Chicken soup and galas

Chicken soup with broccoli rabe and spinach.

Cold morning are made for chicken soup. I pulled out a packet I had in the cabinet:

I always have hope for these dried soup mixes that are ready in minutes but sadly this one really missed the mark.

Most of the flavor came from the canned chicken broth I added and the spices in the packet left a very odd aftertaste. 

I ended up just drinking the broth and fishing out the broccoli rabe and spinach((

But on a better note - here are some shots of the gala dinner:

Tyler Florence doing his cooking demonstration.

Salad with blue cheese, pears and walnuts.

Filet Mignon.

Dessert.

Brunch the next day was at a lovely location. This was the view from the restaurant patio:

A bunch of people headed over to the Ferry Building which was just down the street.

Stonehouse Olive Oil.

Who can resist tasty salted pig parts?

I was very excited to try the Cowgirl Creamery grilled cheese sandwich.

Yes, I know I just finished brunch but people rave about this sandwich - and I did share it with four other people so I just had a taste.

The Lancashire cheese had a custard-like texture with a nice lemony tang. I was on the fence about whether I liked it or not - but when I got a bite with the bacon and cheese all in one go - the flavor was sublime so it gets a thumbs up from me.

Chinatown.

Wow, I can't believe it is almost the end of the week!

Night, all!

The big reveal and a confession

So what was the culinary destination on my road trip?

We went on a tour of the Cowgirl Creamery! The Cowgirl Creamery is a small artisanal cheese maker located in Point Reyes, CA.

The tour really wasn't a tour - it was more of a sit and listen to lots of interesting facts about cheese making. 

About 20 people that signed up for the tour gathered around this long table.

I sat facing the cheese making room - which was very fun.

All the beautiful cheeses.

I picked up this while I was there:

 
Creamy, rich and nice and tangy creme fraiche.

Tonight I used it in two dishes. 


Chicken in a lemony white wine reduction with creme fraiche:

 

And pan seared asparagus with a lemon pepper creme fraiche sauce.

I pan seared a chicken breast in olive oil until cooked through.

I pulled the chicken from the pan and added 1/2 cup of white wine to de-glaze the pan.

Then 3 Tbsp. of chicken stock went into the pan along with 1 tsp. of lemon juice and ground black pepper to taste. 

When the alcohol had cooked off (about 5 min) I turned the heat to low and whisked in 1 1/2 Tbsp. of creme fraiche. 

At this point I sliced the chicken breast and added it back into the pan. I let it all simmer together for another 5 minutes and it was done.

A side of red grapes.

This was full of rich taste - I would definitely reccomend it.


You might notice that the chicken is shown without side dishes.


My confession? Sometimes I eat a meal in stages - First I make and eat the meat portion. A while later I will make the vegetables. Later on, I will make some rice or potatoes. 

Yeah, I am weird like that.


Later on I made a very simple asparagus dish.


I pan seared some asparagus over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. The asparagus pieces were pretty big so I peeled the stems.

When they were bright green and just slightly brown, I took them out of the pan and set them aside.


Then 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1 tsp. of lemon and ground black pepper went into the pan to simmer. I stirred in 1/2 a Tbsp of creme fraiche and whisked until the sauce was smooth and glossy.

The asparagus was still a bit crunchy and the lemon sauce really complemented the flavor of the asparagus.


Creme fraiche - It's a good thing:-)