A food memoir of weight loss, family recipes, digital cookbook and nutrition information for family and friends
By Ran Walker – My wife doesn’t trust gas station fried chicken, but, dammit, I do. In fact, I rank it among the best food in town, including those fancy chains, where they keep laying off the spices and seasonings every year. I tell her that they lovingly marinate those breasts, before gently battering them and […]
Junior’s Quick Stop —
Follow the link to read the entire short story. It’s a short read.
With food inflation absolutely skyrocketing I decided to write a post about finding bargains. Yes, bargains in the grocery store. A little while ago I boasted about finding a dozen eggs for $0.89 and wrote Egg Salad (because you will be eating more eggs). Well eggs in my part of the world are no longer this cheap but you’ll never guess what I found at the store yesterday.
Even though The Boss is not a dark meat chicken person at this price she will be eating dark meat chicken for dinner. Besides, The Boss really likes Chicken Thighs with Spinach which I’ve made several times since discovering the how to video online. I just need to figure out some decent recipes for preparing drums.
The increasing domestic demand for thighs is incentivizing producers to keep chicken legs, which have historically been heavily exported overseas, in the US market. But since every bird has one drumstick for every thigh, it leaves more drumsticks in the market, often at bargain-basement prices.
Big Chicken’s Drumstick Dilemma — https://tastecooking.com/chicken-drumstick-dilemma-dark-meat-thigh/
My big old roasting pan came in handy. Cover the bottom with foil for easier clean up. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Artfully place the drums in the pan, coat with some olive oil, and add some herbs and spices. I used salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and thyme. Bake for 45-50 minutes flipping over once about halfway through. After removing from the oven let the drums sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
The picture represents about half of the drums. The other half got served with squash and rice on the side. There’s plenty of leftover chicken to top a green salad, make chicken salad, quesadillas, tacos, Ampaipitakwong Fried Rice (aka Pete’s) or just about any other dish that has cooked chicken in it. Like my One Rotisserie Chicken series except you get to cook the chicken.
One Rotisserie Chicken, 50 Meals – #1 Salad
One Rotisserie Chicken , 50 Meals – #2 Spinach Salad
One Rotisserire Chicken, 50 Meals – #3 Sour Cream Chicken Enchillada Casserole
I picked up two packages of drums. Not bad for two bucks.
I tend to waste a lot of time watching other people cook on YouTube. But every now and then I actually make a dish I’ve watched someone else make and say to myself, this is a keeper.
“I make simpler things in a simpler way, now—as you get older your metabolism changes and you want something simpler, without embellishment.”
Jacques Pépin
Chef Jacques Pépin got through the pandemic with kitchen utensils, a video camera, and a great wardrobe — https://thecounter.org/rewrites-covid-19-chef-jacques-pepin-facebook-recipe-cookbook/
Salt, pepper, garlic, chicken thighs, and fresh spinach. That’s it. No added fats. Some rice or potatoes on the side and you have dinner on the table in 45 minutes or less. Check out the video.
I learned a lot by watching Jacques Pépin make chicken thigh. Incredible technique.
Mouth watering delicious, Chicken is dredged in finely grated parmesan cheese, then served in a lemon and parmesan cream sauce with fragrant garlic, which make this dish more palatable and delicious. Ingredients for making the Chicken For The Chicken: 2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts halved horizontally to make 4 2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or plain) 2 tablespoons finely grated […]
via Chef’s Nectar, “ Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata” — Chefs Nectar
I’m re-blogging this recipe for future reference. The recipe is a tad bit different than my version which is probably still in my head.
Source: Eat Chicken Sashimi or Chicken Tartare – Don’t Call Me | Marler Blog
Let me think about this.
No.
Like I’ve always said, sushi would be fine if you cooked it.
Iki Marinade 2.0
1/8 C. olive oil
1/8 C. canola oil
1/4 C. light thin Thai soy sauce
2 1/2 T. light brown sugar
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 T. ketchup
1/2 T. granulated garlic powder
1/2 T. onion powder
Dash red pepper flakes
The Story Behind Iki 2.0
For the story behind Iki 1.0 the original click here.
Ever wonder how two cooks can make the same recipe and they come out different? One cook makes the dish and it tastes good. The original cook makes the same dish and for some reason no one wants to explain, it doesn’t just taste good it tastes great. Wonder no more! The secret is simple. The original cook uses certain brands of ingredients and also changes the recipe. A digital cookbook is the perfect place to document such changes. As always I leave the original alone and highlight what changes I’ve made.
What Changed
I moved away from all olive oil to a mixture of olive and canola oils. The soy sauce I use comes from Thailand and is the Happy Boy Thin variety. While I prefer this brand you may not be able to find it in your local Asian grocery. Also be aware that MSG is listed as an ingredient so avoid if you have any sensitivity to this substance. Both of these changes lighten the marinade. Kikkoman which is found almost everywhere is an example of a dark soy sauce. The amounts of brown sugar and ketchup are a little higher than in the original. Thus, this version is a slight bit sweeter. Finally, garlic powder subs for fresh garlic and I’ve added onion powder to the marinade.
Why Change?
Why not?
Source: Food & Watch Watch Wants USDA to Halt Chinese Chicken
Source: Chinese Chicken Shipments Already Endangering Public Health | Food & Water Watch
This blog started as a repository for family recipes. Over the years since inception this thing has become a mash up. I’ve spent the better part of my working life learning about what kills people. My other blog didn’t feel like the right place for stories like this. So if we’re passing along article links about food you’ll find plenty here.
I hope readers find this type of information useful. I’m not going to discourage anyone from eating nasty fried fast food chicken nuggets processed in China from unsanitary chickens raised and slaughtered in Chile.
It’s your personal choice.
And yet another reason to never eat another chicken nugget unless you know where that nugget comes from. Yikes!
via China Completes Paperwork for Poultry Export to U.S. | Food Poisoning Bulletin.
The food safety scandals in China have ranged from companies adding melamine to milk to increase its nitrogen content and hide dilution, which sickened 300,000 babies; to plastic added to bubble tea; to pork blood pudding made with formaldehyde and industrial salt. And jerky pet treats imported from China into the U.S. have been linked to thousands of sickened and killed pets.
Place chicken in a pot just large enough to hold chicken breast halves and add enough water to barely cover.
Add carrot, celery, onion, lemon, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, white pepper, and salt.
Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. When the liquid is almost to a boil, reduce heat to low. Cover and continue to simmer for around 20 minutes. If the breasts are large, simmer an extra five minutes.
After 20-25 minutes, turn off the heat. Leave the cover on the pot and allow the chicken to cool in the broth for around 15-20 minutes.
I thought it would be fun to document my thought process when deciding upon what to make for a meal. We were completely out of milk so I had to go to the store. Note the date of this post. We are less than a week away from November and the temperature was damn near 90 degrees. It might have even topped 90. Despite having reservations for brunch, we had to wait for our table today.
“Would you like a table outside?”
“Thank you but Hell No.”
I digress. So I’m at the store and I pass by the bagged salad section. Remember, it’s nearly November. Stacked up and looking fresh were a bunch of salad kits seductively named Endless Summer. I kid you not.
Chicken breasts bone-in were on sale for $1.99 a pound. Dinner. Done.
I guess the title of this recipe really should be Bagged Salad with Chicken.
“Yes dear.”
It was rather cool outside this morning. Fall is definitely in the air and the morning chill made me think of chili. Since I had just finished breakfast, chili was not an option this morning. We were leaving on a short road trip in about an hour. No time to make chili.
I decided to add another chili recipe to the blog! For years I’ve made a white chili culled from two different recipes. One recipe definitely came from the NY Times while the source of the second is unknown. One recipe called for tomatoes; the other recipe didn’t. So in my grand tradition of never following recipes exactly I have had to pull out two separate recipes to make this chili. Fading memories instruct me on what to put in and what to leave out. Fearing the worst, I figured I better write this down before I forget.
Tips:
This chili tastes better without tomatoes but if you like tomatoes in your chili, add a can of diced tomatoes. It won’t be white anymore. It will be pink. Pink chili???
I prefer boneless thighs to boneless breasts but either works well. If you’re using fresh cilantro, add it as a condiment at serving time.
This chili, like most chili dishes, tastes better the second day.
This chili also tastes better when you drink a good craft beer while cooking it.
I’m serious.
