giantsfan97 wrote:

fanelian wrote:I'll throw a party for my 30th birthday and I only have figured out that I will be renting a jukebox and an outdoors heater, and have copious amounts of alcoholic beverages - you're invited. I wish you could make it ... :(

I SAY WE ALL GO WHOS WITH ME

SURE, WHO'S DRIVING?

Okay, right. My plan is to make http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-breast-with-butternut-chilli, which I've done before and is really easy but gives people the impression I can cook, but I'm feeding vegetarians. While the squash works fine by itself, I'd like to come up with something to give the meal a little more thing. At the moment my best plan is some kind of tofu-slab seared amongst barbecue sauce, but aside from the challenges of locating such a slab, I'm not sure that it would actually be good. So does anyone have ideas? What do vegetarians like that can replace a chicken breast?

I probably did not see this in time, but there are a few options:
There are pre-packaged vegetarian chicken products in most (US) grocery stores. Some even have the fake chicken strips, which could be a good replacement. If fake meat isn't the option, instead of just going for tofu, try a spaghetti squash innards that replicate pasta, but will still flow with the other squashes and flavorings. If they are pescatarians, try using a white fish instead of chicken, but it will cook quicker.
Also, try substituting potatos in place of the chicken?
A couple on the market:
http://www.morningstarfarms.com/morningstar-farms-meal-starters-chikn-strips.html
http://www.lightlife.com/product_detail.jsp?p=smartstripschickn
Oooo...if you can find them, lightlife makes cuttlets and tenders also. (I have not tried these. Their hotdogs are pretty good. I usually use Morningstar products as they are the easiest, and cheapest, to find for me.)
http://www.lightlife.com/strips-tenders.jsp

Now everyone knows a little more about veggie "meat". You're welcome.

another option, in addition to tofu, would be chicken-like seitan strips or tempeh. If you have a store near you that carries hippie items (co-op, whole foods, etc), you should be able to find these, which I find have a more interesting texture than tofu. However, you'll want to try making it ahead of time, to see how much the texture changes when baking for that long.

I've had those go with foods pretty well, but somehow I always seem to overcook them and they become tough to chew.

I discussed The Barefoot Contessa here before, but I'm not sure if I was truly able to explain the excellence of the show. She's from the Hamptons in the East Coast, which is really the only place where we have old money in the US. Her husband is gone four or five days a week at Yale professoring and only comes home for the weekends; whenever he's on screen with her she's usually holding him by the face so that it looks like she's preventing him from bolting. When she did her special hour-long episode in London she rented a double decker bus for him to ride around the city by himself while she went and ate food at various restaurants and shops.

She also has a fully functional kitchen in her barn (which is on the same property as her house), and to reward the builders who made the kitchen she baked them--and I cannot stress enough that I am not kidding about this--hammer-shaped cookies. In another episode that involved the lower classes she made a tablescape out of a bucket and paintbrushes instead of a vase and flowers. In the episode I'm currently watching (which prompted this outburst) she referred to matzo balls as "peasant food."

The show's such a trainwreck, but I can't look away.

Have you ever seen her call-in holiday (don't know if it was Thanksgiving or Christmas) episode? The episode ended with a montage of besweatered twentysomethings* in webcam or phone videos asking things like, "Okay, I did just what you said! I bought all these ingredients and a bottle of expensive vanilla extract. But now, like, what do I do with them?" Also, in response to a question "what's the best way to make X" she replies "Just buy it from the store, dahling. It'll be fabulous; no one will know the difference."


*In the interests of disclosure, I am a twentysomething and I am currently wearing a sweater. It's cold.

Today I made some awesome pork chops. I did my usual method of searing them off and putting them in the crock pot submersed in chicken broth for about 4-6 hours (or more, depending on the heat level of your crock. This turns the connective tissue to yummy gelatin), but this time I decided to add 2 tbsp of dijon mustard to the chicken broth too.

I am the only one awake in the house, which is my favorite time to bake. Fennel upsidedown cake, commence.

EsBe wrote:I am the only one awake in the house, which is my favorite time to bake. Fennel upsidedown cake, commence.

Yum! That must have been good. What part of fennel did you use, the seeds?

badplantmommy wrote:

EsBe wrote:I am the only one awake in the house, which is my favorite time to bake. Fennel upsidedown cake, commence.

Yum! That must have been good. What part of fennel did you use, the seeds?

A whole bulb sliced, simmered in simple syrup with fennel seeds and lemon zest.

Mmmmm, that does sound good!