Simple Man Cooking

A food blog based around simple, easy recipes for those who want to cook well quickly. You will find I rarely give cook times or measurements. Instead I'll let you tailor to your personal taste and I'll just give suggestions. Cook times again vary by equipment and style.

[simplemancooking]

Ode to Pineapple

Let me tell you how much I love pineapple in the summer. It's the perfect side or way to add additional flavor to a dish. If you cut it thick enough, it's basically impossible to over cook in a grill. It's also perfect for putting on top of a meat while you grill to add a bit more flavor as well as keep it moist.

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I need more blogs to follow.

If you are a:

Health blog

Fitness blog

Positivity blog

Food blog

Fitspo blog

Please reblog so I can follow you (:

[simplemancooking]

Summer is for grilling

Also I need to rave about chicken breast cutlets and why they are better for cooking

1) Cooks and thaws quicker - a thick chicken breast takes a while to thaw the middle and takes a while to cook, so it's rarely even

2) portion control - breasts only come in one size, large. Cutlets are smaller and you don't feel guilty leaving something

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How to stretch a meal ? Load it with veggies! Boxed meals by themselves don't go that far, but if you mix in some veggies at the time where you simmer it, you add some great nutrients and you have some great leftovers

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A cooking hack

So a recipe staple I always keep on hand just in case is bloody mary mix. Very few recipes actually call for it, but it makes a great sauce base or tomato sauce replacement. It's already a tomato based sauce, but it also has spices that add a unique flavor. Try it in your next chili, or any recipe that calls for tomato paste or sauce

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Microwaves kill great food

So I know they are the quickest and easiest way to reheat food, but if you have an extra 5 to 10 minutes, let me strongly argue for using your stove or oven. It helps preserve the original flavor and does not overcooked it. This is particularly critical with red meat. Last night I had some leftover chicken I wanted to put on a salad, so instead of using the microwave, I cooked it on my stove top. For best results, consider cooking it with something moist like a vegetable or a sauce . I chose black beans.

Started by warming the black beans and the cutting the chicken into smaller pieces. I mixed the chicken in, and cooked it on medium for 8 minutes. Turned out to have a much better flavor than the microwave.

[simplemancooking]

Get a second opinion

So I picked up a marinated flank steak from the store today for a quick and easy dinner. The directions said to cook it on a stove for 4 to 5 mins. A few bells went off in my head because 1) I'd assume oven and 2) 4 to 5 mins was way to quick for that thickness

I searched a few other recipes and none of them came close to what the package said, but im curious, so I tried it anyways. As expected, even after I cooked it for 5 mins a side, it was still raw in the middle.

You will begin to get a feel for how long various dishes take to cook, based on thickness. As a rule of thumb, any seafood will be fairly quick, then beef, then chicken and pork. Don't mess around with chicken and pork, I tend let cook longer just to be safe.

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Stir Fry Wraps

I love this as a quick and healthy option that let's you make use of any vegetables you have in the fridge or you saw at the market. The basics of it are some protein, rice, and various vegetables. For the protein, I like to keep in my freezer a beef, chicken, or shrimp marinated in some kind of Asian sauce. So teriyaki, soy, or something else similar. A great protein for this is the stir fry cut of beef, since it's relatively cheap and comes pre cut. For vegetables, it's all personal preference, but for mine I did broccoli, carrots, orange pepper, bean sprouts, pea pods, mushrooms and water chestnuts. I budget about 20 minutes for this. I start with my largest skillet and some oil and put it at medium . I start with the items that are a bit tougher, so in this case the broccoli and the peppers. I get those cooking. I'll also start boiling my water for the rice. About 5 mins in, I'll start the peapods.

At about the 10 minute mark I'll start my rice and start to cook the meat. You will need to balance this based on the meet you choose. Chicken will take the longest, beef a little less, and shrimp the least. After 15 mins I'll toss in the rest of the vegetables, those that cook fast, ie bean sprouts, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. Carrots will depend on the size you did, since I did the shredded ones, they went quick

When the rice is done, turn the heat off and cut open the bags if you did it that way. If you want, you may want to toss some soy or teriyaki on your vegetables for a bit more flavor.

When you are confident the protein and veggies are done, mix them in with the rice. You can serve like this, but I prefer to warm a tortilla shell and fill it with the mix.

As I said, I like this because you can use it to cook up and veggies you have laying around and you don't want to go to waste. It also makes great leftovers the next day.

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Basalmic Steak

I stole this one from a friend, but I really enjoyed it, so here's my take.

Started with a top round steak, but hanger steak works good too. You don't need a super fancy cut. I coat it in olive oil, pepper and salt. Kept the seasoning simple. But you can add garlic if you enjoy that. Start cooking the steak what ever way you prefer, but I did mine in my cast iron skillet. Plan your cook time to get to the temp you prefer.

Take about 1/2 a cup to 3/4 a cup of basalmic vinegar. Seems to be about 1/3 of a cup per steak was the right amount. Now this is your choice. You can start cooking this in a separate pan or you can wait until the steak is done. I didn't want to let my steak cool too much, so I did a separate pan. Bring it to a boil and then let simmer until it's about half done. You can add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper for each 1/3 cup of basalmic vinegar if you desire. Once the steak is done, let it rest a minute or two on a clean cutting board and then slice. Place the steak on the plate. Take the drippings from the steak and add to the basalmic vinegar. Remove from heat and pour over the steak.

I served my with cooked yellow squash and simple pasta with butter and cheese.

[simplemancooking]

My favorite piece of cooking equipment

By far my favorite tool is my cast iron skillet with grates

Here are a few reasons why:

It's cast iron. Already my favorite cooking metal, it's naturally non stick. Cast iron goes between a stove, oven or grill with no issue.

The grates allow me to have the grilled look without having to fire up the grill. A key fact when you live in Michigan.

The channels drain the fats and juices away, but can be easily gathered if your recipe calls for them in a sauce (like tonight's did)

Also cast iron just screams country/manly/pioneer

So this cooked a steak for basalmic steak perfectly

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Cooking Hacks

So this is one of my favorite tricks to make sure I always have a protein ready to cook. Buy the bag of chicken breasts and let them thaw in a fridge. Then put each one in a Ziploc bag with a marinade of your choice. I normally like Italian dressing for this, but I've also done:

Ponzu sauce : great light marinade

Teriyaki: Can't go wrong

Honey Mustard

Sesame Ginger

This also works great if you buy the stir fry cuts of beef. Stir fry cut is nice because it's cheap and you can stretch it over a few meals.

Then I just freeze them. You can pull them out as needed for the week and choose what you want for that night.

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Avacado Boats

So I love these because they look great and there is a lot of flexibility in how to make them. Basically cut an avacado in half and spoon out some of the middle to make room to stuff it. I like to spoon out enough that I could set in an egg in it. That leaves some of the avacado for flavor but plenty of room for topping.

Next is the topping. I've done this a few times, this time I did chicken, corn, and black beans. But I've also done pork, onions, and beans as well. Cook the meat and then chop it fine and mix it with whatever veggies you choose. A nice touch is to simmer the mixture in enchilada sauce.

I put a bit of taco sauce this time for light flavor.

Spoon in the mixture until it flows out and you are done.

Serve with tortilla chips to scoop up the extras. For those looking for bonus points, you can peel the skin off, but that can be a pain and messy. When choosing the avacado, choose one with a bit of give. If it's too firm it will be hard to eat, too soft you will lose the form.