Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 10:55 AM Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 10:15 AM It was a nice combination of flavors, though I think I probably should have chopped the mushrooms a bit smaller, to keep with the similar size of the rice. But it tasted very good. It took a while to make, as risotto tends to do, but it was a nice process. Using the mushroom rehydrating water in combination with the chicken stock made for extended flavor.
Dried Porcini Mushroom Risotto with Goat Cheese
This was a fairly complicated way to make make and cheese. It used a lot of pans and at some point I diverted from the recipe and just followed my own way. I did like the separation method of creating the semi-roux (cream is mostly fat, right?), by taking a cup or so of the warm cream and then putting it in a separate dish to combine with the flour. This made it easier, I think. Then combining it back to make the sauce thicker. I liked that. It is much easier to whisk in a bowl then it is a straight sided pan.
The problem I had with this recipe (other then the cost, 10oz of goat cheese) was the size. 1.5 pounds of noodles, while good, generates a whole lot of mac & cheese, which is fine, but doesn't work well for most pans. I'd reduce it by a third, if I were to to make these again.
The taste was good, we both enjoyed it, but this would be a more of a special occasion type of thing, rather then a common thing.
Three Cheese Mac and Cheese
This was simple, quick and I skipped the part about gravy, cause...well...I wasn't going to buy or make gravy just for this and also the idea of adding gravy, didn't make sense to me. So I added some table sauce instead (spicy), which worked.
After a mild to warm week, we had a dip in temperate for the day, so I decided this would be a good day to make this. It turned out pretty well. Came together quickly and easily and anything that finishes off with a semi-runny fried egg on top will probably go over well for me. Though I suppose it could use a bit more spice in the building and perhaps a bit of heat.
Rice and Beans with Fried Eggs
Delayed until next week.
I fried the sauerkraut in bacon fat...it was good. Anyways enjoyable meal.
Pork Burgers with Sauerkraut and Gruyère
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 10:58 AM Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 10:01 AM Good, as always.
Meh. For how it was presented vs how it actually was...Meh.
So we were out of bread, and I though, hey I could go to La Mie and pick up something. I made a lunch run to La Mie (after I finished my sack lunch) and they had this mini-baguette, which was perfect for this sandwich. And let me say that this turned out incredibly well. These were very tasty, combining the bread Cajun chicken sausage, onions (I had to cook the onions faster, I don't think I could've gotten away the long slow cooking). I used emmenthaler, instead of the one called for, because I was cleaning out my cheese (and I had some already). I would make these again, maybe next time with a nice Gruyère (or similar style)
Caramelized Onion, Gruyère, and Sausage Panini
I know I added to much pepper. It was still good, but a bit too spicy. And not so good heated up the next day.
Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper
Meet up with the Mediocre Superheroes guys (Taka, Brandon, Casey, Jason and Ed)? Sorry Risotto, you'll have to wait. Delayed for next week.
This was the last of the Pork Jowl bacon. It turned out pretty good, but again, the same reservation apply to the Pork Jowl Bacon.
Pork Jowl & Feta Frittata
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:55 AM 
Beef, Jowl Bacon, on whole grain toast.
Frittata with leftovers (pork, beef, etc)
Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:54 AM Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 9:57 AM No pictures today, or at least no pictures until later when I get my desk and computer back up and running.
It's good to have Crooked Gap back at the market, so I went a bit overboard on my pork. I allowed myself double of my new normal farmer's market budget (normal: $60). Their bratwursts are pretty good
I added a little spring onion and spring garlic to pork and the fried it in a pan. I don't remember what cheese I used, but I've been collecting many left over cheeses, so I have been doing my best to whittle them down. It was good, I missed good fresh pork.
So the Jowl bacon, doesn't come in the long strips, it had a nice smoky taste, like their normal bacon, did crisp up, but didn't have that crisp tender that you get out of bacon from the pork belly. It was good, and could easily be used to top things, or as a flavoring, but it doesn't render that much fat off, so if one was hoping save the fat, or add the fat to the burger or something like that, it is a lot harder to do. Anyways, combined w/ the beef (pretty good) you end up with a pretty good burger.
So I had leftover ground pork and beef, and less time and was a bit tired (first day of painting) so I used them instead of the bacon. I started with the ground pork and beef, then after there was some fat in there, added some sliced spring onions, and then the eggs. It came together pretty quickly and tasted pretty good, though I cooked it a bit to long, maybe an extra minute or two when finishing it in the oven. Still pretty good.
So I can't remember the whole article but it did talk about Sous-vide which is inappropriate when describing the method used to cook the chicken. It turned out pretty good, but no better (and harder) then buying a roast chicken. The chicken came out tender, but the herbs were starting to turn so I winged it, usually the base recipe (mayo, Dijon, lemon juice), used some dried herbs a bit of spice for some heat some pickle relish and it came together pretty well. The rosemary country Italian loaf that we served it on? That was pretty good to, though I was disheartened to only be able to use the edges since it was still quite doughy in the middle (from South Union).
I made this before heading out on the town with Josh. The big problem here, was, again, that the Jowl Bacon didn't render off enough fat to create a sauce for the spaghetti. Even so it turned out ok.
Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 9:32 AM So I did some reorganization in my kitchen yesterday, moving things to be more visiable, moving several baking items from way above the sink (hard to open cupboard without worrying about something falling on me), to a lower, but far more accessible then they were. Moving bowls from where the oil and vinegar was, to where they are next to the counter, and while not as visible, better for placement (their order is relatively the same). Then I finally reordered the cupboard, which was driving me insane, so that the things that are used by Shannon (who is shorter then me) to the lower corners (vitamins, soups, etc) and lowering the shelf so that it's high enough to hold the short things, but low enough to only allow one level of things. Some cans are not really designed to be stacked anymore (rounded bottom to fit w/ lipped top). So while doing this, I found that I had double of many things, and triple of both dried shitakes and vanilla.
The squeezable honey container doesn't appear to have sealed very well nor had the Karo syrup (cleaned area, dumped products). Luckily I still have half a jar of honey from Blue Gate and farmer's market is back in season (several convenient honey vendors). I hope this new organization works out, I am liking how they look now, but have yet to really use it in practice (last night's dinner was using things that didn't really move).
Farmers' Market started up yesterday. It felt good to see and talk to my Farmers' Market friends. I upped my budget to $60 / week this year (after I moved it down to $50 last year). It's a tough limitation to follow because even with the double that for the first market ($120) I still had to limit myself. The Market was crowded even at Just after 7:AM when I showed up and got worse by the time I left (around 9:AM). Usually with the early rise, you are able to beat the crowd and get what you need. There usually a bit of churn to market vendors, some people sell there stuff, decided it's not worth it to come back, or whatever marks their decision (there were a few that I've spoken to where it wasmonetary). And then a few that just decide to go wholesale or whatever. I was depressed to find out that it doesn't appear as if Grinnell Heritage Farm will be at the market (converting most of their business to a CSA, I assume). I will miss them (especially their carrots). It's good to be back, and being able to get things again. I got some salad greens, restocked my jams, got some more honey for work (tea), eggs, feta, robiola, chevre, ground pork and beef, and Jowl Bacon (oooh...new). I just rearranged some stuff in the fridge and touch the paper package around the bacon and it left it's smokiness on my hands through the paper (the other bacon from Crooked Gap is like that too).
This week will be pretty simple, we've got a few things going on and painting (our bedroom) at the end of the week.
Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 7:53 AM I couldn't find a decent small, but sturdy leafy green last week, so it worked out for the best when I found, last Sunday, a nice package of 4 young small sturdy leafy greens in the store. Which made this a bit easier to make. It turned out pretty well, but we've had similar things in the past and they have turned out well too.
Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps
So after deep cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen for the majority of the day on Saturday, I had forgotten to add the pork to a marinade, so I figured I could riff it. So I cut the pork tenderloin fairly thin, added salt, pepper and 5 spice powder, seared it on each side, then added what was left of a bottle of Chili Garlic Sauce, a few dashes of fish sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. It tasted pretty good, and vaguely like a less salty version of a McRib, or at least what I remember what a McRib tastes like (I don't remember the last time I had one, it's has to have been half a decade at least). We both liked it and on the
This is my first, I think, experience with Kimchi. They have these jars of it in one section of the store that look like they're about ready to explode, and reading the label, it certainly sounded like it would when I opened it. It didn't, but it did de-stress the bottle quite a bit after the air pressure was removed from it. It certainly has a pungent aroma. So instead of taking the time to chop everything up nice, I food processed it gently, then combined it with the pork. and then made the patties as the recipe called for. I really liked this the spiced pork flavor on the inside and the light crunch on the outside.
Crunchy Pork Kimchi Burgers
Instead of frying these, I baked them. the idea of going through that much oil again, just kind of disturbed me. So I brushed the tortillas with oil and baked them. They ended up like a slightly crisp enchilada and it was good. Though the corn tortillas that I was using did not want to be wrapped. Even though they had been in the warm kitchen (mid 80˚'s) for a good 30-40 minutes, most of them tore at least to some extent, some quite a bit. It was frustrating. After backing them at 350˚ for 15 minutes I put it up to 400˚ for another 5 minutes. I dressed them up a bit with some salsa and sour cream.
So we both had in our mind something other then this. Even Shannon called it out to be what it is more like (a goulash). Though now that I look around at other places, it clearly is what it is supposed to be. I added a bit more red pepper flakes then the recipie called for, and it turned out pretty well. Considering there still leftovers, it clearly did not make the favorite list of either of us (though I did make it on Friday, so I probably would've taken it to work if I made it earlier in the week). I added an extra dash of hot sauce on my plate, which added enough heat to make me happy.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 10:34 PM As I mentioned on the twitter, I crossed 20,000 photos in my library I started taking pictures (not with my own camera) on 10/5/1999 (I think this may have been a scan). This was on the way to an mp3.com event with Brandon's band.
mp3.com band trip stop at Arby's (ED in the foreground, Bob in the background, I don't remember who the others are)
Then I bought my own camera, here is the first saved picture off of a Kodak DC280 From 11/11/1999.
Casey in Jason's Basement at band Practice.So then a lot of time passed, the camera got older and more crappy , but I had a hard time justifying the purchase of a new one. Eventually I did. On 10/15/2005 I took my first picture with a Cannon Powershot SD550. Quite the jump from the 2 mega pixel Kodak to the 7.1 mega pixel SD550.
George (the cat) playing with window blind strings in the dining room.So on 2/16/2007, the lens retraction mechanism on the SD550 stopped working. This was a problem. We were at Dan's Wedding and some time during the rehersal dinner, ths unfocused mess was taken. We took 5714 pictures before it needed repair.
Place setting at Cantina Loredo, I think?We ran off to Fry's on 2/18/2007 and picked up a Cannon Powershot SD800 IS. First picture, through the window of the hotel we were staying at, of the courtyard.
Courtyard of...uh...some hotel in Texas.
We did send the SD550 for repair and it allows us both to take pictures with our cameras now. They both are showing their age and I kind of want something better. Even if we only get a newer pocket camera, I'd also like a DSLR. A new camera has added into the mix. After much debate, my place of employment decided my logic was correct and allowed me to get an iPhone 4. So the first picture off of that, was...well...
Freyja and Loki in our basement on their kitty tower.That was from 6/9/2011. We've also added iPads to the mix earlier this year, but really, that not that convenient of a camera. So at this time we have the new iPad (mine), an iPad 2 (Shannon's), iPhone 4, SD800 IS, SD550 and I actually thing the DC280 still works. And the winner is:
20,000th Photo. At work, new cube, cup handed out at All Hands meeting (sent to Brandon) (iPhone 4)
So 20,000 photos over 4,592 days, 136.81 GB in my iPhoto library. I know some have more, some have less, but it's still quite an accomplishment.
Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 12:30 AM Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 12:22 AM Why did I add bacon? Well I was slicing the pepperoni and thought that I wouldn't have enough and starting frying bacon. After I assembled the pizza... I did have enough but I also had bacon. So what could I do? It was pretty good.
Pepperoni and Bacon Pizza
So I learned something. I don't really like radicchio by itself. We both don't. When I had it for lunch, mixed with some local greens, it was quite a bit better (certainly less bitter). I had intended to half the recipe and apparently forgot leaving a whole lot of left over salad.
White Bean and Tuna Salad with RadicchioAfter spending a surprising amount of time at the district 3 convention (almost 12 hours), I brought home food instead.
I used the current mushroom strategy (food process into small pieces) and this turned out very good. Though if I am going to spend the time making risotto, I really want to have leftovers, or at least feed a few more people. I had to replace the lemon juice with balsamic vinegar because I misplaced or used the lemon. But with the great vinegar and the actual Parmesan, worth making.
Risotto Primavera
These were pretty good. Not great but we both ate them.
So while I was making this I couldn't help but to think of the not so famous (but oh so dirty) song with kielbasa sausage in the lyrics. It kept me smiling while making it. Most of the recipe card items are pretty easy to do, this one included. It was quick to make and another way to make a creamy sauce for mac and cheese. I added more spice then the recipe called for and it turned out very well. We both liked it and both had it for lunch the next day.
Skillet Kielbasa Macaroni and Cheese
Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 1:34 PM Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:28 AM So I swapped out raisins for currents (probably not the best choice) because I have these currents and need to use them. Shannon ended up not liking the sweeter currents, I thought it was ok. So I guess this didn't get a fair shake.
This was pretty quick, turned out well and we both liked it. Not to mention the fact that in this and many other things this week, I had some arugula that I've been thinking about since mid-winter.
So I swapped the call for meat around and uses thicker ham and thiner turkey. Making a bit of sauce and toasting it up compressing it. Quite good.
Grilled Turkey Cuban Sandwiches
Toasted, and then cheese melted, then added some La Quercia pancetta and an egg in the middle, and put some of that beautiful arugula in there. As you can see with the yolk running out, it was a bit of a mess to eat, but very good.
Grilled Cheese and Fried Eggs Sandwiches
Took some beef, put some Sriracha in there, then on top when it was done. It was easy, but added a lot of flavor and heat. I liked it.
Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 2:56 PM