Too Hot! - 2/13/09

I never question the oven temperature and cooking times on recipes. There are too many other variables to worry about and temps and times are right... most of the time. Two of the recipes that I made tonight, Paprika Roast Chicken with Sweet Onion and Roasted Green Beans and Cashews, both on page 55 called for a 500 degree oven. The chicken had a cook time of only 30 minutes so a hot oven was necessary. The bean recipe called for a equally hot oven for almost the same time, that was too hot. Half the beans had roasted beyond recognition and were not palatable. The rest were salvageable but still quite overcooked. I like my vegetables very crispy and without a lot of fat from butter or oil. The beans were pretty much the opposite of that. Oh, well.
The Paprika Chicken was very simple and lightly flavored. Again,, the 500 degree oven was too hot for some of the onions but perfect for the chicken. The chicken was moist, I only wish the skin had been more crispy.
For desert, I made the Spanish Rice Pudding on page 110. I must admit that I thought there was no way that only a half cup of rice would absorb 5 cups of liquid. It did! It took longer that the recommended time but I think that was because I did not bring the milk mixture to a boil before turning it down to simmer. It took too long to get to a simmer and I think that's what made it take longer to thicken. The pudding was a lot like a tapioca pudding but not as sweet. Richard and I enjoyed it and tomorrow, we'll see what Eyrleigh thinks. She was too tired for desert tonight.