Journal

2014 - Week 21 Cooking Results

Grilled Cheddar Cheese w/ Chevre, Bacon and Pickled Jalapenos

Added bacon.  Much better with bacon.  I did think about adding the Acorn Prosciutto, that I had meant to take to Cedar Rapids in our last trip, but forgot.  I used the thick cut bacon from Ethan / Story City.  It worked out really well.

Orange Chicken with Scallions

Less burny, more tasty, though I think I do need a 12" non-stick pan (have a 8", 10" in nonstick and an 8", 10" (2), and 12" in normal).  It would be handy to have, but 12" pans (good ones) are often expensive.  Maybe I'll add it to the list of things I need.  Anyways, good stuffs.

Black Bean and Pepper Jack Burgers

I really need to make a run down to All Spice.  I'm almost out of salt, a number of my spices are nearing empty.  I had to swap out cumin for cayenne (not a bad swap, but still).  I mean I suppose I could've ground the cumin seed I had.  Maybe it's time for a kitchen deep clean and purge.

Anyways.  These turned out well.  I remember how much I like this recipe, but I think Shannon maybe right, in a couple of weeks a side by side?  We'll see.

Southwestern Layered Beef Casserole

Ehhh...not really worth the effort.  Not bad, pretty good actually, but just to much of a mess and too many steps for what it turned into.

Sirloin Burgers Au Poivre

Not bad, not bad at all.  Lots of extra sauce (halved the meat for us two, but had the sauce at the same level).  Pretty easy to put together.  I did swap things around so I could use the oven for fries instead of cooking the burger, but even so...

2014 - Week 20 Cooking Results

Pancakes!

Delayed!  Forgot about this weekend.

Scrambled Eggs and Ramps

I wasn't as big of a fan of this.  Maybe I used to many ramps...I probably did.  Anyways, I'll probably have to wait for next year since the ramps are gone from the market.

Spaghetti with Ramps

Simple to put together and a good use of the ramps.

Grilled Cheddar Cheese w/ Chevre, bacon and Pickled Jalapenos

How could I forget the bacon?  Oh because I was in a bit of hurry.  Anyways I used some Reichert's Chevre, some Milton Prairie Breeze, and to add a touch of amazing (if that combination wasn't amazing enough, A touch of Pleasant Ridge Reserve.

I know, a bit excessive, but thats how I roll.

So it mostly was the Prairie Breeze, then secondary the Chevre, then a touch of the Pleasant Ridge.  I bought both pickled jalapenos and sweet pickled jalapenos.  After tasting the sweet, I ruled them out.  So on mine I put them, and Shannons, she declined.  It was pretty good.  Next time I'll remember the bacon.

Orange Chicken with Scallions

I may have overcooked the sauce for this a little.  That being said it still came out pretty well, very well.  I'm going to have to make this again.

Meatloaf with fresh scallions (sort of based on this)

Some beef, some mild italian sausage, some random spices.  The only thing I really forgot was the ketchup that the recipe called for.  It came together well, that, combined with some sour cream and cream cheese mashed potatoes.  Good Friday meal after a tough week (for Shannon than me, I slept in and napped most of Friday).  Looking forward to having a meatloaf sandwich here in a bit.

2014 - Week 19 Cooking Results

Ramp and Sausage Risotto (Blue Gate, Crooked Gap)

This is very good.  I doubled the recipe (had a whole pound of sausage) and maybe didn't have enough ramps, but it was good stuffs.

Penne with Ricotta and Spring Garlic Sauce (Cleverley Farms)

Maybe a bit garlicky, but maybe I added more garlic than was required.  That being said, it was a good way to highlight the spring garlic.  I don't know if I'd make it again though.

Ham Steak and Mashed Potatoes and Spring Garlic

Good combination.  I didn't really want to disturb my chives before the blossoms come out (and got cut off, shared or eaten), but this worked out great.  That ham was good too, and with a salad made for a nice round meal.

Pork Burgers (Crooked Gap)

yay!  this is what I wanted.  A double helping of pork (ground and bacon), a bit of cheese and some good bread.

Chorizo Tacos (Crooked Gap)

I fell into the random holiday trap, and it was still good.  I think the chorizo was a bit spicier than the last time around, but still not up to the level that one would like.  Still pretty good over all.

2014 - Week 19 Cooking

The DTFM is back!  Spring has been a bit rough for growing things, clearly, but it is nice to be able to walk around and say hello to most of the vendors that I frequent that have returned and to talk to some new ones.  We picked up some delicious Maple Syrup from Great River Maple, but we ran out of money, so we'll have to get back to them for some of the Maple Cream.  We started restock the jams in the cupboard and all those good things.  I was hoping someone would have some well dried out garlic for use, cause I miss local garlic, but what can you do?

2014 - Week 18 Cooking Results

Spaghetti and Italian Sausage (from last week)

Some stuff from the cupboard (tomato sauce, paste), some stuff from the box (onions), some from the drawers (dried herbs, spices) and boom, pasta!

Smoked Lamb

We had a second hunk of lamb that Joseph smoked for us last week and had smoked lamb sandwiches.  Nothing is like lamb.  And these were pretty good.

Egg Salad

So one of the things around that around this time of year, seems like something that should happen.  So I boiled up some eggs and a couple of days later, made a nice simple egg salad.  It was eggs, onions, mayo, deli mustard and a touch of sambal oelek.  Good stuffs.

Ham & Peas & Mac & Cheese

So I added so much ham and peas that it loaded up into another pan.  This was kind of sort of based on Alton Brown's Baked Mac and Cheese.  I did end up using Andeer Traum, a bit of Vella Dry Jack, some Vacherin Fribourgeois Crepi and some Parmigiano Reggiano.  Does that sound excessive?  Well it was a bit, but still quite a fine combination, savory and delicious.  Also my cheese selection is mostly gone, so we're better off and not being wasteful. 

Ham, Scrambled Eggs and Onion

This turned into ham and eggs on a ciabatta bun.  I still kind of want to do this, but you know sometimes you get requests.

Ham (Steaked) and Mashed Potatoes (with Chives)

delayed until today!

2014 - Week 18 Cooking

So I'm trying to clear out some space in the freezer.  It's not really winter anymore, though winter has been holding on with a death grip and occasionally pops up its head, and Shannon usually swaps out soup for Frozen meals.  So That is the point of doing the things that I've been doing.

On another matter, my pork vendor (occasionally lamb and beef too), Crooked Gap, has not renewed their placement at the Farmer's Market.  I certainly understand the decision (timing, etc), but will miss that weekly interaction.  Maybe I'll just have to have a separate "pork" budget.  Honestly what I need to do is sign up for his meat CSA and get me a freezer for the basement, though I need the freezer first.  This means we need to make space in the basement for the freezer and figure out how to get it in there.

On the note of freeing up freezer space, HAM!  I have a big ass ham in the freezer and I'm going to use it.  I debated waiting for the chive blossoms to come, but, they're just starting to pop their heads up.

  • Spaghetti and Italian Sausage (from last week)
  • Smoked Lamb
  • Egg Salad
  • Ham & Peas & Mac & Cheese
  • Ham, Scrambled Eggs and Onion
  • Ham (Steaked) and Mashed Potatoes (with Chives)

2014 - Week 17 Cooking Results

Chicken Salad

Rotisserie chicken is such a nice start to many meals.  So this is usually done on a Wednesday, since that's when they are on sale at Gateway, and it worked out good this day as well.  I wanted chicken salad last week, but it didn't work the way I wanted.  So this was a simple combination of things that were in the fridge to make a good meal.

Pancakes and Sausage

Again, home late from work, tired.  Sausage + egg + Ciabatta bun + cheese.  nom nom.  Though it would've been a nice day to have pancakes.

Lamb Burgers

So I topped the lamb with a bit some Von Trapp Farmstead's Oma.  It was a nice added flavor on top of the lamb.  Yum yum.

Spaghetti and Italian Sausage

We had smoked lamb instead (thanks to Joseph) with mashed potatoes, delayed until next week.

Sausage and Peppers

Came home way later then I wanted to, so I rushed to get this done.  Still good.  Used the Crooked Gap Hot Italian Sausage.  Good stuffs.

Green Onion Sausage Pizza

nom nom nom.  The rack was a bit lower then I wanted, however, the crust looked better, but didn't have the same taste that I go after.  Note to self:  Adjust rack, before oven heats up to 500º...