Adventures with anrkst.

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by anrkst6973, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Smoking hot cast iron and goodness. I may need to up my gym time.

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    Then a washed cup of mixed rice...

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    Then a can of fire roast tomatoes and green onion. Let that go for 4-5 minutes..

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    Slowly add about 2 cups of stock..

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    And let it simmer about 15. Don't stir, just let it set and bubble away until about 90% of the liquid is absorbed..
     
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  2. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Then nest in your meat (which I seared/browned 4-5 minutes per side after the oil seasoning earlier but totally did not photograph. ) spoon veg in around it, top with the lemon, Olives, and garlic (from the seasoning pic), drop a lid on and go 5-6 minutes.

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    She said it was fantastic. Win for me. :) (I moved again..guess who?) This one's going in my recipe file. Easy 1pan creation. Yall drop in..I'll getcha a plate.
     
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  3. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    DANG! that one looks good!!!
     
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  4. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Hey guys. Here's one I've wanted to do for a long time. Tortilla Soup.
    Indulge me a little back story.
    Anytime we ask my oldest girl where she wants to eat it's "Tx-Mx". Generally I'm not impressed by the menu, lots of sameness and bland. :(
    I do like this Soup, and I've had some good versions of it.
    I decided to create my own. Here's my original recipe.

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    I started with my Tx Mx blend, then added extra black pepper, chili powder, chipotle powder, and garlic. I wanted it to "bite".

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    I made 2 kinds of stock. Chicken and Pork. I use pork in place of beef for a milder, more savory taste. In this one I added some chili pepper seeds to bring the spice level up.

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    Presto change o. Now it's a proper prep station. ;)
    PS: I never used the V8. Decided it didn't need that at the end.
     
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  5. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    If I start going in and out, these 2 trips hazards are going to go too. :)

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    Indoor kitchens are just not properly equipped for my brand of cooking.

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    I started with real corn tortillas, browned in the pan with the spice blend and a couple pats of real butter. You could use bagged chips but this is less salty and taste way better imho.

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    Then to brown the chicken. Any piece you like and are willing to debone is fine. On the second side I added some coarse chopped garlic...OK a LOT of garlic! :D
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2021
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  6. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    These will get staged in starting with the onions and peppers, I added spice with each successive ingredient...

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    Low n slow until you have something like this...

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    Now add the chicken back in, (now shredded thanks to Sous Nmbr2son. )

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    Add in your stock, 1 tablespoon of Worstershire, 1 teaspoon of Lime juice, and 1 teaspoon of Tabasco. High simmer for 20-25 minutes.

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    As long as I'm the cook, there will be enough....for everyone.
     
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  7. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Evenin Fellas...let's do something fun, whatta ya say?
    How bout something way far out of my usual crawlabout range?
    Indian Yellow Curry with Butternut Squash & Chicken then. :)
    Another anrkst creation.
    Noted that this was done indoors intentionally...some of these ingredients were completely new to me and I wanted ready access to my spice cabinet (yes I have a whole cabinet just for spices. ) or pantry if I needed to make instantaneous "adjustments ".

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    I started by looking up spice blends, I tried them. I hated them.
    I'm making my own.

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    This one uses Vegetable Stock. I ended up with about 1 1/2 quarts.

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    to do this we'll need these...no wait, that's not right...

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    He's already here and there's not even food yet!
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
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  8. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Here they are! Yes, we need these!

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    OK really, I have no freaking clue what the heck I'm doing...I'm just making this up as I go along! :D

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    This still counts for my points in the Cast Iron Cookery Society right? Right @Black Train ?!! ;)
     
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  9. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    We need to put about a 5 minute saute on these carrots, onion, and celery..

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    The we'll add 1 diced chicken breast and some garlic....a LOT of garlic!

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    Then about 5 more minutes, add in your squash.
    More spice blend, go heavy, don't be scared. (There's a total of 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt in the whole recipe. )
     
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  10. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Time for the stock. Along with 2 teaspoons of Lime juice. Bring the temp up to a good bubbling simmer and cook about 20 minutes, or until your squash is soft.

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    Then put in 1 15oz can of Chickpeas. I rinsed mine under running water for a minute...

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    Gee Whiz. Would you look at this..I'm trying to cook here son... :)

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    Then stir in 1 can of full strength Coconut Milk and reduce heat...needs just 5 more minutes or so.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2021
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  11. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Mine got to sit for about 10 minutes. Lemme tell you, lift the lid off and Whoa! The aroma is bloody awesome!

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    This was a hit guys. I got her office crew clamoring for lunch tomorrow and the pot ain't even cool yet! :D
     
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  12. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    For my beautiful granddaughter Harper ( future warrior empress of all upon the deep! :D ) and super Familia in service at Norfolk.
    Representing USN at Barksdale AFB 4 mile Mud Run and Obstacle course!

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    A crew of "witch socks" girls...

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    Never say die. No matter what they tell you. ;)
     
  13. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    So what would be fun after a day of stormtrooping thru swampland?
    How about a big bowl of "NOT Marion's Beijing Beef?!" (It's gonna be fabulous I swear ;) )
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    So Marion does have a recipe out there for Beijing sauce....which I'm totally not adhering to!

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    And instead of beef, I'm going to use chicken. Cut 3 times across the grain then into thin slices. ( plus some dry spices... well because I'm me.)

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    And I'm going to add a cup of washed rice rather than serve it with...

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    Along with a humongous pile of veggie goodness that was not in the original recipe at all! :D
     
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  14. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    She did have a hand in this...except that I doubled the amounts..and used 50% coconut flour...

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    Faithful assistant likes it when chicken is being prepped. ;)

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    See, it was easy. And fun!

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    Now we need to take this somewhere there's gas heat, and a 16" wok...
     
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  15. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    It's working! Beautiful crispy brown goodness that the coating didn't fall off of!!

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    Then you pour off/reserve the oil, and start staging the veggies back thru, using just tiny spoonfuls of that same seasoned oil as needed...

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    When your last vegetable ingredients ate just softened, pour in a can of drained pineapple and stir stir stir!
    Then sauce in, rice in, chop chop and stir while it's sizzling. (Almost time.)
    Lastly put in that crispy delectable chicken and mix it thru…

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    This is ready for eatin! Better than takeout I guarantee you.

    Yall come see me alright? :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2021
  16. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Nice work!!!
     
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  17. OKcherokee

    OKcherokee Member

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    Looks really good.
     
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  18. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Evenin friends. What to do when you want something that's easy to pull together? But don't have a ton of supplies on hand... Kent Rollins Tres Bake.
    The man knows how to put good filling food on a plate when budget is part of the game.

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    I'm pretty sure this needs a lil Tex Mex. Open the spice cabinet...hum a happy tune...this is what happened.

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    Did I stick to the book recipe? Well of course not! :D

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    I'm not gonna be able to get my cook on without my orange trip hazard . ;)

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    When a recipe starts like this, you just know you're gonna like it.
     
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  19. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    So after a bit of this n that, you'll wind up here...

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    Throw your cast iron in the oven while it's heating, 5-6 minutes. Mix the whole mess up while it's doing that and kinda le plop it in and pat it out like stiff concrete. ;)

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    Now my 10" Lodge went 45 minutes at 400f.....

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    Yes! This one came out just right with no fiddling! It was just right spicy and moist.
    We had 2 pieces each and still got lunch for tomorrow.
    I bet you could get the recipe on his channel without even buying the cookbook too. Give it a go. :)
     
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  20. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Got it in my head to do something just completely over the top. That turned into something a bit more "involved" that what I normally try for yall...but I think it'll be good all the same.
    Apricot Curry Chicken & Vegetables.

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    Decided from the outset that the initial browning was going to be in an Olive oil/butter Garlic mix..

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    and I wanted big chunks of garlic you could see and taste.

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    Then a peppery Yellow Curry mix.

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    And a thick sticky Apricot glaze topping..
    (This takes 20-30 minutes to make but it's absolutely worth it.)

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    Couldn't decide on Sesame seeds or Poppy...so why not both?!
     
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