The Cookbook
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Hey, Mik!
What do you think - is this worth an experiment?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Tonight's Dinner: Chicken
Ingredients:
8 boneless chicken breasts
1⁄2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, dried
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
1⁄2 teaspoon garlic salt
1⁄2 teaspoon sweet basil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon pepperDirections:
Combine all spices. (all ingredients except first two-chicken and butter.).
Arrange chicken in shallow baking dish.
Melt butter and pour over chicken.
Turn chicken pieces over so both sides are coated with butter. (I use a tongs for this.).
Sprinkle chicken with about 1/4 of the spices.
Every 10-15 minutes, sprinkle another 1/4 of the spices on the chicken pieces.
Bake at 375 for 55 minutes.+++++++
I only used 2 chicken breasts, but being the adventurous sort, I used the spices and herbs as in the recipe, in other words, 4 times the amount.
Came out damn good, and Mrs. George approves (that's the most important thing).
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@George-K said in The Cookbook:
Hey, Mik!
What do you think - is this worth an experiment?
Absolutely. My suspicion is that stuff is Skyline under a different label. It’s fine.
"My pronouns are FA/FO." - Mik, 2024
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@Mik said in The Cookbook:
Absolutely. My suspicion is that stuff is Skyline under a different label. It’s fine.
I just ordered a four (or was it six?) pack of genuine Skyline chili in cans. Should be here on Thursday.
My plan is to split each can in half, add cooked spaghetti and freeze for my lunches. This will be a lot, a lot, easier than making it in my slow cooker/instant pot. With 6 cans, I should get 12 lunches out of it.
Lazy, I am.
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Tonight's Dinner: Juicy Milk Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce.
Yum! This was good!
https://bestrecipebox.com/milk-braised-pork-chops-with-mustard-sauce/
2 pounds pork chops , bone-in or boneless
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
kosher salt or sea salt , to taste
fresh ground black pepper , to taste
2 Tablespoons butter divided
4 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves or fresh thyme
1/4 cup dijon mustard
zest of 1 lemon
additional fresh cracked black pepper and salt to tasteOptional For Thicker Sauce:
Additional 1-2 Tablespoons butter , to thicken sauce
1-2 Tablespoons flour , to thicken sauceInstructions:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Season both sides of pork chops with ground cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.
Heat large oven-proof skillet on medium-high heat and then melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Sear both sides of the pork chops until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove pork chops from pan and set aside.
In same skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bay leaf, milk, thyme, dijon mustard, and lemon zest. Stir and reduce heat to bring liquid to a low simmer. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add pork chops back into the skillet and cover with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake the pork chops for about 15-30 minutes or until fully cooked and to your desired tenderness. (Different thickness of pork chops will change cooking times).
Serve the pork chops with the milk-mustard sauce. Add thyme garnish as an option.
(optional) For a thicker sauce (gravy), remove the pork chops from the pan. Heat up the pan of milk sauce again to a low simmer. Whisk in a tablespoon or two butter and flour until all flour clumps are removed. Sauce will get thicker as it cooks. Once gravy is thick and creamy, remove from heat and serve immediately.
Link to video"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Yum. Chops looks fantastic.
We had bunless bacon cheeseburgers and Golden Lamb Signature Salad (greens, smoked cheddar, granny smith apple matchsticks, candied pecans and their fantastic balsamic dressing).
Waiting for biscuits to cool now for strawberry shortcake.
Smoking a brisket tomorrow for Father's Day (hey! why am I doing the work?)
"My pronouns are FA/FO." - Mik, 2024
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@Mik said in The Cookbook:
Yum. Chops looks fantastic.
If Mrs. George approves, that's high praise.
The chops I had were a bit on the thin side, so I only baked them for about 15 minutes, and though well-done, they were not dry.
So many interesting flavors: Dijon mustard, lemon zest, thyme. Oy!
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Wow. Just, wow.
Can't even bring myself to make rude jokes or be sarcastic.
Just feeling sorry for myself. Hungry.Did you know, if you close your eyes and lick the computer monitor, after like 30 seconds of doing that you can almost taste it?
I'm full now. Thanks Everybody!!
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Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@xenon said in The Cookbook:
Anyone maintain sourdough starter?
I'm on day 3 of starting a new culture (just flour and water). The thing has already risen and bubbled - but it smells like baby vomit as of a few hours ago.
Some folks say this is normal and keep at it, other recommend starting over.
Thoughts?
Well, how did that work out?
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OMG. That pizza motivates me to get back into trying to make pizza.
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@George-K Ha! Busted! It's actually a flat of sparking water cans. But I was impressed how close we got to restaurant style pizza even the first time we went down this path a coupe of weeks ago. Two big reasons for the success:
- Our oven gets very hot. Almost 600 degrees.
- This book is phenomenal. Few recipes, but lots of detail on technique:
I actually bought a pizza stone and went back to a steel pan. It's tough transferring a raw pizza loaded up with toppings (the way we like it). Created more than a couple of messes.
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@Jolly said in The Cookbook:
@xenon said in The Cookbook:
Anyone maintain sourdough starter?
I'm on day 3 of starting a new culture (just flour and water). The thing has already risen and bubbled - but it smells like baby vomit as of a few hours ago.
Some folks say this is normal and keep at it, other recommend starting over.
Thoughts?
Well, how did that work out?
Meh - my starter probably wasn't great. I'm going to wait out covid and grab a good starter from a friend who is super into sourdough.
The bread wasn't bad - but I was getting much better results with long, slow ferments using conventional yeast.
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Tonight's Dinner: Roast Chicken with Tarragon-Lemon Pan Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 whole chicken , giblets discarded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 recipe pan sauce (optional) (see related recipes)
Tarragon-Lemon Pan Sauce
Makes about 3/4 cup
Ingredients
1 shallot , minced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
PepperDirections:
For the chicken:
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Adjust oven rack to middle position, place 12-inch ovensafe skillet on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine salt and pepper in bowl. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub entire surface with oil. Sprinkle evenly all over with salt mixture and rub in mixture with hands to coat evenly. Tie legs together with twine and tuck wing tips behind back.
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Transfer chicken, breast side up, to preheated skillet in oven. Roast chicken until breasts register 120 degrees and thighs register 135 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes.
Turn off oven and leave chicken in oven until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes.
- Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. While chicken rests, prepare pan sauce, if using. Carve chicken and serve.
For the pan sauce:
While chicken rests, remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from now-empty skillet (handle will be very hot) using large spoon, leaving any fond and jus in skillet. Place skillet over medium-high heat, add shallot, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.Stir in broth and mustard, scraping skillet bottom with wooden spoon to loosen fond. Simmer until reduced to ¾ cup, about 3 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in butter, tarragon, and lemon juice. Season with pepper to taste; cover and keep warm. Serve with chicken.
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I got pitchers...
Chicken
Sauce
Plated
It came out very very good. Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs, and it just goes so well with chicken. This is definitely a "make again" recipe.
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Tastes like chick'n 
