What'cha Cookin' Tonight II

[Quintillus]

I got back into the cooking-at-home habit, and made a new-to-me dish tonight, coq au vin. Recipe: https://www.askchefdennis.com/coq-au-vin/

I'd actually had it once before at a restaurant, but it made less of an impression there than at home. The homemade rendition proved to be a masterpiece of flavors blending together to make an even better result than the ingredients would suggest. I went with the most inexpensive chicken at the store, and a $9 bottle of Pinot Noir, and it turned out fantastic. No need to spend a fortune. No particularly difficult steps, either, basically sear some chicken and let some vegetables simmer for a while before tossing the whole skillet in the oven for an hour.

It continues this year's mini-trend of trying French recipes (previously a conspicuously missing part of my repertoire), and them living up to expectations while not being as difficult as their reputation. Two months ago was ratatouille, which involved a lot of chopping vegetables but mostly involved sauteeing them in a lot of olive oil.

Other recent recipes cooked are General Tso's Chicken (cast iron or non-stick is necessary for this one, no stainless steel) and a celery-rice-lemon-lovage soup.

Next up is shrimp scampi, a dish which I've yet to make.

 

[Plains-Cow]

Pasta ravioli will a myriad of fillings.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Welcome to CFC; I cooked pepperoni pizza and a coco-porridge equivalent for the kids today.

 

[Plains-Cow]

Thanks!

Hope that the kids liked it!

Hey, how long until I can add an avatar or update the title underneath my name?

To make the post on-topic: we've also decided to make PUMPKIN PIE for dessert! Looking forward to busting out the cast iron for our fall harvest!

 

[Quintillus]

No one has cooked anything so far this year? Good news, there are still a few days left!

I have a pot of green chili simmering. Never made green chili, or chili without beans for that matter, but I've had it a few times eating out, and it was always delicious. Pork instead of beef, tomatillos in addition to tomatoes, and lots of green chilis - mild in my case.

 

[Synobun]

No one has cooked anything so far this year? Good news, there are still a few days left!

I'm trying to think, and I'm pretty sure it's just been boring meal prep all year for me.

Though if someone has any recommendations for chicken seasoning, I'd be keen. My current "blend," which can't really be considered such, is just paprika, black pepper, and garlic salt, with some olive oil and a dash of teriyaki. It tastes fine, but some variety could be nice because of how chicken-dominant my diet is. The issue I'm finding is that every recipe I look at has a blend of 7+ different things and also seems herb heavy. I'm someone sensitive to herbs (as in, they are very overpowering in taste*), so I've never been willing to invest the $40+ for all the spices and herbs to test them out. Anyone else with a similar sensitivity? What works well for you?

* As an example, when I make spaghetti, I use a third of the recommended amount of parsley, and it's still pretty strong to my tastebuds. Something like thyme in a stew? Might as well just eat the thyme alone, because that's all I'll be tasting.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Leftover pizza for supper tonight, plus I'm going to try a new flavor of Tim Horton's soup. Both are going to be microwaved.

I'm trying to think, and I'm pretty sure it's just been boring meal prep all year for me.

Though if someone has any recommendations for chicken seasoning, I'd be keen. My current "blend," which can't really be considered such, is just paprika, black pepper, and garlic salt, with some olive oil and a dash of teriyaki. It tastes fine, but some variety could be nice because of how chicken-dominant my diet is. The issue I'm finding is that every recipe I look at has a blend of 7+ different things and also seems herb heavy. I'm someone sensitive to herbs (as in, they are very overpowering in taste*), so I've never been willing to invest the $40+ for all the spices and herbs to test them out. Anyone else with a similar sensitivity? What works well for you?

* As an example, when I make spaghetti, I use a third of the recommended amount of parsley, and it's still pretty strong to my tastebuds. Something like thyme in a stew? Might as well just eat the thyme alone, because that's all I'll be tasting.

Have you considered cinnamon? I know the idea sounds weird. But in the SCA we had a member who is deathly allergic to garlic, so we had to find alternate solutions. Cinnamon was one, and it worked nicely.

Another idea... chocolate. Not the really sweet stuff, but the kind used in baking. Turkey with chocolate sauce is something the Aztecs did, we served it at a feast, and it went over well. It might work with chicken.

 

[Quintillus]

I'm trying to think, and I'm pretty sure it's just been boring meal prep all year for me.

Though if someone has any recommendations for chicken seasoning, I'd be keen. My current "blend," which can't really be considered such, is just paprika, black pepper, and garlic salt, with some olive oil and a dash of teriyaki. It tastes fine, but some variety could be nice because of how chicken-dominant my diet is. The issue I'm finding is that every recipe I look at has a blend of 7+ different things and also seems herb heavy. I'm someone sensitive to herbs (as in, they are very overpowering in taste*), so I've never been willing to invest the $40+ for all the spices and herbs to test them out. Anyone else with a similar sensitivity? What works well for you?

* As an example, when I make spaghetti, I use a third of the recommended amount of parsley, and it's still pretty strong to my tastebuds. Something like thyme in a stew? Might as well just eat the thyme alone, because that's all I'll be tasting.

Hmmm... I don't have the same herb-sensitivity, so I'm not sure what counts as "herby" enough to be overpowering. Though, in addition to the cinnamon that Valka mentions (a local place has a Greek chicken with cinnamon and lemon and something else that I can't recall, maybe garlic? quite good), two other ideas come to mind.

One is sumac chicken. Is sumac "herb-y?" I'm not sure, it's not green or leafy like parsley or thyme though, so maybe not? The local store here sells a mix for a sumac chicken marinade which would be a low-commitment way to try it out. And the spice can be bought online; I can't remember if I bought mine online, or perhaps more likely at a store in West Virginia, where it grows well.

The other is making a Hungarian style goulash. I've been meaning to make one for some time, and chicken and paprika are the hallmark ingredients. Given that paprika is on the okay list, it might be different enough to be a nice change of pace, without the risk of potentially overpowering herbs.

 

[Synobun]

I have a similar issue with citrus in foods, but "citrus-like" might be adjacent enough to not suffer the same problem. Honestly, I'm not sure if I've ever seen sumac here, or eaten something with sumac in it. It looks like I can buy some for $6.49, which is a bit cheaper than most spices.

There's a Palestinian chicken dish specifically with sumac called mussakhan. It also uses Valka's recommendation of cinnamon. The overall blend seems close to what I make now as well, which would reduce the cost of expanding the spice pantry. Might be worth a look.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lemon chicken is a wonderful Chinese dish. I'm sure there are various recipes though. If you cannot find one, let me know.

You can also add cooked chicken and frozen veggies to Ramen.

 

[Quintillus]

There's a Palestinian chicken dish specifically with sumac called mussakhan. It also uses Valka's recommendation of cinnamon. The overall blend seems close to what I make now as well, which would reduce the cost of expanding the spice pantry. Might be worth a look.

Mmmm, that looks really good. Have you made it? I have added it to my recipe manager, but have a few ingredients I have to use up first.

Tonight I made Côtelettes de Porc au Cidre, or "pork cutlets with cider", from the book French Country Cooking (page 97). It's simple, but takes what I always thought was a bland, dry dish, and makes it into something I enjoy. Quickly brown the pork cutlets (or thin pork chops) in a skillet without drying them out, then toast some flour in the still-hot skillet, add a wineglass of dry apple cider and half as much water to form the roux (sauce), salt and pepper the pork, toss it back in the skillet, add a clove of crushed garlic and a sprig of rosemary to the sauce, put a lid on the skillet, and toss the skillet in an oven at gas mark 3 (335 Fahrenheit) for 25 minutes. Take out, add some capers, and give five more minutes. Ladle the sauce over the cutlets, and serve. Lacking apple cider? I also have made it with a rosé wine, which turned out well, and a white wine would likely work in a pinch.

I think it's my second-favorite pork chop preparation, after one that's also steamed, but dredged in spices, and then cooked over green apples and onions; it does an even better job of keeping the pork juicy, and provides a built-in side dish. I picked up that recipe from a package of store-brand fresh spices I'd bought at the grocer.

I'd planned to make a French potato dish similar to scalloped potatoes as a side, but was stymied by only having one skillet with an oven-proof lid. So it was a simple salad instead.

Looking forward to trying some other new recipes as well. One is an ancient Babylonian lamb stew, which I learned about on the Civ IV forums, although I plan to use golden beets rather than red (the color of the beet was not carved in stone). Apparently there are 24 other ancient Babylonian recipes in the collection as well, so if it's a hit, I might have to make some of the others. I also have borrowed a cookbook from the library, from which I hope to garner a few new favorites for dining in.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I am getting so ambitious tonight...

Tim Horton's Tomato Parmesan soup, from the can to the microwave, 3 minutes on high. Add crackers and pepper and eat.

While trying to keep the cat out of it.

Accompanied by Cherry-flavored Coke Zero.


Now if I was really ambitious and had the ingredients and a pot and stove, this is what I'd make:

Easter Penguins!

Adelie Easter Penguins!

The nests look like flattened chocolate haystack cookies, which is basically baking cocoa, coconut, rolled oats, sugar, butter, vanilla, and a couple of other ingredients I don't remember offhand. I used to make lots of these cookies.

 

[Synobun]

Mmmm, that looks really good. Have you made it? I have added it to my recipe manager, but have a few ingredients I have to use up first.

Unfortunately, I swung the other way and have largely dropped chicken now. I experimented making some chicken stews and found them really unsatisfying, so I've switched to beef stew as my daily rider. I'm back to being seduced by one-pot meals. My old bulk meals had expanded to using a rice cooker, the oven, and an Instant Pot, and it was just too much with my limitations.

 

[Synobun]

The nests look like flattened chocolate haystack cookies, which is basically baking cocoa, coconut, rolled oats, sugar, butter, vanilla, and a couple of other ingredients I don't remember offhand. I used to make lots of these cookies.

Haystack cookies are probably my all-time favourite cookie. I'd make them, but I keep absolutely none of the ingredients in the pantry.

 

[Quintillus]

Unfortunately, I swung the other way and have largely dropped chicken now. I experimented making some chicken stews and found them really unsatisfying, so I've switched to beef stew as my daily rider. I'm back to being seduced by one-pot meals. My old bulk meals had expanded to using a rice cooker, the oven, and an Instant Pot, and it was just too much with my limitations.

Bummer! I've gravitated more towards poultry and less towards beef over the years, and rarely eat beef nowadays. Though I rarely make chicken in stews, and I made an Irish beef stew a few years back that was quite delicious - it isn't in my recipe manager, so it must have been a while. If I'm lucky, I'll find the recipe again in the book I suspect I found it in.

The one chicken stew I make that is highly satisfying is this one, from the Gambia. It takes way more than the stated 10 minute prep time to chop all the potatoes, onion, tomatoes, and chicken or beef, but makes a ton, is in one dish (I usually use my five-quart saucepan), and I've made it with both chicken and beef, but prefer the chicken. I usually sub habaneros for Scotch bonnets as they're easy to find. One or two, no more than that.

While trying to keep the cat out of it.

That sounds like the real challenge. The cat I grew up with loved crackers, as much as bread and almost as much as leafy vegetables. Not sure she would have gone for the tomato soup though.

I'd never heard of haystack cookies. The recipes the Internet is returning all seem to call for chow mein noodles to serve as the hay. It sounded more appetizing the way you described it, but I do tend to favor rolled oats, and will admit the chow mein noodles have a resemblance to hay...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Bummer! I've gravitated more towards poultry and less towards beef over the years, and rarely eat beef nowadays. Though I rarely make chicken in stews, and I made an Irish beef stew a few years back that was quite delicious - it isn't in my recipe manager, so it must have been a while. If I'm lucky, I'll find the recipe again in the book I suspect I found it in.

The one chicken stew I make that is highly satisfying is this one, from the Gambia. It takes way more than the stated 10 minute prep time to chop all the potatoes, onion, tomatoes, and chicken or beef, but makes a ton, is in one dish (I usually use my five-quart saucepan), and I've made it with both chicken and beef, but prefer the chicken. I usually sub habaneros for Scotch bonnets as they're easy to find. One or two, no more than that.

That sounds like the real challenge. The cat I grew up with loved crackers, as much as bread and almost as much as leafy vegetables. Not sure she would have gone for the tomato soup though.

I'd never heard of haystack cookies. The recipes the Internet is returning all seem to call for chow mein noodles to serve as the hay. It sounded more appetizing the way you described it, but I do tend to favor rolled oats, and will admit the chow mein noodles have a resemblance to hay...

It works better if you use "coconut haystacks" as your search terms.

Here's a recipe I found that's pretty close to the one I used: https://www.justsotasty.com/haystack-cookies/

It doesn't mention vanilla extract, but I always used that. I also used half-butter, half-margarine, since that seemed to help the texture. Too much one way and it turns out either runny or crumbly.

Here's the recipe from the website:

Ingredients​

• 3 cups oats*
• 1 cup shredded coconut**
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar

Instructions​

• In a medium bowl stir together the oats and coconut.
• Add the butter, milk, cocoa and sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat
• Whisk gently as everything melts together, then bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes while gently whisking.
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the oats and coconut and stir together.
• Drop tablespoon sized spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden.

Notes​

*Old fashioned or quick oats work well. I don't recommend steel cut oats.

**Sweetened or unsweetened coconut.


My way of doing it is a bit different, and I used different methods of measuring (teaspoons and tablespoons instead of cups, except for the rolled oats and milk).

First off, the recipe I used also called for vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. I didn't bother with the salt. The vanilla helps toward the end when you're trying to balance out the texture and need a bit more liquid, plus it enhances the chocolate.

There's a lot of sugar in this recipe, and what I did was cut out a quarter of it. The chocolate you're using is unsweetened baking cocoa, so that's probably why the recipe calls for so much sugar. But I cut a quarter of the sugar and made up the bulk with extra chocolate.

Coconut comes in so many varieties. You can get short, medium, and long, either sweetened or unsweetened. I used medium unsweetened, because I honestly found the long strands of coconut harder to work with and a bit unpleasant to try to chew. Unsweetened coconut is still plenty sweet-tasting.

I notice that this recipe calls for the coconut to be added after the cooking process, but that's not how I did it. The coconut was added to the mixture that was cooked. And thinking back, I recall that I didn't boil the cocoa. That got added immediately after.

The time you're going to spend cooking the mixture depends less on time and more on how everything is reacting. Coconut has a distinctive smell when it's boiled, and it's actually pretty nice (to me, anyway). When that smell came along, I knew it was time to take the pot off the stove and add the rest of the ingredients.

The 3 cups of rolled oats should be taken as an approximation. I usually didn't need more than 2 1/2 cups. Any more than that and the mixture becomes too crumbly. I tended to look on making these as something I'd do in a chemistry lab. You want saturation, but not super-saturation. Too little rolled oats and it's runny and gooey. Too much and it just breaks apart in a crumbly mess.

So what I'd do was add the rolled oats a cup at a time (there's a lot of stirring involved in making these, both in the cooking part and in the mixing part). After the second cup, I added a little at a time, and the last ingredient I'd add was the vanilla. After that, keep stirring, add a little more rolled oats if it's too gooey, and then use a spoon to drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper. The size of spoon doesn't matter. With a teaspoon, I usually got 28 cookies to a batch.

After that, you need to let them set before eating them. And after that, you need to not eat them all at once.