Organizing Boy

Bran loves to throw his food on the floor while eating. Partly because he likes throwing things on the floor, and partly because I think he likes to eat the food later.

Apparently, he seems to also like to organize the food, even if it is cheerios in the laundry basket.

Tahitian Coconut Chicken

Filed under Coconut and Chicken. Which of course are right
 beside each other in the "C" Section.

I've been cooking and baking for years, and so I get the milk mixture first, and then the coconut. But what is the point of the orange juice. I used the required amount (1 cup), and by the end, the orange juice had not lowered at all in the bowl, while the milk mixture was almost gone. Why would you not put the orange juice with the milk mixture. Or perhaps use a quarter the amount of orange juice, and sprinkle it over the chicken while baking.

Also, I used 2 cups of coconut, but I would probably use 3 cups next time. I only used 3 lbs of chicken pieces (which is still a LOT of chicken), and I ran out of coconut. We served this with rice, and it made enough for Robb and I to have 2 dinners, and 3 lunches. It might have made another lunch or dinner, but when it was first made I kept snacking on the pieces, and when Robb got home, he was snacking off it too. The butter and coconut together made an amazing, to die-for combination.

Gramma loved using butter. I think that her mantra was the more butter the better. When she cooked chicken thighs in her oven (using the cast-iron frying pan method) she'd add butter.

Ingredients
4 lbs chicken - cut up
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 tsp. salt
1 cup orange juice
3 cups unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups butter
4 oranges, peeled and sectioned

Directions

Mix together eggs, milk and salt. Coat chicken with this mixture. Dip chicken into orange juice and coat with coconut. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

 

Melt butter in baking pan and arrange chicken in pan. Baste with butter and bake in 400 F oven uncovered for 1/2 hour. Turn chicken bake for another 1/2 hour or until chicken is tender.

 

Serve hot, garnished with orange pieces.

Serves 6-8.

Rice Pudding

A little story about rice pudding, me and Gramma. It's kind of like apples, me and Gramma. We got along like oil and water. I still cannot eat a whole apple, believe me, I try. It's almost like my body/soul forces me to stop. Plus the texture of raw apples just doesn't appeal to me.

I think that Gramma enjoyed making foods, and then forcing me to eat it. And because Gramma and I enjoyed annoying each other (I think, who knows, I was 5 at the time!) I would refuse. Or maybe this happened after the bone fish incident - she promised me there would be no bones. Believe me, the walls and the ceiling after the meal proved otherwise!

Years later, I tried rice pudding, and I like it. Years later as in about a year ago. One of the neighbours brought Robb and I a dinner for us shortly after Bran was born. It had a full chicken that was cooked to perfection, squash and a delicious quinoa salad. For dinner there was this amazing baked rice pudding. It was at that point I found out that Robb LOVES rice pudding. Never knew that, probably because I had never made it. I had a couple bites, and then a couple more. We polished that sucker off in 2 days. It was a massive bowl of rice pudding!

Since then I've made a couple batches of rice pudding - which Robb has enjoyed. But when I was organzing Gramma's recipe box yesterday, I found her rice pudding recipe, and knew I had to try it.

Ingredients
1 cup seedless raisins
1 cup cooked rice
3 cups milk
1 Tblsp. butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions
Place raisins and cooked rice in lightly butter, deep 6 cup baking dish.

Rice and Raisins - Bran's favourites!

Heat milk and butter to scalding. Not scolding, as Robb kept saying I should do.

Lightly beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla.

Gradually stir in heated milk.

Pour over raisins and rice. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Set in shallow pan. Surround with 1" - 1 1/2" hot water. Bake in 350 F oven for 1 hour.

Serves 6.

Bye bye food

So Bran was eating lunch today, and not really having fun with it. He still isn't totally happy.

We offered him tons of food he likes but he refused all of it, except rice puffs and raisins. One of the foods that was on his mat was some little tomatoes. He took them and dropped them one by one on the floor.

Then he picked up a raisin, and I said if he dropped the raisin, he'd have to say bye bye to the food. So he dropped the raisin and waved bye bye.

Think he understands us???

MEAT - Beef Stew, with beer & mushroom

 I love her handwriting. It gets me every time.

When I first got Gramma's recipes, my Mom said to me that I would now be in charge of the stews. Totally fine with that. But then we found out that I had Celiac, so I tried other recipes. (The best was this beef
bourguignon that I found in a beef pamphlet at Save-on-Foods.)

The original

Gramma's first two, and my copy.
I think I cried on mine.

And then Robb found me Gluten Free beer. It's super delicious... of course someone who isn't on this ridiculous food limiting diet may not think so, but I'd like to believe it tastes just like normal beer!

Anyway, this stew is, as the recipe card states, 'delicious!'

Ingredients
3 lbs beef (cut into 2" cubes)
1 Tblsp vegetable oil
4 Tblsp butter
4 cups thinly sliced onions
2 cloves garlic, mashed and chopped
1 5 ounce can tomato paste
2 tsp salt
1 Tblsp crushed thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf (I used 2)
3 cups beer (or two bottles)
1 lb fresh mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Brown meat in oil and a 1 Tblsp butter. Place in casserole dish.

Brown onions & garlic in rest of butter for 5 minutes. Stir in seasonings, beer and tomato paste. Pour over beef in casserole.

I added some of the mushrooms before the first 90 minute bake.
I'm sure Gramma would have smacked me over the the head with a
dishcloth or oven mitt for that one!

Place in 350 F oven for 90 minutes, cover lightly. Stir in mushrooms and cover again - back to the oven for 30 minutes.

Right after we took it from the oven. It reduces a lot. I feel like
I should add more liquid.

Serve over noodles or rice (or potatoes). Sprinkle with parsley. Delicious!

Serves 6.