My most recent cooking endeavours:
Chicken Riggies
http://imgur.com/YBFlYah
From Cook’s Country Eats Local, it’s America’s Test Kitchen’s version of what is apparently a classic Utica, NY dish.
It’s only maybe the second recipe I’ve done with any sort of marinating or similar involved. It has you put boneless, skinless chicken breast chunks in a ziplock bag with brine from jarred hot cherry peppers, oil and salt and then refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes.
Meanwhile, you brown mushrooms and a couple of chopped red bell peppers together in a dutch oven, then set them aside. You saute a chopped onion in the same pot, then add sliced hot cherry peppers (from the same jar you got the brine), garlic and oregano, followed by a can of crushed tomatoes and some heavy cream. You simmer all that together to thicken it into a sauce (10-15 minutes). Then you add the chicken and the mushrooms/peppers you set aside, cook the chicken through in the sauce, and add pitted, sliced kalamata olives and more cherry pepper brine. While all this is going, you cook a pound of rigatoni. Once that’s done, you mix the rigatoni into the rest, add Romano, and serve.
Very yummy and spicy, with flavorful chicken and a lovely mix of briny flavors and pasta. I will definitely be making it again and next time I will be ordering the jarred peppers and olives online because my local grocery only had whole cherry peppers and kalamata olives with pits. These are both things you can deal with, but depitting olives in particular was annoying.
Classic Arroz con Pollo
http://imgur.com/MuGqYNY
In progress.
http://imgur.com/656HBiS
The finished product.
From ATK’s Best Mexican Recipes
Another marination recipe. This one called for using bone-in thighs, so I grudgingly did, but I sure didn’t notice a major flavor difference (if anything, they seemed worse than the paleo version of this I did with boneless breasts) and they were definitely more of a pain and more gristle-prone. If I were sure how to change the cooking times to account for the difference I would probably do boneless next time. Or I may try a different take on the dish.
You marinate the thighs fo just fifteen minutes in a coating of garlic, white vinegar, oil, pepper, oregano and salt. The recipe only calls for 1 tbsp of vinegar here and 2 later, but the ingredient list specifies 5. I think they may have intended 3 tbsp here, which would have made a significant difference to the level of liquid in the marinade and probably made for sharper tasting chicken.
Then you saute onion, green bell pepper and red pepper flakes together for 5 minutes or so and add fresh cilantro (uncharacteristically, I bothered to use fresh cilantro here as specified). You then stick the thighs into the middle (and then all around because it calls for 4 lbs of thighs and my 6 quart dutch oven can only barely do that in one layer, despite being perhaps the biggest pot I own) with the skin side down to protect them. The recipe says to do this for 2-4 minutes “per side” but does not instruct you to flip them and since you’re not fully cooking them in this step and it makes a point of talking about the skin being protective, I didn’t. Finally, you stir in some chicken broth, a can of tomato sauce, and a bit of water to round it out. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or so.
Then you stir in 3 cups of medium-grain rice (the first time I’ve ever used medium-grain. you can use long grain but need more liquid if you do), sliced pitted manzanilla olives (I was able to find plenty of these, thankfully), capers, and salt and bring it back to a simmer. Once you do that, you cover it again and transfer it to the oven (set to 350) for 30 minutes, stirring every ten. You may need to add additional water. Once that’s done, you remove the chicken, shred it, toss the bones and skin, and toss it with more vinegar, oil, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Then it goes back onto the rice to warm through and then serve.
I had mixed feelings about the results. It was certainly edible, but as I say, I’d rather do boneless thighs next time. And I think it needed more spice and more vinegar in the preceding marinade. And holy hell this made a lot.
Bachelor Spaghetti With Sausage, Peppers and Onions
http://imgur.com/r5IDAR0
From ATK’s Pasta Revolution (currently out of print, unfortunately, but used copies seem cheap)
Extremely straightforward recipe that turns out a classier version of the traditional bachelor spaghetti (i.e. boil spaghetti, dump jarred pasta sauce on). Pretty much you saute a chopped onion, add sausage, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes and brown that, then add water, a can of tomato sauce, two chopped red bell peppers, and 8 ounces of thin spaghetti broken in half. Simmer that for 12-15 minutes, serve with parmesan. All in a skillet. The big innovation here, I think, is cooking the pasta in the sauce. The recipe calls for lazy ingredients like frozen prechopped onions and peppers and garlic powder, but I went ahead and used fresh since I was perfectly comfortable with those things by now (and it’s actually harder to find the frozen, at my grocery), and that is also accomodated. Yummy and easy.
Skillet-Baked Tex-Mex Macaroni
http://imgur.com/K1MZfke
Also from Pasta Revolution.
Also pretty straightforward. Onion and green bell pepper sauteed in oil to kick things off, then seasoned with garlic, chili powder (2 whole tablespoons) and cayenne (I went a little heavy on this because I like heat). Add a pound of 90% lean ground beef and brown a bit, then add water, canned tomato sauce and half a pound of macaroni. Simmer for 9-12 minutes, take off heat, add frozen corn, a can of green chilies, and a cup of Mexican cheese blend. Then sprinkle another cup of cheese over the top and stick in the oven (at 475) for 10-15 minutes. I initially forgot the chilies and had to take it out and stir them in a bit after a minute or so. Then at the end, sprinkle with cilantro and serve. I probably could have baked a little less but it wasn’t noticeably burnt at all and it was definitely good.
Swiss Chard and Pinto Bean Burritos
http://imgur.com/JvlpTL6
(The chard and pinto bean filling, since burritos look like burritos regardless)
From Best Mexican Recipes
Couldn’t find Swiss chard, used red instead. Basically, on one burner you do up some rice with vegetable broth, garlic and salt (about 20 min), and on the other you cook up a chopped onion, mix in some tomato paste, canned chipotle (I used a whole small can instead of the teaspoon they called for. this may have drowned out some subtler flavors but was good), cumin, oregano and garlic, and then add a pound of chard and some more vegetable broth, cover and simmer for 15. And then while those are going, you mash half a can of pinto beans together with the rest of the broth. Once the chard’s ready, you stir in the bean mixture and cook until the liquid’s mostly evaporated. Then you turn off the heat, mix in the rest of the can (whole) and add a tablespoon of lime juice. Then you fill six flour tortillas with the rice, the chard/bean mixture, and monterey jack cheese, fold them into burritos, top with more jack cheese, and broil for 3-5 minutes at about six inches from the broiler. Setting not specified so I did 3 on high and it worked out fine.
This was a treat for my gaming compatriots. Sadly, only one person managed to show tonight so I still have four burritos left over and the non-attendees missed out. But sucks to be them, I guess!
PS: My new cutting board. Soooo much nicer than the old one, if a tad unwieldy:
http://imgur.com/q4yfrDj
