Prog Chefs Unite!!!

Asked the wife what she wanted for Mother's Day and all she wants is a good ol' taco salad. Nothin' fancy, but I did make my own guacamole. Also got a little cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. 

E

I did lots of cooking in the past few days, when my other half was here in Rome with me... Made risotto three times (once with dried porcini mushrooms, then with pumpkin, and finally with radicchio and red wine), bolognese sauce (a lighter version than the original, but still very good), various sweet things, tasty salads.. However, the highlight was (at least according to him) my own version of zucchini pancakes, which I adapted from a couple of recipes I had at home. I found the zucchini already shredded at my local grocery store, and added a pot of homemade plain yogurt, some red pepper flakes, and a couple of tablespoons of grated Parmesan. They were wonderful!

do you like garlic? then try this:

Spanish garlic chicken

ingredients for 4 servings.preheat oven to 350°F. (175° Celsius)

rinse chicken and pat dry. sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wings under chicken.

heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning it carefully, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. transfer chicken to a plate.

tie herbs and celery together with string to make a bouquet garni and add to pot along with garlic cloves. put chicken, breast side up, on top of cloves and bake, covered tightly, in middle of oven, basting twice, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into fleshy part of a thigh (avoid bone) registers 170°F, 30 to 40 minutes.

transfer chicken to a cutting board, reserving pan juices, and let stand 10 minutes. cut chicken into serving pieces and spread roasted garlic on toasts. serve chicken drizzled with some of reserved pan juices.

smell of garlic for 2 weeks afterwards

I like to cook for the most part, and I usually do unless buddies say they wanna go out to eat somewhere or I am able to mooch food from other people's houses. 

I don't usually look up recipies.  I kind of throw stuff together that should work. 

Tonight I heated up some small tortillas. then cooked black olives, diced artichoke hearts, pepercinis (sp?), diced carrots, a bit of celery, and diced tomatos in olive oil.  with sprinkles of crushed rosemary, a bit of oregano, crushed red peppers, and black pepper. and added some "4 cheese mexican cheese" to the mix

then made some rice.  put that sh*t together in the tortillas.

I was worried it'd be overwhelming and nasty, but it turned out ok.  Maybe needed some different spices. 

it rocked my world man...

I just got back from a Caribbean island where I consumed ridiculous amounts of jerk chicken.  Anyone have a good recipe to recreate this incredible dish?

And if you don't they make you wear a dress...or something like that.

E

Popeye's chicken rocks!!

E

Popey's chicken and biscuits tonight, spicy of course, with plenty of honey and a big tub of slaw.. i think that'll do, though someday I'd like my own deep fryer

Fired up the grill for some lovely KC strips with roasted asparagus and oven fries.Tomorrow me thinks of heading south of the border.

E