Congratulations, reader! You're reading my first post with a total flop!
Well, it was still edible. But it wasn't very good. I didn't even bother taking a picture of it.
I made this sauce to put on chicken that I lightly breaded in Parmesan, garlic powder, and paprika, and sauteed in a pan with some olive oil.
White Wine Sauce
Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp flour
1.5 cups white wine (I used pinot grigio)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Equipment
saucepan, stove
Instructions
Melt butter on low in saucepan. Add flour and salt; stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Add wine; stir and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add Parmesan, stirring until it's all melted.
Yields
about 1.5 cups of sauce
Total time
about 10 minutes
Cleanup rating 2/5
I actually haven't cleaned it yet but it won't be hard. Just don't let it sit. That would get pretty gross.
Difficulty rating 3/10
It isn't particularly hard, but you need to babysit it because of all the stirring. You can't do much else for those 10 minutes.
Flavor rating 3/10
The real problem, I think, is that the cheese didn't really melt. I know, I know; I should have used fresh Parmesan. Or at least shaved, not that crumbly stuff. But it didn't really melt, so it didn't really incorporate, so the sauce didn't really get thick. Birk suggested more flour or some cornstarch or something, which would probably help. (The problem is, my timing was otherwise perfect, so I didn't have the patience to wait to fix the sauce and let everything else get cold.)
So, it isn't impossible... my suggestions for fixing it would be:
- Use better Parmesan, or perhaps even a different cheese that melts more easily.
- Give yourself a few minutes to fix it with cornstarch if you need to (you can leave it on very low heat if you need to keep it warm while everything else finishes up).
- Maybe less wine in the ratio of wine to cheese, too. It was very... winy.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Samosa Filling
The plan was to make samosas with the butter chicken. But they didn't have samosa wrappers (or even a satisfactory stand-in, like egg roll wrappers) at the store, so I decided to just make the filling, which is kind of like Indian mashed potatoes. It's actually pretty close to aloo tikki.
Samosa Filling
Ingredients
two large potatoes
3 oz peas
turmeric
garam masala
coriander
ginger
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Equipment
pot with lid, skillet, stove
Instructions
Peel, quarter, and boil the potatoes. (This takes so much longer than I thought it would; plan ahead! Mine took about half an hour because I didn't cut them into small enough pieces.) Drain the potatoes and mash them (I used a fork). Heat oil in a skillet. Add cumin and ginger; heat through. Add potatoes, peas, mix thoroughly. Add spices (about 1 tsp each). Mix thoroughly; heat through.
Yields
About 4 servings
Total time
FOREVER. Don't try to boil big pieces of potato when you're starving. It took about an hour total.
Cleanup rating 2/5
Very easy to clean the pan after; nothing sticks to it.
Difficulty rating 5/10
Half of the difficulty for me lay in waiting for potatoes to boil. The rest is pretty simple.
Flavor rating 5/10
It was a little bland. It definitely needed salt (potatoes suck up all the salt, but you can't taste it... Always confuses me.) I think it would have been better inside samosas.
Samosa Filling
Ingredients
two large potatoes
3 oz peas
turmeric
garam masala
coriander
ginger
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Equipment
pot with lid, skillet, stove
Instructions
Peel, quarter, and boil the potatoes. (This takes so much longer than I thought it would; plan ahead! Mine took about half an hour because I didn't cut them into small enough pieces.) Drain the potatoes and mash them (I used a fork). Heat oil in a skillet. Add cumin and ginger; heat through. Add potatoes, peas, mix thoroughly. Add spices (about 1 tsp each). Mix thoroughly; heat through.
Yields
About 4 servings
Total time
FOREVER. Don't try to boil big pieces of potato when you're starving. It took about an hour total.
Cleanup rating 2/5
Very easy to clean the pan after; nothing sticks to it.
Difficulty rating 5/10
Half of the difficulty for me lay in waiting for potatoes to boil. The rest is pretty simple.
Flavor rating 5/10
It was a little bland. It definitely needed salt (potatoes suck up all the salt, but you can't taste it... Always confuses me.) I think it would have been better inside samosas.
Butter Chicken
Last night, I made two Indian dishes for dinner. It was a bit of an undertaking for a mid-week dinner, but hey, there are sufficient leftovers for a complete second meal!
The main dish was butter chicken (which has so much more tomato in it than anything else, I think it should be called tomato chicken). I found a recipe online and made my own adjustments to it, so I know this is like... Alex-ized butter chicken. Go with it.
Butter Chicken (which I think should be called tomato chicken)
Ingredients
3 chicken breast filets
garam masala
coriander
ground ginger
cinnamon
2 tsp minced garlic
8 oz peas (I got a steam-in bag and nuked them)
3 Tbsp butter
15 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
14.25 oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 an onion, diced
Equipment
skillet, stove
Instructions
Cook your chicken. Technically this should be made with baked or rotisserie or tandoori chicken, but I made mine like this but with garam masala and some salt. Take out your chicken and let it cool and absorb its juices for a while. (This is time I spent paying attention to the samosa filling.) Dice your onion. Melt butter in the pan and add onion, cooking until they're golden. Add the garlic, tomato paste, and about 1/2 tsp each of garam masala, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until well blended. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, mix thoroughly, let it heat through. Add the chicken and let it heat through. Add the peas and cream, mix thoroughly, let it heat through but don't boil.
Yields
SO MUCH. Probably about six servings.
Total time
30 minutes if you're making it by itself*
Cleanup rating 3/5
It can be a messy dish, but it's mostly tomato sauce so it comes off fairly easily when you clean it right after dinner.
Difficulty rating 4/10
There are a lot of ingredients to keep track of, but if you play the cooking show game (set out all your ingredients ahead of time) it's a lot easier.
Flavor rating 7/10
I had never had butter chicken before, so I don't know how accurate I was, but I thought it was good. I think we could do without the diced tomatoes (I like tomato sauces but not pieces of tomato) so I'll probably experiment with this one in the future.
*I made this with samosa filling so it actually took about an hour to make dinner.
The main dish was butter chicken (which has so much more tomato in it than anything else, I think it should be called tomato chicken). I found a recipe online and made my own adjustments to it, so I know this is like... Alex-ized butter chicken. Go with it.
Ingredients
3 chicken breast filets
garam masala
coriander
ground ginger
cinnamon
2 tsp minced garlic
8 oz peas (I got a steam-in bag and nuked them)
3 Tbsp butter
15 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
14.25 oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 an onion, diced
Equipment
skillet, stove
Instructions
Cook your chicken. Technically this should be made with baked or rotisserie or tandoori chicken, but I made mine like this but with garam masala and some salt. Take out your chicken and let it cool and absorb its juices for a while. (This is time I spent paying attention to the samosa filling.) Dice your onion. Melt butter in the pan and add onion, cooking until they're golden. Add the garlic, tomato paste, and about 1/2 tsp each of garam masala, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until well blended. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, mix thoroughly, let it heat through. Add the chicken and let it heat through. Add the peas and cream, mix thoroughly, let it heat through but don't boil.
Yields
SO MUCH. Probably about six servings.
Total time
30 minutes if you're making it by itself*
Cleanup rating 3/5
It can be a messy dish, but it's mostly tomato sauce so it comes off fairly easily when you clean it right after dinner.
Difficulty rating 4/10
There are a lot of ingredients to keep track of, but if you play the cooking show game (set out all your ingredients ahead of time) it's a lot easier.
Flavor rating 7/10
I had never had butter chicken before, so I don't know how accurate I was, but I thought it was good. I think we could do without the diced tomatoes (I like tomato sauces but not pieces of tomato) so I'll probably experiment with this one in the future.
*I made this with samosa filling so it actually took about an hour to make dinner.
Pulled Pork for Dummies
I got this one from Cassy, who was right in describing it as super easy and super yummy. If you have three ingredients, a crockpot, and all day to wait, you have pulled pork, my friends.
Pulled Pork
Ingredients
Pork roast
Bbq sauce of your choice
Applesauce
Equipment
Crockpot
Instructions
Put the roast in the crockpot. Pour most of a bottle of bbq sauce on/around it. Cover the top of the roast with applesauce. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Shred with a fork.
Yields
Depends on how you eat your pulled pork. I could probably make ten sandwiches out of this thing, maybe more.
Total time
8-9 hours (unattended)
Cleanup rating 4/5
I hate cleaning the crockpot. (Usually Birk winds up doing it for me.) I used to have some of those plastic liners... I should find those again, then this would be like a 1/5.
Difficulty rating 1/10
Put three things in the pot and turn it on (and make sure it's plugged in). Literally anyone can do this.
Flavor rating 7/10
Birk suggested a more... permeating... sauce. Something with more vinegar (I used a honey bbq... not the best suited to this task, because it stays on the outside of the roast for the most part). But I enjoyed it very much anyway.
Pulled Pork
Ingredients
Pork roast
Bbq sauce of your choice
Applesauce
Equipment
Crockpot
Instructions
Put the roast in the crockpot. Pour most of a bottle of bbq sauce on/around it. Cover the top of the roast with applesauce. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Shred with a fork.
Yields
Depends on how you eat your pulled pork. I could probably make ten sandwiches out of this thing, maybe more.
Total time
8-9 hours (unattended)
Cleanup rating 4/5
I hate cleaning the crockpot. (Usually Birk winds up doing it for me.) I used to have some of those plastic liners... I should find those again, then this would be like a 1/5.
Difficulty rating 1/10
Put three things in the pot and turn it on (and make sure it's plugged in). Literally anyone can do this.
Flavor rating 7/10
Birk suggested a more... permeating... sauce. Something with more vinegar (I used a honey bbq... not the best suited to this task, because it stays on the outside of the roast for the most part). But I enjoyed it very much anyway.
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