Dinner! 2004

[RSincere]

Thanks, NeroW!

Today I made "Chinese Chicken" from The Dinner Doctor cookbook. It didn't turn out very well. The chicken breast pieces marinate in a soy sauce, sherry, sugar, water, cornstarch combination. Then you remove the chicken from the marinade, and brown it. That part was okay. But then the recipe said to dump the marinade in the pan, then turn the heat to medium low, and cook until it thickens. Well, I dumped the marinade in and it instantly turned into gross, thick, gobs of brown goo with little whitish specks in it. I turned the heat down right away and added some water and tried to make the sauce look like sauce, and it improved a little bit, but it never did turn into a nice sauce. It was a little too strong as well. If I would have remembered to taste it before serving, I would have known to add even more water.

On the plus side, it was edible! Also, I made Jasmine rice with instructions off of the Internet, but I added soy sauce, chicken base, and sherry to the water. That made me nervous because I was improvising, but it turned out pretty well!

[mags]

Rachel -- by volume, how much cornstarch was there in the marinade (1 tablespoon? 1 teaspoon?) and how much liquid (1 cup?)?

[Jason Perlow]

Not Dinner, but Lunch:

Spinach/Zucchini/Potato/Ham/Cheese Fritatta

[RSincere]

Rachel -- by volume, how much cornstarch was there in the marinade (1 tablespoon? 1 teaspoon?) and how much liquid (1 cup?)?

Hmmm...there was 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, 3 Tbsp sherry, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. It was all nicely mixed when I poured it in, a tan color. It didn't stay that way!

[mark922]

For Father's Day, I did a pork butt in my smoker. I used a rub made up of garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, cinammon, paprika, cayenne, brown sugar, thyme, cumin, and a little bit of Old Bay. I smoked it for about 10 hours, and served it with roasted vegetables. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

I loves me some barbecue.

[mags]

Hmmm. The ratio of liquid to cornstarch doesn't seem that far off, although 2 T strikes me as a LOT of cornstarch to thicken a stir-fry sauce. But then, I don't remember ever seeing a Chinese recipe built along the lines you suggest. Most of the recipes I'm familiar with involve marinating the protein (chicken, fish, whatever) in a very small amount of cornstarch with small amounts of liquids and flavorings -- small enough amounts so that, by the time you're ready to cook, the protein has essentially absorbed almost all the marinade. You cook up the protein and vegetables (along with any non-liquid flavorings, like chopped ginger or scallion or black beans), add a SMALL amount of liquid flavors -- soy sauce or oyster sauce and perhaps some booze (though that will typically have been in the marinade), and then, if you want to thicken the sauce, you make a cornstarch slurry with maybe 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water, and stir that into the pot.

All that said, if you got horrible slimy lumps, the odds are very good that you A) had too much cornstarch, and B) didn't have it mixed well enough into the liquid; it really needs to be dissolved RIGHT before you dump it into the pot.

My guess is that if you want to make Chinese food, you will be best off with a Chinese cookbook. They're really not particularly scary. Grace Young's "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen," in particular, is very user-friendly, and her recipes are top-notch.

[Susan in FL]

Tonight:

Grilled pork tenderloin with mango glaze

Mango salsa

Grilled carrots and squash

Boiled new potatoes

Pinot Noir

Monday night:

Crabcakes

Sweet corn flans with tomato-corn relish

Stacked Tomato Salad with Tapenade and Basil Dressing

Chardonnay

[RSincere]

Thanks, mags. Maybe it's just a bad recipe.

I'm starting to wonder about that cookbook anyway. Today I made sesame peanut noodles out of the same book (Dinner Doctor) and the peanut sauce was vile. I have made much better peanut sauce than that, wish I knew what cookbook I got the good recipe from. This recipe called for a cup of bottled red wine vinaigrette. I followed the recipe, and the sauce was disgusting, too sweet and vinegary, so I added more peanut butter and more salt but it never did get very good.

I might check out that book you mentioned. I wasn't specifically looking to cook Chinese food, I was just trying out this new cookbook and that was one of the recipes I picked.

Susan in FL, that food looks so good!

[mags]

Eeeps, bottled vinaigrette in a recipe for Asian peanut sauce? Rachel, use that book for puppy training!

Dinner: scrambled eggs with zucchini, onion, shredded sharp cheddar, chipotle salsa, and sour cream. Tasty stuff.

Edited June 24, 2004 by mags (log)

[Dana]

Took dinner to work last night for a group of mailhandlers who have been doing an exceptionally good job the last several months.

Smoked chicken leg quarters

smoked sausage links

green beans

potato salad

jambalya

bread

banana pudding.

[NeroW]

Rachel -- by volume, how much cornstarch was there in the marinade (1 tablespoon? 1 teaspoon?) and how much liquid (1 cup?)?

Hmmm...there was 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, 3 Tbsp sherry, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. It was all nicely mixed when I poured it in, a tan color. It didn't stay that way!

RSincere--

How long did you let it cook out once you added the cornstarch? Cornstarch needs to cook out (at at least a near-boil) for about a minute.

[Jason Perlow]

Chicken Mole Poblano, with Mexican rice and Refried Black Beans and Blue Corn Tortillas

Extreme black beans cloeseup

[RSincere]

Rachel -- by volume, how much cornstarch was there in the marinade (1 tablespoon? 1 teaspoon?) and how much liquid (1 cup?)?

Hmmm...there was 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, 3 Tbsp sherry, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. It was all nicely mixed when I poured it in, a tan color. It didn't stay that way!

RSincere--

How long did you let it cook out once you added the cornstarch? Cornstarch needs to cook out (at at least a near-boil) for about a minute.

I cooked it for several minutes, adding water, trying to thin it out. It wasn't boiling during those several minutes. Just sitting there in brown gooey lumps.

mags, don't say that about that cookbook! I just bought it and I wrote in it so now I won't even get much for it on eBay. And the worst of it is, I do my menus 2 weeks in advance, and I pick out 10 recipes to try for the next 2 weeks. All my 10 recipes are from this book, and I have all the ingredients for these specific recipes. Five more to go before I can switch to a better cookbook.

I did a beef stew recipe from the same book tonight. It had the basic stew ingredients, turnips, carrots, etc. but the recipe called for using a can of beef stew like Dinty Moore to thicken up the stew, if that makes any sense. I didn't do that, instead I used another can of broth and some extra flour and let it cook longer. It wasn't very thick so I dumped a few handfuls of mashed potato flakes in it. It actually turned out okay.

[mags]

Rachel, this is the worst cookbook I've ever HEARD of! <giggling hysterically> You're supposed to make stew and thicken it with CANNED STEW??? Why bother making the damn stuff? Why not just eat the stuff in the can?

In all seriousness, why did you buy this book?

And listen, you did really well coming up with the potato flakes to thicken the stew. That's thinking like a cook.

Dinner tonight: Leftover roast turkey, salad, too many pistachio nuts

Edited June 25, 2004 by mags (log)

[hathor]

don't say that about that cookbook! I just bought it and I wrote in it so now I won't even get much for it on eBay. And the worst of it is, I do my menus 2 weeks in advance, and I pick out 10 recipes to try for the next 2 weeks. All my 10 recipes are from this book, and I have all the ingredients for these specific recipes. Five more to go before I can switch to a better cookbook.

I did a beef stew recipe from the same book tonight. It had the basic stew ingredients, turnips, carrots, etc. but the recipe called for using a can of beef stew like Dinty Moore to thicken up the stew, if that makes any sense. I didn't do that, instead I used another can of broth and some extra flour and let it cook longer. It wasn't very thick so I dumped a few handfuls of mashed potato flakes in it. It actually turned out okay.

What if you listed the ingedients that you have on hand and then maybe the crowd could give you some suggestions? One thing about cooking is that you always need to know how and when to punt. Fresh ingredients go bad....someone comes along and eats that one thing you were saving...you come home and there is no way you want to make or eat what was on the 'schedule'. Looks like your learning...at least you didn't throw in the Dinty Moore!!

We all have lots of cookbooks that seemed like a good idea at the time! Its all part of the learning curve, don't be too hard on yourself.

[helenas]

Sheep milk ricotta gnocchi, the original recipe came from the last F&W, and sounded very tempting to try. God bless one of my local stores, so getting the necessary ricotta was not a problem.

I changed the mushroom ragu though: used flower and oyster mushrooms with chinese flowring chives and blue shrimp.

Served with watercress, abd couple on nice beers: beligian golden style from some microbrewery and inevitable Sam Smith.

[mags]

Helenas, those gnocchi look good enough to....well, good enough to eat

[Susan in FL]

They sure do! Beautiful plate of food.

[Toliver]

In all seriousness, why did you buy this book?

Mags,

I believe the book she is talking about is "The Dinner Doctor", from the same author of "The Cake Mix Doctor" (which contains recipes that start out using boxed cake mixes and show how to doctor them up so they taste better...and having made some of the recipes I can attest that they are very good enhancements). It's a sort of Sandra Lee concept but just one tiny notch better.

I'm assuming "The Dinner Doctor" contains recipes along the same line, starting with something pre-fabricated and trying to make it better, which is why it calls for the canned stew as a shortcut. I believe the recipes are also meant to be budget stretchers and time-savers. Read the review on Amazon to understand what it's all about.

That being said, the cookbook is exactly what it's advertised to be...but it's not for someone who would rather make everything from scratch.

[mags]

Well, you know, I argued loud and long in the original Sandra Lee thread for the validity of a concept like hers. I said that there was a whole world of people out there who were both intimidated by the kitchen and ultimately not really that sensitive to the difference between "edible" and "really good," and that books like Sandra Lee's spoke to their need to A) not do any scary cooking while B) earning "mommy points" for producing homemade dinners.

Then I looked at the book.

I haven't seen The Dinner Doctor, so, once again, I am talking, shall we say, out of my buttocks. And I can certainly envision a book's being useful if it offered instructions for making canned stew tastier (even if those instructions were not along the lines of "open can, dump contents in garbage pail, call out for pizza"). Seriously, chop an onion or a couple of shallots, brown in olive oil, deglaze with red wine, stir into the canned stew with a few sprigs of fresh thyme, let simmer 10 minutes...it's going to be better, maybe even a lot better, than the canned stew straight out of the can. And while I don't think this approach would actually save much time or labor, it would provide a decent set of training wheels for folks who are just starting to make their way around the kitchen.

But I don't see ANY point to a recipe that requires somebody to essentially make stew and then add...canned stew. Nor, frankly, do I see any point to a recipe for Asian peanut sauce that starts with a bottle of red wine vinaigrette. Not only is the labor-saving utterly minimal, but you're A) boosting the price of your sauce, and B) introducing both crap preservatives and weird, non-Asian flavors into what is inherently a very simple recipe. In both cases, the recipes sound to me like excuses for using over-priced "convenience" products that don't, in fact, contribute much by way of convenience and add a lot to the price and the crap-factor.

I would much rather see a beginning cook go with something like Marc Bittman's "Minimalist" books. The recipes are straightforward, they don't involve any complicated techniques or weird ingredients -- no caul fat or buttermilk powder or chayote -- and they work.

[NeroW]

Last night for dinner, I made beer.

No, it was already made when I got there. Now I'm confused. I'm going back to bed.

I think tonight, I shall have pizza.

[RSincere]

NeroW, you crack me up.

Toliver and mags, you are right, the cookbook is "The Dinner Doctor." I bought it because I was reading a message board where they were making fun of Sandra Lee. Someone on the board mentioned that the Dinner Doctor lady took the same kind of concept, but did it much better than SL does. I bought the book thinking it was more along the lines of Rachael Ray, meaning that the processed foods would be canned tomatoes, canned beans, pre-shredded cheese, pre-shredded cabbage, tortillas, stuff like that.

I am trying to learn to cook from scratch. However, because of a disability, I go through weeks where I will not cook at all. During those weeks, I get very tired of peanut butter on toast, and I am trying to learn of fresh and healthy things that I might be up to making at those times. I am just so sick of and grossed out by processed food at this point. Even Cheetos have lost their appeal, as I have had too many "dinners" where that's all I ate because that's all I had available. (Sacrilege!)

It wasn't until I brought the Dinner Doctor book home when I saw the recipes involving canned soup and dried onion dip and the like. I was disappointed, because I have all sorts of cookbooks like that and I'm trying to get away from that and learn how to cook real, healthy food. She does have quite a few recipes that aren't bad, but I definitely hit on two bad ones in a row! I am not experienced enough to look at a recipe for peanut sauce that includes red wine vinaigrette and say, "That doesn't look right." I had never even tasted red wine vinaigrette before. I had to make it to realize it was terrible. On the other hand, I did know that it was stupid to brown stew meat and onion, add broth and turnips and carrots and red wine, cook it, and then thicken it with Dinty Moore!

mags, I will check out that Minimalist book. That sounds like something I could use. I did buy his book "How to Cook Everything" and I'm actually reading it cover to cover right now. My next two-week menu will probably be all recipes from that. I also went to the library yesterday and checked out a cookbook by the same person who wrote the Silver Palate, I think it's called Good Food or something like that.

Sorry for rambling. Today I made a recipe from the Dinner Doctor that was good. It was a mixture of black beans, salsa, corn, bell pepper, canned tomatoes, and cumin, layered with tortillas and cheese and then baked.

[binkyboots]

tonight because of a plumbing emergency, pizza (hehe, pizza = no plates to clean)

and for me soup! lol, with sour cream on top

[reesek]

I did buy his book "How to Cook Everything"

Rsincere - i have that bittman book - and it's great. i think his process for adding new things to a recipe is a really great way to figure out what flavors go together.

i think the dinner doctor should go on sabbatical.

seriously - tell us what you have around and we can help you make meals that are much tastier, probably less expensive and genuinely homemade. if you save the dinty moore and soup packets - you can turn to them in emergency situations for meals.

edited to add: dinner last night was 6 gross waffle fries, and too much bud light. shhh

Edited June 25, 2004 by reesek (log)

[helenas]

While wandering through Wegmans deciding on what to cook for dinner, stumbled on some new german-style breads, one of them being a real rye, in fact looking almost like a real russian bread...

As a result the dinner was inspired by this bread discovery and the cover recipe of the recent "Cuisine et Vins de France" issue - Tomates Farcies Au Pain.

Pain de campagne, crsiply browned and rubbed with some cut up garlic, torn to small pieces added to tomato pulp to absorb it, thinly sliced chorizo (Palacios of course) added and the thing stuffed into tomato shells.

Although published in french magazine and called for some european ingreadiens (chorizo and parmeggiano (that i skipped adding some grainy dijon instead)), it was still a quintessential russian food.

Edited June 26, 2004 by helenas (log)