(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What's for Dinner v17.43 - In Praise of Simple, Quick, Easy, Delicious [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-29 it's like a before/after ad--"You can from THIS... to THIS!" (not sure why the couple in the pic aged significantly while cooking dinner....) I’ve written several diaries for WFD, and most—like my last one—tend to take a bit of preparation and planning. Sometimes, though, we just don’t feel like making something long and involved for dinner. Tacos, burgers, spaghetti—the classics never die, as I’m fond of saying (but we don’t really need recipes for them, do we?) So tonight, I am sharing three recipes that have been long-time regulars in the dinner rotation, all simple to prepare and wonderful to eat. I haven’t diaried any of these, but I may have shared the recipes in comments. Also, I won’t be including quantities for most ingredients, given that we all have different sized households and preferred portion sizes. Y’all are good at this, though, so I’m sure you can figure it out. First up is chicken marsala. Please note that I make mine differently than the way I usually see it presented—i.e., whole breasts with mushrooms (not that there’s anything wrong with that). CHICKEN MARSALA Egg noodles or similar-sized pasta Boneless skinless chicken breasts Flour/salt/pepper (for dredging) Butter/olive oil Italian dry marsala* Heat water for pasta on high. While water heats, cut chicken into bite-size pieces—I prefer thin sliced to cubes, as they cook more quickly. Put flour on a plate, and mix in some salt/pepper. Dredge chicken in flour. Add half a cube of butter to a frying pan, along with a couple/few tablespoons of olive oil. (I prefer a cast iron pan.) When water boils, add pasta and cook as directed. At same time, heat butter/olive oil on high. When butter is melted, add chicken, MAKING SURE to shake off excess flour—otherwise, the sauce turns into paste. Brown chicken on all sides, adding butter as needed. When chicken is done, add ~1/4 c marsala, stirring to coat, until sauce bubbles and thickens a bit, and the alcohol has cooked off. Serve over pasta. Goes well with salad, French bread, white wine (sweet or dry). *WARNING: This dish is NOT the same if you use sweet marsala. The same goes for domestic marsala. I have learned both these lessons the hard way, so please learn from my missteps. Like balsamic vinegar, the best marsala comes from Italy; anything else isn’t worth the money. You can find good Italian marsala at Trader Joe’s (and elsewhere, I’m sure) for under $10, and it should last you a good long while. (And you can use it to make zabaglione.) This next recipe is perfect for winter, as it heats up the house nicely—at least, it does for my tiny house. Dealing with fresh rosemary is a bit of a pain, but worth it. Plus, you can grow rosemary just about anywhere. Once it takes hold, it will last for generations. Dried rosemary works, too, but I prefer fresh. Any size baking dish will do, it just depends how much you’re making—if you’re not sure, go with ‘too big’ rather than ‘too small’. ROSEMARY CHICKEN AND POTATOES Boneless skinless chicken breasts Potatoes, peeled (or not; your call) Olive oil ~3 T fresh rosemary, chopped OR 1 T dried rosemary Salt/pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of olive oil. Peel the potatoes (or not) and cut into quarters or eighths, depending on their size; pieces should be about double-bite-size. Place potatoes in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary. Place dish in oven. After 15 minutes, pull dish out and turn potatoes, so they don’t stick. After 30 minutes, pull dish out and turn potatoes again, pushing them to the sides. Add a little more olive oil to the bottom of the dish and place the chicken in the middle. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary. Place dish in oven. (If chicken breasts are smaller or larger than standard, it may take less/more time for them to cook, so adjust when you add them accordingly.) After 45 minutes, turn potatoes again. It is not necessary to turn the chicken. After 60 minutes, pull dish from oven, serve up, and eat. Goes well with salad, vegetables, white wine. I usually grill this last one. However, it can be done in the oven—which is what I did last time I made it, back in March. Because I don’t mind grilling outdoors when there is snow on the ground, and I have done so many times. I do, however, draw the line at grilling outdoors when there is snow actively falling from the sky. To paraphrase Lethal Weapon, “I’m too old for that @#$%.” However, I find these turn out much better when grilled. (“I don’t know the scientific explanation, but fire made it good.”—Homer Simpson) And unlike the previous recipe, where I prefer to use fresh rosemary, I find that there isn’t much difference between dried and fresh oregano when making this one, so I usually use dried. Fresh oregano is more of a pain than fresh rosemary. Also, this one isn’t exactly “quick” in terms of total time, since the chicken has to sit for a bit, but the actual prep work takes no time at all. CHICKEN OREGANO Bone-in chicken thighs* Salt/pepper (I use kosher salt, but regular works fine) Olive oil Dried oregano Remove skin from thighs and put them on a plate. Sprinkle both sides with a bit of kosher salt/pepper. Let sit for 1 hour. Just before cooking, drizzle both sides of chicken with olive oil and sprinkle both sides with oregano. If you’re cooking in the oven, I find it works best to put foil in a baking dish, then put a grill on the dish to hold the chicken. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes for evenness. If you’re grilling, you don’t really need cooking instructions. *You can use boneless thighs if you like; they just cook more quickly (obviously). Goes well with rice pilaf, salad, vegetables, white wine, or beer if you grilled them. Grilled potatoes and/or vegies are always good, too. Hope you find one or more of these to your taste. I don’t have much that’s quick and easy for pork or beef, beyond the usual (fried pork chops, grilled beef, etc), but I would love to hear from y’all about any go-to dishes you have for those nights when “complicated” isn’t on the menu! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/29/2155483/-What-s-for-Dinner-v17-43-In-Praise-of-Simple-Quick-Easy-Delicious Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/