I feel like I've posted this already. Have I posted this already? OH FUCK IT! Imma post it anyways. I've been looking for a good stroganoff recipe for years, decades even. The problem is this, to make it quick, you get this chewy, tough meat that is impossible to eat without a knife and doesn't make any sense in a pile of delicious mushroomy, noodley goodness. Boyfriend made the mistake of suggesting using hamburger BUT THAT WILL NOT DO, NO WAY SIR, NO. So braising, which takes a while but if you get buy one get on free on a decent roast you can make double portions and get many many meals out of it.
It did take some work to get the liquid portions right. And since I am adding extra liquid at the beginning and don't want it to be soupy at the end, I am gonna braise in the oven instead of the crockpot so it cooks down.
You need:
3 lb chuck roast, sliced into pieces of similar size to the noodles you will serve it with
salt and pepper
butter with a little vegetable oil to keep it from smoking
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine (or you can use my go to substitution for red wine when I am out or too poor to buy wine- beef broth in the amount of the wine you need, plus several solid glugs of worchestshire sauce and a glug or 2 of red wine vinegar. It's the red wine vinegar that sells it)
3 tablespoons flour
more butter for the mushrooms and onions
1 and a half lbs sliced mushrooms (I use cremini because they are always the same price per pound as button mushrooms and I like them better)
2 diced medium yellow onions
1 and a half cups sour cream
2 packages egg noodles
Preheat your oven to 300, if you can remember to do that kinda thing. In a braiser or dutch oven or oven proof stock pot, melt the butter over high heat and add a little vegetable oil to keep it from smoking. Season beef with salt and pepper and brown it, in batches. When it's all brown, put it all back in the pan. Add the flour and continue cooking until there are no white or floury bits. You can add a little extra butter if you need to. Then add either the wine or the faux-wine to deglaze the pan. Keep cooking on high until it's been reduced by half. Then cover it with a tight-fitting lid and chuck it in the oven. Ignore it for a minimum of 2 hours. 2 and a half is best.
When you are nearing the finish mark, put a big ole pan of water on to boil for the pasta. Don't forget to salt the water. Seriously DON'T FORGET TO SALT YOUR PASTA WATER YOU HEATHENS. While pasta is pasta-ing, dice your onions and slice your mushrooms. Saute them in some butter until the onions are all carmelly awesome. Then stir them into the beefy awesomeness. Add the sour cream. Stir that too. Serve over the noodles. Enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that everyone around you thinks your are a better cook than them and will now worship at your feet and bring your offerings of booze.
Showing posts with label RQ Cooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RQ Cooks. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
RQ Cooks - Stroganoff
Or masturbating cow, as we like to call it.
I have been trying to make good stroganoff from cheap cuts of meat since FOREVER. All the recipes I've found either want sirloin or tenderloin or something spendy, or hamburger which is just NOT COOL.
But I want to use good old fashioned chuck roast. The deal with using this instead of spendier meat is that it requires braising to turn it into something edible instead of shoe leather. Braising takes 2 hours, minimum. It's a time investment, but the actual work of cooking it only takes a half hour or so.'
First slice up a bunch of crimini or button mushrooms. I use between half a pound to 3/4 of a pound depending on how bit the meat hunk is. Also slice up a large yellow onion or 2. In a large skillet, melt some butter in with some olive oil. The oil keeps the butter from burning. Throw mushrooms and onions in pan and saute until the onions sweat, about 5 mins. Move mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Take your chuckroast. I got a deal and had a good 3 pound roast. Get a good knife. I use a long, serrated bread knife for this. The teeth go through the meat like, well teeth. Slice the meat in to thin strips. If you can't do thin strips, then do smallerish cubes. Cut off some of the fatty parts, but not all because fat=flavor and because fat helps with the breakdown of the meat fibers that leads to tender meaty awesomeness when braising.
Throw some more oil in the mushroom pan and brown up the meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper while it's browning. You may have to do this in batches. After the meat is browned, grab a glass of red wine and use it to deglaze the pan. The pour the stuff from the pan into a large dutch oven (if you are making a smaller batch of stroganoff, you may be able to keep everything in the frying pan if you have a good lid for it). Throw the meat into the wine. Add beef stock (shout out to better than bullion- heyyyyy!) of about 6 cups for 3 lbs meat. Get out the Worcestershire sauce. Pour it 3 times around the pan. Stir the stuff up and bring it to a boil. The cover and reduce to simmer. Ignore it for an hour.
At the one hour mark, put the mushrooms and onions back in the pot. Make a cornstarch slurry (a table spoon or 2 of cornstarch mixed into cold water) and throw that in the pot too. Ignore it for another hour. Have a whiskey coke. Watch an episode of Firefly.
Check the liquid level. If it is too soupy you can either try more cornstarch or cook with the lid off for awhile. If it looks to low add a little stock or water. Before you add the sour cream in it should look a bit like watery stew.
Make the noodles. Generously salt the noodle water. Cook a package (or 2 if you just made enough stroganoff to feed an army) according to the instructions. While the noodles are cooking, add sour cream to the meat. Use a large container of sour cream if you just cooked a whole cow, or just glop spoonfuls in and stir if you made less. When sauce is coffee with 2 creams-colored, you've got it right.
Serve over noodles. Enjoy the oohs and ahhhs of people stuffing it in their faces.
I have been trying to make good stroganoff from cheap cuts of meat since FOREVER. All the recipes I've found either want sirloin or tenderloin or something spendy, or hamburger which is just NOT COOL.
But I want to use good old fashioned chuck roast. The deal with using this instead of spendier meat is that it requires braising to turn it into something edible instead of shoe leather. Braising takes 2 hours, minimum. It's a time investment, but the actual work of cooking it only takes a half hour or so.'
First slice up a bunch of crimini or button mushrooms. I use between half a pound to 3/4 of a pound depending on how bit the meat hunk is. Also slice up a large yellow onion or 2. In a large skillet, melt some butter in with some olive oil. The oil keeps the butter from burning. Throw mushrooms and onions in pan and saute until the onions sweat, about 5 mins. Move mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Take your chuckroast. I got a deal and had a good 3 pound roast. Get a good knife. I use a long, serrated bread knife for this. The teeth go through the meat like, well teeth. Slice the meat in to thin strips. If you can't do thin strips, then do smallerish cubes. Cut off some of the fatty parts, but not all because fat=flavor and because fat helps with the breakdown of the meat fibers that leads to tender meaty awesomeness when braising.
Throw some more oil in the mushroom pan and brown up the meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper while it's browning. You may have to do this in batches. After the meat is browned, grab a glass of red wine and use it to deglaze the pan. The pour the stuff from the pan into a large dutch oven (if you are making a smaller batch of stroganoff, you may be able to keep everything in the frying pan if you have a good lid for it). Throw the meat into the wine. Add beef stock (shout out to better than bullion- heyyyyy!) of about 6 cups for 3 lbs meat. Get out the Worcestershire sauce. Pour it 3 times around the pan. Stir the stuff up and bring it to a boil. The cover and reduce to simmer. Ignore it for an hour.
At the one hour mark, put the mushrooms and onions back in the pot. Make a cornstarch slurry (a table spoon or 2 of cornstarch mixed into cold water) and throw that in the pot too. Ignore it for another hour. Have a whiskey coke. Watch an episode of Firefly.
Check the liquid level. If it is too soupy you can either try more cornstarch or cook with the lid off for awhile. If it looks to low add a little stock or water. Before you add the sour cream in it should look a bit like watery stew.
Make the noodles. Generously salt the noodle water. Cook a package (or 2 if you just made enough stroganoff to feed an army) according to the instructions. While the noodles are cooking, add sour cream to the meat. Use a large container of sour cream if you just cooked a whole cow, or just glop spoonfuls in and stir if you made less. When sauce is coffee with 2 creams-colored, you've got it right.
Serve over noodles. Enjoy the oohs and ahhhs of people stuffing it in their faces.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
RQ Cooks: The Best Stuffing You've Ever Stuffed In Your Face
For a long time, I thought I was incapable of making stuffing that was yummy. I figured that since my drunk turkey was the bomb, if was ok if I was stuffing deficient. But the truth was, I was trying to make stuffing for vegans using shit stuffing mix from Trader Joe's (FYI NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES FROM TRADER JOE'S. DON'T BUY SHIT THERE).
Once I gave up on satisfying the vegans and using crap stuffing mix, the stuffing got drastically better. The rules of stuffing are this: keep it simple, don't cook it in the bird, and use tasty animal products.
What you need:
(This is to make a huge amount of stuffing. You can easily halve it to go with a chicken dinner or wevs)
2 packages of cornbread stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is good. This year I used some box of something else that was on sale. It was good too. )
celery
onions
parsley
sausage (I use 2 rolls of Jimmy Dean Sage sausage. But I have also made sausage from scratch using ground pork and that was so fucking good)
sage
poultry seasoning
thyme
salt pepper
chicken stock (Better Than Bullion is the awesomest. I can do stock from scratch but this way easier)
Butter (read the stuffing package to see how much you need)
In a large saucepan, brown the sausage over low heat so you can render out as much fat as possible.
When sausage is cooked, remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add a wee bit of oil back into the pan to supplement the sausage grease that's all ready in there
Turn heat up.
Add diced onions and celery. I use a whole thing of celery, including the leaves and saving the end bit to make stock later. Also I use 3 large yellow onions. Cook till onions are translucent. Add spices. Lots of spices. Then add the sausage back in.
Meanwhile, in a great big fucking bowl, pour in stuffing mix. Add chopped parsley (I use 2 bunches of curly parsley, but flat leaf is fine too). Melt butter in microwave. Measure out stock according to package directions.
Put onion & sausage mix in bowl with stuffing. Mix. Then add your stock and melted butter. Mix again. Taste. Add spices if needed. You really can't go wrong with poultry seasoning the hell out of it. Really. And don't forget the pepper. That little bit of bite is important.
Loosely pack the whole mix into a giant lasagna pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 oven for 45 minutes.
And that is stuffing so good people will whisper "It's better than my....." It's also super fucking easy, so yay.
Once I gave up on satisfying the vegans and using crap stuffing mix, the stuffing got drastically better. The rules of stuffing are this: keep it simple, don't cook it in the bird, and use tasty animal products.
What you need:
(This is to make a huge amount of stuffing. You can easily halve it to go with a chicken dinner or wevs)
2 packages of cornbread stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is good. This year I used some box of something else that was on sale. It was good too. )
celery
onions
parsley
sausage (I use 2 rolls of Jimmy Dean Sage sausage. But I have also made sausage from scratch using ground pork and that was so fucking good)
sage
poultry seasoning
thyme
salt pepper
chicken stock (Better Than Bullion is the awesomest. I can do stock from scratch but this way easier)
Butter (read the stuffing package to see how much you need)
In a large saucepan, brown the sausage over low heat so you can render out as much fat as possible.
When sausage is cooked, remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add a wee bit of oil back into the pan to supplement the sausage grease that's all ready in there
Turn heat up.
Add diced onions and celery. I use a whole thing of celery, including the leaves and saving the end bit to make stock later. Also I use 3 large yellow onions. Cook till onions are translucent. Add spices. Lots of spices. Then add the sausage back in.
Meanwhile, in a great big fucking bowl, pour in stuffing mix. Add chopped parsley (I use 2 bunches of curly parsley, but flat leaf is fine too). Melt butter in microwave. Measure out stock according to package directions.
Put onion & sausage mix in bowl with stuffing. Mix. Then add your stock and melted butter. Mix again. Taste. Add spices if needed. You really can't go wrong with poultry seasoning the hell out of it. Really. And don't forget the pepper. That little bit of bite is important.
Loosely pack the whole mix into a giant lasagna pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 oven for 45 minutes.
And that is stuffing so good people will whisper "It's better than my....." It's also super fucking easy, so yay.
Monday, May 09, 2011
RQ Cooks: The 5 minute salad that will make people worship at your feet
For dinner (the inaugural new apartment dinner partay) we had beef stew with mustard and mushrooms,rosemary drop biscuits and spinach salad. But not just any spinach salad.
I have gotten a bit out of the habit of making fancy salads, what with living with relatives who are, in the kindest of terms, pedestrian in their eating habits. A salad that has both leafy greens and fruit would overwhelm their palates. But this is easy and I can make it quick while things are resting on the stove.
What you need:
A bag of spinach
Large can of mandarin oranges
Half a small red onion, diced
Dried cranberries or cherries
feta
For the dressing:
balsalmic vinegar
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced
dijon mustard
salt & pepper
Mix salad makings in large bowl.
In a small glass or measuring cup mix equal parts oil and vinegar)It might not actually be equal parts. I just glug shit in till it feels right, so ymmv). Add a tablespoon or so of mustard, the garlic and salt and pepper. Whisk till the dressing is emulsified. Poor over salad and toss.
That's it. But it will make your guests ask for seconds on the salad, no matter that the beef stew you made literally melts in their mouths. When I've made this at Thanksgiving, Ruth has been known to stand next to the bowl eating it with her fingers until the turkey is cool enough to eat with her fingers. People will become self-conscious that they are asking for seconds on salad. It is ok for you to make them grovel at this point.
I have gotten a bit out of the habit of making fancy salads, what with living with relatives who are, in the kindest of terms, pedestrian in their eating habits. A salad that has both leafy greens and fruit would overwhelm their palates. But this is easy and I can make it quick while things are resting on the stove.
What you need:
A bag of spinach
Large can of mandarin oranges
Half a small red onion, diced
Dried cranberries or cherries
feta
For the dressing:
balsalmic vinegar
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced
dijon mustard
salt & pepper
Mix salad makings in large bowl.
In a small glass or measuring cup mix equal parts oil and vinegar)It might not actually be equal parts. I just glug shit in till it feels right, so ymmv). Add a tablespoon or so of mustard, the garlic and salt and pepper. Whisk till the dressing is emulsified. Poor over salad and toss.
That's it. But it will make your guests ask for seconds on the salad, no matter that the beef stew you made literally melts in their mouths. When I've made this at Thanksgiving, Ruth has been known to stand next to the bowl eating it with her fingers until the turkey is cool enough to eat with her fingers. People will become self-conscious that they are asking for seconds on salad. It is ok for you to make them grovel at this point.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
RQ Cooks- The Other White Meat
So it's winter, which means it's cheap pork season. Kid and I found thick cut pork chops for 99 cents per pound (2 chops equals a pound) and we'll be eating pork chops a few times this week. For some reason (religion, fear of undercooked pork from parents, I don't know what) most of my friends are afraid of cooking pork and unfamiliar with what to do with it. If you find a cheap pork roast- throw that shit in the crock pot and eat up. But chops are as easy to work with as boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The thinner cut chops are more tender, but thick cut chops can be yummy too.
When I have the cash I like to bread the chops and make pork chops limonata. It's just your basic breading- flour, dip in egg wash, dip in seasoned breadcrumbs. I add lots of extra seasoning to the bread crumbs. Garlic salt (Lowrys California style with parsley- I swear by that shit. I don't know why it's different and better, but it is) lemon pepper, regular pepper, oregano or basil, paprika, and as much finely grated lemon zest as you can get your hands on. In a heavy skillet, heat up a generous amount of oil (if you have leftover bacon fat in the fridge, throw some of that in with vegetable or olive oil, but not bacon fat all by itself because it will burn to fast). Fry the chops. If they are thin, this will only take a few minutes on each side. Squeeze a lemon wedge or two over each finished chop for extra tangy goodness.
When I don't have the cash, or the space, or the patience, to bread I just saute. This is the exact same thing I do to boring chicken breasts, and I NEVER have dry or bland meat. I have a meat nose in the same way that bakers have a bread nose. I can tell the doneness of a steak by sniffing it.
So how to saute cheap white meats...
In a heavy skillet, heat olive oil on high. Throw your well-weasoned meat in. Sear it on each side till it gets a little orangey-golden and then flip. Don't play fidgety Phil with your meat. Extra flipping doesn't help. If you're using a cast iron or stainless steel pan, the meat will stick at first. Ignore it. Once it gets hot enough to start releasing liquid, it will unstick itself.
When it's nice and golden on each side, you steam it. You don't add any extra liquid. Just turn the pan down to medium low and stick a lid on it. If I am making rice to go with dinner, I usually judge timing like this- the time it takes for the water to boil is the time it takes to sear. The time it takes for the rice to cook (20 to 25 minutes) is the time it takes for the meat to steam. Halfway through the 20 minutes of steaming, I flip and check. (If you are using thin cut pork chops- this time is cut way the fuck down).
Once the meat (or chicken) is cooked through, I turn the pan back up to high to crisp up the outside or re-sear. Takes just a few minutes. If you want, while the meat is resting off the stove, you can then turn all the yummy drippings into a pan sauce. Add a little stock or wine or water, a little butter, a little flour and whisk over low heat, making sure to get all the crunchy pan numminess mixed in.
So for under 5 bucks, Kid and I had a delicious dinner of sauteed pork chops, rice pilaf and brussel sprouts. (I cheated, the rice is a Near East mix that was on sale for a buck. But pilaf is easy, use stock instead of water to cook your rice in and mix in some sauteed onions and garlic and whatever).
Now if someone can teach me how to buy fish (that isn't tilapia or salmon) and cook it for cheap, I will heart them forever.
When I have the cash I like to bread the chops and make pork chops limonata. It's just your basic breading- flour, dip in egg wash, dip in seasoned breadcrumbs. I add lots of extra seasoning to the bread crumbs. Garlic salt (Lowrys California style with parsley- I swear by that shit. I don't know why it's different and better, but it is) lemon pepper, regular pepper, oregano or basil, paprika, and as much finely grated lemon zest as you can get your hands on. In a heavy skillet, heat up a generous amount of oil (if you have leftover bacon fat in the fridge, throw some of that in with vegetable or olive oil, but not bacon fat all by itself because it will burn to fast). Fry the chops. If they are thin, this will only take a few minutes on each side. Squeeze a lemon wedge or two over each finished chop for extra tangy goodness.
When I don't have the cash, or the space, or the patience, to bread I just saute. This is the exact same thing I do to boring chicken breasts, and I NEVER have dry or bland meat. I have a meat nose in the same way that bakers have a bread nose. I can tell the doneness of a steak by sniffing it.
So how to saute cheap white meats...
In a heavy skillet, heat olive oil on high. Throw your well-weasoned meat in. Sear it on each side till it gets a little orangey-golden and then flip. Don't play fidgety Phil with your meat. Extra flipping doesn't help. If you're using a cast iron or stainless steel pan, the meat will stick at first. Ignore it. Once it gets hot enough to start releasing liquid, it will unstick itself.
When it's nice and golden on each side, you steam it. You don't add any extra liquid. Just turn the pan down to medium low and stick a lid on it. If I am making rice to go with dinner, I usually judge timing like this- the time it takes for the water to boil is the time it takes to sear. The time it takes for the rice to cook (20 to 25 minutes) is the time it takes for the meat to steam. Halfway through the 20 minutes of steaming, I flip and check. (If you are using thin cut pork chops- this time is cut way the fuck down).
Once the meat (or chicken) is cooked through, I turn the pan back up to high to crisp up the outside or re-sear. Takes just a few minutes. If you want, while the meat is resting off the stove, you can then turn all the yummy drippings into a pan sauce. Add a little stock or wine or water, a little butter, a little flour and whisk over low heat, making sure to get all the crunchy pan numminess mixed in.
So for under 5 bucks, Kid and I had a delicious dinner of sauteed pork chops, rice pilaf and brussel sprouts. (I cheated, the rice is a Near East mix that was on sale for a buck. But pilaf is easy, use stock instead of water to cook your rice in and mix in some sauteed onions and garlic and whatever).
Now if someone can teach me how to buy fish (that isn't tilapia or salmon) and cook it for cheap, I will heart them forever.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Kitchen Squee!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you all discovered the magic that is smoked Spanish paprika yet? Have you? Cause if you haven't- GO GET SOME RIGHT NOW OMG WHY ARE YOU STILL SITTING THERE READING THIS!!!
No seriously, I just put goulash in the crockpot and used the smoked paprika (and a little of the cheap regular paprika to round it out) and the smell is soooooooooooooo amazing I would eat a hunk of raw meat. I do not think I can wait the 8 hours for it to be done.
No seriously, I just put goulash in the crockpot and used the smoked paprika (and a little of the cheap regular paprika to round it out) and the smell is soooooooooooooo amazing I would eat a hunk of raw meat. I do not think I can wait the 8 hours for it to be done.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
RQ Cooks Croquettes, and why I lurve this friend
So I'm spending the week with Ruthzilla in Chapel Hill and it has been several days now of "let's feed Elizabeth good food and booze". I've only suffered one mild hangover, and quite honestly deserved much worse for the amount of fun that was had.
Ruthie is my cooking muse, and not in the old male sit there and be naked and inspire me muse kind of way. We play well together in the kitchen. I made her turkey breast with paprika and lemon. She made me lemon rice (hers is always better than mine). We've resumed our MST3000 style of watching cooking shows and today I nearly peed my pants squealing over the horrors of a Paula Dean ham and banana casserole. There are some people in the world where things are just easy when you're around them, even if everything else around you is shit shit shit. Ruthie is one of those people to me, and because our friendship is so smooth it makes the rough patches in our separate lives a bit nicer.
But on to the recipe.
So we had a ton of leftover lemon rice. We are both used to cooking for larger groups than just 2 food geeks. We mashed it up with some bread crumbs, eggs and pecorino. Then we made patties and dusted them with seasoned corn flower. Then we fried them. Simple, easy. Took less than half and hour. We made a seasoned mayo (fresh dill, chopped pickle, green onion, garlic salt, dijon mustard) and stuffed ourselves. It was awesome.
Tomorrow it's omlettes and farmers markets and maybe see a band or two. It is nice to be social, but it's even nicer to be social with one of my favorite people ever.
Ruthie is my cooking muse, and not in the old male sit there and be naked and inspire me muse kind of way. We play well together in the kitchen. I made her turkey breast with paprika and lemon. She made me lemon rice (hers is always better than mine). We've resumed our MST3000 style of watching cooking shows and today I nearly peed my pants squealing over the horrors of a Paula Dean ham and banana casserole. There are some people in the world where things are just easy when you're around them, even if everything else around you is shit shit shit. Ruthie is one of those people to me, and because our friendship is so smooth it makes the rough patches in our separate lives a bit nicer.
But on to the recipe.
So we had a ton of leftover lemon rice. We are both used to cooking for larger groups than just 2 food geeks. We mashed it up with some bread crumbs, eggs and pecorino. Then we made patties and dusted them with seasoned corn flower. Then we fried them. Simple, easy. Took less than half and hour. We made a seasoned mayo (fresh dill, chopped pickle, green onion, garlic salt, dijon mustard) and stuffed ourselves. It was awesome.
Tomorrow it's omlettes and farmers markets and maybe see a band or two. It is nice to be social, but it's even nicer to be social with one of my favorite people ever.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
in case you were worried- RQ cooks lemon rice
I've been eating everyday. Ruthie mentioned in an email that it might work better if I concentrated on feeling less burdensome than on the eating thing. And she's right. I've eaten for like 5 days now because I cooked every one of the meals. If I do the work of cooking, I feel less bad about eating. I feel useful.
Tonight I made lemon rice with garlic shrimp. We'd had a shrimp ring in the freezer for ages and for less than 5 bucks we got the stuff to make everything. I also threw together a pineapple upside down cake (from a box, in a rectangular pan! It was weird. Pineapple upside cake doesn't come in a box and it gets cooked in a cast iron skillet! But it was still good). The shrimp was supposed to be my uncle's treat for their wedding anniversary, but he shared. And who knows how much longer we'll be able to eat shrimp.
Who knew the whole Lizzie is a kick ass cook thing was an anti-ED tactic?
So lemon rice. It's cheap. It's easy. It's actually Ruthie's recipe.
Make a bunch of plain rice, white or brown, doesn't matter.
In a large skillet saute a diced onion or two and a mess of chopped garlic in either olive oil or butter till onions are a wee bit brown. DON'T BURN THE GARLIC!!!!
Chop a bunch of either parsley (flat or curly) or cilantro or baby spinach. Add onions and chopped greens to warm rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Add lemon juice (and zest of you've got it) to taste. Add salt and pepper. Toss, taste, add lemon or salt as needed.
For such a seriously simple side dish, this makes everyone go YUMMO.
(The shrimp was just sauted in a shit ton of brown butter and garlic with a wee bit of salt and tossed with dried cilantro at the end. it took 5 minutes.)
Tonight I made lemon rice with garlic shrimp. We'd had a shrimp ring in the freezer for ages and for less than 5 bucks we got the stuff to make everything. I also threw together a pineapple upside down cake (from a box, in a rectangular pan! It was weird. Pineapple upside cake doesn't come in a box and it gets cooked in a cast iron skillet! But it was still good). The shrimp was supposed to be my uncle's treat for their wedding anniversary, but he shared. And who knows how much longer we'll be able to eat shrimp.
Who knew the whole Lizzie is a kick ass cook thing was an anti-ED tactic?
So lemon rice. It's cheap. It's easy. It's actually Ruthie's recipe.
Make a bunch of plain rice, white or brown, doesn't matter.
In a large skillet saute a diced onion or two and a mess of chopped garlic in either olive oil or butter till onions are a wee bit brown. DON'T BURN THE GARLIC!!!!
Chop a bunch of either parsley (flat or curly) or cilantro or baby spinach. Add onions and chopped greens to warm rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Add lemon juice (and zest of you've got it) to taste. Add salt and pepper. Toss, taste, add lemon or salt as needed.
For such a seriously simple side dish, this makes everyone go YUMMO.
(The shrimp was just sauted in a shit ton of brown butter and garlic with a wee bit of salt and tossed with dried cilantro at the end. it took 5 minutes.)
Thursday, April 01, 2010
RQ Cooks! Awesome Fried Rice
My fried rice recipe has been evolving since high school. I finally have it perfect, though it is not at all traditional. But it is better than the Poverty fried rice recipe.
Trade Mark alert! When I have shared this recipe in the past I have noted that you must call this "Lizzie's Awesome Fried Rice" when you make it. Just because you are in bloglandia does not mean that my spidey senses won't know if you forget the "Lizzie's Awesome Fried Rice" tittle. I will know. And the kitchen gods will smite you for your hubris!
You need
A half pound thick cut pepper bacon (If you buy a full pound, you can make it twice)
3 or 4 carrots, diced
3 or 4 celery stalks, sliced
2 medium onion, chopped
6 to 10 Brussel sprouts, chopped into shreds or a half a small cabbage
a dash of veggie oil
cooked rice (I make this for 10 people at a time, so I make 5 cups of rice in the rice cooker or about 10 cups cooked)
a little bit of better than bullion chicken flavor (I don't know if this actually does anything, but I've been doing it every time and everyone loves this recipe so much I am loath to change it)
red pepper flakes
soy sauce
First- start your rice, use the better than bullion in the rice water
While rice is cooking, in the biggest skillet or wok you have, cook the bacon SLOWLY over medium to medium low heat. You want to render out as much fat as you can. That is why slowly.
While bacon is cooking, chop veggies. Put carrots, celery and onions together, keep sprouts or cabbage separate.
When bacon is done, remove from pan and add a dash of veggie oil.Turn heat up to high and toss in the carrot/celery onion mix.
Add a dash of red pepper flakes and some soy sauce.
Cook until the liquid is nearly gone and the onions start to brown a little
Add sprouts and another dash of soy sauce (this is a soy sauce delivery vehicle)
Cook until sprouts are browned
Chop bacon and add to pan
Add rice to pan and stir stir stir. Your arms will ache, keep stirring. Add some more soy sauce so that the rice gets a lovely carmel color and picks up all the bits of bacon fat and crumbles from the bottom of the pan.
Serve.
Watch your friends and loved ones ohhhhh and ahhhhhh over magically delicious dinner.
Trade Mark alert! When I have shared this recipe in the past I have noted that you must call this "Lizzie's Awesome Fried Rice" when you make it. Just because you are in bloglandia does not mean that my spidey senses won't know if you forget the "Lizzie's Awesome Fried Rice" tittle. I will know. And the kitchen gods will smite you for your hubris!
You need
A half pound thick cut pepper bacon (If you buy a full pound, you can make it twice)
3 or 4 carrots, diced
3 or 4 celery stalks, sliced
2 medium onion, chopped
6 to 10 Brussel sprouts, chopped into shreds or a half a small cabbage
a dash of veggie oil
cooked rice (I make this for 10 people at a time, so I make 5 cups of rice in the rice cooker or about 10 cups cooked)
a little bit of better than bullion chicken flavor (I don't know if this actually does anything, but I've been doing it every time and everyone loves this recipe so much I am loath to change it)
red pepper flakes
soy sauce
First- start your rice, use the better than bullion in the rice water
While rice is cooking, in the biggest skillet or wok you have, cook the bacon SLOWLY over medium to medium low heat. You want to render out as much fat as you can. That is why slowly.
While bacon is cooking, chop veggies. Put carrots, celery and onions together, keep sprouts or cabbage separate.
When bacon is done, remove from pan and add a dash of veggie oil.Turn heat up to high and toss in the carrot/celery onion mix.
Add a dash of red pepper flakes and some soy sauce.
Cook until the liquid is nearly gone and the onions start to brown a little
Add sprouts and another dash of soy sauce (this is a soy sauce delivery vehicle)
Cook until sprouts are browned
Chop bacon and add to pan
Add rice to pan and stir stir stir. Your arms will ache, keep stirring. Add some more soy sauce so that the rice gets a lovely carmel color and picks up all the bits of bacon fat and crumbles from the bottom of the pan.
Serve.
Watch your friends and loved ones ohhhhh and ahhhhhh over magically delicious dinner.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
RQ Cooks- well not exactly
This is the first time in many many years that I am not hosting carb-fest. Ruth is off at grad school, friends are all in Seattle, and I am here with family and decidedly not in charge of any carb-fest planning. It's weird. Who will eat an entire plate of deviled eggs? Or fix yummy alcoholic beverages? Or worry that something might not be vegan (despite the fact almost everything I make at Thanksgiving-except the turkey, deviled eggs and last years sausage stuffing- has been vegan for years)!
But I've got recipes for you peeps anyways.
(vegan) Smokey green beans
Get a large mess of fresh green beans.
Snap off ends.
Blanche (quickly dip green beans in a pot of boiling water- count to 30, then plunge green beans into ice water. Yes, this is a pain in the ass but you can and should do this part ahead of time)
Dry green beans on a paper towel- this is important.If they don't dry all the way you get those nasty soggy green beans that no one likes.
Right before serving in a large skillet-
toast almond slices over mediumish heat. You just want to heat them until you can smell them, and they burn fast. Remove from pan and set aside.
Put a wee bit of olive oil in the pan, heat to high. Throw in green beans and drizzle liberally with liquid smoke and salt. The liquid smoke will get very smokey.
Cook for just a few minutes until the liquid smoke is evaporated and the beans have a few smokey brown patches on them. They should still be firmish- not limp. Mix with almonds and serve.
Whipped Sweet Potatoes (can be vegan if you use soy milk and fake butter)
Wash sweet potatoes, rub with olive oil, wrap in tin foil and bake at 450 until fork tender. I usually do one large sweet potato for two people, but these are really good so you may want to do more.
When fork tender- unwrap the foil and then skin the hot potatoes. Put mushy potato stuff in a large bowl. Just like with mashy potatoes, add a bit of milk and a lot of butter. Also add in a good large glunk (RQ technical term for a fistful) of brown sugar. You can now either mash with a potato masher or whip with a beater. Once smooth, do a taste check. It may need more brown sugar. And a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg wouldn't hurt either. If you want to be real fancy, you can mix in some pralines, but I like this better than the marshmallow fluff sweet potato casserole version.
But I've got recipes for you peeps anyways.
(vegan) Smokey green beans
Get a large mess of fresh green beans.
Snap off ends.
Blanche (quickly dip green beans in a pot of boiling water- count to 30, then plunge green beans into ice water. Yes, this is a pain in the ass but you can and should do this part ahead of time)
Dry green beans on a paper towel- this is important.If they don't dry all the way you get those nasty soggy green beans that no one likes.
Right before serving in a large skillet-
toast almond slices over mediumish heat. You just want to heat them until you can smell them, and they burn fast. Remove from pan and set aside.
Put a wee bit of olive oil in the pan, heat to high. Throw in green beans and drizzle liberally with liquid smoke and salt. The liquid smoke will get very smokey.
Cook for just a few minutes until the liquid smoke is evaporated and the beans have a few smokey brown patches on them. They should still be firmish- not limp. Mix with almonds and serve.
Whipped Sweet Potatoes (can be vegan if you use soy milk and fake butter)
Wash sweet potatoes, rub with olive oil, wrap in tin foil and bake at 450 until fork tender. I usually do one large sweet potato for two people, but these are really good so you may want to do more.
When fork tender- unwrap the foil and then skin the hot potatoes. Put mushy potato stuff in a large bowl. Just like with mashy potatoes, add a bit of milk and a lot of butter. Also add in a good large glunk (RQ technical term for a fistful) of brown sugar. You can now either mash with a potato masher or whip with a beater. Once smooth, do a taste check. It may need more brown sugar. And a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg wouldn't hurt either. If you want to be real fancy, you can mix in some pralines, but I like this better than the marshmallow fluff sweet potato casserole version.
Monday, November 09, 2009
RQ Cooks- White trash tamale pie
Like many poor peeps, I have been known to make what I fondly call white trash pie, though you all may know it by the name on the side of the Bisquick box- impossible cheeseburger pie. At my old place I used to have to save a piece for my neighbor Karen every time I made it (I didn't exactly follow the recipe of the box, I never do). In return she brought me chicken every time she barbecued.
Well we had a mess o' leftover ground beef and some veggies needing to be used. But we wanted something a wee bit different from the old Bisquick version and were way too lazy to make tacos.
Enter Jiffy corn bread mix.
Preheat the oven to 400
In a large (biggest you've got) cast iron skillet, brown some ground beef.
Season the fuck out of it. Garlic salt, red pepper flakes, chili powder, a little cumin, some black pepper.
While the beef is browning, chop an onion or two, a bell pepper or two, a jalapeno if you've got it and that's your thing. Cook till onions are translucent. Remove from heat.
At this point I added one diced tomato that was on its way out and some fresh corn sliced off the cob. You could also add olives or a can of green chilies.
Then cheese- lots of yummy shredded cheese. We used sharp cheddar, but I'm sure a jack cheese would be fine.
Use 2 boxes of jiffy corn muffin mix and make according to the directions. Let it sit in the bowl for a minute or two to get its puffiness going.
Spread corn muffin batter over beef mixture and sprinkle with more yummy cheese.
Bake until the muffin crust is cooked and golden brown (not just the cheese being brown).
Let sit for a few minutes then dig in.
Well we had a mess o' leftover ground beef and some veggies needing to be used. But we wanted something a wee bit different from the old Bisquick version and were way too lazy to make tacos.
Enter Jiffy corn bread mix.
Preheat the oven to 400
In a large (biggest you've got) cast iron skillet, brown some ground beef.
Season the fuck out of it. Garlic salt, red pepper flakes, chili powder, a little cumin, some black pepper.
While the beef is browning, chop an onion or two, a bell pepper or two, a jalapeno if you've got it and that's your thing. Cook till onions are translucent. Remove from heat.
At this point I added one diced tomato that was on its way out and some fresh corn sliced off the cob. You could also add olives or a can of green chilies.
Then cheese- lots of yummy shredded cheese. We used sharp cheddar, but I'm sure a jack cheese would be fine.
Use 2 boxes of jiffy corn muffin mix and make according to the directions. Let it sit in the bowl for a minute or two to get its puffiness going.
Spread corn muffin batter over beef mixture and sprinkle with more yummy cheese.
Bake until the muffin crust is cooked and golden brown (not just the cheese being brown).
Let sit for a few minutes then dig in.
Monday, July 20, 2009
RQ Cooks: Wild Rice Salad
Apparently this is the best thing I've ever made, judging by how fast it disappeared last night and how many people came back for seconds and thirds. It's a recipe I pulled out of my ass right before we went to the grocery store to shop for impromptu barb-b-que fixins.
I used a mix of wild and brown rice (cause wild rice is expensive). Just cook it like you normally would either on the stove top or in a rice cooker.
Then in a large bowl add
cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
an entire bunch of green onions, chopped (including the green parts)
a bunch of chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
a couple of large heads of garlic (I was lazy and didn't mince the garlic but just diced it)
juice from 3 or 4 large lemons
crumbled feta cheese
Normally I'd make the dressing from scratch, but I was all ready on my second Moscow Mule so I cheated and used some bottled Italian dressing (Newman's Own).
Add rice to the chopped veggies, drizzle with salad dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.
I used a mix of wild and brown rice (cause wild rice is expensive). Just cook it like you normally would either on the stove top or in a rice cooker.
Then in a large bowl add
cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
an entire bunch of green onions, chopped (including the green parts)
a bunch of chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
a couple of large heads of garlic (I was lazy and didn't mince the garlic but just diced it)
juice from 3 or 4 large lemons
crumbled feta cheese
Normally I'd make the dressing from scratch, but I was all ready on my second Moscow Mule so I cheated and used some bottled Italian dressing (Newman's Own).
Add rice to the chopped veggies, drizzle with salad dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.
Monday, June 15, 2009
RQ Cooks- Carnitas
It takes very little to get a party started at my house. This weekend's excuse for merriment was "Lizzie bought a pork roast". And it was on.
Traditional carnitas done Yucatan style means giant hunks of pork slow roasted in a dirt pit and then deep fried. But I am way too lazy to go dig a hole in the back yard. So this recipe isn't much different from my standard pork roast, just the seasonings are different.
Find the biggest hunk of boneless pork shoulder you can get. Make sure it has a nice layer of fat on the bottom. Throw it in a big crock pot fat side down.
Cover roast in achiote sauce or paste (if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of Latinos- you can probably find this in the grocery store along with yummy yummy apple soda). Add grapefruit or orange juice (a cup or so), chopped garlic and onions, salt, pepper, a little bit of oregano, some red pepper flakes and the juice of a lime or two. Set to low and cook 8 to 10 hours or until the roast is shredding itself in the sauce.
(a quick note- onions and garlic will pickle a bit in the citrus juice. For onions they turn a bit pink, which is fine. The garlic will turn minty green. Do not freak out. It tastes fine)
Now for the ultimate lazy "deep frying" part.
A little while before serving, shred the pork into an oven proof baking dish. I use a pyrex lasagna pan. Pour all the sauce and fat from the crock pot over the shredded bits and throw under the broiler for a while. You want the top bits of pork to get crispy and a little blackened. I know it's done by how it smells. If it smells like you want to crawl in the oven and die from a pork induced coronary RIGHT NOW, then it's probably done.
How to serve
Like any taco, this is meal is all about the condiments. We do fried corn tortillas, half assed Spanish rice, pickled onions (when I can remember to set them out), homemade pico de gallo and guacamole, 3 minute refried beans (can of beans, glob of sour cream, generous pile of shredded cheese all mixed together and microwaved for 3 minutes. The sour cream makes the beans fluffy and light.
But pork needs a little something sweet to balance out all the savory and sour flavors.
Normally, you could make a pineapple or mango salsa to go with the pork. But i am lazy and I just made a vat of pico de gallo and I don't want to touch another onion. So I cubed up some fresh pineapple (DO NOT BUY CANNED! A fresh pineapple is cheap and way way better than metal flavored sugar syrup nastiness)and like our friends to the south I covered it in chili powder. Peeps- if you have not had sticky sweet fruit dusted with chili powder then I feel sorry for you. It will change your life.
Pile everything into the fried tortillas and prepare to eat (with one hand poised to unbutton you pants because you will not be able to stop stuffing your face).
Traditional carnitas done Yucatan style means giant hunks of pork slow roasted in a dirt pit and then deep fried. But I am way too lazy to go dig a hole in the back yard. So this recipe isn't much different from my standard pork roast, just the seasonings are different.
Find the biggest hunk of boneless pork shoulder you can get. Make sure it has a nice layer of fat on the bottom. Throw it in a big crock pot fat side down.
Cover roast in achiote sauce or paste (if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of Latinos- you can probably find this in the grocery store along with yummy yummy apple soda). Add grapefruit or orange juice (a cup or so), chopped garlic and onions, salt, pepper, a little bit of oregano, some red pepper flakes and the juice of a lime or two. Set to low and cook 8 to 10 hours or until the roast is shredding itself in the sauce.
(a quick note- onions and garlic will pickle a bit in the citrus juice. For onions they turn a bit pink, which is fine. The garlic will turn minty green. Do not freak out. It tastes fine)
Now for the ultimate lazy "deep frying" part.
A little while before serving, shred the pork into an oven proof baking dish. I use a pyrex lasagna pan. Pour all the sauce and fat from the crock pot over the shredded bits and throw under the broiler for a while. You want the top bits of pork to get crispy and a little blackened. I know it's done by how it smells. If it smells like you want to crawl in the oven and die from a pork induced coronary RIGHT NOW, then it's probably done.
How to serve
Like any taco, this is meal is all about the condiments. We do fried corn tortillas, half assed Spanish rice, pickled onions (when I can remember to set them out), homemade pico de gallo and guacamole, 3 minute refried beans (can of beans, glob of sour cream, generous pile of shredded cheese all mixed together and microwaved for 3 minutes. The sour cream makes the beans fluffy and light.
But pork needs a little something sweet to balance out all the savory and sour flavors.
Normally, you could make a pineapple or mango salsa to go with the pork. But i am lazy and I just made a vat of pico de gallo and I don't want to touch another onion. So I cubed up some fresh pineapple (DO NOT BUY CANNED! A fresh pineapple is cheap and way way better than metal flavored sugar syrup nastiness)and like our friends to the south I covered it in chili powder. Peeps- if you have not had sticky sweet fruit dusted with chili powder then I feel sorry for you. It will change your life.
Pile everything into the fried tortillas and prepare to eat (with one hand poised to unbutton you pants because you will not be able to stop stuffing your face).
Thursday, May 21, 2009
RQ Cooks- Cold sesame noodles for the allergic
Someday soon I'll come back and write about non-food things, but for right now I'm so stressed out and freaked out and just plain scared of the future that what's for dinner is the only question I can answer.
Kid is allergic to wheat. That's the source of his horrendous dead cat smell. Roomie is allergic to a million things (including wheat and peanuts) so cooking is an adventure in creativity. Enter- rice noodles.
I had sesame noodles at Kid's b-day sushi dinner and have been thinking about them ever since. So here's my version for peeps who can't eat stuff (and for those of us who can)
1 pack of rice noodles (pad thai noodles work great) cooked, rinsed, drained and cooled
chopped scallions
in a bowl mix
6 to 8 tablespoons tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
3 tablespoons sun flower butter (which is awesome because you get whole seeds in it) or peanut butter
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (if you have sesame oil- you can use this in place of some of the veggie oil)
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of cayenne (more of either or both of these if you like spicey)
a generous glob of toasted sesame seeds
add noodles and scallions. Keep mixing. It will take a while. Add a wee bit more oil if it's really too thick.
Taste- seriously. It made need more tamari if (like me) you want it fully of salty goodness.
Kid is allergic to wheat. That's the source of his horrendous dead cat smell. Roomie is allergic to a million things (including wheat and peanuts) so cooking is an adventure in creativity. Enter- rice noodles.
I had sesame noodles at Kid's b-day sushi dinner and have been thinking about them ever since. So here's my version for peeps who can't eat stuff (and for those of us who can)
1 pack of rice noodles (pad thai noodles work great) cooked, rinsed, drained and cooled
chopped scallions
in a bowl mix
6 to 8 tablespoons tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
3 tablespoons sun flower butter (which is awesome because you get whole seeds in it) or peanut butter
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (if you have sesame oil- you can use this in place of some of the veggie oil)
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of cayenne (more of either or both of these if you like spicey)
a generous glob of toasted sesame seeds
add noodles and scallions. Keep mixing. It will take a while. Add a wee bit more oil if it's really too thick.
Taste- seriously. It made need more tamari if (like me) you want it fully of salty goodness.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
RQ Cooks- Perfect Roast Chicken
Whole chickens are cheap. And tasty. Sure, they aren't THAT much cheaper than getting the already roasted ones from the grocery store, but food stamps won't buy an already roasted chicken and I can't brag if I didn't roast it myself.
If you're afreared of roasting a whole bird, here's my surefire recipe that will have you standing over the roasted carcass picking at the meat like some kind of hyena, and only a tiny bit ashamed that it's sooooo good you couldn't bother getting a plate.
Preheat oven to 375.
Take one whole roasting chicken. Reach in the cavity and pull out any organs, etc. Rinse the bird inside and out with cool water and then pat dry with a paper towel. Let the bird come up to room temp while you do everything else.
Make an onion rack. Basically you slice rounds of onion so they are the same thickness and cover the bottom of the roasting pan with them. This keeps the bird off the bottom of the pan and makes an awesome gravy later.
Microwave one stick of butter in a bowl till it's all melty. Season heavily with salt, pepper, sage, or whatever you want your chicken to taste like. You're basically making a flavored butter rub, so go insane with the spices and the salt.
Take your hand and loosen the skin from the breast meat gently. Grab a handful of the butter mix and rub under the skin as far as you can. If you're good, you can get all the way down to the legs and thighs without breaking the skin. Then rub the top of the skin and the inside cavity with the butter mix. Place bird on onion rack, breast side up. Don't worry about tucking wings or tying things up. This doesn't actually do anything cooking wise but make it take longer.
Take one lightish beer and a piece of cheesecloth. Soak the cheesecloth in the beer and drape over the chicken. Save the rest of the beer for basting. Put the bird in the oven and baste with the beer every 20 minutes to half hour or so. Chicken should take an hour and a half to 2 hours, depending on the bird and the oven. Use a meat thermometer in the thigh (careful not to touch the bones of the side of the pan with the thermometer or your readings will be off).
When the thermometer says 190, pull the chicken out and let it rest for a bit. You can now remove the cheesecloth and you will have perfect crisp brown skin and juicy meat.
And a quick how to for carving.
1. Remove the wings
2. Remove the legs and thighs.
3. Most people at this point start cutting down the breastbone- DON'T DO THIS YET. Instead make a horizontal cut from the outside (where the legs used to be) in as far as you can. Do this to both sides.
4. Then you cut down on each the breast bone. You should be able to remove 2 perfect, skin intact breasts.
If you're afreared of roasting a whole bird, here's my surefire recipe that will have you standing over the roasted carcass picking at the meat like some kind of hyena, and only a tiny bit ashamed that it's sooooo good you couldn't bother getting a plate.
Preheat oven to 375.
Take one whole roasting chicken. Reach in the cavity and pull out any organs, etc. Rinse the bird inside and out with cool water and then pat dry with a paper towel. Let the bird come up to room temp while you do everything else.
Make an onion rack. Basically you slice rounds of onion so they are the same thickness and cover the bottom of the roasting pan with them. This keeps the bird off the bottom of the pan and makes an awesome gravy later.
Microwave one stick of butter in a bowl till it's all melty. Season heavily with salt, pepper, sage, or whatever you want your chicken to taste like. You're basically making a flavored butter rub, so go insane with the spices and the salt.
Take your hand and loosen the skin from the breast meat gently. Grab a handful of the butter mix and rub under the skin as far as you can. If you're good, you can get all the way down to the legs and thighs without breaking the skin. Then rub the top of the skin and the inside cavity with the butter mix. Place bird on onion rack, breast side up. Don't worry about tucking wings or tying things up. This doesn't actually do anything cooking wise but make it take longer.
Take one lightish beer and a piece of cheesecloth. Soak the cheesecloth in the beer and drape over the chicken. Save the rest of the beer for basting. Put the bird in the oven and baste with the beer every 20 minutes to half hour or so. Chicken should take an hour and a half to 2 hours, depending on the bird and the oven. Use a meat thermometer in the thigh (careful not to touch the bones of the side of the pan with the thermometer or your readings will be off).
When the thermometer says 190, pull the chicken out and let it rest for a bit. You can now remove the cheesecloth and you will have perfect crisp brown skin and juicy meat.
And a quick how to for carving.
1. Remove the wings
2. Remove the legs and thighs.
3. Most people at this point start cutting down the breastbone- DON'T DO THIS YET. Instead make a horizontal cut from the outside (where the legs used to be) in as far as you can. Do this to both sides.
4. Then you cut down on each the breast bone. You should be able to remove 2 perfect, skin intact breasts.
Friday, May 01, 2009
RQ cooks- half assed Spanish rice
It's the half of the month where dinner becomes "interesting" because we are scraping the bottom of the fridge and the wallet. Last weekend the awesome produce stand down the street had roma tomatoes on sale for 39 cents a pound, so I made a bucket of pico de gallo and we had tacos (2x) and tortilla soup (half assed again cause we had no actual meat to put in it) and casadillas with cheese and avocados.
Last night I was soooo tired of anything Mexican flavored that I bought a cheap pack of pork ribs and we had that and half assed rice pilaf for dinner with a pile of lettuce for something green. Anyways, this recipe comes from the leftover rice (basically white rice made with chicken stock instead of water).
In a large skillet, heat up some oil. Add in finely diced onions and cook till a little blackened. Add half a diced bell pepper and then the leftover chicken rice. Add some minced garlic and turn heat to medium.
Now spices. Generously add some chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Add a wee bit of cumin if you like (cumin goes a long way). At this point the rice is probably getting a bit crispy. You need to add some liquid.
You can use chicken stock or water, but my creative ass drained the liquid out of the remaining pico and poured that in. Once it was almost all dried out I added the remains of the pico (at this point about half a cup) and cooked till the liquid was gone.
Now I am typing and happily stuffing my gullet with yummy goodness. And pico de gallo week is officially over. Maybe next week will be 18 ways to eat pesto or potatoes.
Last night I was soooo tired of anything Mexican flavored that I bought a cheap pack of pork ribs and we had that and half assed rice pilaf for dinner with a pile of lettuce for something green. Anyways, this recipe comes from the leftover rice (basically white rice made with chicken stock instead of water).
In a large skillet, heat up some oil. Add in finely diced onions and cook till a little blackened. Add half a diced bell pepper and then the leftover chicken rice. Add some minced garlic and turn heat to medium.
Now spices. Generously add some chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Add a wee bit of cumin if you like (cumin goes a long way). At this point the rice is probably getting a bit crispy. You need to add some liquid.
You can use chicken stock or water, but my creative ass drained the liquid out of the remaining pico and poured that in. Once it was almost all dried out I added the remains of the pico (at this point about half a cup) and cooked till the liquid was gone.
Now I am typing and happily stuffing my gullet with yummy goodness. And pico de gallo week is officially over. Maybe next week will be 18 ways to eat pesto or potatoes.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
RQ Cooks and comments about "man food"
So last night was Birthday, Battlestar and Dips and I made french onion dip from scratch. No soup packets!
French Onion Goat Cheese Dip
4 medium onions, diced
Olive Oil
1 log (11oz) of goat cheese
1 small container plain goat yogurt (6 oz)
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup strong beef broth (I used Better than Bullion No beef flavor. I used about a teaspoon and a half to one cup of water)
Salt & pepper
Cook onions in olive oil. Depending on how patient you are you can carmelize the onions, though the dip is fine if you just sweat them till they are translucent.
Add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until the liquid is almost gone. Add yogurt and cheese and continue cooking over low heat to the cheese melts all the way. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerated for at least one hour.
You will never want to eat onion dip made from dried soup again. It's that good.
I also made a gorgeous fruit salad with Raspberry mint dressing. We had raspberries, blackberries, mango, apples and oranges. To dress them I used the juice of 2 lemons, and equal amount of raspberry vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of honey and dried mint. It keeps the fruit from browning and adds a depth of flavor without being too sweet or thick.
We ( well Ruth mostly) also did a ton of fried stuff like fried pickles and zuccini and homemade potato and sweet potato chips. My left hand is now a mangled bloody mess because using the guard on the mandolin takes too much time. I sliced myself 3 separate times and bled all over, but it was worth it. Homemade chips are good and fried pickles are awesome!
Now about man food. I put out a tray of veggies to go with the dips (we also had Ruth's famous spinach tofu dip and some dill dip that I whipped up in about a minute). There were the normal things, carrots, celery, cukes, tomatoes and radishes. Towards the end of the night the radishes were the only left on the tray. I walked past and someone asked me if I ate radishes. I said I do, grabbed one and ate it. I was then told that radishes are man food cause only dudes eat them.
I love radishes. I also love steak and bacon and really good hamburgers. And I make some awesome slow cooked ribs. The Kid likes good greek yogurt with honey and just about any vegetable or fruit and bready things like muffins and toast. I am not a dude, yet I love and cook "man food". The Kid is not a girl, yet he loves and eats "girl food". How seriously fucked up is our society when food is gendered and the act of eating a radish calls someones gender identification into question?
French Onion Goat Cheese Dip
4 medium onions, diced
Olive Oil
1 log (11oz) of goat cheese
1 small container plain goat yogurt (6 oz)
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup strong beef broth (I used Better than Bullion No beef flavor. I used about a teaspoon and a half to one cup of water)
Salt & pepper
Cook onions in olive oil. Depending on how patient you are you can carmelize the onions, though the dip is fine if you just sweat them till they are translucent.
Add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until the liquid is almost gone. Add yogurt and cheese and continue cooking over low heat to the cheese melts all the way. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerated for at least one hour.
You will never want to eat onion dip made from dried soup again. It's that good.
I also made a gorgeous fruit salad with Raspberry mint dressing. We had raspberries, blackberries, mango, apples and oranges. To dress them I used the juice of 2 lemons, and equal amount of raspberry vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of honey and dried mint. It keeps the fruit from browning and adds a depth of flavor without being too sweet or thick.
We ( well Ruth mostly) also did a ton of fried stuff like fried pickles and zuccini and homemade potato and sweet potato chips. My left hand is now a mangled bloody mess because using the guard on the mandolin takes too much time. I sliced myself 3 separate times and bled all over, but it was worth it. Homemade chips are good and fried pickles are awesome!
Now about man food. I put out a tray of veggies to go with the dips (we also had Ruth's famous spinach tofu dip and some dill dip that I whipped up in about a minute). There were the normal things, carrots, celery, cukes, tomatoes and radishes. Towards the end of the night the radishes were the only left on the tray. I walked past and someone asked me if I ate radishes. I said I do, grabbed one and ate it. I was then told that radishes are man food cause only dudes eat them.
I love radishes. I also love steak and bacon and really good hamburgers. And I make some awesome slow cooked ribs. The Kid likes good greek yogurt with honey and just about any vegetable or fruit and bready things like muffins and toast. I am not a dude, yet I love and cook "man food". The Kid is not a girl, yet he loves and eats "girl food". How seriously fucked up is our society when food is gendered and the act of eating a radish calls someones gender identification into question?
Friday, February 06, 2009
RQ Cooks- Hot Gazpacho
We don't actually know what to call this soup. I made it cause we had a bunch of avocados that needed to be used and we were tired of tacos. Hot gazpacho was the best we could think of. But it's really good and not at all ketchupy like a lot of tomato soups.
You need:
One large can of whole tomatoes
4 cups of chicken stock (we've been using Better Than Bullion no Chicken stock- this is the AWESOMEST stuff ever)
1 large onion - roughly chopped
2or 3 carrots- diced (you will be blending the soup so you don't have to be perfect with the onion, carrot and garlic when chopping)
3 or 4 large garlic cloves diced
veggie oil
basil
oregano
red pepper flakes
salt (use sparingly if you use salty stock)
pepper (I used lemon pepper)
bag of frozen corn
4 avocados (cubes)
cilantro, scallion, tortilla chips, cheese and/ or sour cream for garnish
Heat oil in a large stock pot. Throw in carrots, onions, garlic and sweat for about 10 minutes. Then throw in toms (plus can juice), stock and spices. Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Blend everything in a food processor of blender till smooth and return to pot.
Add corn and cook for a few minutes till corn is cooked. Add avocados. Serve and garnish.
You need:
One large can of whole tomatoes
4 cups of chicken stock (we've been using Better Than Bullion no Chicken stock- this is the AWESOMEST stuff ever)
1 large onion - roughly chopped
2or 3 carrots- diced (you will be blending the soup so you don't have to be perfect with the onion, carrot and garlic when chopping)
3 or 4 large garlic cloves diced
veggie oil
basil
oregano
red pepper flakes
salt (use sparingly if you use salty stock)
pepper (I used lemon pepper)
bag of frozen corn
4 avocados (cubes)
cilantro, scallion, tortilla chips, cheese and/ or sour cream for garnish
Heat oil in a large stock pot. Throw in carrots, onions, garlic and sweat for about 10 minutes. Then throw in toms (plus can juice), stock and spices. Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Blend everything in a food processor of blender till smooth and return to pot.
Add corn and cook for a few minutes till corn is cooked. Add avocados. Serve and garnish.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
RQ Cooks: Traditional(ish) Hungarian Goulash
It's freezing. We're broke. It turns out the Kid is allergic to wheat (do you know how many cheap foods contain wheat? Or how difficult it is when you rely on free school meals that are made of wheat covered wheat with a side of fricken wheat?)
So what's a person to cook? I found a giant lump of top round roast for a mere $5.50 at the store. A couple of onions and some other stuff later and you got goulash.
Contrary to popular belief, goulash is not whatever you scrape out of the bottom of your fridge, cover in tomato sauce and sour cream and call a meal. Mine is traditional(ish) because i throw some Worcestershire sauce in (all beef tastes better with Worcestershire sauce- it's the fish sauce of Europeans)and I cook it in a crock pot (thanks Tobes!) instead of a dutch oven.
You need:
A good sized roast. (2 pounds or more) I usually don't care so much what the cut is as long as it's reasonably priced and has some good fat on it.
A can of tomato paste
a quarter cup of paprika (ish)
3 sliced onions
Worcestershire sauce
beef or veggie stock*****
3 or 4 heads of chopped garlic
salt and pepper
Throw sliced onions into bottom of crock pot. Place roast on top of onions. In a bowl mix tomato paste, paprika, garlic, Worcestershire sauce (I put in a lot, probably a quarter cup or more) and enough stock to make it easy to stir but not liquidy. Also generous sprinkles of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and pour over the roast.
******Edited after making this like a thousand times. Skip the the stock. All you need is a tablespoon or so of water. The roast will release so much liquid that every drop of extra liquid you put in just makes for runny sauce. Really. I know it looks like a pile of dry stuff with red paste on top at first. That is OK. It won't when it's done.
Set crock pot to low, cover and leave for about 8 hours.
Some people use stew meat or cut the meat up before cooking. I prefer to cook it whole and then I know it's done when it starts to fall apart with a fork.
I serve it over garlic and dill mashed potatoes and skip the sour cream on top (cause it's in the potatoes). You can also serve it over noodles and rice, but I really like the potatoes.
So what's a person to cook? I found a giant lump of top round roast for a mere $5.50 at the store. A couple of onions and some other stuff later and you got goulash.
Contrary to popular belief, goulash is not whatever you scrape out of the bottom of your fridge, cover in tomato sauce and sour cream and call a meal. Mine is traditional(ish) because i throw some Worcestershire sauce in (all beef tastes better with Worcestershire sauce- it's the fish sauce of Europeans)and I cook it in a crock pot (thanks Tobes!) instead of a dutch oven.
You need:
A good sized roast. (2 pounds or more) I usually don't care so much what the cut is as long as it's reasonably priced and has some good fat on it.
A can of tomato paste
a quarter cup of paprika (ish)
3 sliced onions
Worcestershire sauce
beef or veggie stock*****
3 or 4 heads of chopped garlic
salt and pepper
Throw sliced onions into bottom of crock pot. Place roast on top of onions. In a bowl mix tomato paste, paprika, garlic, Worcestershire sauce (I put in a lot, probably a quarter cup or more) and enough stock to make it easy to stir but not liquidy. Also generous sprinkles of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and pour over the roast.
******Edited after making this like a thousand times. Skip the the stock. All you need is a tablespoon or so of water. The roast will release so much liquid that every drop of extra liquid you put in just makes for runny sauce. Really. I know it looks like a pile of dry stuff with red paste on top at first. That is OK. It won't when it's done.
Set crock pot to low, cover and leave for about 8 hours.
Some people use stew meat or cut the meat up before cooking. I prefer to cook it whole and then I know it's done when it starts to fall apart with a fork.
I serve it over garlic and dill mashed potatoes and skip the sour cream on top (cause it's in the potatoes). You can also serve it over noodles and rice, but I really like the potatoes.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
RQ Cooks- Buffalo Chili
After reading my little food post from the other day, Ruth went to the grocery store and bought chili makings (I've been promising her chili for awhile). Sweet!
Anyways- Ruth has all sorts of food allergies including beef, most legumes, and bell peppers. Which makes chili kinda hard. So this is the non allergic Ruth version.
Half pound to a pound of ground buffalo
1 Anaheim pepper- chopped
1 poblano pepper- chopped
2 large onions- chopped
lots and lots of chopped garlic (I used an entire head)
3 cans of black soy beans, rinsed and drained
2 large cans of chopped tomatoes
salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, a tiny bit of cummin
a splash of apple cider vinegar
In a large skillet, sweat onions and garlic
add meat and brown
add peppers and cook for just a few minutes.
Throw everything into a large crock pot (Thanks Tobes!)including beans and undrained tomatoes and splash of cider.
Season as you like (remember that chili powder intensifies as you cook it) Set to low and cover
Leave overnight. No really- I cook this chili on low for up to 24 hours. The longer it cooks the more the flavors marry and deepen.
It also works with ground beef, or black beans, or kidney beans or no meat (where I put in some corn and extra veggies for fun). You can get creative and use some adobo sauce to get a really deep smokey sweet flavor to the chili. Or if you are too lazy to figure out your own spices- throw in a jar of your favorite salsa.
Serve with copious amounts of cheese.I'm also making homemade garlic tortilla chips to go with this.
Anyways- Ruth has all sorts of food allergies including beef, most legumes, and bell peppers. Which makes chili kinda hard. So this is the non allergic Ruth version.
Half pound to a pound of ground buffalo
1 Anaheim pepper- chopped
1 poblano pepper- chopped
2 large onions- chopped
lots and lots of chopped garlic (I used an entire head)
3 cans of black soy beans, rinsed and drained
2 large cans of chopped tomatoes
salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, a tiny bit of cummin
a splash of apple cider vinegar
In a large skillet, sweat onions and garlic
add meat and brown
add peppers and cook for just a few minutes.
Throw everything into a large crock pot (Thanks Tobes!)including beans and undrained tomatoes and splash of cider.
Season as you like (remember that chili powder intensifies as you cook it) Set to low and cover
Leave overnight. No really- I cook this chili on low for up to 24 hours. The longer it cooks the more the flavors marry and deepen.
It also works with ground beef, or black beans, or kidney beans or no meat (where I put in some corn and extra veggies for fun). You can get creative and use some adobo sauce to get a really deep smokey sweet flavor to the chili. Or if you are too lazy to figure out your own spices- throw in a jar of your favorite salsa.
Serve with copious amounts of cheese.I'm also making homemade garlic tortilla chips to go with this.
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