scrawls.

scrawls

still cheaper than therapy*

5.5.04

there is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with my pesto chicken recipie:

"so this is going to be kind of ... random. and approximate.

get some chicken. last night was - and this is i guess enough for 4 or so 'cuz there was three of us and i have some for lunch: so get two boneless/skinless chicken breasts (cuz i'm lazy). cut them into ... bite sized pieces. cook them up for a bit in olive oil. maybe add a lot of garlic (i used the diced stuff from the bottle, again, because i'm too lazy to cut cloves and cloves and cloves of garlic) - so about a good heaping tablespoon or so of garlic when the chicken is halfway done or so. when you consider the chicken to be done (cook it with a lid on a nice wide frying-type pan) take out the chicken and add (last night was just water - so water, or chicken broth, or water/white wine - generally not entirely white wine, and probably nothing too sweet) some liquid. slice some zucchinis nice and thin (you saw them) - last night was three mmmedium-smallish zucchinnis. smallish ones fit better and i think they have fewer seeds than larger ones. so add the zucchini slices. and, eh, some more garlic. we like garlic. and salt and pepper as you like. Another spoonful or two of garlic. and cook them for a bit - they're going to want to be stirred. and i put in some ...what was it ... always add a lot of basil - i used dried stuff last night but if you happen to have fresh, cut it fine, and last night i think there was also oregano and rosemary. ehhh, more or less one part each oregano and rosemary to probably two to three parts basil. marjoram works too. i typically add some store-bought pesto from a jar too just in case i'm forgetting something. i also put in some (perfectly normal cheap from the store) mushrooms. in quarters or so, but of course they're not neccessary. so cook all that until it's pretty well done or anyway the zucchinis aren't entirely crunchy. toss in a couple of cherry tomatoes if you happen to have some on hand - if you have sun-dried tomatoes and happen to like them (m doesn't) then those are good too (but you want them nice and hydrated and chopped pretty fine). and then put the chicken back in to make sure it's warm, and leave the heat on for long enough to get the chicken warm (if you're quick this is not very long - it retains heat after all). the cherry tomatoes don't want to cook for long at *all*.

turn off the stove.

add any of the following - last night was ground-up pine nuts, shedded parmesan, and shredded asiago. cheapo shaker-can parmesan is even ok if you add enough of it. but mozzarella works too, and feta can turn out particularly well, and i'm trying to think what else would be good. feta is yummy. add some cream or milk if you happen to want a particularly creamy sauce. theres's really no such thing as too much garlic, or too much basil. only use olive oil (or butter, but then it becomes kinda bad for you). um. ground almonds and ground walnuts also are good (or even little chunks of 'em) - they're sort of a thickener. capers would probably be good but i never have any.

i bet it would work with shellfish pretty well - shrimp, scallops, et c. salmon.

any pasta - i guess angel hair is what it's officially supposed to be with but it's a pain to stock different shapes of pasta so we go with ziti for pretty much everything. nice textured ridgy ziti - not the smooth stuff. and french bread or garlic bread is good. caesar salad goes well."

Labels: food

scrawled @ 19:01