Tonight's Dinner

Lucy said:

So.. hubby and I fought over the spinach and asparagus, then flipped a coin
for pizza or chinese. I won.. so it was chinese.

Ok, so bring on all the shame as well as the tips!
lucy 🙂

Tips?

1. Stove burners have other settings besides HIGH. (Emeril preaches
that all the time.)

2. You need an instant-read thermometer for things like the chicken
if you can't judge it on your own. As a minimum cut into one of the
pieces to check for doneness. Tip: If you cook them on high heat the
outside will burn before the center cooks.

3. You can't cook sauteed things without standing over the stove
WATCHING CAREFULLY. Walking away is for stew, chili, pot roast,
and spaghetti sauce--things with lots of liquid that cook on simmer.

4. Different foods take different cooking times. Cauliflower
is tough and dense and takeds a while. Red pepper is thinner
and cooks quicker. Either cook them separately and combine
at the last minute or add the pepper when the cauliflower is almost done.

Better luck next time. Keep trying. No one is born a cook.

gloria p

Lucy said:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts that were raw (yes, raw!) in the
middle, with burned garlic, and little onions. I put plenty of olive oil
in the pan, and yet when I lifted them to turn them over.. I ripped some
of the flesh off, as it stuck to the pan. haha

Coupla things to address here:

1. In a sauté, garlic should be added near the end. It doesn't need to cook
long, and if it *does* cook at high (or medium-high) heat for any length of
time, it will turn bitter.

2. I'm assuming you weren't using a nonstick pan. If I'm going to cook
chicken breasts and NOT make a pan sauce, then nonstick is the safer option.
Still, a "normal" pan would work, but you should follow these guidelines:

a. Make sure the oil is hot before you put the chicken in the pan. If
possible, brine the chicken and bring it close to room temperature
before cooking.

b. Don't make the pan too hot: If you cook at medium-high heat, the
chicken will release itself from the pan when it's done. (This is also
true of fish, and is true not only in pan-frying but in grilling.)

c. Once you've put the chicken into the pan, LEAVE IT ALONE while it
cooks. As mentioned in item "b" above, it will release once it's done
cooking on that side. If it *is* sticking, it's probably not ready to
turn yet.

Quoted message said:

-spinach leaves, but only one serving. Who knew it would shrink so much? I
am tempted to email the FDA and ask them to require manufacturers to put
on the package: WARNING: Shrinkage does occur, and all the viagra in the
world isn't going to correct this.

Not just spinach, either: Although spinach has some of the most dramatic
shrinkage, most leafy greens will shrink significantly. A recent poster
discussed making country-style ribs with cabbage, and in the course of the
conversation mentioned that it had cooked down quite a bit.

Quoted message said:

-cauliflower florets and stalk, with diced, mushy red pepper. By the time
I cut off all the black spots, there wasn't much left of the cauliflower,
so I added chopped up stalk.

Shop carefully! My little town has a farmer's market in the summer months,
and this last summer, one of the vendors was selling BEAUTIFUL cauliflowers.
But I've also gotten an occasional speckled one from the supermarket. The
key is examining the cauliflower as thoroughly as possible before buying it,
and using it promptly after getting it home. More importantly, though,
don't have your heart completely set on making ANY particular item, and
don't buy substandard produce, e.g., if none of the cauliflowers look good,
then don't settle for the best-looking one of the sorry-looking bunch; DON'T
BUY CAULIFLOWER! Get something that *does* look good, and figure out how to
make it taste good and fit in with the other stuff you're making for dinner.

Thinking about the red pepper garnish, I have a few suggestions which really
just reflect my personal tastes:

1. Cauliflower is pretty bland on its own, and in my opinion it needs
something LIVELY to make it interesting. While chopped steamed red peppers
would LOOK good, the flavor would still be pretty muted. But if you'd made
a cheese sauce for the cauliflower, then jarred chopped pickled pimientos
would have been really good and pretty on top of the cauliflower: The
unctuous cheese, the mildly crunchy cauliflower, and the lightly acidic
pimientos would work well together. (When I woke up this afternoon, I had no
idea I was going to use the word "unctuous" today.)

2. Similarly, you could try to pick up the taste of the cauliflower by
adding herbs or spices. Curry powder works well with cauliflower; so do
savory, thyme, coriander, and cardamom. I've got a lemon-garlic salt blend
that works well with cauliflower too. And Penzey's makes several blends
which would be excellent on cauliflower. (see www.penzeys.com. "Salad
Elegant Seasoning" would probably be great, as would "Brady Street Cheese
Sprinkle".)

Don't be discouraged; this has been a GREAT learning experience: Just LOOK
at all the tips you got from this one post!

Bob

Lucy said:

I decided to make what I like.. so I stopped by the store on the way home,
and was all ready to make my first entire meal sans cookbook. It was just
for hubby and me, the kids ate before I got home. (lucky kids).. I intended
to make:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts sauteed in olive oil, garlic and those
little sweet onions (not green onions and not pearl onions.. i forget the
name)
-fresh baby spinach leaves, sauteed in olive oil with black pepper (again,
this isn't intended to be gourmet, it is just what my tastebuds like)
-steamed cauliflower florets with diced red pepper
-steamed asparagus with butter and lemon juice

What I actually made, however, was:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts that were raw (yes, raw!) in the middle,
with burned garlic, and little onions. I put plenty of olive oil in the pan,
and yet when I lifted them to turn them over.. I ripped some of the flesh
off, as it stuck to the pan. haha
-spinach leaves, but only one serving. Who knew it would shrink so much? I
am tempted to email the FDA and ask them to require manufacturers to put on
the package: WARNING: Shrinkage does occur, and all the viagra in the world
isn't going to correct this.
-cauliflower florets and stalk, with diced, mushy red pepper. By the time I
cut off all the black spots, there wasn't much left of the cauliflower, so I
added chopped up stalk.
-steamed asparagus with butter and lemon juice, that actually turned out
great! <gasp>

So.. hubby and I fought over the spinach and asparagus, then flipped a coin
for pizza or chinese. I won.. so it was chinese.

Ok, so bring on all the shame as well as the tips!
lucy 🙂

No shame. Nobody in this world was born knowing how to cook. Look at
what you learned:

1. Spinach cooks down. A lot. Your idea of sweating it in olive oil
was very good, by the way. You might try some garlic in it next time.

2. High heat scorches the tarnation out of stuff. It's good for thin
things like pounded out boneless chicken breasts and the like. It's
good for thicker things you want rare in the center like steaks. It's
good for getting color on the outside of thicker items like your
unpounded chicken, but for cooking them through you'll need to cook at
a lower temp. Maybe you could sear them on the stove top for flavor
(caramelize the outside, as they say) and finish them in the oven.

3. Somebody else suggested getting a meat thermometer. That's a
really good idea. You can find out by the temperature how done or raw
(or rare) your meat is. There are tables of recommended internal
temperatures out there for all common kinds of meat and all degrees of
doneness.

4. Garlic burns and tastes really bad when it does. Cook it less and
at a lower temperature. By the way, I've taken to zapping minced
garlic in olive oil in the microwave oven for several 30-second
bursts. It'll begin to simmer, cool down, and simmer again in the
oil. Makes a really good infusion of flavor in the oil sorta like
what's called a mojo de ajo in Mexican cooking, but easier. Allowed
to cool to room temperature and mixed with some lemon juice and a
spoon full or so of mayo, the micro-mojo makes a decent sauce for
chicken.

5. Watch what you buy at the market. Those guys want to sell
everything, even stuff that would more properly be compost.

modom

"Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
-- Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Lucy said:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts that were raw (yes, raw!) in the middle,

(clipped cooking lesson)

Been there, done that. Y'know when I grill chicken I like to take my patented
meat tenderizer flat hammer dealy and pound my chicken breast flatter so it's a
little closer to all the same thickness. If you think about it next time, you
might try marinating that chicken first in a brine solution with a splash of
tequila, a squirt of lime, a sprinkle of chili powder of your choice. I hope
you sliced up that chicken and threw it back in the pot to finish cooking? Can
always cover it with ketchup. I'd cook spinach, but Ol'Whiskerface won't eat it
cooked. Thinking about what stuff is made of and how quick to cook it, the
order to combine it, etc. is worth thinking about. Took me years to figger that
out.
Edrena

"Puester" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

2. You need an instant-read thermometer for things like the chicken
if you can't judge it on your own. As a minimum cut into one of the
pieces to check for doneness. Tip: If you cook them on high heat the
outside will burn before the center cooks.

Let me heartily second this. A good instant-read, digital thermometer,
preferably of the type which has the probe on the end of a long
cord and is intended to have the probe left IN the meat while it is
cooking, either on your grill, in your overn, wherever, will do more
for your cooking with meat than just about any other single item.
Chicken and pork will suddenly come out juicy and full of flavor,
rather than mummified in the interest of "cooking thoroughly".
You will actually be able to produce a steak that is truly rare or
medium-rare, as opposed to everything coming off the grill
at best medium-well if not well-to-the-point-of-crunchy.
Some thermometers even have built-in indicators (of the sort
which basically say, "if this is beef, it's medium NOW!"😉, but
that's not necessary if you can find (and any good cookbook
with a "meats" section should have this) a table of temps vs.
"doneness" for various types and cuts. An alarm (a buzzer or
some such which is set to go off when the desired temp is
reached) can also be helpful.

Just remember that the probe needs to go into the "body"
of the meat - i.e., stick it in so that the tip is roughly in the
middle of a steak, in the meatiest part of the turkey breast,
etc. - not just barely under the skin. (Unless you LIKE a
lot of blood pouring out of your meat when you serve it,
of course...:-)), and remember the earlier advice re letting
pretty much any sort of meat "rest" for a bit, after removal
from the heat and before serving. (Leaving the probe in
during that process is educational, as well - you'll see that the
"core temp" of the meat will generally continue to climb a bit
AFTER you remove it from the heat, and that no, leaving
the meat to rest a few minutes does NOT mean it will
instantly go to room temperature before you serve it!)

Bob M.

"Puester" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

2. You need an instant-read thermometer for things like the chicken
if you can't judge it on your own. As a minimum cut into one of the
pieces to check for doneness. Tip: If you cook them on high heat the
outside will burn before the center cooks.

Let me heartily second this. A good instant-read, digital thermometer,
preferably of the type which has the probe on the end of a long
cord and is intended to have the probe left IN the meat while it is
cooking, either on your grill, in your overn, wherever, will do more
for your cooking with meat than just about any other single item.
Chicken and pork will suddenly come out juicy and full of flavor,
rather than mummified in the interest of "cooking thoroughly".
You will actually be able to produce a steak that is truly rare or
medium-rare, as opposed to everything coming off the grill
at best medium-well if not well-to-the-point-of-crunchy.
Some thermometers even have built-in indicators (of the sort
which basically say, "if this is beef, it's medium NOW!"😉, but
that's not necessary if you can find (and any good cookbook
with a "meats" section should have this) a table of temps vs.
"doneness" for various types and cuts. An alarm (a buzzer or
some such which is set to go off when the desired temp is
reached) can also be helpful.

Just remember that the probe needs to go into the "body"
of the meat - i.e., stick it in so that the tip is roughly in the
middle of a steak, in the meatiest part of the turkey breast,
etc. - not just barely under the skin. (Unless you LIKE a
lot of blood pouring out of your meat when you serve it,
of course...:-)), and remember the earlier advice re letting
pretty much any sort of meat "rest" for a bit, after removal
from the heat and before serving. (Leaving the probe in
during that process is educational, as well - you'll see that the
"core temp" of the meat will generally continue to climb a bit
AFTER you remove it from the heat, and that no, leaving
the meat to rest a few minutes does NOT mean it will
instantly go to room temperature before you serve it!)

Bob M.

Lucy said:

I decided to make what I like.. so I stopped by the store on the way home,
and was all ready to make my first entire meal sans cookbook. It was just
for hubby and me, the kids ate before I got home. (lucky kids).. I intended
to make:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts sauteed in olive oil, garlic and those
little sweet onions (not green onions and not pearl onions.. i forget the
name)
-fresh baby spinach leaves, sauteed in olive oil with black pepper (again,
this isn't intended to be gourmet, it is just what my tastebuds like)
-steamed cauliflower florets with diced red pepper
-steamed asparagus with butter and lemon juice

What I actually made, however, was:

-boneless skinless chicken breasts that were raw (yes, raw!) in the middle,
with burned garlic, and little onions. I put plenty of olive oil in the pan,
and yet when I lifted them to turn them over.. I ripped some of the flesh
off, as it stuck to the pan. haha

Flattening the chicken breasts (put them between two sheets of plastic
or waxed paper and pounding) would have ensured they were cooked
through. Saute the garlic and onions first then remove them from the pan
while the chicken browns. Then put back the garlic and onions; they
don't burn that way. The oil may not have been hot enough when the
chicken was put in or you may have tried to turn it too soon. Let it get
brown on one side before turning it. Just takes practise!

Quoted message said:

-spinach leaves, but only one serving. Who knew it would shrink so much? I
am tempted to email the FDA and ask them to require manufacturers to put on
the package: WARNING: Shrinkage does occur, and all the viagra in the world
isn't going to correct this.

ROTFL! It often depends on the spinach too. One of those large bags of
spinach from the warehouse places makes about two servings for me.

Quoted message said:

-cauliflower florets and stalk, with diced, mushy red pepper. By the time I
cut off all the black spots, there wasn't much left of the cauliflower, so I
added chopped up stalk.

Nothing wrong with that. Again, saute the pepper first and remove it.
Cook the cauliflower and add back the pepper at the end. But avoid
buying cauliflower with black spots on it if you can.

Quoted message said:

-steamed asparagus with butter and lemon juice, that actually turned out
great! <gasp>

LOL no comment since I don't like asparagus anyway.

Quoted message said:

So.. hubby and I fought over the spinach and asparagus, then flipped a coin
for pizza or chinese. I won.. so it was chinese.

Ok, so bring on all the shame as well as the tips!
lucy 🙂

No shame. Cooking takes practise and experience. You made a great start!