Monday, August 19, 2013

Pesto in a different manner

i like to learn from other cultures, the addition of spinach comes from South America, nuts (or sunflower seeds in this case) are an Italian addition.  The bacon is well, American?

Chicken pesto on Fettuccine

2 lbs chicken meat (will end up boneless, any part will do)
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (because Pinole nuts are too expensive)
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
8 oz spinach
1 teaspoon salt
1 package bacon
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup sunflower seeds

Boil the chicken, removing any skin and bones after it has cooled
Cook the bacon crisp
mix chicken and bacon together and roughly chop, set aside.

Boil the spinach for one minute remove from heat and drain
Add spinach, basil, garlic, salt and olive oil to a blender and blend until smooth.
add 2 cup water, sunflower seeds and 1/2 parmesan cheese and mix

Prepare your favorite pasta (i use fettuccini for this) and plate on top of pasta as follows
teaspoon of cheese, tablespoon of chicken/bacon then the pesto sauce.

Add crushed hot pepper as an option

Friday, August 9, 2013

the challenge

For a number of months, i have been working under a severe challenge...
I need to prep or pre-cook in one location, be interrupted and then move to another.
The reasons this happens are multiple, many of the mistakes in the previous post are due to this.
If i move my supplies to cook in another kitchen, i inevitably forget something and have to substitute.
If i cook a meal completely and then reheat in the other location, things get dried out.
I have not been really successful yet at working things out.
Tonight i used an ingredient, which i created, cilantro salt, but it was not cilantroy enough and much too salty.  After starting, i had to leave and came back to my chops too salty.
I will over come this challenge, but it is difficult.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mistakes

I make a lot of them, some are not edible...
Most of the time they have great flavor, but are just cooked WRONG.

I was listening to a pod cast the other day with my cooking idols, Bobby Flay and Alton Brown.
They talked about mistakes they have made...
Mistakes, Bobby?  He is not perfect?
Oh My, what can i say.

Neither am i.
Recently i have had a bad series of dishes using grilled chicken.

I have done grilled chicken before and done it well,
most most of the time i pre-cooked and then crisped up on a grill.
I want to cook it completely o the grill.
I listen to Bobby Flay doing it and Alton brown.
I failed, several times now.
The last time i set the fire in the grill/smoker wrong and the temperature is up to over 400 F.
Needless to say, the chicken was over cooked.
The thing to say, is that i learn.
I know how i can do it correctly, i want to expand beyond my oven and pot delicious chicken.
I will, meanwhile Pizza and Chinese delivery is on speed dial.