Experimenting in the Kitchen / myLot

Otis Orchards, Washington

March 12, 2016 3:09pm CST

Do you like to experiment in the kitchen? When I was about twelve years old I was told I could try anything I wanted to in the kitchen. The only catch was whatever I cooked up I had to eat. Most of the things I made turned out just fine. But I did mix up some doozies. And I don’t mean good doozies! The one thing this did was kill any fear I had about experimenting in the kitchen. Experimenting teaches a person which ingredients go together and which ones do not. In other words you wouldn’t put black pepper on chocolate cake. (Well, I don’t know–I’ve never tried it.) Late night I had chicken thighs to cook. I didn’t feel like using some of my old ways of cooking it. I’ve make what I call quick chicken cacciatore. (Put chicken in a baking pan and pour my favorite vegetarian spaghetti sauce over it and bake it.) Or my panko bread recipe. (Take panko bread crumbs and add some spices and herbs, dip the chicken in egg whites, cover with the panko and bake.) Sometimes I just bake or fry the chicken with seasonings on it. None of that cranked my crank. I had to cook the thighs before they got too old. I had taken them out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator the day before. So I put the chicken in a baking pan and stood there staring at it. Then I realized it wasn’t going to cook that way. I noticed the honey setting there in it’s little bear container. I grabbed it and squeeze honey over the chicken. I cover the chicken with foil and was about to put it in the oven when I remember I had some leftover canned pineapple in the refrigerator. I uncovered the chicken and poured the pineapple, juice and all, over it. Then I thought it needed something more. I grabbed cinnamon and sprinkled that over the chicken. Then I covered it and baked it. The chicken turned out quite well. The pineapple juice had soaked into the chicken giving it a taste of pineapple. The honey added a bit more sweetness to it and the cinnamon just gave it a touch of cinnamon flavor. So now this recipe is going to go into my portfolio of recipes I keep in my brain. Over time I may think of something else to add to it. Do you ever “whip up” something to eat just by experimenting?

8 people like this

8 responses

much2say

@much2say (57760)

• Los Angeles, California

13 Mar 16

I do chicken tenders with the panko!

Hubby is better at experimenting more than me - he used to cook up his own snacks growing up. I tend to get recipes - and possibly tweak them - and when I'm familiar with recipes I might do offshoots of them, especially if I don't have all the ingredients. That chicken a la @RichardMeister of yours sounds good! I was thinking too that soy sauce and minced green onion would go with that too (but without the cinnamon) - though the cinnamon sounds really yummy!!

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Richard L. Meister Jr.

@RichardMeister (5328)

• Otis Orchards, Washington

13 Mar 16

Do you add any spices to your panko? The first time I used it I didn't add anything to it and I thought it tasted pretty good. But the next time I fixed it I thought it was a bit flat so after that I started adding spices. I have no soy sauce or green onions in the house but that does sound good.

1 person likes this

much2say

@much2say (57760)

• Los Angeles, California

13 Mar 16

@RichardMeister First I dip the chicken pieces in a flour mixture. Flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Then dip that into beaten egg. Then coat that with panko. I feel if I put spices in the panko, the spices will get lost at the bottom of the plate.

Oshy

@TiarasOceanView (70020)

• United States

12 Mar 16

Man I love the way you cook Richard!! That chicken sounds so tasty and you just cooked it on the spot, without pre planning like that. You are awesome!!! Sometimes I do do that as well. I just throw into what I have into what i am cooking.

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Richard L. Meister Jr.

@RichardMeister (5328)

• Otis Orchards, Washington

13 Mar 16

Thank you. I've done a lot of "on the spot" cooking.

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Oshy

@TiarasOceanView (70020)

• United States

13 Mar 16

@RichardMeister It is the only way usually that I cook.

Vicki, #1 Creek Girl

@1creekgirl (44560)

• United States

15 Mar 16

I love to take a recipe and "improve" it a little. Unfortunately, it's not always for the best! PS Your honey pineapple chicken sounds divine.

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Richard L. Meister Jr.

@RichardMeister (5328)

• Otis Orchards, Washington

15 Mar 16

Yes, occasionally an "improvement" turns out to be no improvement at all. The "pineapple chicken" was pretty good. Unfortunately, I can't give you any measurements because it was like–I'll pour some honey on here, I'll just use all the leftover pineapple, now just sprinkle some cinnamon on it. The only thing I can tell you that was somewhat exact was I cooked 4 chicken thighs.

1 person likes this