MM's Boring Chicken for The Dave
MM has inspired me to post about chicken. If you want to see her 'Boring Chicken' she makes for The Dave, visit her blog (link at bottom of my page). I actually don't cook chicken very often anymore because it is so dang boring. And it's disgusting how they are raised and killed. I am turned off of any chicken that looks too big and was raised and killed 'normally'. What is normally you ask? I don't know. But if they are abnormally large for a chicken (turkey-sized) forget it! I have discovered that Kosher chicken is really tasty. If you feel like having some boring chicken, this is the way to go. Take a whole cut up kosher chicken, bone-in and skin-on (this is important for flavor -- you may think that boneless-skinless chicken breast is the way to go, but really you may as well just eat your sauce). So take the chicken, loosen the skin but don't remove it. Rub olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt and garlic all over under the skin and then on the skin. Let it sit for an hour or several hours in the fridge. Now cook the chicken either in a dutch oven, doufeu, or on the grill. It is the tastiest chicken you will ever have!
Loving Food Feels Like a Curse Sometimes
Some days when I don't feel like cooking (or rather dealing with a mess to clean up) it can feel like a curse. When I crave some good and healthy food like a simple fresh green salad with some fresh figs, or some heirloom tomatoes lightly tossed with a dressing of oil, balsamic vinegar and fleur de sel it seems impossible to find it anywhere but in my own kitchen. I know what you are thinking: what's gonna get dirty? A salad spinner, a knife, a cutting board and a bowl? Big deal. Wash the damn dishes. But it's not like that. I feel like I always have to clean up before I can start preparing any meal. Dishes from the previous meal (lunch and breakfast, and if I'm not so lucky, dinner from the night before). Plus, I have 2 boys here. They won't be satisfied with just that salad. Sometimes I think the dirty dishes multiply exponentially within minutes around here.
So we make an attempt to find a place to go out to eat that will be close to home, relatively cheap, and serve fresh healthy food, and some meat for my carnivore son. It's not easy to find that place in suburbia. Even in the suburbs of LA. I wonder how the Westside would fair? I know Whole Foods is always an option. But sometimes the ambiance is a turn off. Plus Whole Foods is not all that inexpensive. Tonight it set me back $45 for a very mediocre meal with the ambience of a fast food joint. Don't get me wrong, I love Whole Foods for grocery shopping. But where else can we go? Forget chain restaurants. Salads in chains are usually from a bag, never rinsed and doused in bottled dressing. Ick. I am on a mission to find a good place here in the South Bay. I'm sure there's something out there.
So we make an attempt to find a place to go out to eat that will be close to home, relatively cheap, and serve fresh healthy food, and some meat for my carnivore son. It's not easy to find that place in suburbia. Even in the suburbs of LA. I wonder how the Westside would fair? I know Whole Foods is always an option. But sometimes the ambiance is a turn off. Plus Whole Foods is not all that inexpensive. Tonight it set me back $45 for a very mediocre meal with the ambience of a fast food joint. Don't get me wrong, I love Whole Foods for grocery shopping. But where else can we go? Forget chain restaurants. Salads in chains are usually from a bag, never rinsed and doused in bottled dressing. Ick. I am on a mission to find a good place here in the South Bay. I'm sure there's something out there.
My Enchiladas
Bro asked for my enchilada recipe so I may as well just post it here. I haven't made the one he's refering to it in a long, long time so we'll see if I can remember. When I make enchiladas I usually just throw in whatever I have on hand -- any type of beans, corn, zucchini, bell peppers, onions, chiles, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, leftover chicken, salsa, whatever's around. I think this might be the one he wants. I can't give measurements, you can adjust to how much you are making and to your taste.
Corn tortillas
Black beans, drained and rinsed
Pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Diced green chiles
Frozen sweet corn
Cheddar cheese, shredded (I think I used cheddar cheese soup at one time -- find a good one though)
Enchilada sauce (ES) (if it's too spicy for you either make your own, or add some tomato sauce to mellow it)
Most likely I layered the dish like a lasagna. Be sure to start with some ES in the bottom of the pan. Also mix some ES with all the other ingredients and after you put on the last layer of tortillas top it off with some ES and some shredded cheese. Cover it and bake until the tortillas are really soft and it's all bubbly.
Does that sound like the one? Can you get all these ingredients in AU?
Corn tortillas
Black beans, drained and rinsed
Pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Diced green chiles
Frozen sweet corn
Cheddar cheese, shredded (I think I used cheddar cheese soup at one time -- find a good one though)
Enchilada sauce (ES) (if it's too spicy for you either make your own, or add some tomato sauce to mellow it)
Most likely I layered the dish like a lasagna. Be sure to start with some ES in the bottom of the pan. Also mix some ES with all the other ingredients and after you put on the last layer of tortillas top it off with some ES and some shredded cheese. Cover it and bake until the tortillas are really soft and it's all bubbly.
Does that sound like the one? Can you get all these ingredients in AU?
Grilled Cheese Invitational
This has got to be the coolest thing ever. Too bad I couldn't get in.
They call it "an orgy of cheese." Evidently there's something like 150 people making grilled cheese sandwiches to be judged by up to 800 attendees. Some grilled cheese loving roomies came up with the idea in 2003 and now it's an annual event that got a blip in the LA Times last week. Well, by the time I read the paper and tried to RSVP (that's the only way you can find out the location of the event), it was too late. They reached max capacity. Huge bummer.
I am a grilled cheese junkie.
It's a huge comfort food (white bread, white American cheese, lots of butter, in frypan, served with tomato soup of course).
Foodie food (French baguette, fresh mozzerella, procuitto, fresh basil, olive oil, on panini grill).
An "every-man-for-himself" dinner (any bread on hand, any cheese in fridge, any meat if any, any veggies sliced thin, olive oil or butter, on panini grill).
And dessert (sheepherders bread, Havarti cheese, sliced dates on panini grill) OR (country bread, dark chocolate bar, on panini grill, add créme fraiche after it's grilled).
Makes me want to hit Campanile on Thursday for Grilled Cheese Night.
I am determined to get to the invitational next year. Check it out at www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com
Just don't take my spot.
They call it "an orgy of cheese." Evidently there's something like 150 people making grilled cheese sandwiches to be judged by up to 800 attendees. Some grilled cheese loving roomies came up with the idea in 2003 and now it's an annual event that got a blip in the LA Times last week. Well, by the time I read the paper and tried to RSVP (that's the only way you can find out the location of the event), it was too late. They reached max capacity. Huge bummer.
I am a grilled cheese junkie.
It's a huge comfort food (white bread, white American cheese, lots of butter, in frypan, served with tomato soup of course).
Foodie food (French baguette, fresh mozzerella, procuitto, fresh basil, olive oil, on panini grill).
An "every-man-for-himself" dinner (any bread on hand, any cheese in fridge, any meat if any, any veggies sliced thin, olive oil or butter, on panini grill).
And dessert (sheepherders bread, Havarti cheese, sliced dates on panini grill) OR (country bread, dark chocolate bar, on panini grill, add créme fraiche after it's grilled).
Makes me want to hit Campanile on Thursday for Grilled Cheese Night.
I am determined to get to the invitational next year. Check it out at www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com
Just don't take my spot.
Um.
I spoke at a middle school career day yesterday. I have done this before but for some reason I felt a little unprepared this time. Maybe because instead of reviewing my outline and notes before my talk I drank coffee and chatted with other speakers. Anyway I learned something about myself during my talk. I say "um" way too much! I swear I wanted to slap myself. As I rambled on and on about being a personal chef all I could hear myself say was "um". And the more I tried to stop the more I think I said it. I got to the point where I don't even know if I was saying anything that made any sense at all because my focus was all on my "ums". Thank goodness I made it through the talk without any of the kids actually screaming out "MRS. N, STOP SAYING UM!" It really wouldn't have surprised me in the least.
So later in the day I met up with a friend who teaches a college class and who also spoke at the middle school career day. She told me of the time she counted all the "ums" a college student uttered while giving an oral presentation and how she, as the teacher counted them all. Whew!was I glad she wasn't sitting in on my talk! Well, then she proceeded to take a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfold it. On it were lots of tally marks and then a total. 137. What?!
Her daughter, a middle school student, tallied all HER "ums!"
All I can say is there is no way I said "um" 137 times during my talk!
So later in the day I met up with a friend who teaches a college class and who also spoke at the middle school career day. She told me of the time she counted all the "ums" a college student uttered while giving an oral presentation and how she, as the teacher counted them all. Whew!was I glad she wasn't sitting in on my talk! Well, then she proceeded to take a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfold it. On it were lots of tally marks and then a total. 137. What?!
Her daughter, a middle school student, tallied all HER "ums!"
All I can say is there is no way I said "um" 137 times during my talk!
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