Journal

2015 - Week 43 Cooking Results

Turkey acquired!

Probably a pasta dish for carb loading for a swimmer for this weekend and guests, haven't decided yet

The plan was to make a red sauce, and some meat balls, but on the offer of Joining T's team at Gusto (Urbandale) for pizza delayed this.

Sloppy Sammys

Quick, refrigerator emptying, good things.

Gingery Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy

I had to make adjustments because there were things that I thought I had, that I didn't.  So I trade out some sherry for some (very good) vermouth or some mirin.  Even doing that this ended up very good.

Chicken and Basil Sausage Pasta

Simple and quick.  A good use of the sausage.

Chorizo and Beans tacos

This turned into salad.  om nom nom.

Turkey!

2015 - Week 43 Cooking

I've been getting a bit extensive in my cooking, and frankly I think I need a bit of a break.  So this week?  Simplicity.

  • Probably a pasta dish for carb loading for a swimmer for this weekend and guests, haven't decided yet
  • Sloppy Sammys
  • Gingery Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy
  • Chicken and Basil Sausage Pasta
  • Chorizo and Beans tacos

2015 - Week 42 Cooking Results

We went to the Slow Food Des Moines Fall potluck / contest.  My Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread got third in the pie / dessert category, now this is not as impressive as it sounds as there were not that many more then 3 items available for voting in the category, but I still got a bag of prizes, which was nice.  The best thing about going to something like this, as opposed to say, a work potluck, is that the food will almost always be very good.  So many things to try, so much made from scratch.  Good Things.

A couple of weeks back, the lid to one of my saucepans gave up the ghost and the handle would no longer be connected to the lid.  This is kind of frustrating since looking for a replacement lid has led to many dead ends.  I suppose I should get the actual measurements and try some more, but I am annoyed.

Baked Pasta with Merguez and Harissa Spiked Sauce

I liked how this turned out.  It was tasty, a little spicy a good use of the sausage and the harissa.  Though it wasn't a paste, per say, so I had to guess how much should be in there.  Even so, it turned out well.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I needed to figure out what to do with this, and this sounded like something we would like.  It made for a good dinner.  It was a nice to use both the squash in the risotto and to move the taste up in the broth.  Though this was what I complained about having to use so many dishes, it did seem a bit obnoxious.

Delicata Squash Soup

Skipped.  We went to a movie instead.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

I had some pumpkin puree left, a couple of spicy peppers and in they went.  Good things.

Grass Fed Beef Burgers

I had to use regular buns, it made me sad.  Though with my vendor working 2 other jobs, again, it only makes sense.  They still turned out really well.

2015 - Week 41 Cooking Results

Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Curry over rice

Forgot the sweet potato, so the contents were a little lacking.  The flavor overall was ok, but not one of my best.

Baked Pasta with Merguez and Harissa Spiked Sauce

Delayed!

Taco Salad

Used some leftover things, some new things and a quick meal ensues.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

Good as always.  I was so late getting home that this was the only reasonable course to take.  I had planned on making my own hummus, but the food processor was needed for another purpose.  So I ran to the store to pick some up.  Then home to make this for dinner, then made some pumpkin bread, while I slowly ate my own dinner, when I was able.

Pancakes

Quick and good, with the sudden realization that we need to pick up more syrup from Great River Maple, they should be at the market next week.

Pumpkin Lasagna

So this is a complicated dish to execute.  It is made a whole lot easier to make when you have a kitchen helper.  So Nathan made the bechamel while I made the pumpkin and sausage mix.  In this I usually get distracted as to what is going on, so I don't get to pay as close to timing as I should.  But clearly the recipe needs an update to adjust for both the amount of content in the dish (overflowed and made the house a bit (maybe more then a bit) smokey) and the timing.  The thickening of the bechamel took quite a bit longer then my own recipe states and so did the pumpkin and sausage mix.  So in that, It would clearly make it more difficult to get the timing about right.  Anyways, other then the smokey room, it turned out pretty well.  Enjoyed by most.  It did make me happy to know, when I mentioned that it was being made, more then one person attempted to invite themselves over :-D

2015 - Week 40 Cooking Results

 

Sausage and Peppers and potatoes

put to many in the pan, took a long time to make, but still pretty good.

Spicy Baked Mac & Cheese (using roasted peppers, and random leftover cheese)

Forgot to add the roasted peppers, but instead of the paltry 6 cheeses that some people make their mac and cheese special.  7 Cheeses.  Anyways the cheese section is pretty clear.

Green Chile Burgers

There was lamb, I bought lamb, I made lamb burgers, no green chile.

Green Chile and Roasted Chicken Tacos

I pureed a whole bunch of peppers and reheated the chicken in them.  Good things.

Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Curry over rice

Delayed!

2015 - Week 40 Cooking

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to join Keith on a trip to Iowa City to see John Hodgman on his Vacationland Tour at the Englert Theater.  It was fun.  I don't get a lot of time one on one with Keith, so this was kind of nice.  I really enjoyed the show, laughed quite a bit a the stories and the way they were presented.  What has been sticking with me the most is the cover of So Much Wine by The Handsome Family by John Hodgman.  The performance of it and the words really have been rolling back and forth in my head.  It looks like it was even covered by Andrew Bird.  This reminds me that I'm behind on albums from Andrew Bird and a new artist to overwhelm myself with.  I took one picture before the show started, which was almost immediately liked by the performer himself (kinda cool, right?).

On a side note, I am starting to worry about where I am getting the turkey this year.

So I inspected what is in the freezer to see what is left in there.  So I have a bunch of ham skin and ham bone with the intention of making a ham stock, a rabbit, and after that it gets fairly random.  I have entirely to many frozen roasted peppers.  And I have some (duck) stock I need to use.

  • Sausage and Peppers and potatoes
  • Spicy Baked Mac & Cheese (using roasted peppers, and random leftover cheese)
  • Green Chile Burgers
  • Green Chile and Roasted Chicken Tacos
  • Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Curry over rice

2015 - Week 39 Cooking Results

Chicken and Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes

Great start to sweet potato season.  This was very good, however if I were to redo it, I'd probably swap out to have chicken thighs and build a fond with them in the pan first, and then add the meat back at the end.  I think this would add a bit more chicken flavor.  Over all, good stuffs.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Maple Sausage

Other then not making enough pancakes (basically just enough for us, with no leftovers), I really like this recipe.  We used some Kalona Supernatural Buttermilk, which has quite a dissimilar taste then the buttermilk we generally buy.  The Maple Sausage was from Crooked Gap and was good as always.

Sausage and Peppers

Having today!

Kimchi and Comte Grilled Cheese

I had with Kimchi, Shannon without (with a small sampler with).  I liked it.

West African Chicken Kebabs (Modified, no bullion, not fried)

Baked, pretty good.  made a mayo-Sambal Olek dip for it.  Turned out ok.