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Delicate. Buttery. Delicious! |
Kitchen Bounty
Everyday Recipes with Occasional Discourse and Banter
Friday, May 13, 2022
Butter-Basted Fish Fillets with Garlic and Thyme
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
McDonald's Original Fries
Most mornings I spend several hours scouring the Internet for new recipes to keep me mo-tivated. As you can imagine, I have a file that is overflowing. Several, in fact. Will I make all these recipes? It is impossible.
Be that as it may, I've decided to post and share those I find interesting, even though I have not prepared them.
I begin with fries.
Not any fries, but McDonald's fries which, if you are as old as me, you remember fondly opposed to the limp ones served today. Often cold.
But first, let's talk lard and fat. Lard is from pigs. Tallow is from beef. People often use the terms interchangeably. That is not correct.
I love lard and use it often, along with bacon grease. Here are some facts to consider: The newer lards are much healthier then they used to be. I use it in biscuits, pie crusts, and to grease bread pans and casserole dishes.
One tablespoon of lard has 10 mg of cholesterol. By contrast, one tablespoon of butter has 30mg of cholesterol. What about fat content? Well, one tablespoon of lard has 13% fat, of which six is saturated fat. By contrast, one tablespoon of butter has 11% fat, of which seven is from saturated fat. One tablespoon of margarine has 11% percent fat of which 2.1% is saturated but contains no cholesterol. One tablespoon of Crisco all-vegetable shortening is 12g of total fat of which 3 is saturated fat but contains no cholesterol.
Monday, April 25, 2022
Chicken Thighs with Butter Beans
I needed to use up a couple of chicken thighs and some aging veggies hiding out in the crisper drawer. So, I made this. It did not disappoint. It's more of a "method" than an exact recipe and the way I prefer to cook.
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Chicken seasoning of your choice (I use Bell's)
- Bacon fat
- Butter
- 1 leek, sliced, white part only
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced.
- 1 rib of celery, thinly sliced
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled, thinly sliced
- Dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Chicken stock (about 1/3 cup)
- Dry white wine (about 1/3 cup
- 1 can seasoned butter beans, rinsed and drained (I use Margaret Holmes brand)
Preheat your oven to 350-375 F.
Pat dry your chicken thighs. Sprinkle the underside with your choice of chicken seasoning, salt and pepper.
Add about 1 tablespoon each bacon fat and butter to a medium, heavy pan. When melted and hot, place thighs skin-side down. Lower heat to medium. Do not fiddle with them. When browned, carefully flip and brown other side. Remember, these will cook in the oven, so they do not need to be cooked through.
Remove thighs from pan. Add a bit more fat to the pan. Gently sautee your vegetables. Add chicken stock and wine, scraping up the brown bits. Allow to reduce a bit over medium low heat--until you no longer smell the alcohol in the wine.
In the same pan or a casserole dish, layer the butter beans. Top with the vegetable mixture. Add a bit of salt, pepper, dried thyme. Tuck in the browned thighs.
Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover. Bake another 10 minutes. If the tops are not as browned as you like, place under broiler. If you use the broiler, do not walk away and keep an eye on it the entire time.
Allow to cool a bit. Serve.
- Notes: I buy my bacon fat. I used to get it over Amazon, but now one of my supermarkets carries it. The brand is called "Bacon Up" and I love it. It is triple filtered but retains the bacon taste.
- Leeks bring a dish a lot of flavor. One could substitute shallots, even onions in a pinch.
- To the wine/stock mixture, one could also add a bit of Half-and-Half or cream.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Mayonnaise Muffins (Three-Ingredient Muffins)
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Who knew? A simple muffin transformed into a bagel. Yes, you can do it, too! Don't be a bagel snob. |
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1.5-1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 4 tablespoons full-fat mayonnaise
- 1 cup whole milk
- Bagel seed topping (optional)
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This little puppy outdid everyone in the pan! (Did it rise/raise/rose?) |