A Restaurant Style Meal

Have you seen my “Getting $#!T Done” course yet?
I ask because, part of the challenge is to audit your life in every area and slowly level each area up to a “10”

One area of life is, of course, “Romance / Significant Other”  I have rated this area of my life as a good solid 8 🙂

Nobody is perfect and I don’t know that anybody should actually rate their relationship as a 10.  Let’s face it there is always more to do and some little thing that we are not 100% happy with about our partners (or ourselves).

When I was going through my monthly plan and trying to decide how I could level up this area, I thought one thing we enjoy doing is eating out.  We choose not to spend $100+ very often on a restaurant meal, but we are both capable home cooks and can replicate a restaurant style dish without too much stress.

Anyway, I digress  🙂

In my never ending quest to become a princess and be wined and dined by my prince  I decided that , as I work from home every Friday, I would look through a few menus and have a “fancy dinner” on Friday nights.    I will not shop specifically for this meal, but rather use the menu as inspiration to use what I have in the fridge, freezer and pantry.

This weeks menu came from a lovely restaurant not far from us.  See Restaraunt in Mooloolaba 
I have actually only been there once, and it was with a group of girlfriends for a special lunch.
It is on my list of places to go with hubby, but is is a stretch on the budget.
(A couple would do well to walk out spending under $100 after meals and a couple of drinks)

Scrolling through their menu, this dish caught my eye….
Confit Duck, Spec and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree

Yummmmmm, but I don’t normally have duck or spec residing in my well stocked fridge/freezer, but I most certainly do have chicken and bacon!!   This sounded like a winner.

This is what I ended up with ….
Slow Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken, Bacon and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree.

I found this recipe on Taste for the Chicken  and made it with a small half bird from the freezer.

The “bacon and green pea medley” is a side dish I often make for guests.. (a similar recipe is here)
In my dish I used frozen peas, green shallots and snow peas and  fresh beans all cut into small pieces about the same size as the peas.

For the honey carrot puree, I sauteed a small chopped onion in a drizzle of olive oil until soft but not coloured. to that I added two medium carrots chopped into rounds, and covered with water, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of chicken stock.  Simmer this until the water is mostly gone. Be careful, you don’t want it to boil dry.   

To serve, mash or puree the carrots ( I used a stick blender) and spread onto a plate in an attractive pool. Nestle the chicken in the puree and surround with the peas.  Gently spoon over the sauce from the chicken being careful not to “drown” it

As I am a TERRIBLE food blogger, I forgot to take pictures 🙁

Hubby declared the meal a success, and I felt I had boosted my “relationship score” a point or so – at least for the night 🙂

I wonder what I will find next Friday??

Not my picture of chicken 🙂