I’ll be honest – I have A LOT of dumb people posting stupid shit on my Instagram. Whether it be, “this pasta isn’t real Italian food”, to “this looks disgusting”, to “u ugly” (LOL honey, come on now)… I mostly end up laughing and writing them back with something unamusingly nasty. What actually DOES piss me off is when people have the audacity to say things about the food I cook for my boyfriend like, “Why can’t he cook his own food?”
#1- He has a girlfriend who actually likes to cook. Sorry you can’t get one of those for yourself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
#2- Just facts, but I can cook way better than him. No fault on his part; I don’t think he’d ask me to change a car tire like I wouldn’t ask him to cook Coq Au Vin.
#3- He doesn’t need me to cook him food. He could easily Seamless or pick up a cooked meal on his way home. I’d prefer to prevent this, since I know this money could be saved for other things such as myself for example. So, in that sense, I’m doing it selfishly and I don’t even care.
Ok end rant.
I’m a master at 30 minute meals (I’m lookin’ at you Rachael Ray). But the only difference is that mine doesn’t require a full 30 minutes of concentration. I’m gonna call these 30-10 min. meals, as only 10 minutes are needed for prep and the 30 is for the total.
I’ve usually done this with Kielbasa in the past, but they were mad expensive that day at the grocery store. These all-chicken dogs were on sale for $2 a pack at my local spot, so I bought 2 packs. Feel free to use only one – I just know that I’m feeding a hungry meat-eater.
Whether you choose to cook with a fancier sausage such as Kielbasa, or you opt for the cheaper “dog” version, I can’t stress this enough – Pan sear your meat! Cut your meat on the bias (more searing area per sq inch), and turn that frying pan on high. You really do want the meat to barely stick to the pan and leave some type of fond (brown bits).
Once browned on both sides, remove the meat completely. If there is any residual fat, definitely keep it – that’s ideally what you would want. If you used cheap chicken dogs like myself, unfortunately the lean meat won’t leave much besides a little fond. I had to use a splash of oil in the pan before dropping in the onions, but if you already have have some fat you’re all good. Cook the chopped onion and garlic on medium heat until they’re slightly translucent – about 5 minutes. The onions will pick up some of the cooked flavors of the meat, but not all of it. The next step will definitely pick up anything remaining.
Mushrooms secrete so much liquid when cooking that they’re perfect for picking up fond, or anything stuck to the pan for that matter (which is flavor!). I forewent using any wine/beer with this recipe because I knew the mushrooms would pick up every flavor that we needed.
Once the mushrooms are slightly darkened, remove them as well. I put all the meat/onion/mushroom mixture in a Tupperware that I knew I’d use for storing the final dish anyway because I’m lazy like that. To the cleaned out pot, add just a little bit of oil to toast the rice for about 30 seconds. Then cook your choice of rice per the directions and have yourself a glass of wine. The best part is that whatever rice you chose, it will pick up some of the flavors from the meat/mushroom/onion mixture.
Once the rice is cooked, mix in all the ingredients set aside previously. Taste it and see if it needs anything. I personally always add garlic powder, dried herbs, chilis, and pepper (no salt for us, but you go ahead if you want). Garnish with greens if you’re taking a photo for Instagram, and enjoy!
—INGREDIENTS–
- 2 packs of chicken hot dogs (or Kielbasa)
- 1 onion
- few cloves of garlic
- 8 oz mushrooms
- 1.5 cups of rice of your choice
- Any cooking oil
- Seasonings of your choice – salt, pepper, dried parsley, dried oregano, chilis, garlic powder
—DIRECTIONS—
- Cut your hot dogs/cooked sausage on the biased so you can get more searing surface – I’d say about less than half an inch thick. Chop the onion, garlic, and mushrooms as you wish and set to the side.
- Put oil in a pot on medium high and drop in the dogs once oil is hot. Sear each side of the dogs for about a few minutes. Wait until the meat no longer sticks to the pan, and you see a dark sear when flipped over. Once both sides are cooked, remove meat from pot and set to the side.
- Lower the heat to medium and check if there’s residual fat left over. If not, add a little bit of oil and drop in the chopped onions. Stir them around until slightly transluscent, about 5 minutes. Try to pick up the dark bits with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the chopped garlic and cook for just a few minutes more.
- In the same pot with the onions, add the chopped mushrooms and let them secrete enough liquid to pick up the remaining dark bits. Once mushrooms are slightly dark and tender, and there’s not much left stuck to the pot, remove everything to the same container with the hot dogs.
- Add just a little bit of oil to the pot and add the dry rice to toast slightly for about 30 seconds on high. Turn down and cook rice per the instructions (I used brown rice here so it was a little longer than white rice).
- Once cooked, add dry seasonings and the onion/garlic/mushroom/hot dog mixture and serve.
—AMOUNT—
Makes about 6 smaller servings, or 4 large servings.
taleitalei 