01/02/12: Coconut Jerk Chicken

nomming365!

Coconut Jerk Chicken

Source: AllRecipes

Well, this is my second dish ever! I’ve never had jerk chicken, so I don’t know exactly what it’s supposed to taste like. But it’s delicious, and I’m surprised I made something like this!

Things I learned:

1. Butternut squash. No idea.

2. Form the plan of attack carefully. I read through the recipe once, but not so thoroughly, and ended up taking a bit longer getting everything together in the actual cooking stage.

3. Have faith that the chicken will cook thoroughly in the end. Probably needed to make smaller chunks anyway.

I think the recipe is only okay at best. Not that I’ve had jerk chicken, but the coconut flavoring is extremely subtle, and the spices are well… there, but I really tend to expect MASSIVE FLAVOR EXPLOSION, and this one just kind of stands up a little bit just to get knocked down. Generally, I think people would find it mildly delicious, better-than-nothing nourishment, but if I went to a restaurant and ordered this I’d be a little upset.

You gotta realize, I spent almost my whole adult life eating take-out, and then finding the best take-out spots, and if I ordered this, I’d finish my food, but I wouldn’t go back.

What’s tomorrow? Dunno! Probably not a main entree, as these will both be sitting in my fridge!

01/01/2012 – Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Recipe Source: PlumPie Cooks

Now, I’ve never made chicken salad, ’cause I don’t cook. Since I don’t cook, I don’t have ingredients, so the price tag on the trip to the store for this was pretty hefty. I was once told by a friend who also went to culinary school, if I just made a $200 investment into sufficient ingredients, I could probably feed myself on $3/day.

But my goal here isn’t just learning how to feed myself properly without relying on fast-food, but I’m also devoting myself to becoming a far more distinguished gentleman, and would love to feed a woman with food I made myself. As another note, when I do make a meal date plan, I’ll let you know how it goes! Back to the chicken salad, I think this’ll work perfectly as a picnic-in-the-park dish.

Few things I learned:

1. What are shallots? Mini-onions, apparently with a different texture and lighter than regular onions.

2. Greek yogurt? Again, had no clue there was such a thing as Greek yogurt.

3. Apple cider vinegar? Didn’t know they made it!

4. Mincing? Had to Youtube how to mince properly. I sort of figured it out. Mincing onions really does make my eyes sting. I thought that was an urban myth.

5. Just print out the recipe and bring it to the store instead of trying to get smart and copying my list of ingredients I need to my phone. I forgot the granny smith apple, and had to go on a late-night bike run to two 7-11s for a red apple.

6. Rosemary is awesome. Actually, I knew that, but, it’s worth noting how awesome rosemary is, even if it’s in the wrong field.

7. How to toast pecans! Quick 5 minutes in the oven at 350 to bring out the real flavor and aroma!

8. I need a big mixing bowl. I ended up combing all ingredients in a larger rubbermaid container. 😡

This chicken salad is absolutely delicious! I substituted the green apple for red, so I imagine this salad is supposed to have a sweet & sour taste with the pecans and rosemary accenting it. After mixing all ingredients, I snuck a taste of the salad and waited v-e-r-y impatiently for it to cool so I could eat it properly. I used french bread, which was the only bread available at the time, however, it did the deal. I might want to add cheese to it, perhaps feta? I don’t know, I might check the comments section of the recipe itself for suggestions on what other tweaks are out there.

What’s up for today? I don’t know. I’m a big fan of fruits and meats together, so it might be something along those lines again. I’d like to find a different way to cook chicken this time, so heads up for something new!

West coast NOMMING!

Yo, my name is Will.

 

I spent most of my adult life getting by on take out and pre-prepared foods. My friend, and NOMMING365 Norf counterpart, Kai used to tease me constantly about my constant Jack-In-The-Box and frozen food diet.

“Do you have anything to cook with?”

“Do you cook?”

“Do you have plates?”

Yes, I have plates, and a few things to cook with, Kai. 😡

Anyway, as part as my continuous growth, I’ve joined my 4 friends in NOMMING365 Norf and Souf London in cooking noms every day in 2012!