A Loss for Words-9/14/09

I'm sorry to disappoint you but the title is a bit deceiving. Tonight's dinner was not so good, I was left without words. I am having a dickens of a time thinking of a way to pull this post together. You will notice that I often try to tie the night's menu into something either life or food related. Tonight I've got nothing. Asian flavors, already done it. Current events, don't relate to dinner and I have no idea who Kanye West is anyway, all I know is he must have been a punk on some show because President Obama called him a "jackass". I can respect a well-timed use of the word "jackass", even from the president. So here is the very concise, rather dull description of tonight's dinner of Gourmet recipe.
I had originally had 4 recipes on tonight's menu but happily, the Ginger Green Beans were made by Nancy over Labor Day weekend. One of the recipes was pulled from the June issue of Gourmet, the Broiled Chicken with Bacon over Egg Fried Rice on page 62. This classic main went well with several Asian-inspired side dishes in this month's issue. There really isn't any reason to rave about this simple chicken fried rice with the addition of bacon. It was good, quick, and easy, but not particularly earth-shattering or even that unique. Or then again, I may just be having trouble coming up with anything.
Though both the Japanese Turnips with Miso on page 53 and the Okra with Scallion, Lime, and Ginger on page 60 had some really nice components, I didn't feel that either were outstanding. The Japanese Turnips with Miso had the unfortunate distinction of being made with a vegetable that is insanely hard to make attractive. Turnips have that mild bitter taste that can be off-putting. The butter and miso were a really good addition and both Richard and I really thought this dressing was an improvement over simple cooked turnips. The Okra with Scallion, Lime, and Ginger combined some distinct taste elements but I didn't think the combination worked very well. The ginger, in particular, stood out as abrupt. Okra's rather unique texture came across as slimy in this dish, rather than the more acceptable juicy.


Broiled Chicken with Bacon Over Egg Fried Rice- B
Japanese Turnips with Miso-B
Okra with Scallion, Lime, and Ginger-C

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