L: Oh my goodness my first time as a 'blogger' What do I write? What makes me sound interesting and witty? Well not a lot to be honest so I will just go for the facts and hopefully that will work out. To be honest I didn't think this was as much as a success as the previous recipes. The stock didn't reduce so was too liquidy and runny and the carrots were too crunchy for my liking. Probably because it was a meal from the 'meal in minutes' recipe book - it really needed to be stuck in an oven for an hour or so to really get the stock into the chicken and cook everything that little bit longer. Nevertheless the dumplings were pretty good if I may say so myself (having made them myself), and were rather tasty! Out of ten I would say maybe about a 6 or a 7. I will pass you on the masterchef himself......
J: I agree with L. The cooking time left the carrots and leeks distinctly al dente, which I personally love, but is not to everyone's taste. It was more like a very chunky broth, although that may have been down to lax measurements. The broth was sweet, probably as a result of the wine. The chicken itself was pretty bland. It'd make a good winter warmer dish or chicken soup to recover from illness with a few hours in the oven. Even though it's supposedly summer we both cycled home from our respective workplaces through the driving rain, and something comforting and fast seemed appropriate. The dumplings were indeed the highlight. Yummy doughy things with the taste of lemon and home-grown thyme poking through to the fore saying "Notice me!". Cooking time came in at well under the hour, but perhaps a bit longer would have helped matters. Mind you I'm not dissatisfied, in fact I'm full, contented, and very much looking forward to the leftovers tommorrow.
Washed down with a Cotleigh Buzzard dark ale from the real ale collection. Now that was beautiful. Warming, dark, sweet, with a satisfying bottle conditioned fizz. As close as a real ale ever gets to fizzy pop.
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