Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Chicken MarsalNAH

I woke up this morning with one thought in my head...dinner.  Now I know that might sound weird, but I can promise you it will make sense as you read through the rest of my post.  I had been asked by my parents to cook dinner tonight and I was ready for the challenge.  Collectively, we chose Chicken Marsala, a favorite meal made of simple ingredients - onions, mushrooms, chicken and Marsala wine.  I carefully sliced a pound and a half of button mushrooms in fourths and placed them in a plastic bowl off to the side.  Then I chopped up one large white onion in half, then half again and finally into small finely chopped pieces.  First, I sautéed the onions until they were translucent, then I added the bowl full of mushrooms and sprinkled some garlic powder, salt, black pepper and onion powder on top to add a little flavor and spice.  I took a large metal spoon and began to turn the vegetables over and over in the pan, making sure every inch was browned.  Then it was time to add the chicken into the sizzling pan.  The pieces looked large and tender, but later I would find out that was anything but true.  The mix of food cooked for about a half hour until it was completely cooked.  I was anxious to bite into my creation as my stomach growled: "feed me, feed me!"  And so that's exactly what I did...well, kind of.  I sliced a piece of chicken and combined it with a forkful of mushrooms and onions.  But to my surprise, the chicken wasn't tender, juicy or flavorful, in fact it tasted a bit like leather (sometimes I snack on those in my free time).  On the other hand, the vegetables were cooked to perfection, with a tiny bite of crunch and a powerful flavor from the spices.  I tried to stomach the chicken, but it was so squishy.  My parents and I looked at each other because we all felt the same way, we laughed and put the chicken back in the package and prepared it to be returned to the store.  We were left with a pot of mushrooms and onions, but for me, a meal of vegetables wasn't going to cut it.  I thought a little about what I wanted, but nothing really sounded appealing, except a food that I haven't eaten in quite some time - pasta.  I boiled a pot of water and put in about a half cup of Cavatappi twisty pasta noodles.  After it cooked I added some garlic powder, salt and pepper and quickly gobbled it up!  It's funny how a favorite food can turn into a disaster and how a simple bowl of pasta can make it all better.

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