Have you ever gotten something in your head that you just can’t get out? Well, one o’clock in the morning and I am wide awake thinking about chicken parmesan! Yes – that is right, a recipe! I am not thinking about how to pay the bills, the argument I may have had with one of my kids, or even the crazy things going on in the world today…I am waking up thinking about a recipe creation. I have a parmesan chicken that is a mayo-based creation on my blog that is awesome, but I am thinking about a more classic tomato sauce version. You know the one, tomatoes, cheese, crunchy, juicy, over pasta – yes, that one!
My mind starts racing thinking about how to use a basic sauce, dredge chicken breast, and then roll it in a crunchy mixture of bread crumbs, cheese, and my Italian seasoning. I formulate the recipe, keeping in mind how I want it to turn out. I want this one to be something a busy person uses all the time so, I go through these three steps…
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- Something fast
- Something cheap
- Something awesome
This idea is all three (at least it almost is)! I come up with all the ingredients that I think will go well together and then the next evening I start creating. My husband is watching the clock because he is hungry, the kids are prepping the dinner table ahead of time because this creation is taking some time, Raychel (daughter) is helping by making the veggie and the pasta, and I am fretting because the chicken isn’t getting done as quickly as it should. Only to realize 20 minutes in that the oven had inadvertently gotten turned off! Oh well, *#@* happens!
In the end the meal was “good” but in this case, I am not satisfied! This is the first pass at a new recipe. I think it needed more sauce, it needs more cheese, and I also think I will use a provolone and parmesan mixture.
Why (you ask) am I writing this blog post? Because, I want everyone to understand that recipe creation, no matter how easy the “pros” make it sound, is a process. The process has failures (more often than not) and successes. The FUN of it all is that the final results are always delicious. So, be patient with yourself and go have a little fun!
Enjoy the Process!
Maurie Kay
