The Hollow Leg Diner: Catching up again

OK, so I suck at this blogging crap. I've been preoccupied with hunting and shooting of late and I'm only capable of managing one hobby at a time.

I just made the best damn chicken sandwich EVER! It was simple, it was basic, and it was gooooooood. I pounded out a couple of chicken breasts, seasoned them with a special mix of Cayenne and black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and Kosher salt. I cut the breasts in half and dredged them in a seasoned flour mixture. After an egg wash, the breast pieces went into a mix of seasoned (Italian) bread crumbs and the seasoned flour. These got a quick dunk in the oil jacuzzi to achieve that Zen state of golden-brown and delicious. A quick dry on some paper towels and then the cooling rack. As they were cooling on the rack I topped them with sliced Provolone cheese. I got some crusty buns and slathered them with some ranch dressing and mustard. A few pieces of lettuce and some sliced ripe tomatoes and I had myself one damn good sammich. I know you're thinking that you could get something similar at Wendy's. That may be, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good. Fact. OK....that's my opinion, but it was really good. No pictures ( I ate it too fast). I'll make Lupe a sandwich and get some pictures.

Here are a few other goodies that have come out of the kitchen recently.

Pastastravaganza

I made a stromboli with leftover pizza dough and a meat sauce that I whipped up. I learned a few lessons about stromboli making. Structurally it wasn't perfect, but it was really damn tasty.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As if one pasta entree wasn't enough, I used up some leftover fettuccini and the rest of the meat sauce. This is the first time I've used my little All-Clad oval bakers since I bought them 8 years ago. I'm glad I got those things on sale.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lamb Kebabs

I cut up a leg a lamb and threw it in a spicy yogurt mixture for a few hours. The lamb went on bamboo skewers with onion, bell and poblano peppers and some par cooked carrots and cauliflower. Bamboo skewers suck. I need to get a bunch of stainless skewers someday. Half the carrots and cauliflower fell off while cooking. The lamb was nice, but not as spicy as I was aiming for. The kebabs were served with a spicy couscous. I know that the couscous looks like it has chicken pox; that's just sriracha sauce. I don't like those squeeze bottle sauce zig-zags that real chefs use on their food. I prefer polka dots. I am confidant that sauce polka dots will be the next big thing in food presentation. Remember.....you saw it here first.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Burgers!

I love burgers, but I just don't make them very often. Von's had 93% lean ground beef on sale so I got about 10 pounds. That's enough to make a couple of burgers....right? I mixed in a little pork Italian sausage and a ton of seasoning (Cayenne & black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley flakes and salt). I think I got an even dozen burgers out of it. Half of the burgers were stuffed with a mix of cheddar and jack cheese. Before heading out to the grill I caramelized some onions and sauteed crimini mushrooms. This mixture went on some of the burgers before I topped them with cheese. As Jules would say: "Hmmm-hhhhhhh! This is a tasty burger."

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Needless to say, we had burgers for the rest of the week.

Comfort food

After the burgers, I had a yearning for some comfort food. And what is more comforting than meatloaf with mac and cheese? So I made some tasty meatloaf and some homemade mac and cheese. The mac n cheese was especially tasty. I used white cheddar and gruyere cheese mixed into a seasoned bechamel sauce. Along with the mac and loaf I also made some asparagus. I did a few wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven and steamed the rest.