A dish that's been served to me for as long as I can remember is creamed chicken. It's a relatively simple dish to make. First, you need to prepare a starch; rice, toast or pasta works, but rice is where the money's at.
Seperately, boil about a pound of chicken breast for about twenty minutes. When that's done, remove the chicken from the water, let it cool, and cut it into small, bit-sized pieces.
Take a stick of butter, and melt it in a sauce pan. Take a half a cup of flour, add it to the melted butter, and stir it to create a roux. Add about two cups of chicken broth (you can use whatever kind of chicken broth you'd like - canned is easier) to the roux and stir it to create the creme. Add the chopped chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and serve over the rice.
This is definitely an old-fashioned one. My dad got it from his mom, who got it from her mom, who got it from an unknown source. Hopefully from her mom, though.
What's really great about this dish is that everything combines to create an epic mass of tasty, gooey, pleasing comfort food. You can even add pees and carrots to turn it into something that's slightly more healthy for you. I definitely plan on making this dish for my kids one day. Believe that.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Food, Inc.
What aspects of Food, Inc. did I find effective? A better question to ask would probably be what aspects did I not find effective. It's hard to really enjoy a movie like that, because the information being disclosed is so jaw-droppingly shocking, but I appreciated it for the information it disclosed.
Many different parts of the movie shocked me. First and foremost, I am an animal person; I've never hunted in my entire life, nor do I intend to. I love animals; even farm animals like cows and pigs come off as cute, albeit in a somewhat dirty way. Just look at those glassy brown eyes; they convey a sense of innocence that I just can't ignore. I'm not vegetarian, but I dunno... it definitely seems like something worth exploring. Because, seriously, the methods that national meat processing companies treat these animals is absolutely disgusting. Whether it be the chickens living their entire lives in dark holding pens or cows being tossed around with a fork lift, everything about the treatment of animals by the food industry disturbs me.
One of the most disturbing parts of the film came when discussing E. Coli strands that have infected various shipments of meat that have been distrubuted throughout the country. If the animals didn't capture the attention of viewers, then the story revolving around the two-year-old boy that died from an infected burger surely should have. Presenting an actual face when discussing the dangers of meat-processing plants was an extremely effective way to convey how much can actually go wrong if these slaughterhouses aren't regulated better.
In addition, I appreciated the part about the soy bean manufacturing company. The fact that these people have essentially acquired the rights to soy beans - a freakin' plant - is so over-the-top ridiculous that I probably wouldn't believe it had I not watched the movie. It represents capitalism at its absolute worst: major companies gaining power (in legitimate ways, I grant you), and then abusing that power to destroy all competition. They actually seem like villains in a classical, Evil Empire kind of sense. My heart went out to the farmers whose livelihoods were essentially ruined as I found myself getting actively pissed off against this corporation (whose name I regrettably can't remember - it starts with an 'M').
The documentary also hits the viewers with cold, hard facts that are too dramatic to ignore. My favorite one (or the one I've since shared with my friends): on average, a fast food burger contains meat from over 1,000 cows. Holly f*ck.
This documentary does a lot of things well, and I'm glad that I saw it. It uses a wide array of techniques to send its message: that consumers should be aware of the food that they are buying and, if financially possible, should make smarter decisions in terms of what we purchase.
Many different parts of the movie shocked me. First and foremost, I am an animal person; I've never hunted in my entire life, nor do I intend to. I love animals; even farm animals like cows and pigs come off as cute, albeit in a somewhat dirty way. Just look at those glassy brown eyes; they convey a sense of innocence that I just can't ignore. I'm not vegetarian, but I dunno... it definitely seems like something worth exploring. Because, seriously, the methods that national meat processing companies treat these animals is absolutely disgusting. Whether it be the chickens living their entire lives in dark holding pens or cows being tossed around with a fork lift, everything about the treatment of animals by the food industry disturbs me.
One of the most disturbing parts of the film came when discussing E. Coli strands that have infected various shipments of meat that have been distrubuted throughout the country. If the animals didn't capture the attention of viewers, then the story revolving around the two-year-old boy that died from an infected burger surely should have. Presenting an actual face when discussing the dangers of meat-processing plants was an extremely effective way to convey how much can actually go wrong if these slaughterhouses aren't regulated better.
In addition, I appreciated the part about the soy bean manufacturing company. The fact that these people have essentially acquired the rights to soy beans - a freakin' plant - is so over-the-top ridiculous that I probably wouldn't believe it had I not watched the movie. It represents capitalism at its absolute worst: major companies gaining power (in legitimate ways, I grant you), and then abusing that power to destroy all competition. They actually seem like villains in a classical, Evil Empire kind of sense. My heart went out to the farmers whose livelihoods were essentially ruined as I found myself getting actively pissed off against this corporation (whose name I regrettably can't remember - it starts with an 'M').
The documentary also hits the viewers with cold, hard facts that are too dramatic to ignore. My favorite one (or the one I've since shared with my friends): on average, a fast food burger contains meat from over 1,000 cows. Holly f*ck.
This documentary does a lot of things well, and I'm glad that I saw it. It uses a wide array of techniques to send its message: that consumers should be aware of the food that they are buying and, if financially possible, should make smarter decisions in terms of what we purchase.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Super Bowl!
Since memories of Aaron Rogers throwing touchdown passes over and around hapless Steelers defenders still happily populate my dreams, I wanna talk about the Super Bowl. More importantly, the food, because I can't think of a 'holiday' with more emphasis on food. Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all famous for featuring delicious spreads, but the Superbowl, to me at least, has become a ridiculous display of heart-hurting, artery-clogging tailgating food. This year was no exception: my friends and I had a solid feast on our hands.
The most important thing to provide at a Super Bowl party has to be wings. Lots and lots of chicken wings. There's just so much variety there; we probably ordered at least five different varieties from BW3's. We even ordered a few boneless wings, which are the greatest thing to ever happen to chicken (even though they are nothing more than chicken nuggets for adults). BW3's has a great selection of sauces, too; we ordered Cajun, Sweet Garlic, Buffalo, Hot, and Green Curry, which was an interesting flavor to say the least. Side note: I love eating curry, but it has to be one of the least appealing food-related smells on the planet. I never want my home to smell like curry.
I also made an avocado salsa for the game, which, unfortunately to say, didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. Not saying it was bad, but it definitely was lacking some flavor. Avocado salsa, it should be noted, is different from guacamole; I had to clarify this to everybody at the party.
Other foods that were brought to the party: home-made brownies, a trey of cheese and crackers (a criminally underrated snack; I had to be cut off), and home-made nachos (we had to toss them in the microwave to melt the cheese... so good though). Overall it was a pretty solid feast, although I was a bit dissapointed that I was the only person to actually make my own side dish (minus the brownies, I guess). My friends really need to discover cooking; it'll make future Super Bowl parties/tailgating events much more memorable, at least from a food perspective.
Steelers suck!
The most important thing to provide at a Super Bowl party has to be wings. Lots and lots of chicken wings. There's just so much variety there; we probably ordered at least five different varieties from BW3's. We even ordered a few boneless wings, which are the greatest thing to ever happen to chicken (even though they are nothing more than chicken nuggets for adults). BW3's has a great selection of sauces, too; we ordered Cajun, Sweet Garlic, Buffalo, Hot, and Green Curry, which was an interesting flavor to say the least. Side note: I love eating curry, but it has to be one of the least appealing food-related smells on the planet. I never want my home to smell like curry.
I also made an avocado salsa for the game, which, unfortunately to say, didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. Not saying it was bad, but it definitely was lacking some flavor. Avocado salsa, it should be noted, is different from guacamole; I had to clarify this to everybody at the party.
Other foods that were brought to the party: home-made brownies, a trey of cheese and crackers (a criminally underrated snack; I had to be cut off), and home-made nachos (we had to toss them in the microwave to melt the cheese... so good though). Overall it was a pretty solid feast, although I was a bit dissapointed that I was the only person to actually make my own side dish (minus the brownies, I guess). My friends really need to discover cooking; it'll make future Super Bowl parties/tailgating events much more memorable, at least from a food perspective.
Steelers suck!
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