Curried Scallops

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.