This week I planned to make meals that I haven’t made before or haven’t been as successful as I expected.
I made Chicken a l’Orange on Tuesday; it lived up to all the glory of an old-school dining favorite. I was more than pleased with how it turned out. True to form, I combined about 4 recipes since I wasn’t keen on all the recipes.
Instead of duck, I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. I didn’t want to use breasts because the dark thigh meat is more moist and flavorful. I made the orange sauce, again combining the 4 recipes, and I think it was just right.
I seared the chicken skin side down, getting a nice sear, and let it cook until the skin was golden brown. I flipped the thighs over and let them cook for a minute while I spooned half of the orange sauce on top of each thigh. I threw some orange segments and onion wedges into the pan and popped them into the oven.
I baked the chicken for 20 minutes at 400-degrees, spooned the rest of the sauce on top, and let it bake for 5 more minutes. I took the internal temperatures of each thigh and pulled them out; they were already at 172-degrees.
I wanted to serve a traditional side with the chicken a l’orange, wild rice. I could only find Uncle Ben’s seasoned wild rice, which isn’t gluten-free. At the second supermarket I tried, I found Chef’s Blend rice, white, wild, red rice, and quinoa. I made a spice blend similar to old Uncle Ben’s and gave it a shot. It was a home run! No wonder why this meal was served at every dinner party in the 60s & 70s; it was easy and fancy.
Before I even cleared the dishes, I grabbed my pad and wrote the recipe. I froze the other half of the chicken to follow my recipe in a couple of weeks and test it out before I publish it.
Wednesday, I made Mongolian Beef with Rice Noodles. I’ve never had luck with rice noodles. I always follow the instructions on the package, and they are always either too soggy, break apart, stick together, and are hard to mix in the wok with the protein, sauce, and veggies.
I watched this program on Prime called Duncan’s Thai Kitchen, and I finally learned the secret to making and serving rice noodles. Only soak the rice noodles and do not boil at all. Just drain and add to wok with meat and sauce. No additional liquid is needed.
When you serve the noodles, I always tried to get a mixture of the noodles, meat, and veggies in my tongs, but it never worked. This guy Duncan lifts the noodles high in the air and twirls them onto a plate, then tops the noodles with all the “goodies.” I was like, duh, what a fucking dummy I was because I never thought of doing this.
This will be a future post on how recipes leave out key instructions, tricks, or ingredients on purpose. I won’t get on a rant now, but celebrity chefs are especially notorious for this bull shit stunt.
Thursday I made Shrimp and Grits with a twist. Instead of corn grits, I made cornbread waffles. I had to decide how I wanted to make the shrimp, the southern or creole way. My cheat was using Aldi gluten-free corn muffin mix. I had tons to do and didn’t want to fuss around with making a cornbread batter.
I went with a southern style: bacon, green onions, garlic, lemon juice, and butter. I added a sharp cheddar on top of the waffles since there is usually cheese in grits.
It was different and good. Marty thought it needed some additional sauce. I agree; maybe something with more lemon next time? The last time I made cornbread waffles, I put sloppy joe on top, and that was so good; I can’t wait to make that again! It looks like the waffle idea will stick around for different dinners.
Sunday’s menu planning was successful. I have a few more dishes on the menu through Easter brunch, dinner, and dessert. I love planning and making holiday meals; it’s usually just 2 or 3 of us. I wish it would be all 4 of us, but Sam is stuck at school and won’t be home. I know he would love everything I will be serving. 😞