I love my rather warped brain!

[thewayne]

Tomorrow there's a potluck at the solar observatory. I've made chili and chipotle shredded chicken tacos. And I'm going to be baking a lemon cake with chocolate fudge frosting. Russet is working, but I'll set some aside for her before I go

Comments

[thespian15]

I think I just wanna watch you in the kitchen. :)

OJ in your tacos? Interesting. :)

A lemon cake sounds very refreshing. :)
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Watching me in the kitchen would probably be more amusing than educating, LOTS of wasted motion!

Yeah, the tacos are interesting. The pan starts with 3 tbs of butter, once that's melted you add the chipotle/adobo, garlic, cilantro, orange juice. Bring it up to a boil and cook that a bit, then take it down to medium, add the chicken, cover it, cook for 8 minutes a side until it reads 165f on a thermometer. Remove the breasts, cover them in a bowl so they're steaming. Add some mustard to the sauce, take it off the heat, whisk it to reduce/thicken it to make it a good sauce. Shred the chicken, mix it back in wth the sauce, add the remaining cilantro.

Done.

I'm looking forward to making the cake tonight, starting it momentarily (I should have put the butter out this morning to soften!). I'll get them in the freezer tonight then decorate them tomorrow, I'm not going to do the second cake - no room in the fridge!

But I could do a bare cake tomorrow - no frosting..... it could happen...

[thespian15]

Not sure about the spices, but sounds tempting. lol...

You are going to make a NAKED cake? :o
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thewayne]

Naked as in bare: unfrosted, no icing. There's not going to be time for that. I could do the flourless chocolate cake, but I really don't want to bother. Icing this one will take enough time.

[fairy69]

I miss making chili. I did a few times here with a nice slow cooker that I have but Gilles is French so most spicy foods or anything remotely Mexican is a turn-off for him. Oh well.

[thewayne]

Wow! Add to list: do not marry a French girl.

:-)

[fairy69]

can't really go by that, actually. If she was 30 or younger, I am sure she would eat spicier foods...there is a generation that is just still more traditional with their cuisine.

[thewayne]

In the event that I were widowed, the odds of me even remotely considering a woman almost half my age are all but asymptotic.

[chaquir]

I find it really fun to see that a fair part of the man on my list can have a good time in the kitchen and making the most awesome dishes.

I do like a fair bit of spice also. But I'm no fan of the combo fruit/chocolate. (but that's just -me-)

[thewayne]

I've baked since I was a kid and I wish I'd started cooking a long time ago with my mom and her mom, but I didn't. We have a cable network called Food Network, and they had a series called Good Eats that, in addition to teaching recipes and cooking techniques, teaches the science behind cooking and taste. Quite fascinating. And there's another program on public broadcasting called America's Test Kitchen and they do an amazing job of testing recipes: if you follow one of their recipes to the letter, it's pretty much a 100% success rate.

Half the cake is gone, all of the chipotle chicken and I'd guess about half the chili. I was hoping some of the chicken would be left, but that's OK - I can always make more! And it's nice to be appreciated by knowing that there were no survivors. :-)

My wife does enjoy me cooking, that's for sure!

[chaquir]

haha yes, I can imagine that your wife doesn't mind you doing that at all.
Tienne doesn't cook at all. He could you know. As you say, it's often a matter of following a recipe.
He just has no interest whatsoever to cook, so we made a deal. He kills the spiders and changes lamps and all, and I do the cooking. It works fine this way.