Official "Dinner" Thread

[ACooper]

It seems I am always looking for something different to make for dinner......you know how it goes, tired of the same old junk and want a change.

Looks like I am not alone as I see others ask for help or ideas too

I thought it would be nice to have an official dinner thread.

This thread is for us to SHARE the recipes and ideas, but please only post it IF YOU have actually made it or had it at home.........no untested recipes please! (those are all over the net)

You can even include a picture to SHOW us what it looks like and make us drool

This could turn into the Chazhound Cookbook! WOOT!

[Debi]

quesadillas (which I can't spell) but are a fave of ours. you can make anything you want for a filling, but yesterday I had this:

lay large flour tortilla in skillet (I spray a little nonstick oil in the skillet)
turkey chunks (precooked)
shredded cheddar
precooked onions and green pepper
a slice of ham (it's good without the ham, also I use precooked chicken chunks alot if I don't have turkey)
picante sauce
lay another tortilla on top
heat in skillet til lightly browned, flip to brown the other side, cut with a pizza cutter into 4 triangles. dip in sour cream if you're feeling wild. serve with a nice salad on the side.

we also make what we call Mexican pizzas:
large tortillas, lay out flat on cookie sheet
rub with a little olive oil
any topping you like, we only put chopped onions, green pepper, tomato
shredded cheddar
bake in 350 oven til it's warmed thru and cheese melts

[ACooper]

Sounds good Debi

We had a copy cat recipe for Chili's black beans tonight, I can't say it was that great.........not even close to Chili's, but I am going to keep searching until I find it because I ADORE Chili's black beans!

[eddieq]

I'll share. This is one my wife made up. We call it "Chicken Klementine". That's because my wife's initials are K.L.E.M. so I call her my darling Klementine

Anyway, here goes, a Mrs. Q original:

1 stick butter
2 pouches Good Seasons Italian salad dressing (the dry stuff)
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. marsala wine (Florio Sweet)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt & Petter to taste

Cut chicket into 1-inch pieces. Melt butter in skillet on medium/low heat. Add puches of dressing mix and chicken, saute until chicken turns white, lower heat, add Worcestershire sauce and wine; cover. Cook on low heat until chicken is done all the way through, stirring frequently. Server over linguine, salt and pepper to taste.

Not the lowest fat in the world but it's **** good.

[Gempress]

Sounds like a fun thread! Okay, here's my contribution for today (it's what I'm making for dinner tonight, so I might post pics later). This is my asian grandma's take on American fried chicken, and it is heavenly. Unlike most fried chicken recipes I've seen, the emphasis is all on the chicken: no batters in this one. Makes for a wonderfully crisp, very tasty piece of chicken. I scaled down the recipe, since my grandma usually makes this in 20-pound batches at the minimum.

Asian-American Fried Chicken
8-10 chicken pieces. I personally think dark meat tastes best in *any* chicken recipe, but you can use any part of the chicken, bone-in and skin-on.
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce, just enough to give the meat a good dampening.
Flour for dredging

Put the chicken in a bowl. Add everything except the flour. Toss well to mix. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight to marinate.

When you're ready to fry, put some oil (NOT olive oil!) on medium-high heat. Your want about 2 inches of oil in the pan. Take out the chicken pieces and dredge each one in flour, then put them in the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork. Wings and legs may take only 15 minutes. Be sure to turn the pieces over halfway through cooking, so both sides cook evenly. Remove from the pan and drain on a rack or on paper towels.

[Babyblue5290]

Chili & Rice. You (well......I) can live on that stuff!

you need:
Rice
Chili (I get the vegetarian chili)

Cook rice till soft, equal water to rice.
Cook chili till warm.

Put together, add some onions or cheese and EAT! ^_^

[ACooper]

So far, so YUM! I will probably be making my grocery list from this thread! ROFL

And BB, I don't believe I have ever tried chili & rice together but we will be

[GipsyQueen]

My own Pasta:

Either you can make fresh pasta... but usually Im to lazy to do so... Or you can buy the 'other' stuff.

For the sauce:
(for 4 people)
- 3 Onions (two red one white)
- Dried Tomatoes
- cream cheese
- parmasan
- white wine
- garlic
- chopped tomatoes (canned)
- tomatoe paste.
- Olive Oil
- varity of italien herbs & salt and pepper

(For those who like shrimp, add shrip.)

Put chopped onions and garlic (about 2 - 3 cloves) in a pan with olive oil and them heat up. Then once the onions are glassy add the chopped dried tomatoes, tomatoe paste and cream cheese (about a teaspoon) and let them heat up as well. Add salt and Pepper. Then put the whole mixture into a pot and drench with the wine. Put the Pan aside if you are planning on adding shrimp. Then add about 2 cans of chopped tomatoes along with the herbs and parmasan. Let it heat up and once its boiling turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Then, taste again and add salt and pepper and whatever else if needed.
If you want to add shrimp, put those in in the pan that you did the onions and such in. Add a clove of garlic (a whole clove not chopped) along with salt and pepper.
Serve Pasta with sauce and put the shrimp on top! ^^
*oh and if you feel the sauce is a bit acidy, add some sugar.*

[Gempress]

All right, here's pictures of the completed Asian-American fried chicken. Sorry the picture quality is so horrible, but my digital camera is awful.

Here's the lovely platter of chicken.


And here it is served in the way that's traditional in my family, with a hot serving of steamed rice. The rice is topped with a mixture of fresh diced tomatoes and onions that have been lightly tossed with a bit of patis (fish sauce). Patis actually tastes a bit like a very light soy sauce, and Filipinos use it just as often as Chinese and Japanese cuisine uses soy sauce.

[TheWonderPuppies]

Creole Chicken and gravy.

5 tbsp butter/margerine(enough to coat bottom of pan with at least a 1/4 of an inch)
2 lbs of chicken(must have bones) otherwise any part/parts frozen
1 large white onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
half a small can of tomato sauce.
1 1/2 cups water

In a large dutch oven or stock pot melt butter. Add onions and cook till halfway to transucent.NExt add the garlic and finish cooking onion till translucent. Add in frozen chicken and half can of tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil for 15 mins then reduce to a simmer for at least 2 1/2 hours the longer it simmers the better.
Serve over long grain rice with cornbread.