Back when I started this blog the goal was to make a new
dish every other week. With a few
exceptions I was able to meet this goal.
If you look though the back catalog of post you will find it's almost
all about food. You will also find that
in almost every of one them Laura is mentioned. Then had my accident and cooking, along with most everything else
became very difficult. After nearly a
year of physical therapy, things are, while not back to normal (I'm still in a
bit of constant but manageable pain), cooking is still a little difficult for
me.
I'm having a little trouble getting used to cooking for just
me. I have only really cooked a few
times since the breakup and when I have I have done little more than followed
the recipe I have been given. Mostly I
have been just getting take out or eating quick dirty things like cereal or hot
dogs cooked on the Forman. It's not
that I miss her, which I do from time to time (truth be told I have moments of
missing all of my ex, all of could have beens and never wases, that just how I
am) but I miss having someone to cook for.
I like having someone waiting with excitement about what I was about to
create. I like the validation of seeing
one enjoy what I have made.
Yesterday was a truly shitty day at work. Without going into too many details,
everything took longer than it should and I had three separate projects that
all need to be done yesterday. Oh and
did I mention that we are moving to a new building on Friday and I've barely
started packing. It was a very draining
day.
The silver lining was that I did manage to find that energy
to write nearly 500 words after I finished up my work for the day. I find it easier to write in my office than
at home. Mainly because my desk at work
is ergonomic, while my desk at home is designed for a Commodore 64. That is not actually a joke; my parents
bought the desk specifically for our Commodore 64. The down side is that it was nearly 6:30 by the time I got home.
The day before was Labor Day and I had decided to try my
hand at cooking, or at least making the marinade to cook later. I had a bit of trouble sleeping the night
before and end up dragging my feet for most of the day. By the time I got around to making the
marinade, there wasn't really enough time for the chicken to marinate. I left it in the fridge overnight and had a
bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats with a side of Deep Space Nine on Netflix. But I did feel a little spark of fun and
creativity while created the marinade.
I took a Tangerine-Maple glaze as my staring off point. From there I ripped out over half the
ingredients and added in or change the amounts of twice that many. Making a creation all my own.
Thyme Orange Maple Marinate
What you will need:
6 skinless boneless chicken thighs
4 cups of orange juice, not from concentrate
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 orange
1/3 cup of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of brags soy amino
½ teaspoon of poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon of curry powder
¼ teaspoon of Hungarian hot paprika
3 bay leaves
½ tablespoon of ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
A medium saucepan
A zester
A
juicer/orange squiser
A large liquid measuring cup
Directions
- Zest the whole Orange and put the zest aside
- Squeeze the juice from the Orange into the measuring cup
- Add enough orange juice to the measuring cup to equal 4 cups
- Add the orange juice and oil to the saucepan
- Bring mixture to a boil
- Pull all the leaves off the Thyme and add to the mixture
- Add the Maple Syrup, Soy Amino, Bay leaves and spices to the
pan
- Stir periodically and let the mixture boil down to around
two cups
- Turn off heat
- Remove bay leaves and add zest
- Stir and then let mixture cool
- Add chicken and mixture to a freezer bag (or storage bag,
but I find freezer bags less likely to leak) and place in the refrigerator
overnight.
I come home to the chicken marinated and waiting for me in
the fridge. After the long day I had I
was in no mood to do anything. After
siting for five minutes, I get up and start to make the breading for the
chicken. I get the panko crumb mixture
prepared and I just run out of juice. I
say screw it and end up heating up some Wegman’s frozen chicken strips. I pair this with a big glass of water an
episode of Deep Space Nine. By the end
of the episode I'm feeling much better.
I realize I hadn't eaten anything since 11:30 that morning. Not wanting the chicken to go to waste I
proceed to gut it out and create my newest dish. For the first time in nearly a year I have blast cooking. I'm putting in spice by gut feeling and
making notations so I can write it up for the blog. I have rediscovered my love of cooking. Tasting the finished product I can tell I enjoyed making it. Like all creations, the joy in making it shows
through. You can be the most talented
person in the world but if you don't like what you're creating, it will always
be flawed.
In writing this up I'm happy that the food has turned out so
well and that I had fun, but I still have lingering melancholically. I still wish that I had someone to cook for,
someone to share this with. Telling my
co-workers and reader about the awesome dish isn't enough.
Here is the rest of the recipe
What you will need
Olive oil
2 cups of Panko crumbs
3 table spoons of Italian seasoning
1tablespoon of thyme
3 eggs
½ teaspoon of poultry seasoning
Flour
A pie dish
A large baking pan
A large frying pan
2 mixing bows
Paper plates
Directions
- Put the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat them thoroughly
- Mix in 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
- Fill the pie dish with flour
- Add the Panko, Thyme, Poultry Seasoning and rest of the
Italian Seasoning into the other bowl and mix together
- Spread Panko mixture out on to the baking pan
- Take each piece of marinated chicken and dredge it thought
the flour then set aside on a paper plate
- Take each floured piece of chicken and dredge it though the
eggs then coat with Panko crumbs, then place it on the paper plate
- Heat oil in frying pan
- Fry each piece of chicken till golden brown on each side,
about 1 and half to 2 minutes per side.
I paired the chicken with Jasmine Rice. my famous Old Man Mitchell’s
Tarragon Carrots and some raw Sugar Snap Peas.
Hope you find it as tasty as I did
