Coon cheese

Hot days! Roast chicken drumsticks and cheesy rice

Posted by Gary

Hot days in Canberra.

We’ve had daily maximum temperatures exceeding 35 °C for the last few days. It’s also been very dry with humidity mostly under 20%. Hot and dry is awful. I much prefer warm and moist. I’ve been running a humidifier in my living room to try to keep my skin from cracking. I really don’t like hot days. 

Keeping hot

So what do you do on a hot night? Turn on the often and roast some chicken drumsticks!

I didn’t have much choice. I’d bought three chicken drumsticks on Saturday morning and I didn’t like keeping them too long in the refrigerator.

I thought I would cook them on a bed of quinoa rice and use some asparagus and broccoli I had. For a little colour, I used up some cherry tomatoes and red chillies. I stuck it all together with some grated Coon cheese.

Ingredients

Three (3) Chicken drumsticks

Red quinoa and brown rice—1 packet

Gorgonzola cheese—2 tablespoons crumbled

Feta cheese—2 tablespoons crumbled

Coon cheese—1 small handful grated

Asparagus spears—small bundle cut coarsely

Broccolini—small bundle cut coarsely

Two (2) red chillies—sliced

Chilli flakes—1 teaspoon

How did I make this magnificent creation?

Cook the microwave red quinoa and brown rice according to the packet instructions.

In a large mixing bowl add the quinoa rice, three raw chicken drumsticks, a good slosh of olive oil, the Coon cheese, asparagus spears, broccoli, chilli flakes and curry powder.

Mix with oiled hands, separate out the chicken drumsticks and then form a mound in an oven-proof frying pan

Place the chicken drumsticks on top of the mound

Place the frying pan into an oven at 150 °C (300 °F) for 45 minutes

At 45 minutes remove the frying pan and crumble over the top the Gorgonzola and feta cheese

Put back into the oven for 5 minutes

Remove from the oven and plate up

Picture perfect!

Well, not quite. I should have done something to avoid the shadow in the top left of the bowl. Click here for a larger version to see the detail.

Hot days. Hot hot hump day dinner. Roasted chicken drumsticks on spicy crispy cheesy quinoa rice. Gary Lum
Hot hot hump day dinner. Roasted chicken drumsticks on spicy crispy cheesy quinoa rice.

How did it taste?

The rice was crunchy and cheesy. The chicken was nicely cooked. It was pretty filling. The Gorgonzola cheese really added a distinctive flavour too. 👍👍

How to make a yummy cheeseburger

Posted by Gary
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
How to make a yummy cheeseburger
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It’s not a difficult thing to make a cheeseburger but I just wanted to share how I did it.

This wasn’t the most elaborate burger, it didn’t have the essential ingredients of an Australian burger which included slices of beetroot and a ring of pineapple plus a fried egg and some bacon.
Suffice to say, this burger was mainly about putting some beef mince (ground meat) and cheese together on a hamburger bread roll.

What you need to make the Yummy Lummy cheeseburger

  • 500 grams of regular mince (ground beef). I avoid the really lean mince because it lacks flavour
  • Two eggs. Whisked and hand mixed into the mince
  • Mixed dried herbs mixed into the mince
  • Chilli flakes mixed into the mince
  • Coarsely ground black pepper mixed into the mince
  • 1 teaspoon of freshly ground sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
  • Finely cut red chillies and jalapeñño peppers mixed into the mince
  • A good splash of Worcestershire sauce
  • Grated Coon cheese
  • Butter
  • Hamburger bread roll
  • Spinach leaves

What you need to do to make the Yummy Lummy cheeseburger

  1. Mix together the mince, eggs, dried herbs, chilli flakes, red chillies, jalapeñño peppers, pepper, salt and sugar
  2. Make patties about 90 millimetres in diameter and 2 centimetres high
  3. Cook the meat in a frying pan
  4. Put together the buttered bread roll with the cheese, spinach and meat
  5. Add a good squirt of tomato sauce and inhale that sucker
Yummy Lummy cheeseburger #dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon Gary Lum
Yummy Lummy cheeseburger
#dinner #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon

How did it taste?

Fantastic. It was lovely and spicy and cheesy.

Final words

Do you like making your own burgers from mince meat (ground beef)? Let me know what you think.

7 steps to make delicious chicken thighs

Posted by Gary

Thanks for visiting. Please check out the rest of Yummy Lummy. I’d love it if you shared this site with your friends.

While my favourite cut of chicken is the Maryland, when that piece is not available the next best thing is a thigh with the skin still attached. For reasons that escape me, Coles has started calling chicken thighs, chicken cutlets. Bizarre if you ask me.

In terms of basic cooking, you can’t beat a simple oven roast at 180 °C for between 50 and 60 minutes depending on size, number and how closely spaced the thighs are in your baking tray.

My preferred method though for cooking chicken thighs in the oven is to ensure a crunchy skin and to have something with some extra crunch to accompany the chicken meat.

For me the bestest tastiest chicken thighs are those cooked with cheese and on a piece of bread. If done well you end up with a really crispy cheesy skin and a nice tasting piece of toast.

Step 1

You can use any type of bread really although I probably wouldn’t use a sweet bread like raisin toast. I also wouldn’t use a flat bread or unleavened bread. In fact if you have a stale loaf and you can cut it yourself a thicker than normal slice is best.

There’s no need for butter because the fat and juices from the chicken will be absorbed by the bread and the melting cheese will give it a richness you can’t beat.

Roast chicken thigh preparation

Steps 2 and 3

I use Coon grated cheese on the bread and then lay the chicken on top.

Roast chicken thigh preparation Roast chicken thigh preparation

Step 4

On top of the chicken I use slices of cheese. I recommend a cheese that melts nicely. I like Swiss cheese and Colby cheese. Gruyere would also be good.

Roast chicken thigh preparation

Steps 5, 6, and 7Roast chicken thigh preparation Roast chicken thigh preparation Roast chicken thigh preparation

 

On the cheese I like some freshly cracked black pepper and some chilli flakes and a little sea salt.

If you do this right you end up with tender moist chicken flesh, crispy skin and some lovely toast which will hold all manner of vegetables accompaniments.

Roast cheesy chicken thighs on crunchy cheesy bread with potato gems
Roast cheesy chicken thighs on crunchy cheesy bread with potato gems

If you try this please let me know and tell me what you think.

Thanks for visiting. Please check out the rest of Yummy Lummy. I’d love it if you shared this site with your friends.

The Courtney burger

Posted by Gary

Last week I posted about The Courtney, aka a chicken schnitzel with Hollandaise sauce. Tonight I made The Courtney burger! This delicious burger is simply a chicken thigh schnitzel fried in butter and served with Hollandaise sauce on a hamburger bread roll. I’ve added some raw onion and iceberg lettuce for crunch. The bread roll has also been lightly toasted to add a crunchy mouth feel.

The Courtney burger
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Chicken thigh schnitzel
  • Hollandaise sauce
  • Burger bread roll
  • Tasty Coon cheese slices
  • Iceberg lettuce
  • White onion
  • Pepper
  • Butter
  • Tomato
Instructions
  1. Cook the chicken thigh schnitzel in grapeseed oil and butter
  2. Toast the bread roll
  3. Slice the tomato
  4. Slice a white onion
  5. Break off some iceberg lettuce leaves
  6. Build the burger
  7. Some butter
  8. Some cheese
  9. Some onion
  10. Some lettuce
  11. Tomato
  12. The schnitzel
  13. The Hollandaise sauce
  14. Shoot some photographs
  15. Eat The Courtney Burger
  16. Wash the dishes
  17. Write the recipes
  18. Blog (verb)

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Earlier in the day I enjoyed a smoked salmon and cream cheese poppy seed bagel.

Smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill and capers on a poppyseed bagel for lunch
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill and capers on a poppyseed bagel for lunch
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill and capers on a poppyseed bagel for lunch
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill and capers on a poppyseed bagel for lunch

Would you make a Courtney burger?

Quick cheesy noodles recipe

Posted by Gary

Happy hump day! I wasn’t sure what I was going to cook but I knew I had to finish off the leftover roast beef and potato from the weekend. As I was driving home and listening to Trevor Long’s Your Tech Life podcast and it came to me. Cheesy noodles. I haven’t made cheesy noodles for ages.

Cheesy noodles with beef and potato
Cheesy noodles with beef and potato
Quick cheesy noodles recipe
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Meal for one
Ingredients
  • Leftover roast beef and potato
  • Maggi® 2 minute noodles
  • Parsley
  • Red chili
  • Pouring cream
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Butter
  • Grapeseed oil
  • Tasty Coon cheese
Instructions
  1. Finely dice about 100 g of leftover roast beef
  2. Finely dice a leftover roast potato
  3. Pour two cups of boiling water over the raw noodles and after 2 minutes add the meat and potato and mix slowly
  4. Grate about 100 g of tasty Coon cheese and add to the mixture
  5. Melt some butter in some grapeseed oil in a hot frying pan
  6. Add the noodles, meat, potato and cheese to the drying pan and allow to get a little sticky
  7. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and pouring cream
  8. Add the parsley
  9. Cook until it’s the way you like it. I like it to get a little sticky so it has some crunch
  10. Plate up and garnish with red chili pepper
  11. Shoot a photograph
  12. Inhale the meal while watching MKR because I was so hungry and it tasted so good
  13. Wash the dishes
  14. Write recipe
  15. Blog (verb)
 

 

Grated tasty Coon cheese
Grated tasty Coon cheese
Finely diced leftover roast beef and potato
Finely diced leftover roast beef and potato
Maggi® 2 minute noodles
Maggi® 2 minute noodles
Cheesy noodles with beef and potato
Cheesy noodles with beef and potato
Cheesy noodles with beef and potato
Cheesy noodles with beef and potato

Do you like cheesy noodles? What do you add to your cheesy noodles?

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