Cooking Thread

civvver

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Apr 24, 2007
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Is there a thread anywhere on cooking in general? A place to share tips and recipes? I love cooking, do the majority of it in my household and am always looking for fresh ideas on the basic dinner concepts of protein, starch, side item. I mean one can only eat grilled chicken and baked potatoes and green beans so many times in a row! Well I guess I'll start with the sharing.

Here's a couple really easy chicken dishes. All measurements and cooking times are estimates cus I just whip stuff together from memory and cooking times vary depending on size of the portions etc. Oh and I'm American so these cooking temps are Fahrenheit and measurements are US cups and stuff.

Creamy Chicken Parmesan

2 chicken breasts, cut in half length wise so they're about a half inch thick and you have 4 pieces total
1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425.
Put the bread crumbs in a shallow dish or bowl. Coat the chicken in bread crumbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Spray a cooking sheet or pan with cooking spray and place the chicken on it. Bake for ~8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl. At ~8-10 minutes remove chicken from oven, turn it over, and spread the cheese mixture evenly on each piece. Return to oven and bake another ~5 minutes until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted and slightly golden on top.

Not the most traditional but really versatile, can go with pasta and sauce or a side or rice or veggies or whatever. The breadcrumbs seal in the chicken moisture so it's hard to overcook it and dry it out.


Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups of white meat chicken diced into 1/2 inch cubes (about 2 breasts)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of salsa
taco seasoning to taste
chili powder to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
1 and 1/2 cups of shredded cheese suitable for mexican (cheddar, asedero, colby, colby jack are all fine)
~10 flour or corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 400.
Cook the chicken in a skillet, seasoning with the taco seasoning. You probably need to add a few tablespoons of water to get the seasoning to coat. You won't need any oil.
Combine soup, sour cream, salsa, chili powder and cayenne pepper in a mixing bowl and stir it together. Separate 1/4 of the mixture for later. Stir in cooked chicken and half the cheese into the 3/4s remaining mixture. Spoon mixture into tortillas and roll them closed and place side by side In a baking dish (I use a 13' x 9' glass dish). Once all the chicken mixture is used up spread the separate mixture over top of the tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake ~20 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.


Winter Steak

I call this winter steak because I cook it inside in a skillet when I can't get to my outdoor grill cus it's winter time. Really it's just a seared steak but sounds fancier this way!

A couple 2 inch thick filet mingon steak. Really you can use any kind of steak you prefer, but thicker is better for searing off and oven baking. You can also cook as many as you can fit in your skillet but you don't want them to quite touch each other.
A couple tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 tablespoon sized pad of butter per steak. Just cut a slice off a stick of butter about 1/4 inch thick.
Steak seasoning to taste. I use mccormicks montreal steak seasoning but plain salt n pepper is fine or nothing if you prefer.

Preheat oven to 400.
Preheat a cast iron skillet (or any pan that is over safe but cast iron works best and non stick will not work well at all) over medium to medium high heat on a stovetop for about 8 minutes. To see if it is hot enough sprinkle a drop or two of water in the pan. It should dance around for a second before evaporating. If it sits in there longer it's not hot enough. If it instantly evaporates your pan is too hot and will singe your meat instead of sear it.
Rub the oil on both sides of your steaks. Season your steaks however you like.
Sear the steaks in the pan. For a 2 inch filet you can sear it about 3-4 minutes a side. For thinner steaks cut that time down, like a 1 inch ribeye or strip is probably 90 seconds a side.
Place a pad of butter in the middle of each steak and put the whole pan in the oven.
Cook til steak is desired level of doneness. For my 2 inch filet's at a nice medium rare (that's red in the middle but warm to hot) it's 8-10 minutes. For thinner steaks again the time will be less and it's not exactly proportional. A 1 inch steak is probably 4 minutes for medium rare. It's much easier to err on the side of caution cus you can always stick an under cooked steak back in.

Let the steaks rest in the pan off the heat for ~5 minutes before serving. If you want you can use the juices and butter in the pan to make a nice sauce just by mixing in some red wine and cooking it down.


That's all I got for now. Can't wait to get some dinner ideas from everyone.
 
There is actually already a thread about cooking made by Fifty, so you should probably bump that one.

BTW, I've made something similar to your enchiladas, just with chicken strips marinated in yogurt and tex-mex spices, then baked in the oven. They become really moist and juicy that way. Add some salsa with cilantro and feta cheese, wrap it in a tortilla and make a mess while eating. May be the best meal I ever made.
 
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