Skip to main content

The Joy of Cooking...Pops Style!

Most of my friends know that I have a young friend, all of 20. He's adopted me as a surrogate dad , of sorts, and he calls me "Pops".

Throughout our adventures in ukulele playing, psychology, culture, humor and semi-fine dining, he has found that this old man knows how to cook. And dude loves my cooking! It's become a bit of a routine for me to take him dinner at work a few times a week. His tastes run pretty similar to mine, so its even easier for me.

Yesterday, I was trying to decide what to make. I had just made gumbo a few days prior and that was going to be a tough act to follow. (if you've had my gumbo, you know this) I had some leftover peppers, so there was a start. I thawed out some chicken thighs and picked up some fresh onions....now what?

Let the creativity begin!

I sometimes just make up a dish as I go along. I'll take an idea from one dish or other, mix it up, add some things, change some things, just to see how it goes. I've been cooking long enough to know what usually works together. This was no exception.

I decided on a shredded chicken dish. When I lived in Ohio, there was a little joint that sold shredded chicken sandwiches. I loved them, so I figured it was as good as start as any. So I boiled and shredded the chicken.

I chopped up some onion, fresh garlic, and cubanelle and red sweet peppers. I mixed it all together, over low heat. It was coming together. Now to season!

I could have gone with just a plain old spice session. Some salt, pepper, blah blah blah. This needed something special, so I opted for unusual. Sure, the aforementioned spices were good but it needed more. I added in some yellow curry, tumeric, 7 spices,cayenne pepper and some paprika. If'd have stopped right there, it would have been fantastic on it's own. But I wasn't done. Not by a long shot.



It's summertime. That means BBQ! So I added in a sweet and spicy Memphis-style sauce. This took it to whole other level! The sweet and spicy mixed with the other spices was just a whole mouthful of WOW! But was I done? Nope. Knowing my target audience, I went a step further!



I made up some boxed cornbread stuffing, knowing how much he likes cornbread. I then spread the shredded chicken into a small casserole dish, added the stuffing on top and about a cup of chicken broth and threw it in the oven for about 20 minutes.




Who cooks like this on a 90+ degree day? ME! That's who! And it was soooooooooo good! #1 SemiPseudoQuasi Adopted Son agreed. This recipe is a keeper. Oh yeah...I made some honey butter biscuits too.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Money Miser

I'm usually not one to suggest products or suggest against products...unless I think they're really fantastic or utter pieces of crap. Well I'm here to tell ya, the Money Miser Coin Sorter SUCKS ROTTING ZOMBIE ASS! I've always been frugal...but don't take that as cheap . I work hard for my money and I like to save when/where I can. For the past few years (which from 2007-2010 were really tight), I've always kept a jar on the kitchen table, and when I get home at night (or in the morning as is the case most days) I dump whatever pocket change I have into said jar. I'd usually cash it in at Ye Olde Coinstar machine just before payday...in case I needed gas, lunch money, or just a night on the town. I would usually amass $60 or per month this way. This past year has been pretty decent financially so around May, I switched to a bigger jar. I hadn't taken anything OUT of the jar since around April. Well, the jar finally got so full (and so heavy I co...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Book! (and what comes next)

 My 1st print book now exists. What a strange way to put it. I've always enjoyed writing, even when I was a kid and it wasn't cool . Honestly, I never thought I'd do anything with it. It was just another outlet for all of the ideas banging around in my head. For decades, a lot of these thoughts became songs. Now I've returned to the simplicity of words. I write because I enjoy telling stories - pretty much the same with songwriting. The only difference is that now I don't have to go on a stage or into a recording studio. There I days I miss both, but who knows...maybe one day I'll do it all again. Writers write for different reasons. Some for acclaim or notoriety. Some for profit. Same as with music, painting, sculpting, acting - I think those goals are a matter of seeking validation. But for what? Doing what you enjoy is validation enough. For years I've written this blog. In some ways, it's the perfect medium for me. I do it, it's done, published, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Very Teddy Tuesday

 I told myself I wouldn't do this. I didn't want to share any part of the new book yet. But - I'm enjoying it too much, and that feels selfish. Lord knows I don't write for any reason other than to share stories, so I edited a few bits down to this little excerpt. You might like it. Might not. Might think WTF?! Might ignore it all together. No matter what you think, or if you even read it at all, I'm enjoying writing it. Those who know me won't be surprised. Yet. - MCM 6/20/26 Mid-afternoon sun spilled through a dirty window, cutting across the living room in long golden beams. Dust drifted lazily through the light. Teddy the cockroach made his way up a dusty work boot. The boot had been there longer than anyone could remember. So had the body beside it. The humans who once occupied the old house were long gone. Their furniture remained. Their toys remained. Their guns remained. Even some of the humans themselves remained, though mostly as bones and geography. T...
Post a Comment
Read more