r/dinner

Made a pot of green chili with chicken, baked some russets, loaded them up with cheese, white onion, and sour cream.

Bulgar, mixed pickles, lifit and cucumbers.

Chicken - easy peasy.
TRICK - I do this as often as I have time - Put Chicken Breasts on paper towel. Salt liberally top side only. No pepper now. Wrap in saran. Put in fridge 3-4 hours ahead of use, or longer, or overnight, is fine too.
High heat minus a bit pan - 2 TB butter - 1-2 TB EVOO.
Put breast in salt side down.
Heavily pepper other side.
Cook until you see brown just coming up over edge of bottom side.
Check, if brown enough for you turn or keep going.
After turning you can lower heat a bit - the second side will cook faster.
Breast above has that tiny snap of the top if you like it that way.

Carrots with Dill
I steam carrots first and get them tender so fork goes through with some tension.
1-2 TB butter
1/2-1TB EVOO
Melt butter with EVOO
Add carrots.
Add sea salt and pepper to taste.
Get carrots hot.
Add shredded or cut dill 5-6 minutes before ready to serve.
Make sure they have enough salt. Carrots (hot) are better w/salt.

Mushroom Sauce - I do 2 pans.
Pan 1 - mushrooms
1 small pan with about 10-15 small whole mushrooms sliced
Put them 2-3 TB EVOO
Salt and Pepper
Pan 2 - sauce
3 TB Butter
2-3 small-med shallots diced
2/3 to 1/2 cup white whine (I use dry vermouth in kitchen all the time)
or Chicken stock or 1/2 wine and 1/2 stock
4 TB Plan yogurt, or crème fraîche, or sour cream
Put in butter- get melted and pan to med+
add shallots for about 2-3 minutes
make sure all is hot
add liquid and get kinda boiling maybe 2 minutes - maybe 5
Keep an eye on things - you don't want it too reduced
You can tell things are getting the way you need when moving your spatula through it closes more and more slowly.
When you got it where you want
Take off heat - wait 10-15 seconds then add the fat and swirl around until together add mushrooms and not too much liquid and stir.

Plate Carrots
Plate Sauce first
Plate Chicken on top

done. delicious.

Beer battered and fried Black Sea-bass on a soft fajita topped with a mango, red onion, tri colored bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice and vinegar salsa.

Quick and simple pho for a chilly evening.

Took the meat off a Costco Rotisserie, boiled the carcass with a charred onion and ginger, star anise, and used a Pho broth pack for the ultimate cheat code.

Strained the broth and good to go.

Added some rice noodles, sliced chicken breast, bean sprouts, onion, chili oil, and a squeeze of lime.

Super fast and simple

Managed to *not* follow a recipe, *only* my creativity at its whim! What do you think?

Portabellas
Stem out.
EVOO to coat pan - no extra.
Put Mush in and toss with Sea Salt in EVOO before heating

Heat Med-High.
Let them stay on one side until their browning maybe 10-12 minutes from rom temp pan.
Toss. Keep you eye on - Toss every 2-3 minutes till done.

Pilaf
1 cup carolina rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 big handful of fine egg noodles
4 TB butter
1 good pinch sea salt - ground in fingers

Get butter melted
Add fine egg noodles
Sauté until some/many are brown - keep stirring
Add rice - stir every 30 secs or so around 1-2 minutes
Add Chicken Stock
Bring to Boil for 2-3 minutes
turn heat to low - 2
cover
check at 8 minutes
finish 10-12 minutes

Shrimp - another NYT recipe - a little adjusted by me - been making forever
2tablespoons butter
2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4garlic cloves, minced
½cup dry white wine or broth
¾teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
⅛teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1¾pounds large or extra-large shrimp, shelled
⅓cup chopped parsley
Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon

Melt butter and EVOO
Add garlic and sauté about 1 minute
Add wine or broth, salt, red pepper flakes and plenty of black pepper and bring to a simmer
Reduce by half, about 2 minutes
Add shrimp and sauté until just pink, 2 to 4 minutes
Stir in the parsley and lemon juice

It was tasty - takes awhile to make all those things - so not so often - but once in awhile it's worth the effort. Thank you.

at Yoshinoya in Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩