draggonlaady

Gremolata==this is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and I'm saddened that you foodies out there (looking at YOU, 13fetters and la-roja) never told me about it. But I'm really happy that I know about it now!

Bruce's directions for making the yum:

Brine some chicken with some lemon. No particular brine---just brine. and lemon. and maybe some garlic. pepper won't hurt anything. Honey's always good. You just don't wanna do too much, because you're going for one of those 3 strong/balanced flavor things.

Take a smut break while that's brining.

Get yourself some lemon. Real lemon. A good one, like real fruit, not the silly lemon juice "ReaLemon" stuff. Zest it. Flat-leaf italian parsley and garlic (easy on the garlic, it's raw), mince it up. all of it. ALL OF IT. Even the zest.

Break out your Parmesan, shredded (not grated). Parchment paper, or other serious non-stick lining (none of that amateur stuff). Sprinkle 2 tablespoons parmesan into a round, flat disk. Cover it with the stuff. Bake at 350F until you achieve visual deliciousness.

Grill your chicken. Plate your chicken. No, you dork; put it on a plate, you don't need those electrodes. But if you have them, you know, keep them handy. We might use them later. Put a couple of fricoes (that's the parmesan crispy things) on the chicken. Sprinkle with the gremolata (the lemonygarlicyparsley stuff, in case you haven't caught on to that yet).

You'll need a knife. You could add some pasta or veggies to the plate too, if you really want.

Bruce has just made me the wonderful and lovely dish of Chicken and Blueberry Risotto. If you have never had this, you are MISSING OUT. If you know how to make risotto, go get yourself some blueberries and chicken and do so. If you don't, then go find someone who knows how, or go watch Alton Brown's risotto episode. On second thought, go watch it even if you do know how, he's amusing.

So at the suggestion of a friend, I varied up something I'd made before...and by golly he was right. Thanks mercaptan

Sautee onion in butter, add tandoori spices (cumin, chillies, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, ginger, etc). Then add more cinnamon. Cubed chicken (or paneer, or whatever other protein source you prefer). He suggested wine, but I had none. So I threw in mango yogurt (which has a very mellowing effect on the spices, so you may need to add more than expected). And add corn--this part was also suggested by mercaptan, and surprised me with how good it was.

Serve with rice, of course.


On an entirely unrelated note, go to these places:

www.badscience.net
http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/

Instead, I'm talking food.

It's cooled off enough that I'm starting cooking again, and I've been experimenting lately. Thought I'd share some of the more successful endeavors, if anybody cares.

#1: Plum chicken: Peel and slice several ripe plums for each chicken breast you're cooking. Toss a slab of butter into your frying pan, let it melt, then add chopped green onions and your plum slices. When the plums have cooked enough that they're looking fairly soggy, add your chicken breasts and cook on low heat until the chicken's done.
---for you veggies out there, i bet this would work loverly-like with tofu or paneer, as they'd take on the tartness of the plum nicely.

#2: Cinnamon and cilantro steak: just about like it sounds. use whatever you normally fry your steak in, but add fresh cilantro and cinnamon; it makes it hotter than you'd think.

#3: Sweet potato mashers: just like regular mashers, but use sweet potato instead of regular. I've tried this several ways now, and my favorite is with a bit of cilantro and minced garlic added in as well as butter and milk.

#4 (probably doesn't count as an experiment, since a friend suggested it to me): When making corn bread, instead of water and milk, use creamed sweet corn. Makes it more moist and sweet and therefore more yummy (as if corn bread wasn't already just spectacular)