Hot Damn, Dinner was Good!

One of my latest little obsessions has been cooking. More specifically, teaching myself how to cook like a normal human being. That means taking real, unprocessed food and turning it into something not only edible, but delicious as well. This has been going on for a while; I made a thanksgiving dinner for a large swath of family and they all ranted and raved about how everything was so delicious. Now, I'm not anywhere near a professional chef, in fact I'm still quite amateurish, but I keep trying and overall, I'm happy with the results thus far. Some of my successes that I can list off the top of my head include:

Baked Ziti
Beer-oni and Cheese,
Slow-Cooked Chili
Slow-Cooked Oatmeal
Green Beans Blanched and Sauteed with Garlic and Shallots
Beef Stroganoff
Roasted Asparagus with Chopped Almonds

These have all turned out pretty good, but I really enjoyed what I made tonight.

I stumbled across a simple looking recipe for something called Chicken Adobo. It didn't look like much. You basically take boneless, skinless chicken thighs and marinated them in a sauce that consists of rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, onion, crushed peppercorns, and bay leaves. Let the thighs soak for a couple of hours, then bring the whole thing to a boil for a spell then slowly reduce heat and let it simmer for about an hour. Serve it with rice and you have yourself a hell of a meal. The chicken was tender and tasted wonderful, and the sauce went with the rice perfectly.

For a side, I sauted some fresh mushrooms in olive oil, added some garlic, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper and a little kosher salt. Cooked them up for a few minutes then added some fresh baby spinach and cooked that down. This little dish was also very good and went perfectly with the chicken.

This was a fantastic little meal and is one more mark in the awesome column for old Smartguy; more proof that I'm one of the greatest human beings to ever live. This son-of-a-bitch can cook, y'all.