22 September 2007

Mustard Chicken

Okay, so I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't really cooked anything in awhile and I cooked this a couple weeks ago. It's been pretty bad. I've been eating out a lot lately (oh god, my waistline!) and I've been making a lot of pasta and salad.

I did find time, however, to try breaded, pan-fried chicken. It didn't work out perfectly, and I feel that the next time it should be baked... if there is a next time. My usual grocery store was out of basil and chicken breasts the last time I went. How do you run out of chicken breasts? And basil? All forms of fresh basil. Lame.

Anywho, so the instructions are as follows.

2 chicken breasts
1/2 c bread crumbs
4 Tbs whole grain mustard
2 Tbs honey
olive oil

1. Combine 1/2 c bread crumbs and 2 tbs-ish of the mustard. In a separate bowl combine the rest of the mustard with the honey and mix well.
2. Cover the chicken in the honey sauce and then dredge (is that *actually* the word I'm looking for?) the chicken in the bread crumb mixture
3. Put it in a pan and cook it until it can't kill you.

It ended up taking a lot more olive oil than I had hoped, which is why I think baking it is the answer. Also, I had Italian bread crumbs on hand... which maybe wasn't the answer.

So lesson learned... more baking, no oil, and PLAIN bread crumbs.

Also, I need to figure out some dishes to make for November.. gah...

09 September 2007

Pretentious Mac'n'Cheese

This one may make me sick. It has so much dairy in it, I'm apt to explode, but it's okay because I learned what a roux is *actually* supposed to look like so... go me!

I've been buying random cheeses at will at the grocery store lately and then trying to incorporate them into my cooking. It's been somewhat amusing, although I have to admit that a lot of the cheese is put on crackers and then into my tummy which is way easier than cooking. The last time I got fontinella cheese, which is fairly strong.

I've also taken to not really measuring things for cooking anymore. Mostly I've been eye-ing things and then tasting, but that only really works when you're not cooking for anyone else... but lo and behold, I'm not.

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 c. warm milk
Fontinella cheese (or any cheese, really)
elbow macaroni

Boil water, add mac, clean up the sink whilst you're waiting for things to boil. Melt butter and then add flour and stir so things don't burn. Add milk a little bit at a time and let it heat until the mixture thickens. Add mixture to the drained noodles and then add cheese.

It came out tasty. I assume I didn't use enough cheese, though. It was okay, because I added breadcrumbs and pepper... so it was less bland. Given that this occurred several hours before, I also ate the leftovers and added tomato sauce to make it a palomino. Mm mm good. Or something. I guess the next time I'll use a higher moisture cheese.

04 September 2007

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I haven't updated in awhile because I've been battling a bout of bronchitis for a week and finally got the gumption to go to the doctor. That was a lot of alliteration; I'm immensely proud. (And awesome assonance!) Anywho, I haven't really cooked anything new or different as a result. Also, no one cares whether or not I update because no one reads this.

So the only really "new" thing that I've attempted of late was a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I stole from Chris which was modified with complaints. I baked them three times over the summer, with varying results. I guess I bake best unwatched. Or something.

2c + 2 tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
12 tbs. butter, softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
lots of chocolate chips

Set oven to 325 F, grease baking pans (or be lazy and use parchment paper)

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter until creamy. Beat eggs and add vanilla. Add mixture to the sugarbutter and then add in dry ingredients in parts. Add in chocolate chips.

Take 1/4c of the dough and roll into a ball. Rip the ball in half and smash the two smooth ends together. It should look like the world's saddest snowman.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown and the tops still look like they need a little more time. You can rotate in the middle of the bake time, but this is for people who aren't lazy.

So I was studying for the GRE with Colby and mostly felt completely inept, so we decided that it was cookie time. We made a half batch (which was hard with the eggs...), but they turned out to be pretty decent and I foisted them upon my physics friends.