Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Summer Means Fun-k

Sorry for the absence...life got in the way. But everything led to happy endings.

Gotta admit that warm weather leads me want to head out as much as possible and the prospect of standing in a hot kitchen is not especially motivating so I've been just going with my standard recipes by and large and making a point to utilize leftovers strategically - with the least processing possible but still with an eye towards maximizing the quality of results. So, some basics here:

with chicken, turkey and fish (main dead beast et 'round here)
*if they're Southern fried/battered, ALWAYS heat up in a toaster oven at 350* (or regular oven if you don't mind burning up the watts for such a small job) and leave unwrapped so the breading crisps up - mebbe 20 minutes. The downside to this is that it dries things out a bit - ergo 20 minute cooking time
*if NOT battered, best to wrap in aluminum foil to keep moisture in - in which case I'd cook a full 30 minutes
NEVER REHEAT IN A MICROWAVE - it almost always does something weird to the texture
*I tend to save French fries for various reasons - I've used them in soups, either by themselves or mixed in with beans; when the cooking's done you wanna puree them to create a creamy base (without having to use dairy); I recent chopped up a handful and threw that into a pot of borscht, AFTER things were cooked coz if you cooked 'em with the raw vegetables - they'd be mush, which is not the point of borscht (I gotta say I was conferring with a Polish friend and she agrees that this stuff would be termed goulash by Pollacks)

I recent experimenting reheating fries and found that if you defrost 'em, lay em out in a single layer (don't add oil as they've already been deep fried and still contain oil), and sprinkle 'em with something savory like Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning or Sittin' Bayou Cajun seasoning (a present from my niece Anna), or yr own concoction (equal parts paprika, garlic powder and half as much salt should do - or add an equal part cayenne if ya likes the heat), and heat at 350* in toaster oven for 30 minutes they come out pretty damned reet -- NOT like fresh out of the fryer but good on their own terms.

serve some of the above with baby spinach, chopped green pepper, sliced tomato - yr eatin' pretty with little or no effort.

There's really no prep time, so it's silly to recommend music to cook with, but while yr chowin' you could well listen to SOUTHEAST SOUNDS' B Street.

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