The Summer Bankroll Challenge – Southern Hemisphere Edition continues on. When I last left you, I was at about $190+ up only about $20 from my starting roll of $172. I’ve since made a tiny amount of additional profit, inching past $200. At least it’s progress in the right direction.
I had intended to play at a new venue last night, the Comedy Club, after Alceste was able to arrange an invite. Sadly, though, I was too tired (read: lazy) to play, especially after I arrived home to wifey Kim and six buttermilk soaked chicken cutlets nearing their expiration date.
The buttermilk soaked chicken did not work out that well, and I’d be glad to take any tips out there from the poker cooking blogging community, or as I like to call it the PoCoBoCo. Ok, I don’t really call it that. But I should.
So, PoCoBoCos, here is the deal. I had some thin sliced chicken cutlets. Ideally, I just wanted to make a good grilled chicken that could be used for all sorts of dishes (tossed with salad, sliced with pasta, eaten on its own or as part of a sandwich). The night before, I noticed I had some leftover buttermilk, so I basically used it as a marinade or brine (I’m not too familiar with brines, other than knowing the concept vaguely), along with some dried, fresh cracked Italian seasonings. I let the buttermilk soak in overnight, and the next evening, I drained the buttermilk, got rid of most of the excess, and cooked four of the six cutlets on the George Foreman Grill. Mine has an adjustable temperature, so I started at 350 for about 5 minutes, but the chicken ended up very pale. I was hoping for grill marks and maybe some nice browning on the exterior, but instead, I had a pale milky-white cutlet that was ironically pretty dry. I tried to increase the temperature to 400 for the grill marks, but by then, the chicken was already DOA.
In hindsight, the soaked-up buttermilk probably poached the chicken in the Foreman. The Foreman itself was likely a mistake. I should’ve used the grill section of my stovetop griddle.
Here is my simple request: Can anyone give me some tips or a recipe on how to make simple grilled chicken?
And for what it’s worth, I took the last two cutlets, covered them in breadcrumbs and fried them up over olive oil. They came out just fine.
Back to poker. With the $400 O8 event coming up in AC in two weekends, I’ve been thinking a lot about the game. For the record, O8 = LO8 = Omaha Eight or Better = Omaha H/L = Omaha Hi/Lo. It seems that each time I mention the game, I use a different moniker. For that, my apologies.
I played a 9-person LO8 SNG last night on PokerStars to practice. It was a Turbo, so it isn’t exactly perfect for the type of patience I will need in AC, but it was my best opportunity to practice tournament OE. I ended up in 2nd, so at least that went well.
I plan to hit up more LO8 SNGs before the big event. I also hope to play some live cash LO8 next Wednesday at the Tuna Club. The goal is to be in prime fighting condition come next weekend.
My main concern, though, is that O8 and most limit games are not really ideal for tournaments. If I get an unlucky streak later in the tournament, that’s all that is really needed to be knocked out. Then again, I guess the same is true for any tournament.
I guess, then, my REAL main concern is to get confident. If I enter the tournament with doubts, I will play like I have doubts. No doubt about that.
Until next time, make mine poker!
January 13th, 2010 - 8:13 pm
Okay, now I’m confused. I always thought of OE as O-8 / Stud-8 (think of HORSE minus the HRS).
Anyway, GL to you in your “limit you get four cards and then there is a flop, turn and river (maybe) where sometimes there are split pots if there are three cards 8 or lower on the board” tournament ”
January 13th, 2010 - 8:13 pm
Ah, cooking, one of my strong suits.
First off, the buttermilk marinade is just going to taste bland without any lemon juice or zest, some garlic (even garlic salt) or something to spice it up – and I generally don’t leave it overnight, especially with a cutlet..an hour or two should usually do with something so thin.
George Foreman, while cornering the market in grill-land, doesn’t do the same job as a simple grill pan ont he stove…I find you get a better “char-grilled” look there.
I do two things for chicken, breaded and non-breaded. I’ll often marinade for various things for a few hours(teriyaki, soy, bbq, just depends) that morning and then get it out at dinner. I season it with salt, pepper and maybe some other things depending on what I’ve marinated it with(rosemary, oregano, etc…both sides)And rub it in there. I then usually decide on whether it will be breaded or not…if it is, I’ll take an egg white or two , douse it in that, then roll in flour or bread crumbs(or both). Non-breaded, I still usually dust it with flour anyway. Then, I spray my trusty grill pan with olive oil spray, and on to the grill. Thin cutlets usually will go 4-5 minutes, each side, a little more if you want those grill marks to show. Bam!
Anyway, hope that’s helpful. As for AC, if I do some deals this week I will at least see you down there, to enter that Saturday satellite, and maybe longer if I do two deals.
January 13th, 2010 - 9:23 pm
Good catch, CK. The edit has been made. It’s amazing how I can sometimes type faster than I think. Good luck in your own O8 tourney. Bicoastal ass kickin’ yall!
Jeff, thanks for the tips. I’ll give them a try. I hope it works out for you and AC.
January 14th, 2010 - 10:24 am
Yah, a couple tbsp of citrus would help, or vinegar, or a dijon mustard even. Plus – salt. It doesn’t have to be much, but salt is a flavour enhancer, and a pinch or two will make a big difference.
BTW – a brine is a highly concentrated salt solution, a marinade is just a flavoured liquid. So you marinated.
Also, the Foreman should work, but you need to START high and end low if you want grill marks. Chicken doesn’t need a high temp to cook, or very long (especially on a Foreman), but if you want marks, preheat the grill to a higher temp, thrown on the chicken, and immediately lower it to a low temp (350 or less). A little oil or butter on the chicken first should help too. Alternately, you could add sugar or honey to the marinade to help caramelize it, but that would dramatically change the taste. The issue with this method is that cutlets are so thin, that you could easily overcook them. A breast would be better suited.
The reason a stove-top grill works better is because it tends to be more seasoned. Foremans are non-stick, which is great for cleaning, but terrible for things like grill marks, richer flavour, etc.. I do almost all my grilling either on a BBQ or a cast iron grill pan. The foreman is for paninis and as a backup for when my grill pan is already being used.
And as with all meats, you want to bring it up to around room temp before cooking to insure evenness. With chicken, you don’t want to leave it out for an hour beforehand, but cutlets should come up to room temp in around 20 minutes (out of the marinade). The other beauty of something like grilling is that if you undercook the cutlets, you can toss ‘em back on But it’s really hard to undercook cutlets, as they’re pretty thin. A few (2-4?) minutes on a double-sided grill like the Foreman should suffice.
January 14th, 2010 - 11:01 am
I agree that a boneless skinless breast would be better than the cutlets. You can cover in wax paper or plastic wrap and pound the breasts flat for a more uniform thickness. This also increases the surface area of the chicken that will be in contact with the cooking surface or oil, if fried. I would only soak the chicken in milk if I were going to bread and fry it. For grilling, marinade the chicken in wishbone or something similar. Marinading then pan frying would also be a good option. Last, forget the foreman thing, get an iron skillet.
January 14th, 2010 - 7:40 pm
If you’re afraid of drying the chicken out, DON’T USE BREASTS. Skinless white meat is always dry on direct heat. You can usually pick up a nice little package of skinless thighs for very little money. Rinse them off and pat dry. Then drizzle some olive oil (creates a crust/seal to keep in the meat juices) and sprinkle liberally with seasoning (I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, but garlic powder or even some cayenne would work too). Throw on a medium hot grill. Turn it over after just a minute or so on both sides, then leave to get full grill marks. Use tongs, not a fork to keep the juices in. I make a dozen thighs for my family of four, and there is usually one or two left over for chopping and adding to salad the next day.