An outlandish menu

[wiseheart]

I decided to make cashew chicken today. Because I bought some cashew nuts for the Christmas baking frenzy but didn't use up them all and I don't want them to go bad, now that the sealed package has been broken.

I've browsed the internet yesterday and found very interesting, very complicated recipes, full of ingredients I either don't like, can't eat or can't get over here. So I picked the easiest of them, ejected half the ingredients and improvised a bit with the rest. It turned out very yummy, although I managed to overcook the meat so it ended up a bit hard. Not for me (I'm the person with the actual teeth in the family), but Mum did have to pick her bits with a little more care. Still, she liked it, as well as the gargantuan amount of couscous salad I made as the side dish and the apple crumble that I made for dessert.

Mind you, the apple crumble was one of those "let us use up the rests before they go bad" thing. I had some grain flakes, maple syrup and coconut flakes to put to good use. The resulting dessert was a tiny bit too sweet for my taste (when I made it in earlier times, fancy things like brown sugar or maple syrup weren't available under the rock where I live), but Mum liked it, so it's fine.

So, we still have the last of the canned soup for tomorrow, couscous salad for the next three or four days, and half the apple crumble. I foresee that the only thing I'll be cooking tomorrow will be some fried eggs to go with the salad. Oh, and I'll have to pre-cook and freeze the cauliflower I managed to get for an almost reasonable prize yesterday. Food prizes have skyrocketed dramatically since Covid entered the scene.

Not much else was done today (save for the weekly laundry). I made one more little bird and its bird house for the quiet book, but that's basically it.

Comments

[meathiel]

Hmmm ... cashew chicken sounds yummy.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It was; if only I could have managed to keep the meat tender. *sigh*

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should give twice cooked pork belly a try. I always add roasted cashews and broccoli, just the way my favourite Chinese does. The meat is extremely tender, and my capped teeth will stay in place.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion. We rarely eat pork, but it's definitely worth a try.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Ouch at the price rises, but luckily you are a canny cook from the sounds of this feast!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

When you can't get the right ingredients, you'll learn to improvise. *g*

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I lived in the NE United States when i was a kid so maple syrup was always in grocery stores.
everything you describe sounds yummy!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They were indeed so yummy that neither Mum nor I were able to eat any supper today. *g*

Maple syrup has only come into our grocery stores a few years ago, but it's still so outrageously expensive that I simply use honey instead, most of the time. This was the first year that I indulged myself into buying really pricey-i baking ingredients for the Christmas baking frenzy - as a consolation prize for everything that we had to give up due to the frigging virus.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Sounds yummy. I do a lot of ignoring hot things and ginger when I make recipes, so I definitely get you there.
Apple crumble-yum!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nothing makes you so creative as the lack of the required ingredients. *g*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Very true.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I've held onto cashews for months without them going bad, but it might be our lack of humidity here. Sounds like a good meal, though.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

My cashews are a good two months old already and still not used up completely. I might have to cook other fancy meals in the near future. *g*

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

I find cashew's sweet to start with, so I can understand your dish being on the sweet side...but I do like a veggie stir-fry with cashews.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, the cashews actually went into the frying pan with the chicken breast, so they came out pleasantly spicy. This was the first time I tried to make anything with them, save for the Christmas baking.

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

The outlandish menu sounds delicious! I have to think of what to cook for the next few days. I have been eating a lot of salads and chicken and vegetable soup which I made last week, but that's nearly gone, so I have to rummage through the pantry and freezer and come up with some meals!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Tell me what you've got and I might come up with some suggestions. *g*

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

You meal, as usual, sounds delicious! Alas, grocery prices are out of sight here, too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Making profit out of the little man's misery, as always...