Cooking With SkinBasket

[easy cheesy]

Sangria

1/2 of each- a lemon, orange and apple- cut into slices/wedges
1/3 cup superfine sugar
1 bottle of dry red wine
1/4-1/2 cup of brandy- again- avoid that Christian Brothers shit
club soda

Combine sugar and fruit into a large pitcher. Add wine and brandy then stir. Add additional sugar as needed to suit your tastebuds. Chill for at LEAST one hour. Add chilled club soda just before serving. Ice optional.

For other booze fun...

I also mix Pinnacle Cake Vodka and Absolute Peach into a freezer proof vessel- ratio optional depending on taste- add a splash of triple sec and fresh blueberries, peaches and raspberries- I let marinate in the freezer and keep martini glasses in there as well- whenever you want- VOILA- a kick ass martini!

[easy cheesy]

Hunter's Sauce
(or as high falutin' French fucks call it- no offense to French fucks by the way- Sauce Chasseur)

This recipe yields one and a half to two cups- is great with Grilled Flank Steak etc...

About 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms- 1/3 pound or so
1/2 cup of peeled, seeded, chopped fresh tomatoes or go for the Pomi! (chopped Pomi, not strained)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of beef broth
1/2 teaspoon of freshly chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon arrowroot (I prefer it over cornstarch but you can certainly use cornstarch)
2 teaspoons water

Melt butter in saucepan and add the mushrooms, shallots, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the wine and simmer briefly over a high heat. Add the tomatoes, beef broth and tarragon. Cook about 5 minutes and keep stirring. Blend the arrowroot into the water and stir it into the sauce. Cook briefly and serve.

As I stated above, this is GREAT over an outdoor grilled Flank Steak. Make sure to rub the Flank Steak with oil (of choice of course) and season with salt and pepper. Keep it on a hot plate to the side after cooking so that the juices will settle, tent it with foil to keep warm. I prefer mine to the rare side of medium rare so control the grilling process accordingly.

[easy cheesy]

I'm pissed off that "I'll Have Another" wasn't able to run in the Belmont but at least he's alive and pimpin'! Going back to that Glory Day of the Kentucky Derby, here's a Mint Julep in honor of the great three year old!

Mint Syrup- gotta have it- no way around it-
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 cups fresh mint sprigs... now, to make the syrup you need to boil the water and the sugar over medium heat for ten minutes. Add the mint and then simmer another thirty minutes or so. Set it aside overnight and then strain the next day.

Pour some fine Kentucky Bourbon- it has to be Kentucky Bourbon, Like Maker's Mark- into a chilled martini or rocks glass, pour in that syrup, garnish with mint sprig and start singing "My Old Kentucky Home" whilst a tear forms in your eye socket.... Good times! Oh- ice optional.

[easy cheesy]

Sundowner

OHHHHH YEAHHHHH..... makes me think of Gordon Lightfoot by the name of the cocktail... but I digress....

2 ounces orange juice
2 ounces Fresca (you remember Fresca... right?)
2 ounces dark rum
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Mix that shit up, put in a glass with ice and consume.... reponsibly of course...

[easy cheesy]

Man, I wanted Bodemeister to win... but... whatcha gonna do? Cheers to "I'll Have Another" and cheers to Baffert's second horse choice, Paynter, at Belmont.... second seems to be Bob's mantra this season. KUDOS to Union Rags... ***gulping a Julep***

[MJZiggy]

Sundowner

OHHHHH YEAHHHHH..... makes me think of Gordon Lightfoot by the name of the cocktail... but I digress....

2 ounces orange juice
2 ounces Fresca (you remember Fresca... right?)
2 ounces dark rum
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Mix that shit up, put in a glass with ice and consume.... reponsibly of course...

I saw him in concert last summer. He's old.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I listened to a radio interview with Gordon Lightfoot recently where he played a few songs. It hurt to hear his croaky voice.

People should quit singing when they become eligible for social security, with rare exception. I'm looking at you, Bob Dylan.

[easy cheesy]

I made some Tomato Florentine soup (Basically the Chicken Florentine Soup recipe above but without the chicken, use heavy whipping cream and thicken/reduce it a bit). I then pan seared some Parmesan encrusted chicken breasts over medium heat with butter. I pounded the chicken out a bit beforehand of course for even cooking.

Pour some of the soup into a casserole pan, add some more fresh, uncooked spinach and place the chicken breasts on top. Then squeeze in some lemon juice, sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and Parmesan over the top to taste. I like a LOT! Cover and bake at 350 for twenty minutes then uncover and bake another 15. KICKASS! I served with some Lemon Garlic Orzo that I bought at Papparadelle's down at the Market. Sooooooooo good!

[easy cheesy]

Hangover Helper

Follow the directions on a package of Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper EXCEPT- use 1 1/2 pounds of burger instead of one pound- add two diced up Roma tomatoes and some diced onion- use a little less milk than directed, adding heavy whipping cream and V-8 to make up the difference. Just before cooking is done add some Kraft Deli Deluxe Sharp American, Kraft Deli Deluxe Jalapeno American and a shake of parmesan. Good stick to your ribs shit!

[SkinBasket]

General SkinBasket's Chicken:

Sam's Club stopped selling their terrible rendition of General Tso Chicken, which I loved, in their deli/meat department, so I was forced to make my own, which to my own amazement worked after just a couple test builds. Don't ignore the sesame oil. It's the element that brings this shitheap together. If you like heat double the cayenne and red pepper flakes:

2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1-1.5 pound chicken breasts
1 cup green onion chopped

1. Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, beef broth, rice vinegar, cayenne pepper, corn starch, onion powder, garlic, white pepper, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and hoisin sauce to create sauce.

2. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and bathe in 2 eggs and 1/4 cup white wine for 10 minutes. Remove chicken and lightly or moderately coat in mixture of 1/2 corn starch, 1/2 flour + 1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper.

3. Heat oil and deep fry chicken until done, 5-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, heat sauce over medium heat for 7-10 minutes until reduced by 1/3. Add chicken, toss and continue to cook over medium heat for additional 5 minutes.

5. Serve over steamed rice with green onions cut into half inch lengths. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.

[mraynrand]

Is that crispy General's, or soggy? Fuck you if you like it soggy and limp. Best ever General's is from Su Hong's on the Peninsula near Stanford.

[Freak Out]

General SkinBasket's Chicken:

Sam's Club stopped selling their terrible rendition of General Tso Chicken, which I loved, in their deli/meat department, so I was forced to make my own, which to my own amazement worked after just a couple test builds. Don't ignore the sesame oil. It's the element that brings this shitheap together. If you like heat double the cayenne and red pepper flakes:

2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1-1.5 pound chicken breasts
1 cup green onion chopped

1. Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, beef broth, rice vinegar, cayenne pepper, corn starch, onion powder, garlic, white pepper, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and hoisin sauce to create sauce.

2. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and bathe in 2 eggs and 1/4 cup white wine for 10 minutes. Remove chicken and lightly or moderately coat in mixture of 1/2 corn starch, 1/2 flour + 1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper.

3. Heat oil and deep fry chicken until done, 5-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, heat sauce over medium heat for 7-10 minutes until reduced by 1/3. Add chicken, toss and continue to cook over medium heat for additional 5 minutes.

5. Serve over steamed rice with green onions cut into half inch lengths. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.

What...? No powdered Rhino horn or dried carp semen? Phony....

[SkinBasket]

Is that crispy General's, or soggy? Fuck you if you like it soggy and limp. Best ever General's is from Su Hong's on the Peninsula near Stanford.

Crispy nigger!~

That's what the corn starch is fo'

[3irty1]

Do you do starch/flour -> eggwash -> starch/flour or just eggwash -> starch/flour. Or mix it all in more of a batter?

I too gave some shits about trying to make a general Tso's sauce once. What I've got isn't perfect but it is pretty easy so I'll share for the sake of collaboration. I do it in the style of a french Gastrique sauce. I start with a little sugar, water, and corn syrup to make a caramel, then I add a little rice wine vinegar and some soysauce to that, let it heat back up to dissolve all the caramel let it reduce to thicken up a little and give it a big long squirt of sriracha. Right before tossing the chicken in it I "mount" the sauce with sesame oil as you'd do with cold butter right before serving so the oil doesn't have time to separate. My complaints are that making general tso's at home gets all your dishes dirty and is a pain in the ass. Also while my gastrique style sauce is nice and syrupy and pretty good, its never as red as it is in the restaurant. Always more brown although the sriracha helps that a lot.

[SkinBasket]

For this I just egg them then roll them through the flour mix. I just want a nice thin wrinkly crispy crust to help hold some sauce on em and this way worked out better than I thought it would. I admit, I generally have a tendency to try to over-bread things I'm trying to deep fry, and it isn't always a good thing apparently.

I just started with soy sauce and brown sugar and worked from there. I know it's not nearly as fancy as your french stuff, but I was looking for more of the fast food chinese flavor than anything else and it sounds like I would fuck up some of that stuff you're pulling off.

Funny you mention the color. I considered adding red food coloring but then started asking myself, why not just make it purple, or green, or black. And since that presented me with a dioramic philosophical horrorshow, I dropped the color issue altogether. Also, I was hungry and wanted to start drinking.