Monday Garden Update

Well last week things were a little busy, so I never got around to posting about the garden.  I think I'll be posting these on Sundays because Mondays are just too crazy at my house.  As of this moment I have a giant pile of laundry calling my name but I have ignored it all weekend so we could go hiking and do other fun things like grilling out and enjoying the gorgeous weather. 

View from our weekend hike.

There's been plenty going on in the garden.  For one, it's been cold enough the last week that we had to bring the row covers back out.  We've since put them back away.  Tomorrow's high temp is supposed to be 80!!

Tthe rhubard is getting eaten by something already.  Urgh!

The raspberries are starting to leaf. :)

The peas are poking out!

The onions and garlic we transplanted are looking fabulous...

And last but not least...

 the asparagus began to poke out last week!!!


That's what going on in our garden.  What's going on in yours?

Poulet a la moutarde/Chicken in Mustard

When I saw the recipe for chicken in mustard (poulet a la moutarde) showcased on Melissa d'Arabian's Food Network show 10 Dollar Dinners I knew I had to try it.  I faithfully DVR the show every week.  My favorite episodes are ones where she makes french recipes doable with american ingredients and budgets.  I just love french flavors; they just aren't that easy or practical to make here with our american ingredients. It gets expensive quickly.

The chicken in mustard recipe is a revamp of a french bistro classic, rabbit in mustard (lapin a la moutarde).  Since rabbit isn't exactly budget friendly here, she makes it with chicken thighs.  I don't know why I haven't thought of substituting chicken thighs for rabbit in french recipes before.  It makes so much sense with both of them being dark, flavorful meats.

Unfortunately my photo doesn't do the dish justice.  The photo was an afterthought.  The picture taken here was of plate of the leftovers we had already smothered in sauce.

The flavors in this dish had me reminiscing of fond memories spent in France.  I highly recommend you try it.  The uniquely french flavor combinations of tarragon and dijon mustard is phenomenal!!!  You can get the simple recipe here.

Substitutions: I didn't use white wine because my husband isn't a big fan of wine in cooking.  I used extra chicken stock instead.  I also didn't have any mushrooms so I added extra onion.  It's a very forgiving recipe that you can easily tweak to your tastes.  I accidentally put the dijon mustard in during the chicken stock phase instead of the end as was specified in the recipe.  It was no big deal.  I always use 100% whole grain noodles.