Cooking thread

My next project is a creamy chicken and lentil stew with some wine. I'm not quite sure what spice combination to try. I'm divided between "Italian" herbs (pesto, oregano, etc) and "Hindu" spices (turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, etc). I find both options tasty. I'll probably add some chickpeas and potatoes as well.

The creamy chicken lentil stew came out reasonably well.

But then I forgot to add wine....

1 chicken breast, around 400-450 gr. thinned but not flat, cut into bite-sized pieces.
1 cup lentils (soaked and drained)
1/4-1/3 cup chickpeas (soaked and drained)
2 potatoes, peeled, boiled and diced to taste (I recommend large pieces, as small pieces fall apart when stirring)
1 red onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 chicken bouillon cube
oil as needed
water as needed
3/4 cup heavy cream.

First cook the chicken in a soup pot until it's almost brown and well done. Set aside.
Next in the same pot sauté the onions and bell pepper until soft. Add the lentils and chickpeas and just enough water to cook them, this varies a lot with altitude as it happens. When the water bubbles, add the chicken bouillon cube and spices, stir well.

By the time the lentils are done, there should be only a little water left. Add a bit more, then add the chicken. Stir well. add the cream and again stir well. When the liquid is thick, add the potatoes, stir and you're done.

I think the wine would help a lot, as would some pepper and perhaps some chile flakes (only a little for flavor, not kick). As cooked above it's ok, but a little off. It goes well with plain white rice.

found several new foods.... protein blends by birdeye.

One is Italian style

whole grains
lentils
spinnach
brocolli
white beans
and sauce.

comes in 11 nd a half ounce bags.

anyone know how to make a large quantity of it at one time and then eat for a week.
what ratios? what do you do with htem?what sauce

I find myself without any idea of what to cook this week.

Oh, I expect I'll make my second try at biscuits, this time with cinnamon, but other than that I'm well and truly without any ideas. This means I get to play "what can I cook out of this?" while shopping at the supermarket. It's not as fun as "what's in the fridge and the pantry?" but it's close.

I've an idea for cottage cheese enchiladas in stuffed tortillas. But a) I still don't have a tortilla press, b) I'm not entirely sure what to stuff them with (refried beans, cheese, a processed chorizo and bean paste, among others) and c) I'd rather not deal with two types of dough in one weekend. So biscuits it is, and then we'll see what else.

great invention.
walmart sells a mac and cheese maker that works in four and a half minutes
replaces the old Pasta Maker that makes larger portions of gluten in twelve minutes.

Quote: Nareed

Oh, I expect I'll make my second try at biscuits, this time with cinnamon,

Famous last words.

Ok, I did change few things. I added 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and some cinnamon to the dough. I also attempted a buttermilk substitute (acidified milk). Some of these, alone or in combination, conspired to make the dough a gloopy, sticky mess. I know about tossing flour on the dough so it won't stick to the rolling pin or work surface. Even so, I gave up after wrestling with the dough for 20 minutes without being able to keep a fold in it. I didn't even attempt to bake it.

Lesson, dough is a more temperamental product than what I'm used to.

Too bad. I even got a set of deep cookie cutters, flower/star-shaped, to cut the dough.

<sigh>

Flower Petals???

anyone know which flower petals are most often ingested and which are most often cooked rather than served as a garnish or mere decoration.

I just realized I didn't put in salt when mixing the dry ingredients for the biscuits.

Could that alone have messed up the whole thing?

Second lesson: PAUSE the effing podcast when reading the recipe!

For next week I'm trying a variation on my Italian Chicken. The idea is to make chicken cutlets (milanesas) without frying them first, but using pizza-style toppings either on each piece of chicken or in the sauce. I'm thinking a mix of mushrooms, bell peppers and pepperoni. And of course cheese.

Alternatively I might use beef cutlets instead, or as well. It's just the sour/sweet tomato sauce seems more compatible with chicken than beef.

We'll see.

Quote: Nareed

Alternatively I might use beef cutlets instead, or as well. It's just the sour/sweet tomato sauce seems more compatible with chicken than beef.

Perhaps a Tampiqueña cut, thin and narrow, grilled on a pan, with time in the oven only to melt the cheese...