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Dinner
I am feeling moderately pleased with dinner this week.
Monday: Tortellini with shrimp sauce (simmer half a jar of Classico spaghetti sauce -- the other half of the jar was for the people in my family who don't like shrimp -- and add half pound of shelled raw shrimp; cook until shrimp was done.)
Tuesday: Mardi Gras party at church (Bananas Foster. I will follow you anywhere for Bananas Foster.)
Wednesday: Ginger chicken (melt three T butter, add two T chopped ginger, saute 3 chicken breasts (cut in half to make 6 pieces) until done; deglaze pan with 2 c. orange juice and juice of a lime and another T of chopped ginger -- reduce until thick) and pineapple-coconut rice (Minute Rice made with coconut milk and the juice from a can of crushed pineapple, with the pineapple added as well).
Tonight: I wasn't sure what to make, as pay day isn't until tomorrow so I had to go with what was in the freezer and pantry. We have a frozen lasagna, but I wanted to save that for Sunday. So I took a package of pork chops from the freezer and sauteed them in butter on top of the stove. I removed the chops from the pan, and deglazed the pan with some amount (2-3 c?) of Cranberry-Raspberry Juice Blend (from Costco) to which I added about 1/4 tsp of Penzey's ground star anise. Again, reduce until thick. I served it with a package of frozen roasted sweet potatoes and sour cream Bisquick drop-biscuits (2 and ~ 1/3 Bisquick, a good dollop or two sour cream, with enough milk added to make a soft drop-biscuit dough). (I wanted to make yeast rolls, but got started too late.)
I have been trying to cook more "real" food the past few months. I have started making my own mashed potatoes rather than using flakes. I'm don't think of myself as great cook, but I'm working on being a good cook.
Monday: Tortellini with shrimp sauce (simmer half a jar of Classico spaghetti sauce -- the other half of the jar was for the people in my family who don't like shrimp -- and add half pound of shelled raw shrimp; cook until shrimp was done.)
Tuesday: Mardi Gras party at church (Bananas Foster. I will follow you anywhere for Bananas Foster.)
Wednesday: Ginger chicken (melt three T butter, add two T chopped ginger, saute 3 chicken breasts (cut in half to make 6 pieces) until done; deglaze pan with 2 c. orange juice and juice of a lime and another T of chopped ginger -- reduce until thick) and pineapple-coconut rice (Minute Rice made with coconut milk and the juice from a can of crushed pineapple, with the pineapple added as well).
Tonight: I wasn't sure what to make, as pay day isn't until tomorrow so I had to go with what was in the freezer and pantry. We have a frozen lasagna, but I wanted to save that for Sunday. So I took a package of pork chops from the freezer and sauteed them in butter on top of the stove. I removed the chops from the pan, and deglazed the pan with some amount (2-3 c?) of Cranberry-Raspberry Juice Blend (from Costco) to which I added about 1/4 tsp of Penzey's ground star anise. Again, reduce until thick. I served it with a package of frozen roasted sweet potatoes and sour cream Bisquick drop-biscuits (2 and ~ 1/3 Bisquick, a good dollop or two sour cream, with enough milk added to make a soft drop-biscuit dough). (I wanted to make yeast rolls, but got started too late.)
I have been trying to cook more "real" food the past few months. I have started making my own mashed potatoes rather than using flakes. I'm don't think of myself as great cook, but I'm working on being a good cook.
no subject
One of my favorites, which you could easily do with your biscuit dough, is a pot pie. Saute bite-sized veggies (carrots, potatoes, root vegetables like parsnips or turnips, broccoli, celery -- whatever combo you like) until done, add herbs and spices like salt, pepper, sage, thyme, whatever. I add water for the final 5 minutes or so to soften and make gravy juices. Brown and cook through enough bite-sized pieces of chicken or turkey for the family, mix with the vegetables. Dump the remaining liquid from the veggies in the browning pan, and/or add some of the organic chicken or vegetable stock that Trader Joe's sells in cartons. Deglaze the pan, then mix flour or cornstarch and water together in a coffee cup, then stir that into the juices to make a gravy. Mix the gravy into the veggies. Then dump it all in a casserole dish and cover the top with bite-sized (or so) lumps of drop biscuit dough. It doesn't need to cover the whole top, but be fairly evenly distributed. Bake it until the top is golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped, and you have pot pie.
no subject
You may be the first person I've ever met who actually has used potato flakes. Growing up, "instant" mashed potatoes was something my mom would never use (even though she used many other "instant" things), having had enough of it when as a young woman her job was as a "taster" in an instant mashed potato factory.