrats on your win-- what a nice gift! Gorgeous Shepherd too.

Cheryl said...

That looks really good! (I remember that scalded pin feather smell too. I was invited to join my new husband's family in a chicken dressing "party" when I was a newlywed. It was quite a shock to this town girl.)

Beautiful new mini cocette set! Love the color you chose.

Primitive Stars said...

Yay!!!! Congrats on your great win....love the Shepard picture, beautiful, Francine.

Eileen H said...

Congratulations on your win, and good colour choice too.
I saw Jean's giveaway and she had made a cherry cobbler in one...mmmm!
I love your dog picture of course :-)

Vee said...

Congrats on your win! We will definitely wish to see how you use them!

Yes! Crock-pots run much, much too hot these days. At least mine does. It really throws a gal off-kilter. The recipe times need to be rewritten or something.

MadSnapper said...

congrats on your win and i love the dog pic... don't remember any news about deaths from crock pots. i had one from 1968 through 1980 and it cooked great. have not owned one since then...

TexWisGirl said...

congrats on the win! i don't think i've used my crockpot in about 30 yrs. :)

Elizabeth Edwards said...

my MIL gave me one for Christmas about 3 or so years ago. i enjoy it. blue in color. great for soups. great for cleaning too. i hear they are popular in the cooking field. i hope you will get the chance to use them often & love them to pieces. ( :

Deborah Montgomery said...

That recipe of yours sounds like it turned out well, looks delicious. And those little crocks are great -- I'd use them for French onion soup for sure. You will find a lot of uses for them!

camp and cottage living said...

What a wonderful win, Judy! I have been eyeing these little Cocette pots for a long time, but they are way too expensive.
I didn't hear about the Crockpot deaths-yikes. I did notice last week when I used my crock pot that low sure seemed hot to me.
The pesto chicken sure looks yummy to me. We make Bruchetta quite often here.

Carla from The River said...

Hello Judy,
I do agree about the crock-pots. Same thing happened to me not long ago.

Congratulations on your red crock dishes, they are beautiful.
Carla

Terri D said...

Good save on the chicken dinner. Both of my crocks are older, but they seem to cook faster than I would like them to (which is why I only use them on weekends...kind of defeats the purpose, since I am home weekends and could cook without one).

That is a beautiful dog, and a true statement.

podso said...

Interesting about the crockpot temperature. I think we cook in a similar way--I would have made this!
Happy Monday.

Denise said...

Congrats on such a nice gift.

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

How wonderful! Your chicken dish looks delicious!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

My crock pot runs WAY too hot! I have to turn it to warm halfway through and then back to low before dinner. LOVE your new cookware! What a fabulous win! You are always so generous to have sweet giveaways, I'm so glad you won one...and a GREAT one, too! Hugs!

Daniela @Frugal Aint Cheap said...

love the cocotte set! and the red color is just beautiful!

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Congratulations on winning all of that fabulous cookware. Oh my, that recipe looks delicious, I can almost smell it from here:-) Thanks for sharing and for visiting.

Amy Burzese said...

Lucky girl! Cute, cute little pots. We have two larger ones like that and really are pleased with them. They are Lodge brand, not the real expensive brand. Your dish looks and sounds delicious. We're still using a 25 year old crock pot so we still have slow cooking. It'll probably stop working now that I've talked about it.

Ruth Kelly said...

Congratulations on winning a give-a-way. You deserve it.

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

First I am very envious that you won those! Yes, I have noticed that the newer slow cookers really don't cook that slow.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Hope you visit again soon!
Penny

Donna Wilkes said...

Love the quotation and congrats on the stoneware prize, but what struck me most (being totally grain-free) is the noodles you mentioned. Are they available in grocery stores?

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the win! Nice. That is a great quote!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

You are correct about the newer crock pots. If I started something in the morning and left it there for 8 hours it would probably be cooked to death!
Now it's usually one hour on high and 3-4 on low at the most! Usually just 3

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