Honey Lemon Chicken

It's been much too long since I posted an original recipe, and since that's really what this blog is supposed to be all about, I figured it was time I get my act together.

Last night, I made Honey Lemon Chicken. This recipe sounds good, and in theory, I think it should be good. But it wasn't that good. I can't quite pinpoint why -- could have been that I overcooked the chicken, may have marinated it too long (or used too much lemon), or perhaps I the trusty ol' iron skillet would have been a better choice than the broiler.

Whatever it was, last night's dish was just average. But, like many of my recipes, I believe this one has great potential; it's just not quite there yet.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each, already thawed)
• The juice from one lemon
• A few tablespoons of honey (2 to 3 per piece of chicken)
• A few squirts of olive oil (don't go crazy 'cause we'll be using more later)
• A touch of cumin (less than a teaspoon unless you want your chicken to smell like B.O.)
• Kosher salt (a pinch or two)
• Freshly ground black peper

Directions:

1. In a good sized bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, honey, olive oil, and cumin.
2. Marinate both pieces of chicken in the lemon/honey mixture for about 10 to 15 min (but absolutely no more than 20).
   
3. Use tongs to place each chicken breast on a broiling pan, and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper.
4. Place under the broiler (two slots away from the top) for about 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, flip the chicken breasts over and broil for another 10 minutes.
6. Remove the boiling pan, and move the rack up to the closest spot near the broiler.
7. Flip the chicken back over and drizzle with olive oil.
8. Place back under the broiler for another 3 to 5 minutes (the idea here is to get a nice sear on the surface of the meat.).
   
9. Let the meat rest a good 5 minutes before serving (if you don't rest your meat, you might as well not even bother cooking it).
10. Say a prayer.
11. Eat and enjoy!
    

After-thoughts:

The internal temperature of poultry should be about 165 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be safe. If you get much past 170 though, the chicken will probably be a bit dry. My chicken was well past 170 by the time I finished step 8, and that might have been why I wasn't thrilled with the dish.

You might consider, broiling for only about 7 minutes on each side before doing step 8. Just be sure your instant read thermometer says the chicken is safe (you'd better have an instant read thermometer -- it's a culinary essential).

Another option might be to sear the chicken in an iron skillet. The chicken I cooked was a little bland. Cooking it in a skillet would help keep what little fat there is (from the chicken itself and from the olive oil) in the chicken breast, rather than having it drip down into the broiling pan.

Some of you might be tempted to suggest marinating the chicken longer, because generally, the longer you marinate something, the more the flavorful that something will ultimately be. In this case though, I wouldn't recommend it. Citrus tends to break meat down quickly, and if you marinate it too long, the result will be a curiously strong, citrus flavored chicken (trust me, I marinated the chicken for an hour once, and it was definitely not good).

Other than that, I'm not sure what else to try, so your comments are definitely welcome.

Michael Buble

Michael Buble is my new favorite musician. Man, this guy can really sing! His voice is amazing. Check out his web site: http://www.michaelbuble.com

And it's pronounced "Boo-blay" not "bubble."

Oh, by the way, I had lemon-honey chicken for dinner tonight (hey, this is a cooking blog... I have to weave food in here somehow right?)

Don't think. Just live, and you'll be fine.

I've been saying for years that you should take everything the "experts" from the scientific community tell you with a grain of salt because it's only a matter of time before they reverse what they originally thought.

At one time, eggs were unhealthy and a major cause of high cholesterol, then a few years later, a couple of eggs a week was thought to be very healthy. Then, somewhere along the line, they became unhealthy again, and who knows where we are at present.

The same thing is pretty much true for EVERYTHING: wine, beer, nuts, red meat, chicken, carbohydrates. Even dark chocolate in small quantities is thought to be a cancer preventitive (but don't get too excited choc-o-holics. It's only a matter of time before that verdict is reversed).

So my personal philosophy is: Just Live! Forget what you heard in the news last week, and just live your life, treating everything in moderation. Alton Brown said it best:

"...there are no bad foods, only bad eating habits. Butter is not wrong, eating a stick of it at one sitting is; sugar is not bad, eating a cup of it a day is; carbohydrates are not evil.

So enjoy your cooking, enjoy eating (and I say savor licking the batter off those beaters), but do it responsibly and with moderation."

And this goes, not only for food, but for everything in life. Why am I blogging about this? Because I just read an article online that clinched it for me. I'm am now completely and totally convinced that nothing the "experts" tells us can be taken seriously, because it's only a matter of time before they renege.

Case in point: Scientists Say Sunshine May Prevent Cancer
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050521/D8A7MPFG0.html
If that doesn't convince you I'm right, nothing will!

Comments welcome.

I think...

I think washing your hands is stupid.

American Idol

Bo Bice Rocks! I said from day one he should win, and it looks like he's going to. He's far and away the best from any season of American Idol. I'm ready to go out and buy his CD right now.

Carrie is also excellent and definitely deserves the #2 stop. Vonzell should never have even made the top 3 and Anthony should have been eliminated weeks ago.

They should have Kelly Clarkson come back as a celebrity judge. I can't wait to start Yoga next year.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Discuss.

Rent vs. Buy

I know, I know. When it comes to blogging regularly (like a good blogger should) I've been failing miserably. But I feel like I have a good excuse: we're in the process of trying to find a place to live. That's pretty important right?

Problem is, we can't decide if it makes more sense to rent or to buy. The housing market here in Baltimore is just out of control. That might be good, and it might be bad. If it stays out of control, chances are good that in two years, we'd make some good money. If people all of the sudden come to their senses and are no longer willing to pay 300K for 1000 square feet of space (c'mon who are we kidding -- people (as a whole) will never come to their senses), then we might just barely brake even, or even worse: lose money.

I'm not all that concerned about a "housing bubble" because quite honestly, I don't think that's going to happen soon. However, I am concerned about something else that was pointed out to me. A lot of people who bought houses in the last 5, 7 or 10 years, got a mortgage of 5, 7 or 10 year Arm. That means that after their initial 5, 7 or 10 year, their interest rates could go up significantly. Since people tend to live outside of their means, a lot of those people will no longer be able to make their payments after their interest rates increase. Thus, they will be forced to get rid of their homes, and all of the sudden we have more houses on the market. And this is not a good thing if my goals is to make 50K in two years from Real Estate.

So the million dollar question. Does it make more sense to rent or to buy? I'm taking a poll, and I need your input!

Please consider the following:

1. It is very likely that will we only be in Baltimore for about 2 more years (though the possibility exists for 3 or 4 (tops).
2. Our monthly mortgage payment would probably be in excess of $2200! For 3/4 of that, we could get an awesome apartment.
3. I'm ultra, ultra conservative with my money and don't like to spend large sums of money ($20) at at once. A pair of pants that costs more than $20 is extravagent in my opinion.

So what does everyone think? What would you do? What have you done? And why?

Comments not only welcome, but desperately needed!

Flour Tortillas & Iron Skillets (two-in-one lesson)

I went to a small gathering tonight at June's house with some of the Church folk (and June, I must say -- very cute house and a very nice job hosting the event). Since it was just a couple of says after Cinco de Mayo, we decided to keep with the Mexican theme. Originally, I was going to make Tres Leches, but when I realized last minute that I didn't have enough eggs (shame on me for not having my "mise en place") I went with something decidedly simplier -- flour tortillas.

Flour tortillas are 100 times better than the corn tortillas that most of your are probably used to, and about 1000 times better than those hard-shell "taco shells," which indicentally, don't even exist in Mexico (or if they do, they're not very common).

I spent a year in Mexico (Tijuana/Rosarito) so I like to think I know a thing or two about Mexican food (though I'm certainly no expert). I've seen the flour tortillas made from scratch before, so I had a pretty good idea of what I would need to make them, but just to be sure I did a quick google search. After combining the information I found on the Internet with what I already knew, here is what I ended up doing.

Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt (I used kosher, but I use kosher salt in everything)
• 3 tablespoons of shortening
• 2 tablespoons of margarine
• 1 1/4 cups of warm water (this is approximate -- you may need to adjust)

Note: If you want "healthier" tortillas, omit the shortening and just use about 4 tablespoons of margarine.

Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl.
2. Add the shortening and margarine and use a rubber scraper to cut the shortening and margarine into the flour mixture. If you're super picky about getting this worked in thoroughly, ditch the rubber scraper and use your hands.
3. Add the warm water (doesn't need to be very hot) to the flour mixture a little at a time. Do this in installments so that you don't add to much -- you want the dough to be soft but not sticky.
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. I highly recommend weighing each piece to ensure they are all the same (if you don't have a digital scale, you need to get one -- it's a kitchen essential). This will make it easier to get consistent cooking time. In the batch I did, each dough ball was about 2.5 ounces.
5. Heat a cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat. You don't want this to be too hot, or your tortiallas will burn. I have an electric stove-top and I kept my skillet around 3 and that seemed to work well.
6. Now's the time to roll out each of your dough balls. Put some flour down on your work area so that the dough doesn't stick. It also helps to lightly dust each ball with flour before you start. Using a rolling pin, start from the center and roll out in every direction until you've make a full circle. Repeat until the tortilla is about the size of your skillet (the dough should be pretty darn thin but not so thin that it has holes or tears when you pick it up).
7. Double-check to make sure your skillet is hot and evenly heated; then place a tortilla in the skillet. Keep a close watch on it as it only takes 10 - 15 seconds on each side to cook. When the first side has lots of nice brown speckles, flip and heat the second side for the about the same amount of time.
   
8. When the tortillas is done, place it in a slightly damp kitchen towel. This will help keep it warm and prevent it from drying out.
9. Once your tortillas are complete, the possibilities are endless. I recommend some shredded cheese, onions, chorizo (spicy mexican sausage) or ham, maybe some bacon bits, salsa verde, and some sour cream all washed down with a Negro Modelo.
10. Don't forget to say a prayer.
11. Then eat and enjoy!

Note: You shouldn't need a spatula or anything to flip the tortillas. Real Mexicans just use their hands, so don't be a whimp.

Part 2 -- The Iron Skillet

The iron skillet is by far the most versitle piece of cookware in your kitcken (if you don't have one, shame on you). Iron skillets are perfect for searing -- no other material heats as evenly or retains its heat as well. There's really nothing you can't do with an iron skillet, and when properly seasoned, you can be very confident that no terrible sticking will occur.

And that is the major point that I wanted to touch on in part two on this blog entry. Several people asked me if the tortillas stick when you cook them in the iron skillet, and the answer is a resounding no! Not one bit!

To be fair, I suspect this is due in large part to the nature of the tortilla (not necessarily to a properly seasoned iron skillet) but a properly seasoned iron skillet certainly can't hurt.

What exactly is "seasoning" or a "seasoned" skillet? Seasoning is the process of applying a thin coat of cooking oil to the entire surface of a piece of cookware (inside and out) and then baking that oil coating into the cookware creating a natrual non-stick surface.

Any descent piece of cast-iron cookware that you buy today will probably be pre-seasoned, which is great, but you should know how to season your cookware yourself anyway. And you should do it once a year at least. Here is how it's done (from Alton Brown's I'm just here for the Food: Chapter 1).

1. Place the pan to be cured (seasoned) on the top rack of a cold oven and place a sheet pan or a baking sheet on the bottom rack (to catch any oil that might drip off).
2. Turn the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. When that pan is warm but still touchable, remove it and spoon in a dollop of solid vegetable shortening. As the shortening melts, use a paper towel to smear the fat all over the pan (inside, outside, handle -- everywhere).
4. Place the pan back in the oven, upside down (which prevents excess fat from pooling in the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven (AB recommends using Fireproof gloves).
6. Wipe the pan clean, but don't wash it.

That's all there is to it. It's really not that much work, but if you think it's too much effort just for a piece of cookware, consider what AB has to say about it.

"Some folks sneer at the maintenance required, but considering that ours is the very culture that nurtured Sea Monkeys, Chia Pets, and Pet Rocks, taking care of an iron skillet shouldn't be a problem."

And I couldn't agree more, but if you're still not convinced, consider this:

"Iron is very economical, and cooking with it supplies dietary iron, which a lot of us (especially women) tend to run short on."

So there you go! Do it for me, do it for AB, do it for your own good health. And if you cook lots of bacon in your iron skillet, you will in effect be seasoning it every time you cook. Pretty cool huh? In fact, the truth is, cast-iron only gets better with use. That's why those old, old cast-iron pots and pans that may have been handed down to you from parents and grandparents are probably more "non-stick" than any brand new iron skillet you can buy in the store.

So I hoped you've learned something in this blog entry. If you don't yet have an iron skillet, I hope I've encouraged you to consider buying one. I promise that once you get the hang of cooking with it (it does take a little practice) you will absolutely love it.

Comments Welcome.

Christ Is Risen!

Christ is Risen! - Indeed He Is Risen!
Khristos Voskrese! - Voistinu Voskrese!
Christos Anesti! - Alithos Anesti!
Cristo Ha Resucitado! - En Verdad Ha Resucitado!