Tag: chicken

Cooking last weekend

Had fun – deep fryer rides again. Note to self – cube steak does not seem to deep fry very well. Tends to fall apart when you try to bread it. Needs more flavor. But the dogs still enjoyed it. I figure that it’s at least as important to recognize failures as successes. That’s where I do most of my learning. Way too frequently.

Also broiled 2 lbs of chicken breast for later consumption, rendered a further two pounds into chicken taco meat, breaded and fried some bay scallops (need better recipe for breading), and cooked a whopping 4 lbs of chicken breast into sesame chicken. Considering that the fryer doesn’t hold very much, and I wound up in ~ 12 batches, it seemed like a lot. Had a little production line going!

And 4 lbs of boneless pork chops. Some grilled, some baked.

Everything listed above was then vacuum sealed and frozen for future consumption. The sesame chicken was frozen on a cookie sheet, then vacuum sealed, to make sure it didn’t get too deformed!

Even had time to make dinner

With snow in the forecast, and with the 2+ hour commute last week still fresh in my mind, I opted to work from home. It’s not driving in the snow that bothers me. It’s all the other drivers. Watching people drive too fast, lose control, and narrowly miss other vehicles. Or seeing all the accidents, and knowing that at least one participant was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyway, instead of commuting home, I was able to cook a couple things tonight. Sesame chicken with rice, which I’d wanted to make for over a week. Grilled chicken, that I can put on a salad, etc. And since I was already using the fryer, a request was made for french fries.

I’d purchased a pack of five chicken breasts, used two for the sesame chicken, and broiled the other three. These are really thick – I’ve had problems with them not cooking all the way through before. Next time I’m going to split them in half before cooking.

Chicken AlfredOops

Tonight, for no particular reason, I got a craving for chicken and pasta with Alfredo sauce. I viewed the available recipe choices at Allrecipes.com, and selected the one that looked best (recipe).

Of course, I don’t keep whipping cream on hand. Just not part of my everyday wants and needs. So, I consult the Joy of Cooking for an appropriate substitution. 1/3 c butter + 3/4 cup milk = 1 cup heavy cream.

Great. Start melting the extra butter. Get out the milk. Ok, get out the Parmesan chee… That container looks pretty empty. Yep, that’s really all that is left in the house. Now, I can substitute Parmesan for Romano. I can substitute butter and milk for heavy cream. I have no idea what to substitute for Parmesan cheese.

So, I turned off the melting butter, continued sauteing the chicken, opened a jar of red sauce, and had Chicken Parmesan.

What do I do with a leftover stick of melted butter?

And you thought I forgot

Nope. It’s Thanksgiving. Time for some serious cooking! Of course, since the majority of the family are vegetarian (or close to) it’s a little non-traditional. We decided to make everyone’s favorite foods. The list is as follows:

Cloverleaf Rolls (Joy of Cooking)
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Stuffing
Pizza
Pasta
Homemade Mac-n-cheese
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Root Beer Floats
Roasted Chicken Breast
Peas

The last two aren’t actually favorites, but it seems obligatory to eat some kind of dead fowl on Thanksgiving, and that’s a manageable quantity for one. And, there wasn’t a single vegetable on the list, so I felt like it was necessary to add one. To pretend that I feed the kids healthy.

Assistance will be provided as needed by the usual crew.

Rolls have risen, sweet potatoes baked

Sweet potatoes seasoned, and waiting for the oven.

Rolls baked. I was planning to undercook them, then warm them with the rest of the baking, but instead of 15-18 minutes, when I took them out at 10 they were done. Before and after shots. Yes, I used a cup of whole wheat flour in the rolls.

Stuffing ready to go in the oven, chicken breasts are baking.

My usual assistants are sledding – we got 4-5 inches of snow last night. We’ll keep the operation going until they return. Note to self – before big cooking days, check to see if the kids used all the tin foil for projects.

More preparation, then everything came out of the oven on schedule! Yum!