My Tenders Are Burnin'

Someone once told me, "if you can follow directions, you can cook." Either I don't know how to follow directions or I'm an ignoramus chef. I'm going to assume the latter is true for the sake of my ego. To prove it, I plan to cook 3 meals each week and document my experience right here - on the interbloggernets.

I will be rating each recipe on 3 categories: easiness, messiness, and tastiness. The goal is to make up my own recipes, but I will probably need to borrow some from trusted sources. Feel free to send me your recipes and tips!

My first "experimental meal" is below. Sorry I didn't take pics this time around - unfortunately, I decided to blog about cooking AFTER I cooked (dangit!). Next time gadget, next time...

Enjoy!

My Tenders Are Burnin'

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣

1 pound of free range chicken breast tenders

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

pinch of salt

cooking spray (I used butter flavored, but any oil spray will do)

1 tablespoon mayo

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more if you like it super spicy)

Adjust your oven so that the top shelf is 6 inches from the top and preheat oven to broil.

Cut chicken tenders 1/4 of an inch in the middle (semipro tip: a butter knife won't cut it).

Mix cumin, chili powder and salt in a bowl. Don't make this a complicated task - equal parts cumin and chili power with a little salt. Rub spices into chicken, making sure you get into the slits.

Spray cooking oil on a baking sheet (preferably a shallow sheet, like a cookie sheet with raised edges). Line up your tenders on a baking sheet and spray cooking oil over the top.

Slide your tenders in the oven for 15 minutes. Rotate them about once every 5 minutes (semipro tip: if it smells like they are burning, they are).

Mix mayo and sriracha sauce together and dip the tenders. Yummmmmy in the tummy.

Synch Savory Zucchini

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣

3 garlic cloves (minced or finely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 zucchini (1/4 inch slices)

1/2 teaspoon savory (this is a real spice)

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

pinch of salt

Heat oil in medium saute pan (thanks wikipedia) and add garlic. Give the garlic a chance to flavor the oil - about 2-3 minutes.

Add zucchini to pan and stir around. Add savory, rosemary, and salt and stir around some more. They key to stirring vegetables: stir, wait 1-2 min, stir some more.

Zucchini usually takes about 8 min to finish cooking. You will know it's done when the outsides are a nice golden color, without being transparent. If you have transparent zucchini, start over - you've over-cooked those suckers!