- Chicken A la King – This was a staple meal in our household. Tonight, i made it and served it with steamed broccoli and rice. The recipe is a basic, salt and pepper and cream sauce. I would like to add some Dijon, sauteed onions, and some herbs next time…i may even make a savory pie out of it. Even without interesting little additions, the recipe is still a good one, though. Tonight, my patient told me I was a good cook. I have never been called a good cook, and am so thrilled about this, I’m chrnicling it here. On this evening of July 9th, 2012, I was told i was a good cook. Here is the recipe for Chicken a la King, from www.justeasyrecipes.co.za:
- 375g left over chicken or 4 cooked chicken joints
1 green pepper – halved, deseeded and shredded
1 cup button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 rounded tbsp of flour (Maizena)
60g butter
150ml milk
1 tsp salt
freshly milled black pepper
150ml cream
250ml chicken stockMethod:
- Remove any skin and bones and cut the chicken flesh into chunky pieces.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan.
- Add the prepared green pepper and sauté gently for five minutes to soften.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and fry for a further few minutes.
- Draw the pan off the heat and stir in the flour.
- Gradually stir in chicken stock and then the milk.
- Replace the pan over the heat and cook until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil, stirring all the time.
- Add the cream and stir through.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the pieces of chicken and heat through gently.
*i’m not sure why it calls for both milk and cream – i think cream is enough.
- green bean problems – tonight was barramundi with a tomato/cilantro/basil/onion/corn/carrot “salsa” (wasn’t really salsa…more of just, well – it was a bit weird, actually) i drizzled a lovely sour cream sauce (sauce to the rescue, once again) over the mixture, and added it to wild rice. It was eaten…all except the green beans. i can’t seem to cook green beans and asparagus…perhaps because they are woody? i don’t know, but i really am better off sticking with peas, mushrooms, carrots, and green salad…beans and asparagus are just way too tough.
- Marsala!
tonight, i baked a frozen white fish, popped some little pastry puffs in a convection oven, and steamed carrots. My patient cleaned her plate, which doesn’t happen very often…this means the meal was good. While the fish and pastry puffs required little to no imagination, the carrots were the project for the evening. What could i do to some boring ol’ carrots? add butter, garlic salt and sweet punjabi marsala. i think i may be in love with marsala. Dessert was a scoop of lime sherbert with orange dark chocolate broken over it…but i have a hunch that even dessert would have been tastier with a dash of marsala…oh, marsala…sigh…
- Steak and Shake!
tonight, dinner was going to be seared steak with sweet potato fries, a green salad, and a strawberry milkshake for dessert. i hadn’t planned on the plumber being here until 6pm, i hadn’t planned to go to the store and buy some steak, and i certainly took for granted that the blender would have a lid…but eventually, at about a quarter to seven, everything came together. it was an experiment – the first time i’ve ever made seared steak, and homemade fries. assuming pan-seared steak is pretty self-explanatory, as a strawberry milkshake also doesn’t need much explanation, for my benefit and yours, if you have yet to make homemade sweet potato fries, i’ve included a recipe(yes, this is a godawful run-on sentence – i apologize, but this is MY page) *This is Paula Deen’s recipe, but it turned out differently…like i made it, instead of Paula Deen – perhaps you may have better luck with it
Ingredients
- Olive Oil, for tossing
- 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch long slices, then 1/4-wide inch strips, using a crinkle cut knife
- Oil
- 1 tablespoon House Seasoning
- 1 cup salt
- 1/4 cup black pepper
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika…
- *my addition: i added some sweet marsala, and i preheated the oven for 475 degrees – i wanted them to cook faster…they burned a bit, but i served them with a delicious sour cream sauce (oh the absolute necessity for great sauce), and my patient thoroughly enjoyed them.
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl toss sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with House Seasoning and paprika. Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet, being sure not to overcrowd. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving. *i also forgot to turn them…and i kept opening the oven to check on their progress! oh well, maybe next time!
- Sauteed Things
i’ve never been much of a cook… in home-ec class, my instructor was so frustrated with me, she completed all of my cooking projects…when i was married, i made a lot of eggs and pasta, or we just went out to eat. my friends made meals for me, and shared recipes for things which i thought were miraculous. i remember sometimes being so awe-struck, when dinner commenced, i just sat in my chair blinking, and exclaiming, “you MADE this? WOW…” And then i started my caretaking job. Part of this job is planning dinners for the week, and breakfast for Sunday. My employer was patient with the pathetic little meals of instant mashed potatoes and frozen peas…and i always made sure the reward at the end was a big bowl of ice cream with chocolate. But something happened, i don’t recall when, it’s like when you realize you are in love, and yet you can’t remember when it began…it might have had something to do with my boredom of stirring up pots of powdered potatos that looked like whitewash…but it also might have had something to do with a friend of mine, who showed me how to make real loaded mashed potatoes, real steak, real shrimp curry…and how they pretended not to be aghast that i had never cooked a decent meal before. And for some reason, being able to prepare some good meals has increased my confidence to be able to do other things, to experiment a bit with things, to be creative about food to where i look forward to making dinner every night. I’m going to chronicle the recipes i’ve come up with, here on this page, and post pictures, too. Tonight, i sauteed shrimp and vegetables, and served it over rice. Then, i had an inspiration, and sauteed some peach slices in orange juice, and sprinkled them with sweet marsala. i love saute because anything can be sauteed in any liquid of choice, which makes for all kinds of delicious opportunities. i love this about cooking – the combinations only go as far as my imagination. when we cook a meal, we craft and compose something that provides sustenance and inspiration to the consumer. when we eat our meals, we get to taste our own works of art.
- Cheese Sauce of the gods, to be consumed in moderation – however, unlikely:
melt butter – add flour – when butter and flour is melded together nicely, add milk – add a bunch of cheese(white cheddar, parmesan, other cheeses) – stir and simmer – add salt, black pepper, dill, oregano, garlic salt, a splash of balsamic vinegar or white wine to taste – and just a smidgen of cayenne…keep stirring…keep adding cheese…simmer…add a dash of more spice until perfection is obtained.
the basics:
- 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
- a splash of balsamic vinegar or white wine
- dill
-
- cayenne
- black pepper
- garlic salt
- oregano
- this is delicious over pasta, with polish sausage, or other meats…drizzled over vegetables…or spooned over a baked potato…
- the patient i care for (a ninety-six year-old) (with very discriminating taste) has given it her seal of approval
What i find amazing about sauce (i have been trying other sauce recipes which i will post), is that a really good one can pretty much redeem any less than decent dish – for instance, have you ever ordered escargot at a restaurant…without the butter garlic sauce??? exactly!
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