More than halfway through the semester, the cuisine of the dining halls has become a mundane and sad reminder of the good food we left over winter break. In the residential halls, it’s hard to even make Break-N-Bake cookies with the small kitchens provided to on-campus students. Let’s change this: Good food is for everyone, even college students. Using a Food Network recipe, a bag of pre-made salad, a small purchase from Safeway and a paring knife, class up your next dinner using a basic kitchen and enjoy home-cooked goodness without spending a fortune.
Menu: Chicken with marmalade, salad and a dessert parfait Purchase: Chicken, salt, pepper, canola oil, tangerines, sparkling juice Tools from the dorm: aluminum, paring knife, old copy of The State Press
Dinner
Chicken may seem rather ordinary and remind you more of a boring wedding reception than a modern dinner party. However, it's easy to cook and hard to mess up.
Roasted Chicken Breast with Marmalade Ingredients: 2-5 chicken breasts (skin on), salt, pepper, two to three tablespoons canola oil, 12-16 ounces of orange marmalade (see next recipe)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Run the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. In a large sauté pan over high heat, add the oil. Once heated, place the chicken into the pan. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and place another heavy pan on top. Cook the chicken until the skin is golden brown, about five to eight minutes, and then flip and cook until cooked through, about five to eight more minutes. Serve with the marmalade.
Homemade Quick Orange Marmalade Ingredients: five oranges or tangerines, half cup honey, salt, pepper and two teaspoons vanilla extract
Place the oranges on a flat surface and slice a few thin rounds from both ends—most of the pits are in the center, avoid. Measure the honey directly into a skillet over low heat until it melts. Add the oranges rounds and bring the mix to a boil. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Add the juice of the lemon and the vanilla. Stir to blend. Cook for an additional two minutes and then transfer to a bowl to cool. Add over chicken.
Salad The salad is simple: purchase a pre-made bag when you go shopping. Add dressing if you so choose. Classy doesn’t always have to be hard or take up time.
Dessert To round out this classy meal, grab your paring knife. To do a variation on the parfait, purchase strawberries, blackberries and/or raspberries — whichever you find the most delicious! Cut up the fruit if necessary. In a cup, alternate levels of fruit, whipped cream and/or cake for a delicious (and slightly nutritious) dessert.
Ambiance Before you dig in the classy meal you made without the help of mom’s magic touch, some ambiance must be created. In order to eliminate some costs, let’s work with what’s around us. Grab the old issues of The State Press (make sure to read them first) because we’re reverting back to elementary school for newspaper flowers.
- Open the issue and cut in half so you could still read it.
- Roll one strip to form a tube about one and half inch in diameter. Just before you come to the end of the strip, add a second strip (look for overlapping ends) and continue rolling. Add another piece if you like.
- Tape the end of the newspaper in the middle so the tube won't come unrolled and for a marker to cut to.
- Insert one point of the scissors into the tube you have made. Make five to eight cuts from the top of the roll to about halfway though the roll. Gently pull up gently on the innermost layer of one of the cut strips. The flower will start to appear; don't pull too hard otherwise your work will be for nothing.
