Salmon Pasta

This recipe is an old favorite of mine. Very simple, very tasty.

Ingredients:
Salmon
Dill
Pasta - Fettuccine works best
Flour
Skim Milk
Butter
Spinach (optional)
Parmesan Cheese

Poach Salmon.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. The trick with pasta these days is to make sure you get a full pound. Many companies are lowering box sizes down to 15-12 oz. Don't buy them. Also, for some really weird reason, i like my Fettuccine to stick together when it cooks for this dish. So i barely stirred it.

Meanwhile meanwhile, make sauce. Melt a bit of butter (about one tablespoon) in a pot, slowly add about two heaping spoonfuls of flour. Stir in milk till desired consistency. Add dill, spinach (i forgot to buy it), and a lot of cheese (1/4 cup?) I was almost out of cheese because it was covered in mold and i had to slice off most of it.

After Salmon is done, flake with fork - or, to save dishes, the flour spoon. Add to sauce. Add lots of pepper and salt.

Drain pasta well so the water does not make sauce runny. Add to sauce, mix well and eat.
















Tip: To add a little tang to cream sauces made with little butter & skim milk, one may add a tad of mustard. I didn't for this dish though.

Lamb Stew in Slow Cooker

I've had a slow cooker for about 8 months and this was my first time using it. I couldn't find a recipe I liked online, so i just threw in a bunch of stuff, went to work and prayed that my condo wasn't burnt to a crisp when I got home. It was raining, so damage would have been limited.

Ingredients:
2 lamb shoulder chops
4 red potatoes
1 leek
1 onion
2 carrots
marjoram (i wanted rosemary, but they were out...)
1 can chopped tomatoes in water or sauce or whatever they call it.
salt, pepper & olive oil

Throw everything but the meat in the slow cooker. Put the meat in the slow cooker. Turn on low, cover, pray, come home 8 hours later, add some flour to thicken sauce and enjoy some very tender meat and veggies (if the house is standing).

Yes I forgot to take a pic, I was so excited to eat it I forgot

Easy Chili

Chili is by far the easiest meal you can make that doesn't involve pasta or a phone. I didn't have much time to cook because I had to research brewery CIP procedures, it was cold and rainy, so chili was the obvious choice. (ok, i didn't think of it, my brother did)

Ingredients:
1-1.25 lbs ground meet (i used extra lean turkey today)
1 can condensed tomato soup
Up to 4 cans of various beans
Up to 1 can of corn
Up to 2 cans of tomatoes.
Chili powder
Other spicy spices

Really, once you have the meat and the soup, you can add whatever you want. Here's what i decided to add today:
Corn and peppers. Never tried them before, but they were on sale.
Ready cut tomatoes. Usually I like the ones with jalapenos.
Can kidney beans, pinto beans, butter beans (CK first introduced me to these bad boys)


What to do:
Brown meat in the biggest pan you have. Add tomato soup, and all your other cans.

Then take the chili powder and sprinkle on a lot. Then sprinkle on more until you think you couldn't possibly want any more. Then double that. More chili powder = better chili.

Add a big splash Franks Red Hot Sauce. Add other spicy spices (cayenne pepper, coriander, anzo chili pepper, etc. etc.
No need to add salt, all the other stuff is salty enough.

Mix this all together, cover, and let simmer for as long as you can to get the spices to infuse with everything. I'd say wait at least 30 minutes. I was able to wait 10 because I was hungry.

If you like a thinner chili, or plan on simmering for awhile, add dark beer. Nothing lighter than a shade of black. But remember, simmering chili is much less viscous than serving temperature chili.

Put on a plate and eat. Sometimes I like cheese on top, sometimes I like cornbread on side. This time, just chili straight up with Balls Stout 2009.

Mediterranean Lemon Pepper Chicken

First recipe I wish to share here is a new one I found online over the weekend. I cooked it up Tuesday and had leftovers tonight. On a scale of 1 to very good, i give it a good.

I stole this from a recipe on www.cooks.com and modified it a bit to my liking. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1639,134190-245192,00.html

3-4 chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 can garbanzos, drained
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon Flour

1 tsp corn starch

Step 1: Rub the chicken breasts with half a lemon. I also squeezed the juice all over the chicken for extra lemony flavor. 

Step 2: In large frying pan, heat oil and saute onion till soft

Step 3: Rub chicken breast with lemon pepper. 

Step 4a: Sear chicken on both sides for 2 minutes total (1 min each side). This helps the lemon pepper rub stick to the chicken throughout cooking and cooks the flavor in. 

Step 4b: During the second minute, add the crushed garlic.

Step 5: Add broth, chickpeas, and remaining juice from lemon. Be sure to remove the seeds from the lemons before squeezing the juice into the pan. I ended up with a bunch of seeds in my meal. They are hard and not tasty. Bring to boil.

Step 6: Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes

Step 7: Add flour and corn starch. I like a thick sauce. If you prefer thinner, skip corn starch. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 8: Add 1 heaping tablespoon of parsley. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 9: Remove from heat. Serve over rice, top with fresh chopped parsley. 

Pretty tasty.

When a Man Loves a Kitchen

I was cooking dinner tonight and thought it would be a great idea to share all of my interesting cooking experiences with the world. Not only could I share things I make with friends and family (talk about a misplaced modifier), but hopefully get some feedback and improve my cooking along the way.

I don't get home until late, so most of my recipes are quick and hastily thrown together which at times can make for some interesting evenings, complete with fires, yelling and a big messes.

So join me on my cooking adventure across time and space as I cook up tasty meals in my always short on counter space Playa Vista kitchen. If anyone is ever in the area, you're more than welcome to stop by for dinner.