Kind of a random question, what type of music do y'all listen to while cooking? I generally pair the music to the region that I'm cooking
Use thighs instead. The boneless skinless chicken breast is about the worst thing to happen to food ever. If you have to use them pound them flat, dust them with flour and sautee them in a half butter half olive oil mixture. You'll get some flavor out of them that way and the butter will brown them nicely.
This guy. Chicken Francese, Chicken Parmigiana, Schnitzel. Pound them flat, dip them in a spicy beer batter, fry them, throw them on a sandwich. If you have the entire breast, pre-roast it. Mix it, chunked, with a couple cups of cooked yellow rice. Add 1/2 sauteed red bell pepper (cut thin), 1/2 sauteed onion (thin half moons), 6 cloves of garlic (sofrito, basically). Throw that all together with a cup of unthawed frozen peas and a handful of cilantro for a poor man's Aroz Con Pollo.
Chicken Parm sandwich is the leader in the clubhouse at this point. Trying to avoid a grocery store trip and I've got the stuff for that.
Thighs are more fun but if you have to use the boobs, my mom does this thing where she coats them with pesto, layers tomato slices on the tops, covers the top of that with either mozzarella or swiss cheese, and bakes. But along the lines of your pounding it into submission, I like to pound the shit out of them (to about 1/4" thick), put a couple slices of ham with a line of mozzarella, roll it up, coat in flour, dip in egg wash, and roll around in butter and breadcrumbs. Viola! Cordon Bleu. Chicken bombs are also a good pound it recipe if you want to do some grilling.
How much work are you willing to put into it? Because you can make some decent curries with chicken breasts. Though a lot of recipes will call for tandoori chicken (where you marinate it in a yogurt-based marinade and then grill it) you can get away without marinating, cutting the chicken into cubes and searing them in the pot or pan and then deglazing before building your sauce. I like to use this recipe with chicken instead of lamb: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.food.com/recipe/lamb-and-potato-vindaloo-307214" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.food.com/recipe/lamb-and-pot ... loo-307214</a> (it's not 2 hours and 15 minutes to make). For a totally unhealthy option, butter chicken. Quite simply, after you've browned your chicken, deglaze with whatever, throw in your onion, ginger and garlic, add in tomato sauce (use passata, which you can find next to the pasta sauce), yogurt, spice mix, however much hot stuff you want, and let simmer 20-30 minutes until done. You don't really need to make a spice paste, just measure them out and throw them into the pot as you go. The biggest effort is finding all the ingredients, which usually isn't hard to do if you have a Bulk Barn around. In other news, I've made my first chicken stock of the fall and I'm looking forward to some roasted squash soup. Holy fuck do I love roasted squash soup. If you've never tried making your own chicken stock before, I highly advise you give it a try. I just throw some leek, onion, carrot, celery and chicken parts (backs, bones, carcasses, drumsticks) into my pressure cooker and let it go for at least an hour. Comes out good, even though I can't skim the scum off the top. Afterwards I'll just cut up a squash into chunks, roast with black pepper, salt and olive oil, pour enough stock over top to cover and blend until smooth. If it's the right season I'll throw in roasted chestnuts as well.
Response to rep: These recipes are for thawed out chicken, not frozen. I know in theory you CAN cook chicken that is frozen but I never ever do it.
On occasion Food Network mentions something that isn't completely heinous. It amazes me how completely useless most of their on-air talent is. John Besh was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Made (go figure, he does NOT have a show). His contribution is the best goddamn Sloppy Joe. Kind of a Sloppy Joe and Sweet and Sour Pork mash up. I leave out the mayonnaise because it's disgusting to have condiment with a sauce. Instead of the short ribs Besh used, I braised a gnarly hunk of chuck roast for a couple hours. Set me back barely $4. Season it, brown it, throw in a half a carrot, half an onion, deglaze with enough water to bring it up to the shoulder of the meat. Simmer until fork tender. That's it. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sloppy-joe-sliders-recipe/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/slop ... index.html</a> Ingredients For the Sloppy Joe Sauce: 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 onion, diced 1/2 cup pepper jelly 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon Creole mustard 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 cup ketchup Salt Freshly ground black pepper 2 cups chopped cooked meat For the Fried Onion Rings: 2 cups canola oil 2 red onions, sliced into thin rings Salt 1 cup flour For the Sambal Mayonnaise: 2 cups mayonnaise 3 piquillo peppers 3 tablespoons sambal chili paste Juice of 1 lemon Salt Freshly ground black pepper For the Sliders: 16 slider buns, toasted Bibb lettuce leaves 2 tomatoes, sliced Directions For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the onions and cook until browned. Stirring constantly, add the pepper jelly, vinegar, honey, mustard, Worcestershire, ketchup, salt and pepper and cook until warmed through. Either use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for a few days. Warm the sauce in a medium saucepan and add the meat. Stirring well, cook covered on low for about 15 minutes, until the sauce and meat are heated through. For the fried onion rings, heat the canola oil in a large saucepan to 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Toss the onions with salt. Dredge the onion rings in the flour and drop them into the oil. Cook only a few at a time, until the rings are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with a touch of salt. For the sambal mayonnaise, combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix well until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. For the sliders, toast the buns. Add a dollop of the sambal mayonnaise on each bun. Spoon the saucy meat onto the buns, and top with onion rings, lettuce, and tomato slices.
This isn't so much a recipe as a meal idea. The novelty of finding a filling, healthy, cheap, relatively low prep meal is so novel that even though it's basic as fuck, I thought I'd share. Steak with salsa and scramble. Ingredients: 4 steaks. I picked up portherhouse on special for $3 each which made me extremely happy. 400g mushrooms, sliced. ~1.5 large onions, sliced. 4+ eggs. Pico de Gallo ~10 tomatos, diced. ~1.5 large onions, sliced thinly. 4 jalapenos, finely chopped. 1 bunch coriander. Juice of 1 lime. Salt and pepper to taste. 1. Combine pico de gallo ingredients and let sit. 2. Start frying mushrooms. As they are beginning to soften, add mushrooms. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add your steak. When the steak is nearly done, crack your eggs over the onion/mushroom mixture. 3. Serve everything. That's it. Delicious combination of flavours and filling without using any carbs. (And if you happen to be single, you can make a decent batch of the salsa and the onion/mushroom mix and leave it in the fridge, and just fry up your steak and an egg on the night. I've been eating this for 3 days straight now due to late-finishing training, and I'm still enjoying it.
For the boneless chicken breast question : <a class="postlink" href="http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/86047/garlic-chicken-fried-chicken?mvtid_tab=b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/86047/ga ... vtid_tab=b</a>
I don't even fucking like pancakes, but I want to make every single one of these. http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/27-pancakes-worth-waking-up-for
Easy as shit homemade bread. 6 1/2 cups bread flour 1 TBS Kosher Salt 1 TBS Yeast 3 1/3 cups lukewarm water Combine salt, yeast and water, blend it up good Add flour and mix with a big spoon or mixer Let stand at room temp for 2 hours Bake at 450 for 40 minutes This makes 4 pounds of dough, it'll last 2 weeks in the fridge. You'll need at least 6 quart plastic container.
I had 1.5 hours to organize a picnic the other day, and I was really happy with how everything turned out. All of these are easy as hell, pretty healthy, and damn tasty. Recipes, now with (very average) pics! Excuse the plating, but hey, picnic. Avocado Dip Spoiler 3 medium avocados, mashed. 6 cloves garlic, minced. 4 birds eye chillis, finely diced. 2 tbsp sour cream Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 bunch coriander, chopped. Salt and pepper Celery, carrot, and crackers to dip. Method: combine. Caprese Salad Spoiler 6 Roma tomatoes, thick sliced. About 200g fresh mozzarella. 1 bunch basil, separated into leaves. Balsamic reduction. (You can either heat a quarter of a bottle of balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp sugar over a low heat until it reduces to half, or just buy it direct from the shop. Honestly, the bought one was better than my homemade efforts, albeit probably because of a higher sugar content.) Method: slice tomatoes and cheese. Layer on the diagonal, slide a basil leaf in between each, then drizzle with the reduction. Bacon, Potato, and Onion Frittata Spoiler 9 eggs (although you could probably bump this to 12). 4 rashers bacon, in sizeable pieces. 350g potato, sliced very thin. 1 large onion, sliced thin. Large handful grated cheese. Method: 1. In a small frying pan, fry your potato for 8 minutes until it's just getting soft, then add your onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add your bacon. 2. While that's frying, beat your eggs in a large bowl, with the cheese, salt and pepper. When all the other stuff is cooked (bacon crispy, potato soft), add all the cooked stuff to the eggs and stir it up. 3. Oil up your frypan again, and put it back on a low heat. Tip your mixture back into it and let it sit undisturbed for another 6 or so minutes, until the bottom is set but it's still a little runny on top. Slide a spatula underneath the frittata and make sure it can come out of the frypan. Then put a plate on top of the pan and flip it, carefully, over a sink. Oil the frypan again, then slide the mixture from the plate back to the frypan. Cook for another 3 minutes until done. Pesto chicken wraps Spoiler 2 packets flatbread. (Getting the square-shaped bread will make your life easier.) 500gm cooked chicken. (I ran out of time and used the store-bought stuff, and it wasn't so great. Cook your own chicken breasts if you can.) 1 jar pesto. 1 head of nice lettuce. 1 jar semi sun-dried tomatoes. Method: spread the pesto on the wraps, then layer everything else. Roll it up nice and tight, then slice into 2 inch pieces.
Jar of pesto? JAR? 1 bunch of fresh basil 2 cloves garlic 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts (pine nuts are $12 a pound, F that) 1/4 cup Parmesean cheese, grated 6-8 ounces (1 cup, probably less) olive oil salt, pepper Blanch the Basil in ice water for a couple minutes. This is so it doesn't turn black (as fast). Dry it. Put everything in the food processor. Pulse the contents, then add the olive oil in a steady stream as the processor runs to emulsify the sauce. Add a couple splashes of the ice water to smooth it out. Done. Taste it to make sure there is enough salt. Goes on gnocchi, prosciutto panini with smoked mozzarella, roasted peppers, potatoes, plain bread, tomato tart, as a marinade for grilled chicken, soup garnish, chicken salad. The grilled pesto chicken turns out really good. Great way to get rid of chicken breast cutlets. Just marinate them all day in pesto, then slap them on a hot grill.
That sounds delicious. I've been making a million frittatas lately, and found that investing in a nice oven-safe pan was totally worth it. That way, after the bottom has set, you just throw that motherfucker under the broiler for a few minutes and no messy/scary frittata flipping necessary. Plus, when you put cheese on top, the broiler makes it all bubbly and gooey and yum.
Making deer burgers tonight. Usually grind in some bacon, but my meat grinder is MIA at the moment. Any ideas to help bind them? I know egg and bread crumbs, but I don't really like the way that turns out.
The egg will make it moister, so if you aren't into that you can omit them. I use ground flaxseed to bind the Moroccan kebabs that I make a lot. If you grind it fine enough, you really can't even tell it is there, and it adds a lot of fiber and other highly nutrition shit to your meat.