Why Alton Brown was Right About Cucumber Water

This picture may not look like very much, but this is my homemade cucumber water. The thought came to me recently when I was listening to the Alton Brown Podcast.  Alton confessed his love for lemonade to quench his thirst, but his true love of cucumber water.

I became very curious of cucumber water since I have drunk lots of glasses of lemonade, and wanted to see what makes cucumber water so special.

Cucumber water is actually crisp and refreshing to drink. If you want you can stick in a piece of cucumber and a piece of lemon, and some ice cubes. You can even add mint. I keep my water in the refrigerator when I am not chugging away.

There are a many recipes for cucumber water on the internet.

I have a water container in the refrigerator so that I always have cold water. I took a medium sized cucumber and scrubbed it well, and took off about half the skin and cut it into slices. I then took the pieces of cucumber and put them into a cheesecloth type piece of fabric and stuck that into the water container, and placed the cover back on top and placed it in the refrigerator. You can throw out the cucumber the next day.

Within an hour my water tasted like cucumber. I was drinking more of it than regular water.

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Simple Chicken Cutlets

Chicken cutlets is a dish I grew up having frequently in my home. It is quick to make, and something obviously any beginning cook should be able to make. In fact, everything on the plate above is very to make and takes just minutes.

Broccoli
I purchased broccoli crowns at the supermarket and cut the up. I steamed them. I put an inch of water with some salt in a half quart pan, and placed a metal steamer inside.

When the water boils add the broccoli. Steam them until they turn a bright green (which is not going to be very long) and fork tender. If you don't have a steamer that is okay, you can cook the broccoli in the pot without the steamer and they will still come out fine. Between 5 and 8 minutes. It may also depend on how much you purchased. It can be as long as 10 minutes.  Butter before placing on the table.

Noodles
For the noodles you should follow the directions on the package. They are all a little different because it all depends on the thickness of the noodle. A little science knowledge from Alton Brown can go a long way. Water and salt is the keep to good noodles.Always add salt to the water. Make sure you cook the noodles in plenty of water. Butter before placing on the table.

Chicken Cutlets
Chicken breasts
all purpose flour
eggs
plain breakcrumbs or panko
canola oil
black pepper
salt
Line everything up in this order.
Clean and prepare the chicken cutlets. Pat dry.
Place some flour on a plate seasoned with salt and pepper.
Beat some eggs in a bowl. If you are cooking 6 or 8 chicken cutlets you will need at least 3 eggs .
Place panko or plain breadcrumbs on a plate.
Start by dipping cutlets in flour. Work to cover thoroughly.
Dip the cutlet in the egg.
Then place the chicken in the panko or plain bread crumbs. Cover thoroughly.
When almost all the cutlets are covered, heat a deep saute pan at medium high heat. When hot add some canola oil.
When the oil is hot and sizzles add the chicken cutlets, cook until the cutlets are browned on both sides, turning once, and make sure the chicken is no longer pink in the middle or 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Note: For this recipe I used large organic eggs, and organic chicken cutlets, treated with no chemicals.

The chicken cutlets were a hit!

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Cherry-Glazed Chicken

Last night I got into the kitchen to cook my next meal. I began interested in this recipe called Cherry-Glazed Chicken from the Cherry Marketing Institute. You see the finished product above. it tasted wonderful. I am not use to having chicken with cherries.

Here is the recipe.

Cherry-Glazed Chicken
Makes 6

1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut up (or 6 chicken breast halves)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste (used ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper)
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 16-ounce can unsweetened tart cherries
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

Rinse chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Pour milk into a shallow container. Combine flour, thyme, salt and pepper. Dip chicken first in milk, then in flour mixture; coat evenly. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken; brown on all sides. Put chicken in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Bake, covered with aluminum foil, in a preheated 350 degree oven 30 minutes. Meanwhile, drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine cherry juice, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a small saucepan; mix well. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Add mustard; m ix well. Cook 5 minutes, o runtil sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in cherries. After chicken has cooked 30 minutes, remove from oven and uncover. Spoon hot cherry mixture over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Info:
Nutrition Facts per serving: 493 cal., 26 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 33 g carbo., 117 mg chol., 31 g pro., 1 g fiber, 231 mg sodium. Daily RDA values: 15% vit. A, 8% vit. C, 6% calcium, 20% iron.

Here is the ingredients I used.

Of course in my photo I forgot the flour. I used chicken breasts instead of a cut up whole broiler-fryer because of value. I also could have bought a whole broiler-fryer and cut it up because to my knowledge that is what Alton Brown would have done (along with other cooks and chefs I know of on television).

Here is the flour and milk mixture that I dipped the chicken in before I browned them.

Here is the chicken browning in the pan.
Note: When you brown in this fashion, you should not turn the chicken until the chicken is completely browned or you will take off the flour-milk mixture which is used as a sealant to keep in the juices.

Here in this chicken in the 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan which I am preparing to cover with foil and put in the 350F oven.

After this it is time to prepare the cherry juice and mustard mixture.

 What would the mixture be without the cherries.

 The only thing left to do is put the cherry mixture on top of the cherries and put it back in the oven. When it comes out of the oven it looks like this when it comes out of the oven.

 Then you have this lovely dish out of the oven. Anyone who hasn't tried chicken and cherries really should. I choose to have my chicken with rice and grilled zucchini from the frozen aisle of Trader Joe's.

A new recipe to whip up in the kitchen.



Cassandra

My Homemade Italian Meatballs

I love cooking in the kitchen. Oftentimes I make recipes by chefs everyone has heard of. This is the first recipe I put together from scratch.  I love watching all the greats, Giada DeLaurentiis, Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Alton Brown, Jamie Oliver, etc. I also watch Top Chef and Iron Chef. I have been bitten by the bug.

Here is a picture of the ingredients I am using for my recipe minus the basic which I forgot to include.

Italian Meatballs
Makes 4 servings

1 egg, beaten
1 lb ground meat (I like to use meatloaf mix  and my Mom uses ground chuck and ground pork if I remember correctly)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c milk
1 c bread cubes (best us French or Italian bread)
4 garlic cloves put through a garlic press
1 T oregano, fresh or dried
2 T parsley, fresh or dried
1/4 t salt or to taste
1 t black pepper or to taste
1/8 c olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl mix all ingredients starting with the wet ingredients first, then the bread, meat and spices. Shape them into balls and place them on a cookie sheet.

 Put them in the oven for about an hour or until brown and nicely done.

 Of course, here is the finished product in the tomato sauce.



If you haven't figured out I have a kitchen the size of a galley on a sailboat and am squeezed for space.

Have you ever tried Pringles Multi-Grain Potato Chips.

Here is what they look like out of the container. Now really I am not a big potato chip fan but chips made of whole grain every once in a while (or a blue moon) is okay.  They taste light and fluffy. Have them with your sandwich you eat at work.
Cook something new and try something new. Have a great day.

Cassandra