Vegetables

Poached Chicken with Garlic

Poaching simply means to cook in a large quantity of liquid. The trick is to make sure that liquid is extremely flavorful, and to include enough salt; then you can serve the finished dish with noodles or rice to sop up the deliciousness. This is simple, yet tastes like something you'd order at a Chinese Restaurant.

4-5 pounds chicken parts (use skinless and boneless if you prefer, but bones and skin will add flavor)
6 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled
4 tsp. salt
6 cups water

Pan-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

This is a super straightforward but surprisingly tasty way to cook sweet potatoes. They caramelize and cook down a little, and so there are some crusty bits that form deliciously along the way, yielding a side dish that is not quite mashed, but soft and sweet enough for decadence. :)

3 large sweet potatoes, of any type, peeled and cut into uniform chunks approximately 3/4-inch square.
4-6 tbsp. ghee
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid, over medium heat; add the sweet potatoes and salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Delectable Dolmas (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

This is not a recipe to provide complete instruction on the Middle Eastern art of creating amazing Dolmas; instead, this is How To Make A Delicious and Wonderful Filling for about 150 grapeleaves. Cookbook Google can provide you with instructions for rolling the dolmas - I will just add to the great information online that you can use tender, young, wild grape leaves without blanching them first!

2 onions, diced small
2 tbsp. salt
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Sauté gently for about ten minutes. Add:

Super Easy, Inauthentic, But Delicious Thai Curry

After testing innumerable complicated, three-hour-prep-time, requiring-of-many-obscure-ingredients Thai Curry recipes, I decided to make up my own. And if I do say so myself, this is a very versatile technique more than a recipe, and many substitutions can be made if you wish (you can use chicken instead of fish, broccoli is delicious, but you can use another vegetable - etc.). And, it tastes really good, even without fussy sauteeing or parboiling, etc.

Shannon Hayes' Shepherd's Pie

This is adapted from Shannon Haye's exceptional recipe for meaty deliciousness! I post it here so that I can reference the ingredients even when I'm away from her awesome cookbook.

4# potatoes
4-8oz Parmesan, shredded
4-8 T. butter
1/2 cup yogurt
~2 tsp. salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
pepper

The Most Awesome Crispy Roasted Potatoes

When I saw Cooks Illustrated's latest issue, with a description of the Best Crispy Roasted Potatoes Ever...I was intrigued. And after we polished off the whole batch, I knew I'd have to scale up my recipe and technique to meet the demand. :) These are amazing! I discovered that the salt and baking soda does not need to be doubled, even with more than twice as many potatoes as the original recipe. This makes enough for our family, with some left over. And don't be tempted to substitute for the animal fat - I think it really makes them super good.

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