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SammyD's Rants

The life and times of Sam Kurth. Rants, Cooking, eating, music, and whatever else he wants to talk about his life.


February 7, 2010

  • Chili
  • Smashed Tenderloin Sandwiches
  • Long Boy Cheese Burgers (p17 Cook's Country February/March 2010)
  • Stacked Chicken Enchiladas (RC Cook's Country February/March 2010)

Posted by SammyD at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)



Deviled Chicken (p14 Cook's Country February/March 2010)

These turned out well, the breading didn't want to stay on very well, but even so, it made for a good eating.

Pork Medallions with Chili-Maple Sauce

I really liked these. a little sweet, but good. It did give me an idea for sandwiches this next week.

Migas (Scrambled Eggs with Corn Tortillas) (Mother's Best: Comfort Food That Takes You Home Again from from Weeknight Kitchen with Lynne Rossetto Kasper

meh...it was ok...

Vodka And Tomato Pasta Sauce, (npr.org)

I was feeling a bit lazy, and didn't want to follow this recipe all the way though (and dirty up the blender and etc), so we made this rustic, and it was great. I didn't blend the sauce to make it smooth and I didn't cook it as long, but even so it turned out great.

Skillet Glazed Pork Chops (p20 Cook's Country February/March 2010)

After visiting the Boelman's at the hospital, we had been talking about tacos, and so we called an audible, dropped by Dahls, picked up some avocados, and a few other things for tacos and bam, had pork tacos. I flavored the pork with salt, pepper and chipotle pepper powder.

Country Captain Chicken (p13 Cook's Country February/March 2010)

I cannot explain how frustrated I was with myself when making this recipe, one stupid mistake. Turn the heat down, let simmer for a while...do I turn it down? No, do I think about it several times? No. I was able to rescue most of this, but even so, I'm a bit upset with myself. Other then the smell of burned food in my nose, which permeated the house, it tasted pretty good.

Posted by SammyD at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)



February 5, 2010

Early this morning, at 1:51 AM, Kellen Jakob Boelman, was born. He weighs 7lbs. 3oz. and is 20" long.

According to his father, mother is doing well to.

Congrats Val and Brandon!

Posted by SammyD at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)



January 31, 2010

Posted by SammyD at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)



Is it possible to make to many meatball based dishes in one week? Yes, yes it is. By the time that I made the Moroccan Beef Meatball Tagine on friday, I was getting a bit tired of making meat balls. Shannon helped make the meatballs for the Spaghetti, since I was running behind and needed to start making the sauce.

This week I also used many pots pans and dishes, so I kept falling further and further behind as the week went on. On Friday, which I took off, I ended up doing 4 loads of dishes before I was caught up.

Lentil Soup with Spicy Italian Sausage (p43 Bon Appétit January 2010)

This was very simple to make, with the spicy Graziano sausage it made for a good and filling meal.

Pork Meatball Banh Mi (p60 Bon Appétit January 2010)

The first meatball dish of the week. I uh...kept eating the meatballs as I was making the rest of the dinner. They were very good. But the dinner was too.

Spiced Chicken Breasts with Poblano and Bell Pepper Rajas (p45 Bon Appétit January 2010)

Whenever I have done something with poblano peppers it always reminds me of a smell that I haven't smelled for a while. Maybe it just trigger to me, but when Sean roasts them at the Farmer's Market or I've cooked them myself, It brings up that thought in my mind. Who knows, maybe it's just me.

Anyways I ended up slicing up the chicken and we had a few fajitas.

Spaghetti and Meatballs All'Amatriciana (p60 Bon Appétit January 2010)

I made this for movie night (we watched The Wild Bunch)Shannon helped me make the meat balls, and after having the first batch of meat balls kind of fall apart as I tried to turn them (the pot I was cooking is is fairly tall and narrow), I ended up putting the rest of them in the oven, while I cooked everything else. This actually turned out fairly well.

Other then being pressed for time, this turned out pretty well. I used a bottle of wine that we had gotten on our honeymoon at a demonstration we went to, since I was almost out of white wines and the only ones left were of the sweeter variety. So pasta, plus bread, white corn, and a simple spinach salad with a rice vinegar based dressing made for quite the feast.

Because of the way I made this, I thought that perhaps the meat combination would make a good hamburger. Bacon + onion, red pepper, etc all processed and mixed into ground chuck. I will probably be making this sometime later.

Moroccan Beef Meatball Tagine (p63 Bon Appétit January 2010)

This was good and tasty, but by this point in the week, I think we were both a little meatballed out. But it still turned out

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza (p15 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)

So I have kind of avoided making bread based things...There are two great bakeries within a fairly short distance from my house, so it's just never something that I have been dreadfully interested in trying. Plus there is sort of a mysticism to it, I suppose. There is so much mediocre bread out there, that you would think creating something halfway decent would be super hard...I think with my experience here, I think I can move forward a bit and expand bread making to the list of things I do from time to time.

So because I was worried about time, I starting making the dough for the pizza around 1:PM Saturday, it was probably a good thing, since we generally keep the house around 67°F, and because of the, lets say relatively poor insulation, it isn't that way from area to area. So I let the dough get extra time to rise (it didn't hurt that I spent the time playing Super Mario Bros Wii). All the parts were relatively simple and when it came down to it, this was relatively easy to do, just time consuming.

I adjusted the recipe, since it really was only a cheese pizza when I started. I layered the pizza with: dough, Pepperoni, mozzarella, pepperoni, mozzarella, pepperoni, sharp cheddar, sauce, and parmesan. It turned out quite well, and everyone seemed to enjoy it (we had invited Josh and Lindsay over). Of the two 9" pizzas we had about 1/2 of one left. I was quite happy with the way it turned out.

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza (p15 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)

Posted by SammyD at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)



January 24, 2010

Posted by SammyD at 3:44 PM | Comments (0)



I made some pancakes yesterday, since we were almost out of well everything in the house. I used the last of the milk, the rest of the cream from the Cacio e Pepe to make pancakes. Saturday afternoon I made some chocolate muffins (I thought they were a bit too dry, but people liked them) and some hummus for game night.

My younger brother Joseph (Ladies, he is single), came up and brought some chocolate bread (good and fantastic with peanut butter), and before Game Night started last night, we tried to go out to Baby Boomers, which according to their website, should've been open, but was not (I seriously hate that). So we ended up going to the relatively newly opened Open Sesame Lebanese Cafe (where Baby Boomers used to be), and I'm glad we did. The food was very good, so much so I'm interested in going again...soon.

Game night went well. Many games were played. Much fun was had.

Jalapeno Burgers

Took some jalapeno, cheddar cheese and onions, put them in some ground chuck and made a couple of patties. Oh so bad for you, but oh so good.

Goat Chops

I was a bit upset when I finally unwrapped these. I bought these at the last winter's farmers market and they were no where near a consistent shape or size. It was quite frustrating to come around to open it up and see a total hack job. On the other hand, the actual taste of it was pretty good. Just simply salted, cooked in a little olive oil. It had a nice taste...certainly different from say your standard fare, but good.

Cacio e Pepe (p24 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)

So few ingredients, I don't see how I messed this up. I ended up with big globs of melted Romano...it was depressing to say the least. Even so, it stated good.

Thai Chicken with Basil (p13 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)

Spicy! With extra building spiciness. A bit to much by the end for Shannon. She went up for extra milk to cool the fire. But it was simple and good.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice (p19 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)

How is it that the simple food from those lacking always turn out to be so good. This turned out fantastic. I'd love to make it again...

Posted by SammyD at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)



January 17, 2010

So from last week I suppose. I desperately need a fine mesh strainer. Orzo? Quinoa? The strainers that I have are made for items that are much bigger. I may even hike down to Kitchen Collage to get one.

I am noticing something about the tools that I have, most of which are made by Oxo. They seem to have a number of wash cycles they can go through, before they are, as it seems to me, designed to fall apart. So the glue that holds the handle on the tool just kinda gives up and then water starts getting in there and it gets gross. It seems less likely to happen from the "Steel Collection" ones that I have. Others, I have gotten in the habit of separating the two pieces and washing them separately so no water gets stuck inside the tool. I really don't think I should have to do this though.

  • Thai Chicken with Basil (p13 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)
  • Cajun Red Beans and Rice (p19 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)
  • Cacio e Pepe (p24 Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010)
  • Goat Chops
  • Jalapeno Burgers

Posted by SammyD at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)



Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

These were quite good, though I think the temperature they had the heat at was too high. I'd definitely make these again.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Feta, and Mint (Light & Healthy 2010: The Year's Best Recipes Lightened Up from Weeknight Kitchen with Lynne Rossetto Kasper)

I love olives...my wife, not so much. and even though I reduce the amount of olives in this, it was still a bit to much for Shannon. I still think it was good, though.

Everyone's Favorite Potato Soup with Bacon (Dollars to Donuts: Comfort Food and Kitchen Wisdom from Route 66's Landmark Rock Cafe from Weeknight Kitchen with Lynne Rossetto Kasper)

This was surprisingly easy to make, and cheap too. I added some more spices and what not, because the recipe said I could...but it was a good baseline for a recipe. I added some red pepper, corn, peas and that seemed to bring it up to something quite hearty.

Braised Tofu and Peas in Curried Coconut Milk (How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food from News from Kitchen Collage)

Though I followed the recipe, I really questioned it right off the bat. When it called to make sauce and then add spices too it, I was curious, since I though you were supposed to bloom the spice or make a paste...and boy did it show later. While I thought it was ok, the spice kick that should have been there in a curry was not there in the slightest. It was kind of frustrating. I kept adding more and more and yet it was all swallowed up by the mixture of tomatoes and onions. Also, Shannon doesn't like tofu. So I guess I'll be having this for the next week or so for lunch (whee!).

Roasted Quinoa with Potatoes and Cheese (How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food from News from Kitchen Collage)

Over all this dish was pretty good. But I think the quinoa was undercooked. I was a bit surprised at the directions considering how long I've cooked quinoa before. Though I thought it was filling and kept me full for quite a while.

Yucatan-Style Chicken, Lime, and Orzo Soup (Bon Appétit newsletter)

I loved this soup. Warm on a cold day, spicy to clear out your sinuses and simple to make. Shannon thought it was a bit too spicy. Even though I only used 1/2 of the jalapeno peppers it called for, I suppose I could have toned it down a bit more by cutting out the seeds and ribs of the pepper I used, but to me it was just right.

Posted by SammyD at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)



January 10, 2010

Along with the magazines I get several email newsletters, so I decided to start giving credit where credit is due. All but one of these are from recent newsletters.

Posted by SammyD at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)


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