From amateur to halfway decent

I haven't done a lot of blogging and maybe just a bit of shopping... But I  have done a ton of cooking! And with each new dish recreated (from cooking class) I had a new blog. But life got in the way--and laziness, and I've made like five dishes but I don't feel like writing five blogs. So here it is--in one post, see how I've grown over these past four to five weeks. Are you proud of me because I'm pretty proud of myself. The bag of baked Cheetos that continues to haunt me and find its way in my shopping cart and next to me on the couch every night--that I am not too proud of. Yeah, not so much. Oh but before we begin, let's post a picture of Miss Bits (because this might be a long night of blogging).

This was taken last week at a park right off of Key Biscayne. This oceanfront, picnic-perfect park is secluded, (maybe) allows dogs, is nestled in a neighborhood of old, gorgeous mansions (Madonna used to live in one), and is just a couple of miles from mi casa. If I did yoga, I would so run to the spot, do some yogi poses, and run back. But since I don't do yoga, I'll just run there and run back.

But I sidetracked per usual. Let's start with me falling back on what I know when I don't know what to cook:

Natalie's fried rice, which is oil or butter, garlic, onion, eyeround steak (leaner beef), eggs, steamed white rice, frozen veggies, soy sauce and lots of cilantro because I am a cilantro fiend. Always a good, hearty meal and we eat it for days--literally. We make so much we have to.

I juxtaposed this oldie but goodie with a new but scary (for me):

I learned how to debone a chicken--sort of. My technique is a little off, but at the end of the day, I had two wings, two drumsticks, two sorry excuses for the thighs (I really butchered it there trying to pull them apart from the drumsticks), and two breasts. Upon removing the wishbones when I was home practicing, I failed to follow the knifing instructions my chef instructor explicitly told us about.

                                                  

(The absurdly large Band-aid is because it was the only one in the SOBeFiT First Aid box but it was better than securing toilet paper around my finger with a ponytail holder.) Lesson learned: Hold the part you're cutting UP so it's away from your fingers. Got it.

Chef Debi's chicken marinade recipe is this amazing, robust, flavorful stuff:
balsamic
mustard (whole grain dijon)
herbs
salt and pepper
oil

We roasted everything but the chicken breasts in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. The breasts were cooked on the stove. And tip of the day: To prevent from overcooking (thus drying) chicken, which I do because fear of massive food poisoning, cook your chicken in a pan like normal--but when you turn it over, add chicken stock (and any other vegetables you want) and continue to cook while covered. It retains the moisture of the chicken. I also roasted chopped yukon gold potatoes tossed with garlic, herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. The results: Yummy:

And what is a huge, huge hit with Timmy and I because it's seriously Cracker Barrel-quality:

Paula Deen, be so proud. For fluffy buttermilk biscuits:

1 1/4 c. cake flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. butter, cut in small chunks
3/4 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add butter and cut into flour using your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in buttermilk and stir lightly until dough comes together in a ball. Dump all-purpose flour on workstation surface. With floured hands, lightly knead dough a few times until it is fairly well blended. Pat out into a circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Use a cutter or wine glass rim to cut out circles in dough, without twisting the cutter. Form the dough scraps into an extra biscuit-like shape instead of re-rolling the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet with parchment paper so that the sides are touching. Brush melted butter on top. Bake for 10 minutes.

Timmy was a happy man, but then I made gravy (chicken stock plus roux, or butter and flour folded together in pan) and he was gluttonous.

And then I made the biscuits again, this time to go with my chayote salad and BBQ ribs!!

To make it: Julienne chayote (a Mexican plant), tomatoes and red onions. Chop cilantro and combine all in bowl. For the mojo sauce to go over the salad: In hot oil, toast sliced garlic until they are slightly browned. Then throw in lime juice and cilantro. Let cool then mix in with salad; add salt and pepper to taste.

Ribs are surprisingly easy to make. Take a rack of back pork ribs and tear off the cartilage that's holding the ribs together in the back. Season with salt and pepper and liquid smoke. Place in baking pan and add a little chicken stock. Cover in foil and slowcook at 300 degrees for three hours. After, slather on BBQ sauce and enjoy, or place it on the grill. Since we don't have a grill, this was our finished product. My Valentine gift to Timmy is my labor of love:

Seriously fall-off-the-bone good. And finally, stir-fry and steamed snapper/fish. Stir fry is julienned Bok choy, Napa cabbage, snow peas, bean sprouts, garlic, onion, ginger, any other veggies, and soy sauce in peanut oil and a little bit of vegetable stock. The tilapia or red snapper was marinated in homemade ponzu sauce: soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lime juice, orange juice, fresh ginger, 1 scallion, thinly sliced. I wrapped the fish in banana leaves and then in foil. Cooked for 12-15 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees. Then served with steamed white rice:

Everything was super flavorful, and OK, Tim's fish was a little undercooked, but overall--a success story for the month with all my cooking feats. So fish I need to do better in, as well as photographing my food. If only I had an SLR camera. My presentation skills could step it up too. Still, very happy. bon appetit. Chan.