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Showing posts from June, 2020

Bitter Green Pesto Pasta

Everything green is not golden.  There ch have been several posts and vlogs lately discussing how pesto wasn't always basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and parm.  Pesto apparently was made with various greens and a mixture of different nuts and cheeses.  Following the lead from a British food vlog on ways to use all parts of bitter green, a  Swiss Chard Pesto Pasta  was made.  It was not the British vlog recipe because I didn't save the video and I couldn't find when I needed it.  Of course. Modifications Made: Parsley was omitted and a pinch of red pepper flakes were added. Scaled for Likability Before you go off on a tangent about how pesto is always basil, the issue with this pesto was the chard  was not fresh and it was bitter from being in the fridge too long.  Leaves had gone limp in the fridge and the stems were not removed before pesto was made.  Just goes to show you sometimes fresh is best.  It's not like there wasn't bunches of fresh chard in the garden.  Over

Kitchen Sink Mexican Soup

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Summer zucchini is plentiful and wasting food is not an option. Several sandwich bags full of diced tomatoes have been frozen, couple dozen have been given to friends, and lots have been turned into summer smoothies. Still, there are zucchini in the fridge and more in the garden. So even though is full on sweltering summer heat, a Kitchen Sink Mexican Soup was made for dinner because zucchini and Mexican soup go hand in hand.  Ingredients:  4 large carrots, sliced 3 ribs celery with leaves, sliced 1/2 yellow onion, diced  1 T butter 32 oz broth 28 oz tomato juice (leftover from whole tomatoes used to make salsa) 2 cubes pollo de Tomate  1 T taco seasoning  1 T chili powder  1 T comino 1 T minced garlic 1 large handful cilantro, chopped  28oz white hominy with juice  2 cups zucchini, diced 3 small potatoes, diced  Salt & Pepper Instructions:  Sauté carrots, celery, onions in one tablespoon butter.  Add remaining ingredients and cook

Sausage & Spinach Spaghetti, A Staple

  Three days have gone by since a new meal has been made, I figured I'd go for broke and add a fourth day.  Why not, right? After three days of eating during travel, there is nothing better than coming home to a favorite cooked meal.  Italian sausage and spinach (and sometimes canned mushroom) spaghetti fits the bill.  It is easy to make, filling, and appeases all table counterparts.  The sauce is usually a garlic red pepper marinara style, the noodles are always regular thickness, good old white noodles, and there is always a meat.  Nothing whole wheat, nothing fancy, nothing but the staples. Ingredients: One box spaghetti Three links of Italian sausage (two spicy and one regular or two spicy and one sweet is preferred) Tablespoon of butter Half yellow onion, diced Tablespoon garlic, minced Teaspoon of basil, marjoram 1/3 bag frozen spinach 24 oz garlic & red pepper pasta sauce Red pepper flakes Salt & Pepper Shredded Parm Instructions: To large dutch oven, add sausages re

Fried Fabulousness

Eating  Gourmet Breakfast Jacks a couple of weeks made me think of other simple fast food meals that could be gourmeted up like the fish sandwich from Wendy's.   Modifications Made: Instead of one single layer of fish, a double stack of Gorton's extra crunchy deep fried cod fillet was served along with a slice of tomato for the table counterparts and all placed on a potato bun.  On the side were Ore-Ida crinkle cut fries instead of thin fry sticks. Scaled for Likability: Great Much to my dismay, Wendy's fish sandwich is everything a fish sandwich should be.  If you don't believe me you can read this article comparing eight fast food fish sandwiches.  Not even the double stack fish fillet made an improvement to the sandwich.  In fact, I would say the only improvement made to the sandwich was the fact that it was made and served fresher than a fast food joint.

Pan Fried Chicken Tacos

I swear it was only three tough chicken breasts cooked for Chicken Breast Green Enchiladas  but there is still a sandwich baggy filled with stringy chicken meat even after making Green Chicken Taquitos .  Hopefully, frying chicken in a corn/flour tortilla for  Baked Chicken Tacos  will mask the chew of the chicken itself , Modifications Made: Again, this recipe was more of a platform starting point and if anything, my version followed more closely to Maria's Tortillas than the baked version itself. Instructions: One cup of colby jack cheese was shredded and set aside. Chicken was warmed to scalding hot in the microwave, well drained of any grease or moisture, and set aside. Half cup of green salsa was warmed to scalding hot in the microwave and set aside. Corn/flour tortilla warmed on greased skillet.  Flip tortilla and to one half add: heavy pinch of cheese, one tablespoon of chicken, one teaspoon of green salsa, one additional heavy pinch of cheese, and fold over creating taco s

Sun-Dried Tomato Chard Pasta

Do you love sundried tomatoes?  This table has a love hate relationship with them as I have mentioned before in Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo with Mustard Greens.  With a half jar of sun-dried tomatoes left in the fridge, another go was given with  Fusilli with Spinach, Artichokes, Sun-Dried Tomatoes . Modifications Made: One box of well salted spiral pasta was used instead of 8 ounces.  Sauce was heavily modified to offset additional noodles.  Sauce contained: three tablespoons of EVOO, four teaspoons of minced garlic, half jar of sun-dried tomatoes (drained), one can of drained and quartered artichoke hearts, half jar of capers, and one large handful of fresh and diced swiss chard leaves.  Pine nuts were omitted as they hard to find locally. Cooking instructions were followed as written. Scaled for Likability: Good Success, a sun-dried tomato recipe where everyone ate without complaint.  I credit this to the fact a ration of one pound box of noodles to half jar of sun-dried tomatoes.  Add

Avacado Bacon Burkey Turgers

Going on more than three months into this here pandemic and not being able to have my favorite fast food burgers, I have discovered I no longer crave the bad for the heart/cholesterol/weight fried, salty vice. Crave, as in wanting it and eating it every day.  Seriously, six days out of seven. If a burger could be had once or twice a month, that would be okay with me. Not having the local fast food chain's Avocado Bacon Burger doesn't mean one can't be made at home where it has to be slightly more healthy than the one purchased. Just eliminating their fantastic fries and spicy mustard already makes my burger more healthy.  Modifications Made:  The local joint makes their burger on buttered and grilled Texas toast, with American cheese, a quarter pound 100% beef patty (so they say), using the thinest bacon and avocado slices known to mankind, topped with a creamy pepper sauce, tomatoes, and onions. This table made their burger on a standard run of the mill unbuttered or un-gr

Green Chicken Taquitos

Last night's Chicken Breast Green Enchiladas may not have been the best enchilada ever and while none of us were looking forward to another night of dry tough chicken, something had to be done with the remaining two cups or so of meat. Thinking the dry meat would be less noticeable in a taquito, Green Chicken Taquitos were served up tonight.  Modifications Made: Using the procedure from Chicken Taquitos , the only thing changed was the meat filling. Leftover chicken breast meat was slowly simmered in a pot with just over a half cup of salsa verde. My thinking for this was 1) to create the green salsa verde flavor and 2) to offer some moisture into the meat itself. Scaled for Likability: Good  Not so much. Don't get me wrong, the almost perfectly rolled and fried taquito was crunchy on the inside and filled with warm meat on the inside. It looked and tasted like the perfect taquito, if I was aiming for just a chicken taquito that is. I wasn't aiming for a perfect chicken ta

Chicken Breast Green Enchiladas

Going to the store these days is a trip.  Not a road trip with lovely sights to see but a trip into downtown traffic on a rainy day at Friday rush hour.  Over the past few months I have learned just to roll with the trip.  Make no plans, no time allotment, no destination.  Then and only then does traversing the grocery store become manageable. Take yesterday's trip.  The general trip was to get all the items needed to make Green Chicken Enchiladas, A Staple .  Basing upon the last several weeks worth of trips, this should have been an easy trip.  But as you can imagine, it was not.  To start there was not any fresh cilantro, not a big deal as I have dried.  Then there was not any sour cream, also not a deal breaker as it only used as a topping and can be substituted with Mexican crema which they did not have either.  Yet, still not a deal breaker.  The real kicker to the trip was the lack of whole chickens.  The local grocer sells four brands of whole chickens and there was not one

Crunchy CranApple Butter Wrap

Oh so much better than Crunchy CranApple Butter Flat served yesterday for lunch and without a picture.  Loving the flavor of yesterday's flat but not the flat bagel bread itself, today the same recipe for  Granola Crunch Apple Peanut Butter Sandwich Wraps  was followed using  Flatout Foldit 5 Grain Flax Flatbread  as mentioned in the recipe.  What a difference the simple switch of a bread made. Modifications Made: As mentioned in the extremely funny original post, measurement of ingredients is a starting point.  Today for three wraps: 1/3 cup of Nut Butter, 1/3 thinly sliced Granny Smith apple with skin, a 1/3 cup of reduced sugar Craisins, 1 /3 cup of Kashi Honey Oat Granola. Scaled for Likability: Great I can already tell you these will be on the menu for lunch tomorrow.  If there were more Flatout Flatbreads, they would be on the lunch menu for Saturday as well.  These are the perfect it is too hot to eat summer lunch menu. Everything expect the granola is stored in the fridge m

Breakfast Sausage Hash

Breakfast has to be the hardest meal to cook at this table.  Everything healthy, everything good, everything filling takes so long to cook.  Finding the energy to cook before the day even gets started is even harder.  Normally, breakfast meals are served for dinner when there is more time, more energy, and more brain functioning power.  With an opening line o f  "this dish is perfect for any meal of the day" Smoke Sausage Hash  just had to be served for breakfast.  Even if breakfast turned out to be closer to lunch than expected. Modifications Made: With exception to the brand of smoked sausage used, the recipe was followed as written, right down to the Cajun (Tony Chachere's, of course) seasoning. Scaled for Likability: Great Even without the smoked sausage, this hash was great.  Cooking the potatoes separately from the peppers and onion mixture and then tossing all back together before serving allowed each element to cook at its own need.  If the peppers and onions had

Thanksgiving In A Pot

There are several meals this table eats that could be eaten all year round but are not for one reason or another.  Thanksgiving is one of those meals.  Mostly because of the turkey because as you should know by now, this table (mostly me) loves, loves, loves turkey:  BBQ Turkey , leftover white meat turkey cold right out of the fridge,  Turkey and Cranberry Panini , sliced turkey dripping in warm gravy,  Turkey Salad Sandwiches , and turkey picked right off the bone. Ever searching for dinners to incorporate more healthy foods like greens, squashes, beans, and peas a recipe for  Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet  was discovered.  Bright and colorful, lean meat, lots of veggies, one pot meal with cranberries.  Albeit dried, not fresh, but cranberries nonetheless. What was not to love?  Modifications Made:  Kale was swapped for fresh chard from the garden.  Reduced sugar cranberries replaced original dried cranberries.  Reduced sugar are just as tasty as the original with half the sugar

Moms Magnificent Macaroni Salad

With exception to Thanksgiving and Christmas, if there was a event requiring my mother to bring a food dish she was bringing macaroni salad.  It was always requested by those hold the food event and if they were concerned she would bring anything but the salad they would sheepishly request it. Like that was ever an option. The salad was easy enough to make for one person, ten persons, or a hundred persons.  And yes, there was once a summer family reunion with over a hundred people and my mom made bowls and bowls of her salad.  It was actually one of the few times she could play with variations and get feedback.  Ingredients:  16 oz Ditali noodles, cooked in heavily salted water to al dente 10 hard boiled eggs, diced 1 cup hamburger pickles, diced 1 Tablespoon finely yellow diced onion 1 tablespoon Nature Seasoning  1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard 1.5 cup Miracle Whip Instructions: To a large bowl, mix whisk pickles, onion, seasoning, mustard, and mayo. To sauce mix in well drained noo

Ground Pork Tacos with Corn Chimichurri

Every now and then immediately upon reading a recipe or watching a food video I know immediately the recipe will be an instant winner.  One after a few tweaks and alterations it will fit perfectly into the T&T collection. One such example,  Corn Chimichurri Pork Tacos . Modifications Made:  Corn: as it is not really fresh corn season, frozen was substituted in equal proportions. Concerned about scorching garlic, only minced garlic liquid was used in amounts double to original amount of fresh diced garlic.  Creme: one teaspoon of garlic liquid was added. Pork: tomate sauce replace tomato paste, one cube Pollo de Tomate and half cup of water replaced chicken broth. Pork was allowed to simmer for a minimum of 45 minutes while creme and corn were made. Calling for either corn or flour tortillas, tacos were corn/flour mix tortillas. Corn to accent the coen chimichurri, flour to offer the chew and were grilled over an open flame to allow edges to crisp yet retain a soft center.  Scaled f

Maria's Tortillas

In the Spring of every year my hometown holds a four night festival of cultures  celebrating its diversity in 200 different food and drinks reflecting  fifteen different cultures .  Every year my family would attend and every year I would only request two items: Cowpokes (a round corn tortilla chip, a round white cheese, one canned jalapeno slice, one smaller yellow cheese circle all cooked in a large cattle style oven pit over a pit of coals served hot and but not melted so the chip cheese mixture remained in the shape and look of an egg) and Maria's Tortillas.  Lots and lots of Maria's Tortillas.  Neither are nothing fancy but neither were ever made a home.  And even though they could have been, the festival flavor and experience would be lacking. As I grew into my late teens, I know longer attended this festival due to various reasons so Maria's Tortillas had to be created at home.  After many, many, many attempts, they were mastered and have become a monthly staple for

Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

Last month, Refrigerator Pickled Vegetables were my first attempt at refrigerator pickles.  Notice I said first attempt.  Made and stored in the back of the fridge for five long weeks, last week the pickles were cracked open and promptly thrown into the compost bins.  They were all sorts of wrong.  Not crunchy, too salty, overpowered by apple cider vinegar, and tasted off.  Can't say if it was the seasoning mix or if they went funky on their own.  Complete loss. Luckily for me there is a garden full of cucumbers to try again.  This time  Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles  were made instead with a few alterations, of course. Modifications Made: First and foremost, plain distilled white vinegar was substituted for ACV.  Mom didn't use ACV and neither did I when making canned pickles.  If one reads the back of major store bought refrigerated pickles, they don't use ACV either. A teaspoon of minced garlic per jar replaced whole garlic, pickling spice replaced black peppercorns,

Potsticker Burgers

Not since Pepper Jacked Chicken Burgers has a non-traditional burger been great.  Asian-Style Pork Burgers  were given a test tonight because for no other reason than it allowed another opportunity to use Sweet Chili Sauce . Modifications Made: Okay, chili sauce was really not part of the original recipe but nothing stated it would be a terrible substitute either.   Patties: To a one pound ground pork, one tablespoon of chili sauce and one teaspoon of soy sauce was mixed and three third pound patties were formed. Slaw: One cup green cabbage and two cups carrots, shredded and three diced green onions were mixed by hand in a bowl. To vegetables, one tablespoon of soy, two teaspoons mirin, one teaspoon white vinegar, and one teaspoon of chili sauce were added and allowed to meld/soften for 30 minutes. Scaled for Likability: Good Of all the slaw type burgers attempted, this has been my favorite so far as it was sweet, salty, and vinegar based.  Much like my favorite slaw from a local BBQ

Creamy Waffle Sauce

Last night the most amazing blueberry waffles were made with fresh blueberries.  They were sweet enough to eat by themselves but not too sweet to avoid some maple syrup on top.  Reviewing the internet on the freezability of blueberry waffles, a recipe for  Grandmas's Waffle Sauce  was discovered.  Waffle sauce?  Never once in all my hundred years have I heard of waffle sauce.  This biggest debate for waffle toppings are liquid syrup or powdered sugar.  Not a sauce, ever.  Since the waffle sauce was served over blueberry waffles, fresh blueberry waffles had to be made again tonight so waffle sauce could be tried. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half.  Simple enough. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You Waffle sauce.  Must be a regional thing and it does not include this region.  Sweet milk will be reserved for rice pudding, oatmeal, and malt o meal, not waffles.  It might have been good as a dip for fruits or even used to make rice pudding.The sauce was too thick, too swee

Fresh Blueberry Waffles

Everybody loves blueberries.  Blueberry muffins, blueberry and lemon bread, blueberry Dum Dums, and of course blueberry waffles.  Frozen blueberry waffles use the tiniest blueberries known to mankind, blueberry and lemon bread needs just shy of green blueberries in order to maintain their shape, blueberry Dum Dums leave a blue tattletale, and blueberry pancakes/waffles are the best way to use blueberries who have gone past their perfect fresh stage. With a half pint of slightly soft blueberries in the fridge, waffles were made for dessert!  Yeah for the soft blueberry discovery. Modifications Made: Our favorite waffle recipe was used but blueberries were not added into the mixture as I did not want the berries to be damaged by the mixing.  Instead the blueberries were gently folded into the mixture directly before pouring onto a greased waffle skillet. Scaled for Likability: Great Blueberry waffles are the best way to eat blueberries.  Some stay whole (and might pop when consumed), som

Jalapeno Turkey Burgers Diner Style

Burgers!  A hard days work is rewarded with fresh off the grill burgers.  Not having great success with  Not Greek Turkey Zucchini Burgers  and having scored a box of turkey burgers at half price in the freezer, I figured it was time to try again with  Jalapeno Swiss Turkey Burgers . Modifications Made: This was one of the most simply written recipes ever!  Seriously.  The burger was left wide open for many, many modifications.   After lasts weeks success of caramelized onions on the Sliced Brat Hoagies , I decided on another attempt with the same process on jalapenos instead of onions.   To a simple untoasted hamburger bun, mustard, lettuce, turkey patty, caramelized onion, pepper jack swiss, and garlic pickles slices were added. Scaled for Likability: Good You know the problem, this table and all of its counterparts love burgers.  So much so, that a burger has to be really, really bad before its classified as a No, Thank You much less a Fail.  This simple burger was like a fancy vers

Creamy Caramelized Pasta with Greens

  Photography is an art.  Food photography is an art form I lack, mostly because I just won't devote any energy to learn.  When your income is based upon your photos such as so many food blogs/video feeds are, photography is critical.  The lighting on the second picture in  Farfalle with Spinach Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions  that hooked me.  Never have I seen such beautiful caramelized onions.  These were golden brown while still holding some shape not almost burnt and limp.  Even if nothing more than cooking the onions was the goal, this recipe had to be attempted. Modifications Made: In a large cast iron skillet, one and half yellow onions were "caramelized instead of three.  Red wine vinegar was used to deglaze the skillet before white mushrooms and chard were cooked and set aside with onions.  To help make a creamy sauce without all the milk or half and half, one quarter cup of flour was browned in one tablespoon of butter.  Flour was browned until just off of white co

Crispy(ish) Taco Shells

Crispies, so crunchy on the outside Filled with good stuff on the inside     Sung to the opening lines of Andrew Lloyd Webber "Memory" Have you ever wondered how traditions get started?  Does someone set out to start it, intentionally so to say.  Or are traditions organic?  They just happen on their on own and one day in the future someone will label it a tradition?  I do not feel like singing Crispies at the top of my lungs was intentionally set out.  It just happened.  And it happens every time crispy tacos are served or mentioned for serving, much to the dismay of the table counterparts.  Of course, to be fair to them, one was "tortured" and the other has never seen The Phantom of the Opera unlike myself who has seen it three times and am waiting for the next North American Tour.   Anyways...Crispies.... Turns out they are not as easy as 1,2,3 but oh my they are better 10 times over than any store bought version.  There are a dozen ways to make crispies but fried

Sliced Brat Hoagies

Summertime grill time.  Cooking on the grill can be hot but when done the kitchen is not.  Brats cooked on the grill are the best way to brat.  The outside obtains this crunchy, slightly burnt layer and all the juices remain inside keeping the brat moist and delicious.  To watch brat juices pour out of a slightly cool brat is mouth watering.  Knowing the brat was going to be piled high with sauerkraut and yellow mustard for a  Reuben Brat Hoagie  was almost too much. Modifications Made: French bread seemed weak when compared to the flavors of this sandwich so a hearty ciabatta hoagie was toasted and used instead.  Brats were sliced as thin as possible and stacked in several layers with a slice of cheese between each layer.  Sauerkraut used was from the cold packed variety instead from a can.  Cold pack sauerkraut offers a nice crunch not obtained from canned sauerkraut.  Yellow sweet onions were caramelized in bacon grease.  Thousand Island dressing is a key ingredient to any reuben sa

Miga Tacos

One of my most favorite breakfast tacos are migas with beans and cheese.  Not to be confused with beans and cheese with migas.  Migas with beans and cheese focuses on migas more than beans and cheese.  Bean and cheese with  migas focused on bean and cheese with only the slightest amount of migas.   Ingredients (per one taco) Corn Tortilla Flour Tortilla Two Eggs Salt Spicy Refried Beans, warmed Cheese Salsa Instructions: Whisk two eggs with a dash of salt, set aside. Dice corn tortilla into 1" squares and pan fry in skillet on high heat until dry.  Tortilla will take on some browning and get slightly crunchy edges.  To same pan, add eggs, cook and set aside. Heat tortilla on skillet until warm on both side.  Spread one heaping dollop of beans, add migas (egg and corn tortilla mixture), top with cheese and salsa.   Scaled for Likeability: Great Migas are not difficult to make, just a little time consuming.  And let me tell you it is time well spent.  Depending upon regional locatio

Starchy Chicken Cesar Pasta

Chicken Ceasar salads are delicious.  Especially when served with pita chips on the side or stuffed inside a warm pita pocket with a side of butter noodles.  Not having access to delicious salad ingredients, a  Chicken Cesar Pasta  was made with a side of pan seared fresh zucchini. Modifications Made: Just one simple modification was made with no effects to the dish itself.  Regular spaghetti was used instead of angel hair. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You In reading this recipe, the opening paragraph secured my decision to make this meal.  " So, the idea of Chicken Caesar Pasta is extremely enticing.  That being said, the balance of flavors, amount of sauce, and the consistency of the sauce is  key  in order to make it work without it being overpowering." Tender well seasoned chicken, perfectly cooked pasta, capers providing lovely bits of salt, a very rich, well coating sauce made with the absence of butter or cream. Consistency of the sauce is KEY.  Well, that is what

Fry Bread Tacos

Having fulfilled my obligatory meatless meals for breakfast/lunch yesterday/today and dinner yesterday, today a meat meal was served.  Not a lot of meat, just a tablespoon per serving of meat.  The meal could have been served meatless but the pictures of  Indian Fry Bread  were so beautiful with its moist bits of meat, meat had to be served. Modifications Made: Wait for it.  Nothing.  Not one single modification was made to the fry bread recipe.  In fact the only modification made from the original picture to my own version was the swapping of tomatoes for my homemade salsa.  Had a picture of the table counterparts been taken instead of the teens, it would have looked exactly like the pictures: bread, whole beans, meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes. Scaled for Likability: Great Not really a flour tortilla, not really a chalupa. Not really a puffy taco, not really a pita bread.  This fry bread is a category all of its own.  They are made the same as tortillas (subbing water for milk) and a

Lemony Chard Pasta with a Kick

Every time this table and its counterparts are done visiting family, meals at home for the first few days back are ALWAYS meatless and contain lots and lots of fresh vegetables.  Freshness in order to reset the body.  At the end of Spring Break it was Eat Your Greens and at Thanksgiving it was Squash Stir Fry .  Today with a garden gone crazy during the four vacation days, it was  Lemon Parmesan and Kale Spaghetti with Olives . Modifications Made: One small diced yellow onion was sauteed in a tablespoon of bacon grease until nice and soft.  To onion, washed, dried, and diced chard stems were added and cooked till tender.  While chard cooked, one box of tri-colored spiral noodles were cooked in heavily salted water, saving back one cup of pasta water.  Once chard stems were fork tender, a dab of butter was added along with two teaspoons of garlic and finely chopped chard leaves.  To tender chard, zest and juice of one lemon was added along with pasta and third cup of sliced jalapeno st

Texas Unhash

With dinner last night being a total and complete failure and dinner the night before being less than spectacular, tonight I wanted a home run.  A meal to make up for two lost days.  A meal unlike anything made before and better than any similar meals.  A meal suited to local home cooking,  Texas Hash . Modifications Made: To a very large skillet, one large onion was sauteed in four tablespoons of bacon grease.  To onions, two bell peppers (one red, one green), three cloves of garlic, and two and half pounds of venison were added and cooked.  To meat mixture, two cans of rotel, one can of tomato sauce, two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, two cups of water, and one tablespoon of Tony Chachere's were added and allowed to simmer for 45 minutes adding water as needed.  Seasonings were adjusted during simmer time. As meat simmered, one and half cups of white rice was cooked for 10 minutes. Under cooked rice was added and gently folded into meat mixture along with one cup of water. 

Old Fried Catfish

What's for dinner tonight?  Jaws.  Otherwise known as kittyfish, yella cats, bluecats, flathead, channel, rivercats, tankcats, mudcats, whatever cats your local vernacular calls them .  These were none of the above, these were two old catfish.  And unlike fried fried fish and yams at Spring Break, these were part of a true fish fry special.  Fried fish and french fries.  Nothing more, nothing less. Modifications Made: Normally fried catfish is served in strips about an inch thick.  Knowing ahead these fish were old, the fish were cut into thinner strips and marinaded in beer batter before deep frying. Scaled for Likability: Fail Seriously, I have eaten shoe leather more tender than these two jerky catfish.  When cleaned and prepared correctly with all bits of skin and gray removed, fried catfish is good eats.  Over the years fried fish has been consumed from cats that were double and triple the size of "Jaws".  Literally, these fish were hung from the branch of a tree to

Cookie Extravaganza

Don't even start.  Three new cookies and not one single picture.  I know and am blaming the lack of pictures on a stress relief dump from Covid overload.  Three very different pictures, three very different textures and ingredients, three very different results. Let's start with the best:  Birthday Cake Shortbread Cookie Bites A full recipe was followed as instructed, right down to the one inch square bites.  No, wait.  I did have a modification.  Sprinkles were used instead of jimmies.  The only thing I would change for the next time these cookies are made would be to double the recipe.  Buttery goodness is hard to limit when they are bite size.  When three or four cookies are snagged from the bin, one knows they have had too many cookies.  Three or four bite size cookies, not so much.  What happens is every time the cookie bin is walked by three or four more delicate one inch morsels are snitched.  They pop so easy into the mouth they make snitching easy.  Unlike the recipe s

Chicken Potato Ranch Jerky

With a chicken the size of turkey, two 9x12 chicken casseroles were made.  Last night Creamy Corn Poblano Chicken Cassilada , tonight Loaded Potato Ranch Chicken . Modifications Made: Using the leftover chicken stock from yesterday, three large Russet potatoes were diced, cooked until almost fork tender, and set aside.  Chicken stock cooked potatoes will add a deep layer of flavor to this simple dish. Ranch Dressing:  Not having nor not wanting to purchase ranch dressing for a quarter cup usage, I made my own modified version using Ranch Seasoning  instructions.  To a large bowl, half stick of melted butter, one cup of cool chicken broth, four ounces of sour cream, and ranch dressing seasonings were whisked together.  Cooked potatoes and diced chicken was added and entire bowl was poured into greased 9x12 casserole pan.  Again, since everything was precooked, casserole was cooked until just bubbly. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You What a bust.  The dish was dry and tasteless.  Not