Archive for category Chicken
Waiting for Beryl
Posted by thesuburbancook in Beef, Chicken, Entertaining, food, Grilling, Recipes, Vegetables on May 27, 2012
NOAA map
I have a secret. It’s horrible. It’s embarrassing. It’s not something I’m proud of. Here it is: I love tropical storms. I love the power they exude. With the first announcement of a named storm, I am glued to NOAA. If I live in what my family refers to as the “cone of doom”, I check each update which occurs every 5, 8, 11, and 2 o’clock hour, am and pm. Living in Florida has taught me to have great respect for these storms. I have seen first hand the destruction that can occur from storms like Katrina, Ivan, Charley, and Andrew, so though I love tracking them and watching them develop, I do it with the understanding that lives can change, even end, as a storm passes. Still, I love watching the swirling clouds, the rain blow sideways, and the roar of the wind as it rushes over my house.
As the second named storm of the not-even-begun season put me and my family smack dab in the cone of doom, I started tracking the sucker. And planning what I would do as we waiting for Beryl to arrive. Now, this is a minor storm. It means that it’s going to rain a lot and be a bit windy, so we’re not packing up and leaving town. We’re preparing to be inside for awhile and keeping an eye on things. My first thought:
Grill Now!
Knowing a storm is headed your way means a few things. First, you have to make your preparations and for this kind of storm, that just means, stock up on food and bring in any loose outside planters, toys, and patio furniture. So, knowing two days in advance that we would probably have a storm on the Sunday before Memorial Day, we decided to grill out as much as possible until we were forced inside. I am also going to note that I’m growing basil and have a cheese obsession. You’ll notice the theme as the weekend diary progresses.
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The Entertainer
Posted by thesuburbancook in Beef, Chicken, Chocolate, Cooking, Entertaining, food, Italian, Uncategorized, Vegetables on March 28, 2012
Dinner is Served.
It’s entertaining to watch me entertain. This past weekend, we had some of our best friends visit. We met in college and they loved me in spite of my disasters in the kitchen back then. You know, when I couldn’t make boxed brownies or even brown chicken into something edible. So, when they come to visit, a part of me feels this inexplicable need to show off a little and prove I can cook. What? Everyone wins in the end! They get entertained with my kitchen drama and everyone gets to eat palatable food that survives the drama!
I made almond chocolate truffles based on this recipe I found at SimplyRecipes. (Side note, I used the cool tool called ZipList that lets you save the recipe to your own account and makes a shopping list for you. Pretty nice!!) I made the truffles with 1/2 tsp of almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla and I planned on chilling them in the shape I wanted rather than roll them into balls. However, I knew they would stick in the mini muffin tins I was using, so I searched three stores looking for silicon muffin liners. No such luck. I cut out a small round parchment paper liner for the bottom of each muffin holder, put a thin layer of slivered almonds on the liner and then used my small ice cream scooper to fill the muffin tin with the chocolate truffle mixture before chilling. When it came time to remove the truffles, I ended up chipping into them before they finally got them to pop out only slightly damaged. Good thing I made 24 truffles! Go on, laugh. It was amusing.
Almond Chocolate Truffles with "crackling" Sea Salted Caramel
Cornbread is such a versatile side. It can be spicy, sweet, or very savory depending on what you want to do with it. I found a wonderful recipe on allrecipes.com called Camp Cornbread. It had rave reviews and promised to be devoured quickly. Score! I had all of it mixed up before I realized that I didn’t have an 8 oz can of creamed corn, I had an 8 oz can of kernel corn. Awesome. What to do? I settled for replacing the creamed corn with my frozen Green Giant’s Niblet’s in Butter Sauce, cooked half way through. It added the butter flavor and a little texture. I’m sure the creamed corn would have been better, but I got points for resourcefulness!
Fried Stuffed Zucchini, a winner!
I had to make my staple: braised pearl onions from Julia Child. She says the easiest way to peel the skins is to drop them in boiling water for 5-10 seconds to let the skins loosen. Then, cut the root ball off and squeeze, they pop out! Well, yes, they pop out a little too easily. Picture the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts looses control of the escargot. “Slippery little suckers!”
Funniest part of the night? Making sea salted caramel to plate the truffles. First mistake, didn’t look up a recipe. I thought, I’ve made caramel before, I can wing it. Probably some of the wine contributed to this thought. So, I melted sugar until it was amber. I added heavy cream, forgetting to remove it from the heat and go gentle. I’m lucky it didn’t foam out all over my hand. Didn’t add butter. Did add salt. I spooned some on the plates. Instantly, it hardened into an unbreakable crust on the plates. Now picture me and my friends chipping away at it with our spoons because when you did get some, it was very good. My poor spoons never worked so hard. You’ll be happy to know, I made it again the next night, and it was perfect.
We had a wonderful time. Most of the food was great and the company was better. Life should be one big dinner party.
Citrus Grilled Chicken Under Bricks
- Porterhouse Steaks
Stuffed Fried Zucchini
(Based off the idea of fried zucchini blossoms, which I don’t have. Messy & greasy, but good!)
Slice 2 medium zucchinis to 1/4″
Mix 1 cup ricotta, 1 tsp lemon zest, and 2 tsps freshly chopped mint
Spread onto zucchini slice and place another slice on top to make a “zucchini sandwich”. Repeat until all is done.
Whisk 1 1/4 cups of flour & 1 tsp salt with 12 oz brown ale for batter.
Dip zucchini sandwiches into battter and fry in canola oil set at 350 F for about 10 minutes each, until golden brown.
Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.
Time Flies When You’re Cooking
Posted by thesuburbancook in Chicken, Comfort Food, Cooking, food, Uncategorized on February 12, 2012
Not "The Best Fried Chicken"
I worked in a lot of fast food restaurants as teen and young adult. I started to earn money to go to the movies or eat out, but it ended up helping me get through college. From the prep to the cooking to the serving to the cleaning, it was some of the hardest work I’ve done. I remember how quickly my days flew when I was on the clock.
Around 3pm today, I started thinking about preparing a nice meal for dinner. Then I remembered how I had hinted I might make some lunch for some people at work tomorrow. Within 10 minutes, I had a plan to handle both. 5 hours later, my plan was demolished, I was extremely frustrated at a magazine that promised the best fried chicken ever, and the day was gone.
Year of the Dragon
Posted by thesuburbancook in Chicken, Cooking, food, Uncategorized on January 23, 2012
Bourbon Street Chicken
Having been born in a year of the dragon, I feel a connection when it rolls around again. No, I’m not Chinese, I’m about as white as the come, but I it feels like a lucky year! Since today was the start of the Chinese New Year, I wanted a little Chinese inspiration. I didn’t have any tried and true Chinese meals, but I did have a recipe in my inbox I had been anxious to try. It’s technically not Chinese, but it does have the consistency and flavors of great Chinese take out. Is that close enough?
I love that crispy, fried, covered in sauce food. Who doesn’t (excluding health nuts)? This Bourbon Street Chicken recipe isn’t fried and that made it slightly better for all involved. It took me less than half hour and I had every ingredient in my pantry or fridge. I even used the kids’ apple juice!
We enjoyed it over a bed of steamed jasmine rice, cooked perfectly in a rice cooker. Happy New Year!
Who Doesn’t Love Pizza?
Posted by thesuburbancook in Chicken, Cooking, Entertaining, food, Holidays, Italian, Uncategorized on January 6, 2012
12 adults. 4 kids. It’s the last day of a combined family vacation and there are tons of leftovers in the mountain cabin refrigerator. I had dinner duty. How do you use up the leftovers, make something even the kids will eat, and feed so many people? Pizza of course!
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