Chicken Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

We took a little detour from our not-really a chicken ceasar - salad. I tend to garnish the basics with extra veggies and things that I have in the 'fridge. Waste not; want not. Right? It's all good for ya stuff anyway. We needed to get rid of some chicken breasts and burritos weren't on the agenda after the last bomb. So back to another staple: chicken salad. Only this time I jazzed it up with lime vinaigrette. Read on my friends. I love our chicken salad nights. They are so easy to prepare with little or no work. It's just a pain in the butt to have to buy a lot of fresh ingredients and produce because then you feel pressured to use all of the ingredients before they go bad. Then you'll have wasted money and food. So whenever I buy fresh produce, I feel like I'm under the gun. Basically this happens every time I shop. So salads like these act as a perfect receptacle for perishable foods. With a good vinaigrette, it's hard to go wrong.

To prepare. I baked the trimmed, boneless chicken breasts on a sheet pan with olive oil, cilantro (dried), s & p. For the salad, I used a bag of spring mix. Then I added the goodies. The grape tomato halves, sweet onions slices, cannellini beans (rinsed & drained) and a sprinkling of leftover asiago cheese. I added the beans because we're down to very little in the food closet and I wanted to stretch out the salad a little. I also happen to like cannellini beans. For the lime vinaigrette, I used freshly squeezed lime juice, olive oil, honey, sugar in the raw, cilantro (dried), s&p. I had a little trouble incorporating the honey because it was a little dried out. Then, upon tasting it, I realized that I needed to sweeten it up a bit more to cut the tartness of the limes. And I used a generous amount of dried cilantro in it.

The verdict. Steve & I really enjoyed the chicken salad. He said it was delicious and that the chicken was tender and juicy. And we both loved the lime vinaigrette. Because I added the extra sugar in the raw, the dressing was a nice balance between sweet and tart though it wasn't really what I'd consider to be really sweet dressing like french or honey mustard. A great meal all made possible because fresh limes happened to be on sale. 3 for $1. How could I have passed that up? Sometimes my best inspirations come from just looking at our grocery store circular. And then it makes me extra happy that it's on sale. Alrighty folks. As always, Eat Something Good!

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Weight Watchers Chicken Parmesan

Once again, frozen entrees went on sale at my supermarket and I decided to buy some. Yesterday, I decided to have one for lunch. I had Weight Watchers Smart Ones - chicken parmesan. They describe it as a hearty dish of herb-seasoned, all-white meat chicken breast and tender pasta in a zesty marina sauce, topped with melted mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. It doesn't sound too bad, does it? Well, let me tell you. Okay, so I ate it. In fact, I ate the entire thing and let Sid lick it clean afterwards. The chicken was satisfactory and no more. I tolerated the texture because it wasn't as bad as can be. It was doable, it was tender. It was a weird kinda tender though. Like if you cooked it yourself, it probably would have a better texture. Anyway, the sauce. It wasn't as zesty as they claim. It was herb ee. And I didn't love the herb combination but with the non-descript sauce, it blended tolerably. Wow, I sure tolerated a lot of things about this meal. The pasta. Yes, it was tender as they described. But frozen entree spaghetti is usually tender/mushy but not as much as a Chef Boyardee product. (And I like some varieties like Beefaroni. Don't ask. I grew up eating a lot of trash.) Anyway, bottom line. I would not buy this product again even if it was on sale. I would, however, get a variation of the product. I'm interested in trying all frozen foods available on this earth. And that's all she said. Eat Something Good!

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Kyedong Chicken KFC

Kyedong Chicken is one of the main chains in the business of fried chicken. This place is all about chicken & beer. (And I didn't notice til later that those words are written right on the awning itself.)

It's fried chicken not like the KFC we know but the KFC that Koreans know about. My brother sent me a link about it once and supposedly it's very popular out in California. Steve & I found a couple of places in Queens NY and one in Manhattan and Valentine's Day seemed like a perfect day for us to try this stuff that we've only been fantasizing about.

For $18 we got a large order of wings. 15 pieces. (They actually gave us 16 but who's counting?) And they were good sized pieces. They came with shoestring french fries. (About the size of McDonald's.) We got half with soy sauce and half with hot sauce - the only two flavors available. We had a long wait with fair warning. It says right on the menu that it takes 20 minutes for a hot batch. And it's always a hot batch because this chicken doesn't sit under heat lamps. It comes to you fresh out of the fryer. Same goes for the french fries. As sides, they put out some unusual things. This place being Korean, I was not surprised that some form of kimchee type thing was put out. I think they were little cubes of turnip or radish. Unsure. I didn't taste one though I should have. They also gave you a little lettuce. I was unfamiliar with the type. I bypassed the non-meat things and went straight for the chicken.

The soy sauced wings were really good. As per Steve, they were damn good. I have no idea how they make them. I mean, they're fried. When does the sauce go on? And it couldn't have been just a few bastings after the fact. The wings were flavored too well. The soy flavor was there but it was light. It wasn't too salty or strong or too sweet like a teriyaki. And the fry job they did. Wow. You could really taste that it was chicken. And pretty good quality and well handled chicken. The meat was nice and white contrasting with the brown skin/crust. The skin was lightly crunchy and definitely crispy. There isn't a thick harsh batter as can be with some fried chickens. And despite being sauced, you didn't get it all over your fingers. The sauce is in the skin/crust. The hot sauced ones were more of the same in texture. But I didn't love it. The hot pepper (I'm assuming powder) that they used was dry tasting. I guess I don't love the flavor of red pepper or cayenne raw. I like it infused with some acid like in a good buffalo sauce. Oh, I have to say a word about beer as this is a place for beer & chicken. They sold two types of beer: Hite and Dark. You can order 500cc or 2000cc. Steve ordered the 500cc of dark beer. I drank at least 1/3 of it. And it was really good beer. It reminded me of a Sam Adams. It was complex, smooth and with very little bitterness. I failed to ask them what type of beer it was but I'm assuming it was some sort of korean beer. Good stuff! We had a great day out in Queens and I'm so glad we got the opportunity to Eat Something Good!

Kyedong Chicken
150-54 Northern Blvd.
Queens, NY 11354

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Baked Buffalo Wings

I love buffalo wings. Love them. I don't have them too often but when I do, I'm usually not disappointed. The only time I get sad is when they add spices to it like cayenne or something. I like it straight up hot sauce & butter. That's basically what buffalo wing sauce is. But because I'm not an expert at making them, I just followed the very simple directions on my giant bottle of Frank's red hot sauce. Previously, I've broiled wings and then tossed them in sauce. They turn out okay. A little crisping to the skin.

The directions suggested either frying the wings or baking them for an hour at 425 F. I chose to do the baking thing because it's way easier and it made me feel somehow a teensie bit healthier. Crazy, I know. Anyhow, I threw the wings on a sheet pan and did not do a thing to them. I threw 'em in the oven and let it go. After the hour was up, I spooned on the buffalo sauce and served them with the potato wedges that made an appearance in last week's salisbury steak dinner. I added a little more oil this time though I don't think it was necessary. I would've liked to have served this finger feast with celery sticks but we didn't have any. We did, however, have Ken's lite blue cheese dressing. Yey!

I'm not kidding when I say this. Steve said they were some of the best wings he's ever had. He totally loved them. I liked 'em a lot too. We were both so surprised at how crispy, crunchy the skin came out. It was almost as though they were deep-fried. Amazing. I had no idea. The potato wedges didn't turn out as good as last time, but as I dipped my wedge into the blue cheese dressing, I didn't mind them at all. Not one bit. Mmmm. I'm definitely making these again. Oh, we bought wingettes which basically means you don't have to go through the work of cutting them up. Steve really liked that cause I usually make him cut up them up. But look for wingettes at the grocery store and you won't have to go through much work to Eat Something Good!

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Chicken Burritos

I had the good sense to cook up all 6 boneless chicken breasts earlier this week. I made a decent salad out of half of it. And last night, I used some for our dinner. I'd already shredded the chicken. (Pulled apart with 2 forks.) It was pretty tender. Not overcooked. And I swirled it in the pan juices before I sealed it all up in a plastic bag. I think the liquid helped to keep the chicken moist and tender.

For the chicken, I sauteed up some green peppers (small diced), red onion (small diced), and added some spices. I added a hint of chili powder, a hint of cumin, dried cilantro, salt. I then tossed the chicken in that and heated it through. To make the burritos, I had to pull out the electric griddle. Heat tortilla on both sides to desired doneness. If you leave it longer, the tortilla will become lighter and crisp. I didn't go quite that far though I wouldn't have minded if I did. I just didn't have the patience to wait. So, I threw down some American cheese. Then I added a good amount of the seasoned chicken mixture. On top of that, I added quartered grape tomatoes, diced onions (small), thinly shredded iceberg lettuce and that's it. I didn't tuck in the sides, I just sorta rolled the whole thing over. I plopped on a generous dollop of sour cream and hot salsa (Tostitos brand) on top of the thing. Along the center. It said 'eat me' so I did. We did and...

Steve loved it. I thought it was pretty darn good too. Almost as good as a decent Mexican joint. The only unfortunate part was that I didn't make enough of everything for a third burrito to share. Hehehe. I may be making this one again when we have leftover chicken. I actually have more chicken to make chicken salad with. And the celery and red onion are already diced, almost minced. Yey! Mmmm, yummy sammies. Don't forget to take a break today to Eat Something Good!

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Chicken Stir-Fry

I seldom do stir-fry dishes mostly because I don't have a wok and I feel like you need one to make a good stir-fry. I might add that I don't know exactly how to cook in one nor do I have recipes for sauces and such. Last night, I cut up chicken tenderloins into bite-size pieces. (Actually I put Steve to work.) I sauteed that up in olive oil and set them aside. Oh, I threw in two garlic cubes half way through cooking it. Then I threw in the bag of vegetables. I let them cook a little before I added the sauce which was composed of soy sauce, sugar, ground ginger, paprika, cayenne pepper (a hint) and freshly ground black pepper. I let the vegetables (Frozen bag of Bird's Eye broccoli stir-fry - broccoli, carrots, onions, red peppers, water chestnuts, mushroom & celery) - Let them cook through a little bit more and add the flour to the center of the pan, pushing the vegetables along the outer edge. Stir. When it bubbles and cooks through, throw the chicken back in. Oh, I didn't add the flour directly to the pan. I shook it up with chicken stock in a little jar and then poured it into the center of the pan. I served it over plain ole Uncle Benz rice though I think an asian rice would've been better or oh, wait..brown rice would've been really nice. .

The verdict. We liked it a whole lot. The chicken was tender (as Steve commented) and the sauce came out so nicely. I was worried that it was too salty, but then I found that you needed that to flavor the chicken & vegetables. I used to order beef with broccoli all the time in college. That and chicken lo mein were the few dishes I had. Anyway, the sauce tasted very similar to very good beef & broccoli sauce. I put so much food on Steve's plate that he actually couldn't finish it. I gave the rest to Sid and he thought it was Mmm, mmm good. I want you guys to have a nice Mmm, mmm experience while you Eat Something Good!

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Chicken Cesar Salad

Ok, technically it wasn't a straight cesar salad. I added a few extra ingredients. To me, straight cesar is good. Usually, it's just romaine lettuce, croutons, grated or shaved parmesan cheese & sometimes anchovy fillets. I usually see anchovy fillets at better restaurants. Sometimes they're courteous enough to ask because I don't think anchovies go over well with most people. I had an Italian teacher once. Yes, she was Italian (like from Italy) and with her great accent she said: I would never think of eating a pizza without anchovies. I thought that was interesting.

So, to this cesar salad kit (included dressing, grated parmesan & croutons), we added little grape tomatoes, red onion (sliced thin) and I threw in some crumbled gorgonzola cheese we had in the 'fridge leftover from steak salad. Anyway, because I added extra ingredients, the dressing that came it with fell short. I needed to supplement. So I dug around the refrigerator and found a bottle of Silver Palate cesar dressing. I was so psyched. Then I went to pour some out and there was barely a tablespoon there. So I sighed. Then *lightbulb* I remembered we had some Ken's creamy cesar lite dressing. And there was plenty of that. So in that went to the salad bowl. For the chicken, I used tenderloins and broiled them on a rack over a sheet pan. They'd been seasoned in a bag with olive oil, oregano, s&p. They broiled up in minutes. Dinner took less than 15 minutes to prepare. Isn't that the bestest? I cut the chicken into medium-sized pieces and tossed the whole thing in a giant wooden salad bowl.

Steve and I really enjoyed the salad. We aren't experts on cesar salad so we didn't mind the mixture of the three dressings. Also, the chicken was very tender. I've been doing pretty good with baking chicken lately. And as for the additional ingredients added to it, the gorgonzola was especially nice. It added more richness to the already rich dressing. Darnit, I should've grated some romano cheese over it. I know I've had it before with parmesan but never romano. I have ambivalence towards shaved hard cheese versus grating. Steve likes his cesar with shaved cheese. He even ran out and bought the slicing gadget after he'd had it that way for the first time. It makes me so happy when things turn out good cause then you get to Eat Something Good!

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Dottie's Casserole

The full name of this dish is called Dottie's Zucchini, Chicken, and Rice Casserole. I have no idea who Dottie is. I found it online from About.com. There was no user rating so I had nothing to fall back on. It was a complete shot in the dark. Also, this is the first casserole I've ever made unless you count arroz con pollo as a cassole. I cooked it like one. I must find that recipe. I used to make it in college for all my girlfriends and they loved it.

This is how I made it. First you take half of you diced onions and some garlic and heat that up in a pan (large'ish). Saute. Then add the zucchini and mushrooms. Saute. Next is to add the raw rice, all the veggies (except for the tomato and remaining onions), chicken stock, parmesan cheese (we used romano), rosemary, thyme and s&p. Mix it up and transfer to a greased baking dish. I used a disposable lasagne pan. Yes, this dish was a bit of a pain the ass to make but I put Steve to work and he did all the slicing and dicing. *snicker* To continue. Saute the remaing onions, tomatoes and a little chili powder before pouring the mixture atop the other ingredients in the baking dish. Sigh. Okay, I went through all that. Waited a whole hour for it to bake at 350F. And?

Overall, it was pretty good but there are 'buts'. I had thought that the casserole would set up. It didn't at all. There was plenty of liquid still left which I didn't understand because the rice did absorb some water but not all of it. I was a little upset upon this discovery. Nevertheless, I served it up. Surprise, surprise. It wasn't that bad. It was actually kinda good and made me feel healthy to eat. Aside from the oil used to sautee, there was no fat in this dish. Unfortunately, they didn't give the nutritional breakdown. Ok. So on its own, it was okay except that it was liquidy. Then we hit it with some freshly grated romano cheese and I, for a second, thought I was eating a risotto. Yum. Steve mentioned that this dish was more reminicent of a gumbo. I thought that was interesting. With the grated cheese, the thing took on new life. It was so much better. We enjoyed it alot. Steve thought it was delicious. So there a pluses and minuses to this dish. I still wonder if the recipe was off and called for far more liquid than necessary or if that was how it was supposed to be. Though it was good, I will not be throwing this one in the rotation. Too much work and not good enough of a result. It was all about the sauce - it needed to be thickened badly. Okay guys. Cook (or not) and Eat Something Good!

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Rotisserie Chicken

I don't know if I've told you this recently, but I attacked a bird savagely last week with my bare hands. A large, rotisserie chicken chicken flavored with honey. It was a pretty good sized bird. They charged $7.50 for it but I was under the impression that it was $8.99. I would've bought it at that price. I made an excuse to myself that maybe chickens were getting expensive too to rationalize this totally unnecessary purchase. Nothing was going to stop me from getting my little bird to the table.

This eating of food with the bear hands. I'm totally cool with for things such as pizza, french fries (though sometimes I fork those), burgers, sandwiches, hand held appetizers...and such. But for a whole rotisserie chicken? When I do this it's because I'm repeating what my mother has done all her life. She used tear those things up like crazy. And what used to make me upset is that she'd only eat the dark meat. And then for some unknown reason, she'd shred (pull into long strands) the breast meat and not eat it. I couldn't eat it after she'd done that. So I'm somewhat disgusted with myself for having this attack.

I open the box. I have to sigh. It's not always a site of beauty - all these dead things. I look at its breasts. They look succulent. I tear a piece off. It's eh. And I really wanted a good wing on a bird. I got severely overcooked ones. They were inedible. The leg & thigh were alright. Moist. Tender. A little sticky. The skin, though no longer crispy, still had a tremendous amount of flavor to it. Yes, I ate me some skin last night. Post savage attack - half a bird left. (Ok, maybe a little less than a half of a bird left.) Still, a large portion (perhaps even 2) for the Widney. He enjoys his chicken as much as the next animal will. Ok. Now. Using your bare hands (and you have my blessings), Be barbaric and Eat Something Good!

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China Garden

We ordered chinese food last night. And we got it delivered. Totally easy night. I got something I haven't had in a couple of years. General Tsao's Chicken with brown rice and an egg roll. Steve had the shrimp chow mein with white rice and fried noodles. And a shrimp roll. Oh, we both got soups as well. He got wonton; I got hot and sour.

Whenever we went out for chinese, my father would start by pointing to each of us and asking if we wanted soup. There was no question as to what kind of soup it was because he always ordered the same thing. Hot & sour. Anyway, mine wasn't great last night. The best parts were the pieces of pork. I actually ate the soup after I'd eaten everything else.

The General's chicken. Eh. I should've ordered something else. The pieces of chicken were like overfried and dried out. Some pieces were okay but a lot wasn't. The itty bitty pieces were alright because they were crispy. The sauce was a little spicier than I remember it being. I always picture a sweet kinda sauce. The egg roll was good. I only wished it were a little bigger and had more filling. I'm pretty sure Steve enjoyed his meal. He's ordered it twice before and didn't complain about it. I reminded him of that last night while he was having trouble figuring out what to get. My fortune was retarded. The cookie was good. I washed all this muck down with diet coke. Ah...Eat Something Good!

China Garden
980 S Lake Blvd
Mahopac, NY 10541

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Greek Salad with Chicken

Last night I made Greek Salad with Chicken. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a greek salad. It was more of a mish mosh. The only things that made it greek were the feta cheese and stuffed vine leaves. We bought it at a Indian grocery. Usually I buy stuffed grape leaves. More like the greek kind. These tasted similar and perhaps they were grape leaves though they didn't specify which is weird. So the salad. It consisted of a european salad bag thing, thinly sliced red onion, grated carrots, crumbled feta cheese, stuffed vine leaves, spanish manzanilla olives (would have preferred kalamata), and I think that's it for the veggies. Oh, I also grated some lemon zest over the whole thing. Notice how I completely forgot two main ingredients: cucumber and tomato. When have you ever seen a greek salad without them? I never have. Oh well.

For the dressing, I took Maille dijon mustard and mixed it with red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, sugar in the raw, oregano and s&p. The sugar cut the tartness which is exactly what I need when I'm working with red vine vinegar. It's super acidic tasting to me. Major pucker factor.

The chicken part. Olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, s&p. White wine during cooking. I baked it for 25 minutes at a 350F. It turned out perfect. I'm getting much better at cooking chicken. Well, using the oven I am. I still tend to kill it stovetop or grilling outdoors. I cut the chicken into good size but bite sized (for a fairly big mouth...hehehe) pieces and put it on top of the greens and vegetables. Then I tossed the whole thing in the red wine vinegar dressing.

The verdict. We both enjoyed the salad. The carrots and the sugar in the dressing leant a slightly sweet taste to the overall salad. And the olives added a nice salty, juicy burst. We felt healthy last night. Steve got stuffed. I ate one big plateful and that was enough. (It was a pretty big plateful.) Sid got some chicken too and he scarfed it up. Ok, do like we do and Eat Something Good!

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Pulled Chicken Salad

It was soup & sandwiches last night. We didn't have any cooked chicken lying around so I had to cook some up. I decided to bake it cause I think it cooks more evenly then. I seasoned the boneless breasts with olive oil (and I almost always mean extra virgin), garlic powder, tarragon and s&p. As it was cooking, I hit it generously with white wine. White wine goes so nicely with tarragon in my opinion. Ok, I baked the chicken for like 20-25 minutes on 350F. Once cooked, I used two forks to pull the meat apart. It was nice and tender. Some juices formed in the sheet pan I was preparing the chicken on. I smothered the pulled chicken in it before I transfered it to a bowl. Then I added mayo (almost always Hellmann's), Maille dijon mustard, a hint more tarragon (would've loved fresh for this but dried sufficed) and a bit more salt. I served it on sesame seed rolls that I'd heated in the oven. It gave the crust a very slight crisp and the inside was nice and warm. It would've been nice to have some celery and carrot, finely diced for this salad but I didn't have any on hand.

On the side, I heated up a can of Progresso Italian-style wedding soup. They're the ones with the little meatballs with pasta in chicken broth. I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but we used to like Progresso Chickarina soup. The ingredients were similar. I'm still shopping for soup ideas and I'm spacing. Oh well, it'll come when it's ready.

The dinner was a success. We both really, really enjoyed the sandwich. Again, the finely diced veggies would've been nice but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. And believe me, it was a fat, satisfying sandwich. Steve actually put a slice of american cheese on his sandwich. I'm sure it was good. I just didn't go for it because I was overwhelmed by the very same cheese the night before. For dessert, I had a few pieces of no sugar added canned pears (store brand). I guess that was sorta healthy'ish. Alright guys, don't forget to take a break and Eat Something Good!

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Moroccan Chicken with Lemon & Olives

Steve and I gave this dish two very high thumbs up. As per Steve "it was delicious, absaf*ckalutely delicious". I made a few modifications to the recipe as I didn't have the right ingredients on hand. They called for one ingredient that I didnt' have. Actually I've never even heard of it before. Preserved lemon. From what I can gather, it's supposedly salty. And this recipe also called for using a cut up whole chicken not boneless breasts as I'd prepared. All other ingredients were on board. And there were certainly a lot of ingredients.

Here goes. Combine all spices (paprika, ground cumin, ground ginger, tumeric (first time working with it), cinnamon and black pepper.) Roll chicken in spice mixture and let sit for one hour. To make long steps shorter, I cooked the first side of the chicken on medium heat with diced onions and minced garlic. Lid closed. Fifteen minutes later I flipped the breasts and added green olives (spanish manzanilla - with pimiento), raisins and lemon zest instead of preserved lemon. Then I added a little water and let it simmer for a 1/2 hour. Right before serving, I tossed the dish in fresh cilantro and curly parsley. I wanted the milder parsley to really show off the cilantro. I served this over basmati rice made from water only. No salt. No stock.

There's proof that this dish is as good as we're making it to be. I actually overcooked the chicken and it was still that delicious. The spices give the chicken a beautiful golden brown color. Steve was visually pleased with this dish as was I. Steve had a second piece. What initially drew me to this dish was the cinnamon. I love the flavor of cinnamon used in savory ways. I used to make a dish called porcupines years ago. I think it was from the Joy of Cooking. Anyway, they're these mini meat patties rolled in raw rice then cooked in a tomato based sauce. I used ground turkey though beef would be just as delicious. Not sure when I started adding cinnamon to the sauce but it made the dish ten times better. It made it interesting and the taste was pleasing. So for years now I've been searching for a nice cinnamon using dish. And this one caught my eye. I also thought the raisins (which become soft and less sweet when cooked in the broth) would go nicely with it. And of course you can't ignore how delicious green olives are. In your mouth, a sea of flavors some sweet and then Bam! Salty, briny green olives. Mmmm...makes you want to Eat Something Good!

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Campbell's Cream of Mushroom

We had some leftover egg noodles from goulash night. So Steve and I brainstormed about what we could possibly do with it. He requested dishes like turkey tetrazzini and chicken a la king. I don't recall having ever eaten either of them except that I do fantasize about turkey tetrazzini around Thanksgiving time. We decided to do something like chicken a la king. I read one very easy recipe that included cream of chicken soup. I've cooked with canned condensed soups before but I was never that fond of it. At best, it was edible and okay I guess. I came across more complicated versions of the dish but Steve poo pooed it and wanted the easy dish with the condensed soup.

So I went to CVS to pick up some stuff and I went to their food aisle. All I saw was cream of mushroom soup and decided to go with that. (I didn't feel like making a second trip to the grocery store.) Mushrooms were an ingredient in many of the recipes I looked at. So, with chicken a la king in mind I made something. In a medium sauce pan I added the soup with white wine, chicken stock and dried thyme. I sauteed chicken (small'ish pieces) in a heavy skillet (what we call our everyday pan) and added the sauce to it. Finally, I added some frozen peas.

I could taste the wine and chicken stock within the thick but not too thick sauce. And the egg noodles mixed in perfectly with the dish and that made me happy because it didn't go to waste. It went to my waist instead. Ha! Okay, so that wasn't very funny. To go with this meal, I made a simple spring mix salad with grape tomatoes and sliced red onion. I had it with fat free thousand island dressing. Steve passed on the salad and had a second serving of the chicken dish. Overall I was happy with the meal. Eat something good!

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Coconut Curry Chicken

Last night I tried a new recipe. After I downloaded it I saw that it was a Rachel Ray recipe. I've never tried one of her recipes. Actually, I'm not sure why I picked this one. I've only had Thai coconut curry once and I don't remember loving it. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I would've had it more than once. It wasn't a hard recipe which was good cause I was unfamiliar with some of the ingredients. It was my first time working with Chinese 5 spice powder.

She had you tossing your chicken strips in it with some s&p. Then the curry. It was cooked for a minute with olive oil. Next add the coconut milk and reduce by half. After you cook up the chicken strips you add the coconut curry part. It was served over rice.

Steve liked it but I had a problem with it. I expected it to be sweet for some reason. This is where it got tricky. Steve grabbed unsweetened coconut milk and the recipe didn't specify whether it should be sweetened or unsweetened. I have a feeling it might've been sweetened. At least that's what I wanted. As I was eating it, I hit it with a little granulated sugar. It helped. I kept adding a little more at a time. Steve didn't follow my lead. He was content with it as is. That made me feel a little better but it didn't solve my problem. Next time I make this dish I'm going to use sweetened coconut milk and add peas. That'd be nice. I cooked the chicken good though. It was tender, not overcooked. Sometimes I kill chicken. I completely overdo it til the point it's barely edible. It's that salmonella fear. Again, I may make this dish again but only with the minor changes. The sauce was thick and smooth. That was the enticing part. Okay folks, Eat Something Good!

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Mohegan Diner

Early on in my relationship with Steve, we frequented the Mohegan diner. We had to drive a little further than the diner closer to us, but the Mohegan's food is much better. I remember blogging about how diner prices are rising but portions getting a little smaller. Steve and I were nearly shocked when we saw the prices of even appetizers. Like up to and over $10.

The food. We were going to get our Mediterranean salad with steak. We've had it many times in our past failed attempts to eat healthier. I know, red meat - not healthy. We were just glad it had something green in it. Hehehe. Anyway, the best part is the taramasalata. I'd never had it before: I'd never heard of it before. Fortunately Steve's Greek side came in handy and he knew what it was. It's like fish eggs, perhaps salmon based on its color mixed into a very smooth, creamy and fluffy mashed potato. It's texture is so light that I didn't even think potatoes were involved at all. I kept thinking that it was some sort of whipped dairy product. Yeah.

When the waitress came to take our order one of my default choices came out of my mouth. I ordered the Kos Island wrap which is a hot wrap with grilled, marinated chicken, feta cheese and spinach. I had it once before and had a positive experience so out of my mouth it came when pressed. I got french fries for it. It didn't come with fries. Tell me how crazy that is in a diner not to serve fries with sandwich type things. Their fries were good. Steak cut wedges with the skin on. Steve commented that they didn't give me very many fries but I actually couldn't finish them. Steve even had some. Steve, planning on ordering that salad, decided to change his mind after he'd heard my order and got a regular stand by meal. I can't tell you how many times he's ordered a cheeseburger (no fries) and 2 eggs over with well done home fries and toast. He said the home fries were good. I could see the golden brown crust on the top layer of fries. His burger looked even a little too medium for me. Nearly rare. That was weird because after we'd ordered Steve realized she didn't ask him how he'd like his burger done. And we had a conversation about how it doesn't matter what you say cause it always comes out well done. I offered to give my half wrap to Steve and that I'd eat the burger because he gets upset if things aren't cooked enough. He's not a well done guy. He's a medium to medium well guy. I'm a medium girl myself (occasionally medium rare). He didn't say anything to me regarding the offer and happily tore into his burger. I think that meant he was liking it. To imagine, I wanted an appetizer before this meal too. We passed only because they were ridiculously expensive. And I had intentions to eat strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

Well, I was so full that I passed on dessert. Then Steve convinced me to get it so we could split it but he wanted chocolate cheesecake. I wasn't keen on the idea for some reason. I feared it wouldn't be chocolately enough. Diner desserts are usually just okay. Then we agreed on getting a plain slice. When the waitress came back, he ordered cheesecake...with strawberries! :) That made me so happy and Steve and I inhaled it. We needed that blast of sweet. We had dinner past 9p and I hadn't eaten anything all day. I think I just made the kcal cut off. Phew. Have a nice Saturday and Eat something good!

Mohegan Diner
1888 E Main St
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547

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Chicken "Parm"

I tried a repeat of the lo-cal oven fried chicken. I used thinly sliced chicken. I forgot one critical step. I forgot to dip the chicken in dressing before rolling them in bread crumbs. I don't actually roll them, I shake em up in a bag. Much easier. Less to clean up. I put our homemade sauce from batch #3 or #2 (don't recall) on top of the chicken and then hit it with provolone cheese. It melted quite nicely. I served it with freshly cut broccoli that I nuked with a wet (very) paper towel over it. And we had leftover shells that I heat up in a frying pan with a little olive oil and magic sauce. I put a fresh chiffonade of basil on top of both the chicken and the shells.

So, the dinner. It didn't turn out terrible but there was a major flaw. Firstly, I don't know if it's supposed to, but it wasn't crispy or crunchy. What was "edible" of it was really very good. But! A big but. There was a problem with texture. The outer two inches were fine. Maybe even three but the center portion was a little too tender if that's possible. I kept checking to make sure it wasn't pink and it wasn't. Though afterwards I felt as though I could've possibly poisoned Steve as well as myself. Back to food. Aside from the middle of the chicken mishap, it was a good dinner. If I only could curb my thoughts of possibly having poisoned someone. The broccoli was perfect as per Steve and the cooked shells were good. The sauce adhered to the shells nicely. And the olive oil loosened it up just a bit.

Food. Yum. Eat Something Good!

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Center Diner

The Center diner is one of those little, trailer ee, diners a few towns over. From the outside, it looks pretty dumpy and it doesn't get any prettier on the inside. Steve got a cheeseburger deluxe and I got chicken fingers deluxe. The chicken fingers were good. Even Steve thought so and he doesn't usually eat them. He wasn't loving his burger so we shared my fingers with a very good honey mustard dipping sauce. And though I didn't eat all my fries, they were good. We walked out of there with a $17 bill and that included drinks. Steve had a large chocolate milk shake. I tasted it, it was good. Very rich. Very chocolatey. We had a late dinner last night that involved me driving to McD's at around 11p to hit the dollar menu. I drove home as quickly as I could so the fries wouldn't get cold. We each had two double cheeseburgers, large fries, 4pc chicken mcnuggets with honey mustard and barbecue sauce and an apple pie. That was a good amount of food. And I inhaled it. Yes, it was a bad eating day for us. It also didn't help that Steve went crazy at Rite Aid and bought all these little packages of mini candy bars. Snickers, Baby Ruth, M&M's, Reese's peanut butter cups and a couple more. So yesterday was a no no day.

Today, so far I've been good. We stopped over a friend's house to see their daughter's new born. Oh my god. The thing had a full head of dark hair and it was sooo tiny. It was shocking. It felt so good to look at her laying there, stare at her every movements. Her little lips and fingers. Sigh. Anyway, I had one piece of cantaloupe while I was there and turned down an offer of burgers and hot dogs. I was good. Now I'm hungry and there's still candy in the house. I must be strong. I must fight the urge. Steve went up to Adams Fairacre Farms by himself this morning because I woke up with a killer headache. I told him that this batch was his deal, that I wasn't going to participate. He's fully aware of this and claims that this batch will be the best of all. I'm sure I'll end up helping him out. I like chopping tomatoes. It's somewhat satisfying. Incidentally, I was having like a million and one problems with my computer and Steve said it's because Window's suck. So he wiped it out and I am currently running on Linux. Ubuntu. So far, so good. And everything loads so much faster. Anyway, it's nice out. Steve's painting. I must go water him now. Eat something good!


Peekskill Diner
13 Bank St
Peekskill, NY 10566

Adam's Fairacre Farms
1240 Rt 300
Newburgh, NY‎

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Grilled Boneless Breasts

Last night we had one of our stand bys. Grilled chicken with salad. The chicken was marinated in a mixture of fresh lime juice and olive oil. The seasonings. Oregano, thyme, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper and salt. We grilled it perfectly. There were little charred edges on some pieces but the main part was soft, moist and tender. I threw it over italian mix with sliced red onion and halved grape tomatoes and tossed it in Ken's lite caesar dressing. It was good. Sid got a really nice dinner too. (Can't say it was the healthiest). To his dry food I added 1/4 can of campbells beef vegetable soup (leftover from my lunch), the chicken that i'd made into big pieces and all of the juices that formed on the bottom of the plate. I stirred it all together while he was playing it cool. That's what Steve said he was doing. He didn't budge but his neck was high and his head held up, however, with a strange, nonchalant look on his face. But I knew that he was faking it. He woofed it up in minutes! Eat something good!

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Chicken Cutlets Paprikesh

I made cutlets paprikesh last night. The first time I made it, I used the right amount of paprika that the recipe called for and I thought the flavor was too strong. I decided that this time I'd half the paprika and add a little more sour cream which is what I did. And I didn't have the necessary 1/4" thick turkey cutlets, I had tenderloins. Ugh tenderloins. I kept picturing little chicken tenderloins in my mind so when I opened up the package to find two giant turkey tenderloins, it freaked me out a little. I felt weird and a little scared to work with it. I sometimes have problems with raw meats - too much thinking about how much I love all animals except for insects that I kill without any problems. So, I decide to make them into smaller pieces and grossed myself out all the while I was preparing the meat. So into the flour it goes with spices and herbs. (flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne, salt and black pepper.) I omitted the cayenne hoping to give it a smoother taste without any heat interruptions. Well, I used the right amount of stock, tomato paste and a little more sour cream then usual. I served it over rice.

It turned out okay. Pretty good. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those dishes I can never recreate. It'll taste different every time. And it did. This batch lacked a little flavor. As Steve said, it was good but he kept waiting for a little zing. And I too, thought the flavor should've opened up a bit. I did use fresh parsley this time and added it to the dish and also tossed some into the uncle benz rice that I made using water, not stock. And oh dear. I forgot to add some olive oil to the grilled squash and peppers. They were a little drier than usual but still good. So, no the dish didn't turn out like I'd hope it would but I'll be working on it some more. Now I know to use even a little more paprika, not to omit the cayenne and lay low on the sour cream. I still want to add one more ingredient to perhaps, as Steve said, give it a little zing. I'm thinking I need some acid in there but I don't know if the sour cream will curdle if I do that. Hmmmm....ponder that later and in the meantime, Eat Something Good!

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