The Kitchen™

finally, she thought, rubbing her hands together with glee....

2010-08-07T00:14:00.000-05:00

I've wanted one forever. They're hard to come by....
And the best one I was ever able to find was the 1975 version.
I knew someone who had the '75, and it did have more in it, it was thicker and overall a better version, and it still has the varmint recipes, and I could have always spent the $25 or so to get a brand new copy..
Still... I have wanted one forever.
And I just could never justify the $25 for a cookbook that I can honestly say I may never use it.
I have the computer program.
Still...

Well, last weekend, I dragged S.o.s-u with me to Mr. K's, a loverly little used bookstore right down the row from the grocery...
Hey. What can I say? I wanted another copy of Illusions, and thought I might be able to get him to pick something up (and he did... The Hobbit. Insert smile here, Dear Reader) and then, right when I was going to walk out with Ryszard Kapuscinski's The Emperor, I spotted it...
Cooking.
General.
They don't....
There....

I dropped the Kapuscinski, put aside the 'give-away' copy of Illusions (when I find them, I tend to buy multiples. I recommend it. Highly. As a result, I've given away like, 6 copies now of the thing. Get it. Good book. Richard Bach) without letting go of my copy or of S.o.s-u's (hey...gotta warp him. Free-thinking. Must be done.)...
So with a more manageable total, I was able to pick up....

And guess what? It only cost $8. The guy at the counter was laughing at my excitement at finding it. I waxed poetic about the price. He laughed.

And better....

It's the '75 edition.
Anyone for possum?

Pizza

2009-11-11T23:36:00.000-05:00

I'm proud of this one.
It's my pizza sauce.
Yes, we make our own pizza. And I've been tackling my own sauce, lately.

5 small ripe tomatoes, peeled and squeezed firmly (easy way to remove the seeds, core and 70% of the juice)
1 oz sun dried tomatoes (dry pack), snipped small
1/4 c water
1/4 tsp Jane's Crazy Salt
1 tsp dried 'Italian Seasoning Blend' herb mix
1 Tbsp prepared pesto (I personally use jarred right now. My basil died)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Bring tomatoes and water to a boil, drop to low, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Stir in Janes and herbs. Blend mixture and remaining ingredients in blender or food processor until thoroughly mixed.

It smells how I imagine parts of the Med smell. The garlic in the pesto underlines everything. Yumyum!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2008-11-25T02:32:00.001-05:00

I've realized, the more I cook and try things and expand recipes I've made before, that I really cook with words. Words like butter, cream, onion, pepper can all make a recipe. Margarine, non-fat milk, onion powder... These words don't belong. They really don't belong to Broccoli Cheese soup served with baked potatoes and sweet Hawaiian rolls.

I really do cook with words.

Vanilla is fragrant, sugar is sweet, but it goes way beyond that. Creamy, salty, piquant, peppery, these are all words I use in my head when I cook. I can read a recipe and visualize through what each ingredient would taste like what the finished product could be.

Could be.

There is no guarantee in food. You can weigh the outcome in your favor by using fresh, organic ingredients. Barring that, use the best processed ingredients you can get. But if you use a bad ingredient to begin with, you won't get the same results. Case in point: Broccoli Cheese soup. I could up the quality level (and thereby the flavor value) by using fresh broccoli, but it was cheaper to use a good quality frozen. I upped the volume of the broccoli by 100%, the original called for 1/2 a pound. I could have used locally produced cheddar from the Epicurean at 11.99 a pound, but I chose the generic sharp cheddar sold under the store brand. I did use an organic 1/2 and 1/2, which is what the recipe called for. Other than that, I followed the recipe.

Words like margarine, non-fat milk and onion powder really don't belong.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
2 cups chicken broth
1 pound broccoli, chopped
1 cup carrots, julienned
8 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
bacon bits
chopped green onion

Saute the onion in the tablespoon of butter over medium heat until just barely caramelized. Set aside. In a large saucepan, melt the 1/4 cup of butter until it's bubbling. Whisk in the flour. Cook the flour approximately 4 minutes, constantly whisking. Whisk in the half-and-half slowly. Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes. Stir in the onions, broccoli and carrots. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. The soup should be thickened.
Process in blender in batches until desired smoothness is reached.
Return to simmer.
Stir in cheddar until soup is smooth and all cheese is melted.
Serve with bacon bits and green onions sprinkled on top.

Sopapillas

2007-11-10T18:55:00.000-05:00

It's really just a little taste of New Mexico. There is a restaurant in town that serves something they call sopapillas. They're actually pan-fried tortillas that have been dusted with cinnamon and sugar. I wanted the pillowy goodness that is the sopa of countless meals in New Mexico. Slathered with honey, dipped into salsa, used to scoop up beans, the sopapilla I am used to is a deep-fried hollow piece of bread dough. Mom made them once, from a mix. We always got them at restaurants, though, and in Albuquerque, you have a lot of restaurants that serve sopapillas. Here in TN? No. At least, not that I've been able to find or afford. So they don't exist here. Until today. Today, I used the recipe for Sopaipillas de Levadura from a cookbook the local utility company sells.

My little taste of New Mexico. Notes at the end.

Yield: 4 dozen medium sopaipillas        Total Frying Time: 15-20 minutes
Temperature: Medium-High                 Freeze Well

1 package active dry yeast               1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup warm water                       1 teaspoon baking powder
(105°-115°F)                           1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups scalded milk, cooled          1 tablespoon shortening
4 cups flour                             Shortening

1. Dissolve yeast in water and add to milk.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and cut in
shortening.
3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add liquid to dry
ingredients and work into a dough.
4. Knead dough for 10 minutes, or until smooth; cover, and set
aside.
5. Heat 2 inches of shortening in a heavy pan at medium-high heat.
6. Roll dough to a 1/8 ingh thickness on a lightly floured board. Cut
dough into 4-inch squares and fry until golden on both sides, turning
once. (If the shortening is sufficiently hot, the sopaipillas will
puff and become hollow shortly after being placed in the shortening.)
7. Drain sopaipillas on absorbent towels.

NOTE: Sopaipillas may be served as a bread with any New Mexican menu. They may be served with honey, dusted with a sugar-cinnamon mixture and served as a dessert, or may be filled.

Sopapillas

I just copied the recipe. I followed it to the letter. Now for the notes? I was the only one eating these. I should have cut the recipe in 1/2. As is, I put 1/2 the dough in the freezer, tightly sealed in plastic wrap and a bag. We'll see how it does. The measurement of 1/8 in the thickness is not a random number. Thicker, and you'll have an underdone sopa. Thinner and you run the risk of losing the puff.
This recipe doesn't talk about rise. The dough does rise. The longer you let it sit, the puffier it gets. Punch it down and roll it out. You'll notice puffier pieces when you fry it up, to the point where it may pop a hole in the sopa. However, the 10 minutes or so it takes to get the shortening up to temp is long enough for a rise for this dough.
Let your yeast dissolve for about 5 minutes or so. Don't just dump it on in.
Scalding milk: Some will say this step is unnecessary. I find it to be completely necessary. The milk was thicker, the natural sugars in the milk came through more (I tasted it), and it wasn't just milk. It had been changed. SO SCALD IT. Heat it over the burner in a small pan, medium heat, until a handy thermometer reads 180. Stir frequently. Take it off the burner. That's it. No big deal. And it really does sweeten the milk.
Kneading: USE FLOUR. The dough is sticky, but you won't need much. I had a handful on the mat when I dumped it out of the bowl to knead it. That's about 1/2 cup. I had about 3 tablespoons left over. Do not overflour while kneading. Do not overknead.
I did not use a mixer. This was mixed by hand. With my hands. I wonder how it would do as a twisted dough so you didn't have to turn it over yourself. It's a distinct possibility and may be doable with the frozen dough.

So I now have sopas.

Braise... Recipe Tuesday

2007-10-23T09:57:00.001-05:00

Continuing the theme of braising for flavor, I give you....

Braised Shredded Beef

2lb bottom round roast
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or very finely minced
1 cup beer (drink the rest. If it's not drinkable, don't use it)
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
2 T worchestershire sauce
2 T teriyaki sauce (I used store brand)
1/2 tsp yellow mustard (basic yellow, please)
3 T honey
5 c. water
2 T Steak seasoning (I used McCormicks Montreal Steak)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Jane's Crazy or other seasoned salt mixture
1 T butter

Mix the teriyaki sauce, worcestershire sauce, honey, vinegar and mustard together in a microwave safe container. Heat for 30 seconds on high, stir, heat 30 more seconds. It should smell like a steak sauce. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the onion and celery with 1/2 the seasoned salt. Pat the roast dry. Rub the steak seasoning, chili powder and remaining seasoned salt over the beef, all sides.
Melt the butter over medium high heat. You should be using a Dutch oven, oven-safe large casserole dish or a covered stew pot (I'm using the stew pot).
Sear the beef, all sides. Remove the beef to a plate.
Saute the celery and onions over medium heat until translucent, scraping the fond from the bottom of the pan. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes more. Deglaze the pan with the beer, cook down by 1/2. Pour in the teriyaki mix with 5 cups water. Heat to a simmer. Add the beef and any accumulated juices back into the pan. The liquid should just barely cover or almost cover the roast. Add liquid if necessary (beer, water, broth). Bring back to a simmer.
Remove from stovetop to pre-heated oven. Roast for 2 hours. Check the beef. If it doesn't pull apart easily, continue roasting for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it rest uncovered in the pan juices for approximately 15 minutes. Remove meat from pan, refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Once the beef is cooled down, start shredding. You'll want to remove any residual fat or connective tissue. This means use your nature-provided utensils (hands) and get into it. If you think the shreds are a little too long, cut them. You can use scissors or just cut the roast in 2 or 3 places across the grain.

Once you have your shred, you can freeze it, eat it cold, eat it hot, mix it with sauces, use in place of 'precooked ground beef'... It's very versatile.

To use for barbecue: Re-heat the beef in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it sizzles. Add approximately 1/4 cup barbecue sauce of your choice for each serving. Stir, serve on buns.
To use for burritos or tacos: Re-heat the beef in a saute or frypan over medium-low heat until it sizzles. Add your burrito or taco seasoning according to package directions. If you want to spice it up yourself for burritos (which I frequently do), stir in some chili powder, some chopped onion, some cilantro, some salsa. Stir, serve on tortillas.
To use for soups: Add some to your favorite soup.
To use for sandwich filling: This is a trick from one of my uncles. Saute a handful in a non-stick pan with some garlic and steak seasoning. Stir in a tablespoon of sour cream. Serve on toast. YUM.

Osso Buco

2007-10-17T13:13:00.001-05:00

I freely admit I stole the original recipe from Michael Chu over at Cooking for Engineers. That said, you know me... I never met a recipe I couldn't mess with and this proves to be no different. The changes? I used a blend of beef and chicken broth, crushed bay instead of bay leaf, cab instead of chardonnay, and no gremolata. Yes, you heard me. No gremolata. No parsley in town and I went to 3 grocery stores. I was lucky to find beef shanks. So I improvised. Adapted. Overcame. I used chopped green onion on top. Let's go to the kitchen, shall we? Served with a rice dish (mix), I give you...

Osso Buco (original recipe available HERE)
4 to 6 beef shanks (all they had, folks. All they had)
4 cups broth (2 chicken, 2 beef, used 1-14oz. can each, plus 2 icecubes of my homemade stock)
12 oz. Cabernet Sauvignon (I'm using Yellowtail. It's drinkable without being 'foody')
1 white onion (white is a different flavor than yellow)
1 carrot
1 large celery stalk
2 large cloves garlic
2 teaspoons crushed bay
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
salt, pepper
4 tablespoons butter
Cornstarch slurry IF NEEDED (1 tsp cornstarch, 2 tsp COLD water, stir together, mix into sauce if thickening needed)
chopped green onions for garnish

Special Hardware: Dutch oven or stock pot with lid (can use foil to cover)

PREPARATION:
Dice the onion, celery and carrot. Mince the garlic. Drain the tomatoes. (Fig. 1) Salt and pepper the shanks. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

PROCESS:
Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Raise the temp to medium and brown the shanks. DO NOT CROWD YOUR POT. This is a searing step to get some carmelization going on and create some fond in the pot. Crowding produces steam and early stewing. Our goal is to build the flavor. Do not move the meat once it's in the pan. Let it go about 5 minutes per side. Once your shanks are done, remove them to a plate and set them aside. (Fig. 2)
Saute the onions, scraping the fond as you go until the onions are golden. (Fig. 3)
Add the carrots and celery, cook until the celery is slightly translucent. (Fig. 4)
Stir in the garlic, cook for a minute or 2 more.
Pour in the wine, increase the heat to medium high. Scrape your fond. Simmer until reduced by 1/2.
Add the tomatoes, broth and bay. Stir and bring back to a simmer. (Fig. 5)
Add the shanks back in, big side on the bone up so you don't lose the marrow. The liquid should almost cover or just cover the shanks. Bring back to a simmer. (Fig. 6)
Cover, place in the oven and cook for 2 hours.
When it's falling off the bone (and it should be), remove the meat from the pot.
Boil the the liquid in the pot to reduce it to a sauce, using the cornstarch slurry as needed. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
Place a shank on a plate, scoop some sauce over it, top with green onion (or gremolata if you have it), serve. (Fig. Finish)

NOTES
It's low heat on the butter so you cook away the water in it but still leave the yummy bits.
I use the 2 broth cubes to make up the extra for the full 2 cups.
You could also use some of the juice off the tomatoes if it bothers you.

You want fries with that?

2007-10-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

You ever have a day when you just really don't want to go anywhere or do anything? I'm having that kind of a day. Shakedown is still going on (read that as "I'm still unpacking my kitchen"), there's not much food in the house - we've been frozen food-ing it for the past week or so- and I want something... Not microwaved.

I don't mind microwaving. I like the speed, there's a host of prepared products out there that are quick, easy, at least semi-nutritious, and cheap. But I really am not in the mood for a tv dinner or a burrito or a pot-pie or something like that. And yeah, Lean Cuisine meals DO qualify as a tv dinner to me. You heat it and peel back the top covering for a meal in a tray. That spells tv dinner.

So what to make? The microwave stuff is also usually stove friendly, but that doesn't count. I am just simply not in the mood for that. I want... Oooh... I know. I want fries. French fries, even though they were 'invented' in Belgium. I want hot, steamy fries, all that salty goodness... Most people, at this point, would pack up the car and drive to the local burger shack to get fries that are uniformly cooked to and held at temperatures specified by the shop's local board of health... I'm not most people. I really don't want that. But my freezer does hold a bag of fries (2 lbs for $1.50 at the local grocery) and I have shortening and I have kosher salt.

And I have a day off.

It's pretty basic, folks. Heat oil, insert fries, cook until golden , drain, salt.
First, I'm using frozen. It's what I happen to have on hand. Fresh is best (slice a potato how you like, fry it up), but I'll take frozen today. I use shortening because saturated fats, even saturated fats like vegetable shortening tend to brown things better. If you get the fat hot enough, you don't have to worry about it in moderation. I'm not saying it's good for you, you shouldn't eat fries with every meal, but the equivalent of the size of a small fry made at home will not hurt you on a day off.

Heat the shortening to 350 degrees. I use a saucepan (higher sides) to ease up on any splattering. If I were at my mother's house, I'd pull out her Fry-Daddy, but since I don't have one, I use a standard stainless steel saucepan. Why not non-stick? Metal utensils. I don't have wooden tongs, I don't have a silicone strainer. So I use a stainless pan and metal tongs and all is well in my world.

While the shortening is heating, create a 'drain rig'. This is a half-sheet pan lined with newspaper then paper towelling, then a cooling rack turned upside down. The upside down means the wires are resting directly on the paper. No drippies to clog up your food. This is a tip from Alton, folks, in I'm Just Here For the Food.

And it works. So create your drain rig handy to the melting pot of fat. Get your salt into an easy-to-use container (I recommend a small bowl or similar receptacle. I typically use a little 4 oz. juice glass). When your fat has come up to temperature (350 min., 400 max.), pull the fries out of the freezer, open the bag, grab a handful (my hands are small. I grabbed 10 fries the first pass). Set your handful as gently as you can in the hot fat and stand back. There will be splatters. Cook until golden brown. Remove using tongs or a spider (I have no spider, I used tongs). IMMEDIATELY after removing, put the fries on your drain rig and sprinkle liberally with salt. Turn them over, salt them again. I did 2 handsful. Napkin in the hand, fries in the napkin. YUMMY!French fries

OOOOh, my my my.... Linked goodness

2007-09-27T09:52:00.000-05:00

SO I was watching the Daily Buzz this morning and they had a blurb on Food411.com, a directory of all things food related. It was named by Time in 2005 as one of the 50 coolest websites and it's a welcome addition to my links list (meaning I will soon add it to the right, Dear Reader).

I've actually been thinking about doing Thanksgiving dinner on trenchers this year, mainly 'cause I hate doing dishes (especially for a crowd). Any thoughts on that? Anyone tried it? I'm a former SCA'er, so I've had feasts on them, but how easy is it to do or to fake doing? I'm thinking bread bowls or bread plates. Ideas? It's going to be for anywhere between 4 and 8 people (depending on who comes by), so I'd like to get it planned out beforehand. And I'm looking for ideas.

If you have ideas for me, please comment or email me at darkneuro at gmail dot com.

Oh. Breakfast this morning? Because I'm moving? Hot tea with honey and a microwaved frozen thing. Better than the wheat crackers, ham and potato chips I've survived on (lack of food in apartment I'm moving from) for the past 2 days. Tonight it's spaghetti. YUMYUM.

Happy eating!

It's been such a LOOONG time...

2007-08-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

....since I've posted here in the Kitchen. It's not that I haven't been cooking, I've just been cooking seriously cheap and weird lately. Seriously cheap: Get a package of smoked sausage and a package of red beans and rice. Combine. Seriously cheap: lettuce+raw veg+ sliced meats=chef's salad. Tuna salad... When you use 1 can of tuna (well drained), 1/4 red onion, 4 hard boiled eggs, 3 stalks celery, 1/4 bell pepper, 4 tablespoons relish, 4 tablespoons mayo, it's weird and crunchy and not really 'tuna salad'....

So as you see, Dear Reader, it's been cheap and weird. So I thought, in the interest of keeping this place alive, I'd share some of my favorite food and recipe links and maybe YOU will be inspired to cook something. Wait for next week. I've got some ideas. Please be aware, this could be considered food porn.

I've talked a bit here in Oak Ridge about not having "my" Mexican places to eat at. Here's recipes from one of them, Garduno's Restaurants, in Albuquerque. They've got up their recipe for Roasted Red Chile Salsa. YUM YUM. Along the same lines is this offering from PNM, the Public Service Co. of NM, their Cocinas de New Mexico cookbook. Tacos, posole, refritos, empanaditas fritas, sopas and Navajo Fry Bread, they have it all. GREAT traditional recipes.

Here's a great resource from Figleaf: The World's Healthiest Foods. Interesting reference site geared (as the title suggests) to healthy food. Another great reference site if you like cheese (and I do) is the Wisconsin Cheese and Dairy board. They've got a bunch of free things you can get, including a 'cheese chart' (reminds me I need to get another one, actually), and downloadable files as well. A great chile site is Dave's Fiery Foods. He runs the Fiery Foods Show that goes between Albuquerque and Vegas.

Here is a place with just about every cuisine known in Asia: AsiaRecipe.com. Warning: Heavy popups. It's got Philipino, Japanese, Chinese, Thai... Go play, but turn on your pop-up blocker.

These are some sites I've been perusing lately: Stephen Cooks, One Hot Stove, and Live to Eat. Interesting, but I've been strapped for time and such and can't make some of the beautiful recipes they have.

Desserts are best (in my opinon) purchased, and who better for chocolate than Jacques Torres? I can vouch for the quality of the product. I can vouch for the incredibly fast shipping. This man should be given a medal.

This next site... Whatever you think of the woman, the court case, the jail time, the magazine, the tv shows... Martha Stewart has some excellent recipes. And let's not forget Food TV, Emeril's (even if you think he's a tool) and Williams-Sonoma. Ideas, people. Utilize them for IDEAS....

So happy eating, and I'll see you next week!

Master Recipe: Beef with Rice... Recipe Tuesday (!)

2007-07-01T18:26:00.000-05:00

I'm really kindof excited about this one. This, I believe, qualifies as a Master Recipe, meaning it's good on it's own and it can also be used as a base for (at the very least) a few other recipes I've managed to think up (and have tried 1)....
SO, let's go into The Kitchen™ and see what we can make, shall we?

Beef with Rice (Makes 1 Master Recipe)
1 pound ground beef (I got a chuck, 80/20 blend)
1/2 large yellow onion chopped fine
1/2 bell pepper chopped fine
2 T. grill seasoning (I use Montreal flavor grill seasoning by McCormick)
2 T. worcestershire sauce
15 1/2 oz. beef broth
1 cup basmati or Texmati rice

Brown the beef and onion over medium heat until the beef is just barely cooked and the onions are translucent. Drain as much fat out of the pan as you can. Throw in the grill seasoning, the bell pepper and the worcestershire sauce. Stir and cook for approximately 3 minutes or until the bell pepper is just starting to show a softening. Stir in the beef broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, drop the heat to low/med low and set a timer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir to combine.

There you go. Easy, cheap and boy-oh-boy, was it GOOD. I served it to myself in a bowl while I was reading. It was really a quick and dirty "What's in the house to eat?" meal. But in thinking about it later, I realized I had made somewhat of a Master Recipe, something that could be combined with just a few other ingredients to make... well, just about anything.

Variations:
1. Take the finished meat, sprinkle it with chili powder, layer it with Velveeta(tm) cheese and tortilla chips in a casserole dish, broil for approximately 2 minutes. Serve with salsa, sour cream, lettuce and tomato (Nachos!-Made this. Thumbs up from Sic_un, too)
2. Take the finished meat, mix in 1 8oz. can of tomato sauce and 2 teaspoons chili powder (and yes, I mean the mixed powder), stir until thick. Load it up in burritos and/or tacos (Tacos! Burritos!)
3. Take the finished meat, mix in 1 20oz. can of chopped tomato with basil. Throw in some seasonings (oregano, thyme, marjoram, 2 or 3 finely diced cloves of garlic), simmer over med low heat for about an hour or so (Pasta Sauce!)
4. In a bowl, shred 1 carrot and chop 1 stalk of celery fine. Microwave it with about 1/4 teaspoon water for about 2 minutes or until hot. Mix it with the meat mixture, roll into egg roll skins. Fry until brown (Lumpia!... or at least as Lumpia like my mom makes)
5. Stir in another can of broth (or carton... use what you like. Make your own. call it 2 cups for luck). Simmer for about 30 minutes, throwing in a bag of frozen mixed veg (broccoli, carrots, beans) for good measure. (Soup!)

There. Master Recipe. What can YOU come up as a variation?

Not Yer Mamma's Beef and Noodles

2007-06-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

So how difficult can beef and noodles be to make? They're not. How good are beef and noodles, typically? How.. blah, really. And it usually contains mushrooms, which Sic_un cannot eat. So looking into the freezer and the pantry and what we have to eat and all that, I decided I'd make some beef and noodles, but a tomato based dish, not a cream based dish.

Oh. Wait. I'm adding sour cream to mine, it'll be creamy. But not cooked cream based. You'll see.

Not Yer Mamma's: Beef and Noodles

1/2 pound beef (ground is fine, thinly sliced chuck is fine, you only need 1/2 a pound)
2 tablespoons Italian herb seasoning (should contain some thyme, oregano, basil and garlic)
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes with onion
1/2 onion, chopped to about 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced fine
1/2 teaspoon 'seasoning salt' (I used Morton)
1/2 pound wide egg noodles

Pack the herbs around the meat, sprinkle with the worcestershire sauce and bag it up and chill it for at least 8 hours. -I popped mine in the fridge this morning, it's ready to go after work.
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat until shimmery. Put in the onion and garlic, cook while stirring for 1 minute or so, until slightly softened. Throw in the meat, breaking it up into small pieces as you go (if using ground). Cook over medium heat until barely browned. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomato, stirring it in.
PLAY WITH YOUR SPICES. I used the Morton, a bit of pepper and slapped up some other herbs into it. This is by your taste buds, not mine.
Start the noodles, should take about 8-10 minutes to cook.
While the noodles are going, you're going to be reducing the sauce until the majority of the liquid is gone.
Once the noodles are done, drain them, mix the 2 pans together in the noodle pan and you're done.

This recipe took me about 30 minutes to make. There's a lot of down time where you can throw together a salad and maybe heat some biscuits if you want... A good bruschetta would be good here, as would a starting wine and cheese course. It's good stuff. I spiced mine up a bit, and added the sour cream to do the creamy. 2 Tablespoons of sour cream, mix it in the bowl.

Cinnamon roll failure... Recipe Tuesday

2007-05-29T12:29:00.000-05:00

We arranged for a pot luck at work. I said I'd make caramel sticky buns, those upside down delights of my mother's that I adored. I had all the ingredients, I had a reasonable recipe...

Or so I thought.

I followed the recipe, only made 1 very small change. I put some allspice in the general dough. That's the ONLY change I made.

After the 20 minutes baking time specified, I had grey rocks. No golden anywhere. So I left them in a little bit longer, about 7 minutes. Took them out. The caramel at the bottom had burnt, but the middle of the rolls were still completely raw. The top (browning) side of them was hard as a rock, no give anywhere.

This recipe failed spectacularly. I had fresh yeast, it raised perfectly, the dough sampled good, it was kneaded and shaped properly, it was a good, soft, elastic dough with a lot of gluten developed. It failed spectacularly.

i wouldn't serve the finished product to a goat.

Someone. Anyone. COME TO OAK RIDGE AND TEACH ME HOW TO FUCKING BAKE SOMETHING OTHER THAN COOKIES.

Bread, Pt. 2

2007-05-14T17:35:00.000-05:00

No pictures today, but I'll edit and get them in here.

Basically, when last we left the bread, the sourdough starter had 'started' and was bubbling nicely along. It is still alive, is in my refrigerator and I've played with it.

Reserve at least a cup of the starter and keep feeding it on the 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water schedule as necessary. You can also pop it in the fridge, take it out and feed it once a week.

Original recipe:
After you go through the starter process, you take 2 cups of starter and mix in 3-4 cups of bread flour and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix it in well, cover and rise until doubled. When dough has risen, punch down, add 1/2 cup flour, knead until smooth. Dough will be sticky. Shape into loaves, let rise until double, bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden and 'hollow' sounding.

MY RECIPE:
Take 2 cups starter, mix in 2 cups flour and 1/4 cup warm water. Let rise until double. Punch down, mix in 2 cups flour and 1/4 cup warm water. Let rise until double. Punch down, mix in enough flour that the dough is smooth and not-so-sticky. Form into loaves, let rise until double. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Thunk the loaf. Does it sound hollow? It's done. Remove it to a rack to cool for approximately 1 hour.

Bread. Recipe Tuesday

2007-05-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

I've always been fascinated by bread and bread making. Not because I have any great aptitude for it, but to take things that will, under certain circumstances make glue, and use them to make bread, well, it's just fascinating to me. Mom makes her own bread here and there, both the 'old fashioned way' by hand and all the risings, and the 'machine'. She has a bread machine and for awhile there, we ate nothing but bread machine bread. I didn't like the loaves it turned out. It had a round barrel shaped baking unit and the loaves were columns.

But she also made bread by hand too, and I always liked watching her make bread. It was the motions, the concentration into kneading it so the glutens properly stretched. She showed me the web that they form, explained the science behind it to me, although she's not a scientist by trade, and certainly only a 'sometimes' bread baker.

And I've been fascinated as well. My forays into anything except quick breads usually end in disaster. White soda bread is beyond me, for example. Imagine a 12" round hockey puck. It was seriously hard. But yeast breads... All the action is by yeasts, single celled organisms that produce gas which raises bread and the gluten web holds that gas in place creating a soft interior for a loaf, no matter how it may be shaped. People have been baking bread for centuries, I reasoned. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to bake bread.

I told myself, "So let's do something that you've heard about all your life, your mom didn't necessarily like it, but did it anyway, just to say she did. People with no cooking experience beyond being able to feed themselves in the meanest of ways did this. You can do this.

"You can make sourdough." (is that crickets I hear in the background, Dear Reader?)

I turned to the Joy of Cooking, which I'm lucky enough to have on a computer disc and therefore don't have to decide to lug around the huge tome it is. There is a wealth of information in it. If you are close friends with someone who cooks who doesn't have a copy, remember this when it's time for birthdays or anniversaries or one of those myriad gift-giving holidays where you're supposed to wrack your brain for weeks to come up with the perfect gift and are always afraid you've missed the mark completely. If you have a friend who cooks and you know they don't have a copy, get them one.

Here's Sourdough Starter, the Joy of Cooking way (and bastardized by me, which is something I do and you all know it)

In a small clean mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup sifted bread flour and 1/4 cup barely warm water (80 degrees). Knead it until it's elastic, put it back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the wrap, let it sit in a dark, cool area for 12-15 hours. Mix in 1/2 cup sifted bread flour and 1/4 cup barely warm water. Cover, let sit for 12-15 hours.

Move it to a larger bowl. Continue feeding it with 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water. Recover the bowl and let it sit for 24 hours. If you don't see some bubbling action going on after 24 hours, throw it out and start over. If it has started bubbling and rising, mix in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.

Cover it, but don't poke holes in it. Let it rest for 12 hours. If there are bubbles all over, add in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Let it sit for 4-8 hours. It should have a sour tang and bubbles all over. You can make bread with it now. If not, continue on the 1/2 and 1/4 feeding schedule until you can use it.

The bastard version is mine. I'm using a mason jar instead of a bowl and regular flour. I figure if it was good enough for the original Sourdoughs, it's good enough for me.
Here it is after the first feeding.

After the third feeding (right before you leave it covered for 24 hours).

Checking it when I got home today. I think we've got bubbles (DUH!) and there is a SMIDGE of a sourness to it. Further deponent sayeth not. We will explore this bread experiment further next week. It lowered in volume, so I feed it when I get home from here at Sic_un's, then form loaves and such tomorrow morning.

So because this is taking some time to get the 'wild yeast' going, getting the SOUR of Sourdough going, I decided to do a comparison of a 'regular' bread using commercial yeast.

This is straight from Joy, no edits. Notes are at the end:

Quick Rising White Bread
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105-115 degree) water
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl.

To this mixture, add:
3 cups bread flour
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute.

Add 3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour a 1/2 cup at a time until dough is moist but not sticky.

Knead for about 10 minutes or with a mixer dough hook on low to medium until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bown and turn it over once to cover with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1/2 hours.

Grease 2 loaf pans. Punch the dough down, divide it in half and form 2 loaves. Place seam side down in the pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1/2 hours.

While it's rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees. When the dough has doubled, bake the loaves at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake until the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes more. Remove the loaves from the pans to a rack to cool.

NOTES ON QUICK RISING WHITE BREAD:
It's not quick. Sorry... It took 3 hours rise time. That isn't quick. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes bake time (even pulling the pan off the loaf to knock the bottom of it!). It's quicker than the other recipes they have, which all seem to include raising the dough in the refrigerator, but it's not 'quick'. Not by my definition of 'quick'. HOWEVER... It is quicker than the other recipes.
I ended up getting that last 3 cups of flour in by kneading it in until smooth. I like kneading.
It's got a crunchy crust, leading me to believe I should have baked it as a 'free form' loaf instead of in a pan.

ANY TIPS OR HINTS OR ASSISTANCE IN MAKING YEAST AND SOURDOUGH BREAD IS HOLLERED FOR!!!

Enjoy, Dear Reader.

Bonding with Stock... Recipe Tuesday

2007-04-23T18:34:00.000-05:00

Karl Elvis mentioned making stock. And I like making stock. It's a great base, and when you make it yourself, you know just what went into it so you've got control over the flavors that are or aren't added. There's nothing I just plain dislike as much as I dislike using a mediocre stock. Unfortunately, most canned stocks are just that, so I'm going to be making stock next week.

Here's the recipe I'm going to be using

Basic Beef Stock

5 pounds bare rendering bones, sawed into 2" pieces (you can also use bones from steaks or trimmings from roasts, whatever you happen to have. You can request bones from the butcher at your local friendly butcher shop [we've got one in town], or just ask at the local grocery. They should be cheap)
1 pound carrots, rough chopped into 1/2" pieces
3 yellow onions, rough chopped
1 pound celery, rough chopped

Roast your bones. Now, no bad jokes. Set the oven to 400, place the bones down on a pan that you've put foil into, roast them until they're toasted brown, but not black. Should take about 1/2 an hour to 1 hour, and you flip it while roasting so you get a good overall color.
Put the roasted bones into the bottom of a big soup or stock pot. Cover with enough water so the bones are completely submerged by at least an inch. Bring to a boil. Skim the foam. Drop the heat to medium, throw in the veggies. Let this simmer for at least 6 hours, with 12 hours being preferred.
If you've got a crock pot, put the bones in the bottom of the crock pot, add water to cover. Set to 'High' for 1 hour. At the end of 1 hour, skim any foam, pour in the veggies and fill the pot with water. Set it on 'Low' and let it go for a full 24 hours.
At the end of the cook time, let it cool. Float some bags of ice in it, or set it into an ice chest filled with ice. Don't just set it in the fridge, you'll heat everything in there up. Get it cooled down* your favorite way. Strain it.
When you're done cooling and straining, put it into freezer containers, ice cube trays (2 or 3 stock cubes and I say you have a pan sauce!) bags, whatever you need to do. It'll keep in the freezer for 6 months, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying stock.
You can also do a bit of what I've been known to do. I'll boil down the stock with the veggies in it for a good long while, get it really concentrated. Strain and freeze above, but it's super-concentrated. Then you just have to pull out an ice cube of it, add 2 cups of water and voila! Stock that doesn't take up nearly as much freezer room.

*Just as an aside, I have been thinking of this. The little hand-held blenders have taken off like hotcakes. They should make a 'cooler' about that same size, with a refrigerated coil encased in something that's foodsafe. Easy cool down for leftovers and soups and such. Someone should get on that. There. A free invention for someone.

Variations on a theme... Recipe Tuesday

2007-04-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

One of the things I've insisted on, Dear Reader, is that people play with their food. Don't accept a recipe as written just because that's the way you've always done it, don't do it the way your mom always did it because... well, tradition, things like that. New cooking methods, new spices, new ways of looking at things. Try something new.

So today's variation is variations on the theme of a Tennessee phenomenon called Sausage Balls that my grandmother morphed into her breakfast-y Sausage Biscuits. The recipes are alike enough that it makes it easy to set them together. First, the basics...

Basic Sausage Biscuits (Sausage balls ingredients are parenthetical)
1 pound sausage (1 lb sausage)
10 oz. shredded cheese (8 oz. shredded cheese)
2 1/4 cups Bisquick (2 cups Bisquick)
water to moisten (LEAVE THIS OUT)

Heat oven to 350. For biscuits, form into golf ball sized balls, flatten slightly. Cook for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. For balls, form into small walnut sized balls, do not flatten. Cook for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Here's the variation we tried:
Biscuits= Italian sausage + Longhorn style cheddar
I won't recommend this. I got 3 dozen biscuits, they're all eaten (Sic_un and his roommate, mostly), but they didn't taste quite right to me. Here's the variations I've come up with:

Biscuits=mild breakfast sausage+mild cheddar cheese (serve with syrup &/or jam for breakfast)
Biscuits=hot breakfast sausage+sharp cheddar cheese (see above, more savory)
Balls=Italian sausage+blended Italian mix cheeses (savory, serve with a marinara as appetizer)
Balls=Chorizo+blend of manchego and cheddar (savory, serve with queso for a Mexican appetizer)

So, Dear Reader, the moral to this Recipe Tuesday is simply this:

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!

Corned beef ... Recipe Tuesday

2007-04-10T00:07:00.000-05:00

Right now, Dear Reader, I have a pot full o'goodness bubbling away on the stove. We've passed St Patrick's Day by 3 weeks or so and casting about for something to eat led Sic_un to say "You still have some corned beef in the freezer. Make it up. We'll have sandwiches".
So I have corned beef bubbling on the stove. Here's how I do it for sandwiches, which is a little different from how I do it for corned beef and cabbage:

Corned Beef for Sandwiches
1 beef brisket (for St. Pat's, I didn't want a huge amount of leftovers, so I got a 3 lb brisket and cut away about 1 1/2 lbs. SO I'm using about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 teaspoons mustard seed-lightly crushed
1/2 sweet white onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds-lightly crushed
1 teaspoon each dried basil and rosemary
1 bay leaf (leave it in the broth)
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
water to cover

In the bottom of a large saucepan or soup pot (whatever the brisket will fit into, remember: You can cut it to fit), saute the onion and spices over medium heat until the onion is transparent. Mine took me about 3 or 4 minutes. Once the onion is transparent, put the beef on top of it, fat side down. Let it sizzle and render some of the fat off for about 3 minutes. Turn it over, let it go another 3 minutes. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the brisket. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it rest in the broth for about 15 minutes.
Remove from broth, let rest 5 minutes.
Slice thin, make sandwiches.

The difference between this for sammies and this for c.b.&c is that I use less mustard and caraway, but add in thyme. Then, after simmering and getting all happy in the broth, I'll throw in potatoes (peeled and chunked) for about 30 minutes and cabbage wedges for about 15 minutes (take a head of cabbage, slice it into wedges lengthwise--I can get up to 16 out of a head) and that's corned beef and cabbage. Less spicy, since the meat has to do less.

For sandwiches, we're using cheddar cheese, white bread, mayo, mustard (dijon), lettuce and tomato (yeah, we're weird, we'll cop to that).

Enjoy!

Shish! Kabob, that is... Recipe Tuesday

2007-04-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

So spring has sprung. Sic_un just mowed the lawn for the first time, we've been doing some grilling (on the OH SO INADEQUATE grill he owns), and I figured...

Let's do Kabobs. They're quick, easy, beef so Sic_un can eat it, opens to a huge amount of flavor possibilities... Quick, easy, etc...

Beef Kabob

1 1/2 punds London Broil, approx. 1" thick, cut into 1 to 1 1/2" cubes
1 large sweet onion
1 large green bell pepper
4 tablespoons prepared teriyaki sauce
4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon basalmic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crushed)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (crushed)
1" grated or sliced fresh ginger (I keep my ginger in the freezer. When I need some, I can peel it really quickly with my veggie knife, then slice off shavings of it that will melt into the marinades)

Mix the teriyaki, worcestershire, barbecue, honey, basalmic vinegar, rosemary, marjoram and ginger until well blended. You can heat it in the microwave for up to 30 seconds to melt the honey if you need to. Place the marinade and the meat into a ziplock bag, refrigerate overnight.

When you're ready to grill, thread meat, pieces of onion and slices of bell pepper onto skewers. If you use wooden or bamboo skewers, please soak them thoroughly in water before using.
Grill until they're done to your point of done-ness. I like things medium to medium-rare, Sic_un likes well. Grill until they're done to your point of done-ness.
Served with grilled pineapple rings and green salad. Great for a quick, easy, no thought quiet Sunday, you know?
Have a good week, Dear Reader.

Because.... Cherry-O Pie :Recipe Tuesday

2007-03-27T18:39:00.000-05:00

Because I'm thinking of Mom and this is close enough....

Cherry-O Pie
1 graham cracker pie crust
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cap almond extract
1 can cherry pie filling, chilled
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, and extract until well blended and smooth.
Pour cream mixture into pie crust and smooth top.
Chill overnight in the refrigerator.
Top with cherry pie filling before serving.

Irish? Why yes... Yes I am...

2007-03-20T12:40:00.000-05:00

But I cannot, for some reason, make bread.
This week's Recipe Tuesday comes to you from Food TV, where I got what seemed to be a decent recipe for Soda Bread. Go here for the recipe.
Now, what I ended up with isn't a chewy, earthy bread good for corned beef and cabbage and potatoes. That's what it should have been.

I didn't use enough liquid.
I ended up with a large hockey puck that had a dry, icky texture.
If anyone can make bread, teach me.
Happy Recipe Tuesday, folks

SOPA!!!

2007-03-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

Once again, Dear Reader, it's time for Recipe Tuesday. Slight disclaimer: I'm cooking these when I get home tonight, I'll update and let you know how they turn out Tuesday evening (posting from work, no internet at home, Sic_un's getting his sissy bar installed tonight).

I've been craving Sopas... Sopapillas. A delicious light, airy fried bread prevalent (very) in every Mexican restaurant in New Mexico. People here haven't HEARD of them... Why, you may ask. I asked that too. Nobody here could tell me.

So you go to the internet and what can you find? THIS. Apparently, according to Wikipedia (and, really, this is the best explanation I can find), sopapillas were developed or created or whatever in the late 1800's... IN NEW MEXICO. There is a South American dish called torta frita that is quite a bit like it, but apparently sopas are a New Mexican phenom. Even the language kindof carries this through. The etymology: American Spanish, diminutive of Spanish sopaipa, fried dough sweetened with honey, from earlier xopaipa, from Mozarabic xupaipa. Also diminutive of úppa, súppa, bread soaked in oil, from Old Spanish sopa, food soaked in liquid, of Germanic origin.

And I've been craving.

Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Sopapillas (service for 6)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water
2 cups oil for frying --USE SHORTENING... Fries up better.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and shortening. Stir in water; mix until dough is smooth. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.
Roll out on floured board until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch squares. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve hot. You may dust with powdered sugar, serve with honey, or stuff with whatever you desire.

Easy recipe. Please note, you can get more servings if you double/triple, etc. I don't see ANY problem with expanding this recipe. BUT... Sopas don't store so well, they don't reheat so well. You're better off keeping the batches smaller to fit how many you want to feed at any one time.
You MUST roll them really thin otherwise they don't puff the way they should (thick dough=thick sopa...icky). I've often heard they should be tissue paper thin. Don't need to go that thin, but it does puff up better the thinner it is.
Use shortening for frying. Oil doesn't give quite as good a browning from what I've seen in the past. I prefer to deep fry with shortening.
My favorite way to enjoy them is to either have them with enchiladas (gooey and dripping with chile verde over at Los Cuates) or as dessert drizzled with honey. The salt in them (and it really is a bit of a savory dough) contrasts nicely and makes it a 'not heavy' dessert.
Enjoy, and I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow afternoon or evening. Maybe even with pictures :)

The Its-Been-a-Hell-of-a-Week Quiche

2007-03-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm SiO2. I've commented some here and I post Recipe Tuesday stuff in that Other journaling site, but the food's good so at Neuro's request I'll be cross posting here and there and I also ended up with my own blog(I'll link if I do anything with it). I'm sure that's mostly a sentence.

Its Recipe Tuesday and after the week or so that it has been, Dear Reader (rough and not in that warm squishy way), I figure I'll make comfort food this week.

This is the sort of about right style my dad taught me to cook in (think of measuring a teaspoon in of salt into your cupped palm and knowing its about right). I have no idea what dad calls this, but its thing he made for dinner when the day had been long or awful.

OK pick up a zucchini: wash and shred it

Take a glass baking pan and grease or spray it. Then line it with the zucchini shreds and press them into place. Bake 350 that til a little crispy. After you pull that out of the oven turn it up to 400 to preheat.

Take enough eggs (5ish - it depends upon your pan) and milk and cheese to fill this and beat them and pour it in to the crust, plus or minus spicing but really I like it mostly plain. Fresh sage could go well.

Place mixture in the crust then cover with red chile sauce, which is buy red chile add water and simmer till gooey.

Bake at 400 or so for 30-45 or til golden brown and solid.

I always think this is fabulous in its balance: spicy and plain, crunchy and soft. Sorry no pictures.

Pizza pizza..

2007-02-27T18:48:00.002-05:00

First, I'm late off work tonight, so I'm posting this from work. There will be no pictures. Sorry. Like I said, I'm late off work, and rather than go up and only spend 2-3 hours with Sic_un, I'm 'staying home'. Since I have no intarweb, it must be done here. No pictures because well, it's work. I can get fired for plugging things into the computers here.

Sic_un and I have been tossing around dinner ideas, who cooks, etc etc etc. Yesterday, we decided 'Fuck it, we'll make pizza'. That's this week's Recipe Tuesday

PIZZA PIZZA
1 pizza crust (you can use Boboli, pre-cooked crusts, frozen crusts, refrigerator crusts [this is what we did], or make your own. I didn't want the mess so we used refrigerator crusts. I've also used standard french bread loaves sliced in 1/2)
Pizza Sauce (jarred sauces are fine--We used the Ragu Pizza sauce. It has no added sugar((!)) and it's not overpoweringly sweet-Look into white sauces, pestos, make your own)
Italian sausage-Brown before hand
ham slices
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Sliced bell peppers
Jalapenos
Sliced red onion
Cheese (we used pre-shredded 'italian' blend from Sargento...It was on sale and the same price a standard 3 cheese blend would be, so we used the 6 cheese blend from Sargento)

Start with crust preparation. If you want to make your own crust, check Food Network or Recipe Source for recipes. Follow the directions. Next time, we're talking about making our own crusts. The Pillsbury refrigerator crust is OK flavor-wise, a little tough texture-wise, and it winds up as a 'thin' crust. I don't like 'thin' crusts in general, so I wasn't super happy with it, but it was OK.
Once the crust is prepped (my instructions were bake it 8 minutes, then top it and bake it 9-11 minutes more), top.
Start with the sauce. Don't load it down too much with sauce because it will make the crust soggy after baking.
Drain all meats and veggies. This makes it less likely to drip and get wierd.
Layer on your toppings. I started with a little cheese in the sauce, then meats, then more cheese, then veggies then more cheese.
Sic_un did sauce, meat, veggies, cheese.
Bake it to bubble the cheese. If the crust appears to be getting too dark, feel free to cover the edges with foil and stick it under the broiler to get a bubbly hot top.

So we had pizza for dinner and were curious... Has anyone else ended up making pizza and getting more than satisfied with 1 or 2 pieces? We order a pizza and I can scarf down a full 4 slices if I'm determined to. I could barely finish 1 piece of the homemade, it was that filling. Any clue? I mean, I know amount of topping has a lot to do with it, and I packed a huge amount of toppings on, but Sic_un was only able to finish 2 pieces of his and he was full too. Anybody else experience this?

***
The birthday was great! I had a ball! We're actually talking about going bowling now. I bowled an 86 the first game and a 74 the second game (last drunken bowling I made a 13? 15? Something like that. It's an improvement!). We're not too concerned with scoring, it's just... Is it fun? Yes. Did we HAVE fun? Yes. Was it different? Yes. SO we'll probably go again.
Peace, Dear Reader.

Saturday Night Let-It-Sit Stew...

2007-02-27T18:48:00.001-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. I was really in a quandry about what to post for Recipe Tuesday. See, I made stew Saturday, then Sic_un made roast for Sunday, and I really didn't feel like cooking tonight. SO what to do for Recipe Tuesday... It's, well, it's stew or roast or an untried recipe.

Then I thought about how I ended up making the stew. New cooking trick for me, so...

Saturday Night Let-It-Sit Stew

1 1/2 pound chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2x1 inch chunks
3/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped (1/2" pieces)
1 tablespoon oil
***
1 1/2 onions, medium chop (1/4" pieces)
4 carrots, sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
3 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4" pieces
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
***
5 cups beef broth
1 can navy beans, rinsed well
4 potatoes, cut into large bite size chunks (I ended up cutting them in 1/2 lengthwise, then 3/4 inch chunks)
2 cups frozen green beans

To start the stew, mix your seasoning into your flour. Coat the beef chunks with the flour. Heat the oil in the bottom of a large soup or stock pot over medium-high heat until shimmery. Sear the meat chunks in batches with small amounts of the coarsely chopped onion, removing each batch to a plate to catch the juices. You will not be cooking the meat through, just searing it for color and texture. Be sure to drain as much of the oil off the pieces and leave it in the pan.

After searing the meat, throw the onions, carrots and celery into the pan. After approximately 5-7 minutes of cooking (you want the veggies barely softened), sprinkle approximately 3 tablespoons of your coating flour over the top of the veggies, stir well. We're cooking the flour rather than cooking the veggies as much. Keep stirring. Once the flour reaches a nice golden color, stir in the reserved beef, the worcestershire sauce and the 5 cups of beef broth. You should notice it getting thicker once it gets to the bubble point. At this point, turn it down and let it simmer for about 1/2 an hour. Taste it for seasonings, add to your heart's content. I threw in about 1 teaspoon of Jane's Crazy Pepper, which gave it an immediate bite and flavor boost without a whole lot of 'hot'.

After it's simmered for a 1/2 hour or so, add in your beans and potatoes. Add water to cover veggies if necessary. Bring it to a bubble. Simmer it on medium heat, at a bubble, stirring occasionally. After a half hour, turn it off. Yeah, yeah, I know. "Don't keep food in the 'danger zone'". We went to G&D's to pick up equipment and kick back for a few. It ended up being 2 hours. But that 2 hours? The pot held the heat really well, the stew held it's temperature really well, and the flavors just BLENDED. You could stop at this point, pour it into a bowl and let it refrigerate overnight, but let it REST.

When we came back home, we popped the heat back up, brought it to a boil, turned it down to simmer, threw in the green beans, and let it just bubble at a lower heat for about 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with the bread and salad of your choice.

It really is a stew, thick and rich and peppery. We had about 6-8 servings left over that we froze for future 'Don't wanna cook' nights. You can thin it down with broth or water, add in more veggies (how good would corn be in this?), add some tomato (we didn't want the acid in it), throw in some V8.... Play with it, but as is, it's a very thick and rich hearty stew OH so good for days that start out like this:
Enjoy Recipe Tuesday, folks! Changes to it are on the way, including adding in SiO2's recipes :)

Better late than never....

2007-02-27T18:47:00.002-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. Welcome once again to the latest rendition of Recipe Tuesday. This week, I've done sort of an Outward Bound! type thing... I'm cooking over at Sic_un's, I've brought my glass bowls, all ingredients, my spat, my grater... I've used his muffin tins (he has them! I don't. Hm. This says something, but I'm not quite sure what), his measuring cups and his teaspoon measure. And his stove. You get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, no pictures. I still need to actually BUY the batteries at the STORE when I'm there instead of wanting to get in and out as fast as possible. This Recipe Tuesday is because we're having 'treat day' for Valentine's at work. Our team is, at any rate. We're exchanging valentines and having sweet stuff. Hey, gets me off the phones, right? I still think it's rather... Third grade-ish, but that's me. As I said, I get off the phones. Without further ado...

UltraOrange Cupcakes with CreamCheese Frosting

Make your cupcakes according to directions HERE.
At the point where you would fill the cake pan, fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full of batter. Bake them at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until you get a clean toothpick test. I wound up with 22 cupcakes out of 1 batch, and most were a very scant 2/3 cup. So make your cupcakes.
COOL THEM THOROUGHLY.

While your cupcakes are baking, you can mix the frosting:
8 oz. Cream Cheese-CHILLED
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, beat everything except the powdered sugar until blended. Add the powdered sugar 1/3 to 1/2 cup at a time, blending until smooth and your desired consistency. If the frosting gets too stiff, keep beating a few seconds until it thins. Do not overbeat.

Frost your cupcakes, cupcake!

Notes: Apparently, if the cream cheese is chilled and the butter soft, it won't get grainy. So that's how I did it. What I did with the orange juice is used the juice of 1 small orange in the frosting and regular bottled orange juice (non-concentrate, pulp free) for the cake. I managed to get just 2 tablespoons of zest out of it using a fine grater.

Shepherd's Pie...

2007-02-27T18:47:00.001-05:00

Greetings once again, Dear Reader. As promised, it's Shepherd's Pie for Recipe Tuesday, sans pictures not because I'm lazy but because my rechargeables for the camera need replaced. They'll hold a very short charge is all. SIGH. Anyway, Sic_un and I were watching Rachael Ray cook one evening and said 'That would be good!'... She was making a turkey based pie. Gave me the idea, anyway, so we made it up over the weekend. Let's go to the kitchen, shall we?

Shepherd's Pie

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (try for the 85/15 mix)
1 medium onion, chopped 1/4 inch
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch crosswise
2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 inch
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef broth
1 bell pepper, chopped 1/4 inch
2 teaspoons Seasoning (Your favorite steak seasoning, seasoning salt, I used Jane's Crazy Salt and Pepper blends), separated
3 cups mashed potatoes (make your own, use leftovers, use a box... 3 cups mashed potatoes. I RECOMMEND USING HOT MASHED POTATOES, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO MICROWAVE THEM HOT)

Heat a 12", ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Begin browning the ground beef over medium heat. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon seasoning over the meat, stir it in. When the meat is mostly browned, but still slightly pink, drain the fat from the pan. You can spoon it out, strain the meat and return it to the pain, pour it off, do what you like, but drain the fat from the pan. The meat will continue to release fats, that will be used for the veggies and gravy later, but get the majority of it out now.
Return the drained beef to medium heat. Stir in the onions, carrots and celery. At this time, sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of seasoning over the meat. Cook the veggies and meat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are hot all the way through, but still have a little bit of a 'bite' to them. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, mix well. You'll notice a lot of fond starting to develop. When the fond is golden and the flour is mixed in, stir in the beef broth.
Continue stirring as you bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, add bell peppers, continue simmering until gravy has thickened and peppers begin to soften.
Remove from heat.
IF YOUR POTATOES ARE HOT: Let the mixture cool approximately 10 minutes, then top the mixture in the ovenproof skillet with the mashed potatoes. Broil until the top is golden at the higher peaks.
IF YOUR POTATOES ARE COLD: Let the mixture cool COMPLETELY, top with the cold mashed potatoes. Bake in a 325 oven approximately 30 minutes or until top is golden and mixture is heated through.
When it's golden, pull out the skillet and dish it up.

You can use whatever veg you like. I had these, so this is what I used. Throw in corn, peas... Any of the 'stew' veg will work. Meaning if you like it in stew, it will work in this. Use leftover meats, leftover gravy, leftover mashed. It's a great, filling, easy dish.

Mil's Braised Pork Chops

2007-02-27T18:46:00.001-05:00

Alrighty then. Today really sucked at work. They beat me up. I forgot my camera at the apartment and I really don't feel like going to get it. So this Recipe Tuesday is sans photogs. I apologize. It really is a rum kinda day, the way that SiO2 posted earlier... I'd point you to her recipes... OOH.... HEY!!! SiO2!!! Want a page here to cross-post to? We'll see. Anyway, she's got a locked post over at LJ on some TREMENDOUS rum drinks because yes... It's a rum day. SO pour one up (A Dark & Stormy:take the good ginger beer/add enough of the good gold rum(I like Sailor Jerry cuz its sweet and tastes like it costs more than the 10 bucks it is) to taste, usually about a shot will do ya.Bingo you have yourself a Dark and Stormy no matter what the weather is! OOOOR Mojito/Rum/mint leaves/sugar syrup - you want syrup because plain sugar sits in the bottom of your glass and has to be stirred back in occasionally/club soda -though its rumored you could replace these last two with ginger beer, but I've never tried it. )
There... Properly lubricated and let's go to the kitchen for

Mil's Braised Pork Chops

A note before we start. This is the recipe of a positively DELIGHTFUL 87 year old woman in Albuquerque. Specifically, Dan's grandmother. Strange, as many problems as I had with Dan, his blood relatives were great. His mom was a peach, his grandmother the same (if a little wierd and uptight in a 1950's kind of way), his brother was a doll. Dan... Meh. But Mil had these great pork chops she made. She gave me the recipe a couple years ago. For the parenthetical comments, hear a wavery, 'little old lady from Joisey' voice in your head. That's Mil.

Pork chops (figure 1-2 chops each), 3/4 to 1 inch thick, with bone (more flavor)
Seasoning (Mil would say 'I use the Lawry's', but I'm using Crazy Jane's pepper and salt mixes)
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 medium white onion, sliced thin

Prep your chops: Rub your seasoning of choice into each side, let sit at least 10 minutes to absorb the seasoning.
Heat a skillet or saute pan over medium high heat. Throw in the chops. Cook each side approximately 4 minutes. We're going for color and flavor possibilities, not cooking it through. When you flip them over, throw your 1/2 onion in around the chops. Stir it around, make sure it doesn't burn. You can add a tablespoon of olive oil if you want to help with the onions, but I never really do.
When the chops are nicely seared, remove them to the side. Stir in 2 cups water and the soup mix. Get that fond off the bottom of the pan. Return the chops to the pan.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 30 to 45 minutes (depends on the thickness). Cut into them to be sure. I personally don't like pork pink, not chops. The braise actually keeps the pork from drying out. 'Course, it would be better with a well-marbled, not-lean chop, but you work with what you get. (You can also finish it off in the oven, you know, just set it to about 375, throw 'em in for an hour or so, cover with foil). Serve with sides of your choice.

The braising liquid makes an EXCELLENT jus, you can also serve a gravy on the side by thickening up the braising liquid.

***
There. Recipe Tuesday. I didn't fail completely. At least at something, right?

I'm not in a good place tonight, Dear Reader. I really had a shitty day at work. I seriously hate the fact that ... God. How can I put this? I hate the client and the limitations they've put on us as customer service personnel in light of today's litigious society. I can't DO anything. Nothing I do really makes one bit of difference. People call us for parts help. "I've got a (fill in the blank) on order, it's been on order 2 months. When's it coming?" We're supposed to be able to get this expedited, but it never works that way. So I document and tell them 'Gee, we're trying to find out a date when you'll get to drive your car again!'

I can't do anything when someone calls to complain about a dealer. We're just a fucking supplier. It's like calling Proctor&Gamble because your local grocery chain hired an idiot who called you an old hag. It makes no sense. Don't call me a cunt because of it, you know? SO I do my job, which is supposed to somehow be helping people. Everything I do is documented and then the client's various departments (R&D, Tech support, marketing) get a fucking number on a chart to indicate I spoke with Mrs. Smith and her car has a steering problem. They don't see the fact that I spent an HOUR on the phone with Mrs. Smith listening to her call me every name in the book except Jesus, state several times I should be kissing her ass, and all I can do is tell her I can document it. They don't get that. I dont' t think my bosses get that.

I get asked at least once a day if someone can talk to the president of the company. Get this... This is from Wikipedia: (not pointing to the company name cause I really can't AFFORD to be fired)

The share register of Company X makes for interesting reading. The largest shareholder in Company X today is the State of Kuwait, with 7.2%. Followed by Deutsche Bank, with just under 5%. The 3rd largest shareholder is the Emirate of Dubai, with just over 2% of Company X shares.

Breaking the shareholdings by region:

47.5% Germany
26.7% Other Europe
16.5% USA
9.3% Rest of the World

That's the owners of the client. These stupid fucking fuckheads think THESE PEOPLE want to talk to them. These stupid fucking fuckheads think the fact that they/their relatives/their friends are IMPORTANT to the company because they've bought a car. Nobody is important to these fucking conglomerates. They are owners because THEY LIKE MONEY... THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT. GO KILL SOME OTHER MESSENGER!

jesus I've had a bad day.

No Dairy Choco cake ...

2007-02-27T18:45:00.002-05:00

Once again, Dear Reader, it's Recipe Tuesday. As promised, the easy choco cake without dairy. Haven't made it yet, but I'll tell you right now all the proportions are right for something truly nice. It's basically the orange cake, only chocolate.

No Dairy Chocolate Cake (Vegan)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened nonalkalized cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla

PREP YOUR PAN. This means Line the Bottom. Grease and flour the pan if you like. I wish I had lined the bottom of the orange one. Line the pan is preferred. 8x8 size. Brownie pan.
Heat the oven to 350.
Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a separate pitcher, large measuring cup or bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
Stir the two mixtures together until smooth. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan on a rack. Slide a knife around the cake. Invert the cake, peel off the paper. Let it cool on the rack right side up.

Part of me says throw some cinnamon into this. Just enough cinn... oooh... Allspice. Allspice. Just enough to give the flavor of it through the batter. And I say allspice because it's more of a flavor blend between cinnamon and cloves than anything else.
You could also probably get away with using a little more vanilla as well.
The recipe as written says dust it with powdered sugar or a quick cookie icing. I say make a caramel sauce and drizzle it over the top... Ooooh... No... Not caramel.
Cherry sauce. Yeahhhh.....

Simple cherry sauce. Mom taught me how when she was making her Cherry-O pie...
3 cups cherries, fresh or canned (drain and rinse)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch

Cook the cherries, sugar and lemon juice over medium-high heat until the berries release their juice. In a separate small container, mix the water and cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the cherry mixture and cook until thickened. Let it cool, spoon it on top.
OOOOHhhh.. Yeah. That's it. The cake. With cherries. If you like, you can always stir in a couple tablespoons of butter into the sauce. It'll add body and a gloss to it. I wouldn't, but that's me.

Let them eat CAKE!

2007-02-27T18:45:00.001-05:00

What does one make when one is faced with a seeming lack of things to bake with?
You see, Dear Reader, I had oranges and lemons from the cranberry bread (10 oranges for a buck. I had to get the full 10. Sorry. Too good a price- The lemons were 3 for a buck), spices, sugar, flour, vanilla, baking soda... No eggs though, and I really don't want to spend the $$ for eggs...
But I have this program, you see... It's the Joy of Co oking, in computer program form. Great reference, no matter what edition or what form it takes, it's the Joy. So I went digging through the disc. I was looking for something sweet, not a lot of thought or prep to it that would use a lot of citrus.

There's a recipe called UltraOrange Cake (Vegan)... No eggs. It's vegan, right? Wait. It'll require some weird thing that you don't have... No, you have all that... Hm. Ok. Let's make it and see what we come up with.

The original recipe is as follows. My changes are made in the parentheses. And comments follow.

Ultra Orange Cake- Vegan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one 8x8 pan or line the bottom with parchment paper.
Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add and stir together until smooth:
1 cup orange juice (I squeezed 3 oranges and 1 large lemon and got a cup of juice)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange peel (I just grated the peels from 2 of the oranges I squeezed)
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla (plus a little splash... I like vanilla)
Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan. Invert the cake and peel off the paper liner, if using. Cool right side up on the rack.

Now... I like things that don't require a lot of prep, that don't dirty a lot of dishes (I still have to wash them, you know), that use ingredients in new and unusual ways. This uses baking soda and vinegar. C'mon, guys, we all remember the volcano experiment in grade school science class. It foams. It makes foam. When you put that with flour and sugar and flavor, it makes cake, too.

I stirred together the dry ingredients. You could sift, I suppose, but I just stirred really well. Made them fluffy.

Then I grated the oranges over my 2 cup glass measuring cup, squeezed in the citrus and got pretty much a cup of juice.

Then I added in the oil to bring it to 1 1/3 cups. Then I threw in the vinegar and the vanilla. It makes about a cup and a half of stuff.

Stir it all together, blend in with the dry ingredients. Sing Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles, pour it into the pan.

Tally so far? 1 dirty bowl, 1 dirty fork (my whisk is in the dishwasher already and I'm lazy), 1 dirty set of measuring spoons, 1 dirty glass measuring cup. The dry measuring cups don't get washed. They're shaken clean, rinsed if necessary and put away.
So there's not a lot of dirty dishes with this.
It's quick, easy, not messy.
Hm. It probably tastes like garbage, right?
No. The batter (and no worries about salmonella from eggs with this one) is TASTY. Supertasty, really. So let's see how the cake looks when I take it out...

Hm. Never mind looks, it's just a cake.
But the smell.

Orange-y. Very orange-y. I like this. Let's let it cool, then get it out of the pan for a little taste....

AHA. Hm. It fell apart while inverting the pan. Not pretty. BUT! it didn't stick to the point of can't use it. I'll definitely use parchment next time.
What's that? How's it tas...

OH MY GOD. I love this cake. It's ugly as sin, but it's light, cake-y, moist, orange beyond all hope, smooth... Tastytasty. Mmmmm. Mine. All mine.
Oh. Sorry.
So I'll use parchment next time I make it, but this is a good recipe, even with my machinations into it, and I like not using eggs in it because I'm more likely to have baking soda and vinegar on hand.
Kid friendly recipe, nothing to gross them out, no cutting required (if you use over the counter orange juice), easy to fix.
I wonder how it would taste with just lemons... Hm.
Or blood oranges, or limes......

And now.... Recipe Tuesday. Merry Christmas.

2007-02-27T18:44:00.002-05:00

I'm... Hm. I don't want to say I'm a little leery about putting this out on the 'net, but... Well, yeah. Look, if you make it, PLEASE don't say you came up with the recipe on your own. Just say you found it on the 'net. I took quite a long time (years) developing this. It's originally a recipe for zucchini bread that I messed with one year because Dad had purchased too many cranberries. I've made it on 2 continents. It gets eaten, quickly. You can serve it with butter as a breakfast bread, you can put cream cheese onto it (whip it first, it spreads better) for a snack. It's a quick bread. You can bake it in muffins, you can make loaves. You can mess with the spices. I used lemons once, not oranges. I threw ground ginger in by mistake one year. Frost it with any standard frosting or glaze recipe... It changes, but there's never a bad change. All I know is I'm very proud of this recipe. It is mine. Here it is, Dear Reader. As promised...

Darkneuro's Infamous Cranberry Bread
Makes 2 Loaves or 3 doz. Muffins.

1 12 oz. package cranberries
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
grated peel of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

A Note on Cranberries: I buy fresh cranberries, a package per batch. You'd think this is a pound, but it's not. It's only 12 ounces, but it works. First, rinse the berries and pick through them for ick berries. That means you float them in at least 2 inches of cold water. If they sink, get rid of them. If they have a moldy patch, get rid of it. Soft, get rid of it. Mushy, get rid of it. You're looking for whole, ripe, hard berries that float. A slight softness around the stem is fine, but if you've got a soft patch through 1/2 the berry, you had best throw it away. Do not worry about the collateral damage such weaning will cause. You'll have plenty of berries for the bread.

Take this picked-through package of berries and chop them. I use a food processor. I have also used a blender. I really prefer a food processor. If you do use a blender, do yourself a favor and put some of the milk in and use the milk to chop the berries with. You'll need some sort of liquid in the blender, otherwise they just hang out on the sides and you'll get nowhere.

Prep your pans. Loaf pans will need the bottoms greased. I usually just spray them with no-stick, but I've also papered muffin pans, used shortening, used straight vegetable oil... Just the bottom of the pan, so the sides have something to climb up. Also, you'll need to loosen the sides of the loaf pan with a knife when you're ready to cool it down.

Mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder). I leave the spices and the sugar out of the dry ingredients. I may change amounts on those depending on the taste and smell of the batter. Also, since it needs to melt smooth, sugar and spices get added with the wet stuff.

Prep your citrus. You'll need as much of the peel and all of the juice from the fruit. I use oranges, typically, although I've used lemons in a pinch. You can use 1 of each if you desire, heavier on the orange if you do.

In a very large bowl, mix the cranberries, sugar, oil, vanilla, milk, and eggs. Blend it smooth.
Add the spices. Mix well.

Add the citrus peel and juice.

Taste it. Yes, taste it. Stick in a spoon, swirl it round, dip your tongue to it. TASTE IT. Can it use some more clove? Allspice? Citrus? Sugar? Vanilla? You should have a spicy, vanilla-sweet milky taste with a hint of orange and cranberry tartness. And it should be very liquid. If you hate the thought of eating raw egg, don't, but you really should.

Add the dry ingredients slowly, mixing thoroughly.
The batter should still be rather liquid for a quick bread. I've always thought it looks rather runny.

When the batter is mixed, turn on your oven to 350 degrees.
While the oven is heating, dish it up. Fill your muffin cups, pour your loaves.
Drop each pan onto the counter to make any serious bubbles break apart or rise to the top.

Bake for...
Loaves: 50 to 70 minutes, starting to check it every 5 minutes after the first 45.
Muffins: 25-30 minutes, starting to check it every 5 minutes after the first 20
Use the toothpick/skewer/knife test. If it comes out clean, and the top of the loaf is brownish rather than (this is wierd) greenish (it really does have a greenish cast to it), it's done. Remove from oven.
For Loaves: Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Remove from pans (turn it out onto wire racks, towels, etc), cool thoroughly.
For Muffins: Remove from pans immediately, set flat onto a towel or wire rack and cool thoroughly. This will keep moisture from forming on the bottoms.
Store in plastic bags in the refrigerator in a single layer. You can refrigerate it for up to a week, although I would be surprised if it lasted that long. This bread also freezes well. Enjoy.

First Cranberry Bread of the season.... MMMMm.... Tasty. And it's muffins for work on Friday. Strange... I just had 3 dozen... Wait. There's only 2 dozen left. Damn. It's been less than 24 hours... Damn. Ok. So I have enough for another batch, I'll make some more for work. Note to self: Self, stay out of the muffins.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.

La-Zog-Nee...

2007-02-27T18:44:00.001-05:00

I promised it a week ago, here it is again... Recipe Tuesday, this time it's Sic_un's Lasagne. And he (again!) said this was 'meh'. It was good. And I'm not a huge fan of lasagne, so that's saying something. Let's go to the kitchen with Sic_un

Sic_un's Lasagne

1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup diced black olives
2 cans petite diced tomatoes with garlic and basil (14.5 oz cans)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 cups tomato sauce (2-8 oz cans)
1/2 tsp sage
1 tsp fennel
3/4 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp Jane's Mixed up Pepper (if you can find it. If not, Mrs. Dash or equivilant)
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 box dried lasagne noodles
4 to 5 cups shredded mozzerella cheese (can also use 'italian combination')

Preheat oven to 375.

Brown Italian sausage in large sauté pan over medium heat. Drain fat, set aside. Brown ground beef in large sauté pan with finely chopped onion over medium heat. Drain fat, add reserved sausage to beef in pan.

Stir in garlic, mix to combine. Add coarsely chopped onion and bell pepper. Stir in 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce. Mix, bring to a bubble over medium heat.
Add herbs, remaining tomatoes and tomato sauce, and olives. Taste, adjust salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for approximately 1 hour.

Prepare noodles according to package directions.
Layer into a 13x9 baking dish as follows:
Noodles
Sauce
Cheese
(Sic_un ended up with 3 layers.)
(He wanted me to specifically show the pan size issue solved. You layer a noodle over the blank spot.)

Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes or until cheese is bubbled and slightly browned. (at this point, the camera ran out of batteries. Sorry)
(and because he'll call me on it, Sic_un actually had the herbs split up into 3 additions-one with beef browning, one with the 'add herbs', and one during the simmer process)

AND....
I found Mom's Christmas Present.... She's got throws, she's got afghans, she's got blankets. She doesn't have a quilt.
a real honest to goodness Tennessee quilt... Pinwheel pattern and it matches her bedroom.

Pie, pie, everybody loves pie...

2007-02-27T18:42:00.002-05:00

I blame my love of lemon meringue on my mother. She makes a mean lemon meringue, at least as far as flavor goes. Her meringue is loose and tends to get really weepy after a little bit, but the flavor... She's where I learned the power of just a little lemon peel, although she was more likely to grab for the lemon extract. Still, I blame my love of this particular pie on my mother. I knew it was special if she made lemon meringue.

I had lemons, I had butter, I had sugar and flour and eggs. Sounds like pie, doesn't it, Dear Reader? Let's go to the kitchen.

Lemon Meringue Pie
1 Baked Pastry Shell (recipe below)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Dash salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 teaspoons shredded lemon peel
1/3 cup lemon juice
Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon shredded lemon peel
6 tablespoons sugar

Prepare pastry shell (see below), set aside. Separate egg yolks from whites, set whites aside for meringue. Stir 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel into 6 tablespoons sugar for meringue (flavors the sugar). Heat oven to 350 degrees. Zest your lemons, juice your lemons. I got the juice and peel from 2 medium sized lemons. I would say aim for 2, but use up to 4 if you have to.

FILLING:
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
Gradually whisk in water.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles. [This is where it turns away from food into a science project. You know those petri dishes filled with agar they used to use in biology class? Yeah. You'll recognize it when it gets to this stage. See?]
Reduce heat when mixture bubbles. Keep stirring and cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Slightly beat egg yolks with a fork. Stir in 1 cup of the hot mixture into the egg. Blend well.

Return mixture to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat, cook and keep stirring for 2 more minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in butter and lemon peel.
Stir in lemon juice. Keep filling warm while you prepare the meringue.

MERINGUE:
In a glass, copper or stainless-steel bowl, start mixing the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.

Gradually add the prepared sugar a tablespoon at a time, mixing each tablespoon in thoroughly. Keep beating on high speed until stiff peaks form and the sugar dissolves.

Pour hot filling into baked pastry shell.

Top with meringue, being sure to seal to the edge of the pastry. Then mound into the center of the pie.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.
Chill for 3 to 4 hours.
Slice and serve.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Baked Pastry Shell:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons cold water

Combine the flour, salt and butter in a medium bowl. Either cut with a pastry blender or rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together and is no longer dry, being careful not to overmix. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 1 hour.
You can also throw the butter, flour and salt into a food processor and pulse until it looks like coarse crumbs. Drizzle the water in until it gathers together and starts to pull away from the sides of the container. Gather it into a disk, wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, fit to the pan. Rest in refrigerator for 1 hour. Dock crust with tines of fork. Line crust with 2 layers of regular foil or 1 layer of heavy foil. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until golden. Cool.

I was actually concerned, and apologized to Sic_un for the quality of my meringue. It's tight. Meaning small bubbles, tight foam. I should have apologized for the crust. I don't have a rolling rig, you see. So I was (really!) using one of my white cutting mats (perfectly acceptable substitute for a rolling mat) and (ahem) a can of soup. Yes, Dear Reader... I made my crust using a can of soup as a roller. I'm ashamed. But I did make the crust. Next time, I may just get a frozen crust and make it a bit easier on myself. Also, I was concerned the meringue might get a little weepy or slippery on the pie, so I heated the finished mixture over medium heat for about 2 minutes after I finished whipping the meringue. It cooked up the mixture really pretty. I actually ended up getting the meringue a little too baked, so it did this seepy thing where the oil from the lemon peel came through the meringue after it cooled. No harm, no foul. And it really is really really good. Make a pie, Dear Reader.
Oh, and points to you if you can name the movie the title of this post comes from.

What A Crock!

2007-02-27T18:42:00.001-05:00

When I was somewhere around 12 or 13, my mom got her crock pot. Of course, it was from Montgomery Wards, it wasn't crockery (although it was non-stick) and she still uses it today because it's what she has and it works for her. I never liked the thing. You could, admittedly, get stuff started on the stove for really good browning and carmelization and then braise it, but it always simmered out and dripped because the lid never fit tight. It was also a multi-tasker, with a separate heating tray that you could presumably cook on itself. But I never liked it. It wasn't something I felt I could set to low and let it cook all day long.

So I asked for a Crock-pot last Christmas (or maybe the one before...hmmm. Maybe smoking the demon weed does kill brain cells). In Albuquerque, I only cooked with it once or twice. Make that 3 times. After the first time I cooked something in it, I picked up a box of those Crock-pot liners. They work. I dig them. I like everything that means I don't have to scrub a dish.

It's pot-luck season at workplaces around the country, and that means Crock-pot. My supervisor at work seems to have instituted a pot-luck-a-month. For October, it was the 'halloween fest'. I brought doughnuts for the morning sugar rush. This time around, our 'Thanksgiving potluck' is tomorrow. I'm making...(drum roll please) Smokies. Apparently, it's somewhat of a common appetizer/pot-luck dish. I hadn't had it until Easter a year ago when K, L's girlfriend at the time, brought it to Mom's. You won't get a finished picture (that's at work, and no camera at work. Sorry), but I'll walk you through what I'm doing. Enjoy, Dear Reader. OOOH. And just to make it a bit easier, just about everything in here is pre-made except just a couple of things. Meaning it's quick and easy too.

Smokies
"X" 14 oz. packages small cooked smoked sausage links (I use Hillshire Farms). Figure it out according to how many people you have to feed using 2 ounces for each person. 2- 14 oz. packages (they were cheaper than the 2 lb package) will feed my team of 14 people.
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce (I'm using Cattleman's. Hey, it's work, what can I say?)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon yellow mustard

Line your Crock-pot. You'll thank me at clean-up time. It's sugary, meaning if it burns ANYWHERE, you're stuck.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl first. (do I need to remind you to taste and adjust to your own liking?)

Put the sausage in the Crock-pot.

Pour in the sauce and stir. Cover and cook on 'High' for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Ready to heat

Now. Since this is for work, this goes in the fridge (no, no pictures of my fridge. It's an old one from the late 70's and it's... funky and not fun) tonight and then I'm putting it into my Crock-pot carrier and going in the a.m. Plug it in at work (I'm essentially 10-8, with lunch at 1... makes it 3 hours. Isn't that convenient??). Stir before serving (bring a spoon and/or tongs. They can dish their own). TA DA!

Wasn't that easy? Oh, come on... You're just ashamed to admit it looks pretty damn good, even uncooked. I dig them. Enjoy, Dear Reader.

Danke Schoen... EEEK

2007-02-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

oh my darling, Danke schoen...

Just a quickie hats off to Miss Syl, who let me know blogger had me down for a few.

Recipe Tuesday is um, well, not here.

I could do the soup I made tonight... Stir up about a pound of beef chunks (mine was chuck and round stew meat) with seasoned flour (salt, pepper, chili powder, marjoram, oregano). Sear it up, throw in some onion and garlic while searing, add water and broth (1 can each), scrape up the bits, throw in carrots and celery, add spices to your liking (season salt, sage, marjoram, basil, worcestershire sauce), throw in some chopped potatoes, let simmer about 45 minutes or until veggies are softened as much as you want them. Serve it with the bread of your choice.

EEK. Before you know it, it's a RECIPE TUESDAY!!!!
Menu for Thanksgiving next week and a recipe for smokies (work potluck).

Ooooh lala!

2007-02-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

Greetings, kids! It's time once again for Recipe Tuesday. I saw this recipe made on Paula Dean one day, and never having had it, thought it tasted pretty good in my head. But wait, you think/say/exclaim (insert at will)... What is this... dish?

French Onion Soup.

Wait! I don't mean the powder stuff. I don't mean something ordered in a restaurant. I mean one of the easiest-to-make dishes in the world, although it does take some time. This is the sum of about 8 different recipes I found. And you can have your shortcuts with some things in it, but really. French onion soup. The peasant in me just shivered with delight. How rustic. How filling. Especially with fall everywhere (those are some really cool leaves around here at the top). Hot and tasty. And filling. Shall we, Dear Reader? Let's go to the kitchen.

French Onion Soup

6-8 medium onions*, sliced lyonnaise (lengthwise) (yes, it's a lot of onions)
1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup beer**
1 10oz. can of beef consomme
1 3/4 cups beef broth
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
Slices of French bread/texas toast/croutons for topping***
Shredded/sliced cheese****

Melt the butter over medium heat, wait until just melted.

Stir in the onions. Reduce heat. Cover. After about 15 minutes, after the onions have sweated down a bit, stir in the pepper.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are pale golden to medium caramel. Be patient, this can take awhile. Mine went about 1 1/2 hours.

Raise heat to medium, add garlic. Stir and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the beer and reduce, stirring frequently, until syrupy.

Add the consomme, broth and water. Taste. Add salt and/or pepper to taste. Bring just to a boil.
Reduce heat. Simmer about 20 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, toast your bread under the broiler, cook your texas toast to package specs, open the croutons, make your croutons... Whatever you decide to use to top it. I used cheese-garlic texas toast rounds. SO I cooked them according to package specs.
Taste your soup. Last chance to make any updates to the seasoning.

Dish into bowls or cups (I used bowls, Sic_un said he's never had it in anything but cups). MAKE SURE THEY ARE OVEN SAFE.
Top with bread/toast/croutons. Sprinkle with sliced/shredded cheese.
Broil until bubbling and/or brown.

Enjoy.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

* I used all sweet onions. I wish, after making it and tasting it really, that I had used a mixture of sweet and yellow onions.
** All the recipes had some kind of pan de-glazer. I had beer, I used beer. Wine on hand? Use that. Apple juice? Use it. Brandy? Go for it. I had beer, I used beer. I saw a recipe that used cola.
***Cut the bread into slices, butter each side, toast under the broiler until crispy and golden. Use what flavors you like. I used garlic/cheese.
****Tradition is provolone. I used shredded cheddar because it was on hand. Think of this with a brie. Damn. Ooooh... Queso Blanco. MMmmmm.

2007-02-27T18:36:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday, Dear Reader. I thought and thought and thought what the HELL to do for Recipe Tuesday. Even I get quite bored with chicken every now and again. SO... I decided to do something quick and easy, both to prep and cook. Beef Fajitas. Now, please note, Dear Reader... These are not like my Cheater Fajitas. These actually require ingredients. You may insert one smile here. That being said, they really are quick and easy. Prep time on them should, with all the slicing involved, take maybe 15 minutes. Marinating time is however long you decide to marinate them (I need something that can be thrown on literally on a moment's notice... I'm home from work, but Bro isn't off his final yet and Sis isn't home from work yet [[I don't think. There is evidence someone was here earlier, but nobody's home right now 'scept me]]). Rather than make something and have it get cold before everyone gets here, I thought I'd make something that can be thrown on 'whenever'. I only wish Blogger was cooperating with my images. I had to load them all in the good old-fashioned html way. Forgive the size. That being said... Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Steak Fajitas
1 1/2 pounds round steak, sliced across the grain into 1/4 inch wide slices
1/4 cup vinegar (I used red wine vinegar and cider vinegar, equal parts each, mixed)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon dried cilantro (dried 'cause it's a marinade. Use 3x as much fresh if you can get your hands on it)
Juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
2 bell peppers, sliced thin (I used 1 green,1/2 orange and 1/2 yellow... combine how you like)
1/2 to 1 full onion, julienned (I used 1/2 an onion... didn't want to overpower)
large 'burrito' size flour tortillas
Tomatoes (garnish)
Sour cream (garnish)
salsa (garnish)
shredded cheddar cheese (garnish)

In a non-reactive dish, mix together the vinegar, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, crushed red pepper, cilantro and lime juice.

Toss the thinly sliced beef to coat, refrigerate until you're ready to cook.

In a large saute pan (I used non-stick for cleaning reasons), heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add onion, cook until soft. Add bell pepper, cook until mostly soft.

Remove beef from marinade, salt and pepper the beef to taste (should be about 1 teaspoon each). Cook the beef to desired doneness (I like it medium rare). Remove from heat.

Build your fajita using a tortilla base, meat mixture, then garnish to taste.

Enjoy.

Notes:
On the cilantro: Bro agrees with me, cilantro is heavily overused in most dishes. A little is good. Don't chop up cupsful of it and expect to taste anything but cilantro. A little in the marinade goes a long way.
Play with your spices, Dear Reader. You can add tabasco to the marinade, you can add salsa to the marinade. I did what I like with it. Don't be afraid to experiment (one man's kink is another man's perversion). Play with your food, Dear Reader. Instead of using bell peppers, you can throw in some chopped roasted red peppers. You can use chipotle peppers and their adobo sauce. You can use jalapenos. Play! Different vinegars are red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, tarragon vinegar, cider vinegar, basalmic... PLAY!
Possible garnishes can include lettuce, guacamole, refried beans, spanish rice, more onion, mushrooms, sauteed garlic, green onions, chutneys, salsa fresca (easy salsa fresca: chop up tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green onions and jalapenos, mix to combine), jalapenos, habaneros... Again, play with it.
And as always, let me know what you think.

One last thing, Dear Reader....

It's food. PLAY WITH IT!

Chicken Piccata and Smashed Sweet Potatoes...

2007-02-27T18:36:00.001-05:00

As promised, unduly interrupted by barbecue cravings last week, we're going to make Chicken Piccata, Dear Reader. It's accompanied by Smashed Sweet Potatoes, and I think we were all surprised at how well it all went together. Main dish first, then the side, then any tips.

I'm hungry, so shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader? Oh... Pictures will be added later, since Blogger is being a bitch, mmmkay?
**edit** Just tried, it's still being a bitch. Both about uploading (for me) and just carrying over from a url. So what's going on? I have no idea. Ah well. No pictures. Sorry.

Chicken Piccata
1 1/2-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I used thighs, feel free to use what you like)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 can OR 2 cups chicken broth
juice from 3 medium lemons, reserve 1 tablespoon
Approximately 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter

Now, I recommend doing ALL THE PREP FIRST. This dish cooks QUITE quickly once you start, so if you can start out with everything ready to go, you'll be that much ahead of the game.

Prep: Flatten the chicken until it's 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Be sure to pound only on the 'cut' side, since what would have been the skin side will keep the chicken together. Mix the flour, garlic salt and pepper together in a dish or on a plate. Rinse and drain the capers, get the lemon juice ready to go. Dredge the flattened chicken in the flour mixture, both sides.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium high heat.
Brown the chicken IN BATCHES until golden. I had 6 thighs, I did 3 batches. Each batch got 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon butter. Reserve on a plate to the side.
After the chicken is cooked, pour in the chicken broth, lemon juice and capers. Bring to a boil, scraping up the fond. Reduce by half. After you've acheived the reduction, stir or whisk in the remaining tablespoon butter. Add the chicken back in, remove pan from heat. Feel free to leave it in the pan, warm, while you throw together the potatoes.

Now for the side. This is the EASIEST SIDE DISH you'll ever make, guaranteed. You'll need your microwave for this one, Dear Reader. This makes 4 half-cup servings, so double as needed.

Smashed Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice (reserved from Chicken Piccata)
4 tablespoons butter, cut up into 4 pieces
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the sweet potatoes, removing any root bits and dirt. Poke each sweet potato 3-4 times with a fork. Place them on a paper plate, microwave on high 8 minutes. I did this part when I was doing the chicken. Leave the sweet potatoes in the microwave until the chicken is done and off the heat. Once you're done with the chicken, take the sweet potatoes out of the microwave, cut each in half lengthwise and scoop the insides into a microwave safe bowl. Add the reserved lemon juice. Throw in the 4 tablespoons butter, mash that in. Stir in the milk, salt and pepper. If it's not hot enough it melt the butter, it's not hot enough. Microwave it for 30 seconds.

Tada! There. Wasn't that easy???

TIPS:
Do the prep first. I cannot stress this enough, Dear Reader. It really does go quickly if all the prep is done.
If you happen to not use the lemon juice in the sweet potatoes, it's no big deal. Really. It just sharpens the sweet potato flavor, makes it sweeter without sugar.
Now, why didn't I put maple syrup or brown sugar or cinnamon or nutmeg or blah-blah-blah in the sweet potatoes? I'm sick of it, Dear Reader. For 36 years, I have had candied sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows for holidays. I've had sweet potato pie with cinnamon and nutmeg and brown sugar. I've had sweet potato casserole so sweet you'll get a cavity just LOOKING at the damn thing... Sweet potatoes are called sweet potatoes for a reason. THEY'RE SWEET!!! You do not need to add sugar. They're sweet enough.
But again, if you want to, go ahead.
Once again, Dear Reader, I'm using chicken thighs. The price of breasts has gone through the roof, and I'm not sure where it will end. Until then, if it's boneless and skinless, use it. The darker meat does do a better job of being juicy, I think.
Capers are the pickled flower buds of the Capparis spinosa plant. I bought them in a 3 1/2 ounce jar at the local WalMart for $2 and some change. THEY ARE NOT EXOTIC. Look for them with the pickles, relishes, cocktail onions and jarred olives. They come packed in vinegar and you WILL need to rinse them. Matter of fact, rinse them twice.

Ribs...And Easy Coleslaw..

2007-02-27T18:35:00.001-05:00

Or... The Chicken Picatta will be next week, because we all had a longing for barbecue.

I have a confession, Dear Reader. I've been subjected to bad barbecue most of my life. Yes, yes, sad and (unfortunately) true, my family can't cook barbecue. I can, though, and so can Bro, who's the cook behind today's Recipe Tuesday. Warning on format: Bro doesn't cook with recipes, no measurements, no real 'recipe', a very devil-may-care philosophy towards cooking. So today's post is going to be more of a jumping off point, full of tips and hints and links, and show what he did and tell how I would do things, plus the easiest coleslaw in the world. Let's make us some barbecue, shall we?

Now, the barbecue I was raised with, and why I say I've been subjected to bad barbecue: My dad, to barbecue a chicken, for instance, would slather the meat with an over-the-counter barbecue sauce, maybe add a 1/2 beer to it, throw it on a hot grill and proceed to baste it with the sauce every 15 minutes or so until the meat itself was cooked. Only problem is that the chicken never absorbed the sauce, and indeed the sauce charred itself all the way to burnt way before the meat was done. The sugars in sauce cook before the meat is done and only end up burning. If you do chicken this way, STOP. Place the (preferably brined) chicken on the grill, let it cook all the way through, then throw sauce onto it for about 15 minutes. My mother would make a type of pulled pork in that she'd start a pork roast simmering in water and onions in the crock pot for hours, adding sauce about an hour into cooking. Simmer it down, pull it apart, voila... Pork barbecue suitable for sandwiches. Unfortunately, all you taste is the sauce, not the meat.

I'm talking barbecue today, Dear Reader. Marinades and rubs are designed to do what barbecue is all about... Add flavor to meat, slow cooked to break down collagens, make it fall off the bone in goodness that gets into your fingernails and makes your mouth happy. That's what barbecue is to me, that's what barbecue should be. And no... We didn't pull out the grill, just used the oven.

Bro started with a rack of spareribs and a marinade. His marinade was molasses, apple juice, a shot of key lime juice and a splash of red wine vinegar. If he had an injector, he would have injected it. Now, for the actions behind the marinade: Molasses and apple juice are sweet. The key lime and the red wine vinegar are acidic. Bathe your ribs in this for at least an hour, up to overnight, and you're on your way to flavoring the pork, getting the proteins malleable, ready for more flavor.

After the bath, he packed on a rub. You can go to Alton for any one of his rub recipes (pulled pork, baby-back ribs-- I really recommend the ribs), you can hit google for any rub recipes, you can go to your favorite chef site for any recipes, you can use a pre-done rub from the store. Or you can do what Bro did and make a rub using pretty much whatever is on hand. Remember, he took care of the sweet component with the marinade, so the dry rub can be as spicy as you like.

Bro's rub ingredients:
chili powder
cloves
garlic powder
cumin
pepper
mustard
nutmeg
tumeric
paprika
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
McCormick Carribean Jerk Seasoning.

Lots of spice, and with the exception of the nutmeg, very little sweet. But that's ok. To get the blend you want, you can either go with a wet method (brining, marinade) and just cook it from that and then sauce the whole thing (if you use an over-the-counter sauce, go ahead and jazz it up how you like to highlight flavors you like), you can use a dry method, which is dry rub the whole thing and go from there, or you can use a combination of the two.

After letting the meat marinate for a couple hours, he then packed the rub on. And when I say pack it on, I mean he PACKED IT ON. This is the beauty of a dry rub. You can coat the meat with it the way it needs to be coated. Please notice the dish he used to marinate in. After removing the meat from the marinade, he reserved the marinade and then layered the rub over the entire section of rib. After rubbing, he returned the meat to the dish of marinade ('fat' side down, bone side up), then popped it into a 300 degree oven for about 4 hours, uncovered. He then dropped the temperature to 200 and let it cook another hour. NOW, the benefit of this low, slow cooking is that the collagens in the meat give up their hold on the proteins and they release all their juiciness into the meat. That's the key to fall-off-the-bone tenderness. How much collagen can you release into the meat? Collagen is tough stuff, Dear Reader. It hangs on. The meat can be done cooking before it's released, which is why ribs usually end up tasting 'dry'. Not enough collagen released=bad thing. SO... To acheive collagen release, use a low, slow cooking. But you do need some liquid in there to help it along. This is why he popped it back into the marinade after applying the rub. After 6 hours or so of cooking time at these low temperatures, the meat really did fall off the bone. Pictures don't do it justice, Dear Reader. That wasn't 'char', per se, it was the rub and how dark it had gotten. But it wasn't burnt. And it was good.

<-fresh from oven....

falling off the bone->

And yes, that's my coleslaw you see there on the plate with it. Bro cannot, apparently make coleslaw. Coleslaw is easy. Cut (don't shred) the cabbage (we used 1/2 of a head) THINLY. Add to that about 1/4 of 1 onion chopped very fine, then squeezed so there is almost no moisture left in it. Add 3 carrots, shredded and squeezed so they're dry. Then add 1 can of crushed pineapple, squeezed dry (reserve the juice!). Mix all that together, see how wet it is. Add about 1/2 cup mayonnaise, a dash of lemon juice, about 1 teaspoon of dried dill, a tablespoon or 2 of the reserved juice for additional flavor and liquidity, salt and pepper to taste. Be sure not to get it too wet, so go really easy on the liquids. Mix after every add-in, and remember... for a slaw to combine nicely, it has to be a bit on the dry side. It's EASY, and thanks go to my mom for teaching me how to make it.

Now... What I would do different... First, I'd take down what I put in the rub. Seriously. I like consistency in what I cook, especially if it comes out good. This came out GOOD, and I can guarantee you he will never be able to recreate it EXACTLY because he didn't put down what he put into it. I like Alton's 8:3:1:1 rub recipe. It works. And there you also have how I'd cook them. Yes, do the marinade. Get that moisture into the slab before you even look at the rub. I'd add in some salt and a bit of garlic to the marinade, along with some thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. Make more of a brine out of it. Soak the ribs as long as possible before applying the rub. I'd rub it about the same. Pack it on. Add it in. Make sure all nooks and crannies have been THOROUGHLY COVERED. Here's where he and I would depart in the cooking methodology, and where I'd let Alton guide through. I would have made a foil packet with the ribs, thrown in maybe one cup of the remaining marinade, place it on a cookie sheet, throw it into a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours. Let the rib's own juices act as the braising liquid. Next barbecue will be mine, Dear Reader, and you know me... I'll give you a full recipe then. Until then, play with it. Read the recipes, watch the shows, hit your local barbecue place and see if the cook will give you a few tips. Talk to people you know that do barbecue. It's a fun subject, and you can spend YEARS perfecting recipes.

Do not be afraid to use a pre-made seasoning blend, if it has the flavors in it you want. Do not be afraid to use spices and experiment. If you have orange juice, use it! Ketchup or honey? Use it! It's food, not rocket science, although you may be a rocket scientist (insert one wink here, Dear Reader)... It's food. It should taste good. If that means that you experiment with 3 different rubs on 3 different pieces of meat on the same night, do it! Hit the store, pick up a rack of ribs and cut it into 3 pieces. Do one 'wet' (marinade and sauce only), one dry (rub only) and one wet+dry (marinade, rub). Or 3 different rubs, or pre-cook the ribs and then play with sauces. Experiment. Have FUN. Play with your food, Dear Reader! Let loose your inner cook!

Happy short week, Dear Reader.

Comfort Food

2006-11-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

Since Sis had a fretful night (as did I... Got to be 3 a.m. and I was in the middle of this really incredible dream even though I was 1/2 awake and aware of everything going on outside--I'll think about posting it) and she was tired after work, I changed my mind. I was going to do a chicken picatta type thing (next week?), but instead decided to go the comfort food route. Chicken, floured and sauteed, pan gravy and mushrooms/onions. You'll see. It's good. Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Chicken-fried Chicken with Mushrooms and Onions

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I used thighs. They're still cheapo compared to breasts)
1/2 onion, julienned
2 cups mushrooms, sliced thin
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter, separated
2 cups milk
salt and pepper

To prep the chicken: Cut into 'serving sizes'. For me, that meant taking the 5 boneless/skinless thighs and removing the excess fat from each. If you're using breasts, you may want to slice them in 1/2. Just make sure it's boneless/skinless, because this has enough calories as is.
In a plastic bag, mix the flour, the paprika and about 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper until well blended. Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons of the flour mixture to the side. Toss the prepped chicken in the remaining flour mixture.

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Fry the chicken on each side until browned. Should take about 6-8 minutes each side. You may have to do this in 2 batches to get a good fry, do NOT crowd the pan. That will only steam the chicken, not fry it. Remove the browned chicken to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.

Saute the onion in the remaining oil in the pan (and that lovely fond!) until soft...

...then add the mushrooms on top. Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to this. Stir together over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are soft. This should only take about 3 or 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the onion/mushroom mixture to a bowl on the side and cover with foil or a towel to keep warm.

You should have a very small amount of the drippings remaining in the pan. If the mushrooms did what they were supposed to do, you shouldn't have very much left at all, but what you do have will be QUITE flavorful. To those drippings, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.

Add the reserved 2 1/2 tablespoons flour to make a roux (we've covered the gravy basics before here), stirring the flour constantly until it's a medium brown. Add the milk, continually stirring to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil. Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper.

Add the chicken back to the pan, drop the heat to medium low. Cover the pan, let 'stew' for approximately 10 minutes.

To plate: Piece of chicken, a small bit of the gravy (I did mainly to cover where I 'tonged' the chicken), then the reserved mushroom/onion mixture. I did mashed potatoes at the same time and took advantage of the gravy.

Chicken Fried Chicken with Mushrooms and Onions

You can also use rice instead of potatoes, not do a gravy, just top the chicken with the mushrooms/onions, or just saute the chicken without the flour mixture... I wanted a 'comfort' food, but didn't want to go to serious fry trouble AND didn't want to do something as heavy as the afore-linked steak. As always, let me know if you try it and what you thought.

--OFFBEAT EDITORIAL--
I'm surprised, almost on a daily basis, by the amount of people that actually hit the House™ through a search engine looking for recipes, or who pop in and comment. It seems a new face is added each week, so to speak. To that end, sometime in the next week or so, you're going to see a link on the side for Darkneuro's Kitchen™, where all the recipes in all their glory will be collected. IN addition... I know there's quite a few 'foodies' out there. If you like to cook, even if it's pulling a recipe from a book and adding your own touches to it, even if it's for taking ready-made stuff and making it better, SHARE. Join in on Recipe Tuesday. There's grower's markets that are going to be going gangbusters soon if they haven't already. Let's get cooking, people!!! I do the pictures 'cause I like photography and I think I'm good at it. That's me showing off 'skillz'. I'll take ego points where I can. You don't have to. But I'd love to have ya'll join in. It doesn't have to be every week, but what the hell, you know? C'mon... Share the recipes, share the love.

Curry chicken #2

2006-11-12T16:37:00.001-05:00

Ah, yes... We hit the curry again, Dear Reader. I'm getting into it. This is a little different. I'm finding that ingredients here are a little wierd to get. Until the farmer's markets open up at the end of the month, veggies in the stores are rather... Sick looking. That said, this did turn out really mild, and really good. We had it tonight with a mixed salad. Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader? Notes at the end for adjustments and other suggestions...

Curry Chicken #2

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 chicken thighs, skin on/with bone
Salt and pepper
1 medium onion, chopped into 1/4" pieces
3 teaspoons curry
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely crushed (I used a mortar & pestle)
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 pound bag frozen veggies: Cauliflower/broccoli/carrot blend (I used Bird's Eye)--THAWED

Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook thighs skin side down until golden brown. Flip chicken and cook cut side until golden brown. Remove chicken from pan to a plate.

Stir in onions and cook until tender

Stir in spices and flour, cook until aromatic

Stir in veggies, coating well with spice mixture

Add chicken stock, bring to a simmer, stir in tomatoes.

Place chicken back into skillet, skin side up. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Serve over rice, spooning some sauce over rice.

CURRY CHICKEN #2

Notes: This is called Curry Chicken #2 because it's the 2nd curried chicken dish I've made. Lovely how these things come about, isn't it?
I used the frozen veggies because I just really couldn't find carrots, broccoli and cauliflower at the local markets that I was willing to spend money on. That being said, if you're lucky enough to be able to get really killer fresh veggies, do so. The equivilents would be 2 carrorts, chopped how you like, 1 cup broccoli and 1/2 cup cauliflower. It's easiest for me to do frozen veg, so that's what I did. I certainly wasn't going to use what the grocery had.
Instead of chili powder, you can use cayenne for more spice.
I used a yellow curry, Bro said 'MMm, green would be good!'. I agree as well, but again. Go with what you have on hand or can get. He's going to introduce me to Ms. Wong, who is apparently the go-to for 'wierd' ingredients (go figure... I can find pickled pigs feet in the local groceries, but no green curry).
Spice it up how you like. It's mild as is. If you want to add to it, go for it. If you want to leave stuff out, go for it. Let me know if you make it/enjoy it.

Veggies

2006-11-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

Something Hiromi said about carrots gave me an idea for this week's Recipe Tuesday, Dear Reader. I've done all manner of main dishes, but haven't put up any side dishes (with the exception of rice... and come on... It's RICE). No pictures, 'cause I refuse to make 40 side dishes at once, and when I do sides, it's more a 'throw together' kind of thing without any 'recipe' to it. SO I thought I'd explain a bit more about what I like to eat as for veggies and how I like to eat them and along the way I'll tell you how I cook them and maybe you, Dear Reader, can get some ideas for your own kitchen. Sound good? Let's go.

So, first how I like to eat them.... Out at restaurants, I usually eat a salad, not cooked veggies. If I do order veggies, they're usually sauteed or steamed, and if they're plain, I'll actually ask for a side of vinagrette rather than butter. Hey... There's an idea! Steamed, vinagrette. I'll also add veggies into a lot of things I cook just to mix it up a bit. I made my Honey-Ginger Chicken tonight, changed a few things in the sauce (threw in a good 2 tablespoons of McCormick's Carribean Jerk seasoning, used plain ketchup, 1/2 honey-1/2 maple syrup for the honey in the original, a smidge of mustard, some barbecue sauce, more soy)... In addition, instead of serving it OVER rice, I made the rice a full side-dish, throwing in some frozen carrots and peas to the rice when I removed it from the boil along with some of the same seasoning blend to keep some continuity. I'll cut veggies differently. I'll roast them (cut into chunks, drizzle with olive oil, roast in 350 degree oven until tender), I'll throw various seasonings at them, I'll mix it up as I go. Here's a few of my favorite ways...

Carrots: I don't like carrots much. Never have. Especially not raw. Small bits, occassionally, I'm good with them. But give me a good steamed carrot, with some butter and honey and some fresh grated ginger, and it's good. Or just butter. I can deal with that. Now, we're not talking HUGE amounts of butter, we're talking a tablespoon for like, 2 cups of carrots. Easiest thing with carrots is to get a bag of baby carrots, pre-peeled. Wash them good, though. I hate the fact that most groceries, no matter where you are, insist on 'spraying' the veggies. What a mold fest, you know? And no, I'm not lucky enough to live by a Whole Foods. I don't think. Hmmm... Nope. No Whole Foods. Farmer's Market season is coming soon, though. YAY! So you pop either baby carrots or carrot chunks into a steamer basket, and simply steam them until you can insert a fork into them without too much resistance. There should still be some 'bite' to them, just not super-crunchy. While that's going, in a separate bowl that will hold all the carrots, mix together a couple tablespoons honey and a teaspoon of VERY finely grated fresh ginger. Microwave this for about 30 seconds so it's liquid and thin. When the carrots are done, dump them into the bowl with the honey/ginger mix in it, pop a tablespoon of butter onto the top and toss or stir to coat everything. Voila. Honey-ginger steamed carrots. If you use a bowl with a lid (large tupperware, for example) you can just cover the bowl and turn it over to mix it up.

Peas: My favorite side dish for peas is a 'spring pea gratin' that Emeril did one year for some holiday. Since I don't trust his lawyers to NOT come after me if I post up the recipe, I'll just point you to it. Go HERE for the way I like to eat peas. One caveat though... I usually do the cheese THEN the breadcrumbs. To me, it turns out better. But that's just me.

Green beans: Do not mention green bean casserole to me. That is the foulest substance on the face of the planet and I refuse to eat it. It's GROSS. I like french-cut green beans if I buy canned or frozen. Again, steamed. After steaming, toss the beans with a tablespoon of lemon juice and sprinkle dill on them. Good stuff, dill. Works really well. Another option is to fry up a couple slices of bacon until crisp, drain all of the grease from the pan and throw in a few handfuls of frozen french-cut green beans. Saute them in what is left of the bacon drippings until they're warmed through, remove to a paper towel to drain them REALLY well (I'll put down some paper towelling, then the beans, then more towelling and just kind of pat them). After that, put them in a bowl and crumble the bacon on top. This works really well for fresh green beans as well.

Potatoes: I've given mashed as a side with the chicken-fried steak, but more often I'll bake a potato. Scrub it well, poke it on each end with a fork, rub it with canola oil, rub it with salt, and pop it in the oven straight on the rack. I typically do it at 350 degrees, for as long as it takes for it to get soft. Serve it with whatever you like as a topping. YUM. My toppings typically are going to be one of: a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of cream cheese, some sour cream, a slice of good ol' american cheese, bacon crumbles... Depends on what I'm in the mood for. And yes... I eat the peels. You can also saute potatoes, roast them... Roasted are good. Twice-baked are good (take a potato, bake it, cut it in 1/2, scoop out the center leaving the skin intact, mash it, mix it with cheese, put it back in the skin, rebake until the cheese is melted).

Squash: Squash is a good side dish for me. I'll saute up some crookneck (summer squash) and zucchini with some mushrooms. I'll slice up summer and zucchini for a gratin (layer in a baking dish alternating with cheese and breadcrumbs). I like acorn squash roasted (slice it in 1/2, remove the seeds, put a 2 tablespoon pat of butter into the cavity, olive oil it, pop it onto a baking sheet cut side up and bake at 350 until it's soft and slightly carmelized). There's so many things you can do with squash, really. I mean zucchini bread CAN be eaten as a side. Cook up some spaghetti squash and use an actual pasta sauce for it. Gnocchi. It's so versatile. Bread it. Chunk it and throw it in a roast for roasted in meat juices. YUM. Shred it and make a patty out of it using egg as a binder. Brown the patties.

Potato salad: I'm gonna digress for a moment here onto potato salad. Dan's family used to drive me INSANE when they served potato salad. This is what his mom, his grandmother, his step-dad and Dan liked as potato salad. It had: Potatoes, peeled/boiled/drained/chopped, mayonnaise, and Baco's. Occassionally, they'd throw in just the whites of hard boiled eggs chopped up. That's it. THAT IS NOT POTATO SALAD! That is some wierd dish that shouldn't have ever been developed. There is zero flavor to it beyond the mayonnaise. NO mustard, no veggies, just mayo. Eww.
I make potato salad the way my mom does: Potatoes (quartered, boiled, drained, peeled, chopped), mayo, mustard, sweet pickle relish, green onions, celery, hard boiled eggs (the full egg), garlic salt, seasoning salt. That's potato salad. You can add bacon bits, but PLEASE please please please (please??) fry up some bacon and crumble it. Do not use that wierd orange-y brown stuff that 'tastes just like bacon!'. It doesn't. Trust me. I've had to eat enough of it.

Spinach: My favorite way to make spinach is to buy baby spinach, rinse it well, DRY it well, saute it in a small amount of butter and olive oil that's had some bits of garlic softened in it until it's barely wilted, then toss with sesame seeds. YUMMY. Add a bit of lemon juice so it doesn't turn strange colors. You can mix this up with sauteed shrimp for a stellar shrimp salad. If you do that, don't toss with sesame seeds, but sprinkle them on top of a sesame dressing.

Any veggie can be used as a side dish, Dear Reader. The key is to find the flavors you like and exploit them. Going through the list, I like my veggies sweet, lemon-y, and a bit crunchy... Saute it for a different flavor (you can saute just about any veggie), make a gratin, combine them in a method you don't THINK will work, throw in mushrooms, use a vinagrette for flavor, use herbs with abandon, add in just about anything and it'll be good. Play with your food, people. PLAY! Life's too short to eat boring, over-cooked veggies.

Hearty beef stew

2006-11-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

For tonight's dish, Dear Reader, I ended up settling on a hearty beef stew. Simple ingredients, one pot and a total cook time (prep to finish) of about 1 hour, this isn't the shortest dish I've ever made, but it is good, it is filling, and it makes great leftovers. I do recommend prepping the veggies first, with the exception of the potatoes, which are added the last 1/2 hour of cook time. Simple flavors can be the best, and the basic ingredients mean anyone can make this. The picture here to the right shows the differences. Moving from the left, the first plate is the finely minced veggies, the chunked carrots at the top, then the coarser veggies on the very right. Enjoy!

Hearty Beef Stew

(I recommend using a stock-pot type pan for this, at least 8 quarts)
2 stalks celery - Chop 1 stalk about 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces, 1 stalk should be finely minced
1 onion - Chop 1/2 the onion into a fine mince, the other 1/2 should be julienned
5 peeled medium carrots - Chop 1 carrot into a fine mince, 1 carrot into 1/4 inch pieces and 3 carrots into 1 inch chunks
3 cloves garlic chopped or minced fine
8 new potatoes (the super-thinned red skinned variety), quartered (save the quartering until right before you add them in)
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks (make sure the beef has a good marbeling for flavor)
3 1/2 cups beef broth (2-14.5 oz. cans)
2 cups water
1 cup tomato sauce (8 oz. can)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
3 Tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon basalmic vinegar (the cheap stuff is FINE for this. Do not use the $40/bottle basalmic vinegar!)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper

First, season the beef with salt and pepper. Brown the beef in olive oil over medium-high heat. The goal is not to cook the beef through, but to get a good sear. Remove the beef to a plate once it's seared. Do not drain the pan.

Still working over medium-high heat, add the minced celery, carrots, onions and garlic. Add a pinch of salt, add a pinch of pepper. Cook this about 2-3 minutes, or until the veggies are soft. Since they are minced fine, they should cook up really quickly.

Stir in the flour, being sure to coat the veggies well. Cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring as you cook. Deglaze the pan with about 1/2 the beef broth (or 1 can), stirring well to combine. You shouldn't have any noticeable lumps. Be sure to scrape up any fond from the bottom of the pan.

Add the bay leaves and the rosemary. Bring to a boil, and reduce by half. This should only take about 10 minutes if you're working still on medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.

Add worcestershire sauce, basalmic vinegar, tomato sauce and 1 cup water. Stir to combine, continue boiling for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining beef broth, water, add the beef back in, and the remaining vegetables. Taste, add salt and pepper as needed. Boil uncovered for approximately 5 minutes.

While this is boiling, quarter the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes to the pot, lower the heat to medium and simmer over medium uncovered (light boil, really) for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Taste about 1/2 way through the cooking time and salt and pepper as needed. Stir occasionally.

Serve hot.

Hearty Beef Stew

Notes:
When I say season or add salt and pepper, season it to your specs. Keep in mind you can oversalt, but over-pepper is hard to do. If you do manage to oversalt this by the time you've let the potatoes get soft, just stir in a small handful of brown sugar and another dash of basalmic. It'll neutralize the salt.
In deglazing the pan, I've gotten really used to using a spatula or pancake turner. The flat edge really helps get all the fond up from the bottom.
If you add the broth and the water before the potatoes and notice that it's really really thin, you can take out about 1/2 cup of the juices into a bowl, stir in 1 tablespoon flour into the bowl (mix it REALLY WELL) and stir that slurry back into the pot. This will help thicken it up.
If you really want to, you can chop all your veggies the same, but the mincing helps distribute the flour throughout as well as disintegrates as it cooks, thickening. The coarser chop adds more texture throughout, and the chunked carrots give you something besides potato and beef to chew on.

Chicken cordon bleu

2006-11-12T16:34:00.001-05:00

Welcome to another edition of Recipe Tuesday from Darkneuro's Kitchen, Dear Reader. Today, I wanted something that tastes like it takes a whole lotta work but really doesn't. I'm kinda lazy, you see...

Chicken cordon bleu can be a pretty bland dish. It was developed at Le Cordon Bleu in the late 19th century, and means 'blue ribbon chicken'. Unfortunately, with chicken now being mass-farmed, there is almost none of the flavor present in the original dish. Mass-produced ham and cheese can also affect that 'blue ribbon' flavor, but you don't have to buy the most expensive thing at the store. I used standard ingredients available in ANY grocery store (tyson chicken, pepperidge farms honey ham, kraft swiss cheese slices). Brining the chicken beforehand takes care of some of the flavor aspects that would be missing from the dish. It also takes care of a lot of seasoning while the dish is cooking.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 per person for however many you're feeding), pounded to about 1/2-inch thickness, brined for at least 2 hours before cooking
1 to 2 ham slices per chicken breast (you can use canadian bacon, proscuitto... it's all a variety of ham)
1 to 2 swiss cheese slices per chicken breast (you can sub your favorite type of cheese too)
Seasoned bread crumbs (you can make your own or buy... I bought)
1/3 cup milk, cream or half&half for dipping (I used half&half)

BRINE:
1/4 cup salt
2 cups water
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon basil
2 scallions, chopped fine

To prepare the chicken, pound the chicken breasts to about 1/2 inch thickness between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. You can use a mallet, another pan... I've even used a hammer when that was the only thing available to me. To brine the chicken, mix the water, salt, scallions and spices in a microwave safe dish, heat for 2 minutes on high, cool with 6-8 ice cubes. Once it's cooled down to about room temperature, add the flattened chicken breasts, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're about 1 hour away from mealtime. This actually flavors the chicken itself and make it more tender and more juicy.

To assemble: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Place ham slices and cheese slices, 1 to 2 slices of each in each chicken breast, roll and secure with toothpicks (this is optional, I never do... just make sure it's rolled tight and stays that way). Take each roll, dip into the milk, then coat each roll in breadcrumbs. Set the rolls side-by-side in a baking dish. Bake about 45 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear when poked. Serve with your favorite side dishes.

TIPS: I like to sprinkle the breading into the pan and also over the rolls before baking. If any cheese leaks out, it's caught by the bread crumbs, reducing the mess.

As always, if you cover your baking dish with foil, you don't have to worry about clean-up.

Various breadings can be used. I used pre-seasoned italian style bread crumbs. You can also use panko, make your own breadcrumbs... I've even used crushed cereal (corn flakes, wheat flakes, crushed rice krispies) as a coating. If you do make your own crumbs, please remember to mix in some seasonings.

I also don't worry about how long it's in the oven. Because you brined, there will be more 'flex time' that the chicken can be in the oven without drying out. I've pushed brined chicken to 220 degrees (that's 50 degrees hotter than the USDA says is a 'safe temperature') with ZERO loss to juiciness. Every chicken in the oven should be brined.

Instead of using sliced cheeses and ham, you can use chunks of cheese and ham. Just be sure that it rolls up completely so it doesn't fall out and you should be good. If you use large chicken breasts, or if you wind up with a huge sheet of chicken to fill, this may be an easier idea.

Don't be afraid to experiment with this. Chicken Kiev is made much the same way, only instead of meat and cheese, it uses a compound butter. Play with the slices in the center, play with the breadings. You can really have fun with this, and it really is a no-hassle dish.

Sweet Curried Chicken

2006-11-12T16:34:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. I've got Recipe Tuesday today WITH PICTURES... Let the fanfare commence and let's get cooking, shall we?

Basmati Rice: (I know I've included the rice recipe before, but this one is a little different. I'm using a different brand of rice, with some *slightly* different directions. Follow the directions on the package with the addition of the spices. It will turn out fine)

1 cup Basmati Rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon finely ground mustard
1 teaspoon grated or minced ginger

Start the rice first. It'll keep while the rest of it cooks if it happens to get done first. Boil water with spices, stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes, leave covered, turn off heat.

Sweet Curried Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I used thighs) cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed (I minced)
2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons ginger, minced or grated (I minced)
1 large yellow onion, chopped into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1 can chicken broth (just under 2 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup mincemeat
2 tablespoons flour
Salt/Pepper
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
4 green onions, chopped fine

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown chicken (LIGHTLY salt and pepper while browning).

Remove from pan (I put mine in an old pie tin). In the same skillet, add garlic, ginger and onion. Saute about 4 minutes.
Stir in flour, cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in curry powder, cook 1-2 minutes. You should have some really good fond going by now.
Add broth, bring to a bubble while stirring. Be sure to scrape up that really good fond. It's all flavor.
Add mincemeat, stir well to combine.
Stir in reserved chicken, reduce heat to medium-low. Taste. Add salt and pepper as necessary, strictly to taste.

Simmer 5-10 minutes, adding tomatoes during last 2 minutes of cooking time. Serve in bowls, over rice. Top with chopped green onion. Serves 3 to 4.

Sweet Curried Chicken

My first endorsement: Two Thumbs Up! -- Sis and Bro.

Bro came up with the idea of using mango in place of the tomato. It is a sweet curry more than spicy thanks to the addition of the mincemeat (should be available in the baking section of the grocery store). The mincemeat adds some different flavors (fruity, cinnamon-y, sugary-y). If you make it and change it, let me know. It's really good. This recipe was adapted from a chicken curry recipe by Rachel Ray, and cooks really quickly.

Sis' easy veggie chili

2006-11-12T16:33:00.001-05:00

No pictures for this one, Dear Reader. I didn't think to grab the camera (sorry) but it's GOOD. And quick. And easy. In short, it's a good recipe that allows for a LOT of play around room if you want to mess with it.

Sis' Easy Veggie Chili

1 15 1/2 ounce can black beans (store brand ok)-undrained
1 10 ounce can Ro-Tel brand "Chili Fixin's" (seasoned diced tomatoes and chile)-undrained
1 8 ounce can whole kernel corn (store brand OK)-undrained
shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onion for garnish

Mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Turn the heat down, let simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with garnish and crackers (Sis introduced me to the Town House Bistro brand 'Corn Bread Crackers'. They're a sweetish cracker that really makes a great addition to the chili).

See? Told you it was easy. You'll get about 4 medium bowls of chili out of this as is. Double accordingly for more people, add in your own touches. Possible additions include ancho chiles in adobo sauce, more diced tomatoes, more black beans, red or kidney beans (note: If you use red beans or kidney beans, be sure to drain and rinse them... if it looks like mucus when you open the can, rinse). Serve with fritos, mix in different cheeses... Garnish to your liking. Let me know if you make it, what changes you made to it, and if you liked it.

Bologna Salad

2006-11-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

Lunch today at Mom's (doing laundry, having a bad day, actually) was one of my favorite lunches. Mom's bologna salad. Sounds gross, doesn't it? It, like fried bologna sandwiches, is kindof a low-rent lunch. But boy-oh-boy is it good stuff. No pictures, but it's easy. And you can do it with a meat grinder or in a food processor.

1 pound bologna, medium grind (mom usually gets the 5 lb. chub and splits it)
1/2 medium onion
2-4 tablespoons pickle relish
3-5 tablespoons mayonnaise

TO GRIND THE BOLOGNA: Use a grinder, medium coarse, to grind the bologna with the onion. If you're using a food processor, use the blade and pulse to chop into a medium coarse grind (and don't tell me your food processor won't... I can do it in my little 2 cup processor)

Mix all ingredients together. It should be about the consistency of chunky peanut butter. DO NOT ADD SALT. The meat has enough salt.

As with all the recipes I've ever posted, feel free to experiment with it. What do you like in your tuna salad? What do you like in your chicken salad? Use the ground bologna as a jump off point. We usually just spread it onto bread or crackers. It packs really well into ice chests, doesn't lose its consistency in the fridge, and is relatively cheap and easy to make.

Now... back to packing.

Gramma's breakfast biscuits

2006-11-12T16:32:00.001-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. As forewarned in the previous post, this Recipe Tuesday doesn't come with pictures of the recipe, but (!) it does comes with a picture of what I had for dinner.

Gramma's Breakfast Bisuits

(Elinor's recipe)

2 1/2 cups Bisquick
10 oz. Cheddar cheese
1 lb. pork sausage (if you go with the 'sage' flavored, it'll be more savory, if you go with 'maple', sweeter)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

You may want to wear gloves, this can get messy.

Break the sausage up into a large bowl. Add about 1/2 the Bisquick, mix together with your hands. Add in about 1/2 the cheese, mix together. Add the other 1/2 of the bisquick, mix. Add the other 1/2 cheese, mix. Add enough water to this mixture to make a thick biscuit like dough. Form into round balls about the size of a golf ball and flatten very slightly. Bake on an ungreased pan until browned (about 20 minutes).

Serve with syrup, butter, jam, honey, cream cheese, plain... They're really good and really filling and hey... you can freeze them.

This is what I had for dinner tonight. I would have preferred gram's biscuits, but I *really* wasn't in the mood to cook. Instead, I spent the evening alternately packing, working on frankensteining that computer, and waiting for Dan to finish watching his movie right in the middle of when I was being all geeky.

Peace, Dear Reader.

Curried Scallops

2006-11-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader! It's time once again for Darkneuro to hit the kitchen and whip up something wonderful. Since I missed it last week, shall I do penance? Someone give me penance.

I decided to hit a cookbook for a wee bit of inspiration this week. Quite frankly, since I'm refusing to buy anything for the apartment that I'll leave behind, I've been trying to go through the miniscule freezer. Steak just didn't sound appetizing to me today (oooh, the horror...the horror!), and a roast... Meh. Too heavy. I wanted something that was quick, relatively light, but a lot of flavor.

So in flipping through Mom's copy of Betty Crocker, I hit the seafood section. And then I found Curried Scallops. And my mouth said "MMmmmmmmm.... Curry" and began watering. Then I read the recipe. And my brain said "Effing WOW! Easy!"... But me being me, I had to mess with it just a smidge. I'll note the original recipe in brackets [ ] where I changed it. (and yes, I did say 'effing'... I've been doing that lately. Don't know why, it's just... there.)

Curried Scallops

3 tablespoons butter, separated [original said margarine or, and then used margarine throughout. BUTTER, people. USE BUTTER. It really does taste better, and for sautées of any kind, it can't be beat.]
1 pound sea scallops, cut in quarters [said half, but they were HUGE... U20's]
4 green onions with tops, chopped [they said 3]
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon curry powder (use your favorite)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt... sea salt, seafood... Yeah.)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 roma tomatoes [said 1 medium]
Hot rice for serving

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat until melted.
Throw in the scallops and saute 4 to 5 minutes [they say until white] until very lightly browned. Remove them from the skillet, and wipe out your pan [drain]

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the same pan. Cook onion, flour, curry powder and salt over medium-high [medium] heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly.

Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Put back on the medium-high setting. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes and scallops. Heat about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice.

Curried Scallops

NOTES:
1. On the scallops: They were pretty expensive here. $10 a pound, but the quality was EXCELLENT. Really fresh, firm, gorgeous. Simply beautiful.
2. Curry: Use your favorite. I used what the local grocery had. I should probably have hit the Asian market instead.
3. I used Roma tomatoes because they don't have anwhere near as much juice as the standard 'tomato'.
4. If by chance you get a too-hot-for-you curry going, just tame it down with a little plain yogurt or a smidge of sour cream. That said, this had 0 heat factor for me.

Honey Ginger Chicken #2

2006-11-12T16:31:00.001-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. Ready to hit the kitchen again for another Recipe Tuesday? I wanted to try a slightly different take on the honey ginger chicken. Namely, use boneless/skinless chicken instead of the bone-in, skin-on thighs. SO, I hit the kitchen (yes, Ginger Rice is on the menu) and decided to see what I could come up with. It worked really well, and since I prefer using boneless/skinless, I'll do it this way more often.

HONEY GINGER CHICKEN #2

3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken thigh cutlets**, cut into rough 1x1 inch pieces
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon grated gingerroot
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco©)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the flour, ginger and black pepper in a plastic bag. Toss the chicken in the bag until it’s well coated with flour. Let this sit while you put the rice on (see below)
After you put the rice on, assemble the sauce in a small bowl or in a measuring cup (makes it easier to pour)
After the rice has been cooking approximately 10 minutes, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet on medium high heat until shimmery.
After removing the rice from the heat, go ahead and start cooking the chicken.

Put the floured chicken in a single layer in the bottom of the skillet. Cook approximately 2 minutes, stir. Cook approximately 2 minutes, stir.

The goal is to cook the chicken through and get it lightly browned.Once this happens, (took me approximately 7 minutes) pour the sauce mixture into the pan and stir. Continue stirring for approximately 3 minutes, then remove from heat. The rice should be done with its ‘sitting’ time right about now.

Serve chicken and sauce over the ginger rice.

Ginger Rice:
1 cup basmati rice
1 3\4 cup water
2 teaspoons grated ginger

Mix all ingredients in a 3 quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir once. Cover pan, reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leaving it covered, let it sit 10 minutes.

HONEY GINGER CHICKEN #2--The boneless version

**NOTES: On the chicken #1: I hit the grocery store to get some boneless/skinless breasts. Those fuckers had small packages of breasts, but they wanted 4.99 a pound for them!! The LARGE packages of breasts were selling for .99 a pound. Excuse me? I’m sorry. I live in an apartment. I have a SMALL refrigerator/freezer unit. I do not have the room to STORE 6 pounds of chicken breasts at once. So I got the thigh cutlets instead. Regular price? 1.99 a pound. That’s so messed up.

On the chicken #2: Cut your chicken with scissors. You'll be happier and there's less mess. YES, the scissors will go in the dishwasher. Do what I do, hit the dollar store. Buy 6 pair. You'll never need to search for scissors again.

On the chicken #3: While you're cooking the chicken, you'll notice the flour from the chicken starts making a roux. Again, since the goal is to get the chicken lightly browned and cooked through, you'll want to watch your roux as well. I cooked it to a light-medium tone (sorry about the yellowish photo. I'm still learning how the camera sees certain light types and how it autocompensates)

Chicken fried steak

2006-11-12T16:31:00.000-05:00

There’s a food tradition in this country that needs to go away, Dear Reader. It’s the tradition of calling cubed steak that’s dipped in flour and then deep fried ‘Chicken Fried Steak’. When you fry chicken, do you first de-bone the chicken, send it through a tenderizer and then put too much pepper on it as you deep fry it? No. You take the chicken, marinate it, perhaps in a little buttermilk and some spices, dredge it in flour, and pan fry it in about ½ an inch of oil. Right? That’s kind of what we’re going to do today. And along the way, we’re also making mashed potatoes and a country gravy (and no, I’m not talking that icky white paste with pepper that so many places serve). So let’s have dinner!

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Country Gravy

The Steak

So I was confronted at the store with this lovely sale on chuck rib steaks. Not too much marbling, but not too much side fat either. Definitely steaks for a good panfry. Each steak is ¾ of a pound, and about ¾ of an inch thick. That will change. Tenderize your steak. Take whatever you use to tenderize (skillet, mallet, hammer), whack it a few times all over each side, knock it down to just over ½ an inch in thickness. Season it. Now, before you ask me the question, I’ll answer it for you… I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU USE TO SEASON IT. SEASON IT WITH WHAT YOU LIKE. I’m using Montreal steak seasoning from McCormick. It’s got some spices, pepper and garlic. It works. Do that on the outside, let it sit for a few minutes. While it’s sitting, prepare your batter.

Today’s batter is the simplest drench/dredge there is. In one tin/plate, flat shallow dish thingy, beat up an egg and about 2 teaspoons milk. Season it with salt and pepper. In another tin/plate, mix 1 cup flour with some of your seasoning. You should be able to SEE the seasoning, but not a whole lot. Some specks, but not a huge amount. Take 2 tablespoons of this and set it aside for the gravy. DREDGE the steak, both sides, let it sit.

Heat some shortening in a skillet over medium heat until about 350 degrees. Your goal is about ½ inch in the bottom of the skillet.

While your shortening is heating, take the steak (already dredged), and dip it in the egg mixture.

Then dredge it again, drench it again, dredge it again. There’s going to be 2 layers on this.

When the shortening is hot, gently place the steak in the pan. Cook until the down side is browned, but not all the way done (you should still see some white in 1 or 2 of the divots). Flip it.

Cook the other side until completely browned, then flip a second time to
catch the first side again. All in all, my steak was in the hot grease for about 15 minutes: 5 minutes the first side, 8 minutes the 2nd side, 2 minutes back on the first side.

After you finish the steak, set it aside on a plate to rest. You’ll be using the pan for gravy.

The Gravy

Drain the fat from the pan. I usually drain it all out, catching as much of the fond as possible before it leaves. Then add back in 2 tablespoons of the fat back into your pan, heat to medium.

Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture over the fat in the pan. Cook it until it’s a really really pale tan, mixing in the bits of fond. Once it’s all uniformly tan, pour in some milk. Typically it’s going to be about 1 ½ cups of the white stuff. And yes… I use whole milk. This is comfort food, not good for you food.

Mix/stir/whisk the flour mixture with the milk, making sure there’s no lurking lumps ready to turn into paste in your mouth. Bring the whole concoction to a boil, stirring more or less constantly.

It’s done when your spoon/spatula/whisk leaves a trail behind itself (tried to catch it in the photo).

The Mashed Potatoes

OK, everyone should know how to make rudimentary mashed potatoes, right? What’s that? How? You only open a box or an envelope and that’s your m…. Oh, Dear Reader. Tsk tsk tsk. Homemade mashers is one of the easiest dishes you can do.

Take as many potatoes as you have people eating, plus 1 if they’re mid-sized. That’s how much you’ll make. I was making for myself, so I did 2 potatoes. Now, since I love mashed, I picked REALLY BIG POTATOES. I used standard russets. Wash them. Peel them. Chop each potato into 6 chunks.

Boil these chunks in enough water to cover the tops of them until they’re fork tender. This means you can put a fork into one of the chunks, twist it and break the chunk apart, but it won’t disintegrate. Drain the boiled potatoes. In the pan with the potatoes, throw in 2 tablespoons butter (BUTTER. Not margarine. BUTTER), mash with a masher. Add about ½ cup milk, mash with the masher. Mix until mostly smooth.

Plating it up: Spoon the potatoes on the plate with the steak. Make a well in the center of the potatoes (it doesn’t have to be deep), pour gravy over everything. Enjoy.

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Country Gravy

I took this to show the absolute perfect medium-rarity of this fried flesh. MMMmmmmm… and tender too.

Cheater fajitas

2006-11-12T16:30:00.001-05:00

Welcome once again, Dear Reader, to Cooking with Darkneuro... I'm just kidding. It's Tuesday! Today's dish is 'Cheater Fajitas'. I call them cheaters because, well, the chicken isn't marinated OR grilled and I didn't make the spice mixture. So it's not truly a fajita in the purist sense (and I can do those, I just do these more often because it's less stress in my tinytiny kitchen), but it is a fajita for MY purpose, which is hunger.

Cheater Fajitas

Note on measurements: This made 1 medium and 3 humongous servings. Adjust accordingly.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch slices (use scissors. It's SO much easier)
2 tablespoons butter, separated
1 teaspoon E.V.O.O.
1 packet taco seasoning (I use McCormick, and yes, I mean taco seasoning)
3/4 cup warm water
1 red onion, sliced thin (slice it how you like, it'll be sauteed)
1 yellow pepper, sliced thin (again, slice how you like)
flour tortillas
Toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, salsa, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, sliced olives

Heat the EVOO and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium high heat until butter just starts to brown. Add the chicken, stirring every minute or so until it's browned.

Add the seasoning packet and 3/4 cup warm water. No, it's not soup. Bring it to a boil, stir every couple minutes

Pretty soon it reduces way down and your chicken is thoroughly cooked. When it's reduced down so that there is a SMALL amount of sauce and most of it is just coating the chicken, cover it and slide it off heat while you either finish with the veggies or set up assembly.

While you're reducing the chicken, melt the remaining tablespoon butter in a saute pan over medium high heat until bubbling. Add the onions and peppers. Saute them for a few minutes to desired doneness (Mine take about 7 minutes with my stove, just until they start to brown).

TO serve: Set up an assembly line, people can load on what they like. My tortilla holds chicken, peppers and onions, salsa, sour cream and cheddar. (this was the medium... Recipe should make 5 to 7 this size)

Fried Shrimp

2006-11-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, Dear Reader, it's another Tuesday. I was in the mood for shrimp. I love shrimp. I love seafood. So I made shrimp. But I hate the mess batters leave. So I didn't batter. Please note, this can be a "true" meal if you add random side dishes, or you can use it as a finger food, or appetizers.. Suit yourself. It was a meal without side dishes for me. But it also means I got the need to eat shrimp out of my system for a bit.

Easy Fried Shrimp

Deveined and peeled shrimp (don't ask amount. I made just under a pound, tailor it to your needs) **NOTE: If you want a 'handle', leave the last joint and the tail when peeling**
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup flour
Your favorite seafood rub or seasoning mix. I used Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic, about 3 tablespoons.
Fry sauce or your favorite dipping sauce

Oil.
Now, here's where I'm supposed to say "Heat approximately 1 inch of oil in a heavy skillet until X degrees." Hate to tell you, but you heat it until it's hot. I know. It's a shitty way to measure heat. What I do is I take a 'test shrimp', dip just the tip in (that just caused SO many filthy thoughts through my head. yes. I'm incorrigible. ). Does it bubble? No? Not hot enough. Wait a minute or 2. Dip it in again. Bubble? Good. You're hot. I know. I should measure, I'm sorry. I don't have a thermometer for oil/candies. I've always measured it this way. Mom does too. From what I can find out, it should be 350-375 in a deep pan or dutch oven or fryer. I did a heavy skillet, about 1" of oil and heated until it bubbled the shrimp. My bad.

Mix the corn starch, flour and seasoning together in a dish. Rinse the shrimp, drain. Dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture until well coated. Let rest approximately 5 minutes, dredge again. Drop into hot oil, careful not to splash. Flip using tongs or chopsticks after approximately 2 minutes. Remove after another 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels or newspaper.

Serve with fry sauce.

Some notes:
On the fry sauce: My older sister brought this to my attention. It's really kindof like 1000 Island dressing without the pickle bits and with just the barest hint of chile. I like 'Some Dude's', but there are other brands out there. They may be advertised as a dipping sauce for onion rings or those batter-dipped onions. You should be able to find them with the ketchups and barbecue sauces in your local grocery. A make-it-yourself version would be mix ketchup, mayo and mustard together, add a drop or 2 of tabasco for that hint of pepper. Adequate, but I dig the fry sauce.

On the spice mix: Use what you like. I like Paul Prudhomme's line and have for years. You can also just salt and pepper it if you like. I wanted to get a bit of spice into the coating.

Chicken in red sauce

2006-11-12T16:29:00.000-05:00

Greetings once again, Dear Reader. Ya know, I'm kinda really diggin' this Recipe Tuesday. I like cooking. It's fun. As with everything, if you like it, lemme know. Oh. Turned comment moderation off. My brain don't wanna work that way. Apologies to those whose comments I deleted by accident, yes I feel like a dork. Please comment again if you are desiring of doing so.
Now. Onto dinner:

Quick Chicken in Red Sauce over Pasta (serves 3, double or triple for more)

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon E.V.O.O.
1 cup onion, chopped (I used a medium yellow onion. figured it was close enough)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (7 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped medium (I regularly poach chicken for chicken salad, had some on hand)
Pasta, for plating (I used fettucine, you can use just about anything you want or have on hand)

Heat the butter and oil over medium high heat just until shimmery. Add the onions and garlic, saute until translucent. Add the tomatoes, sauce, mushrooms, sugar, spices, salt and chicken.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Stirring occasionally, simmer on medium low heat about 15 minutes or until sauce is reduced. Serve over pasta.

This started life as a recipe I actually filched from a cooking magazine and then changed. The original recipe was the red sauce for a chicken lasagne, called for less garlic, less mushrooms and more chicken, and had the addition of wine. I wasn't in the mood for wine in it tonight, although if you like, feel free to toss in 1 cup of a dry white.
And yes. It does double duty as a kick ass red sauce for a lasagne.

THE CHICKEN: I end up poaching chicken 2-3 times a month for chicken salad. To do that, I bring 3-4 cups water to a boil in my saute pan with either an 'Italian Seasoning' blend or a 'Cajun Spice' seasoning blend in it (about 2 tablespoons) and some salt and fresh ground pepper. Slip in a chicken breast or 2, bring it back up to JUST UNDER the boil and reduce the heat to medium low (the goal is to keep it right below boiling). Simmer about 15-20 minutes depending on thickness, drain, chop. TaDa! Poached chicken. You can throw wine in here too. Or chicken broth. Or veggie broth. Throw in some soy, maybe. Depends on what you want the finished chicken to taste like. But poaching is a piece of cake.

Tomato Chicken Alfredo.

2006-06-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

Good eve, Dear Reader. I did it. I really did it. No, didn't have sex. No, didn't tell R. (the beautiful biker at work) I want to get naked with him. ((although I did find out he's divorced and has 2 kids, ages 15 and 13, and he used to live just south of Reno and he GETS dry weather and weirded out skin... he GETS it)) (((and I really don't know if he's interested or not and I'll probably post on it sometime this week, maybe, 'cause I really do need a keeper... Or a magic 8 ball to tell me what to do))) AAAAUGH. Ok. Sorry. My mind is being quite 'shiny' lately. SO. [no sex..no nekkid. ah. Food.] Yes. Food.

I got experimental in the kitchen. I had an idea. And it was an idea that isn't the bastard child of any recipe book, didn't come from anything that I've had anywhere, didn't SEE it anywhere... but um... Well... You see, Dear Reader, I let myself make Tomato Chicken Alfredo to put over/with pasta. It's a little involved, but overall very quick. I liked it, Bro had 2 huge portions and belched happily the rest of the eve, and it's really damn good if I do say so myself. Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Tomato Chicken Alfredo (to be served over/with pasta)

Marinade:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ground fine
2 teaspoons dried oregano, ground fine
1/2 teaspoon marjoram, ground fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken, chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium to small onion, chopped fine
8 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 Roma tomato, chopped fine (for garnish)

Marinate:
Mix the marinade 1 to 2 hours before you're ready to cook and eat. Toss the chicken in the marinade, refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Sauce:
About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute 1/4 of the chopped onion for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 the garlic to the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes or until really soft and translucent. Add the chicken with any remaining marinade and saute until cooked through and brown. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove to a plate on the side.

Melt the butter in the hot pan, still over medium-high heat. Saute the remaining onion and garlic until soft. Scrape as you cook, Dear Reader. Get that loverly fond. Mix it in.

Stir in the tomato paste. Lower heat to medium.

Stir or whisk in the heavy cream. Bring to a bubble, stir and let it cook down for a couple minutes. It will thicken up as it cooks, and as long as you keep stirring, you should be able to reduce it down by half.

Once it's reduced, stir in parmesan cheese in batches, melting each batch before adding more. The goal here is to keep it bubbling, keep it from sticking and melt in the cheese so you don't have lumps.

Stir in the chicken and any accumulated pan juices, heat back to a bubble.

Toss with pasta or serve over pasta. Garnish with fresh tomato.

TOMATO CHICKEN ALFREDO

NOTES:

NOTES: Chop everything ahead of time. Don't be dismayed at the amount of butter. Yes, it's a smidge fattening. I'm not saying make this every night of the week. We eat like this 1 night a week. Really. And you can use half&half instead of cream. AND you can cut back on the cheese. You can cut the chicken smaller. You can freeze 1/2 of it for future dinners. It made enough for leftovers.

That said: Feel free to use less onion and more garlic. Grind your spices FINE. I used Bro's mortar and pestle. Chop your onion FINE. I used my little electric chopper (it's over in the kitchen stuff at your local Walgreen's. $10-$15 is what I've seen it for. Really. It's a good investment). Add some prosciutto if you like. I actually talked myself out of it at the store. I'd use it as a garnish along with the fresh tomato. On the tomato paste: I used a jarred import I picked up at the Epicurean (they've got a mini-grocery! With IMPORTED STUFF!!! YAY!!!). I wouldn't use the extra 'spensive tubed stuff. You'll notice the marinade smells awfully barbecue. It's not. Really. If you want to add more/different spices, have at it. This really was an experiment. I'm just OCD about recipes. If I make it, I want to write it down so I can re-create it if necessary. Feel free to play.

And sorry about picture size. Blogger's messing up for me again.

Oven Barbecue Chicken

2006-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Dear Reader. I cheated. I got intrigued with the Honey Ginger Chicken recipe and decided to change out sauces. Same method on the chicken, different sauce. And this would go better with mashed potatoes or a nice polenta, but I did it with rice. Plain this time.

SO... As I said. Same as the Honey Ginger, just a different sauce. The chicken is made the same way and the sauce is applied the same way.

THE SAUCE:

I decided I was in the mood for some barbecue, Dear Reader.

1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used the store brand hickory flavor)
3 tablespoons steak sauce (I used Lee&Perrins)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Here's the pictures and it fixed my craving for barbecue.

***EDIT*** Just as an aside, I just noticed... the House™ has had 10K visitors. Welcome!

Ginger Rice Plus..?

2006-01-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd follow up last week's chicken recipe with the recipe for the rice it's sitting on. It's SUPER easy, no mess, no fuss, and (alas) no pictures. It's rice, you know? I will say that I am a firm convert to basmati rice over the standard 'long grain white rice' that Mom always made. The basmati has a better texture, is less starchy, and the slight tone the aroma gives is exquisite. One caveat: If you have a rice cooker, follow their directions for basmati rice.

Darkneuro's Ginger Rice

1 cup basmati rice
1 3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a 3 quart saucepan. Once boiling, cover pot with the lid if it's tightfitting, or foil and then the lid if it's not. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes. Stir rice to make sure the ginger is fully incorporated, serve.

Makes about 3 cups

Now, since that was kindof cheesy because it's rice... IT'S JUST RICE... I thought I'd also post the following:

Tomato Provencal
(I got this recipe from my French teacher in 1985)
Take a large tomato (preferably organic), slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices. Brush both sides with olive oil. Finely chop basil and parsley together, enough to cover the tomato slices so no red is showing (sorry for the lack of measurements. depends on the size of the tomato. I can usually get away with a handful of each). Shred mozzarella LIGHTLY over the top, sprinkle lightly with VERY finely minced garlic (about 1/4 teaspoon each slice), throw under the broiler and broil until cheese is bubbly.
Your house will smell WONDERFUL, and they're great as a sandwich, appetizer, garnish... They're delish.

Honey Ginger Chicken

2006-01-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to hit Mom's old recipe books and came across this. As usual, Dear Reader, I've messed with it and come up with something just a little spicier than the original recipe.

HONEY GINGER CHICKEN

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds chicken thighs

Sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup chili sauce (see notes below)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco©)

Heat your oven to 425. PAN PREP: Foil a 13x9x2 inch pan. I would suggest rolling the foil over the edges of the pan, makes it easy to pour out the fat later. [see the note on this down below]

Heat the oil and butter in the pan in the oven until it's melted. While it's melting, mix the flour, the grated gingerroot and the pepper. Coat your chicken in the flour mixture thoroughly. Let it sit a couple minutes, then coat the skin side again with the flour mixture. Place the chicken SKIN SIDE DOWN in the pan.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The skin should look rather dry. Remove the chicken from the pan and drain the fat (see? Methods to my madness.). Return the chicken to the pan, skin side up.

Mix the sauce ingredients. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the chicken, reserving the other 1/2 of it for the first basting.

Bake 5 minutes. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Feel free to move the chicken around in the pan, since this will make sure the sauce penetrates the cut side. Bake for 5 minutes. Baste a final time, spooning the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the chicken. Bake for 5 minutes.

Serve over rice, spooning some sauce onto the top of the chicken.

Notes: As stated, I foiled my pan. I foil all my cooking pans except the baking pans (and they get parchment) because it's a cleaning thing. The original recipe had instructions to bake the chicken, drain the fat THEN foil the pan, which is just silly. "Here! Let's put foil over the remaining fats AND the fond (and it's all about the fond) and then BAKE IT AGAIN!"

You can leave out the hot sauce if you like. I like a little spice. And of course, you can do it 'to taste'.

CHILI SAUCE: I had never heard of this, thought it might be similar to enchilada sauce or something. It's not. It's a ketchup-type product that has more body and flavor than ketchup. Which means I've found a new ketchup, Dear Reader. Like I said... It's got more body and flavor, and something tells me that's what I want on my french fries when I bother to eat them. There were several brands at the store, I went with the most familiar name.

On the sauce: I mixed my sauce while the chicken was in the oven for the last 15 minutes.

On the rice: I used basmati rice, and threw about 1 teaspoon of grated gingerroot in with it.

Now, what I changed: I dropped the amount of soy from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. I upped the ginger all over by 1/2 a teaspoon, all measurements (I like ginger). I also added the hot sauce. Some orange zest or juice in the sauce would NOT be remiss, since orange and ginger go together really well.
Oh, and the original recipe was from The Betty Crocker Cookbook, the one from 1989? 1990?

Peanut Butter Fudge

2005-12-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

<What can I say, Dear Reader? I'm a follower of good ideas. Recipe Tuesday (started by Hiromi, carried on by Goose). This is one you can make with your kids, if you have them and they're driving you nuts during vacation. If you don't, like me, then it's a really quick and easy recipe for really good fudge. Recipe is, again, courtesy of Alton Brown (mostly 'cause he cooks the way I like to cook. And he wears cool shirts). Just as a side note, I realize I'm posting this on Monday night, but I've been up 37 hours. I gotta go bed.

Peanut Butter Fudge (NOTE: I doubled the recipe)

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar

Microwave butter and peanut butter in a microwave safe dish for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes.

Add vanilla and powdered sugar to peanut butter mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. NOTE: Add the sugar in batches.

Pour into a buttered 8x8 inch pan lined with wax paper. Place a second piece of waxed paper on the surface of the fudge and refrigerate until cool. Cut into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

OK, Dear Reader. I have some notes: 1. I doubled. I have a lot of people to do treats for this Christmas. 2. It WILL be HOT when it comes out of the micro. PLEASE supervise if you're making this with kids. We don't want emergency room visits this holiday. 3. When stirring in the powdered sugar: I put in the vanilla first and stirred it well, then dumped in the sugar. It does NOT stir very well. I ended up using my hands to mix it and pat it into the pan. Nature's utensils. Works great. And the oils in the mix are NOT bad for your skin, unless you're allergic to peanuts. And if you are, IGNORE TIHS RECIPE! Warning: May contain peanuts.
Further warning: This stuff is like crack. You will become addicted. I am. It's heaven in fudge form.

Happy cooking, Dear Reader.