shrooms!
...got your attention, didn't I? ;D
Kidding. I do not endorse use of psychedelic mushrooms. No matter how funny it is to use the term 'psychedelic mushrooms'. Hehehe.
Had beef stroganoff with rice for dinner tonight, which I helped make. It's one of the only ways you will ever, EVER see me voluntarily consume mushrooms. Cooking it got me thinking about creating a meme of sorts for y'all that might be fun.
Here's What's Cookin'! Meme
Rules: Very simple. Post one or two recipes of your favorite meals in an entry. Tag however many people you want. Why? Sharing great recipes for great food makes the world a better place. Promise. ;D
And here are mine!
Chicken in Orange and Almond Sauce with Rice
Serves 3-4 people - 1 bigger serving per person, or 2 smaller servings.
1. Start cooking rice first - use 1 cup uncooked rice in saucepan.
2. Prep the chicken: you need 2 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, depending on size. Wash under cool water and pat dry with paper towel, then lay out on a large plate. Sprinkle each breast with salt and rub curry powder on both sides - just enough to cover both sides in a thin layer.
3. Heat 1/4 cup margarine in a large skillet, put chicken in and sauté them until they turn light brown on both sides. Remove them to the plate again, but leave drippings in the skillet.
4. Mix the following into the drippings in skillet:
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
Stir together to make a thin paste and then add 1 and 1/2 cups orange juice. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce bubbles and begins to thicken. (If you want to increase the amount of sauce, add another 1 Tbsp. of flour, a little more of the spices, and then another 1/2 to 3/4 cups of orange juice, stirring slowly until it seems the right consistency.)
5. Return chicken to skillet. Optional additions: 1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds and/or 1/2 cup seedless golden raisins (note from Lis: I say optional because when I fix it, I leave out the almonds, as I hate almonds, LOL. But I looove it with raisins, they soak up the sauce and taste wonderful with the meal.). Cover and cook at simmer or low for about 45 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender. Once ready, you can also opt to add in 1 cup of orange sections (about one entire orange - my dad always uses navel oranges) and heat through, about 5 minutes.
Serve with sauce over rice. Or if you're like me, keep the chicken separate from rice, but drown both in the sauce. :D
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Serves at least 4 people, 1-2 servings each.
1. Put water on to boil in a 2 and 1/2 to 3 quart saucepan, add about a teaspoon of salt to water. Measure 2 cups of elbow macaroni and when water comes to a boil, pour in macaroni and stir to keep it from clumping up. Keep water just slightly bubbling and cook macaroni for about 8-10 minutes (9 works for my stove, but I know it can vary). Once done, drain water off and put about 2 Tbsp. of margarine in and stir to keep macaroni from sticking together.
While macaroni is cooking, fix the white sauce:
2. Melt 4 Tbsp. of margarine in a small saucepan over low heat. Dice up about half of a small onion and cook it in the margarine until soft. Then add 4 Tbsp. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper and stir - the mixture will clump up at first, then as your stir it will become smoother and begin to bubble. Take it off the heat at this point, or it will burn. Add 2 cups of milk, slowly; as soon as you have stirred in the first cup, you can put it back on low heat and continue adding the rest of the milk as the mixture thickens. Stir continually to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Within about 5-10 minutes, it will thicken and begin to boil - remove it from the heat again at this point. Add 2 tsp. of Dijon mustard (we use Grey Poupon) and stir in.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate about 1/2 to 3/4 lb. of sharp Cheddar cheese. Put macaroni into round or oblong casserole dish (about 2 qt. should be fine). Add the cheese, spreading it around on top of the macaroni and then pour the white sauce in; gently stir everything together. Once everything is mixed enough, put casserole dish in oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the top is browned and bubbly. Serve!
Mmmm. Those are two of my all-time favorite meals. Ever.
And because this was fun, I'll make a short list of a few other recipes I have and if any of you want me to post them, let me know which one(s), and I'll post them in another entry sometime this week. :)
1. Buffet Cheese Scalloped Carrots (or as I call it, carrot casserole) - this is my Grams' recipe, and has been a favorite sidedish of mine ever since I was a wee one, hehe. Even if you don't normally like carrots, I can almost promise you'd actually enjoy this.
2. Stir-Fry Tofu with Carrots and Snow Peas - served with rice, tofu is marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, fresh minced ginger, sherry, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, sesame oil and oyster sauce, just to give you an idea. :)
3. Lamb and Spinach Curry with Lemon Rice
4. Chicken Breast Romana with Spaghettini - chicken with pasta in a tomato-based sauce, with diced/chopped ham.
++++
And just for fun...
Songs I've Been Obsessed With Lately
+ Three More Days - Ray LaMontagne (I've had this song on repeat for the last hour, at least. It is SEX.)
+ Teardrop - Massive Attack
+ Lay Low - My Morning Jacket
+ Saturday In The Park - Chicago
+ For Us - Pete Yorn
+ Colors - Amos Lee
+ Original Fire - Audioslave
+ The Hardest Part - Coldplay
+ Great Indoors - John Mayer
+ Every Word I Say - Hanson
+ Dance Me To The End of Love - Madeleine Peyroux
+ Breathe - The Hero Factor
+ Fisherman's Woman - Emiliana Torrini
+ Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrel
+ One Headlight - The Wallflowers
+ The Departure (Gattaca Soundtrack) - Michael Nyman
+ Daylight Fading - Counting Crows
+ Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire
+ Hands - The Raconteurs
Hope you are all well. :) Much love!
PS: Am now totally addicted to House M.D. This brings my current Must See TV list up to: LOST, CSI, Grey's Anatomy (which, thanks to the mental giants at ABC, is now on at the same time as CSI. Damn you, ABC. Damn you.), Without A Trace, House, Monk and Psych. Disgraceful, isn't it? In the space of less than a year or so, I went from hardly ever watching any television shows, to this. LOL At least Monk and Psych are on a different season schedule (they both just had their season finales and won't start back up until January). But yes. House. Hugh Laurie is love. My goodness. I never thought I'd love a cranky, anti-social doctor so much. ;D