To fuck or to cook?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by viet_mom

I would love suggestions for a "pre-cook" dish. Vietbabe's bday party is next Saturday and there will be about 22 kids (and about as many adults). I'm ordering in pizza for everyone and will have a birthday cake. I will also put out some popcorn as a kiddie munchie and for adults, I will have a veggie plate with dip and chips/salsa. (Yes, I know so creative).

I'd like to attempt a dish I can make a few days ahead and defrost and cook the day of the party. I guess Lasagna is the obvious choice but I have a big jumbo pack of chicken thighs I just bought on sale and I'd love to use them. Any suggestions for an interesting dish that would do well cooked or prepared ahead of time (and would go with pizza sort of?) I usually cook chicken thighs for a long time in a Vietnamese broth that covers the chicken completely so the chicken slides right off the bone when you eat it. But folks at the party aren't going to like my broth (lots of fish sauce) so would love alternatives. Thank you.

Just realized it was thighs! Oh well, call me when you have some spare breasts and I have a great recipes.

[viet_mom]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

Brown the chicken thighs in a large skillet (do not cook through).

Add a bit of olive oil if necessary, then saute a large onion, thinly sliced in the same pan. Once the onions are limp and translucent, add one pound of sliced mushrooms, some fresh basil and sage, chiffonaded, and cook until the mushrooms have given up most of their water and are silghtly browned.

Add one bottle of white wine, and cook down until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds.

Preheat oven to 400.

layer thighs on the bottom of a baking dish, cover with the onions and mushrooms. Add 24 oz. of pureed tomatoes.

Bake for one hour.

This can be prepared ahead and reheated the day of the party. I usually serve this with either fettucine or risotto milanese.

Wow. I didn't expect to get such great recommendations! I don't feel I can be trusted with a thermometer (I always forget to check) plus I will have distractions so for the party, I am going to make this dish and then try the other ones for a party I'm hosting next month. I assume I should cook it before I store it ahead? And do I store it in frig or in the freezer. I will probably make the dish Thursday. Wow, thank you all so much again.

(And if you are in the mood to dole out more cooking advice....my neighbor gave me 6 fresh peaches that are very ripe and ready to eat. I was going to make cobbler but I don't think that will keep well right?)

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by viet_mom

Wow. I didn't expect to get such great recommendations! I don't feel I can be trusted with a thermometer (I always forget to check) plus I will have distractions so for the party, I am going to make this dish and then try the other ones for a party I'm hosting next month. I assume I should cook it before I store it ahead? And do I store it in frig or in the freezer. I will probably make the dish Thursday. Wow, thank you all so much again.

(And if you are in the mood to dole out more cooking advice....my neighbor gave me 6 fresh peaches that are very ripe and ready to eat. I was going to make cobbler but I don't think that will keep well right?)

If you make it Thursday it should be fine in the fridge until Saturday. I would either make it in advance and heat it through or brown the chicken and veg the morning of the party and add the sauce and bake when ready to serve.

I'm afraid I'm not really a dessert person, so I can't help you with the peaches. All I'd know how to do with them is grill them and serve with ice cream.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally Posted by viet_mom

Wow. I didn't expect to get such great recommendations! I don't feel I can be trusted with a thermometer (I always forget to check) plus I will have distractions so for the party, I am going to make this dish and then try the other ones for a party I'm hosting next month. I assume I should cook it before I store it ahead? And do I store it in frig or in the freezer. I will probably make the dish Thursday. Wow, thank you all so much again.

(And if you are in the mood to dole out more cooking advice....my neighbor gave me 6 fresh peaches that are very ripe and ready to eat. I was going to make cobbler but I don't think that will keep well right?)

Cobbler will not keep well. Peach ice cream, however, is summer in a bowl.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by bold_n_brazen

Cobbler will not keep well. Peach ice cream, however, is summer in a bowl.

That's probably a better use, too, of 6 peaches. Unless they are the really big ones, it won't be enough to make a cobbler.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

Poach the chicken, and then tear it into chunks (save the broth for soup later on down the line). Put the chicken in the fridge covered.

Make a sauce to put on top of the chicken. Refrigerate.

When it's time to put everything out, mix the sauce and the chicken.

My favorite is a green sauce with parsley, anchovies, capers and olive oil, but I'll have to get the recipe from my mom. I think she's probably served that particular dish at a few dozen different parties because it's so easy to do ahead of time. Unless you know about the anchovies ahead of time, you'd have no idea they were there.

I'm helping her out with a party she's hosting tomorrow. I'll ask her for a copy of the recipe.

It's as good as I remember. I had some last night, and I went over to her house at lunch to have some more for lunch. Here's the recipe.


1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup fineley chopped drained capers
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 2-ounce can anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boned and skinned chicken breasts


In a bowl, whisk togehter the parsley, capers, onions, anchovies, garlic, mustard and lemon juice. Stir in the olive oil and salt. (I chop the parsley, onion, and garlic together in the food processor first. Then use the bowl of that for mixing the rest of the ingredients.)

Cover and let stand at room temperature for one hour, or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Stir and taste for seasoning before using.

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken brother to a simmer. Add chicken breasts, cover and simmer, turning once, until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Drain the chicken (saving the broth to make chicken soup with later!!) and cut into thin crosswise slices. Arrange on a platter. Drizzle with the sauce and serve.

[barely_legal]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

It's as good as I remember. I had some last night, and I went over to her house at lunch to have some more for lunch. Here's the recipe.


1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup fineley chopped drained capers
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 2-ounce can anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boned and skinned chicken breasts


In a bowl, whisk togehter the parsley, capers, onions, anchovies, garlic, mustard and lemon juice. Stir in the olive oil and salt. (I chop the parsley, onion, and garlic together in the food processor first. Then use the bowl of that for mixing the rest of the ingredients.)

Cover and let stand at room temperature for one hour, or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Stir and taste for seasoning before using.

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken brother to a simmer. Add chicken breasts, cover and simmer, turning once, until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Drain the chicken (saving the broth to make chicken soup with later!!) and cut into thin crosswise slices. Arrange on a platter. Drizzle with the sauce and serve.

I thought this sounded good so I made it last night. It was very tasty, but I was really unhappy about having to touch and chop up the anchovies because the texture is so off-putting to me. Is there anything that can be substituted for the anchovies? Have you tried to make it without the anchovies and if so, how was the result?

[Cletus Miller]

Originally Posted by barely_legal

I thought this sounded good so I made it last night. It was very tasty, but I was really unhappy about having to touch and chop up the anchovies because the texture is so off-putting to me. Is there anything that can be substituted for the anchovies? Have you tried to make it without the anchovies and if so, how was the result?

You could try anchovy paste, if you want to retain the flavor but wouldn't miss the bits of anchovy.

[barely_legal]

Originally Posted by Cletus Miller

You could try anchovy paste, if you want to retain the flavor but wouldn't miss the bits of anchovy.

Good suggestion -- thank you! I"ve never used it before but I'll give it a try next time I make this recipe.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by barely_legal

Good suggestion -- thank you! I"ve never used it before but I'll give it a try next time I make this recipe.

You could also just throw the anchovies in with the parsley and capers in the food processor. I'd probably do that anyway since you want the anchovies to dissolve into the other ingredients anyway so it's not like you have to worry about overchopping.

[ltl/fb]

Could this be used sort of like bulgar wheat in a faux tabouli? Would it pick up flavors as well? Or does it have to be drained after cooking?

[Sparklehorse]

Originally Posted by ltl/fb

Could this be used sort of like bulgar wheat in a faux tabouli? Would it pick up flavors as well? Or does it have to be drained after cooking?

101 Cookbooks (I think bnb first mentioned this site) has a number of quinoa recipes and I think there is one for something tabouli-like that you could use for a jumping off point. Whenever I've made quinoa, it's been cooked separately and drained before being added to flavoring ingredients.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by ltl/fb

Could this be used sort of like bulgar wheat in a faux tabouli? Would it pick up flavors as well? Or does it have to be drained after cooking?

Quinoa can bu used to great effect in a tabouli. It also makes a very good risotto, and substitutes well for couscous as well.

[Replaced_Texan]

Food gawker.com Really nice pictures of food, with links to blog posts talking about the food. I clicked one such link and discovered what may be the best idea in the history of ideas: Artisan steak tasting.

[Fugee]

Or maybe it's the home-cooked meth of cookies, I'm not sure which. These are white trash cookies that don't even deserve a place on the cookie tray next to some of the more elegant holiday cookies.

But, much like other highly addictive and dangerous drugs, if you make the mistake of eating one, you can't stop. And because they are white trash cookies, they are insanely easy to make for your next fix.

Almond Heaven Bites

1 package of Keebler Club Crackers (30 crackers)**
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup (or more) slivered almonds

Grease a cookie sheet. Place crackers flat on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with almonds. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add sugar and vanilla, and bring to a slow bubble. Remove from heat and drizzle mixture over crackers and almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove immediately. Place cookies on waxed paper.

**My sleeve had more than 30 crackers so I went with the number.