"Not Your Bubbie's Chicken Soup" : Chicken meals Pt. II

After eating your BBQ Chicken Nachos and putting away the leftovers (I suggest leaving them in whatever you cooked them in - no you won't get food poisoning) relax.

The next day or two take out your pot of leftovers. Skim off the layer of goop, don't be squeemish just do it. Throw that crap out. Now the rest that's left put it on the stove on a medium heat, when it starts to get warmed up add corn and a whole bunch of whatever the hell you want. Heat and eat. Whatever is left you can freeze, store for lunch, etc.

There you go, spicy chicken soup. It's kind of tortilla soup but not really. It's good.

I also suggest adding cilantro to the end result, as well as some more hotness.

Three meals from one (or two) chicken(s)? Tell me more!

Yes Virginia, you can get three (or more)meals from one (or more) chicken.

1. Spicy braised chicken.
2. BBQ Chicken Nachos.
3. Not your bubbie's chicken soup.

This is easy folks, and we all know I like easy. All you really need is:

• Chicken, either whole, quartered, boneless, frozen, whatever the hell you want. I would say about 2-3 lbs. If you don't want to screw around with bones just buy thighs, chop them up and there you go.
• 1 lg can of diced tomatoes or two small cans. Whatever.
• Two heaping tablespoons of my spice mix. Now available for order.
• 1 large onion, chopped.
• 1 bulb garlic, mashed cloves. I used to mash the cloves with the edge of my knife like the folks on the TV. Now I just smash them with my fist. My fists are then hammers with which to destroy the living dead and mosquitos.
• About 2 cups of chicken stock, I think that's a cans worth.

Put everything into one pot. Cover cook either in the oven at about 300 for a couple of hours (I'd say two or three) or on the stove top for awhile.

Take out all the chicken. Shred it or chop it or dice it whatever you feel like doing. I'm a shredded chicken fan. Keep about a third out and put the rest back in the pot. Leave the oven, you'll see why...

Now with the shredded chicken you have kept out:

• Place chicken in bowl - preferably one large enough to mix in.
• Pour a healthy amount of your favorite bbq sauce over the chicken.
• pour about a cup of the liquid the chicken cooked in to the bowl.
• Add some hot sauce or chili flakes if you want.
• Mix it up.
• Place tortilla chips on a pan. Add cheese and whatever you want. Now place the chicken on the chips. BBQ-Chicken nachos.

More to follow soon.

Yet another blog...

Mr. Joe R. Lansdale has himself a blog. This makes me very happy. Check it out and share in my happiness.

Saints Row 2 (2008) Second review

I have to admit that Zero Punctuation's review of Saints Row 2 made me go out and buy it.

I traded in Prototype and Dead Space for the simple reason that I got bored with those games and wanted something fun to play. Saints Row 2 is fun, fun the way GTA used to be. I am still a fan of the GTA series and will always be but something is missing these days. GTA is more like a crime sim (sort of - I still wish it was more empire building like Syndicate or SimCity) and SR2 brings back the psychotic mayhem that GTA III and GTA: VC were rife with. SR2 actually wants you to perform acts of total anarchy and builds side missions out of the premise. The "Fuzz" missions have you dress up as a cop and commit violence for the sake of the tagalong camera man. One mission was, "Break up a family dispute" and the camera man suggested I use a chainsaw for higher ratings. Well, gee...okay...run through a crowd with a chainsaw...if I have to I guess I will...

So far I have only played through two story missions but they were satisfying. I will post again if any spectacular missions appear.

Part II of review to appear very soon.

Watchmen (2009) Zach Snyder

I'm going to simply say that I did not enjoy the movie. I've never been a fan of the comic. I didn't enjoy Zach Snyder's 300.

Watchmen didn't click for me and now I can understand why reviewers are so split - almost 50/50. Rather than perform my usual snarky vivisection on Watchmen I'm gonna say you're either going to like it or you're not.

New blog for you folks to check out:

linguaphilia is a new site about words and stuff that Amanda and Colleen are working on. Looks to be pretty promising. Check it out. Fly monkeys fly.

Released information and date for the final Fallout 3 DLC.

Looks like the folks over at Bethesda Games just released some info about the fifth and final DLC for Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta. Release date for 360 is August 3, 2009. Woo!

Two long overdue reviews: Dead Space and Prototype

I apologize for being lax in my reviews lately. These are the two games I am currently playing; Dead Space and Prototype.



I had been relatively uninterested in Dead Space. I figured it was just another sci-fi survival horror game. In some respects it is just another sci-fi survival horror game. Limited resources, gribbly critters, and a situation that goes from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. In most respects - like those silly little things like story and plot development - Dead Space excels. I'm about half way through the game and though it is a fairly linear game I am really enjoying the story. Hell Dead Space is far superior to most Sci-Fi horror movies I see these days. Quite possibly that is because Warren Ellis worked on the project. That explains a lot.

Prototype is a solid game through and through. It's a sandbox game linked together with linear missions and a good story about evil government genetic projects gone horribly awry. The main character, Mercer, is a morally ambiguous type with a penchant for revenge. I think I'd actually call him a sociopath with little regard for anything except his sister and revenge.

The real draws of this game are the setting and the violence. Prototype takes place in a quarantined Manhattan. Plague has broken out, turning victims into raving, flesh eating loonies aka "the Infected". As the game progresses so does the extent of the plague. What starts as your standard hustle bustle NYC slowly becomes a madhouse filled with ravening monsters, beleagured military forces, and the general public screaming bloody murder and fleeing hither and yon. Every so often I have to wonder - shouldn't people just listen to the nice men in black helicopters and stay off the streets?

Violence in video games, blah, blah, blah...who cares? In Prototype Mercer himself is a bio-weapon, capable of creating blades, mauls, fleshy spiky ropes, and the like. He gains power and health from consuming the genetic code of others - human and infected alike. What's really fun is the wide array of ways to make people/enemies go squish. One of my favorites is the body surf, launch an arial attack then land on your target with enough force to surf on their corpse. I also enjoy the long range whip attack, reel in the target and then chuck them like a bowling ball. Prototype is a pretty bloody game so don't let the kiddies play this.

French trailer for "Inglourious Basterds"

Oh great, a new musical interest.

Just a quick question for you kind folks:

What do you know about traditional cooking music?

Hear me out. There are many songs for many tasks, from sea shanties to chain gangs to whistling while you dust the Dwarven commune, yet what are cooking songs? Are there songs specifically sung while cooking?

I assume there are but a cursory internet search brings up zilch. I did find some domestic work songs, one particular gem by Hattie Burleson. Ted Giola's Work Songs has some interesting points but nothing relating specifically to cooking songs. Hell, I have been unable to find any songs by or about bakers.

If anyone has any input please let me know.