We had a slightly smaller batch of this tonight, with some Greek salad as suggested. (Though I did throw together some quick vinaigrette for that.)
Also with some garlic cloves tossed in when the chicken went in the pan, because garlic.
Easy and delicious, about as expected. I’d made similar potatoes before, but hadn’t tried baking meat in with them. A definite make again!
I decided to try making a half batch of this using leg quarters cut in half, and it turned out pretty good. (We didn’t really need 12 pieces worth of chicken for 2 people, with the full recipe. Or did we? 🤔)
My mom used to make a baked version, but just simmering the browned chicken pieces in the sauce is easier and avoids dirtying up another dish. Pretty similar results to what I remembered, too, though it’s probably been at least 20 years since I last had hers.
I would–and did–simmer the dish longer than this suggests. Got that started simmering, and put on the rice. Let it go for around 45 minutes, covered, with the occasional stir and flipping the chicken over after about 30 minutes. (An hour or more total wouldn’t hurt, for that matter.) Better sauce and very tender meat with the longer simmering, and absolutely no need to test the chicken for doneness with a thermometer that way.
Not sure Mr. C was nearly as enthused with another of my Nostalgia Specials, but I think it’s a make again anyway 😊
This different approach to lazy cabbage rolls turned out great this evening. I saw it and thought it seemed worth a try.
I halved the recipe, and adapted it to be more like the cabbage rolls I usually make, minus the rolling 😅 With part beef and part pork, and slightly different seasonings. I also just microwave steamed the chopped cabbage to wilt it a little, instead of messing with boiling water.
At least using savoy cabbage, the vegetable texture was not that noticeable in the finished big meatballs. The flavor was good, though. I was glad I did go ahead and lay some extra cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan under the meatballs (just raw), like I usually will with regular cabbage rolls. A nice touch which made the dish more like the original, with identifiable cabbage for the texture/flavor variation.
The basic idea worked out well enough that I may have to try a similar plan with different seasonings. Maybe lion’s head inspired.
On the side tonight: a smaller batch of this easy Hungarian cucumber salad.
Tonight’s badly lit delight: some not-quite-ramen with rice noodles to go with leftover broth and toppings from last night.
That turned out good enough that I don’t mind having more, eating on my own today. Mr. C seemed to agree, since it didn’t take him very long to slurp down two big bowls last night 😊 That’s somewhat unusual with soups around here.
(So now both the cats have been drawn into the kitchen by the chicken smell, and are hanging around my ankles…)
Time for more homemade basically Cup Noodles! Miso insta-rice noodle soup. (With most of the wakame still on the bottom, and the tofu at the top.)
I had a hard time figuring out what to eat to take some meds, and glad I thought of this low-spoons option. Hot soup is also extra welcome with the weather right now
One recipe I’m almost sorry I ran across, because the combo sounds entirely too good 😅
Commercial pumpkin purée would work fine; that’s what I’d need to use anyway, since you can’t find cushaws here. So would a regular pie crust, if you can eat it.
Really satisfying, easy cool weather dish. Some type of vegetable(s) on the side, and you’re set.
I was reminded of one fairly simple baked chicken/pork chops and rice my mom used to make, and decided to try turning out something similar tonight. Glad I did.
Tonight I tried a leftover half pack of some Polish chicken seasoning on the meat (a couple of big leg quarters cut in half for easier eating), and threw in some sliced mushrooms along with the oven-frying onions and garlic for the last 5 minutes. I also used about twice the garlic called for, because of course. But, you could use about any seasonings you want.
Starting out by baking the veggies instead of sautéing them separately worked out great. It definitely seemed worth a try to avoid dirtying up another pan.
May need to try similar again before too long, and play with the seasonings for variety.
My brain was fried enough earlier that I thought working off a reference recipe might be a good plan.
A lot of the time when I’m looking for comfort food type recipes, adding “Southern” to the search turns up results that are closer to what I want. In this case, apparently at least one Southern style of hot dog chili involves tons of ketchup, which is really not what I had in mind.
Amusingly enough, this food blogger mentions also being from SWVA–and the ingredients were pretty much what I would expect 😅 No ketchup involved.
I’ve never used cornmeal in hot dog chili, but the little bit of thickening might work well. I know a little cornmeal or oatmeal can be great in taco meat. It would be fine left out; maybe just cook the chili down a little thicker.
Today, I actually ended up making a vegetarian version, subbing about a cup of whole lentils cooked like rice with 2.5 cups of veggie broth. (Long story.) Used to do similar a lot for veggie chilis. Lentil varieties that stay firmer are even better for texture, but regular brown lentils work fine to my taste. I also added about ½ tsp. of smoked paprika and some red pepper flakes to taste. But, this base recipe worked pretty well for the veggie adaptation.
Especially with only two people eating, I usually like to make a larger batch and freeze leftovers in single meal sized amounts to microwave later. Considering that if you want hot dog chili here, you’d better make some, I wasn’t sorry to get more into the freezer.
Very tasty and fairly easy “didn’t feel like going to the store” meal: a lot of the same ingredients as last night, very different taste 😉
We actually ended up with pancit bihon, since I decided to go ahead and use softened rice noodles instead of the closest GF equivalent to Chinese egg noodles. But, this recipe is pretty close to the seasoning proportions and procedure I went with, just swapping the noodle type. (About 200g/8 oz. of thin rice noodles soaked in cool water for maybe 20-30 minutes while everything else got cut up and I stir-fried the meat to set aside.)
A good bit of cabbage, carrot, onion, and mushrooms thrown in. I usually want plenty of veggies for anything like this.
Part of the plan was to use up the little bit of smoked sausage that was left, along with one lone boneless chicken thigh lurking in the freezer. It may not taste anything like Chinese sausage, but the flavors did work well together.
Pretty easy and delicious supper tonight: somewhat Westernized okonomiyaki, with slices of Polish sausage on one side and bacon on the other. We had both to use up, and it worked about as well together as I expected.
The veggie base tonight: Savoy cabbage because that’s what the store had, grated carrot, a few thinly sliced mushrooms, and some green onion. (I imagine the bagged coleslaw mix would save a lot of effort, where that’s available. Wish I could get it here.) I also used veggie broth powder instead of dashi, which gave a nice flavor, and a basic GF flour with about half the usual amount of baking powder added.
I made one for Mr. C with sliced smoked cheese in the middle, which he said was a great addition. Oddly enough, I wasn’t in the mood for cheese, so didn’t try any myself.
Tip: For me, covering the pan while it’s cooking works better to make sure it cooks through properly. A lot of other recipes will suggest that, but this one doesn’t for some reason. My cast iron skillet didn’t come with a lid, so I just set another bigger pan on top whenever it needs one 😅
Sauces: I made some ranch-type garlic dressing, and had mine with that and Sweet Baby Ray’s d̶r̶i̶z̶z̶l̶e̶d̶ glopped on top, plus some green onion.
(Tomato-based barbecue sauces are not that far off okonomiyaki sauce, and it works well to my taste anyway. If you want to mix up something more authentic, here are a couple of recipes.)
Either okonomiyaki sauce or barbecue sauce is too sweet for Mr. C’s taste, so he had a little Dijon mustard spread on, along with the garlic dressing and green onion. And seemed to enjoy it a lot.
Some other ideas to play around with: alternative okonomiyaki sauces
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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