As per plan in the post above, but a day later than planned, the leftover marinated chicken breast was made into a sandwich for lunch, and by golly, the best chicken sandwich I’ve had in a long time. Thickly layered slices of spicy cold chicken, sliced tomato, and delicate leaves of sweet baby butter leaf lettuce (a hybrid of iceberg and romaine) on a toasted onion bun with lots of mayo. Sometimes all it takes to make a great sandwich is great but simple ingredients.
So dinner tonight will be something light, probably a small fish & chips with chipotle tartar sauce.
Tonight was dinner at a dive diner that happens to have top quality food mostly made from scratch. I had meatloaf, real mashed potatoes, dark brown gravy, and roasted corn. The potions were huge and I have enough left over for two lunches.
We sat one booth over from the barstool where August Wilson is reputed to have sat while composing his plays.
After spending the day pontooning, I realized I had many Japanese eggplants I needed to use up. So, I sliced them all in half lengthwise, brushed them with a bit of oil, and put them on the grill. My gf saw what I was up to and was concerned. She had started a catfish curry going for dinner.
So, we had her catfish curry which was excellent. I used my Japanese eggplant to make Baba Ganoush. Kind of an odd pairing, but we were ravenous and it worked!
I found a recipe on one of the pages I’m following on Facebook, and got my sister to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts and panko bread crumbs. The rest, I already had.
Panko Chicken Delight
Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
STEPS
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a shallow dish, combine panko breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
Place the beaten eggs in a separate shallow dish.
Place the flour in another shallow dish.
Dredge each chicken breast in the flour, shaking off any excess. Dip into the beaten eggs, then coat with the panko mixture, pressing gently to adhere.
Arrange the coated chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet.
Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the chicken breasts.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, with an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.
I saw a recipe in the NYTimes today almost the same, but instead of doing the dip in flour/egg/seasoned panko, they just smeared with mayo, then dipped in seasoned panko. It’s on my list for next week sometime.
After being out of town, being sick and finally getting back to doing some real cooking, dinner tonight was octopus Bolognese. I’d ordered some more of the excellent tinned fish I’d gotten in Greece so I broke out a couple of those.
Focaccia, white wine and fresh strawberries to go with. Normally I’d do salad with this meal, but the grocery store actually had some late-season decent looking strawberries on sale.
I also made some pumpkin pancakes, so breakfast for dinner will probably happen some time this week as well.
I think some chili and stew might happen later on depending on whether we are currently in False Fall or Real Fall at this point. We are experiencing a tropical storm right now, so those plans may not come to fruition for another few weeks at least.
My gf has been working extra hours, so I wanted to do a different dinner.
I made Thanksgiving in September. We had a few potatoes. We always have frozen quarts of roasted turkey in gravy on hand (from the turkey farm). We also usually have their frozen containers of cranberry walnut sauce.
The mashed potatoes were a nice surprise. We had no butter and no cow milk. There was coconut milk but nah. So I used Better Than Bouillon Garlic, some whipped cream cheese, and a bit of plain Greek yogurt.
I also air fried some broccoli.
Sadly, no eggnog to drink. Vodka and lime instead.
Ah, tonight is Kentucky Bourbon Salmon with small white potatoes that are first steamed, then cut in half, and then pan fried to a crispy golden brown. The final touch is well steamed brussel sprouts.
Reheated Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and green beans out of a can. All swimming in butter and creamy gravy, of course. Washed down with a tall glass of cold 3.25 milk.
There’s a catering company near us that also sells dinners certain days. I won two of their meals in a Chinese auction recently.
Last night I picked up chicken dinner for two. Two fried breasts, broasted potatoes, baked beans, three bean salad, and dinner rolls. Nice meal, felt like we were at a wedding reception.
Not really dinner, but how about brunch? I had a sudden hankering for dim sum this morning, and remembered that I had a bag of pork & vegetable dumplings way at the back of the freezer where it had been sitting for a really long time. Dug it out and, yep, “Best By: Nov 2023”.
No matter, made them anyway. Hot olive oil in a non-stick frying pan to brown the dumplings on the flat side, added 1/3 cup water, covered with glass lid until water was all gone. Laid out on a plate and anointed with Huy Fong chili garlic sauce, and picked up with chopsticks and dipped in soy sauce. Delicious! Just what I felt like!
I picked up two more of these scrumptious gourmet frozen pizzas today. Made by a local pizzeria over in the Big City.
When properly prepared in a hot oven (and I prefer to do them on a pizza stone) they turn out looking just like the pictures and taste just as good as they look. The mushroom & onion one combines two of my favourite flavours and is incredibly tasty. The simple pepperoni one, just as I expected, tastes like it has a lot more than just pepperoni in it, partly because of the swirls of two kinds of delicately browned mozzarella. They’re not cheap, but worth every penny!
As predicated, had BLTFs today (bacon, lettuce, tomato and fish sandwiches) with fried catfish. Coleslaw and blackberries as sides. There’s also an extra fried catfish filet left over for one of us to have for lunch tomorrow.
Yesterday was national cheeseburger day, so I just went and bought the most average cheeseburgers that could be had. I went to McDonald’s and grabbed a QP mit cheese for me, and two little cheeseburgers for my sweetie. They were surprisingly good (apparently a busy day for McD’s, so everything was fresh).
I love the dish done full Chinese style, and I make it occasionally. I decided to up my game a bit.
I use beef tips from a local farm, instead of the traditional thin sliced flank steak, and my beef tips were too chewy the last time I made the dish.
So, I sous vide the meat to medium for 12 hours. Then i drained and dried the beef, then sprinkled it with baking soda, tossed it about, then refrigerated it for an hour. (Velveting the meat)
My broccoli florets are usually fine, but only if I throw out all the stems. After trimming the florets I sliced up the remaining stems and air fried the tough stems.
I made my sauce as usual, stir fried the broccoli and stems, then rinsed my beef well and dried it. The beef was fully cooked and just needed warmed, so a very quick trip to the wok, add the sauce, allow it to thicken, then add the broccoli.
Served over rice with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Almost there. Soooo good. My gf was impressed. A minor tweak to the sauce and I’m there.
Admirable patience and expertise you have there, kayaker. The way I do it is call up the local Chinese takeout and say “gimme some beef and broccoli. Oh, and Singapore noodles again, of course, as usual”!
Well, LAST night I made my pasta sauce, linguini, home made garlic bread, hot Italian links, and steamed green beans. At the risk of being immodest, it was a delicious meal.
Hehe, my gf pointed this out, but according to her, my beef is now way better than theirs. She said our sauces are equal, and they eke out a win on the rice, because of their starting point.
