Journal

2013 - Week 24 Cooking Results

Capellini Capricciosi

So when I was making this, I got the impression that the angel hair pasta wasn't enough so I added some (quarter to a third pound) of leftover fettuccine.  After I dumped the capellini into the pasta sauce, I knew I was mistaken, but it was to late, the fettuccine was already in the pot cooking.  Even so, this was actually a really good and simple combination.

Italian Sausage (Crooked Gap), Leeks, and tomato Spaghetti

This turned out great.  A simple combination of mostly local ingredients.  It made for a quick tasty meal.

Ricotta Omelets (p44 Bon Appetit June 2013)

Yeah I didn't want to go out in the rain or the wet ground to harvest chives and basil, so I had an egg sandwich (with some of the leftover sliders meat) and Shannon had leftover pasta. 

Crooked Gap Bratwurst

nom nom nom

Bombay Sliders with Garlic Curry Sauce

These turned out really good.  The combination of the meat mixture and the sauce made for a delicious dinner.  I added a bit of Adelegger  (Bavarian Mountain Cheese) to make it a truly global meal.  Nice meal.

Keema Matar  (vaguely following)

I don't remember what brought this about, I think I was listening to the Splendid Table and they talked about it, or one of the other food shows I listen to, but I googled about and found that recipe and though hey that sounds good.  I admit, I didn't have minced mutton, but I did have some ground lamb, and it ended up tasting pretty good.  I added more peas, less meat, and used the spices I had on hand.  It came out pretty good.  It probably would've worked on Pitas as well, kind of like the mustard greens for last week.  I will be making this again at some point.

 

2013 - Week 24 Cooking

This past week I had the opportunity to see both They Might be Giants and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band live for the first time.  On the TMBG side, I got the privilege of a Flood show (in reverse) , on the PHJB (doesn't work as well), I got to see some really good live jazz.  I was happy to go to both.

 

2013 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Indian-Style Mustard Greens with spiced ground pork on Naan or Pita

So I halved this recipe, and then had to half it again as I pour out the greens and I did it to fast and a good chunk of them ended up in the sink and not in the strainer.  I was a bit frustrated, but rolled with it.  The combination with this and the madrass curry powder infused pork topped with a bit of yogurt, was a good meal.  Spicy, but not to so, and a nice mouth full of flavors to ponder on.

Seared Mahi Mahi sandwiches

The fish was still a bit cold, but I was set and moving forward with the fish sandwiches   I made a quick tarter like sauce, and about that quick the dinner was done.  Two more portions of fish to go, next time around must pay better attention where the fish is coming from and be a good customer.  The fish was, perhaps a little over, probably because it started out cold, but still was ok.

Big Fork Maple & Brown Sugar bacon sausages

pretty good, eaten. 

Pork Chops (Crooked Gap)  with mashed potatoes and chives (I want to get the mashed potatoes right)

After the, I'm still dwelling on them, sub-par mashed potatoes, I was truly happy with the combination of sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper that made these mashed potatoes truly fantastic.  The chives were cut from the plant on the side of the house less then an hour before they were eaten.  Good stuffs.  Very happy.  I have no idea what the ratios were because I just do it until it feels right and the potatoes were just right too.

The pork chop was very good too.  I timed it better, allowing me enough time to make the mashed potatoes, while the pork chops finished in the oven.

Grass Fed Beef Burgers (Coyote Run Farms)

Simple, made before Joseph and I headed over to see They Might Be Giants .  I added salt and pepper to the beef before I put them in the pan, and it added a nice flavor to it. I served this with Adrahan, which turned out quite well.

Random Chicken Pieces Tacos (a couple of deboned thighs, bone in thighs, and bone in chicken breast)

So when I say random, I mean truly random.  The bone in thighs were already salted and peppered, the chicken breast and the boneless thighs were not.  It was odd to cook, taking the temperature more frequently then I normally would as I slowly took out pieces as the finished.  The boneless thighs were done first and the rest finished about the same time.  After taking the chicken off the bones, normal taco toppings proceeded.

So normal has grown to include Milton Creamery's Quark, which I cannot recommend enough.  Thanks again to Brett at the Cheese Shop for the recommendation.

Take a little time, Save Cleverley Family Farm

Larry & Beth are a couple of welcoming people that have taken many foodies into their arms and on to their farm and supply a wonderful local product to both the Downtown Farmer's Market and many local restaurants.

It was with much shock that I heard that IDOT was planning on changing an intersection so much that it would boot all of the Cleverley's off the farms.

Certainly there are other options that can be tried first before millions of dollars are spent and land is seized.

Take a moment, sign the Change.org  petition, send some comments to the IDOT.

2013 - Week 23 Cooking

  • Indian-Style Mustard Greens with spiced ground pork on Naan or Pita
  • Seared Mahi Mahi sandwiches
  • Big Fork Maple & Brown Sugar bacon sausages
  • Pork Chops (Crooked Gap) with mashed potatoes and chives (I want to get the mashed potatoes right)
  • Grass Fed Beef Burgers (Coyote Run Farms)
  • Random Chicken Pieces Tacos (a couple of deboned thighs, bone in thighs, and bone in chicken breast)

2013 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Grilled Meatloaf Burgers (RC Cook's Country June / July 2013)

So uh, reading is hard, an clearly I didn't do it.  Cause when I combined all the ingredients and went to look back, I end up needing to top it with a sauce which I had already combined with all the meats.  So...It became sloppy Joe's   I used most of the remaining BBQ sauce that Joseph had made and they turned out pretty good.  Though we didn't have enough bread left in the house.

Chicken Divan (p27 Cook's Country June / July 2013)

This took a bit longer then I thought to make, even when I had prepped everything first.  It did, however, end up tasting really good.  Especially since ended up being a combination of chicken and broccoli, basically.  Since broccoli isn't the most popular ingredient in this house, and we both liked it, the sauce that went with it tied everything together and made it quite tasty.

Open Face Brie, Apple and Arugula Sandwiches

Simple, good and fast.  La Mie ciabatta and some Henri Huton Belletoile Brie (70%).  The Brie had a bit of extra funk, but not to much, so it made for a nice balanced sandwich.

Fettuccine with Sausage and Kale

I made this real quick, before I headed off to the Cheese Shop's Gypsy Beer & Cheese class.  So I made dinner, ate, and then left it warming for Shannon when she got home (she had no desire to sample beers).  It was pretty good.  I used Red Russian Kale from Cleverly Farms.

Open Face Bacon and Egg sandwiches with Arugula

Another simple sandwich, the issue here was I thought I had more bacon (unfrozen) then I did.  So one of them got ham on them.  I've made this before, I'll make it again, though I'll cook or use less of the shallots.

Meat Audit

So sometimes I don't remember what's in my freezer, so I figured I'd do an audit so I could reference it.

Not Pictured:  whole stewing chicken, whole roasting chicken.