Experiments With Flightless Birds-Part 1

looks like I should have gone to Boston Market...

I mean I've never seen chickens fly, have you?  This was started when I saw some chicken leg quarters on sale at Publix so I decided to take a crack at it.  Basically you see a before and after shot of a bird who was not terribly seasoned properly before roasting in the oven.  What you see on the left are celery, onions, a ridiculous amount of paprika, parsley, salt, pepper and what I think is a poor execution of spreading rosemary evenly across the birds.  So after adding a small amount of water to the bottom,  I roasted it off at 400 degrees and it came out like you see on the right. The minor detail was that I forgot to baste the thing and the skin was pretty much crisp to a point where it had to be tossed.  Not burnt, but the spices came off so strong on the bird that it was best to serve without the skin.  I think it tasted alright; well after a dousing of Johnny Harris BBQ sauce, but this lead to another test which I will be sharing soon.

Dish created: 6/2/11

Stuffed Tilapia...yeah I know it looks like it was cut by a machine

There's not much I can say about the fish, I bought it at Publix and just stuck it in the oven.  It was stuffed with crabmeat and had some seasonings.  Your standard stuffed fish. But for a grocery store it was a good sized portion and tasted alright w/o having to add too much to it. Just some olive oil on top to brown it up a bit.

But the good news is that I created a mushroom and spinach sautee that turned out very well.  Really cook down the mushrooms in olive oil to get a nice dark color and bring out the flavor.  Outside of that I can't really say too much more.  Sometimes you can just do simple things well and turn around a flavorful and tasty meal. 

Orzo...Is It A Pasta? Rice? Grain? Tiny Magic Beans?

Well you can't really see the orzo (which is technically a pasta) because it's covered by sauteed shrimp in dill, sea salt, pepper and olive oil.  Served with mixed veggies and fresh sauteed spinach.  This was one of the healthier dishes out there you can make.  I wish I had more to write, but can't think what else to say.


Dish Created: 4/13/2011

Breakfast For Dinner?

Popeye called, he wants his spinach back

Breakfast for dinner?  Sure, why not.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because if you don't eat it you'll be irritable by noon and will overeat at the local drive thru (done and done).  This is your vegetable omelet gone wild.  Three eggs, fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and a mess of feta cheese all thrown together in (a must...) a non-stick pan.  I lacked a bit of salt but the feta made up for it.  I probably should do more than this.  Eggs are ridiculously cheap and pretty good for you in moderation.  It's amazing how healthy things can be when you take out the smoked pork products and a pound of processed/shredded cheese.

Dish created: 4/5/11

I Mean What's The Deal With Gyros?

no this meat is not from a cone

Who doesn't like gyros?  Well vegetarians I guess.  This was a first crack at lamb gyros.  I mean it's the Mediterranean diet right?  So to start we've got lamb meat that was cooked like a meatloaf then cut and sauteed in a pan.  It's stuffed in a gyro along with cucumbers and tzatziki sauce made from scratch.  The pitas are whole wheat and were laced with olive oil and baked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes keeping them toasty and hot (but not burnt at all). Overall this meal was a friggin great success.

Dish created: 4/10/2011