Cooking Revival

I’m shocked that it’s been well over a year since I’ve posted anything here.  Then again, I haven’t created many spectacular, or even interesting meals during this long stretch of deprivation.  I suppose I should start featuring meals you can create from food bank gleanings, because that’s basically where I’m at:  trying to find ways of turning frozen chicken leg quarters and canned green beans into something appealing.  How to survive on what’s left after leaving the gluten- and chemical-laden giveaways at the distribution point . . .  ?

The truth is, I have been experimenting, and when I give it enough thought, there is hope. I’m currently devising a dish of pre-baked chicken legs and spices with the ubiquitous canned green beans that I hope will resemble Szechuan beans with spicy garlic chicken.  If I succeed, I shall definitely reveal how I did it in my next post.

I mean, anything is possible, right?

 

Tick-Tock, Dinner’s in the Crock

Here it is, the final rush before Christmas. I have more than enough to do without having to mess up my tiny kitchen and clean it three times a day. So out come my crock pots, cutting the labor to a minimum. I’m doing this by the seat of my pants with whatever’s in the cupboard, fridge and freezer.

Yesterday, I pulled three chicken leg quarters from the freezer, put them in the pot and let them cook, unseasoned, on high setting until they started smelling good. At that point, I cut up what vegetables I had on hand, plus 1 Granny Smith apple. I transferred the chicken to a bowl to cool while I added the vegetables to the juices, plus the apple and a handful of organic raisins. Next in were the spices: garam masala, curry powder, onion and garlic powders, white pepper, spicy smoked paprika, and a couple grinds of lemon pepper. Then a hefty tablespoon each of hot curry paste and tandoori paste.

After a stir, I measured out and added 1.5 cups of organic chicken broth, stirred again, and then measured in 1 cup of quinoa. I used this in place of the brown rice I gave up for my venture into Paleo eating. Another quick stir, and the lid goes back on the pot while I pull the chicken meat from the bones (and skin, which the 4-legged family got for a special treat). After returning the meat to the pot, it took about an hour to finish the casserole to a fluffy, savory meal with just the right moisture and balance of spicy and sweet.

I tasted it after the pot had cooled, and was just as good cold, so I finished it off today.

Sorry I didn’t think to take pictures, but it wasn’t as pretty as it was flavorful and nutritious.

A Wing Thing

Chicken Wings Roasted with Lemon and Black Pepper (p. 124); Cauliflower with Mustard Seeds (p. 72)

Here are two recipes I had not tried from Delicious Dishes until now.  The cauliflower dish is one I’ve wanted to use since Robin put it up on his blog a few weeks back.  To my delight, mine turned out looking like his photos illustrated.

The chicken wings I had to test-drive, mainly to see if I might try to adapt them to my occasional craving for Buffalo wings.  I followed the recipe exactly and they are wonderful as is, but these are mild although flavorful.  Putting the two dishes together does work, but the spice and heat is in the vegetable, not the meat.

I had to use brown mustard seeds that I had because I haven’t found any black mustard seed locally, although I’m sure I can get some by mail or even perhaps in a town nearby.  To my dismay, I opened my spice drawer only to find that the fennel seed I thought I had was not there, so I substituted caraway, which I have used before with cauliflower.  It turned out fine, but I will do this recipe with the exact ingredients as soon as I can find them.

The wings I will set about to adapt to satisfy when I’m jonesin’ for the hot wings.  It shouldn’t be hard to do, especially since I usually keep some kind of hot wing sauce in the pantry which should cover up any blunders.

Right now, the House finale is about to start, so I’m outta here.  You already know I’m hooked on hot Englishmen . . .

Get Me to the Greek

Greek Chicken with Rosemary-Olive Oil Sweet Potatoes

Here’s one of my favorite chicken recipes:  Greek Chicken, done on the grill.  It shares the same flavors as several of the Delicious Dishes recipes:  Olive oil, lemon, garlic and pepper.  I have oregano growing wild in my yard, so I often go out and pick a handful or two and crush the leaves a bit to release the aroma and flavor.

For four chicken breast halves, I zested and juiced 2 lemons, finely sliced 2 garlic cloves, coarsely ground black peppercorns (probably a couple teaspoons’ worth), and threw in my couple tablespoons of bruised oregano leaves.  Into a one-gallon size zip bag it sat, marinating the poultry for an hour or so.

I heated my grill to high and put the breast pieces bone side down, making sure each had a fair amount of marinade atop it.  After a couple minutes, I turned the heat down to medium-low and let them go until I judged them ready to be turned, maybe 20 minutes.  A word of caution:  I am cooking on a gas grill — charcoal is a whole other trip and bears much closer attention.  A second caveat is that every grill is different, so you really have to use your own judgment and know your grill if you plan to walk away from it during the cooking.

If you can’t grill, the traditional way is to bake a split whole chicken in the oven.  The upside of this is it makes the house smell fantastic!

When I turned the chicken to skin side down, I moved it to the upper rack and turned the heat to low.  Before flipping it, I graced each piece with a few drops of EVOO so the skin wouldn’t permanently bond to the grid.

Another 20 minutes or so and I took them off the grill, fairly confident they were cooked through.  As it turned out, they needed another 10 minutes at least.  But hey, that’s why God made microwaves.

Speaking of the microwave, I had some frozen cooked sweet potato chunks, so I plopped them into a bowl, dressed them with EVOO, fresh rosemary, and freshly ground pepper, and ten minutes later I was enjoying the best sweet potatoes I’ve had in a long time.  And that includes the addictive sweet potato smash fries at Smashburger.  I actually like my un-fried version far more.  One less reason to go off the reservation next time I get that craving.

I also served fresh asparagus with the chicken and sweet potatoes, but inadvertently steamed the spears past pretty so they are not in the photo.  They sure tasted fine anyway.

We had a couple of other family members at dinner, and they all declared the meal a success.  The cats are enjoying the scraps as I type.  The dog is jealous but at least he’s not choking on chicken bones.

I truly am going to do a vegetarian dinner using Robin’s recipes, hopefully to be cooked and blogged on tomorrow.  If you haven’t checked out Robin’s blog lately, click the link now.  He’s posted some exciting news in the last day or so.