Don’t Bother: Coconut Curry Chicken

I feel the need to explain what feels to me like the recent influx of Rachael Ray recipe reviews on this blog.  Before I moved, I cut up over a year’s worth of Everyday with Rachael Ray magazines and filed the recipes I actually  wanted to make in my recipe binder.  Now the majority of the recipes in my binder are from Rachael.  Though after last night, I’m less enthused about trying them.

Last night’s pick (because I have to keep my Man happy by serving meat once in a while…oh, and I like meat, too) was a 5 ingredient recipe for Coconut Curry Chicken.  We both like coconut and curry, it sounded simple enough and so I opted to give it a try.  It wasn’t difficult to make, and it looked pretty:

The taste, however, was lacking.  By which I mean, it didn’t really have any taste.  I know, it seems odd to say that a curry dish could have no taste, but my Man will back me up on this.  It’s not that it was bad, per se, it just wasn’t good.   It didn’t taste like curry.  It didn’t taste like coconut.  The recipe has 5 rave reviews, so either they’re crazy or I did something wrong (and despite a recent series of kitchen mistakes on my part, I think I made this one correctly).

We’ll be eating it again tonight, because there are still two servings left, but I don’t think I’ll be making this recipe again.  Definitely going to search for a relatively simple, delicious curry recipe for the future.

Mixed Sucess: Saturday Dinner

Menu: Rachael Ray’s Sesame and Herbes de Provence Chicken Tenders —  Quick Barley  —  Salad

Recipe review: Before writing my own recipe review, before even cooking a recipe, I should probably read the comments and reviews posted on the Food Network recipe page.  But I’m not that smart (or I’m too trusting of Rachael, or too disinterested in other people’s opinions…take your pick).  Anyway, I knew as soon as I tasted the chicken that it was really salty.  Surprise! Guess what the complaint of the majority of the 67 reviewers who over all gave the recipe only 2 stars was?  Too much salt!

That said, it did turn out to be edible, especially with the shallot and sherry vinegar dressing.  It was an easy recipe to create, I bought the herbes de provence in the bulk foods section of my local co-op, so I ended up with only as much as I needed (21 cents worth!).  I’d make it again, but tweak the coating (probably just leave out the salt; the herbes/sesame seeds/minced onion seemed like a decent combination to me).  Also, the chicken didn’t brown up much since it was baked in the oven; I’ll probably try cooking in in a little oil or something in a pan next time.

The quick barley was origially purchased because I couldn’t find pearled barley at my wonderful supermarket for my soup last week.  Barley is another one of those things we don’t eat in my house.  It turned out to be really, really good.  I expect barley will be making more menu appearances in the future, which makes me happy.

In summary, I’d make it again, but it wasn’t the most amazing thing ever, and the coating needs some serious tweaking.  But yay for barley (impending taste test: is pearled barley much better than quick barley?)