MasterChef must wait . . .

Saturday . . . the weekend. But not.

Neomom's on night shift through the "weekend." And that means it's just us boys, left to our own devices . . . hmmmm.

It's 6:30 a.m. It's currently -17C, with a windchill of -26C (that's -15F for my friends down south). The streets are pretty clogged with what I believe is the biggest snowfall we've seen this winter. Weird for this part of the world.

The driveway needs shovelling, I need to bake some bread, I need to get a little shopping done. And I think I need to come up with something different for supper. Something I haven't made before. Something drawing inspiration from The Food Network. And something in which I can use a crapload of basil. My hydroponics are going crazy!

Basil aside, for a moment, I'm thinking I want to try messing around with wonton wrappers. Why? Cause they looked cool when someone made them on Iron Chef. And I haven't ever made them before.

So . . . recipes. On to allrecipes.com. Buffalo Wontons. We have a winner.

So, if I can get the manly minivan out of the driveway, and not stuck in the street, I can get everything I need on my shopping trip and then spend the day in the kitchen. Cream cheese, chicken, hot sauce, vinegar and, of course, wonton wrappers. If they have them. If not, I saw a recipe for them, but I'd prefer to take small steps and buy them this time.

As for the basil, I guess a salad is in order.

Okay, 9:30 a.m., shopping done. Change of plans. Now plan on making beef stock and using it to make braised short ribs for supper, assuming stock is done by then. Also cooking up a couple of chickens and may use the Buffalo Wontons as an appetizer. Should be YUMMY!

And now, it's 6:20 p.m. I have been working in the kitchen, it seems, almost all day. Preparing, planning, chopping, shredding, simmering and baking. Neomom's getting ready for work, without supper, and the kids will be having Kraft Dinner. I'm guessing I will not be the next challenger on Iron Chef. And I'll be holding off on my application to Master Chef.

Let's see . . . the stock I was making is still not done. Really needs to simmer for about 8 hours. Then it has to be strained. And then, when it's ready, it's still gonna take at least three hours to braise the short ribs. Bad, bad planning.

The two chickens I got were roasted in time for lunch. So we had some nice chicken salads and chicken sandwiches. The silver lining on a rather cloudy day. The leftovers were to be used for the aforementioned Buffalo Wontons. And they were. Cut with hot sauce, butter, cream cheese, mixed well and folded into the wonton wrappers.

Should have watched the YouTube video on how to wrap wontons BEFORE wrapping the wontons. Bad, bad planning. I ended up with a cookie sheet full of butter, cream cheese, hot sauce and some pretty flat looking wontons full of dry, cheese-flavoured chicken. Live and learn.

As far as I know, the stock should be okay and I'll take a run at those short ribs tomorrow. All in all, not one of my more successful culinary outings. 

Oh, and I still need to shovel that driveway . . . tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!