A Question About Goat Meat

I have a question that I've asked once before (I don't think it was here, though), but I don't think my question was understood well. Maybe it was poorly asked. I want to try again.

I enjoy Indian cuisine. I love curries, whether they are Makhani or Masala or Navratan. I might like them milder than many do, but I do like them very much. I've had chicken (my favorite), lamb and goat. I like all three meats. But, only the goat is cut up with the bones still in the meat. Often, I find that what I thought was a piece of meat is actually a very small piece of meat with a large piece of bone attached. I have to admit, it takes some of the pleasure out of eating that particular curry for me.

All meats can be cooked with bone in or boneless, or I have always assumed. I know that when stewing, the bones provide added flavor. But, goat is the only one I've never found boneless in these kinds of meals. Can someone explain to me why the bones are left in when it is cut up into small pieces when the bones are not left in chicken or lamb, both smaller animals? Except for Tandoori chicken, that is. I'd really like to understand the reasoning.

Image from Wikimedia Commons. Previously posted to Bubblews.com.

Alyan's Restaurant - Big Middle Eastern Tastes in a Small Affordable Package

Tonight I was treated to dinner at Alyan's Middle Eastern Restaurant located at 603 South 6th St. (literally just off the famous South Street in Philadelphia). They are a very small venue, but the flavors they offer are HUGE! I have been there before and have always chosen the mixed grill, whether it be the sandwich or the platter. The sandwich is a good buy since it offers as much meat as the platter, but for $5 less. Perhaps I should say it DID offer as much since that may have changed. The one thing I noticed tonight was that there wasn't as much meat on the platter as there had been the last time. Admittedly, they had run out of beef and I opted out of the Kefta, but they said they'd give me more chicken and lamb to make up for it. Maybe they didn't. I just don't know. Despite that, what I had was spectacularly delicious, as it always is. 

Now, I'm no fan of hummus and that was a full 1/3 of my platter. But, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it. I broke my pita in half and put the salad, some hummus and pieces of the meat into my pita and ate it as a sandwich. I've had hummus in the past and it was so heavy with garlic that I simply couldn't enjoy it. Garlic lovers may not have issue with it, but it just doesn't please my palate one bit. Tonight, though, the hummus was delicious. Yes, I could taste the garlic, but it was far more low key than I've seen previously. I do like chickpeas, so the hummus and I got along just fine with a sprinkling of salt on top.

For the first time, we ordered a pitcher of mint iced tea. It was superb! Not too minty, yet the mint was there. We had a choice of sweeteners - simple syrup with vanilla bean pods soaking it it, In The Raw sugar packets or Sweet-n-Low. My dining companion chose the former and I chose the latter. I'd never seen a simple syrup offered as an option before. I was impressed.

We ordered extra pitas so that we could finish what was on our plates and then we were done. The entire meal for the two of us was $32 and change. It's a great way for someone unfamiliar with the cuisine to begin. Who doesn't like grilled meat??

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

This is the recipe I used. Mine didn't brown as nicely.

Well, I did it. I tried a recipe I'd seen a while back but just hadn't gotten around to trying yet. I grew up on my mother's chicken potpie, which is very similar to chicken and dumplings down south except that the chicken is kept separate from the rolled and cut dumplings in the broth. Mom's was downright the best there was and she never made just a little. Her recipe called for SEVEN cups of flour. Yeah - really. And, there were only three of us.

Needless to say, for me it was a daunting task to even consider making her recipe because she'd never made  small batches and I wasn't that good at making the dough. So, she would periodically make drop dumplings in her later years, which she liked almost as much, but I wasn't so thrilled with.

Then I discovered I could make potpie (our kind) using flour tortillas. After all, aren't tortillas just flour dough already rolled and flat? All I had to do was cut them into strips and drop them into the broth to cook. Mom loved it and told everyone they should try it themselves.

So, Mom's gone now and I do once in a while make up a batch of tortilla potpie for myself. My daughter's not quite so fond of the tortilla kind, so I only make enough for me. But, I saw this recipe a while back and kept it in the back of my mind as a potential option for the future. It is called Chicken and Dumpling Casserole.

The original recipe I saw required Bisquick, something I never have on hand. But, just yesterday I found a recipe that called for self-rising flour instead of Bisquick. I knew I had to try it because I had self-rising flour on hand that was never being used except as a gravy thickener. The only thing I didn't have was cream of chicken soup. I did have cream of celery, though. I decided the time had come.

Tonight, I made Chicken and Dumpling Casserole and I am so glad I did. I wish Mom were here because I just know she'd like it, too. As with the pork chops yesterday, I was a little heavy handed with the spice. I used just a bit too much poultry seasoning, but I can cut back the next time. And, I might put a little more liquid in next time, too. But, those two things aside, I was very happy with the results. 

One of the reasons I don't like drop dumplings is because of the dry dumpling in the center. I like the rolled dumplings because they absorb the broth all the way through. Well, this recipe pretty much takes care of that problem. It works much like the Bisquick Impossible Pies where the batter cooks in the broth and puffs up creating a "dough"; in this case, the "dumplings". Because it is poured in as a thick batter, it doesn't really have a substantial thickness to it that allows it to stay dry as it cooks, so it creates a very moist dumpling-like biscuit topping to the base of chicken and chicken broth. 

The recipe calls for ready-made stock, but since I was cooking chicken just for this recipe, I used the stock that I created with that. And, I used that cream of celery soup knowing that there was plenty of chicken flavor in the broth and in the granulated chicken stock it also listed in the ingredients. I really don't think there was much of a difference between the two soups at all that I could claim to recognize. The only thing is that you really don't need to put any salt on the chicken because there's plenty of salt in the stock, in the butter (I don't have unsalted butter) and in the soup. You can always add some if you want when you eat it.

The only thing missing was cranberry sauce - an accompaniment I have always loved with chicken potpie or turkey dinner. I didn't even have any apple sauce, which is an acceptable alternative for me. Quite frankly, there are worse things to be missing. Like dinner.

Food Samples - Always a Good Thing!

As I have explained in a couple of recent posts, I am now working at Campbell Soup placing orders for sales samples of the many different products Campbell's offers. Everyone has samples sitting on their desks except me, so I was looking forward to the day when I would finally have my own samples.

That day arrived on Friday when I was taken to World Headquarters to finally get my security badge key card so I can let myself into the office instead of hoping someone would hear me knock. Suzanne, who drove me down, had to pick up some samples bags that were given out at a meeting our team didn't get to attend. She made sure I got one, too.

Inside the bag were several products I hadn't seen before, except for the Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. There was a bag of Pepperidge Farm Simply Potatoes Baked Cracker Chips, a box of Sweet Potato and Tomatillo Bisque, a pouch of Marsala Skillet Sauce, and a Microwavable Jammin' Jerk Chicken with Rice & Beans soup. When I got home, we immediately opened the cookies and the Cracker Chips. 

I have to admit I'm not a fan of the Milano cookies. There's nothing wrong with them, but the dark chocolate and chopped almonds were not my favorite combination. My daughter, however, loved them and took them to work with her to snack on while she valeted cars. 

The Cracker Chips, however, gained a fan. I really liked them! They are super crispy without being too hard. They also have potatoes as an ingredient without actually tasting like potato chips. I was impressed at how flavorful they were without being fried. I've tried baked potato chips, but the flavor just isn't there. These, however, changed my perspective on the quality of baked snacks.

I also got to check out the company store (open only to employees) and found our favorite condensed soups for only $.49/can. I bought four cans of chicken noodle for my daughter and a HUGE black soup mug for my friend for Christmas. He never likes anything I get him, but I do think he'll like this. In fact, I need to go back to get one for me, I think. I was hoping they'd have travel mugs, but all they had was Goldfish cracker logo mugs and I knew he wouldn't like that. I do have to go back sometime, though, in order to do some more shopping. Most definitely!

I admit it - I don't keep promises well!!

At least, not promises I make to myself about my blogs. 


I seems I haven't posted anything on either one since May. I need to slap myself!


I can't talk much about cooking because I haven't done much in the past few months. However, I will tell you that I finally made the No Boil Baked Ziti recipe I have posted from last year just a couple days ago. And, this time, I actually used ziti instead of rotini. It turned out wonderfully! I also used cottage cheese instead of ricotta - other than having curds instead of a smoother consistency, there was no difference!


Last night, I went to eat at the local diner and enjoyed some Flounder Francaise. If you haven't tried this, you ought to. It's really quite good. The flounder is covered in an egg batter and fried and set on a bed of cooked rice. It is all then covered with a creamy lemon sauce (not super lemony, which I like). I had two huge pieces of flounder and so much rice! The only thing I didn't like was the pimentos they added. I also had cream of broccoli soup, which was pretty good. 


If you're not much of a fish eater, try the Chicken Francaise instead. The chicken breast is flattened before being battered, so the piece of chicken looks huge when it arrives. It's also much more tender since it was flattened.


I had wanted to get breakfast for dinner, but they don't have grits after 3pm and I didn't want home fries. I just don't digest potatoes as well as I used to, so when I can substitute something, I do. Grits remind me of cream of wheat and I eat them the same way.

Y is for Chick-Fil-A!

Well, actually it's for YUM. I just wanted to get your attention. 


We stopped at Chick-Fil-A today after running other errands and got something to eat since neither of us had eaten yet. I discovered that they have a spicy chicken sandwich. I'll eat their chicken, but because it is sweeter than most fast food chicken I can buy, it's not generally my favorite. However, I do love the spicy chicken sandwiches sold at Wendy's and Checker's, so I decided to get this one, too. I got the plain jane version without pickles and added my own ketchup and mayonnaise, but I was really quite pleased with what I got. Maybe next time I'll get the one with lettuce and tomato, but I wanted to test drive it first.


I loved the crunch factor which remained even though I didn't start eating it until we got home. The bun had steamed itself inside the wrapper, but there was still crunch to the coating on the chicken. I also like their chicken salad sandwich, but I have to add salt and pepper because whatever it is they do to make their chicken sweet comes through really strong in the salad.


I'm not a fan of their waffle fries, but I didn't feel like swapping them out today. I also ordered their Chicken Tortilla Soup. It wasn't bad, but it was thicker than any tortilla soup I've ever had before. The spice was actually just right. You knew it was there, but it didn't overwhelm the flavor of the food. I'd just rather that particular soup was more brothy than stew-like. 


Do you like Chick-Fil-A? Why or why not?

N is for Nonsense and Nothing Much to Say

Well, it was the only "N" word I could think of at the moment. And, I do often talk about nonsensical topics, so I figured I'd work with it for today's A to Z Challenge letter.


First of all - HURRAH!!! We have Internet again!!! We finally got someone to pick up the line at Comcast and they helped get us going again here at home. First the Internet came back on and then they had to do a bit more to get the phone working again. We still don't know what happened, but I am so happy that I can have my Internet again!! Yay!!


Was able to get a double payment from the trust so that I could help Deb get her car fixed. We went out and transferred the money into her account so she can pay for the repairs. It's hard to find a job in an area where public transportation isn't overly convenient if you don't have a car. So, we're hoping that it won't be super expensive and that there will be enough money left to put some on the rent as well.


I got a Spicy Chicken sandwich from Wendy's today. Haven't had one of them in at least a year. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if I wasn't as thrilled with the fries. It was tender and moist with loads of flavor. McDonald's still has the best fries of the drive-thru places. Burger King has the best tasting burgers. Popeye's has tasty chicken and shrimp (as well as alligator bites once a year) and KFC also "do(es) chicken right", but they've lost some of the flavor they used to have. I don't believe their gravy is nearly as flavorful as it used to be unless I'm losing my sense of taste. I hope not. But, I do like their green beans - they're spicy hot, but I have no idea with what. Yet, they're really good. I'd have never considered spicing up green beans. Guess I'm just going to have to go ala carte one of these days in the Blackwood area and stop at all of them to create my own platter!! Oh, and then either a gallon of ice tea from Popeye's or a large iced tea from Dunkin. Perfect!! LOL

G is for Greasy Food

You know, there once was a time when I simply loved greasy food. And, once in a while, I still do. But, I have found that as I get older, I don't enjoy these things like I used to. That's not a bad thing, mind you. But, I didn't stop eating it because it was bad - just because I stopped finding pleasure in it.

Fried Seafood Platter

I don't eat some fried foods like I used to. I do still like my seafood fried, but I don't eat fried chicken like I used to. And, if it's particularly greasy, I am prone to avoid it. I think it's a combination of the flavor too much grease imparts and the fact that the grease gets everywhere! 

I grew up where Wise potato chips began as a regional chip and my favorites were the ones that stayed in the fat longer than the rest. You know which ones - they were glossy and still looked wet. I felt the same way about fries - extra greasy, please, with lots of crunch. While I no longer care much for greasy chips, I do still pick out the greasiest fries to eat first. However, I can't eat many because I just don't digest potatoes as well as I used to.

Pizza still in the pan of grease

I used to love Pizza Hut pizza. I couldn't figure out what it was about it that I liked so much. Then, I didn't have it for several years and went back once looking forward to enjoying it again. I was actually grossed out by how greasy it was - I realized that they basically deep-fry their pizza by putting the dough in a deep dish full of oil and then baking it. The last time I had some, it seemed less greasy, so maybe they've cut back on that. But, I was surprised that I no longer liked it like I used to. My tastes had changed.

Bacon in a buffet pan

Bacon is greasy, but I love it - but don't give me bacon that has been sitting in its own grease, please. Yes, I love bacon, but when the fat melts and then you place the cooked slice on a paper towel to absorb the excess, it's not really so bad. However, in a buffet setting, they make mass quantities of bacon and pile them in the pan awaiting customers. They're really great when you get the top pieces, but as you get closer to the bottom, all the grease that has dripped off the upper layers now coats the bacon on the bottom. Thanks, but I'll avoid that.


This isn't really all that informative, but I know most will understand what I'm talking about. We do need fat in our diets because fat soluble vitamins require it. But, I do think that our bodies sometimes tell us what's good and what isn't, so if we're listening, we might just learn what to cut back on without actually eliminating it. Yet, despite all this, a hamburger just isn't worth eating if it's not at least a little greasy. 

For Shame!! Making Promises I Didn't Keep!!! (Chicken Paprika recipe)

Wow - I've really been lax in keeping up with this blog, even though I've apologized and promised to try to do better. Shame on me!! I haven't given up, but when my get-up-and-go got up and went, it done got lost!!!


But, I'm still here and I still want to keep this blog alive, so I do hope you'll hang with me in this not-so-grand effort of mine. I mean, I'm ALWAYS talking food, be it on Facebook or at home or in emails or wherever. What's NOT logical about having a foodie blog where I can do what I'm already doing??


Anyway, I was at the Goodwill a week ago looking for a chair to replace the chair my friend broke - and I do mean broke! It was from the 60s and had come with a desk that we'd given away three years ago. My daughter had put screws in all the joints to reinforce them because it was the noisiest chair to sit in with the squeaking and creaking. So, while she was in Utah, my friend would go on my daughter's computer while I typed up his college assignments. I could always tell when he was there (or when anyone was there) because of the chair's constant complaints. Well, this one day I heard him thrashing about making the chair cry out in agony (squeaking and squawking more than usual), so I hollered up the stairs for him to stop before he broke the chair. About 15 seconds later, I heard it again and this time the chair did more than cry out in pain - it literally screamed. In other words, I heard a loud, thunderous CRACK!! I hollered again and told him he was breaking the chair and to get downstairs since he wasn't able to use it properly. He replied that he wasn't breaking the chair - and then silence. Shortly, a subdued friend began to descend the stairs and when his head cleared the ceiling, he said, "I broke the chair."


When I took a look at it I found that he hadn't broken apart any of the joints - he had LITERALLY broken the wood, splitting the back support away from the seat making the chair unfixable (without a lot of glue and braces being added). UNBELIEVABLE!!! I told him he owed her a chair. That was Friday. By Tuesday, he still hadn't begun looking for a chair and she was scheduled to come in Tuesday night. He kept offering to loan me a chair which I had told him already more than once was not sufficient. He'd found excuses every day (not counting Christmas) for not going to look and I'd had enough. So I went to Goodwill.


I found a perfectly good chair that day, fully padded on the seat and back and only $3. So, I got it. But, I'm not one to go into a thrift store and NOT look around, so I went through my favorite departments to see what was what (jeans, household items, books) and found a neat little paperback cookbook called Potluck Cookery by Beverly Pepper. A quick flip-thru showed me that I would like the recipes therein, so I bought it.


After finding several recipes I wanted to try, I thought about sharing them with all of you, but wanted to see if anyone out in cyberspace had ever made them and had images because, quite frankly, that's easier than making them myself - and it helps me know if the recipe looks as good as it sounds. That's when I learned that my little paperback, despite its well-kept appearance, was actually printed in 1955! I knew it looked vintage (as I am also beginning to, unfortunately), but it was in such good condition, it never occurred to me it was over 50 years old!! Nice!!!


So, even though I haven't made anything yet, I wanted to share with you the first recipe that caught my eye and a picture that links to another blogger who actually made several recipes from this little book. I suspect that her version looks different than mine will but, it's a start.


"Chicken Paprika"
Potluck Cookery by Beverly Pepper, pg. 72

I happen to like Chicken Paprika with its saucy paprika gravy and buttery egg noodles, but I think it would work equally well over rice. This blogger used brown rice and green beans which makes it look entirely different than I had imagined. She admits having burnt this which altered the color of the sauce, so there's another reason for it to not look quite like I expected. I still think I'm going to try it, though, because it's a very easy recipe and because you can use either leftover chicken or some that you've cooked special for the dish. Of course, if you have leftover turkey, that works, too.

Chicken Paprika

LEFTOVER: Cooked chicken
At least 4 slices or 1 ½ cups

AND

Fat, 2 tablespoons
Sliced onion, 1 large
Paprika, 1 tablespoon
Egg yolk, 1 beaten with 1 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion in hot fat until golden brown. Add chicken and paprika. Cook 5 minutes. Add egg yolk-sour cream mixture, salt and pepper. Simmer very slowly 10 minutes.

Serves 3 – 4

SUGGESTED: Serve on buttered noodles with Mushroom Croquettes and buttered rye bread slices.

Lack of Motivation Keeps Me Wordless

Wow. I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted here. I haven't wanted to cook and because of that I haven't written anything. This lack of motivation hasn't really let up. I'm sure part of it is because I hate cooking for just me. My daughter rarely eats what I make or doesn't come home in time for dinner. I don't like putting out the effort to make something no one will eat, or not eat much of.


But, I have eaten. And, I've enjoyed what I ate.


We wanted to go to Red Lobster for their $15 four-course special, but there were so many people there that they were standing outside waiting for their numbers to be called. That's not for me. So, we went to Don Pablo's Tex-Mex instead. I usually have something traditionally Mexican, but this time I went for one of their Texas barbecue choices. I got their half-slab of ribs and the grilled chicken breast. They were delicious!! Lots of meat on the rib bones and juicy and tender boneless chicken. I might opt out of the BBQ beans next time because they were not quite what I expected, but everything else was great.


Then I had the opportunity to go to Texas Roadhouse. I swear, I died and went to heaven that night!! I had the pulled pork and grilled chicken combo. The chicken breast was butterflied (about twice the size of what I'd had at Don Pablo's) and slathered in a rich, spicy BBQ sauce. The pulled pork was tender, smoky and saturated in the same sauce. I had the option of two sides, so I chose salad and a baked sweet potato. All this for the same price Don Pablo's charged me for the meal I had there. The salad was crisp and fresh, but I was disappointed with the ranch dressing. It was very sour-creamy, as though it had been thinned too much with buttermilk. Otherwise, it was a very nice salad with shredded cheese, chopped hard boiled egg and croutons. The baked potato came with cinnamon butter and brown sugar, but I only used the cinnamon butter. The potato was so perfectly cooked there was nothing left but the skin when I was done. 

We also had their Cactus Blossum (their version of a Bloomin' Onion) and it was delicious! I had plenty of leftovers to bring home. I only ate half of the chicken, half of the ribs and a small portion of the onion to bring with me. Their rolls are also delicious, too, and come out fresh every 15 minutes. So soft with honey butter to put on them, they're wonderful!!


A couple days ago, we went to Bassett's Memphis BBQ that just opened near us. I had pulled brisket and pulled pork with macaroni and cheese and collard greens. The macaroni and cheese and the collard greens were outstanding! I love collards cooked like they cook them. I'll take them any day over spinach. The meats were smoky and tender with loads of spicy BBQ sauce and more on the table if we wanted it. The meal was just about as heavenly as the one I'd had at Texas Roadhouse.


Then there's tonight. Again, I wasn't in the mood to cook. But, this time, my guy friend cooked for me. He'd been wanting to make Kedgeree for a while now. It didn't sound too appealing to me, but I reserved judgment until tasting it since it contained Basmati rice (I love it), garam masala (I love it, too), smoked fish (never had it - couldn't pass judgment) and hard boiled eggs (I don't love them at all). It actually wasn't half bad. Even with the eggs in it - the flavor of the eggs wasn't noticeable and the fish having been smoked didn't taste fishy. But, there were bones and that really detracted from the pleasures of eating it for me. I had to be on constant alert to make sure I didn't swallow any fish bones. If there was a way to make it with boneless smoked fish, I'm sure I'd enjoy it a whole lot more.

I love Checkers!!! (know as Rally's in some areas)

I love Checkers. Part of it is because they're the cheapest fast food around. But, if they weren't good, I wouldn't go back, so the rest of it is because I really like what I get there. 


I haven't been there for a while, but tonight I was able to get a Spicy Chicken Combo. I love their Spicy Chicken. It's not huge in size, but it's huge in taste. There's no ignoring the fact that it's spicy, either. It's wonderful! I always eat the fries first, though. I like their fries, too. But, once I'm done the fries, I'm ready to dig into that tasty sandwich. It's not a huge piece of chicken, but there's enough of it to get some in every bite. I do wish they had a larger one, but I really don't need a larger one.


Other than having some oatmeal pancakes for lunch (I am really liking them - I add oats to my pancake batter and some cinnamon and they're DEELISH!), I haven't done much in the way of cooking. I think, though, I'm going to make something with chicken tomorrow (or is that today - it's after midnight). I have two containers of chicken broth frozen plus plenty of chicken quarters, so I might try again for some creamed chicken or I might actually break down and make some potpie (no, not the kind with a crust). 


I think I'd better do something while the temps are down here because I know I won't want to be in the kitchen when it gets hot again. Knowing me the way I know me, I won't know what I'm doing until I start to do it. I'm not a big fan of pre-planning! It drove my mother crazy when she'd ask, at breakfast, what I was planning for supper and I'd say I didn't know. It drove ME crazy that she needed to know at breakfast! LOL 


However it turns out, I'll let y'all know. That's part of the fun in coming here. Until then....

Back in the Kitchen Again

As you probably already know, if you know me or have read my blog, cooking is not my favorite activity. It's just not a gene I inherited from my mother who epitomized homemaking. Yet, I've done more cooking or food prep in the last couple of weeks than I have in a long time. I jokingly said on a Facebook post, "What the heck's wrong with me?!?" after a particularly productive day.


I froze just over 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters after buying them at a super bargain price, froze chicken broth created by my friend who was making chicken curry for us one night, froze ham broth from cooking my ham bone with a bag of frozen green beans, froze the beans for later use, then cooked pinto beans using some of the ham for seasoning and froze them, and so on. I made a great bean soup using a container of beans and a container of beef broth, baked a couple of leg quarters for my daughter and, finally last night, boiled another leg quarter with the intention of making creamed chicken today. 


Well, the creamed chicken didn't come to fruition. I just didn't feel like waiting for the crescent roll cups I'd planned to bake, so I decided to make some drop dumplings. I didn't have any baking mix, but I did have some "complete" pancake mix, so I used that. I added some parsley and some poultry seasoning to the dry mix and added water to make the dumplings. I had already pulled the meat off the leg quarter and added peas and corn that were leftover from our baked chicken dinner (normally, I'd use peas and carrots) to the broth I'd made last night to which I also added poultry seasoning, Adobo seasoning, salt, pepper, minced onions and celery. Since the broth was already at a rolling boil, I just dropped forkfuls of the batter (the same fork I mixed it with) into the broth. I meant to thicken the broth as well, but didn't think about it until after the dumplings were nearly cooked. So, I made a quick flour and water slurry and poured that in past the dumplings that I pushed to one side. Stirring to prevent lumps, I then added a lid to make sure the dumplings cooked completely through (I hate dumplings that are dry in the middle).


Although I think the combination of corn and peas made the broth a bit too sweet, it turned out pretty good. More like a thick soup than anything else, but good. The one leg quarter wasn't enough to make the creamed chicken I'd planned, but it was plenty to provide flavor and some meat for this dish. I had two helpings, so I obviously wasn't too disappointed.

R McRayne's Recipes

Thinking of Creamed Chicken Again

Back in March, I posted about the Creamed Chicken that my mother used to make and that I was attempting to reproduce it for dinner. It turned out great. I'm thinking of making it again with a single chicken leg quarter. There's enough skin and fat on that one piece to provide loads of flavor in the broth, but I'm not sure there's enough meat. I'd have to make a much smaller batch.


I also do not make pie crust. Period. It isn't that I haven't tried. It's that what I end up with really can't be called pie crust. It's more like short bread because it crumbles into powder so readily. My mother was the baker, not me. I can make a decent cake if I'm using a tube pan or cupcake papers, but forget anything with layers. So, making the pie crust shells for the creamed chicken just isn't going to happen.


What I'm thinking of doing is opening the crescent rolls I have in the fridge and putting them in the cup cake pan, each one making a 3-cornered "cup". So, it won't hold the filling - I'd end up breaking the crust shell into pieces anyway. I just haven't decided.


No matter what I end up doing, I'm going to cook that leg quarter so I don't lose it. I can decide what to do with the finished product later. 

The Creamed Chicken I made in March

Quick Cooking Ideas

It’s “Q” day and as I was thinking about what I could write about for the letter Q, I realized I was eating something that fit perfectly into a Q concept – quick cooking. I was supposed to go shopping this morning, but my ride called and said they couldn’t make it until this afternoon, so I decided to cook something to eat. I didn’t want it to take too long because I was really hungry. So, I threw a handful of tater tots into the pan with some oil, put some hot tea in the microwave, got two eggs out to scramble and sliced some thin pieces of cheddar. When the tots were done, I smashed them into the hash browns they used to be and poured the scrambled eggs over them. When the eggs were set, I put the cheese on top and put a lid on the pan to help melt the cheese while I was getting my tea and getting the tortillas out of the fridge. I put my newly cooked eggs and potatoes into a bowl, set my tortilla on top of the bowl (the steam from the eggs helped to soften it) and came in the dining room to eat. Less than 10 minutes and I was ready to go. Having eaten a perfectly quick meal, I realized it was the perfect Q topic for today’s entry.

And, here I am.

I was reading my current copy of the Food Network magazine (really, you didn’t think I’d subscribe??) when I saw what I thought was the perfect pasta salad in its “Fun Cooking” section. The concept is Mix & Match Pasta Salad and the first salad just grabbed me. It consists of medium sized pasta shells, small slices of steak, bell pepper, green beans, bacon and creamy Parmesan dressing and it looks WONDERFUL! In fact, they lay out a formula where you can you can make any number of pasta salads in five easy steps: 1) Choose a Pasta; 2) Pick a Protein (optional); 3) Pick the Vegetables; 4) Pick a mix-in and 5) Dress the Salad. With all the choices in each of those areas, you could theoretically have a different pasta salad every day for over 56 years (assuming my math is correct). And, pasta salads are very easy to make. I’d provide a link, but this issue of the magazine is not online yet. But, here’s the link to the last issue: Food Network Magazine. I’m sure the one I’m looking at will be online soon.

Speaking of Food Network, here’s a quick recipe for Chile-Rubbed Pork Chops that looks pretty good (if you like to kick up your chops, that is). One note, though – New Mexico Chile Powder is NOT the same as the chili powder you use when you make chili. Do not use regular chili powder in this recipe. This would be great served with a salad and maybe some fruit.

Then there’s this Honey-Mustard Chicken and Apples recipe that really does look pretty spectacular. I’m not overly fond of honey because of how sweet it is, but I think this would be a good meal. In fact, when I do get to the store today, I’m planning on picking up 10 lbs. of chicken quarters for $5 on sale at our new local grocery and I may have to make this with some of them. This is another Food Network recipe.

Giving both chicken and Food Network another nod is this Broiled Lemon-Garlic Chicken recipe. Holy cow, does this look good or what? And, your total time for prep and cooking is only 40 minutes. (Of course, that doesn’t include my forgetting to open windows and turn on fans to keep the smoke alarm from going off, but you understand.) Even though this calls for half-chickens, I think those chicken quarters would work great in this. Add some boiled new potatoes or baked with a green veggie and you’ve got a meal.

Beef needs to play a role somewhere in this quick cooking roundup, so here is one from Guy Fieri that even I should be able to do. If you like beer and coffee, this’ll be right up your alley (although I’m sure you could leave out the stout and use another sauce if you chose). It is Java Crusted New York Steak with Stout Sauce. It calls for reducing the stout in a saucepan and then adding the juices from the cutting board, but I’m wondering if you couldn’t also reduce the stout in the pan you seared the meat in to add even more of the meat’s flavors to the sauce.

Finally, there is a recipe by Rachael Ray that should satisfy both meat eaters and vegetarians alike. That is Rachael’s Three-bean Chili. This one has a five-star rating with 137 reviews, so it must be pretty darned good. That doesn’t mean everyone will like it, but a very substantial number of people did. Even I would enjoy this one. It incorporates refried beans into the blend (as one of the beans) as a thickener, so you can’t get any beanier than that! She suggests serving in a bowl on a plate and surrounding the bowl with tortilla chips and having shredded cheese and other condiments available. I think this would be good served ON the tortilla chips, myself with sides of cheese, guacamole and sour cream like having dinner nachos. Make sure you have a green salad to go with this; or shredded lettuce like they serve in Mexican restaurants. It just seems to go together to me.

That’s it for Q’s quick cooking ideas. You might have noticed that everything in today’s post is Food Network related. I am nothing if not a dedicated foodie fan. And, yes, I also subscribe to Rachael’s magazine! But, rest assured, if I don’t like the looks of something I share or don’t think I’d want to be bothered making it myself, I wouldn’t share it. I like real food that tastes good and is easy to make. I try to share just that.

Lots of Broth on Hand - Low on Ideas

My gentleman friend cooked chicken curry for the two of us last week. He soaked the chicken in salt water before adding them to the crockpot to make them more tender and flavorful. Then he realized that there wouldn't be enough leftovers for his brother, so he hurriedly cooked up some more chicken in a pot of salted water in order to add the already cooked chicken to the curry sauce in the crock. He was about to pour all that chicken stock down the drain when I stopped him. I asked him to put it in some containers for me to bring home. Since it wasn't cool yet when I left, he didn't bring it until the next day. I repackaged it into my own containers and froze it for future use. I have about a quart and a cup of chicken broth frozen.


Yesterday, I re-cooked the bone portion of my ham with frozen green beans in water. Because my daughter doesn't like potatoes cooked in with the ham, I left them out. There was plenty of ham stock in the pot, so when I was putting everything away, I poured off the stock into containers and froze them along with the green beans we didn't eat. I have around 30 oz. of ham stock now in the freezer. 


I'm going to try to make some ham salad with some of the ham with my meat grinder. Maybe even some ham croquettes. But, I've also never used ham stock to make anything before. This will all be new to me.


I'm thinking of making some bean soup with the pinto beans I also cooked this week (I have no idea what has got into me with all this cooking - maybe Mom's paying a visit this week?) I think I'll add some carrots and potatoes, maybe some celery and onion. I love pintos and so does my daughter, but neither of us has ever had pinto bean soup before. How different can it be from regular bean soup? I used some of the ham to flavor the beans near the end of their cooking, so soup seems to be a natural extension of that. By the way, the beans are frozen in containers, too.


I would love to have some more ideas on using the ham stock (other than cabbage - that is NOT a vegetable of choice here). If you leave me comments and have an idea, I'd really appreciate it.

Sharing Some Successful Recipes

Don't Shop When You're Hungry

You know what they say - shopping when you're hungry only increases the likelihood that you'll buy more than you need. Well, I have discovered that when I go online when I'm hungry, I check out recipes more often and even consider writing about food a lot more often. Whether or not that's beneficial to anyone remains to be seen.

I've decided that I would share with you some recipes I found during my online "shopping" that turned out pretty well and that didn't take a lot of time to put together (although some may have taken a while to cook). I hope you enjoy them.

German Beer Braised Pot Roast   

The photo for this one got my attention. The ease of making it convinced me to try it. The only problem I had with it was that it was sweeter than I really wanted it to be. Next time, I'll leave out the molasses since the carrots and onions already added their own levels of sweetness. Otherwise, it turned out terrific and tender.

• 1 1/2 -2 lb. beef rump roast (I used a bottom round about the same size)
• 1 T. oil
• 2 pieces of bacon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, cubed
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed
• 12 oz. beer or brown ale
• 1 c. beef broth or bouillon to make 1 cup
• 2 tsp. molasses or dark beet syrup (Ruebensirup in Germany) [I'm leaving this out next time]
• 1 T. vinegar
• 1 T. flour
• 1 T. butter (I left this out - enough fat in the liquid from the meat & bacon)

Heat oil in Dutch oven. Brown roast sharply on all sides and remove. Lay the bacon on the bottom of the Dutch oven, place the browned roast on it and sprinkle with salt.

Place onions, carrots and spices around the sides of the roast. Pour the beer and the broth over the roast, then mix the vinegar with the molasses and add to the liquids. Liquids should be 1 to 2 inches deep. Place lid on pan and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until meat is tender.

Remove roast and cover with foil to keep warm. Strain and reserve the broth. Melt the butter in the pan, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of reserved broth, a little at a time and stirring the sauce smooth after each addition. Add pepper, salt, vinegar or sugar to taste.

Serve sauce (gravy) over roast. This roast is good with braised cabbage or mixed vegetables and potatoes to soak up the gravy.

One Pot Kielbasa And Cabbage Meal   

I had a small head of cabbage I'd been given and a pound of kielbasa, so I decided to try something I've never done before. I looked online for some ideas and ended up with what I'm about to describe. You can use ham or slab bacon or any smoked meat in this, I'm sure. I don't think I'll use kielbasa again since it's not a favorite of mine. But, the end result tasted terrific.

• 1 lb kielbasa, cut into coins
• 4 med. potatoes, peeled and cut up into chunks
• 1 small cabbage, rough cut into large chunks
• 2 or more carrots, peeled and cut up
• 1/2 large onion, large diced
• 1 cup of frozen kernel corn
• 1 1/2 cups frozen string beans
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes (I used Italian seasoned)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Core and peel off the unusable leaves from the cabbage and cut up into large chunks. Do the same to the onion (it was about 3" in diameter). Put both in the pot. Peel and chunk the carrot, too. Add that to the pot with the two cups of beef broth.

Let this cook until the cabbage is reduced and the broth is as well. Then add the cut up kielbasa, string beans, corn kernels, the tomatoes and the 2 cups of chicken broth. Add pepper (I used fresh ground). I didn't measure it, but figure I added about 1/2 tsp or so. I didn't add salt because there would be salt in the broths as well as the can of tomatoes.

I lowered the burner flame as low as I could and let the pot just simmer after stirring to mix thoroughly. Periodically, I went back and stirred again to make sure everything in the pot got hot throughout and the flavors melded.

After just over 3 hours, I checked the carrots and the cabbage (two things I find that take longer to cook through than other things) and found them to be tender.

This turned out really quite good. I've never actually made anything like this before, so I am quite happy with it. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Faux Chicken Alfredo With Egg Noodles   

I had made pepper steak the night before and had about a quart of egg noodles left over. I also had some sour cream, so decided to look to see what I could make with those two items. I found this recipe and it was perfect for what I had on hand.

It was also delicious, easy and quick to put together. My kind of meal! Although the original recipe says this makes two servings, we had three people for dinner and still had enough left to put aside for tomorrow's lunch for my daughter. But, it's very easy to increase. I forgot to take the picture before I packed the last of it up, so it's not quite as appetizing as it did on the plate.

• 2 c cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces (I used pre-cooked frozen turkey medallions)
• 1 1/2 c strong chicken broth (or use water + chicken bouillon)
• 2 T chopped onions (I used frozen diced onions)
• 1 c milk
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/2 t garlic salt (I used Adobo seasoning because I had salted the onions and turkey)
• 1/8 t black pepper (I added this to the pan)
• 1/8 t parsley flakes (I added this to the pan)
• 2 T sour cream
• 2 c (dry) egg noodles

Cook egg noodles according to package instructions. While preparing noodles, start making the gravy. Put the chicken, onions, and chicken broth into a pan and bring to a boil, cooking until onions are tender. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, flour, salt, pepper, and parsley. Add to boiling mixture and boil until thickened, stirring continuously. (see my notes in the ingredients) Remove from heat and stir in sour cream until melted. Drain egg noodles. Serve gravy over noodles.

We served this with broccoli and corn on the cob. We had plenty to eat!

Super Easy Pepper Steak

This is the recipe I made the night before the Alfredo. I based what I made on the recipe below. I've noted the changes I made, but it turned out so good! If you like uncomplicated, quick meals, I'm sure you'll like this one.

• 1 1/2 lbs. round steak, 1/4 inch thick (I cut up three 6-oz strip steaks)
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. flour (I mixed this with the extra broth I added)
• 3 tbsp. Wesson oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 c. diced green pepper (I used about 1 1/2 cups of large diced)
• 1 c. water (I used chicken broth and increased the amount of liquid)
• 1 c. onions, chopped large-ish

Cut steak into strips about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. (Don't worry about precision - however the steak cuts up for you work with.) Pound the strips to help make them tender. (I didn't do this.) Brush soy sauce on each side of meat strips, then sprinkle with flour. (I added the soy sauce after sautéing the steak and veggies.) Brown steak strips in Wesson oil over medium heat. Add green pepper and saute a few minutes, then add water (broth). Cover and simmer 35 to 45 minutes until tender (Honestly, I didn't have to cook it this long - it was all done in about 30 minutes. I added the extra broth with flour mixed near the end to thicken mixture). Makes 6 servings.

Hot fluffy rice belongs with this dish, but we had egg noodles because my daughter doesn't care much for rice.