Tomato Marinated Chicken Breast

I went into Mitchell's intent on buying chicken and since I hadn't tried their marinated breasts I thought this time I would.  I never asked what the marinade was so I had no idea what it would taste like. I decided to keep things simple and put only salt, olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice in the rice.  

The vegetable medley has a small orange and a yellow pepper, several mushrooms, a carrot, celery stick and diced onion.  I sweated the onion and celery, then seared the mushrooms.  I microwaved the carrot by itself while I added and fried up the peppers in the pan.  I ground a little mixed pepper and tasted a piece. It needs something and I don't want to use soy sauce. I thought for a moment. Fresh basil would have been great but the plant wasn't big enough yet. I decided on dried Thyme and sprinkled a bit over the frying pan.

The marinade turned out to be tomato based and it was mild but quite tasty. The vegetable medley was really good, thyme was the right herb to use. I'll buy Mitchell's marinated chicken again, if I'm running late it will help a lot and still taste great.

Mitchell's Pork Cutlet

The chicken is far better at Mitchell's grocery than Save On Foods or Safeway, so I was hoping their pork cutlet was similarly outstanding. Not quite, but it's still good. I think the Save On Foods cutlets use corn flour in their breading so they taste sweeter. The Mitchell's cutlet was breaded but it doesn't taste like the Save On one. So it's a toss up, they're both good. One has better meat and one better breading. To cook I fried them in plenty of olive/canola oil.

Mashed potatoes were buttered, salted and milk folded in. The broccoli was steamed, cooled under running water and reheated in olive oil. Apple sauce is the condiment.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

The plates look fairly pedestrian but they have great flavour.

Cajun Chicken on Saffron Rice Under Asparagus and Hollandaise

This tasted far better than it looked thanks to chicken from Mitchell's. Save On Foods and Safeway both sell the usual completely tasteless chicken. I never noticed till now. The chicken from Mitchell's tastes good without anything on it. Season it and it's like awakening in a new world.

I put a pinch of saffron on the bottom of my rice bowl. Half a cup of rice and a cup of water, teaspoon of olive oil, half teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons lemon juice. Put it in the microwave to cook. Mine has a moisture sensor so it does white rice perfectly every time. Brown rice, not so much.

I salted and shook the chicken in a bag with cajun spice mix. Then fried it in olive/canola oil to brown the breast top and turn it over and put it in the oven at 325F for 30 minutes.

I have an asparagus steamer so that's easy. Break the ends off and put them in the basket. 5 minutes before plating put them in the steamer. 

A quarter cup of butter melted and whisked into an egg yolk in my sauce pot. I add a tablespoon of water and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Add a good pinch of salt.  Taste for balance, adjust as necessary. It takes about 3 minutes to cook the sauce so a few minutes before plating set it on boiling water or an induction burner on 3 of 10. Keep whisking it and don't let it turn into scrambled egg.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

Whisk and toss the salad in it.

This was one of those meals where every mouthful tasted incredible. It was entirely the quality of the chicken that made the difference. I guess going to a good butcher in your area will produce the same result. Save On had three breasts for $7 but I paid $8.80 for three breasts at Mitchell's. A tiny bit more expensive but it's the difference between hot water and soup.

Marinated Pork Cutlet with Sweet Pepper Medley

I picked up the chops at Mitchell's. I have finally started to realize that even though the per gram price might be slightly higher, the quality of the meat and the extra care to trim off all the fat is worth the price. It's actually a better deal than supermarket meat because bite for bite, Mitchell's meat tastes better.

I sat mesmerized in front of the tv for longer than I should so it was a few minutes after 6pm when I headed for the kitchen. I had to marinate the meat and serve dinner at 7pm so Fern can get to his meeting. I pulled out my Food Saver marinator and added to it:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 cloves garlic minced

sprig fresh thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp salt

mixed pepper

Whisk and lay the chops in the marinade. Turn them over a few times to make sure they are coated, then put the lid on and suck the air out. This is supposed to do hours of marinating in 20 minutes. It won't tenderize the meat in that time but it does get flavour right into the meat.

I put my potatoes on the boil for mashed and diced up an onion, celery stick and 3 small yellow and orange peppers. I sweated the onions and celery for a few minutes then added the peppers and plenty of salt.  I took about half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and dropped it into the peppers. Stirred it around and let them cook. I let air into the marinator slowly so the marinade would be drawn into the meat as pressure increases. I had a pan hot and put the chops directly into it. I turned them over a few times so the chops didn't curl up.

The potatoes had butter, salt and milk. The only way to screw up mashed potatoes is to use an immersion blender on them. It turns them to a thick unpalatable paste. The chop was absolutely delicious, plenty of marinade flavour. Marinating longer would have been better but it was certainly good enough.

Fern liked the pepper medley. I sort of did. I didn't put the mustard in early enough for it to caramelize so the sweetness had a bitter undertone. I felt like something was missing from the medley. I think some snap peas or something to give a little crunch would have been welcome. Also, the medley needed another flavour to tie it together. Fern thought it was delicious just as it was so I'll keep my eyes open for an idea before I try the medley again.

Pork Cutlet with Asparagus and Hollandaise

I fiddled with the kitchen ceiling a bit and decided I couldn't fix it today. So I put plastic up to keep plaster dust out of dinner and started cooking.  Despite a sauce and a condiment it is an extremely simple meal to make. The potatoes are yellow flesh, boiled in their thin skins. Asparagus was steamed. The Cutlet is from Save On Foods, the condiment is home made apple sauce that turned black in the jar from too much light. It tastes fine but it's just very dark and mysterious. The Hollandaise I whipped together almost as an afterthought. 

Quick Hollandaise

1/4 cup butter

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

salt

Doing it this way you make it cold and put it aside till you need it, then just heat it up in the last minutes before plating. Have either an induction burner or a pot of boiling water handy. In a glass measuring cup melt the butter but don't get it hot or warm, just melted. Put an egg yolk in a bowl. Slowly whisk the butter into the yolk as for mayonnaise until it is all taken up. If you did it right, you'll have a thick paste. If you did it wrong you'll have a bowl of oily egg yolk. To fix a broken sauce, slowly work it into another egg yolk. To the paste add lemon juice, water and salt.  Whisk. It will most likely turn into a coagulated mess that looks like scrambled eggs. Don't be fooled, when you put it on the burner or boiling water it will melt out, thin and then thicken as it cooks. When it's heated taste it for salt and lemon balance. Add more water, lemon and salt as necessary.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

pepper

Whisk and toss.

This is a surprisingly good meal for the small effort it took. Of course, I could put Hollandaise on an old shoe and I'd like it.

Baked Ham Broccoflower and Potato in Cheese Sauce

Slicing all the potatoes takes longer than you might think. Then par boil and drain them. Prepare the brocoflower or cauliflower and put in the steamer till it begins to soften. Then run it under cold water to stop cooking. Drain completely. Thinly slice the ham then julienne the slices. Dice an onion or two and a few cloves of garlic. Sweat the onions.

Spread the ham in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread the sweated onions evenly over top.  Spread the par cooked potatoes evenly over the pan. Lay the broccoflower over the potatoes and drop some grated cheddar over them. 

Cheese Sauce

In the pot used to sweat the onions, put 2-3 tsp flour and 1/4 cup butter and the the garlic. Melt the butter and let the flour bubble for a minute to cook off the raw taste. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in 2 cups milk. Put back on heat and bring to simmer then turn down. Stir in 2 cups grated cheddar and stir till melted and smooth. I added a few drops lemon juice, not sure if it was enough to boost the flavour but I didn't want to curdle the sauce at this point. I expected the extra old cheddar and ham to provide most of the salt but I tasted to see how much it needed. Milky paste, definitely needs salt. I added 1/2 teaspoon salt and tasted it again. Cheese Sauce! Success! I poured the cheese sauce over the broccoflower and potato and put it in the oven at 350ºF for 45 minutes to an hour.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

1-2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

Whisk, toss the greens and plate.

This was one of my best cheese sauces. The final taste depends entirely on the ingredients. Extra old cheddar tastes best. With cheese, the smell and the taste can be quite different so don't judge a cheese till you taste it. It needs to be good quality, Kraft isn't good enough. Tillamook probably is. If not sure, ask the grocer which cheddar is better than Kraft? Price is not always the best indicator. If the cheese tastes good, the sauce will taste good. I'm using Armstrong Extra Old which goes on sale for $7 for 600gm from time to time, then I buy two or three.

Curry Pork

I bought pork chops at Mitchell's. It seems all their meat tastes better and they trim the fat off so the quality is significantly better even if the price is the same. I bought a bag of red and yellow peppers on sale and that is what inspired me to make curry.

Dice, salt and brown the meat, giving it a good sear, then remove from the pan.  Add diced onion and sweat. Add garlic finely diced as well as a stick of celery. Finally I added the two small diced peppers. Once the peppers were starting to soften I added a tablespoon of curry powder. I sweated the curry powder a moment. I don't know if it needs sweating but it didn't hurt. Then I added tomato sauce, about a cup. Bring it up to a simmer and add the meat. Warm the meat for a minute or two in the sauce then test for salt.

I served it on 

Basmati rice

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup rice

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup water

Fresh green onion on top to give some colour. I don't think the photo did it justice, it was really very good.

The red cabbage and iceberg lettuce salad is dressed with Kraft Golden Italian Salad Dressing. It was a free sample grafted onto another product, I liked it at one time. Now it tastes like not much at all. A fresh simple vinaigrette tastes better than bottled salad dressing! I never would have predicted that! Fresh is a lot cheaper too. The food industry really doesn't do us a whole lot of favours.

Cajun Chicken Breast

See that chicken breast? It tastes better than any chicken breast I've cooked before. I picked up the chicken at Mitchell's when I bought lunch. It was about the same price than I pay at Save On Foods but one of the breasts was sized like it came from a turkey. When  it was cooked I cut that one in half for the dog, it fed him for two days.  The rice just had salt, olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. 

The corn was microwaved and finished with butter and salt. The Cajun spice was from the bulk bin at Save On Foods. 

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

Whisk, toss and serve.

I was surprised at how good the chicken tasted! It was the same spice mix I've used on meat from Save On but I've never had such good results before. Even with chicken, Mitchell's still has better tasting meat. It's taken me two years to cook well enough that the source of the protein matters. Not sure if that's good or bad. 

Mustard Garlic Anise Pork Chop

I bought the chops at Mitchell's when I bought buns for lunch.  The 3 chops were under $6 and I usually pay $7 at Save On and get much more fat. I also bought a bag of snow peas on clearance, so I used them all. It steamed the carrot and peas together and finished them in olive oil. A yellow flesh potato, boiled, salted and buttered filled out the plate.

I didn't marinate the meat, instead I used an oil rub. I mixed a tablespoon of olive oil with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp mustard powder, 1/2 tsp paprika, mixed pepper, 5 anise seeds crushed, finely diced garlic. Coat the chops in the oil and put in a hot frying pan. The garlic bits burned black so maybe mince them smaller or larger and keep them on the side. I didn't mind the tiny bitterness they leant. 

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

mixed pepper

I had more iceberg lettuce that I tore up to fill out the small bag of salad I had left. I tossed it all in the vinaigrette and plated it.

Fern complained that he had too many peas. The suffering he goes through.

The chops were fantastic.

Fresh Sole and Caesar Salad

We had a big lunch so we both wanted something light. That usually means fish and sole was fresh so I picked it up.  I also got a head of Romaine. I put rice on just to fill the plate. Wash and spin the lettuce dry.

Croutons, I use my stale bread. I brown them with olive oil and salt in a frying pan and let them cool before using.

Caesar Dressing

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup olive/canola oil

emulsify the oil in the egg yolk by whisking the yolk while adding a teaspoon of oil at a time.

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

2 garlic cloves finely diced

Anchovie filet or few drops fish sauce

dash Worcestershire Sauce

Whisk and check the balance. Add more lemon or salt as needed. 

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 cup croutons

Toss it all and plate.

I had an egg white left over so I decided to try to coat the fish before frying. The first mistake I made was not flouring the fish so the coating wouldn't stick. Then I decided to try tapioca flour in the egg white. It just sort of went lumpy. So I coated the fish and managed to get it cooked. Some of the coating browned and I got a piece on the plate. That's the brown squiggle. At least it all tasted good. The salad was nice and crisp. The fish was sweet so it was just the look that was off. Some crispy would have been nice too.

Prawns and Pasta

I had been a bit busy today so I wanted a less demanding meal to prepare. This plate is easy and tastes great.  I buy a block of frozen black tiger prawns from Mitchell's for $7-$8 that gives two people about 8 prawns each. It could easily feed two adults and a child or two. I put the prawns under cold running water to dissolve all the ice. 

Hunt's sells tomato sauce in a litre re-sealable container which makes having a bit of tomato sauce handy a lot easier. I also used an onion, fresh basil and two cloves of garlic. A bag of iceberg, carrot, red cabbage salad, it does two meals. Fresh grated parmesan. Two cups of penne pasta in boiling salted water.

I shell the prawns and press the back of a knife across the tip of the tail meat and pull the tail and digestive track out. Dice and sweat the onion and garlic. Put the prawns in the pan and cook them on both sides but not all the way through. Remove the prawns from the pan. Add half the litre of tomato sauce to the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Cook a bit of the water off the sauce. Chop up a handful of basil and add to the tomato sauce. Put the prawns in the sauce and when they are cooked through add the pasta and toss it all together.  Top the plate with fresh grated parmesan.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

mixed pepper

Whisk, toss the salad in it and serve with a bit of fresh grated parmesan on top if you like.

This is almost as easy as the pork cutlet to prepare but it tastes a lot better. 

Rib Steak

Fern went into Vancouver so that means I can have a rib steak for dinner!  It had to be fried as the BBQ is still out of service. I microwaved the potato so all I had to cook was the steak and in another pan, the mushrooms. I fried the mushrooms with olive oil and a pad of butter. Added a bit of salt. I salted and black peppered the steak and laid it in the pan. I cooked it for 3 minutes each side. 

I added salt and sour cream to my potato and dove in. I loved it.

Chicken Cashew Curry

This was simple and straightforward. First I added salt, a teaspoon of oil, few drops lemon juice to the rice and put it in the microwave to cook. I diced an onion, a carrot and a package of chicken breasts. I rolled the chicken in flour to coat it and got my oiled pan hot. I sweated the carrot and onion till it was translucent then added the floured chicken pieces. I got a little brown all around the chicken but it was still raw in the centre. The cashews went in next. Then I added a heaping teaspoon of curry powder sprinkled over all and stirred it in. I let it cook for a few seconds while I opened a can of coconut milk. I added the whole can and kept the heat high so it boiled off the excess water before turning the chicken to rubber. I also added a few drops of Chinese Fish Sauce to broaden the base of the flavour profile. Salt of course, it all needed salt to taste. The curry by itself isn't particularly hot so more cayenne can be added if desired.

About 2 minutes before the sauce was thickened for serving I added a handful of frozen green peas. I plated the curry over the rice and served with a side salad.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

salt

mixed pepper

Whisk, toss the greens in it and serve. The bags of precut iceberg, carrot and red cabbage are economical for two people. It makes 4 small salad.

There it is! An exotic tasting treat and hearty meal in under an hour.

Breaded Pork Cutlet

Save On Pork Cutlets again! They're easy, relatively inexpensive and most important, they taste good. That condiment is Fern's ketchup. Sunlight turned it black but the taste is wonderful. The broccoli was steamed and finished in olive oil. The potatoes were mashed with butter, salt and milk. 

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp vinegar 

salt

pepper

The vinegar mixture had ingredients that made it taste great but I haven't a clue what's in it. I think it was Dave's dressing from the Laughing Oyster but I'm not 100% sure. As long as there is acid in the dressing it will be fine.

Once again a simple tasty meal for less than $5 per plate and ready in less than an hour.

Cajun Cod with Yellow Flesh Potatoes

Fern has the flu so I had to make a nutritious but not heavy meal. We had chicken last night so when I saw a fresh piece of cod at Save On Foods I picked it up. I pressed it in the thickest part and it sprang right back. If a depression remains only buy it if you like that fishy off taste.

I had yellow flesh potatoes so I used them instead of russet, different flavour. The peas were frozen but the carrot was fresh. The last time I made frozen peas with carrots Fern said, "frozen peas! Is that the best you can do?"

I know he likes celery so this time I chopped up a stalk into the peas and carrots then put them in the microwave to cook. I have a Panasonic Genius with moisture sensor so it measures when the food is cooked. It works well for frozen vegetables and roots.

I got out my trusty fish pliers and pulled out every bone I could find. I always seem to miss one and it ends up on Fern's plate, like it did tonight. I checked the fish end to end for more bones and couldn't find any more. But one remained hidden and Fern got it. Damn!

Anyway, I salted and coated the mostly boned fish with Cajun seasoning mix and laid it in hot olive oil. The potatoes were just boiled and finished with butter. Same with the vegetables. I plated it and called Fern. I turned the fish over and plated when it was done.  A squirt of lemon juice on top and that was it.

"I like the celery in the peas." Fern said as he slowly ate. He has the flu so that's a ringing endorsement considering the circumstances.

Marinated Pork Chops

The ordinary plating belies the taste hiding there. I had marinated pork in mind when I left for the store so this meal was pretty much planned. The rice I cooked with a couple of anise seeds, salt, olive oil and a teaspoon lemon juice. The pork spent several hours in the Food Saver marinator.

Pork Marinade

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 cloves garlic minced

I add canola oil so the olive oil won't burn and it's significantly cheaper. I made sure to fully coat both sides of the pork in the marinade before sucking the air out. At dinner time I slowly released the pressure so moisture was drawn back into the meat. Then I fried them.

The sprouts were steamed, run under cold water to stop cooking, then reheated in olive oil just before serving. The salad was the second half of a bag of iceberg, red cabbage and carrot salad. 

Vinaigrette

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp canola oil

2 tsp mystery acid

1/2 tsp salt

mixed pepper

Whisk and toss the salad to coat.  The mystery acid was red wine vinegar and something else. No idea what but it tasted good. Something I mixed up a while ago and never finished.

The mustard cooks into a wonderful flavour on the meat by itself but, when paired with anise on the rice it went right up to the top and rang all the bells! The breaded pork cutlets are easier but this tastes far better. I would use only one anise seed next time, it was a little too fragrant but the flavour was incredible.

Breaded Pork Cutlet yet again

I chided myself as I reached for the breaded pork cutlet. Not again! I can't keep using what someone else has prepared. I know how to do better now but these are inexpensive, easy, tasty and look home made. When time is short, they fit the bill.

I've paired it with mashed potatoes, steamed Brussels sprouts and apple sauce. I didn't make that either. I did run the sprouts under cold water to stop cooking then reheated them in olive oil so they tasted their best. The potatoes have butter, milk and salt so they are moist and tasty. 

I really need to work on my breading.

Cajun Chicken on Lemon Cream Sauce

I coated the chicken with salt and Cajun seasoning. I bought bulk bin Cajun this time and it was perfectly fine. I fried and browned the breasts in a frying pan then put them in the oven at 325F for 30 minutes total cooking time.  The stuffing is Uncle Ben's traditional sage. It's easy, fast, tastes good and goes on sale for $.99 after holidays. I steamed the brussel's sprouts and finished them with olive oil.  The mushroom sauce was simple, I sliced up some mushrooms and fried them so they had a little sear. Then I took them from the pan and set them aside.  

I put 1/2 a teaspoon of flour in the pan and added a bit of butter to the pan and melted it into the flour. I took the pan off the heat and whisked in 1/2 cup of milk and light cream. I whisked the milk into the butter, then added a tablespoon of lemon juice.  I whisked in the lemon and it didn't curdle the sauce! A pinch of salt and I had a nice creamy, lemony sauce. I stirred the mushrooms back in and set it on low heat.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive/walnut/canola oil  (I'm using up the walnut oil before it spoils)

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

pepper

Whisk and toss the salad in it.

The creamy sauce cut the heat in the cajun spice and the lemony flavour lifted the whole plate. I liked it. Fern was less enthusiastic about a cream sauce, he doesn't like them. I'm not sure a restaurant would put lemon in a cream sauce but I liked it. Fern, not so much.

Marinated Pork Chop

I marinated the chops in my new recipe and it was amazing! We both would have eaten more if there was some left. 

Marinade

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 cloves garlic smashed/diced

I put the pork in my Food Saver vacuum marinator for about 45 minutes.  I'm not convinced the vacuum does anything for the flavour, but as a marinating dish, it's ideal. The marinade cooks down into an absolutely delicious coating.  

The broccoli was steamed, cooled in water and finished in olive oil. Mashed potatoes finished with butter, milk and a little salt. I also made a small salad

Vinaigrette

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp walnut oil (optional, to use it up before it spoils)

1 tsp canola oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp dijon mustard

few drops Worcestershire Sauce

black pepper

salt

This pork tastes better than Save On Foods breaded pork cutlet and Mitchell's souvlaki. It only took me 2 years to do better than my local grocery store. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.