I Can't Cook Therefore I Go To Williams Sonoma Free Demos!

Photos I took from the Williams Sonoma Demo on Pan Roasting...

Okay to be honest I had no idea exactly what Pan Roasting was until I went to this demo on Saturday. "Roasting" to me is burning chicken and praying it's not too burnt so we can still eat it. One of the things I love about Craig is that he loves my burnt chicken. He even goes for second helpings!! But after this demo I'm hoping maybe I can actually pan roast some chicken and MAYBE not burn it? =)

Well, let's start at the beginning - Pan Roasting is the two step process of initially sautéing food in a small amount of oil in an oven proof pan on the stovetop and then the food within the pan is placed within the oven to finish cooking. This is taken from a snippet on the Williams Sonoma demo worksheet, see here. An oven proof pan will definitely be a purchase of mine in the near distant future. 

This demo featured one pan-roasted dish of Pan-Roasted Chicken w/ Herb Compound Butter & a Spicy Pan-Roasted Cauliflower. Both of which I got to try at the end.

Spicy Pan-Roasted Cauliflower - Recipe HERE.

I've always loved cauliflower raw but I think I can count the number of times I've had it cooked as a dinner side on one hand. This recipe & roasting technique was absolutely delicious & an eye-opener. It was roasted cauliflower, not mushy cooked cauliflower like when you boil it in a pot of water like broccoli, but firm cauliflower jam packed with flavor. The rosemary water soaked raisins were just a extra kick of flavor and it was yum yum!! I asked for a second helping after the demo. I will be making this at home. 

Pan-Roasted Chicken w/ Herb Compound Butter - Recipe HERE. 

The beauty of these demos is the instructor went through every step, even showing us the initial sautéing of the chicken using a Splatter screen for her oven roasting pot. I've never seen a splatter screen before so that will also be a future purchase. This recipe was more self-exclamatory. Sauté the chicken, then place the chicken in the oven for the allotted time the recipe calls for. The herb butter and the champagne finishing sauce was added to the still hot chicken after it was taken out of the oven. It was melty goodness. 

The only thing with the chicken that I was a little disappointed about was that the flavor was really only in the skin, not the chicken under it. I asked for some more sauce/herb melty concoction so I could dab the chicken in so then I got the full effect. It was very delicious. I might try to remove the skin after the oven roasting and add the herb butter to the chicken breast itself. 

Have you ever Pan-Roasted Food?

 What was Your Experience with the Process? 

I truthfully feel myself learning how to be a better cook by going to these demos. Even just hearing the questions of the other demo-goers is a learning experience that I'm all to eager to soak up! If I try out the chicken or cauliflower recipe at home I will definitely write about it. 

More photos of from the demo... 

I also purchased the ZOKU slush/shake maker w/ my 10% off! I will post about a review of that product later in the week! Move over Wendy's Frosty's! I'm going to see if I can make my own! =)

Until Tomorrow...