Chicken thighs on rice with sauce

 Charlie asked me if I would make something he made when he was living in Seattle.  He would bake a chicken thigh in Cream of Mushroom soup and eat it over rice.

I made it with a can of mushroom soup, two cups of sour cream  a tablespoon of lemon juice and a packet of onion soup mix.  Baked at 400º until thermometer read 165, about an hour. It was a simple dump and bake recipe.

I belong to a very small group (10 people at most) who joined together after another large cooking group disbanded.  One of them asked if anyone knew how to make the roasted potatoes they serve at Greek restaurants. i got a couple of recipes to try from a search then almost the next day Shelby and some others got into a discussion about British style Eurpoean and Fondant baked potatoes.  I decided to make a small batch of a Greek recipe I found on line and served a taste of those with some corn to go with it.

Greek Style Roasted Potatoes

 Time: 20 minCook Time: 1:10 hReady in: 1:30 h Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

• 600 grams (1 pound + 5 ounces) Yukon Gold, Russet, New Potatoes or Red Potatoes
• 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water
• 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon (for a vegan version, use vegan vegetable bouillon)
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic)
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme (or 2 tablespoons fresh)
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary (or 2 tablespoons fresh)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C) and get out a rimmed non-stick baking sheet (mine was about 11"x7") or line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty foil. The potatoes tend to stick towards the end of the roasting process.
• Wash, peel (if desired) and cut the potatoes into approximately 1"x3/4" chunks.
• In the prepared pan, mix together the water, lemon juice, olive oil, bouillon, and salt. You can alternatively mix those ingredients in a bowl and then coat the potatoes in it, but I prefer to not dirty up another dish.
• Add the potatoes and stir to coat in the liquid.
• Cover the pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven, uncover, and add the minced garlic (you can add it during the last 15 minutes of baking if you're worried about it browning too much), thyme and rosemary. Stir to evenly distribute the garlic and herbs.
• Bake for another 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the potatoes towards the end. Depending on how large the potato chunks were, you may need more or less time.
• Once they're crisp, remove them from the oven and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Salt to taste.
• Serve. These are best warm or at room temperature.
• Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Adapted from Greek style potatoes on AllRecipes

Tacos

 

Charlie invited some friends over so I made a taco bar.

Taco meat is onions cooked soft, hamburger browned, taco seasoning added then refred beans stirred in and  taco sauce added and allowed to cook down. 

Best Guacamole

PREP TIMe 10 mins TOTAL TIME 10 mins SERVINGS  2 to 4 servings

Be careful handling chilis! If using, it's best to wear food-safe gloves. If no gloves are available, wash your hands thoroughly after handling, and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes for several hours afterwards.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados

1/4 tsp kosher salt + to taste

1 T. fresh lime juice

2 to 4 T. minced red onion or thinly sliced green onions

1 to 2 serrano or jalapeños, minced

2  T.  cilantro leaves and tender stems

pinch black pepper

1/2 ripe tomato, chopped, optional

red radish or jicama for garnish (optional)

Everything else was just chopped and put in bowl. 

Charlie made dinner tonight. It's a spicy Korean chicken dark meat dish

 I don't have the complete recipe yet but these are the ingredients"

Dak-Kalbi Spicy Chicken          serving size:  2

1 C . Chicken broth

1 1/2 lb. skinless & boneless dark meat chicken cut in 1-inch pieces

1/2 oz /savoy cabbage cut in 1/2-inch thick strips.

1/2 Lar. onion cut into 1.2 inch thick slices

4 Scallions roots trimmed and cut into 4-inch pieces.

1/3 Zucchini cut into 1/4-inch thick strips.

5 Shitake mushrooms soaked in warm water for 1 hour, drained, stems discarded &  caps  thinly sliced

3 T. sesame oil

1 T. toasted sesame seeds.

Marinade 

2t. red pepper powder

2 T.gochujang 

1 1/2 T. minced garlic

1/4 ginger root peeled and grated

1 T. sugar

2 T. corn syrup

2T. sesame oil 

2T. Mirin

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Korean Fried Chicken Wings

 

Korean Fried Chicken (yangneom-tongdak  

Ingredients For 3 to 4 servings

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt 
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

For the sauce:2 teaspoons vegetable oil

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• ⅓ cup rice syrup
• ¼ cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• corn (or vegetable) oil for frying

For a side dish, pickled radish (chicken-mu), optional

Directions

Fry chicken:

1. Heat 2 inches of oil in a large heavy frying pan or pot over medium hight heat for about 10 to 12 minutes until it reaches 330-350ºF. I used my 12 inch pan but if your pan is smaller, work by batches. If you don’t have a thermometer, test it by dipping one piece of chicken in the oil. If it bubbles, it is ready.
2. While the oil is heating, combine chicken, salt, ground black pepper, starch, flour, baking soda, and eggs in a bowl. Mix altogether well by hand.

Add the coated chicken to hot oil one by one. Fry them for 12 minutes until the all sides of the chicken are crunchy, turning over with tong

Take out the chicken with tongs or a large slotted spoon to wire strainer over a bowl to remove the excess oil.

Make seasoning sauce:

1. Heat the 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in garlic until light brown for about 30 seconds. Add the ketchup, rice syrup, gochujang, vinegar and stir well with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to low and stir until bubbling. Remove from the heat.

Start the second fry:

1. Let the oil heat up for 2 minutes over medium high heat until it reaches 330-350ºF.
2. Fry the chicken one more time, turning over with tongs for about another 12 minutes until very crunchy.
3. Reheat the sauce over medium high heat until it’s bubbling again. Add all the hot crunchy chicken and mix well with a wooden spoon and tongs.

Finish and serve:

1. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with chicken-mu (pickled radish) if you have it.

Chicken in the Smoker

 

Chicken was brined with salt, apple juice and honey for about 20 mintes, seasoned with Cajun seasoning and smoked with apple wood @ 250º and spritzed about every 20 minutes with apple juice until they reached a temperature of 165... about 3 1/2 hours.

Greek Style Roasted Potatoes

3-4 Servings

1 lb.+ 5 oz. Gold potatoes or red 

1/4 C. water

1/4 C. lemon juice 

2 tsp. chicken bouillon  1/2 tsp. salt 

2 tsp minced garlic or 1/2 tsp granulated

2 tsp.dried or 2 T. fresh thyme

2 tsp dried or 2T fresh rosemary

Coleslaw was a copycat KFC recipe. 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C) and get out a rimmed non-stick baking sheet (mine was about 11"x7") or line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty foil. The potatoes tend to stick towards the end of the roasting process.
2. Wash, peel (if desired) and cut the potatoes into approximately 1"x3/4" chunks.
3. In the prepared pan, mix together the water, lemon juice, olive oil, bouillon, and salt. You can alternatively mix those ingredients in a bowl and then coat the potatoes in it, but I prefer to not dirty up another dish.
4. Add the potatoes and stir to coat in the liquid.
5. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the oven, uncover, and add the minced garlic (you can add it during the last 15 minutes of baking if you're worried about it browning too much), thyme and rosemary. Stir to evenly distribute the garlic and herbs.
7. Bake for another 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the potatoes towards the end. Depending on how large the potato chunks were, you may need more or less time.
8. Once they're crisp, remove them from the oven and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Salt to taste.
9. Serve. These are best warm or at room temperature.
10. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Hungarian Mushroom Soup 

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley
• In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, cook the onions and mushrooms in butter over medium heat until onions are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes.
• Add the dill, thyme, paprika, chicken or vegetable stock, soy sauce and white wine. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by half.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Add the flour-milk mixture to the soup and cook until the soup begins to thicken, about 10 more minutes.
• Turn the heat down to low and slowly stir in the sour cream and lemon juice.
• Garnish the soup with parsley and serve hot.

**Yields 5 cups of soup. If you want to serve it to four people as a main dish, we recommend doubling the recipe.

 

Loin back ribs were on sale.

This slab was just $7 something.  That is about half the price of baby backs in season.  It was a nice day so I smoked them with the recipe below but I used the JD rub instead of the one included with the recipe.  My son worked up a Cherry BBQ sauce for ribs when he was in Seattle but has not made it is quite a while so when I saw this one, I tried it.  It is very similar to his but has a little more heat.

Cool Smoke Baby Back Ribs with cherry chipotle bbq glaze

FOR THE RUB:

1/4 C Light brown sugar

3 tsp. sweet paprika

1 tsp.chipotle powder

1tsp. Onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 T. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

2 racks pork baby back ribs (loin back)

FOR THE Cherry BBQ SAUCE:

3 C. ketchup

1 C. light brown sugar

3/4 C. distilled white vinegar

2 T. molasses

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. chili powder

1 T. sweet paprika

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. chipotle powder

1/2 tsp. ground black powder

3/4 C. water

1/2 C cherry preserves

1/2 C apple juice in spray bottle

The night before, I used the JD rub on the ribs, wrapped them for overnight in the fridge. I cooked the second stage for just one hour.  The temperature was 195.  That was done enough for ribs IMO.

Heat smoker or set up grill for indirect cooking and bring the cooker up to 275º .  ( I aadd some water to a pan near the fire box for steam in the smoker compartment) Cook, spraying with apple juice every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Transfer to two large sheets of foil, spray both sides with cider. Turn ribs meat side down and return to smoker. Cook for another 1.5 to 2 hours.  Internal temp should be around 203-205. Remove foil and discard. Brush both sides with sauce and return to cook for another 15 minutes to set the sauce.  Serve with remaining sauce. 

JD rib rub

2 tablespoons sugar 

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

 The Best Potato Salad

How To Make The Best Potato Salad Recipe. My mom's potato salad recipe is hands-down the best potato salad I, or anyone else who's tried it, has ever eaten!

Prep Time 20 mins  Cook Tim e20 mins  Total Time40 mins

 Author: Sommer Collier

Ingredients

• 5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or Klondike Goldust potatoes
• 2 cups mayonnaise (your favorite brand)
• 1 cup refrigerated sweet pickle relish
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, or 1 part yellow + 1 part dijon
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 4-5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Cut the potatoes into quarters and place them in a large stockpot. Fill the pot with cold water until it is 1 inch over the top of the potatoes. Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt and cook the potatoes for 13-15 minutes, until fork tender.
  
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix the mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish including juices, mustard, apple cider vinegar, celery seeds, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Stir until smooth. Then chop the eggs, celery, onions, and dill.
  
• Once the potatoes are very tender, drain off all the water. Remove the loose peels and chop the potatoes into 1/2-inch chunks. It's okay if they are soft and crumbly. Place the potatoes in a large bowl. Gently mix in the dressing until it coats the potatoes well. Then stir in the eggs, celery, onions, and dill. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with fresh dill and paprika.
  
• Cover the potato salad and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you have time to make it ahead, it tastes even better on day two! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up 

New England style crab boil

These were frozen crab legs that were pre cooked.  Both them and the shrimp did not need more that a couple minutes to cook. I used beer instead of wine.

 New England Style Crab Boil

Prep Time25 minutesCook Time40 minutesTotal Time1 h 5 mServes8  People

IngredientsRecipe makes 8 Servings

 1 cup(s) water

2 cup(s) white wine

2 bulbs of garlic, cut in half, horizontally

1 large white onion, cut into quarters

2 lemons, cut in half

2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

2 springs of fresh thyme

4 fresh corn, cut in half

2 Lb baby red potatoes, cut in half

4 smoked sausage, cut into small chunks

4 Oz unsalted butter

4 crab clusters

1 Lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup(s) fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1In a large stock pot, bring water, wine, garlic, onions, lemons, old bay seasoning and thyme to a boil.

2 Lower heat to medium and add corn, baby red potatoes smoked sausage and butter. Cook 15 to 20 minutes.

3 Add crab and shrimp and cook an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and fully cooked. Toss everything gently to cover in cooking liquid.

4 Season with a little more old bay as needed and serve on a large platter.

5 Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.