Beer Can Chicken

Whole chickens were on sale at Save-On, for $2/lb--better even, than Chinatown! I still had some spice rub left from the Ginger Ale Chicken, so this was perfect.

Ingredients:
0.33 can of beer
Spices
Whole chicken


Method:
Preheat oven to 380F. Use the second to lowest rack. The chicken needs enough room to stand.
Take the top off an empty, clean aluminum can and fill a third of it with beer. Put it in a baking dish.
Add spices to the beer (I used rosemary and paprika)
Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub the inside and out with spices. Get under the skin if you can--it's supposed to give it more flavour (I didn't this time).

Sit the chicken on top of the can, which should fit right in. Form a tripod with the legs for support.
Bake for 60-75 minutes. If you have a thermometer, check that it's around 165F.
Remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes.
Carefully remove the can (it could be hot and full of liquid) and enjoy!

Comments:
I used a Memphis Rub. Put all these ingredients into a small container and shake to mix. Sprinkle half of it generously on and in the chicken. Save the rest for another time.
2 tbs paprika
1.5 tsp dark brown sugar
1.5 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
0.5 tsp celery salt
0.5 tsp fresh ground pepper
0.5 tsp dry mustard
0.5 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp onion powder


I used ginger ale the first time I made this, because that was the only thing we had that kinda resembled beer (shocking, isn't it, that we were out...). The food did pick up some of the sweetness, but it was still good. I don't think you have to use beer. It's probably that it evaporates faster, and so is more able to keep the chicken moist.

I quite like this because the chicken is lifted off the juices, and I don't have to bring out the rack and clean it. The skin gets nice and crispy as a result, but the meat stays juicy.


Verdict:
Good! And you can season it any way you like =)

Oxtail and Root Vegetables Soup

After noticing that we have not made much by way of soup, a special trip to Chinatown was in order.

Will did most of the work for this one. Except for the potatoes, cuz he doesn't like peeling them.

Ingredients:
1 oxtail, cut into discs (let the butcher do it at the shop)
2 jumbo (and I mean JUMBO) carrots, cut into large chunks.
1 large daikon, cut into large chunks
2 onions, cut into wedges
2 lb potatoes, cut into large chunks


Method:
Throw everything into a large stock pot, add water, and bring to a boil.
Simmer for a few hours.
Season to taste.
Enjoy!


Comments:
We actually forgot to buy onions and emptied a mostly-full bottle of onion flakes into the pot. Worked quite well, but probably not the best in terms of health =P

I wasn't sure how much potatoes we used; I just finished what was left of a bag from before.

If you want a really pretty soup, boil the bones in a smaller pot, strain the stock through a sieve into the big pot, rinse the bones, put them into the big pot, then add the veggies and more water if needed and cook on low. Straining and rinsing will get rid of the foam and blood. Slow-cooking will prevent the potatoes from falling apart. As you can tell, we weren't so diligent =P


Verdict:
Yum! And only lasted 3 days. Oxtail's really tasty for soups!

Pasta Sauce with Beef, Peppers and Mushrooms

Will's been really good about cooking recently, and this is his signature dish. I can make it, but I haven't had much time to cook recently.

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lb lean ground beef
3 red peppers, cut into 1" squares
1 bag mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, cut into 1" squares
2 cans/jars pasta sauce
Sugar
Cayenne pepper
Herbs to taste


Method:
Brown the beef, drain, and put into a 4-qt pot.
Sautee the veggies and add to pot.
Add tomato sauce and cook until heated thoroughly.
Taste and add seasoning to taste.
Let simmer for flavours to meld.

Verdict:
Yum! and lasts for days ^^

wow, it's been ages since the last recipe, but I think it is telling when you look at the average term 1 grade from the students in my class are below 50%. (Yes, I got a lot of baddies transferred to my class.)

Funny story to share: I ask all students to give me their email address so I can email the class link to them. One kid says he doesn't have email, and instead gave me his mom's. I thought it was just a fake email. Lo and behold, I get this comment on the welcome post of the blog: "WOW WHAT A GREAT IDEA NOW WHEN (student) SAYS HE HAS NO HOMEWORK WE WILL BE ABLE TO REALLY CONFIRM THIS!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH WE ARE TRYING TO ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE ON ALL SCHOOL WORK AND HIS GRADES. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF (student) IS NOT DOING HIS WORK ETC, IN CLASS... "

I love it when parents are on board.

Ebisu on Broadway

Work's been eating my life, and I haven't really cooked in the last little bit. I made stew the other day, but it's an old recipe. All I did was add a can of diced tomatoes and it enhanced the flavours.

Cindy, Will and I went to Ebisu on Friday night. Poor Eddie was recuperating from a wisdom teeth extraction, and could not join us.

The food was good, but I still the old Hapa menu better.

The more interesting parts of dinner:

Mango California Roll

Healthy Dynamite Roll (brown rice and bean curd wrap)

Yam Tempura Roll

Enoki Beef and Bacon Asparagus

Tuna Taco

Thunder Fries (really good with mayo)

Banana Bread

We're kinda out of food this morning, so I decided to make banana bread, even though the bananas probably aren't over-ripe enough yet. (I could've made banana pancakes, but that would've ruined all the patience of waiting for the bananas to ripen.)

Ingredients (for a 9x5 loaf):
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.25 tsp salt
0.5 cup butter, softened
0.75 cup packed brown sugar
3-4 ripe bananas
2 eggs


Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly grease the pan
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt to mix.
In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs.
Thickly slice in bananas and beat until mostly smooth. You might need to use a mashing motion at first  to break the bananas.
Add dry mix and stir until moistened.
Bake in pan 1 hour and check with a toothpick.

Comments:

The recipe I looked at called for eggs that were already beaten, and 2.3 cups of bananas that were already mashed, then stirring (I think this means by hand) into the cream. I didn't want to do the extra dishes, so hence my odd method, and rather thick batter (air gets incorporated into the eggs like this).

It probably matters whether you stir the dry into the wet, or vice-versa, but the bowl with the wet mix was already icky, so I just added the dry to it and stirred, keeping the dry bowl pretty clean. I'm bad, I know.

Our place is smelling really good as I type this!

Holy dense, Batman! This bread has a lot of heft to it. And, after cooling, it shrank vertically.


Verdict:
Yum! The inside was moist, and the top was crispy! The intact banana bits were nice surprises as well.

Pasta: Chicken and Spinach in Rose Sauce

It's nice to plan for some variety during the week, so last night, we bought a rotisserie chicken from Save-On with the intent of trying to polish off the mashed potatoes from the shepherd's pie. It didn't happen, as I think there was a good 6lbs of potatoes left. (oi.)

Anyways, we also picked up Olivieri Picante Rose sauce and a bunch of spinach, knowing that we would have leftover chicken. I don't like eating roast chicken on its own the next day, so into the sauce it goes, along with chopped spinach to add oomph.

Yay for lunch tomorrow!

Oh, and Will protests the "lazy food" tag. However, seeing how he did all the food prep, it was lazy for me =PP

Shepherd's Pie

I recently saw a picture from my cousin-in-law of 'lazy shepherd's pie'. With all those potatoes leftover from the pot roast (we bought a 10-lb bag for cheap), this was the perfect way to use em up. And I get lunch for a couple days!

This was all stuff we had on hand. Use fresh ingredients as desired.


Ingredients (fills a 12x8 pyrex):
0.8 kg ground beef
0.25 cup dried onion flakes
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs powdered thyme
1 small can tomato paste
equal volume of frozen veggie mix as beef, heated and ready to use
equal volume of mashed potatoes as the beef/veggie mix
2-3 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese

Method:
Cook the beef in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Add in onion flakes until they rehydrate.
Drain away the fat.
Add chili powder and thyme and whatever spices/seasoning to taste.
Add tomato paste. Stir well.
Add veggies and heat through.
Pack the mix into the bottom of a baking dish.
Sprinkle with about half the cheese.
Cover with an equal amount of mashed potatoes.
Top with cheese.
Broil in the oven at 450F until cheese bubbles and browns.

Comments:
The tomato paste is optional. You can opt for a gravy taste if you use beef buillion.
If you are using leftover mashed potatoes, bake in the oven at 375F for 15-20 minutes to heat through before broiling to brown the cheese.


Verdict:
Good, if a bit bland. We're trying not to use much salt in our cooking. We should also probably get into the habit of taste-testing =P

Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast

We got a great deal on a beef roast at Safeway, so into the crock it goes ^^. I've made this on several other occasions, and it's great, because it could be a one-pot meal--meat, veggies and carbs in one! It's also really cheap because you can use the cheapest cuts of meat, the the slow cooker makes it tender.

Ingredients (serves 3-5):
3 lb beef chuck roast
5 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 medium carrots, cut 1" thick
5 stalks celery, cut 1" thick
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
water
maggi seasoning
worcestershire sauce
dried parsley and oregano
flour for thickening


Method (for a 6qt crockpot):
Trim meat of excess fat.
Rub beef with maggi and worcestershire sauce.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Rub on dried parsley.
Place a layer of carrots on the bottom of the crock, followed by onions.
Place beef in the middle and top with celery.
Fill the area around the meat with potatoes and remaining veggies, keeping potatoes to the outside.
Fill the crock about 1/3 full with water (if you know your crock won't dry out, use less liquid).
Sprinkle on oregano.
Cook on low for 7 hours and check for doneness. If it is just a bit pinker than what you want, take out the meat, cover loosely and let rest 20-30 minutes. The residual heat will cook the meat the rest of the way.
Mix the remaining items in the pot and use the liquid for gravy, if desired.
Season gravy to taste.
Goes great with red wine. (We had Merlot)


Comments:
You can brown the meat first for more flavour. I only had 25 minutes before work, so I didn't bother.
The heating element is on the side and bottom of the crock, so carrots and potatoes are preferentially put there.
I had originally inserted a meat thermometer, and I'm not sure how well that turned out, because Will reported over the phone (I was in transit) that the temperature was 85C when he took it out. Yet, it was not cardboard-y. Weird.


Verdict:
So tender, and nothing beats roast potatoes ^^. It was a bit bland, but you can add salt to the gravy, or do as Will did, and have it with HP Sauce.

Chicken with Sweet Sauce

After reading Nicole's blog, I was going to make oyako don, but then I realised that I'm lacking all ingredients, other than the chicken and egg.

So, needing dinner on New Year's Day of all days, and with Will napping away, I basically had to use whatever was on hand.

This is a sweet dish that goes well with rice. My family tends to have it with pork belly rather than chicken (super fatty, I might add). I'm not sure if it's a Vietnamese, Cambodian or Teochew dish, but we also have it with a sour fish soup as a two-course meal.


Ingredients:
0.5 cup sugar
fish sauce
chicken, cut into short strips.
soy sauce
pepper


Method:
In a heavy saucepan, mix sugar with just enough fish sauce to barely dissolve it.
Cook on high, stirring constantly until the sugar caramelizes.
Add in chicken and stir fry, reducing heat to medium-high.
Season with soy sauce and pepper to taste.
Serve with rice.


Comments:
This is all done from a hazy childhood memory.
I actually added in water before adding the chicken, and ended up with a very soupy mixture. Oi. It's supposed to be this dark brown dish of meat that's coated in a thick sauce/glaze.
My mother always used an earthenware pot. We don't have one, so I used a glass pot instead.
I should've used diced chicken. The strips did not lend itself to mixing.


Verdict:
Fail for trying to emulate a certain dish, but the taste was fine.