I Learned How To Make a Chicken Cutlet!

For my recipe review, I used a recipe for a chicken cutlet that my brother makes all the time. I am certainly not a chef. In fact, I think the closest I’ve ever come to “cooking” is making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or putting a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave. However, that changed for me today as I cooked a chicken cutlet, with instructions and recipe given to me from my brother, who makes this dish for us all the time. I wanted to learn to make this dish because I have had it before due to him cooking it for me (I pay him back by doing the dishes) and it is quite delicious. The recipe was not overly complicated. It included:

-1 chicken breast

-1 teaspoon of salt

-1 cup of flour

-1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

-1/2 teaspoon of paprika

-1 cup of milk

           

I was not overly worried or intimidated by any of the ingredients, other than slight fear of burning the chicken breast. I felt confident that I was going to produce a quality chicken cutlet. The first step included letting the chicken thaw. Then to place the flour and other ingredients on to the chicken before letting it cook on a pan. Before putting the chicken in the pan, I had to pound into the piece of chicken to flatten it out with a cooking tool that I don’t know the name of, but reminds me of a gavel a judge would use in a courtroom, to make it appear like a cutlet. I filled the pan with olive oil before placing the chicken on top of it. I was instructed to let the chicken cook for five minutes on one side before flipping it over and letting it cook for another five minutes on the other side.

           

The finished product looked similar to how it looks when my brother makes it. It looked crispy and very appetizing. I cut into the middle of it like they do on cooking shows to make sure it was fully cooked, and it was. It had the same smell of the cutlets I have eaten before that come from this recipe. I expected the flavor to be quite nice.

           

I tried my first bite of the first ever chicken cutlet I cooked myself. It tasted exactly like how it has tasted before. It’s a very delicious flavor, with plenty of juices and the flavors that come from the salt, pepper, and paprika blended together very nicely. I have not tasted a chicken dish similar to this at a restaurant or anywhere else other than at home, but it is good enough to be a dish in a restaurant in my opinion. Probably just need to add a side dish and it can be a meal at a restaurant. It is a sweet flavored chicken dish, that is crispy, but tender as well. I honestly would not have changed a thing about the dish.

          

  Certainly, I would make this recipe again. The entire process took approximately 40 minutes, as there is some time needed to let the chicken breast thaw. But it is a very makeable dish for anybody that would like to try this at home, and there are other ingredients that can be added such as garlic if that is something the cook would be interested in. However, I would not change this recipe, as this piece of chicken cutlet came out exactly how I enjoy it. If you want to try a new dish and have these ingredients at home, give this recipe for a chicken cutlet a try!

Quality Quiches for a Quality Breakfast

           Cooking is something I’ve been meaning to do more of for a while now. Considering the circumstances we’re all in, now’s as good a time as any to start trying my hand at making things on my own. And what better way to do it than making the most important meal of the day: Breakfast!

            When deciding on what to make, I just went with whatever I thought I would be craving. It didn’t have to be particularly healthy, but I wanted something flavorful and tasty. After some thinking, I finally decided on doing quiches! More specifically, I wanted to make mini quiches with swiss cheese since the recipe sounded good to make! Although, going into it, I won’t lie: I’ve never worked with pie dough before, so I knew that it would probably be my biggest challenge. Grating the cheese, measuring out things and whisking them together sounded like the easiest time for me. However, I should note a few things: I didn’t use any pimiento peppers since I had never heard of or seen them before, nor did I use any green onions because, honestly, I didn’t know we didn’t have any before making this dish. Anyway, let’s go ahead and dive into how to make this dish. For it you’ll need:

●      2 Pie Pastry rolls (I used store-brand stuff, you can use whatever you feel like)

●      2 Cups finely grated Swiss Cheese (They actually sell a block of the stuff at H.E.B!)

●      2 Eggs

●      ½ Cup Half-and-half cream

●      Salt (I just eyeballed it, about ¼ of a teaspoon)

●      A pinch of Cayenne pepper (Again, eyeballed it)

●      2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (I used the powdery Kraft kind)

First, set the oven to 375 degrees to pre-heat. While that’s going, take a mini muffin pan and spray it with non-stick spray. Next, roll the dough out until it’s relatively thin (but not too thin!). From there, you can use a cookie cutter or something similar to cut the dough into 2-inch rounds (I ended up using a wine glass).

Once the rounds are cut out, place them into the muffin pan and make sure they reach all the way to the bottom of the pan. Be careful not to tear the dough here!

After shredding your swiss cheese, place small amounts of it at the bottom of the pie crust, leaving enough room at the top. It usually just takes a small pinch.

In a medium bowl, whisk together your eggs, half-and-half cream, cayenne, salt and parmesan.

Fill the pie-crusts up with the egg mixture about a 1/4th of the way from the top, leaving some room for the quiche to puff a little bit. I used a regular spoon to pour the mixture in, and it gave just the right amount every time.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Give the quiches 3 minutes to cool before you serve!

As you can see with my attempt, the pie crust browned too fast and burned a little. This is because I actually rolled the dough out too thinly! It’s something to keep in mind for the next time I make this. The quiches, though, were nice! Very strong swiss-cheese flavor, the crust was flaky, the seasoning was good (not too salty and not spicy at all. If anything, the cayenne was probably added to wake up some of the flavors). However, I will admit that they were very one-note. They didn’t have a depth of flavor or anything, probably because I didn’t include the peppers or green onions. It’s something I’ll definitely have to try next time!

Adventures With Dragon Fruit

        

             The task of picking out a fruit or vegetable that I had never consumed before was a challenge, because I felt like I had tried basically every fruit and vegetable there is, but after taking a trip to my local H-E-B, I noticed an odd-looking fruit. What might be even more odd is the name for this weird fruit: dragon fruit. Why would they name this dragon fruit, I thought?  I have heard of dragon fruit before but cannot recall where. Maybe I have seen it on the menu in a salad dish or in a smoothie, but I cannot recall a time where I have actually tried a dragon fruit. So, I decided this was going to be the first time to sample this lesser known fruit.

            To give a little background to what dragon fruit is, the dragon fruit grows on the Hylocereus cactus that is mainly found in Mexico and Central America but is grown all over the world. I looked at a few reviews of the dragon fruits flavor, and most described the taste of it as sweet and delicate, with others even labeling the fruits flavor as “tropical.” The dragon fruit supposedly has little seeds, similar to a kiwi. I watched a short YouTube video to learn how to properly cut and eat a dragon fruit. Basically, you must cut the fruit in half, then cut each of the halves in half, and then from there when you have four pieces, peel the skin off the fruit. This was my plan going into tasting the dragon fruit for myself.

            I set out a cutting board and a knife in preparation to eating the dragon fruit. The dragon fruit skin certainly had a rubbery texture. I thought it would be difficult to cut the fruit due to its size and what appeared to be a thick layer of skin, but it was incredibly easy to cut.

The appearance inside was not what I expected. I really didn’t know what to expect the inside of a dragon fruit to look like, but I assumed it would be a similar red-ish color that the skin has. But no, the inside of the dragon fruit had a cream-like color will lots of small seeds in it. The texture of the inside, along with the appearance was remarkably similar to a kiwi. I was somewhat surprised by how strikingly similar the dragon fruit was to a kiwi, especially due to that the inside appears nothing like the outside of the dragon fruit, but I did expect it to be a similar texture to other fruits I’ve had before such as a kiwi, or a strawberry, or pear due to that it was deemed as sweet and tropical in reviews.

I cut the fruit into four separate pieces and peeled the skin off the piece I was going to consume first. The skin came off very easily, exactly like peeling a banana, and as stated before, it was a smooth cut. It was time for me to find out what the dragon fruit tastes like.

I ate a piece of the dragon fruit and must say that it was good and felt like eating a kiwi. It didn’t blow me away in a sense like “where has this been all my life,” but it was good, nonetheless. It was sweet but watery, not quite as sweet as a kiwi or most other fruits. I would compare its level of sweetness to a cantaloupe. The small seeds that are scattered throughout the fruit made the fruit feel crunchy when eating it, like eating a crunchy kiwi, if that makes sense. Overall, I am glad I finally got the chance to try a piece of dragon fruit. This fruit that is known as a dragon fruit due to its dragon-like appearance (this is debatable) may look complex and intense from the outside, but on the inside, it is sweet, tropical, and quite tasty.

The Great and Powerful... Dragon Fruit?

            Dragon fruit: A porcupine of a fruit, covered in spiny frills and a vibrant, dark-pink skin. It’s color and shape are something reminiscent of a video game collectable, drawing in the eye. A powerful sounding and looking fruit, but… is it powerful in flavor? This was something I set out to find out in this produce taste-test.

            After some quick research I found that dragon fruit is actually quite the versatile fruit, being able to be used raw or grilled. For the most part, though, the fruit is eaten raw either by itself or in smoothies. It also comes in different varieties: The usual pink-skinned, white fleshed type you’d potentially see in commercials, pink-skinned with magenta-colored flesh, or yellow-skinned with white flesh. For our test, I got the more generic brand of pink-skinned and white-fleshed. My plan for it was fairly simple: I was going to eat it raw and without anything else to get a taste of what the fruit itself had to offer. While making it into a smoothie would have been more interesting, I had never tried dragon fruit on its own, and wanted to experience it for myself.

            Preparing it was actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Taking a sharp kitchen knife, I simply cut it directly in half. Although the pink skin looked like it was going to be tough, it was actually fairly delicate and, strangely, almost rubbery in its feel. The knife slipped through easily enough, and I got a look at the flesh inside. It was almost like looking at cookies and cream ice cream, the white flesh of the fruit dotted with tiny black seeds. Luckily, you’re supposed to eat the fruit with the seeds in it, so that was no issue. Finally, I scooped out the fruit with a spoon. It was very similar to scooping out the flesh of an avocado, and, when I tried to scrape out some just off the top, it was like scooping out ice cream with how easy and smooth it was. All in all, I didn’t find any issues with preparing my fruit. With all the pieces set up, I took my first bite and… was somewhat underwhelmed.

 

            I had tried this fruit with my mom present, and she immediately dismissed the fruit as not having any flavor. For me, however, it had a very strange sweetness to it that I wasn’t expecting. It’s not a very in your face sort of fruit. Rather, it was just sweet enough that you felt it on the back of your tongue. I think that my opinion of this fruit was probably affected by other fruits I had eaten in my life, such as apples and bananas that are far more up front with their flavors. The texture, however, was amazing. It was creamy and almost silky to the point where I didn’t even have to chew. It wasn’t mushy like a banana, but smooth like ice cream on my tongue, with the little black seeds adding texture to it.

            All in all, I was surprised at the small amount of flavor the dragon fruit had, but was interested in the texture it had to offer. It might be something I try in a smoothie, since it’s supposed to be low on calories and high in vitamins, meaning it has a lot of health-uses! There’s even a recipe for a sorbe, which I feel like I have to try! Although, how that goes is for another blog.

What a Time With Key Lime!

Who doesn’t love some key-lime yogurt? Well, if you don’t love yourself some key-lime flavored yogurt, this blog may not be for you. But to those that do, I will give you an insight on a taste test I did of three different brands that produce key-lime flavored yogurt. The reason I decided to choose key-lime yogurt for my taste test was due to that it is easy to buy, easy to taste, and is my favorite flavor of yogurt.

My first step was to take a trip to my local HEB, which in the year 2020 is a lot more hectic experience than the usual trip to the grocery store. The HEB was packed and all were required to wear a mask. How busy the store was made me concerned that I might not be able to find three different brands of key-lime yogurt. Luckily, I did, and the three brands that I used for my taste test was Yoplait, Chobani, and the HEB store brand yogurt. To my surprise, the store brand was a tad more expensive than the Yoplait, and the Chobani yogurt was the most expensive of the three brands.

When it comes to conducting the taste test, I consumed two scoops of each brand of yogurt, taking a sip of water before consuming each scoop so my taste buds are reset to neutral, and I will be looking for what I taste as well as the texture of the yogurt. After taking a look at all three brands of yogurt, the appearance is similar, however, the Chobani looked a little more creamy out of the three whereas the Yoplait looked more like Jell-O rather than appearing creamy. The packaging for the Chobani and the HEB brand was similar, with the HEB brand being a little wider and containing a tad more yogurt than the Chobani, which differed from the Yoplait that was packaged different, appearing taller and more top-heavy than the other two brands that have wider packaging than the Yoplait key-lime yogurt.

I tried the HEB brand yogurt first. It was good, but a little bit bland in the fact that the key-lime flavoring didn’t quite pop out, tasting more like a lightly lime flavored Jell-o, even though it appeared less like Jell-o than the Yoplait. Don’t get me wrong, the HEB yogurt isn’t bad, but it was not overwhelming in flavor. Hard to explain, but the HEB yogurt doesn’t have you dying for seconds. 

The Yoplait I tried second, and it had more flavor than the HEB brand, but I would say it was a little too sugary. With key-lime yogurt, I am looking for a balance of sweet and tart flavorings, and the Yoplait definitely favored on the sweet side, tasting almost like if key-lime pudding was a thing, but had a more Jell-o like texture. It was not completely as thick as Jell-o, but it was the thickest in substance of the three brands, which I don’t think is bad, I just like my yogurt a tad more cream-like. If you are person who loves very sweet tasting yogurt, then Yoplait has to be your pick of the bunch.

Lastly, I tried the Chobani, which I had tried before and liked a lot, but I was trying not to remember that occasion and have a bias. However, I must say that I did like the Chobani the most because it did have that creamier texture I was looking for. It wasn’t too creamy, not as creamy as pudding, but it was not as much like Jell-o as the other two brands. The Chobani had a better balance of sweet and tart than the other two. It still favored sweet over tart like the other two, but that was ok with me because if I want sweet or tart to stand out more, I’m going with sweet. I would have to say that the Chobani did feel creamier, and sweeter, towards the end, almost like it was on purpose to make the texture softer at the bottom of the cup. I would have preferred it remaining the same texture throughout its packaging, but still have to say the Chobani was my favorite simply due to the flavor. The Chobani was a little more acidic and fruity tasting (lime tasting) than the other two, which I did like because it was not overly acidic. It was like a nice hint of acidity that made the yogurt stand out over the other two brands.

Overall, the Chobani was my favorite, due to simply having the best flavor, but I would consume any of the three brands again. Due to that I am a college student, I would probably buy the Yoplait to save a buck, but I would have to say that the Chobani was the best quality of the three brands, and that the higher price did equal higher quality. You really can’t go wrong with any of these three brands of yogurt however, and you can never go wrong for wanting to enjoy some quality key-lime yogurt!

Chicken Strip Showdown 2020!

           

 While out shopping with my mom, I continued to debate, wondering how I would go about this. I had already told her what this blog was going to be about, so, as we left the store, she threw an idea at me: “We can go to three different restaurants and try their chicken strips.” Now, I’m a fan of chicken strips, and have been since I was young. However, she also suggested going to three different places I had never tried before to prevent bias. And thus, we traveled around to three distinct chicken restaurants that focused only on serving chicken. We came upon three locations that had exactly what we were looking for: Slim Chickens, Golden Chick, and Church’s Fried Chicken.

(Left: Slim Chickens) (Center: Golden Chick) (Right: Church's Fried Chicken)

Now, I won’t call myself a chicken strip connoisseur, but chicken strips need to have three specific components to them to make them delicious. 1) Seasoning. If they aren’t seasoned well, then the chicken will just taste bland. 2) Crispiness. The chicken needs to be fried perfectly, with a nice, crunchy crust to accompany the chicken itself. Finally, 3) Juiciness. No one likes a dry piece of chicken, so chicken strips should be no different.

With the criteria set, the chicken strip showdown began! Who would win: Slim Chickens? Golden Chick? Or maybe even Church’s? When doing this, I drank water to wash away flavors before going to the next one. I didn’t use any sauces with the chicken. Thus, I went onto the battlefield and saw what each place had to offer.

Slim Chickens: On the outside, these chicken strips were the smallest in terms of size. However, they were actually speckled on the outside with pepper, showing that they had been seasoned in some way. Upon my first bite, I immediately knew that I had been correct. Although the chicken wasn’t all that crispy, it was bursting with flavor. They were salty and peppery, with the hint of a kick in the back of my throat. They were oozing juice from the first bite all the way down to the last one. With this being my first piece, the other places had a lot to live up to.

Golden Chick: The presentation of the chicken was what I imagined when thinking  “Chicken Strip:” Incredibly crispy, with a nice, crackled look to it. I was excited to take a bite out of it, but from the first bite I knew this one wasn’t going to be a winner. The chicken wasn’t very seasoned at all, instead everything focused on that crispiness. Not only that, but it was dry, almost a little like jerky. What was worst of all was the mouth feel afterwards: It almost felt like the chicken had left a greasy film over my mouth that was almost impossible to wash out with water. Definitely not in my top 5 for chicken.

 

Church’s: The chicken here was very similar to Golden Chick in terms of presentation. However, in terms of flavor and juiciness, churches took it from its other competitor. The flavor was salty, mingling with the grease of the chicken. The crunch was incredible, the crunchiest out of them all, and it had retained some of its juiciness from the frying process. Because of this, I feel that it took a nice, solid second place. As for first?

Overall, I feel that Slim Chickens won out over the other two places. Its flavor and juiciness were beyond comparison with them, even if the crust left me wanting for more of a crunch. However, I’d gladly give that crunch up for a flavorful piece of chicken like that! And their fries were pretty good too! But, then again, so were Church’s… Ah, but a fry showdown is for another blog!

Restaurants Re-Opening: Go to Nik's!

Since it was my birthday the other day, I decided to go out to eat with family at a local restaurant. This was the first time I had been to a restaurant since the Covid-19 pandemic, so I was eager to go out to eat and have a delicious and fulfilling meal. The place I went to was Nik’s Italian Kitchen and Bar, located in Austin, Texas. I had never been to the place but there were some good reviews about it online, and I was in the mood for some Italian food because it had been a while since I had a good Italian food meal.

The restaurant was not hard to find, just off 620 road in Austin. The restaurant is located near a shopping center, in a more residential area type shopping center rather than a downtown type location. The restaurant is not very big but has a dining section and a section for the bar. When entering the front door of the restaurant, it is visible that the dining section is to the left and the bar section is to the right, but it is all one room. The restaurant was dimly lit for the most part, with a little more lighting in the dining section than over by the bar. We got served quickly at a table in the dining area. The restaurant seemed a little short staffed, but it was not a big deal because the restaurant was not near full capacity, probably not even at half capacity. It also helped that along with the staff being quick all night, they made us feel welcome and taken care of. There were no problems with the orders the entire night.

I imagine the place was popping, especially on the weekends before the pandemic, but for now they are starting to see more business, but it is a slow process as people are gradually starting to eat out at restaurants again.

The menu featured a widespread of Italian cuisines, such as lasagna, linguini, chicken breast, alfredo, and other traditional pasta dishes, along with a few off the grill dishes, but what stood out on their menu and considered their signature dish is there “Texas sized” chicken parmesan. The chicken parmesan could be prepared three ways: traditional marinara, vodka sauce, and jalapeno lime. I decided to go with the vodka sauce chicken parmesan, and let me tell you, this thing really was the size of Texas. It was most certainly the largest chicken parmesan I had ever seen! There was some pasta beneath the chicken in an orange-y sauce that I am not sure what it was, but it was not marinara.

The chicken parmesan was delicious, and I really liked the vodka sauce that was on it as the flavors went together nicely. One of my family members got the marinara chicken parmesan, which I tried a small bite of. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty, but I was glad I chose the vodka sauce. Another family member got chicken alfredo, which they said they enjoyed. If I return to Nik’s, I would like to say I would switch my order up to try something new, but in reality, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist another chicken parm.

Overall, I enjoyed dining at Nik’s. The service was good, and the food was terrific as well. The lighting was dim, which some might like it brighter, but I didn’t mind it and didn’t even notice it after about a minute of being there. I would recommend someone to go to Nik’s, and would certainly recommend ordering the chicken parmesan with vodka sauce. It’s a lot of food but you’ll enjoy it!

Wild Goji's Wild Flavor

When my dad talked about this new place he wanted to try, I didn’t expect it to be in a strip mall. In fact, when me and my mom went out to get the food, we almost didn’t see it at first, save for the billboard we saw while driving up. A hidden gem of Castle Hills, located near Northstar Mall and the Hilton airport, Wild Goji served to be quite the experience in Asian cuisine.

           

Their menu had a variety of different dishes that caught my eye, from the gyoza to the authentic ramen and numerous sushi rolls. Though, a few things stood out for me immediately as I surfed through the list of food: The Stir-Fry Ramen, a combination of bacon, shrimp, chicken and calamari stir-fried with ginger, carrots, scallions and beansprouts, and the Wild Bao, a pork belly bao slider with pickles, red onions, plum sauce, and goji berries. At TLU, I tend to go to this Asian restaurant called A-Tan a lot with friends, and we always order ramen with sushi. I think that’s the reason why the stir-fry ramen stood out to me so much. As for the bao, I have to blame my dad for that one. I kept going on and on about how he wanted to try it out and how good it would be. But I digress: These were the two dishes I decided to get. For the rest of my family, we got the Jalapeno Beef fried rice, and my mom decided on a spider sushi roll.

           

Calling and ordering was a pretty easy thing to do. Although it took a while because of how busy the place was, the person on the other line was quick and to the point with asking what we wanted. When we actually drove up to Wild Goji, I called again to tell them that we had arrived. Not even a minute after calling, the food was delivered to us outside and we were good to go. The fast-paced service was really nice to see, since it meant we didn’t have to wait very long for our order.

           

When the time arrived to try the food, I dug right in. However, immediately I was somewhat disappointed by the stir-fry ramen. Although it smelled great, the flavor was dull and overwhelmingly sweet, with that being the main flavor from it. I was really expecting more savory, smokey flavors from it, considering it was a stir-fry. While the texture of the noodles, meats and vegetables were good, I really with the flavor would have been better to match their quality. When it came to the bao, though, I instantly fell in love. The texture of the fluffy, chewy bao bun with the succulent, almost melty texture of the pork was amazing. Coupled with the sweetness of the plum sauce and pickles, the bun had an incredible mix of flavors that made me crave another one! Sadly, they only served us one, which ended up costing $5. Still, it was an incredible appetizer on their menu, one that I wouldn’t mind getting again.

           

            Although the cost of the meal went up to $71 (including all other dishes the family got), I found the experience to be overall enjoyable! Next time, I might try to order some actual ramen instead of the stir-fry ramen. It was a very interesting take-out experience that I feel others might want to give a try as well! Hopefully one day I’ll go back to Wild Goji for a dine-in experience. When I’m 21. The place is also a bar, you know!