Month: February 2021

Categories
Food Recipes Tried

Dinner :: Buttermilk Marinated Air Fryer Whole Roasted Chicken

Recipe: https://www.skinnytaste.com/air-fryer-whole-chicken/

We made this as a Sunday Dinner.  This is from Gina over at Skinnytaste, so we knew it would be good! But, we had a little trouble cooking:

I did this in my regular oven on the Air-Fry mode because my Instant Pot (with air-fryer lid) isn’t large enough for this chicken.

After it cooking for 25 minutes on each side, the breast was still raw. I’m not sure how this is possible. It came from the store refrigerated (not frozen), it sat in our refrigerator for 2 or 3 days before we marinated it. Then it sat in the marinate for a day, and out on the counter for an hour before cooking. So I’d be really surprised if it was still frozen.

After the air-frying, we put it back in on bake for another 10 minutes. I was afraid the dark meat would be overdone. So we carved it up, served the dark meat and the breasts went into the microwave to finish. Not the way I would have preferred to cook it, but it worked.

Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken

And holy cats was it delicious!! Only buttermilk and salt and pepper and it was amazing. I served it with baked potatoes (with sour cream, butter and green onions) and Brussels Sprouts. The chicken may appear burned but it is not! The Brussels on the other hand were inedible.

Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken

After eating and carving all the meat off the bones, the bones went into the instant pot with the potato skins and some seasoning and we made a nice broth.

Day two, the leftover chicken was used both as an addition to an otherwise vegetarian ravioli dish, as a main course (with gravy made from the broth) and then day 3 as a topper for salad. It remained moist (yeah, I said it) and flavorful. I don’t know if I’ll ever NOT marinate in buttermilk again.

Highly recommended. Just be sure you have a meat thermometer and be sure the breast is done.

We have this one, but it appears to be out of stock.

This one looks close to it.

Try this and let me know what you think!
Skinnytaste Recipe:

Categories
Recipes Tried

2021 Project :: January Broccoli Soup

Last month I decided that I would like to create a little project for the new year. I decided that I would make one dish from each issue of Bon Appetit, starting January 2021.

Click here for last month’s project. 

So the one I chose from the February issue of Bon Appetit was the Broccoli Soup With Turmeric, Peanuts, and Crispy Shallots

I was taken by that beautiful photo! Kudos to the photographer and food stylists.

One of the “rules” of this project was that I really wanted to follow the recipe exactly and that I would not substitute any ingredients.

This is harder for me than I thought it would be. Not because I can’t follow directions, but because I just don’t always have everything on hand (or I don’t want to buy a bunch of something and waste the rest).

The first issue is that this recipe was for 4 servings and I was making this for myself (the husband doesn’t like soup or vegetarian dishes so this was a nope on both aspects).

So I scaled the recipe in half.

Then I realized I didn’t have serrano, but it did say “or other green chile” and I did have jalapeno so I used that and I think that’s acceptable.

I didn’t have a big Yukon gold potato and even if I did I probably wouldn’t use it because what am I doing to do with half a potato, since I’m halfing the recipe? So I used a bunch of small potatoes.

The only other change I made was that I didn’t have cilantro or mint for a garnish.

Here’s my set up:

Ingredients for Broccoli Soup

So the changes I made were really miniscule and I think would be allowed by the recipe author. Right? Please?

Oh and because I was making this in the bar kitchen, I didn’t have a large soup pot so I made it in the instant pot, but I didn’t pressure cook it. I just used it on Sauté Mode.

Ingredients for Ingredients for Broccoli Soup

This was putzy to be sure, but pretty easy to make. It was sort of a lot of chopping, but I don’t mind chopping. As long as I have a good knife.

Before blending Ingredients for Broccoli Soup
Before blending

I used the immersion blender, right in the pot instead of a blender.

after blending Broccoli Soup
after blending

The part where I almost said “F this” and did it my own way was at the very beginning. The recipe says to cook the shallots, peanut and turmeric in the oil, separate them (drain the shallots and keep the oil). Then for reasons I can’t fathom, it says to mix them back together.

Well, that’s just ridiculous. So I compromised. I made the oil as told, then I separated them, but I kept them separate (don’t tell me how to live my life!) I’m glad I did. Because of that oil? It was amazing!! I would make that again and use it to drizzle over everything!

oil

I’m not sure why the recipe doesn’t say to just cook the vegetables (step 3) in the oil you just made. It says to use regular oil. Why?

How did I do?

Comparison

The end result was a good soup. Good, not fantastic. I happily ate my lunch, I also added a slice of toasted bread (we call that toast, Amy). But I never ate the leftovers. I planned to, but each time I saw it in the fridge I went, “ehhhh…” and chose something else. So I guess I didn’t like it that much.

Final result

But it sure is pretty!

Categories
Food Meal kits Reviews

Review :: Spinach Ravioli from Home Chef

Recipe: Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan

This is one of those easy ones where you just mix and put in the provided tray and pop in the oven.

ingredients for Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan
Ingredients for Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan


It comes with a plastic tray. Which would be fine in the microwave, but it said that I was supposed to cook it in that tray, in the oven! Plastic, in the oven?! I got too nervous to use it in the oven, so I used my own ovenware.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan from the oven
Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan from the oven



This had great flavor, but I would prepare it differently. The sauce didn’t really come together, nor was there enough of it. Also, the ravioli didn’t get cooked through, it was still pretty chewy.


I had ordered my Home Chef this particular week with 4 servings per meal instead of 2 because my husband is always still hungry after we eat our two servings. But instead of giving me double portions of everything, they just gave me two bags of each meal. So, I ended up making each meal twice instead of making the 4 servings.


Therefore, I had a choice to make it a different way. A few days later, I did it this way:

I used the instant pot, only because I was working in the bar kitchen and didn’t have a large pot down there and was too lazy to go upstairs and get one.


So, I heated the pot on sauté and added the sauce ingredients whisking to make the sure the cream cheese was really mixed into the sauce. I also added about ½ cup water since I wanted the pasta to cook all the way through.


After adding the ravioli, I set the Instant Pot on high for just 1 minute, but just as it came to pressure I got the dreaded “burn notice”! So I just let it bubble on sauté.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan from the Instant Pot
Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese with Parmesan from the Instant Pot


The pasta still didn’t get done enough, but the sauce was good. One of the raviolis stuck to the bottom of the pot and got destroyed, so it sort of became part of the sauce.


I don’t know if I’d get this again. It would be easy enough to make it again on my own if I had a good meat sauce. But it would probably be a lot better in the microwave.


Have you tried this one? What was your experience?

Here’s their recipe.

Categories
Experiments Food Recipes Tried

Dinner :: Chef John’s Salisbury Steak

One night when my husband and I were watching TV a conversation came up on Salisbury Steak. I think he said he didn’t like it, and I said I loved it and would make a good one for him to prove it.

However, my bravado wrote a check that my skills couldn’t cash. My favorite Salisbury Steak is this one.

Swansons TV dinner from the 70s

Those silky potatoes and that chocolate cake was sooo good, even when it burned a little. But the steaks were so tasty and that gravy!? *Swoon*

Also, I used to work at a place that provided lunch for staff and their Salisbury Steak was the BOMB! They didn’t make it in house, it was from a food service company. So it was like school lunch, but better.

[Update] I just found out that the food we were served at work was…..{drum roll please…} STOUFFERS!! ]

So I did some digging and I already had a few Salisbury recipes in my cookbook (I use CopyMeThat). The one that had the most stars (given by me) was the one from Home Chef. Here’s how it came out when I made it then:

HomeChef Salisbury Steak
Home Chef Salisbury Steak

The sauce looks too creamy and light colored for what I wanted.

So, I kept looking. When I Googled it, I realized that Chef John from Food Wishes had a recipe. So I watched the video again and decided to use this one.

Mushrooms and onions sauteing

I did make the meat ahead and let it rest in the refrigerator, as suggested. What I didn’t love is the ketchup. Something in it felt not quite right and I think it’s the ketchup. He does say in the video that his recipe is more like meatloaf and I guess I don’t really like that aspect. If I want meatloaf I’ll just make that.

Salisbury Steak
Finished Salisbury Steak

This was good, but I think the Home Chef one was better.  Note, there are 2 HC Salisbury recipes, one is “steak” and the other one is meatballs. I liked them both and rated them both 4 stars, but they are different.

Maybe I have to take things from all three of these recipes and make one of my own with them as guides.

What’s your favorite recipe for Salisbury Steak?

Salisbury Steak
Bonus photo, Salisbury Steak

The beef, mushrooms, and beans were from Imperfect Foods. Use my link and get $10 off your first box. (Full disclosure, I get $10 off too.)