Quick recipe 'Sheet Pan Chicken and Potatoes'

 No pictures unfortunately because it had already been a frustrating day and I was hungry but here it goes.

Started out to make 'Greek Chicken and potatoes' from a pinterest recipe. The lack of imagination and definition of 'Greek' seasoning was not inspiring. I decided to go my way then needed to write it down before I forgot what I did.

1 pkg chicken thigh meat pieces, approx 4. 

2 pkg Italian Dressing Mix (or bottled dressing)

2-3 tbl olive oil

1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes cut and quartered to approx 1 inch pieces. Can also use the baby gold potatoes and just cut those in half.

Canola cooking spray

2-3 tbl lemon juice (or juice of 1 good size lemon)

Salt, pepper

4-5 cloves garlic, crushed

 Aluminum foil, two baking sheets

 

Rinse and pat dry chicken pieces (I forgot to trim off extra fat), place in baking dish/bowl (whatever), drizzle with 2 tbl olive oil, sprinkle on 1 pkg dressing mix, 2 cloves of minced garlic and half the lemon juice, mix with tongs or hands to coat well. Cover dish with plastic wrap and put in fridge until ready.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees, for my oven I moved one of the shelves higher for putting in two baking sheets.

 

Rinse and pat dry the potatoes, cut and quarter as needed. Put in mixing bowl, drizzle with remaining olive oil, toss to coat, add in the second dressing mix and remaining garlic, mix to coat well then add in the remaining lemon juice and repeat. You can add more oil, garlic or lemon as you feel it needs.

Line baking sheets with foil, spray with cooking spray and spread potato pieces in one layer trying not to have many of them touching and skin sides down as much as possible. When oven is ready, put potatoes on top rack. 

Prepare chicken same way, line baking sheet, spray with oil, lay chicken pieces on foil and drizzle any remaining marinade over chicken before putting in oven on bottom rack (it's okay if there's no marinade left, keep reading.) 

 

Since I have an electric oven my main element is on the bottom so I put the chicken closer to the heat to get a bit of sear on it and the potatoes higher because they are smaller pieces and would burn more. Supposed to cook for about 40 minutes, I set my timer for 30 but had to pull the chicken out after about ten minutes because there was a lot of liquid in the shallow pan and it had warped in the heat. I reserved those juices for later.  Wasn't expecting that but it turned out fine.

At the 30 minute mark I checked the potatoes and those were almost ready, pulled them out and used tongs and spatuala to turn them all over and do the same with the chicken. Returned them both to the oven for another ten minutes. 

In the meantime, I poured the juices into a small saucepan, added in a little more lemon juice and another clove of garlic some salt and pepper, heating it up to bubbly then turned off the heat. 

Potatoes were fork tender at that point, pulled those out then checked the chicken which was also almost ready. Side note: my digital thermometer needs a new battery so I have to eyeball doneness for the chicken. I erred on the side of caution after pulling apart the thicker parts then put them on a plate and microwaved for another minute or two. I returned the chicken to the (now cleaned) marinating dish and poured half the marinade sauce over. 

 

Everything was done, served on the same plate and drizzled the remaining sauce over chicken and potatoes. It was delicious! I will never skimp on the lemon and garlic again. Definitely a do again.  This could benefit with green veggies like broccoli or brussel sprouts for sure. 

 

Pictures next time I fix this. 

 

I have reasons for long delay

 Happy Valentines Day!

Long time no post due to long illness and not having energy to cook. So now am back at it again after almost three months. So, no fantastical recipes as yet but did hit on another version of the DIY hamburger helper. Fast, tasty and quick Oh yes and fixed a huge crock pot of ham and potato soup that is absolutely delicious but heavy on the salt. Restocked the freezer with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, stew meat and the usual assortment of hamburger and chicken. 

 One Pan Hamburger Pasta 

1lb hamburger

1/2 onion, chopped

1tbs olive oil

3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 packets Mushroom Gravy mix 

1 tbs Italian seasoning

1 tbs Italian salad dressing

1 tsp pepperoncini juice 

2 tbs (approx) Parmesan/Romano cheese

1 tsp paprika

Salt/pepper

1/2 box rotini pasta (or pasta of your choice, something that will grab onto sauce and meat)

 

Due to my kitchen arrangement I had to cook the pasta first then set it aside, if you have a big enough stove, cook the pasta when convenient. There is a 'cooking time' when the sauce has to thicken so just time it so the pasta can cool a bit before adding it into the meat.

 

Using a large frying pan, over medium high heat, ad the olive oil and heat until shimmer, add onion and cook until almost translucent. Add in the hamburger but let it sit and brown a bit before digging in to separate and cook. Continue cooking meat until well browned, salt and pepper to taste, lower heat and add in the garlic and the Italian seasoning.

In large measuring cup (I  have a 4 cup one) pour in 2 cups water and the two packets of mushroom gravy mix, whisk to combine well then continue whisking while pouring it into the pan of meat. Stir carefully to combine as it heats back up to a simmer. When sauce begins to thicken add in the drained pasta. 

 Continue to stir to mix well and coat the pasta.  As the sauce thickens, add in the cheese, stirring well, the juice and the salad dressing. Lower heat and stir occasionally for about a minute or so. Sauce should be coating meat and pasta well. Should be well thickened but not gloppy. Taste to adjust seasoning if needed.

 Done! Serve in a bowl and enjoy!

 I had to write this one down because at first it was too salty and then I realized I was missing that zing of vinegar and hit on the salad dressing as well as the pepperoncini juice. You can sub in banana pepper juice as well, I almost added in some of the chopped peppers but was getting hungry and the juice was fine. I bought a tall jar of sliced peppers and have been adding the juice and peppers into a lot of things. 

Taste good on a bologna sandwich too!

So that's the only thing I have at the moment. As I said I haven't been in the kitchen doing anything amazing for almost three months. It'll take a while to get my kitchen mojo going again. Tomorrow I believe we are having shrimp stir fry over rice so nothing new there. 

More to come, sporadically at best! 

 

 

 

 

Herbed pork loin roast and mashed potatoes

 It turned out perfect! Again, cobbled together my own recipe but followed cooking temps and time from a pinterest post.

Bone in Pork Loin Roast.

1 ~5lb bone in pork loin roast

4 or 5 cloves garlic sliced 

2 tbs olive oil

approx measures of:

1tsp rosemary

1 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp parsley

salt and fresh ground pepper 

 

Total volume is about 2 tbsp of herbs.  

 Pre-heat oven to 425 

Pat dry roast thoroughly then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Drizzle olive oil over and rub in to cover all surfaces. Cut small slits in all soft meat areas and insert slices of garlic, doesn't have to be perfect some can stick out a bit.

Sprinkle herbs little bit at a time and pat into meat, do not try and spread. When herbs are all applied.

Place on rack in shallow foil lined pan, add about ¾ - 1 cup of water in bottom of pan (this was from a recipe that had vegetables in the pan as well but I did it anyway).

When oven is heated, place pan on middle rack of oven and cook for 15 minutes, then turn temperature down to 350 and cook for 1 1/2-2 hours. Internal temperature should be anywhere from 145 for medium rare to 160 for medium. I went for 145 and checked in different spots to make sure it was thoroughly cooked. At the end of an hour I pulled out the roast, inserted digital instant thermometer, set to 145 and turned the pan around to finish cooking for another hour. 

When temperature reaches desired number turn off oven and take roast out. Do not cut immediately and let rest for 15 minutes at least in order to let the juices distribute and stay in the meat. Crucial step here.
 

 Let me tell you this is a do again for sure! The cooking gods were with me on this and my diligence in following the directions paid off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost perfectly juicy due to mistakenly inserting forks to move the roast let a little of the juices out but not too much. It was moist and tender all the way through.

Mashed potatoes were a combination of white and Yukon Gold served with turkey gravy augmented with some pan juices from the pork. 

One thing I need to say is, when a recipe is called 'herbed roast' whatever there had better be more than one herb. I saw one recipe that was just salt, pepper and rosemary. That's one flavor. I was originally going to just use Italian seasoning but went with a less is more using just three or four plus the salt and pepper. Can't rave enough about how well this turned out. 

 

 

Long time no post

 I have not been feeling well so not as many pictures of new recipes as a result. I have discovered some amazing flavors of yogurt though and have been eating my favorite apple variety Cosmic Crisp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely gigantic apples that are just a wonderful treat for eating. I don't have good front teeth so I cut it up into small pieces and there is enough in that one apple to make a decent 8" pie. Seriously. Cosmic Crisp, expensive even at my store but so worth it. 

Due to having loads of turkey left and not eating as much of what was in the freezer I was able to splurge on a rack of pork. This was the smallest Costco had and perfect size for two of us and only $17. I am still debating whether to do it as a savory herb style or bbq, since we got some white potatoes and yukon gold I'm thinking savory with a nice gravy and mashed potatoes. That is going to be Christmas Eve dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Kitchen hack: If you want a toasted hot dog bun but toaster slots are too small, oven is too much work and you're boiling your hot dog... use your toaster like a broiler only reversed. Gets it mostly toasty and no burning at the 2 or 3 setting. 

Chicken cutlets or my attempt at chicken schnitzel. 

Butterfly cut two chicken breasts and then beat them between two pieces of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thick or closest. Standard breading set up:

1/2 c flour

2 eggs whisked

1 cup Italian bread crumbs with 1 tsp each garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper and additional Italian seasoning if you wish. 

I ended up cutting one flattened breast in half because it was a bit too thin on one side and gave way. Generously salt and pepper the pieces.

Heat 1/2 cup oil in pan until shimmer.

Coat chicken in flour, shake off excess, dredge in egg thoroughly then coat in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to get the crumbs to stick. Fry one at a time if pieces are too big, doesn't take too long due to how thin the chicken is. Golden brown on each side then remove to paper towel on plate.

 

I forgot to make gravy but we had some of the yukon gold potatoes baked in the microwave. Delicious dinner and very simple. The breading turned out perfectly seasoned and there was an enormous one left over we split for lunch the next day. Partner cut his in pieces to put in ramen and I used my half on a bun for a chicken sandwich.

Today's meal was shrimp tacos or shrimp and rice bowl for partner with lime cilantro rice. I made chipotle ranch sauce which was insanely more easy than other recipes. Ranch dressing from a packet, whisked it and let it set for an hour. Took half of that in a smaller jar and added two finely chopped chipotles and some adobo from the can with an added clove of garlic crushed. I think I added a smidge of chili powder and cumin as well. It is delicious!

I have some pre-shredded cabbage (cole slaw mix) and added some of the sauce to a handful of cabbage for topping. Oh but the shrimp you say? I found a packet of Mojito Lime marinade mix at the store and followed the directions on that. It cautioned that you only need to marinate the shrimp for up to a half hour. I lost track of time and may have gone over that. If I didn't have the lime rice or the slaw the shrimp would have been a bit overpowering on salt flavor. But the combination of pico, cabbage and avocado it was absolutely delicious! Total do again for sure!

 

Pico de Gallo

1 roma tomato fine chopped 

1/4 yellow onion fine chopped

1/4 jalapeño fine chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp lime juice. 

 

There have been other meals but again, I am more focused on actually fixing the food and eating than impressing people with how it looks. Hopefully the coming year there will be more fantastic, terrific recipes and meals to share. 

 

Almost end of month Turkey Part 1

 Through the lovely giving of a friend we have all the makings for a turkey feast. Other than dessert but that's all on us. We have only cooked a turkey once in our current apartment so this is a familiar but unique challenge. Size matters. How it started:

We were gifted a 13 lb turkey,  veggies and a few other things. That is the largest turkey we can fit in our small oven. That doesn't mean the largest one we've gotten, I mean we can't fit anything larger.

My preferred tray has hard wire handles and support on the bottom. It worked in previous years just fine. But not with this oven. The handles were an inch too wide for my tiny 30" apartment oven ('ll get to what i used on and in the turkey). You've seen this kind of pan, roughly 12 x 17. It's the 12 inches including the handles that is the problem. 

Same dimensions but a rectangle and it *just fit* inside the oven. So for future reference 11 x 16 is preferred size.

Now for the coating and other details. I only have stove top dressing so am not putting it inside the turkey for ease of cooking. I did quarter a small yellow onion, thought I had quartered a lemon but it was a small orange but stuffed that in there anyway along with some garlic slices and a good few tablespoons of unsalted butter. I should have salted the whole thing first but forgot.  

Butter coating:

1 cube (1/2 lb) unsalted butter softened

2 or 3 tbl Italian seasoning

2 tsp sage

Salt and Pepper

 

Mix that all together and set aside. Prep the thawed turkey and put it in the roasting pan first before coating. Don't used your hands, use a rubber spatula, fork or spoon. The turkey will chill the butter again and make it difficult to move around. I have seen olive oil used instead and that's an option. I prepped all the veggies the night before which is a HUGE time and space saver. This is not a high quality turkey but it was a gift and we will eat it for sure. 

We were also given a bundle of baby/very thin asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, some chicken broth, and two each, zucchini and yellow squash. That will go into a very tasty casserole later.

I diced up the veggies the night before so I had the carrots, celery and onion all ready to toss in a pot to saute before mixing in with the stuffing. Asparagus has been snapped and set in water then in a zip bag in the fridge so that is ready to go to steam in the microwave then lemon, garlic, salt and pepper will be added.  The neck and 'giblets' have been simmered in a pot with some chicken broth and the dregs from the veggies for the stuffing. That will be saved out for stock later and hope to make some soup down the road. The gravy is going to be from a package but am tempted to do a scratch gravy as well. Yeah, so much broth and juices to use for that it should be great.

So that's Part 1 of the Turkey Dinner, Part 2 will be after disassembling and serving. There is enough turkey for two, maybe 4 people for sure. 🦃🦃 

New month, new supplies

 This months supplies almost didn't happen due to circumstances beyond my control. A little late but money did come in so cooking has commenced.

Meats on the menu for this month: Stew beef chunks cut into smaller bits and portioned into four roughly 1 lb bags, packets of chicken thighs and chicken breasts, approx. 1 lb of shrimp and the ever present approx. 6lbs of hamburger in rough 2 lb portions divided in large freezer bags. Coming up for dishes as add ins, chow mein veggies, stir fry veggies and the assortment of red and green bell peppers, shredded cabbage for coleslaw, onions, garlic, potatoes, the usual.

Today was beef 'tips' (aka stew beef cut up smaller) with brown and mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This recipe could not be simpler. Chopped 1/4 of an onion, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 lb beef chunks, 1 packet each mushroom gravy mix and brown gravy mix and about a tablespoon of Italian salad dressing mix. One trick that I have heard and have yet to remember is sprinkling a teaspoon of baking soda on the beef before cooking. Apparently what this does is help tenderize the meat before cooking. This is really a good thing to do with tough cuts of meat like stew meat that you aren't going to stew for a long time.

I patted dry the beef then added a tsp salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder with a 1/2 tsp paprika. Let that sit in the fridge in a bowl while I cooked the potatoes. 

Heat pan with a little oil, add in the onion, cook until a bit soft, add in the meat and continue to cook until all sides are not pink. Add in crushed garlic and continue to cook until fragrant. Mix the two packets of  gravy and the Italian dressing mix with a whisk thoroughly in 2 cups of water. Add into the pan slowly and continue to stir on medium high heat until it begins to bubble, turn down to low, put cover on and check every minute or so to stir and make sure the gravy is congealing properly. Also gives the meat a chance to loose up a bit. Usually about five or six minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes. I had just enough left over for one small helping as a snack later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef prices. Through, the, roof. But it's worth it for having enough for meals to the end of the month. Yes, two or three years ago the price was about ten dollars cheaper for hamburger and about five dollars cheaper for the stew meat. Chicken thankfully hasn't gone up that much, but I am thankful for having the assistance to make this possible. 

Another delicious redux: Shrimp over seasoned rice. I got a picture of the finished product but now I do not remember how I cooked the shrimp. It wasn't garlic shrimp but did use similar seasoning to the rice, which was my basic recipe I skimmed from Pinterest. It definitely benefited from a liberal sprinkling of lemon juice to spark up the savory flavors of the rice and shrimp. I know I used a lot of butter and some oil, garlic of course and added in about a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in water at the end for a sauce that stuck to the shrimp. We still have half a bag of shrimp and will probably use that with the chow mein veggies over rice. Yep that's what I'm going to do. 

Usually I am not focused on getting pictures when I'm cooking no one should be. If you're cooking, that's what you're doing and if it's something involved, you don't want to take your focus off to get pictures. So most of the time I'm doing that and then sit down to eat and forget to take pictures because  I want to eat. 

Self centered people tend to be the ones that post to instagram or whatever their account is of how great their cooking is or what restaurant they're eating at. Some people may sound and look like they enjoy sharing their food and recipes but if all the post is look at me look at what I'm eating, no. I am sharing what I cook for my kids and their kids when I'm not around anymore and any other random friends and family to enjoy good food. I preserved recipes from my parents as well for the same reason.

No matter what you cook, cook with your heart. 

 

 

Peruvian Chicken and Rice with Green Sauce

 Chicken thighs it is this time around. Following a recipe from Pinterest of course, I was only missing one ingredient, which is amazing for what this is. Why it's 'Peruvian' I don't know, unless it's the combination of green sauce and the marinade. I am not giving instructions on cooking rice. The picture shown on the recipe has a golden colored rice and only calls for Jasmine rice. I know for a fact that rice is not golden colored. They recommended cooking it in water or chicken broth so that's the difference. Will try that next time. My green sauce also turned out more white than theirs so... yeah. 

My spin on it to make up for the lack of jalapeño was  using onion and a combination of spices. It really did need the pepper but will do that next time as this sauce is out of the park delicious!

Chicken and Marinade

 

4-6 chicken thighs, bone and skin intact 

 

3 tbl lime juice (fresh called for, bottled is okay)

3 garlic cloves minced/crushed

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika (I used a scant tsp and added 1/8 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbl olive oil (I am out of olive so used canola)

 

In a bowl, combine ingredients for marinade whisking together thoroughly, toss chicken (rinsed and patted dry) into large zip lock bag, pour  over chicken, press out air, seal and mush together so well coated, put on a plate so pieces are all flat and put in fridge until needed. Minimum ½ hour but longer is better, overnight recommended. I added in a few pieces of frozen orange peel, thawed and chopped fine.

 

Green Sauce

 

1 c fresh cilantro

1(2) garlic cloves crushed

1 jalapeño (remove seeds and membrane for less heat)

2 tbl lime juice

1/4 c mayo or greek yogurt

2 tbl olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Water if needed for consistency

 

Drop all ingredients into a blender, jalapeño (onion) and garlic first. As I noticed I did not have a pepper so I substituted this way:

3 1/4 inch slices yellow onion chopped (roughly 1/8 cup)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

A few small pieces orange peel chopped fine 

 

Blend thoroughly on pulse until well blended, I added another tsp of lime juice and a little more salt.

The instructions for cooking the chicken did not make sense.

"Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the marinated chicken thighs for about 6-7 minutes per side until cooked through and golden brown with a caramelized crust."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the problem: what do they consider medium high heat on a scale of 1-9? Also, if you sear the chicken quickly at first and then continue cooking the chicken, it is not 6-7 minutes on a side and you will end up with burned chicken. It also does not call for any kind of oil in the pan. I added about 2 tbl of canola oil and turned the burner up to 7 1/2 or 8 until it shimmered. It took about 30 minutes for them to get seared, turning ever few minutes or so. They were were not searing so I had to take them out, pour off the liquid/oil in the pana and put it back on the burner. That resulted in searing but also sticking. After they were seared well I tested the largest one and it was not cooked through.

Right. Put them all on a large plate and completed the cooking in the microwave for 3 minutes. Tested the temperature on the biggest one that still looked a little pink and decided to put them back in for another minute. 165 is the recommended temperature and I always cook to 170-172 to be sure.

 

But let me tell you, it was delicious! The sauce was the kicker and is very similar to the seat of the pants green sauce I made before but this will be my go to sauce to put on chicken or shrimp tacos, any shrimp really, sandwiches... you name it.  It's the combination of lime, cilantro and garlic that is so universal really.  Change an ingredient or two and it would make a great salad dressing. Roasted chicken on a nice green salad, yessiree! It's very similar to the cilantro dressing from Pollo Loco actually.

I made bow tie hamburger skillet yesterday so nothing fancy there. Used a packet of mushroom gravy and beef gravy mix, and accidentally tossed in what I thought was way too much Italian Seasoning. Here's what happened: 

So I put about a tablespoon of seasoning into my little molcajate (mortar and pestle) then realized my small container was getting low so brought down the larger reserve container. Problem one, I only have a regular funnel with a small neck. Right.... hmmm paper funnel using 8 1/2 x 11 just rolled into a cone. The problem again is, I couldn't see how much was going in and ended up spilling about another tablespoon worth on the counter. Not going to waste precious spices so swept that into my hand, looked around then whatever, dropped it into the pan. I thought, no such thing as too much Italian Seasoning and it turned out just fine. 

Now I recall there is an origami method of making a paper funnel, so will have to look that up and make one to have on hand for just such a situation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of chicken and new sauce

No pictures indeed because I was hungry and it's chicken sandwiches. Who needs pictures? I'm low on certain cupboard staples so the next week or so is going to be chicken, hamburger and chicken. Will try and get hold of some beef next time other than hamburger.

So first off I used the three chicken breast cutlets that were left and soaked them overnight in a 'spiced buttermilk'. Namely:

1 c milk

1 tbl lemon juice

2 tbl rotisserie chicken spice mix

 

Whisk together thoroughly, let it sit a minute or two. I used a freezer ziplock bag and poured the buttermilk soak into the bag with the cutlets, put them on a plate in the fridge overnight. You can do an hour or two but this really set the flavor into the meat.

Now the fixing were the usual, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and tried my hand at another chicken sauce off the top of my head. I was lucky this time, it was tasty! I did a small batch since it was only for two sandwiches. Measurements are VERY approximate and at first I thought there was too much mustard but after whisking and adding in a little more bbq sauce it was perfect.

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 tbl bbq sauce (+ a smidge, to taste)

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 tsp dill pickle juice

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp each garlic and onion powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

 

Whisk it all together if in a round bottom bowl, if you use something that has straight sides, be sure to get a spoon to get all the ingredients in the bottom.

 

That turned out so well my partner used it on both sides of his buns and almost didn't leave enough for me. It's subtle but still has that tangy mustard flavor but isn't overpowering. Great balance of tart and sweet and smoky that was perfect for the chicken.

 

The previous recipe I did with the cutlets I was going for a cheese steak sort of sandwich mix. So I had red and green bell peppers and sliced onion. I think I only soaked the chicken for an hour or two in the buttermilk but it was another surprise dish combination.

 

 

I have never had a 'philly cheese steak' sandwich, the cooked peppers and onion with the cheese combo always kind of put me off.  Well, this has changed my mind and am now prepared to try the vaunted 'cheese steak and pepper' sandwich sometime when I can. Might have to see about getting some shaved beef like I did before, food for thought.

HA!

Finally, cannot recommend it higher to try the Costco Chocolate Mousse layer cake with ganache frosting. I bought it for my birthday earlier in the month and have forgotten to post about it. Huge cake of course that took us about two or three weeks to finish off. I bought it at the end of September since my birthday was the first week of October.  Note: I did not do the first cut of the cake..ahem.... I had to fix it with subsequent divisions. Standard slice size was even too big for my chocolate loving partner and had to give me the last half of his slice. You could divide those slices and it would still be more than enough for dessert.

 

 

Another original recipe and a giggle

 I finally have a functional car again so spontaneous trips to the store will resume without the hassle of public transit limitations. 

But on another note, I was looking for a crispy coating recipe to make fried chicken this weekend. I bought the multi multi pack of chicken thighs at Costco thinking... there'll be two or three in each pack. Nope, four good size chicken thighs in the first pack, oh my! This is fantastic because we can now have two pieces for each of us and not have to skimp. So on to that recipe I had saved on pinterest

 Now keep in mind, this is a coating for fried chicken..... see what it says  under the title of this recipe? 'Vegan - 6 servings'. This is a recipe for coating chicken and you're labeling it as vegan????? I giggled for a while about that, still am in the back of my head. Also shaking my head at just what our society has become.

Anyway. 

I attempted to make baked chicken with a layer of cubed potatoes underneath so they would absorb all the flavors as I've seen in some videos. 

As you can see, the chicken turned out fantastic. I marinated it overnight in Olive Garden Italian Dressing then sprinkled garlic powder on the pieces before popping it in the oven. I parboiled the potato pieces before coating them in olive oil, salt and pepper then put the rack over them and the chicken.

That was it. Unfortunately, the potatoes are a dismal stuck on failure. We got enough scraped off for the two of us but that was it. Am not trying that recipe again ever and will stick to frying in a pan. 

The chicken really was delicious, had the flavoring of the dressing and was perfectly juicy.  No coating at all just the chicken.

Yesterday was shrimp tacos with an incredibly spicy and yummy cilantro garlic sauce. I just winged it so when it was done I had to write the recipe down best I could, like I do. We had mixed shredded cabbage and avocado as well. I failed to get fresh tomatoes so no pico or salsa other than the sauce.

Creamy Cilantro Garlic Sauce

1 handful of fresh cilantro stems and all

1/2 c mayo

1/2 sour cream

1 tbl lime juice

1 tsp white vinegar

3 garlic cloves

3 slices fresh jalapeño (approx. 1/4 inch thick with seeds and membrane)

1/4 white onion chopped coarse

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1/2 tsp sugar 

 

Drop that all in the blender with veggies first then dressings and blend until smooth. If it's too runny add in more mayo until desired consistency. I have yet to try anything with greek yogurt bedcause I have yet to remember or find just plain full fat in small containers. This stuff has an incredible kick and I think the only thing I'd change is a little less jalapeño. Instead of tacos my partner has his shrimp on hamburger buns like a sandwich. 

Fried chicken tomorrow likely with mashed potatoes, maybe meatloaf or something hamburger based for Sunday then easy meals for the main part of the week. 

Will see what comes up in the kitchen! 

 

 

New month, new food

 Food finagling at it's finest. I managed a passable chicken parmesan for two with spaghetti and cheesy garlic bread.

Chicken breasts 

2 chicken breast cutlets (I used precut and frozen because ... )

1/2 c Italian Breadcrumbs

1/4 c Parmesan cheese (grated if you have a block of it otherwise I just used kraft parmesan/romano)

2 eggs

2 tbl flour

Salt and pepper.

Mozarella cheese, shredded coarse 

Italian salad dressing for marinade 

Olive oil for frying 

 

Marinara sauce can be as fancy or simple as you like. Jarred is fine but I did scratch.

 

1 can tomato sauce 

1 can diced tomatoes (prefer to use crushed tomatoes but this is what I had)

1/2 green bell pepper diced fine

1/2 onion diced fine

1 rib of celery diced fine

1/4 c of red bell pepper also diced fine (I had it on hand and figured it would add a bit of sweetness to the sauce)

1 inch piece of small carrot peeled. 

Olive oil 

2 tbl Italian seasoning plus 1/2 tsp oregano (ground in mortar and pestle together0

4 cloves fresh garlic minced/crushed

Salt/Pepper

Scant tsp chili powder or chili flakes 

 

Enough spaghetti for two cooked al dente

 

Cheesy garlic bread:

3 slices of sourdough bread (I used round loaf and large slices from the middle)

1/2 cube of unsalted butter

3 cloves fresh garlic minced/pressed

Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese coarsely shredded.

 

If making marinara from scratch, start that first:

Heat medium saucepan with 1 tbl olive oil, add veggies into pan and stir to thoroughly coat with oil. When onion is soft, add in spice mix and stir until well coated. Crush two cloves of garlic into pan, stir and cook until veggies are mostly softened. Lower heat and add in diced tomatoes with liquid, stir to combine, let cook for about a minute or so then add in tomato sauce and carrot piece. Reduce heat to low and barely simmering taste test, add spices as needed. I added just a bare smidge of baking soda and a bit more spices and oregano. The carrot is a secret I learned from an Italian, it takes the acidity and sharpness out of the sauce without using sugar. Though if your taste goes that way you can add a tiny big of sugar. Let simmer on back burner while chicken is cooked.

 

Mix 1/2 cube butter, sotfened with three cloves garlic crushed  using a fork. Put in fridge if it is too melted. 

 

Rinse and pat dry the two chicken breast cutlets then put in gallon zip lock bag with 1/2 c Italian dressing (I used Olive Garden) and put in fridge. Marinate for minimum an hour, up to 4 hours is fine.

Before taking chicken out of fridge prepare frying ingredients.

Using two small 6x8 casserole/storage containers, scramble eggs, salt, pepper and flour in one until well combined, use second container for bread crumbs. 

Heat large pan on stove with 2 tbl olive oil (or a little more) medium high heat. Preheat oven to 425.

When pan is ready, take chicken from bag directly into the egg wash letting it drip a little before putting in breadcrumbs. Press firmly to get good contact over entire surface then place in hot pan carefully, repeat with second piece. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

 

Using a large spoon, add some marinara to bottom of 9x9 baking dish and using tongs or a fork add chicken pieces into dish. Spoon more marinara on top, sprinkle with parmesan, then add generous heaping of shredded mozarella to tops of chicken. Cook in oven at 425 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and melted.

 

While chicken is cooking, prepare cheesy garlic bread: 

Using a baking sheet, layer aluminum foil on bottom for easier clean up. Cut slices in half then spread with garlic butter, sprinkle parmesan cheese then good helping of shredded mozarella. Hold aside or in fridge until chicken is done.

 

Cook spaghetti according to directions while chicken is in oven.

 

(This took some juggling on my part because I forgot about the spaghetti and the bread ended up cold by the time that was ready)

 

Pull out chicken when done, set at back of stove or to the side, change oven to broil and slide in baking sheet with bread. Watch carefully! Takes only about a minute or less for the cheese to melt and get toasty under the broiler.

 

Assemble! Pasta on plate with a scoop of marinara, use spatula to transfer chicken to spaghetti (make sure it doesn't slide off!), add garlic bread. 

 

Things I would do differently:

Use crushed tomatoes not diced, this is a marinara and should be thick but not too chunky, I actually put it in my blender and pulsed a few times to get a better consistency.

 

If I had remembered the spaghetti at the right time the bread would have been piping hot and much better. 

Seriously, these cutlets were bigger than what we're used to, I should have only eaten half of mine but decided to finish instead. Bad idea. I was so uncomfortable for the rest of the night but it was delicious. Definitely a do again, oh and I would also suggest thicker sliced bread. This was fine but using a baguette and cutting our own thickness would make it better.

 

Mangiare!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been cooking..

Just haven't been taking a lot of pictures or doing anything about remembering and writing down recipes. Getting groceries this month has been haphazard so not as much creativity happening with new ingredients.

Later in August I attempted carne asada using frozen orange peels, onion, fresh jalapeño from the garden and other ingredients I found in a recipe but just cobbled it together.

It smelled delicious when it was cooking. Still haven't mastered tossing it in a pan and have it sear quickly. That only happens with open flame apparently.

They were tasty as tacos go, no avocado this round unfortunately but did have some homemade salsa and sour cream. It was food and can be served with rice instead.

This, this was my attempt at grande nachos. There's a lot going on here, pico, salsa, some taco seasoned hamburger, lettuce, cilantro, onions sour cream and believe it or not, there is cheese in there. This was also quite delicious, though still no avocado.

Switched it up to Italian and made garlic butter shrimp aka faux scampi, and made sure to buy some sourdough bread to make garlic toast. It was deeelicious! Very simple ingredients and you have to cook the noodles first and start the shrimp after. I have a habit of overcooking the shrimp but I think I did okay on this. I use a variation of garlic bread that I remember from an old restaurant when I was a kid. I think I posted the recipe for 'Trails Restaurant Garlic Bread' but maybe not added it to the labels.

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbl unsalted butter, softened (not melted)

Parmesan cheese

Paprika

Baking sheet or foil

 

In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the garlic and butter together well using a fork, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in fridge while preheating oven (or broiler). Lay slices of bread on foil or baking sheet. Full or half slices, whatever you prefer. Spread garlic butter on the slices of bread, sprinkle with parmesan and paprika over the top. Place in hot oven (350 or higher if baking) watch them carefully if you have the broiler on, maybe a minute or two at most. Just want it browned and toasty.

Another recipe I used to do was with a long baguette. Just garlic and tons of butter, slice the bread almost all the way through in slices, spread the garlic butter between each slice, wrap in foil then bake for about twenty minutes. That is so good because the outside is crispy but the inside is garlic buttery softness.

Last of the shrimp was made into a wonderful lime cilantro shrimp over rice another one knocked out of the park, just hit all the right notes.

We finally got hold of some avocados and I had an old favorite. Scrambled eggs (with sausage this time but bacon is better), shredded cheese salsa, avocado and sour cream. It's my low level diy version of my favorite omelette from Denny's. Can't remember what it was but it had all the things with bacon and I'd ask for salsa and sour cream.

This was the chicken and stuffing bake again and again for got to mix the stuffing in with the chicken. I had enough veggies to do a pot pie kind of mix which was absolutely delicious but needed a little more liquid. I will try that again later in the month I think and make sure to cook the stuffing first so it's moist and then put it on top. 

And finally I tried a different way of cooking the hot dogs. If I'm really hungry I just wrap them in paper towels and microwave them. If I'm feeling more cookish, I'll cook them in a frying pan so they're grilled, but this time, I tried the 'New York Dirty Water' recipe. (oh I also bought a can of beanless chili so I can have chili dogs).

The recipe called for a lot more ingredients than I was comfortable with using for just two hot dogs but here's what I did:

Half a yellow onion sliced

Splash of ketchup and equal splash of cocktail sauce

Tsp of red wine vinegar

Tsp of black pepper

1/2 tsp each cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder 

One or two shakes of chili flakes

Tsp olive oil

Stir well as it heats up and when it starts steaming, add in hot dogs. Cook for approx 20 minutes or when it starts to boil. Turn off heat, let them sit in the water while you prep your buns.

I had on my dogs:

Mustard, relish, a few small slices of the onions from the water, chili and shredded cheese. 

Very yummy! I saved the dirty water to use next time and will only have a musard and relish dog so I can see what the difference in the flavor is.

So that's what I've been cooking up lately. Hoping next month we will be back on track and have some more tasty meals now that the weather is cooling down finally!

Crock pot meals here we come!