so is anyone else doing the McD's Monopoly thing? Apparently you can get 10 free codes a day without even buying anything. So far I've won: Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich x 3 Apple Pie or Small Fries x 6 Small McCafe, Frappe, Shake or Smoothie x 4 4pc Chicken McNuggets or Snack Wrap x 2 Double Cheeseburger or McChicken x 4 Small Fries or Vanilla Cone x 1 All free. I don't even really eat McDonald's but if I did I could eat for free the rest of the month. It's just fun to win stuff
request the codes via this site: Alternate Method of Entry || Get Started You can enter up to 5 times a day, which gives you 10 codes. So you'll need to do the form 5 times. It's pretty simple - enter your email - use the code in the email to verify - then fill out a quick form and request the code. They'll send the codes within a few hours. You enter those in the 'Add Code' Monopoly section of the app and that's it! And with every code added you get a bonus roll which is where I won most of the food
Not the most gourmet shit (and I always fail at plating), but I made some bone in skin on chicken thighs (normally get boneless skinless) and I for once got the perfect crispy skin. I used the 'cold' stainless steel pan method. Heavily salted in advance, and then into a cold pan - skin side down, turn up to medium low (I have a gas stove and I was right in the middle of low and medium) and DO NOT TOUCH for 15 minutes. After that flip, cook the other side a little (like 2 minutes) and finish in the oven (400 degrees - I think I did 15 minutes). No oil, butter etc. Just slowly render the fat and it magically releases when ready and nice and crispy. Some of the best chicken I've made. EDIT - I used the onion butter seasoning on the meat side right before I flipped. Incredibly good stuff.
I used cast iron forever (and still do for some things) but I've recently gotten into using stainless steel pans and they are finnicky so it's been a journey to get stuff to not stick so this was a huge success for me. It just took patience and trusting the process. I think I was off on the oven time (can't remember exactly how long I did) but I just used a thermometer anyway. I go higher on chicken thighs than 165 as I like the meat to 'tighten up' a little and find pulling it at the minimum safe temp (like I do on breasts) is an unpleasant mushy / slimy texture. I tend to overcook thighs by temperature, but for taste, they are always still juicy. These were over 170 when I pulled them, and I wouldn't doubt if they got to 180+ when resting.
Your chicken looks perfect! That's a great way to get crispy skin. Another method I've used is to preheat the pan until it's very hot and then put the protein in the pan and put it right into a 450-500 degree oven, by the time the bird is cooked, the skin will be very nice and crispy. I think your plate looks very nice. Sometimes it is tough to make a plate with distinctly separate elements come together, but perhaps playing a little bit with layering the components to build some height might go a long way. Just an unsolicited thought, but I hope it's helpful!
Thanks! Yea, I'm going to work on plating as I have more time to cook with a new work schedule and I feel that's what I want to improve on. The first step was getting nice plates. They're just from ikea, but I got the blue plates I used here and some green shallow dishes, and they both make everything look so much better instantly. Unfortunately an oven that hot would smoke out my apt! The oil splatters, causes smoke, and well, apartment living. I gave up on pretty much any recipe that requires 450 if it's not like a pizza or a completely covered dish. Always seems to smoke, even if it's an appropriate oil. It's why I don't like roasting whole chickens too often as the best recipes are high temp and it's a struggle with the smoke alarm. The other thing I hate about apt living is no easy grill access! Jealous of all the grilled food that gets posted here. Now it's winter, there will be less posts for me to sulk about.
Huh that's weird I've never had my oven smoke out my apartment, but definitely have using the stove. Cooking a steak is a nightmare in my place lol
oh yeah well I won a free small McFlurry or two cookies from McDonald's today so I'm doing the best at this