Oven Fried Panko Chicken

Guess what? We are officially a pro-panko household.

My dad was right. This stuff is great. Tonight I made oven-fried panko chicken and Avo and I were both won over by the light and crispy texture of Japanese bread crumbs.

"I feel like we're eating at a Japanese restaurant," I told Avo, since we also had salad with miso dressing and rice with soy sauce. "I should be wearing my Kimono."

Years ago for one of my birthdays, Avo bought me a beautiful Kimono that I have only worn once or twice on Halloween.

(To set the scene, you should note that while we ate, the girls were eating popcorn and watching "The Brady Bunch" on DVD).

Then, right after our lovely panko-inspired dinner, Avo confronted me with something that's been bothering him.

"I see that you got this (pointing to a brand new container of sea salt) when we already have all of that (pointing to an old container of kosher salt)."

"Well, some recipes call for sea salt," I said, defending my purchase.

"Oh, we've reached that point, have we?"

"Apparently, we have," I said.

"I'm living with Alice Waters!"

And then I headed out to buy a pint of chocolate chip Haagen Dazs.

I am guessing that Alice Waters makes her own ice cream.

Alice Waters, watch your back!

Family and friends from near and far have been calling and e-mailing wondering how Friday night's dinner went.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but a couple of people have asked, so in service to efficiency, I figured I'd post the full report here.

The short answer to the question "how did it go?" is: great.

If you're interested in more details, read on...

First off, let me say "yay!" I did it. I really did it. I cooked a full meal, poached salmon with cucumbers cream and mint and sauteed grated zucchini with herbs -- without burning either the food or myself. And the food was good, even Avo thought so.

Thankfully, my friend Blair was standing by to answer my questions or I might have given up early on.

The first smart thing I did before beginning to cook was turn on the TV so the kids wouldn't bother me. In theory, I'd love to cook with my kids. But given that it was Friday afternoon after a long week and they were nearing meltdown (and so was I), TV was the only reasonable option.

I had no problem with the first steps:

1. Rinse the salmon, pat it dry, refrigerate
2. Get out pantry items (I substituted Kosher salt for sea salt)
3. Get out tools (I never thought of a skillet as a tool!)
4. Assemble the ingredients (although I always get my herbs mixed up)
5. Open the wine and chill it (and since it's open, you might as well take a sip or two).

Things got tricky once I began to prep. The web site I was following, notakeout, instructed me to "grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater." Amazingly, I was able to locate a box grater, but I couldn't figure out how to use it. Was I supposed to peel the zucchini? Luckily, Blair helped me situate myself so I was able to use the grater (although I think I contracted tennis elbow!).

Blair's advice: "Next time, use a Cuisinart with a grating attachment."

We went to our back garden to pluck the mint and the basil. I got quite a kick using ingredients we grew ourselves. Wouldn't Alice Waters be impressed?!

When it came time to seed the cucumbers, Blair handed me a spoon and said "You do it. Seeding a cucumber is something one needs to experience." I tried it and it was -- fun! It was so satisfying watching those cucumber seeds fly into the sink and knowing I was responsible.

Meanwhile, Blair scoured the pantry looking for measuring cups, but no luck. Finally, I found them on a top shelf.

"I knew we had them because I've seen Avo use them before," I said.

By this time, Blair and I were drenched in sweat.

"Why are we so hot?" I asked.

"Um, the oven is on." Apparently, we had forgotten to turn it off after baking brownies.

One thing I learned is that poaching is really easy. I basically just flopped the salmon into the water and remembered to flip it after 3 1/2 minutes.

Ruby helped to set the table and we all scrambled to clean up in time for Avo to return home from his 2nd day of work at the new job.

We timed everything so that the meal would be ready at 7:30. Luckily, Avo arrived just in time for us to sit down at the table.

"Surprise!" the girls yelled as he walked in the door.

Avo was indeed surprised to find a gourmet meal waiting for him -- and was especially happy when I handed him a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc.

The meal turned out perfectly -- except for the brownies, which were too flat and gooey (even after I let them bake for 7 minutes longer than the 20 minutes the recipe specified).

"It's interesting that of all of the things you made, the brownie is the one that didn't work since it's the easiest," said Blair. "Luckily, it's chocolate, so it still tastes good."

I loved using notakeout as a guide, except I had one big problem with their recipes. They listed some ingredients by weight: 4 ounces unsalted butter and 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate for the brownies.

So we had to turn to wiki answers to determine that 4 ounces of butter = one stick. The equation didn't work for chocolate chips, so Blair spread them on a plate and eyeballed it.

Maybe that's why the brownies were so mushy. We'll just have to try making them again sometime soon! I'm sure the kids won't mind.

No Take Out Tonight

How would you like poached salmon with cucumbers cream and mint & sautéed grated zucchini with herbs for dinner? How about if it is paired with a loaf of fresh, crusty bread and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and topped off with homemade brownies for dessert?

No, you don't have to go to an expensive restaurant for this feast. You can learn how to make it at Notakeout.com, which provides a complete menu, an express line friendly shopping list and a game plan to prepare a delicious, seasonal dinner. You can find tonight's menu here.

It's an ambitious project for a beginner cook like me, but I'm up for the challenge.

"Why wouldn't you just open up a recipe book?" asks my friend Blair, who is in town visiting from San Francisco.

"When I look at a recipe, I get overwhelmed," I explain. "The web site presents it to me in tiny steps, which I can manage."

Blair is on board. She helped me shop for the ingredients this morning and tonight, she'll cheer me on (and lend a helping hand) as I attempt to poach, sautée and bake.

Past notakeout menus have included: Pan Fried Pork Chops with Green Pea and Asparagus Ragout, Grilled Sirloin Steak with Herbs & Farro Salad, Braised Chicken Legs with Tomatoes & Sautéed Cauliflower, and Pasta with Summer Squash, Walnuts, Herbs & Hearts of Romaine Salad.

Alice Waters, a guest contributor (tonight's menu was adapted from Waters' "The Art of Simple Food") is a huge fan of notakeout. "Mealtime is a time for empathy and generosity, a time to nourish and communicate. I’m delighted that this global website will make it easier for families to come to the table, and back to their senses!" she raves on their site.

If you become a free subscriber to notakeout, you will receive your Menu and Shopping List every weekday morning via email or RSS. On weekends you're left to fend for yourself!

Elsewhere on the web, I'm inspired by Not Eating Out in New York, a web site started by Cathy Erway chronicling her endeavor to eat only home cooked meals.

If you want some reasons to not eat out, check out Erway's list. Her arguments are almost compelling enough to convince me to give up my favorite take out burritos and Moo Shu Pork.