# Go-To, Never-Fail Food



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

For those on AAAC who love to cook, what's the one meal you can whip up in a snap (for weekday dinner or even a "company-worthy" dish)? 

There are so many dishes I love to cook, but my old stand-by is my roasted chicken. I really dislike having to carve up a whole chicken or capon (primarily because it's messy and there's so much waste). I prefer to buy pre-butchered breasts, thighs and drumsticks and roast them on a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and herbs de Provence. Bake at 355 for 35-40 minutes (temp and time will vary by oven). Succulent and tasty!

In the fall and winter, I serve it with roasted carrots, parsnips and red onions. In the warmer months, I serve it with grilled or roasted asparagus, red bell peppers and grape tomatoes. 

Top it off with some crusty bread and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (Villa Maria Select '06) or Pinot Gris (A to Z).


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## radix023 (May 3, 2007)

We started down the same path then immediately diverged.... :icon_smile:

My standby is also roast chicken, but I do it whole. It's pretty much the first thing I learned to do once I set off to build my cooking skills.

It's freely stolen from Marcella Hazan's excellent books on Italian cooking (I have the 3-book version: Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking):
Lemon Chicken
two small lemons
chicken
salt
pepper

Clean chicken, remove neck, kidneys, wishbone.
salt and pepper chicken
poke lemons with a fork 4 times each with fork (16 holes apiece)
push lemons into chicken cavity, pinch skin together and poke toothpicks through (4-7 depending on size of chicken and cavity cut)

30 mins in 350F oven, breast down
30 mins in 350F oven, breast up
oven to 400F, time depends on weight.
total time will be about 20 mins a pound, so for a 4 pound chicken you will go 1 hr 20 mins (my typical scenario)

Once you cross 212F, the lemons become acid pumps, which makes the meat very juicy, even if your bird was frozen for a while. Ending with the high temp provides a nice crispy skin (I'm sorry if your diet restricts you from eating the skin...).

I was pressed into service while visiting relatives last December and this, plus carrots, a salad and toasted bread rounds (french bread) with roasted garlic and brie was what we had.

Carving can be a pain, but once you've done it you get a feel for it. The trickiest part for me is cleanly getting the leg/thigh joint the first time. Taking out the wishbone ahead allows you to carve the breast fillet and sub-fillet and not leave a 'collar' of meat by the neck. It really does make it easier to carve the white meat. Once you have learned to carve on chicken, it's easy to do turkeys. (just as once you have eaten a lot of crawfish, you look at lobster different)

A solid rule when cooking meat: allow the meat to come to even room temperature before starting the cooking. It will taste better, as it will cook more evenly and the meat will be more united in terms of juice flow. Also be sure to let meat 'rest' (sit, covered, at room temp) for 10-15 minutes before carving. You can tell it's rested because there will be juice on the plate or serving dish.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

radix023 said:


> Carving can be a pain, but once you've done it you get a feel for it. The trickiest part for me is cleanly getting the leg/thigh joint the first time. Taking out the wishbone ahead allows you to carve the breast fillet and sub-fillet and not leave a 'collar' of meat by the neck. It really does make it easier to carve the white meat. Once you have learned to carve on chicken, it's easy to do turkeys.


S

^+1...sounds delicious. I'll need to try that. Good advice.

Admittedly, I need to work on my carving skills. We're lucky enough to have a wonderful culinary center here in the KC area...I've attended a few classes there, and my wife and I have been to a couple fo their demonstration "bistro" dinners. I may cehck and see if there's a carving class coming up soon.


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## coynedj (Jun 1, 2008)

radix023 said:


> My standby is also roast chicken, but I do it whole. It's pretty much the first thing I learned to do once I set off to build my cooking skills.
> 
> It's freely stolen from Marcella Hazan's excellent books on Italian cooking (I have the 3-book version: Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking):
> Lemon Chicken............


I've made a lemon chicken before - the kids love it - but the recipe I have is a royal pain. I'll have to try this one. It's much simpler, and sounds delish. Thanks!


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## smujd (Mar 18, 2008)

Pasta--any noodles on hand. While water is heating, combine olive oil, freshly ground pepper, tomatoes, basil, and motzarella cubes. Toss pasta in sauce when cooked. Serve.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

I learned how to make a popular and desirable _coq au vin_ long before I read the _OPH_ and learned that I was supposed to do that...


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## rlp271 (Feb 12, 2009)

I have a few. The first, and easiest, being a Korean kimchi stew.

Swedish meatballs with homemade gravy and whipped garlic potatoes is another. I made it for Thanksgiving since we could get ground beef here, but definitely not turkey at about $7/pound.

The last one is a pretty straight forward ratattouile.


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

French onion soup with greyer cheese

I can also make reservations


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## JohnRov (Sep 3, 2008)

Roast chicken is my standby as well, I could probably eat it 3-4 times a week. Sometimes plain, sometimes I stuff butter and herbs or other compound butters (chipotles and lime, matre d'hotel, whatever). If I feel like white or red wine, it goes nicely, or whatever beer I have.


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## cbird (Oct 27, 2006)

General Tso's Chicken. Everyone likes it, and it's easy to make it turn out much better than what you come across in Chinese restaurants.


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## AdamsSutherland (Jan 22, 2008)

smujd said:


> Pasta--any noodles on hand. While water is heating, combine olive oil, freshly ground pepper, tomatoes, basil, and motzarella cubes. Toss pasta in sauce when cooked. Serve.


I serve this chilled but otherwise the same.


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## Mannix (Nov 24, 2008)

Country style ribs with bbq sauce, roasted garlic smashed potatoes with lots of sour cream, and oven roasted asparagus with lots of chopped garlic. That's my favorite meal that my mom cooks, it's very comforting.


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## Sousaphil (Mar 8, 2009)

My go-to appetizer for most occasions: bacon-wrapped water chestnuts.

1) Let the chestnuts marinate in soy sauce for 20-40 minutes

2) roll the chestnuts in sugar

3) wrap with bacon, secure with toothpick

4) heat @ 450 F for about 10-14 minutes until bacon is done to your taste

I like to place a wire rack inside a foil-lined jellyroll pan. It catches the bacon grease and is easy to clean.


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## NZNorm (May 9, 2005)

Another vote for roast chicken. I use Tyler Florence's recipe. The bacon makes it great.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

If I have a rib steak, shell steak or fillet handy, steak au poivre: coat with oil, kosher salt and cracked pepper, saute till done, set aside to rest, flame some brandy in the pan and deglaze, add heavy cream, whisk and simmer until slightly thickened, return the steaks to coat and serve garnished with a little minced parsley. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of Drambuie to the sauce. If I don't have heavy cream handy, I use half-and-half and whisk in a few pats of butter at the end.


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## TheGuyIsBack (Nov 6, 2008)

You can't go wrong with chicken.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

This looks like another good recipe (or collection of options/alternatives) for the Men Cooking page linked from the Home Page.

Any more variations?


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## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

I can cook lots of different Italian specialties - all learned at the side of my 88 year old grandmother.

I make a very good sauce (or gravy as we call it in Boston), and can go from there to a meal of meat in the gravy (hot and sweet sausage, meatballs of veal/pork/beef, pork, and pepperoni), chicken parm, or my new specialty Beef Baciole rolled with spices, spinach and hard boiled eggs inside.

I also make a nice chicken, broccoli and ziti both in chicken broth and in a cream alfredo sauce.

And you wonder why I wear a size 50 jacket. :icon_smile:


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## RebelLaw (Apr 10, 2009)

I like one of two options, both pasta. 
1. Boil any kind of long pasta, saute some diced pancetta, and fry an egg until still runny in the middle and combine it all together, breaking the yolk while stirring with the pasta. Add to this parmesean, pepper and serve. 

2. Brown Italian sausage, 
Cook a chopped onion and some garlic in olive oil
Add some white wine, simmer till most is gone
Add a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes with a bit of dried basil, season with salt and pepper, and add sausage
Simmer for about 30 minutes
Add a small container of light cream and simmer a bit longer and then add to riggatoni. 
Serve with a salad.


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

For whole roast chicken, I've been having good luck with the high heat method: using your fingers, separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat as much as possible. Set the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry the skin. Rub well with kosher salt (skip for kosher chicken). Cut some slits in the skin on either side of the back to drain fat. Set it breast side down in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Turn it over. Roast until done. Some say to up the temp to 500 for the last 10 minutes, but I haven't found this necessary to get a nice brown, crisp skin, and at 500 the fat in the pan will smoke like the devil.


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## rgrossicone (Jan 27, 2008)

mrkleen said:


> I make a very good sauce (or gravy as we call it in Boston):icon_smile:


I thought I was the only one who called it gravy...THANK YOU! One of my great grandfathers came to Revere from Abruzzi, then to Brooklyn a few years later. I was lucky enough to get a peek inside his house up there as I was driving through and it was on the market...very cool.


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## rgrossicone (Jan 27, 2008)

I can barely scramble an egg, but my wife does a great dish.

Spaghetti al dente (very al dente) with garlic and oil with proschiutto (imported, never domestic), asparagus, and fresh smoked mozz from Lioni's. Cook the proschiutto separately in a pan, cook the asparagus in garlic and oil in a pan, and dice up the smoked mozz into small cubes. Drain the spaghetti and then add all ingredients to the big pot, cover for 5 minutes, and serve.

On a cold winter's night, nothing is better, although at 21.99 a pound the proschiutto can be costly (so we usually only get 1/2 pound of imported).


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## Piscator (Dec 4, 2008)

I have a few recipes I can share:

Thai red curry:

Saute a couple of tablespoons (depending on heat you desire) of red curry paste in a small bit of oil...just until aromatic. Do this over medium-high heat.

Add some hard veggies (I like onions, yellow bell peppers, zucchini, etc.)...do this until softened.

Add one can of coconut milk and a cup of chicken broth...bring to hard simmer.

Add any soft veggies you desire, like broccoli or even mushrooms.

Add some meat if you want...poach the meat in the curry until done.

At the end, add 2 tbsp of fish sauce and 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar. If you forget this step, it won't taste right.

Voila...

Cheers,
Tom


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## Piscator (Dec 4, 2008)

One more:

Easy cheese enchiladas.

These are good if you like your enchiladas a bit spicy.

Start by browning a pound of ground beef. Add to a large bowl along with the following:

1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of enchilada sauce
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Mix all that together and set aside...this is your "sauce"

I like to make my enchiladas from pepper jack cheese on flour tortillas...I like the texture so much better than corn tortillas. Slice the cheese and roll into tortillas.

Pour a bit of the sauce in the bottom of a large casserole dish...arrange the enchiladas however you like, then top with remaining sauce. Top with some cheese if you like. Bake uncovered at 350 for approximately 30 minutes....you'll know they're ready when they start bubbling.

Cheers,
Tom


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

I just put up the Roast Chicken recipes with your names on the Men Cooking page:



If there are any corrections/changes/etc please contact me. THANKS


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## spudnik99 (Apr 27, 2007)

To lemon chicken recipe add a couple fresh rosemary sprigs, chopped; and a couple of garlic cloves.


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