Baked Chicken

Chicken is so yummy but sometimes it's hard to make yourself cook it because it's slimy to handle when it's raw.  Yuck!  So get some tongs and use those to handle them.

This baked chicken is good because it's juicy and flavorful when it's fresh, and you can also eat the leftovers straight out of the refrigerator, like fried chicken.  I like thighs but you can use any parts that you love the best.

EASY BAKED CHICKEN:

Chicken parts - 2 or 3 lbs.

Holy Trinity of Seasonings (salt, pepper, granulated garlic, chile powder)

Boiling Water - 1/2 cup at a time

Heat up the oven to like 400 degrees and boil some water.

If the chicken has tons of fat and skin on it, trim some of that off with a knife.  Don't take all the skin off because that's what gets crispy when you cook it.  Then get a roasting pan with a rack in it.  This can be a 13x9 inch pan with metal cooling racks placed inside it.  You just want the chicken to be up off the bottom of the pan.

Season the chicken by coating it with the seasonings on both sides.  Place the chicken on the rack skin side up and put the pan in the oven.  Before you close the oven door, pour about 1/2 cup of boiling water into the bottom of the pan.  Now close the oven!

Baste the chicken about every 15-20 minutes.  You can probably turn the oven down to 350 if you want.  It should be done in about an hour, more if you're cooking giant pieces, maybe less if you're cooking wings.  You will have to add more boiling water to the pan from time to time, make sure the pan doesn't go dry cause then the chicken will too!  You'll know it's done because the pieces will get a lot smaller when they're done and they won't be as squishy.  That's it!!!

My favorite restaurants in Phoenix

This list is not going to be very long, probably because I'm always cooking and not eating at restaurants!  Maybe this post will have to be a work in progress as I try new restaurants now and then.

CHINESE RESTAURANTS:

1. Wong's Place on Baseline and McClintock in Tempe, across the street from Target.
2. Peter Wong's on Camelback just west of 15th Avenue in Phoenix.
3. The dim sum place I went to with Christie, it was in Chandler.

Both of these restaurants make really good Crystal shrimp with walnuts.  And try the Szechuan eggplant, hot and spicy with a little pork added.  For a good vegetarian choice, try Wong's Place Hunan Tofu, very yummy!  Wong's Place also has the most amazing Sea Bass with brown sauce.

DIM SUM:

1. Phoenix Palace at Dobson and Warner in Chandler.  The carts go by your table with huge piles of food on them.... Mmmmmmmmm!!
2. C-Fu Gourmet at Dobson and Warner in Chandler (across the street from Phoenix Palace!)
3. Golden Buddha at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix at 44th St. and the 101.  It's acceptable!

Ok, maybe you won't find dim sum equivalent to what you can eat in Chinatown in San Francisco... but you can still have fun eating tasty dim sum!

MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANTS:

1. Haji Baba on Apache in Tempe.
2. Princess on Broadway in Tempe a block east of the 101.

INDIAN FOOD RESTAURANTS:

1. Delhi Palace at the corner of Rural and University in Tempe
2. Delhi Palace on McDowell at 51st St. in Phoenix, just west of the Papago mountain pass.

Both of these restaurants have buffet at lunch, with the most popular dishes; spinach with cheese, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, rice.... sooo fragrant!  Or you can go for a very elegant dinner, everything on the menu is delish!

KOSHER STYLE DELI FOOD RESTAURANT:

1. Chompie's on University in Tempe, between Rural and McClintock

There's really only one.

MEXICAN FOOD RESTAURANTS:

1. Adrian's #2 on Main St. just east of Alma School Rd. in Mesa.  Do not blink or you will miss it!
2. Filiberto's..... they really do have great carne asada burritos.
3. America's Tacos on 7th St. just north of McDowell in Phoenix.  Great tacos!  I haven't tried the newer location at Rural and University in Tempe, hopefully they're just as good.

GREEK RESTAURANTS:

1. My Big Fat Greek Restaurant on Mill in downtown Tempe.
2. Posidon Greek Restaurant and Deli on Main St. in Mesa, between Alma School and Extension

Try the Greek fries at either place.  Posidon also has a little market where you can get your feta, olives, grape leaves, and all your other Greek food ingredients.   :-)

cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Well, it turns out meatballs aren't the most photogenic food... but they're tasty!  And not really that hard to make.  In the debate between meatballs and meat sauce, the meat sauce is definitely faster to make than meatballs.  But there's something special about meatballs.  These are tasty, for a nice surprise, think about putting a mini fresh mozzarella ball in the middle of each one (I learned that from watching food network!) I think they're called bocaccini or something.

TASTY MEATBALLS:

1 lb. ground meat (beef)
1 lb. Italian sausage, cut them out of the casing
1/2 onion, chopped very fine
1/2 green pepper, chopped very fine
6 cloves of garlic, chopped very fine or squished through a garlic press
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, granulated garlic, oregano, basil - a generous sprinkle of each

Put all of the above in a big bowl.  You'll probably have to use your hands to mix the ingredients together.  When it's well mixed, start forming balls as big as you want.  2 inches is a good size, and this recipe will make 20 of them.  Put the meatballs in a baking pan, like a 13x9 pan or maybe a little bigger.  You can add a little olive oil in the bottom.  Bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until they turn the color of meatballs, brown!  Then add them to your spaghetti sauce.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!