Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Xerox fell through. The job search continues....

She's BaaAAaAaAaAAAck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKE2DC7Xzog

This Week's Meals (2/4): Orange Chicken Parmesan

So, remember when I said "Maybe I'll make some food from web cooking shows I like?" I went straight for Mythical Kitchen's Orange Chicken Parm. A fusion of Panda Express' Orange Chicken and Italian Chicken Parmesan. Oddly, no parmesan in this recipe. Or orange.

What got me to try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNU6htR0TdI

It's a gigantic recipe, and looks kind of daunting. In fact, I was dreading making this cause I figured with this many ingredients and deep frying, I was about to wreck my kitchen. But it's fairly simple, and any kitchen wreckage was going to happen no matter what.

My dish looks a bit different from Josh Scherer's mainly because I didn't watch the video as I cooked (it's a 15 minute video, this takes a while to make). My mozarella isn't as melted as his, but is still pretty melty, and I think I cut the chicken too small.

Also, did you know there's a sriracha shortage? I rarely use sriracha (I prefer sambal oelek, an Indonesian chili paste), but I figured I'd get some for this, and couldn't find it anywhere. Apparently, the chili peppers used for sriracha are in low supply due to a drought where they're harvested. The sambal oelek made do in a pinch, though.

Original Video is Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjNQT2RlN5U

# Orange Chicken Parmesan

Mythical Kitchen

1.0 lb chicken thighs
1.0 Tbsp Soy sauce
1.0 tsp Rice wine vinegar (chicken)
1.0 tsp Sugar (chicken)
1.0 Egg white
0.25 tsp white pepper
2.0 Tbsp vegetable oil
2.0 cloves garlic (minced)
0.0625 tsp red chili flake
1.0 Tbsp ginger (grated)
12.0 ounces tomato juice
2.0 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (sauce)
0.25 cup sugar (sauce)
1.0 tsp sriracha
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp dried basil
0.5 tsp fennel seed
1.0 tsp cornstarch (sauce)
2.0 Tbsp water
1.0 cup cornstarch (chicken)
10.0 cherry tomatoes (halved)
0.5 cup fresh basil
Olive oil
1.0 cup mozzarella (low moisture) (cubed)
vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

1 - Cut chicken thighs into chunks.
2 - Whisk together egg white, soy, sauce, pepper, the rice wine vinegar for the chicken, and the sugar for the chicken.
3 - Add in chicken pieces and let marinate for 1 hour.
4 - While marinating, heat oil in a sautee pan and add ginger and garlic.
5 - Stir fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
6 - Add the red chili flake, tomato juice, the rice wine vinegar for the sauce, the sugar for the sauce, sriracha, sakt, dried basil, fennel seed, cornstarch for the sauce and water.
7 - Cook for 6 minutes until sticky and reduced.
8 - Add cornstarch to chicken/marinade mix and stir until well-coated.
9 - Place a paper towel on a plate. We'll use this to drain the chicken.
10 - Deep fry at 350 for 4 minutes or until golden brown
11 - Remove the chicken and drain.
12 - Add chicken to the sticky tomato sauce and pour it in a heat proof dish.
13 - Arrange halved cherry tomatoes around the saucy chicken and then add mozzarella cheese.
14 - Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes, until cheese is melty and golden.
15 - Top with fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals (1/4): Luby's Dinner Rolls (Yeast Rolls Redux)

If at first you don't succeed, burn the recipe and go find another.

This one came from my Luby's cookbook and while it's still a little crumblier than I like my yeast rolls (I like the roll tops brown and thinly crusted, and the bread to be super moist and a little stringily pull apart), it is absolutely a Very Good Yeast roll. If anything, this is a lot less "biscuit" like yesterday's rolls and more "rustic homemade recipe" version of a yeast roll.

A few days ago, I listened to a podcast where there was a discussion about "Why do you need cookbooks when you have The Internet?" And this is a good example why. The original recipe I had was from the Internet. Granted, it was from a foodie site, but it was just off the net. I don't know how often it's tested, how often they repeated the process and dialed it in. Have they been tested for scalability? And unless they're a big name, I don't know who made it and if their tastes coincide with mine.

In a cookbook, especially the ones from restaurants, they're constantly repeated, usually scalable, and have been dialed in for however long the restaurant is open.

In the end, cookbooks are good things. And while websites are good (I've made some great recipes from websites), I'll always pick books over websites just for reliability.

Speaking of scalability, I might have a more "yeast roll" experience if I make the full 18-roll recipe on the muffin tins as the recipe mention....
# Luby's Dinner Rolls

Luby's Recipes & Memories
18.0 rolls

1.3333333333333333 cups warm water
2.0 tbsp active dry yeast
0.5 cup sugar
3.0 whole eggs
4.0 tbsp butter (melted)
0.3333333333333333 cup nonfat dry milk
1.0 tsp salt
5.0 cups all-purpose flour
vegetable oil (as needed)

1 - In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend water, yeast and sugar. Set aside 5 minutes to allow yeast
mixture to become frothy.
2 - Add eggs and butter.
3 - Using the dough hook of the electric mixer, beat on medium speed until blended.
4 - Add dry milk and salt. Mix well.
5 - Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing until dough begins to pull away from sides of bowl.
6 - Leaving dough in bowl, lightly grease top of dough ball with oil.
7 - Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8 - Lightly grease a muffin pan.
9 - Punch dough down and divide it evenly into the number of portions you want.
10 - Gently roll each piece into a ball and place one ball into each muffin cup.
11 - Let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until rolls have doubled in size.
12 - Preheat oven to 350°F.
13 - Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Okay. SEVEN Doctors Appointments down, one to go (thankfully virtual visit), three to set up eventually....

This Week's Meals (1/3): It Was Supposed To Be Yeast Rolls But Somehow They Became Southern Biscuits.

So, big old dumb me forgot I HAVE a recipe for yeast rolls in my Luby's cook book and instead went online for one. That was probably my first mistake.

The second one was making the dough, I could not get it to "dial in" to a correct dough. It was either too sticky, or too dry and I couldn't get that middle ground. Eventually, I just had to say "good enough" and continue. I'm not sure if I overcooked the bread or if the dough was not good, but these are not the fluffy light yeast rolls I'd hoped for.

But they're NOT BAD.

They're not yeast rolls. They're biscuits. A nice lightly crunchy bread shell with a fluffy soft interior. So I'm not calling it a failure. But it's not what I was expecting. But they're still pretty good. Needs a little salt to be a real southern biscuit, though.

Probably won't post the recipe as it didn't come out right - but if you want it, let me know.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Two years on Mastodon and only NOW am I getting the scam profiles.

Waiting for the scam messages before reporting....

Taking the occasion of the Wii U/3DS eShop lockdown to take my old Wii and "secure my purchases" there. If you thought navigating the 3DS shop was bad, imagine downloading all your old games after ten years on the Wii Shop Channel.

SO. MANY. BUTTON PRESSES.

Just a heads up. Not only are the Nintendo eShops for Wii U and 3DS shutting down next week, but the Nintendo DSi apps that were ported over to 3DS will be gone as well. So don't forget to grab those exclusives as well.

Looking like this week's menu is gonna be Spaghetti all’Assassina, Yeast Rolls, Salisbury Steak and Orange Chicken Parmesan.

Ended up stealing the Spaghetti from Pasta Grammar and Orange Chicken Parmesan from Mythical Kitchen and was craving the Salisbury Steaks and Yeast Rolls, so just went with that instead of seeking out two more online recipes.

My last paycheck is Wednesday, though, so I think this is kinda the last hurrah of Big Awesome Cooking until the job situation gets better or my finances start to balance out a bit.