Rubbishy Cookery

  There’s a chill in the air! Let’s make split pea soup! Ingredients: Missing from the above photo but added later: a parsnip. And: Note that the pink object in the baggie is a defrosted chicken breast, not the typical meat in split pea soup. But that’s what was in the house so it will work. Nice, more traditional options would be ham or bacon, or I’ve also used smoked turkey drumsticks. I’ve also left out the meat and had a completely vegetarian/vegan soup that was still excellent. So you have options galore! Directions: If, like me, you’re working with a defrosted chicken breast, prepare it as in Recipe #14 with S&P, a little oil, and bake for about 30 minutes until fully cooked and browned: Meanwhile, in a big soup pot, add two cups of rinsed split peas and a lot of water and bring to a boil: Spooning off and discarding the foam as it develops: Once it reaches a full boil and all the foam has been removed, let it simmer for a while, maybe 45 minutes or so, give or take. It w...

  Let’s make chicken tacos for a small dinner party! Olé! Ingredients: Directions: Cut up the chicken breasts into strips like so: That’s a lot of chicken, but it is  for a party. Slice up two onions, retaining some slices for taco garnish: Heat up some canola oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat and sauté the onions: Sauté the onions until browning: Then add the chicken slices to the pan: Sauté the chicken-onion combo until the chicken sears all over: That chicken doesn’t look seared because there’s too much chicken crowded in my pan and it’s steaming instead of searing. Shame. Add the spices to the pan: a generous amount of chili powder, chipotle powder and ground cumin: Stir and sauté, and maybe you need more chilli powder: Now lower the heat to medium and put a lid on to ensure fully cooked chicken: Meanwhile, warm your tortillas in a cloth napkin or tea towel in the microwave, 1-2 minutes or so: Set your party table with everything: the cooked chicken, the warm...

  Warning: this post isn’t just rubbishy, but it’s also sad and pathetic in tone and spirit.  This is a great recipe for when you have a nasty viral respiratory infection. And possibly still recovering from a lower limb injury. Should you find yourself in that most unfortunate situation, but still able to cook. Kind of. Also, if this was a major part of your childhood: If this book in particular, and Maurice Sendak in general, weren’t a major part of your childhood, run don’t walk to your nearest library and check it and him out. I’m just assuming that this recipe is going to turn out well, because of my confidence and current health pickle. I’ve never made chicken soup with rice this way before, nor have I ever made chicken soup with rice in the dead of summer, but here we are. Ingredients, part I: Ingredients, part II: Very important ingredient close up: Yes, this is a quick and easy chicken soup, and fits in well with the blog’s rubbishy cookery theme. In an ideal world, it...