Couples Cooking, summer in Texas edition
So, A suggested a light dinner. Thaw some chicken breasts, eat light this evening by making chicken salad, finish the off the batch at the office at lunch, inviting the office employee to join. It's hot. Why the hell not?
Good Grief! Batch size! A says 5 pieces, B says 8, and after discussion, 6 pieces, freeze the other two pieces for B to grill later as A so desires. A seasoned with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder.
Moving on to the next phase, how long to bake in the oven? A sez 35 minutes. (375 degrees. That was a lot of chicken.) B smelled the chicken cooking in 10 minutes, thought it was burning, demanded that A and B take a look. If cooked to brown it is next to impossible to be ground up in the processor. A and B looked, no burning. B apologized. A accepted, asked B to chill. B chilled.
At the precise time A said the chicken would be ready, we took the chicken out of the oven. Done. B rather freaked about dry. It was about to be slathered in mayo, no prob, A suggested.
After cooling, here is where A and B must cooperate or just go to bed hungry. B chops that meat into what looks like dust. A looks at the amount in the bowl, must determine the amount of mayo, dill pickle relish, and onion. While the discussion ensued, B did do a fine job of chopping the onion that A had determined was the precise amount needed. A complimented B profusely. A is awesome.
So, A has a stirring deficit because A is rather hand and wrists wimpy. B, on the other hand, (pardon the pun), has those bad ass wrists, can stir that bowl against all dry chicken. B did sort of grunt, once. A said nothing.
A adds onion, B stirs. Looking positive. A adds mayo, B stirs. A suggests more mayo, B says no, rather hysterically. A adds relish. B cautions, NOT TOO MUCH. A estimates 4 more spoons of mayo, and all of the relish in the jar. B says, use caution! "A, don't ruin it! " A says 4 spoons of mayo will be needed, and all of the relish." A thinks, silently, "Good grief".
Stirring in 4 more spoons of mayo, and ALL OF THE RELISH in the jar, the batch was, indeed, perfect.
Now, if the 1% and 99% could work through their predispositions like Couples Cook, the 100% just might enjoy the fruits of the labor of getting through life in achieved harmony.
Comments
If only
Your cooking episodes remind me of past driving episodes. Food and driving are probably better done separately, but hey, you two seem to end up with something edible ; ).
Driving...
The recommended pairing is music. Food intake is limited to traffic jams.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
In or near Austin August 30? All are invited to join festivities
with free vegetarian food, chanting and singing of bhajans, etc. at the Hare Krishna temple in Cedar Park.
Merry Krishna-mas! A movable feast that falls on August 30 in 2021, it’s Janmashtami, Krishna’s birthday / “appearance day”.
https://www.harekrishnatempleofaustin.com/
[video:https://youtu.be/KVlmyFYymaU]
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=janmastami+janmashtami+2021&iax=videos&ia=videos
Free download of the original Hare Krishna Cookbook from 1973 — a collection of lacto-vegetarian recipes from the “kitchen religion”.
That sounds like fun!
Too bad I have to work.
I will take a look at the cook book. Thank you!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I have not had a proper oven for 35 years,
so when I finally broke down and got an air fryer, one of the first things I did was roast chicken. Whole “broilers” (as they are still called here in former East Germany), legs, thighs, and did I mention whole chicken?
Couple A + B in the kitchen engaged in fowl play? Yum! Enjoy!
fun stuff ; )
when i want white chicken, i use 'w skins', rinse well, score each breast cross-grain six or seven times, then poach it in a pot of water on the range (w a bay leaf).
after an hour or so, lift the lid and stick a small knife in to test for doneness. when practical for steam, lift them out of the water, cool, then skin and bone them, then dice several of the scored strips as you will.
i reduce the chicken broth as far as i like, then cool and store for later use.
we do couples cooking, too, an are great at seven bad ass mexican grilled cheeses at a time.
7? Wow!
Not just a lot of sandwiches, but that none of them wound up beside someone's head.
Over time, you sort out which person has a knack for chopping, spicing, and judging doneness.
It is a blast, isn't it?
Our typical discussion about dinner goes like this: "B, what would you like?" "I want (names a dish that A cooks.)" Or, flip that scenario.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
7 is the number that the bread
mr. wd prefers makes. he rinses and seeds the canned Ortega green chiles, i clean the bottled red ones. i lay them out in separate containers (w/ lids) and sprinkle them with comino (cumin) and garlic salt or spike.
i butter the bread, and put 2 slices of tillamook sharp cheddar (we have a marble and wire cheese cutter), then stuff peppers on top, add the other buttered (whipped butter) bread.
a 12" skillet fits 3 sammies. i turn them on low flame, plunk a lid on, and mr. wd is The Master Flipper. oh, yes, we joust over his flipping and how brown, etc. ; ) when they're 'done', he puts them on a plate, and calls me to prepare round 2.
great lunch with a few strips of heirloom tomatoes, yum we used to eat canned or homemade soup, but these are far more fun. and good to share w/ others, too.
now dinners: i make mass quantities, 4 or more dinners' worth, then freeze half, maybe give away some. tonight it's thawed chinese chicken, veg, and noodles. but when he's here, he gets out all the skillets, pots, and ingredients i need.
i had a long visit today with a long-lost friend. she's married again, and says they also cook together. 'he should fatten you up then, miz boni maroni!' 'yes, he's aware of that', said she.
That sounds delicious!
God oh god your mr. makes bread? Bread is the subject of another "discussion" between A and B. Someone in the house will eat only snow white bread, while someone else in the house prefers artisan or bread from the bread machine with darker mixes. A has made bread, but cannot find the time to do that. A swears by bread machines that do all the hard labor.
I didn't know what made grilled cheese sammiches "Mexican" until you described the peppers.
What makes a pepper extremely hot is the seeds. They are plenty hot when cored.
Here, we can be served seeds in jalapenos at a restaurants that will bring you to tears.
Beer drinking contests on who can eat them ensue.
Your recipe is bueno!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
mr. wd buys that WW bread,
but i do make 3 loaves of fake sourdough dill white for morning toast. my understanding is that it's the seams the seeds are attached to that make the heat (capsicum?), and that's how when going to buy fresh-roasted chiles, one can kinda tell how hot or mild they may be.
the hatch ones available locally this year are...shit, to say the truth, maybe grade C or close. we froze a few bags, decided 'meh', but mr. wd keeps finding poblanos (preferable flavor) for me to roast. once frozen, they're a bit easier to peel, but nothing like the ease of hatch of grade A chiles from the days of yore. ; )
now jalapenos are hot, and i use a lot of canned ones to augment heat in my curries and traditional mexican dishes learned from rick bayless cookbooks and online recipes. comino...is also hot.
we don't have a bread machine, no room for one, so i make dough for 3 loaves using several sponge risings so glutens have time to stretch and grow, making kneading a bit easier on my Krazy K-nees.
good cookin' to y'all!
Back atcha
on the good cooking. I am now thinking of making a loaf when I get home from work.
I will enjoy it even more, knowing the machine does all the work!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981