cuisine

Frito Pie In a Bag

Posted on May 25, 2021 by pauldelancey

American Entree

FRITO PIE IN A BAG

INGREDIENTS

2 green onions
1 pound ground beef
1 30-ounce can chili beans (no meat)
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles
6 1-ounce bags Fritos(tm)
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Serves 6. Takes 20 minutes.

PREPARATION

Dice green onions. Add ground beef to pan. Fry at medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until browned. Stir enough to ensure even browning. Add chili beans and diced tomatoes and green chiles. Cook at medium heat for 5 minutes or until thoroughly warmed. Stir enough to blend and keep from burning.

Cut out most of one side of each bag or simply open the bag at the top. Top the Fritos in each bag evenly with pan contents, followed by sour cream, and then cheddar cheese. Garnish with green onions.

TIDBITS

1) Frito Pie In a Bag is also known as a “walking tacos” in America’s Midwest.

2) Tacos, of course, cannot walk. Cannot. This means that at one time tacos could walk.

3) Indeed, for according to culinary archeologists, the huge hard-shell* taco grazed the Indianapolis Gorge in 3,199,978 B.C,. They proved this by unearthing the bones of a young woman, Mabel, who held a fossilized four-legged Taco.

* = Proof that tacos are meant to be crunchy.

4) Unfortunately, this discovery never became common knowledge, because the Leakys had already discovered the bones of Lucy. Lucy’s remains are 3,200,000 years old. Just 22 years older than Mabel’s, but enough to get all the glory. Now no one remembers reading about Mabel and her taco.

5) But we do recall Mabel’s taco in a way, For Mabel’s DNA got passed down from Midwestern homonids to Neanderthals to Cro Magnons, and finally to Modern Humans. Inheriting Mabel’s genes, naturally means current Midwesterners love Walking Tacos. Now you know.

 

Paul De Lancey, concerned citizen and Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Cheeseburger Pie

Posted on May 21, 2021 by pauldelancey

American Entree

CHEESEBURGER PIE

INGREDIENTS

1 small onion
1 pound ground beef
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (1 cup more later)
½ cup ketchup
⅛ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 9″ pastry shell
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk

Serves 4. Takes 45 minutes.

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Dice onion. Add ground beef, onion, and salt to pan. Cook on medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until beef browns and onion softens. Drain. Add 1 cup cheese, ketchup, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until well blended.

Ladle mixture into pastry shell. Add 1 cup cheese, egg, and milk to mixing bowl. Mix with fork until well blended. Spoon evenly over meat mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

TIDBITS

1 The left picture is the planet Venus. The one on the right is this recipe’s cheeseburger pie. The photographs are shockingly similar.

2) These photos have turned our understanding of the creation of the Solar System and indeed of the entire universe on its ear. Scientists are now speculating that the building blocks of planets are: small onions, ground beef, salt, grated cheddar cheese, ketchup, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, pastry shell, eggs, and milk.

3)The discovery of these new planetary ingredients will, of course, force a drastic revision of the Big Bang Theory. Other theorists dismiss the need for ten new building blocks, saying only one is needed. That is Venus is really a Cheese PuffTM that somehow expanded to planetary size. NASA is hurriedly drafting plans to send a team of culinary astronauts to Venus to find out. Stay tuned.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, observations, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Braised Chicken From Ivory Coast

Posted on May 18, 2021 by pauldelancey

Ivorian (Ivory Coast) Entree

 

BRAISED CHICKEN

 

INGREDIENTS

1 bouillon cube, Maggi* vegetable, other vegetable, or chicken
2 teaspoons ginger
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 chile peppers
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2¼ pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
3 tomatoes
1 medium onion

* = It’s almost impossible to overstate the prevalence of Maggi’s bouillon cubes in Africa.

SPECIAL UTENSILS

mandoline
outdoor grill

Serves 4. Takes 1 hour 50 minutes.

PREPARATION

Crush bouillon cube. Add crushed bouillon cube, ginger, pepper, and salt to large mixing bowl. Mix with fork until well blended. Mince chile peppers and garlic cloves. Add minced chile pepper and garlic. Mix again with fork until well blended. Add lemon juice and vegetable oil. Mix again with fork until well blended. This is the marinade, Cut chicken into 3″ cubes. Add chicken to marinade. Toss chicken cubes until they are thoroughly coated with marinade. Let marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour. (Keep the marinade.)

While chicken marinates, use mandoline or knife to cut onion and tomatoes into ¼” slices. Cut slices in half. Preheat outdoor grill to 300 degrees. Add chicken cubes to grill. Turn chicken cubes every 3 minutes until no longer pink inside. Add equal amounts of chicken, onion and tomato to each plate. Drizzle with remaining marinade. Top with equal amounts of grilled chicken cubes.

TIDBITS

1) This recipe and many others tell you to cook something until its no longer pink inside. You can do this by cutting off a small bit and looking. Wouldn’t it be nicer to be able to use X-ray vision instead? Unfortunately, none of us possesses x-ray vision. But SupermanTM does. I’d bet Superman would be a great-steak house chef.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Mulligatawny Soup

Posted on May 15, 2021 by pauldelancey

Irish Soup

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

 

INGREDIENTS

2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 pound chicken breasts
2 garlic cloves
1 medium onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
2½ tablespoons curry powder
2½ tablespoons flour
4½ cups chicken broth
1 green apple
⅓ cup rice
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
⅔ cup cream

SPECIAL UTENSIL

Dutch oven

Serves 6. Takes 1 hour minutes.

PREPARATION

Dice carrots and celery stalks. Cut chicken into ½” cubes. Mince garlic cloves and onion. Add carrot, celery, garlic, onion, and olive oil to Dutch oven. Sauté at medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Stir frequently.

Add chicken cubes, curry powder and flour. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir frequently. While chicken and veggies simmer, peel and core apple. Chop apple into ½” cubes.

Add chicken broth, apple cubes, rice, pepper, and salt. Bring to boil using high heat. Stir occasionally. Cover and reduce heat to low for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir enough to prevent burning. Add cream. Simmer for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

TIDBITS

1) When Ireland’s bunny population exploded in 1903, they ate up all the land’s carrots, celery, and apples. It became impossible to make delicious mulligatawny soup. This culinary disaster enraged the Irish. They turned concentrated this simmering anger on their foreign, British rulers. “When Ireland was Irish,” they said, “we always had all the ingredients to make mulligatawny soup.” Other resentments were brought up and from that year on, the Irish actively planned for independence.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Sow (Milk Drink from Senegal)

Posted on May 12, 2021 by pauldelancey

Senegalese Appetizer

SOW
(Milk Drink)

INGREDIENTS

8 cups (2 quarts) buttermilk*
⅔ cup sugar
¼ cup vanilla sugar**
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

* = Traditionally made by letting fresh milk go sour outside then adding sugar and ice.
** = Can be ordered online. PenzeysTM has it. Or make your own with vanilla beans and sugar.

Serves 8. Takes 5 minutes.

PREPARATION

Combine all ingredients into pitcher or jug. Stir with spoon until well blended.

TIDBITS

1) “Sow,” if pronounced incorrectly, in Woolof, a Senegalese language, means something bad.

2) What if calling someone “sow” in Woolof means something that would you get you roughed up, put in prison, or expelled from Senegal?

3) You wouldn’t want that especially after spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on four-star hotels and flying there for its magnificent food and scenery and friendly people. Okay, friendly as long you don’t say “sow” the wrong way to them.

4) So what can you do to keep your words from getting yourself assaulted?

5) Go to another country? Nope. Won’t work. Foreign countries have foreign languages just chock full of okay words that are similar in pronunciation to dirty words, offensive words, and words that if said a little different that will get you dumped off all alone at a glacier when all you really wanted was an ice cube for your orange juice.

6) Learn Woolof. Learn all the languages that are spoken in Senegal. Take those intense language courses! Conjugate those Woolofian verbs every chance you get.

7) Or just smile and point to glass of sow. Just be careful how you point? Pointing the wrong way in a foreign country can get you trouble.

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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My Mason Jars: Filled With Flours, Spices, and Herbs

Posted on May 11, 2021 by pauldelancey

Hi. I’m sorry for today’s short food blog. I went to two supermarkets to get ingredients for Tuluk, sort of a banana wrapped tamale from Vanuatu, and for Napolitaines, a cookie sandwich with raspberry jam, from Mauritius. I then came home to show Number Two Son how to assemble his documents and fill out his Federal Tax Form. I’m having a slight break now. Afterward, I will show him how to do his state taxes. What fun!

Sorry for the blurry photos. I blame plate tectonics.

And as always, “Good cooking. Good Eating.”

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Chicken With Coffee Sauce

Posted on May 9, 2021 by pauldelancey

Sao Tomean Entree

CHICKEN WITH COFFEE SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 teaspoon salt
2 red chile peppers
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons butter
1 bay leaf
½ cup brewed coffee
1 cup white wine
9 coffee beans
¼ cup heavy cream

Serves 2. Takes 40 minutes.

PREPARATION

Cut chicken breasts into 1″ cubes. Rub salt onto chicken cubes. Seed and mince red chile peppers. Mine garlic cloves. Add butter to large pan. Melt butter using medium heat. Add chicken cubes. Cook for 12 minutes at medium heat or until the sides of the chicken cubes start to turn golden brown. Turn cubes enough so that they brown evenly.

Add red chile, garlic, and bay leaf to pan. Cook at medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove chicken cubes and set aside. Add brewed coffee and white wine to pan Cook until sauce reduces by half. Stir frequently.

Add coffee beans and heavy cream to pan. Stir until well blended. Return chicken cubes to ban. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove bay leaf. Goes well with rice.

TIDBITS

1) It costs a pretty penny for NASA to shoot one of its rockets into space. For those rockets–whether they carry amazing machines for carrying out zero-gravity experiments, taking astronauts to Mars, or people who named the murderer before you could watch that must-see mystery movie on a way trip to Pluto–use expensive rocket fuel Just like us, NASA too has a budget. Sure, its annual budget is tens of billions of dollars more than ours, but the concept is the same.

3) Heavier payloads on space missions require more fuel than lighter ones. So budget conscious NASA is always looking for ways to save weight. NASA particularly favors this entree because it combines a nutritious, satisfying meal while, at the same time, providing those hard-working astronauts with their caffeine fix. There’s no need to stow heavy coffee. No heavy coffee, less need for fuel. Less fuel, more things that can taken on the spaceship. More things aboard, more instruments. More instruments, more experiments. More experiments, more knowledge gained. Soon we will be living in a Golden Age. And we’ll all owe it to the entree from Sao Tome.

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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My Spices and Herbs

Posted on May 7, 2021 by pauldelancey

Hi! I love to make cuisines from all over the world. Actually, I need to discover new appetiziers, soups, entrees, side dishes, and desserts, Cooking is therapeutic for me. Well, mostly.  Making dishes from everywhere requires all the spices and a good selection of the world’s myriad herbs. So, I’ve accumulated quite a few spices and herbs as you can see in the pictures below. Many thanks to all the wonderful people who have given me spices, herbs, and blends.

And as always, “Good cooking. Good Eating.”

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Chicken Stew From Zimbabwe

Posted on May 6, 2021 by pauldelancey

Zimbabwean Entree

CHICKEN STEW

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
½ green chile
1 carrot
1 garlic clove
1 onion
1 tomato
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons parsley
½ teaspoon thyme
2½ cups chicken stock

Serves 4. Takes 1 hour.

PREPARATION

Cut chicken breasts into 3 pieces each and thighs into 2 pieces. Seed green chile. Dice green chile, carrot, garlic, onion, and tomato.

Rub chicken pieces with pepper and salt. Add chicken and olive oil to pot. Sauté at medium heat for 10 minutes or until chicken pieces are no longer pink on the outside. Stir occasionally. Remove chicken. Add green chile, carrot, garlic, and onion to pot. Sauté at medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until garlic and onion soften. Stir frequently.

Add basil, parsley, thyme, tomato, and chicken stock. Bring to boil using high heat. Stir occasionally. Add chicken pieces. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Goes well with rice.

TIDBITS

1) This recipe calls for ½ green chile. Stores don’t sell a half of a green chile. Not even if you ask nicely. But then you’ll have an extra half green chile that you don’t need and won’t need. So you throw it away.

2) But all our lives, religious leaders, civic leaders, teachers, and parents have all instructed us with, “Waste not, want not.” Yet here we are, wasting a half chile. This sort of conflict stresses us. It drives our slowly mad, unless we buy a carton of ice cream. Ice cream reduces stress. And, of course, we always eat the entire carton. So we never waste a single bit of cream. Now we are, “Wasting not, wanting not.” We can once again feel good about ourselves and be at peace with the world. There you go.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, international, observations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Swedish Raspberry Cave Cookies

Posted on May 1, 2021 by pauldelancey

Swedish Dessert

SWEDISH RASPBERRY CAVE COOKIES
(Hallongrottor)

INGREDIENTS

1¼ cups butter, softened
⅔ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
½ cup potato starch or corn starch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup raspberry jam (or your choice of jam)

SPECIAL UTENSILS

24 paper cookie cups
baking sheet
cooling rack

Makes 24 cookies. Takes 1 hour plus 30 minutes to cool..

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add butter and sugar to 1st large mixing bowl. Mix with electric beater set at medium until soft and well blended. Add baking powder, flour, potato starch. and vanilla to 2nd large mixing bowl. Mix with whisk or fork until well blended.

Gradually add baking powder/flour/potato starch mixture to bowl with butter/sugar. Mix with electric beater set at medium until you get a fluffy dough.. Roll out dough until becomes a 12″-long log. Cut dough log every ½” to get 24 even circles.

Place dough circles into paper cookie cups. Press finger in middle of each dough circle to make a little indentation. Carefully fill each indentation with 1 teaspoon raspberry jam. Place filled paper cups on baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cookies just begin to turn golden brown. (These cookies should remain fairly pale.)

TIDBITS

1) Billions of year ago, the Earth was just seething seas and voluminous volcanoes. Yes, the elements of life existed, but nothing actually came into being, not even the simplest of telemarketers. There was just no animating catalyst.

2) The week after that, microscopic cave cookies appeared. These microscops were themselves inert, but any element of life attaching itself to a cave cookie became alive. Hooray for life! As thecookie micrcoscops naturally enlarged, so did the number of life elements that could attach to it. So, life forms became bigger and bigger. Eventually we would we would have life on Earth as we know it.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D., Paul I

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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