Journal

Week 37 Cooking Results

Last night, for Sheighleigh's birthday, we met up with Shannon's Sister's family at the Pizza Hut near adventureland, where they spent their day. Shannon and I both had their over-advertised New Tuscani Pastas. Their advertisements generally go that they have a nice restaurant, and then surprise! it's really Pizza Hut. Though I suspect they may have taken a bit more time on each of those pastas, the ones they served us, suffer the same problems that most chain restaurants suffer from (and places like Spaggetti Works, here in Des Moines), far over cooked pasta. Beyond that, the food wasn't offensive, but it wasn't exactly something I'd go out of my way for. I could certainly tell the difference between that and what I would be served at Lucca, Centro, or Proof (and if eating lunch at proof, the bill probably would've been smaller, which, in my mind, is pretty pathetic, Pizza Hut).

Spanish Tortilla with Roasted Red Peppers and Peas (p9 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)

Fairly easy, but time consuming to make, but ended up really good. Thought the garlic mayo that I made with it, I think did not set up properly, though the mixture still tasted good.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes (p23 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)

They weren't kidding, these pancakes were down right, stick to your ribs, please your senses fantastic. I think I may have found a new standard pancake recipe...though I do like the cinnamon infused pancakes that I make from time to time.

Spicy Chicken Peperonata with Lime and Mint Dressing (p36 Bon Appétit July 2009)

This wasn't that spicy. Chicken done on a non-stick pan kinda makes me want to shrug... I think it would've been better to create a proper chicken crust in a regular pan, rather then non-stick. Though it made clean up easier I suppose. I served it over basmati rice. Though we had some leftovers and because of that, I put some hot sauce over it, and that, actually made it pop the next day...

Manchego Cheese and Garlic Dogs (p77 Bon Appétit July 2009)

mmm...roasted garlic. I started out with a Hebrew National hot dogs (hot dogs are now officially off my life time ban, though I guess that depends on the quality) and went from there. The combination of the cheese, roasted garlic relish and other deliciousness it made for a very good dinner. Though I need to remember more often that Shannon's not a huge fan of the olive, so I need to avoid the pasta salad that has a whole lot of olives in it...

Week 36 Cooking Results

Stuffed Burgers (p5 Entertaining Summer 2009) (Yes, again, slightly different recipe)

Burgers with bacon and cheddar in them? How could it be bad? It wasn't, it was fantastic.

Pulled Pork Chili (Joseph's Pork, my thinking, first attempt, and for movie night)

I took lots of notes, and the chili had a building heat (the more you ate, the hotter it got) which was kind of the goal. Not to make it too hot, but to make it tasty. So I should have added more chili powder after the onions and replaced one of the cans of diced tomatoes with tomato puree. I also don't know if the chili had enough of a fat base. After using 4 slices of bacon, the onions really soaked that up pretty quickly, so perhaps more bacon greese extracted from the fat? The only sad thing, is that I don't have enough pulled pork to try again. Overall I was generally happy with the results, but with a few tweaks it could be better.

Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto (p15 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)

This was fairly quick to make and tasty... Thought it wasn't as good as some other pasta type toppings...but it still worked.

Spanish Tortilla with Roasted Red Peppers and Peas (p9 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)

Because we ended up in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, I didn't get a chance to make this.

Week 36 Cooking

I will be going for my 3rd attempt at salsa. In a much smaller batch then either the 1st or the 2nd. I bought whole bag of roasted peppers from Juan O'Sullivan's, a bag of Honey Crisps, a bag of Ginger Gold, and some apple cidar (all Iowan grown) at the market this weekend. Unlike last week, where I doubled my normal farmers market budget, I stuck to it this week, and it went real fast. With more crops coming in, I think this might become more and more of a problem.

  • Stuffed Burgers (p5 Entertaining Summer 2009) (Yes, again, slightly different recipe)
  • Spanish Tortilla with Roasted Red Peppers and Peas (p9 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)
  • Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto (p15 Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009)
  • Pulled Pork Chili (Joseph's Pork, my thinking, first attempt, and for movie night)

Week 35 Cooking Results

This week was quite random, and proceeded of emptying out the fridge, for the most part. We pared down the types of cheese from around 6 or 7 down to 3. Used lots of leftover pulled pork (sandwiches).

Last night I used La Quercia Apple Wood Smoked Bacon to make Mostacholi alla Carbonara. I thought I had spaghetti or linguine in the cupboard, but when I looked...eh not so much. The bacon was very good, quite quite tasty, but at, if I remember right around $17 a pound, I'd rather use Vande Rose Farms Dry Cured Bacon. It did turn out very well and was quite taste, but seriously, anything with that much bacon fat is going to taste good.

An odd note here, both Shannon (who rarely remembers them) and I had strange dreams last night, mine actually woke me up.

The Eden Farms pork burgers were good, but I would've preferred ground pork. So perhaps I could have mixed something or another into it...but it was very good by itself.

The fridge is still more full then I would like it at the end of the week, but it's getting better.

Week 35 Cooking

So the refrigerator is so full, that even if I felt like going grocery shopping, I couldn't cause I wouldn't be able to fit more food into it. So for the week we're going to do a leftovers/etc week. There is a whole bunch of Joseph's pulled pork left, some baked beans, and buns and etc...

I also got some bacon that I've been kind of building up a stash of meats...so perhaps I'll make Spaghetti alla Carbonara, pork burgers (bought some from Eden Farms yesterday) and other things...but the point here is that there is no real plan for the week, other then to use stuff we already have.

Week 34 Cooking Results

Greek Style Lamb Pita Sandwiches with Tzatziki Sauce (p21 Entertaining Summer 2009)

I think this turned out pretty well...Tastely lamb, cooling dill...over all just a wonder...thought it did take a while to prepare. But I did it on Friday, and took friday off, so I had plenty of time.

Week 34 Cooking

So with game night this week, wanting to maybe do something from restaurant week, leftover stuffed burgers, and movie night (not here), it'll be a short cooking week.

  • Greek Style Lamb Pita Sandwiches with Tzatziki Sauce (p21 Entertaining Summer 2009)

Week 33 Cooking Results

Why so early? Well I'm just kind of waiting for a call back perhaps, so...I might as well do something...or never mind...he didn't even bother to call me, just fixed it

So I really liked the fresh mozzarella from Lucca and used it for some mozzarella on toast with the fresh tomato sauce night. I also used it on egg and flank steak sandwiches that I made late, because of Shannon's hair appointment. I bought some more yesterday morning from the market. The eggs from Fox Hollow were good and of similar quality to the ones that I normally buy (from another family farm). The Golden Fire Pepper Jam from Blue Gate Farm with the Reichert's Dairy's Robiola on the La Mie wheat bread actually worked quite well. Not to spicy, a little creamy...and tasty.

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rosemary and Bacon (p24 Entertaining Summer 2009)

This was good, I thought long and hard about using the bacon that I got from La Quercia, but instead went with the regular old bacon that I bought. Though I did add a bit more red pepper flakes then I intended, I thought it was good. On the reheating, though, the fresh parsley added at the end lost some of its character, but was still ok.

Pita Bread Salad (Fattoush) (p44 Entertaining Summer 2009)

This was easy, though did take a bit of preparation. I made it the same night that I made the tuna steaks, and didn't really go outside of the window of my normal dinner making time. Fresh mint just has these magical qualities in certain types of salads. I suppose I did make something similar to this around week 9, though I think this was simpler and the dressing was more then just a bit of olive oil.

Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks (p18 Entertaining Summer 2009)

I used Hy-Vee's "sashimi grade" frozen and rethawed yellowfin tuna. The quality of this tuna was quite a bit better then the tuna that I had before, though still...at the cost...It was quite a bit more then I like to pay for a meat portion of the meal (though not way out there, I've certainly spent more, it was about $10 for the both of us). Fish cooks veery quickly. I turned around to do something else, and by the time I got back, it was a bit more done then I wanted it. But it was still good and easy to prepare.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Burgers (p5 Entertaining Summer 2009)

Where do you find the point at where you can put stuff in a burger (and what type), before the burger starts falling apart? Why does it seem like I always put in too much, but when I follow a recipe, it ends up being fine. It had a nice flavor and with the double helping of Monterey Jack, it was not terribly good for you, but was tasty. And I have a lot of leftover meat to make up burgers again.

And now, I try to get a bit more sleep...

Week 33 Cooking

I bought some fresh made mozzarella at the farmer's market from the fine people from Lucca. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I also got some eggs from Fox Hollow (rather then the ones I normally get), some Golden Fire Pepper Jam from Blue Gate Farm (which is supposed to work very well with the Reichert's Dairy's Robiola).

  • Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rosemary and Bacon (p24 Entertaining Summer 2009)
  • Tex-Mex Stuffed Burgers (p5 Entertaining Summer 2009)
  • Pita Bread Salad (Fattoush) (p44 Entertaining Summer 2009)
  • Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks (p18 Entertaining Summer 2009)

Lets hope I can find some decent tuna.