I “catered” my friend Marisol’s pumpkin carving party tonight. In addition to the chicken tinga, guacamole, black beans, and cilantro lime rice from earlier in the week (brought leftovers), I freshly prepared some beefy taco meat, corn pico de gallo, and sautéed onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Brought a ton of tortillas, sour cream, cheese, shredded lettuce, and chopped onions, tomatoes, and cilantro to round out out.
It was a hit. Thanks!
As did I. We have both a 9.5" and a 10", and I was afraid the smaller one would not be large enough, even though it is what the recipe called for.
RichVR
6071
Bellissima. Che meraviglia! Ottimo lavoro. I didn’t use broccoli for mine. So you get the crown. Garlic bread I suppose? I made some as well. Congrats!
Edit: I guess we can say, I made this and Tylertoo. :)
Our daughter of course picked out the broccoli bits.
Nope, just a fresh multi grain baguette.
Tonight’s recipe:
Paella de Setas y Pollo
from Mark Bittman’s Best Recipes in the World
So, traditionally paella is made with shrimp (or at least seafood), in the oven. This is neither of those things, although I might yet make one of those versions. Instead, this is 100% stovetop and indeed, theoretically, skillet. Though next time I am probably using my dutch oven because this filled the skillet and then some. Instead we’ve got chicken thighs, mushrooms (both porcini and white) and chorizo.
You start off by putting a handful of dried porcini mushrooms in hot water to soak. Then you put some olive oil in the pan, get it shimmery, then add six bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, skin side down. Cook those for about ten minutes, flip a couple times, make sure the skin gets nice and browned. Then add a chopped up onion and cook that for another five minutes or so. Add some garlic and a bay leaf, let those get nice and fragrant. Drain the porcini, and add them and about half a pound of chopped fresh white mushrooms. Cook those a bit so they soften and start releasing water. Add chopped chorizo with some smoked paprika and stir them in, cooking for like 30 seconds. Add a half cup of white wine and let it bubble away a bit. Add a can of tomato puree and let that cook for about 5 minutes. Then scatter a couple cups of arborio (or other short-grain) rice across the top, trying to get it as even as possible. Finally, pour in 3 cups of chicken stock and add a pinch or so of saffron threads. Season well with salt. Let it get to a boil, then turn it down to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Check the rice. If it’s still crunchy at the top, add a bit more liquid and cook a few more minutes. Then when it’s done, turn off the heat and let it rest for a couple minutes.
I simply didn’t have room for more liquid, so my rice did not end up quite all the way done. And frankly I still feel like having bones in the chicken is crazy. But aside from that, this is astonishingly good. Rich and flavorful and full of all sorts of yum.
rshetts
6074
That looks great and rather tasty. I think that I will put this on the menu for this weekend.
Agreed, that sounds really nice! I even have a ludicrously massive coverable skillet big enough to make it in. . . pretty sure the gf would hate it, though, and that looks like it makes a lot :(
I mean, like 6 servings. I bet it’s even better reheated, though!
Fun fact, totally unrelated to having cooked this, turns out you can remove burners to clean under them! Who knew? :P
Skipper
6077
Or you do it the Skipper way, when you get to the point that they really need cleaning, Remove them and buy a replacement set at Lowe’s/Home depot. Most of us only use 1-2 burners anyway. Total cost, about $10-14. I put foil down below mine, so the actual removal is a piece of cake, with no lingering mess.
Note: I don’t do this for a light cleaning, just when they get so bad the food particles are practically welded on. This is also assuming you meant the catch trays, not the burners?
Both, really. The overspill went deep.
Skipper
6079
Nothing worse than when it gets on the burners. You can never quite get rid of the lingering puff of smoke that kicks up every time you use those burners again for quite some time.
How do you clean yours, malkav?
Just sponges at the moment.
RichVR
6081
I was so thrilled when we got our new stove. Glass top. Super easy cleanup. The oven too.
Whereas I’m desperate for a proper gas stove. Won’t happen until we move somewhere new, but that and a gigantic kitchen island/work surface are basically my only requirements for wherever we live next.
My gf may have some ideas about things like “has bathrooms” and “isn’t infested with man-eating spiders,” but that shit’s small potatoes.
I’m with you on that. Gas is so far superior to every alternative I’ve tried that it’s not even funny.
Timex
6084
Yeah, I’d trade my glass top stove for a gas one… if I ever get around to remodeling my kitchen, that’s what I’ll be going with.
Meh, I have gas and miss my old electric stuff sometimes. Gas is definitely superior at heating faster or giving rapid shifts in heat level. Electric does slow and steady much better though. Even my smallest gas burners at absolutely minimum setting tend to be a bit too hot for a nice gentle simmer.
stusser
6086
If you can’t get gas, try induction. It heats up insanely fast, is very power-efficient, much safer as only the pan heats up, and won’t heat up your whole house in the summer. Only downside is your pans must stick to a magnet to work, no pure aluminum.
Induction can also be very inexpensive.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0045QEPYM/
Have prices dropped a lot on induction burners? I had looked a few years ago and my impressions where that it was significantly more expensive.
RichVR
6088
Hell yeah. Big drop in price. I remember looking at a single element unit like the one linked above and seeing the price around $200-$300 only a few years ago.
