Journal

2011 - Week 47 Cooking Results & Thanksgiving

Chorizo and Scrambled Eggs Breakfast Taco

This was just meh.  It was quick and easy, but meh.

Penne with Spinach, Gorgonzola, and Walnuts

I didn't end up making this.

Roast Turkey Breast prepared with Iowa White Spread (experiment)

This was a little experiment, to figure out if my chosen method of preparing the turkey would taste ok.  Now in my mind, it would work out for the best, but as it came down to, it I didn't want to risk my Foxhollow turkey on my thought.  But it did turn out well.  It was mildly spice with the spices in there, and left juicy and delicious, even though most of the fat melted off.  So based on that, I was able to move forward in a more confident fashion.

Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches with Cheese Curds

This recipie turned out good (even though I skipped the bullion cube).  It was a generally good idea but took to many pans to make (for a simple meal).

Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwich

Thanksgiving

So a few notes here.  First and foremost, it is very good to have help on this day.  Joseph was invaluable and Shannon was quite the time saver (rotating dishes, helping plate things, etc).  I need a better way of estimating how much food to make for everyone.  We have lots of leftovers.  As far as prep went, I put off some things that I really shouldn't have, and due to work requirements had to start later then I wanted on a number of things.  Because of this Wednesday was a very brutal day and I got 3 ish hours of sleep before I started again on Thanksgiving.  And one final think, do not dump stock, until you are certain that your gravy is right.

Thanksgiving went off pretty well.  We did run out of space, when we were getting ready to serve and heating up dishes.  We had gravy, sweet potatoes and green beans on the stove, and smoked turkey and stuffings in the oven, so there was no place to put the mashed potatoes, so they were a bit late to the party.

Turkey before cuttingI think I did pretty well in carving...I am certainly getting better.The mains and sides1 ice cream, 2 custards, 5 pies, 1 cheese cake, and cookie bars

Thanksgiving 2011 Menu

I've been very busy, so while I've been thinking about it, I've haven't had the time to put down the same amount of forethought and planning.  So some things are going to be borrowed (some by request) from last year.  I think I need to start practicing pies, it is one of the places where I'm not thrilled at my experience, and so do not want to risk a bad pie.  We have a preliminary count of 16, which is up by 10 from last year.

Appetizers

  • Deviled Eggs (Shannon's Mom)

  • Baby Carrots

  • Celery (prepare Wednesday Night)

  • Cornichons (this may be just an excuse for me to buy and eat them)

  • Cheese, Crackers and Bread

Bread

  • Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (3 to give away))

  • Rolls (Jed and Stephanie, Unconfirmed)

  • Butterflake Rolls (Joseph)

  • Lefse

  • Honey Butter (Tuesday)

Main Menu

Dessert

  • Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake (p397-398 Baking Illustrated) (Wednesday)

  • Apple Pie (pick up Wednesday)

  • Pumpkin Pie (Pick up Wednesday)

  • No-Bake Pumpkin Pie (p55 Entertaining, Holday 2011) (Wednesday)

  • "Cooler" Dessert (Shannon's Sister's Family)

  • Vanilla Ice Cream (Sunday)

  • Whipped Cream (Thursday)

  • Pumpkin Custard (Dad)

Drinks

  • Soda (Shannon's Sisters Family)

  • Wine (Shannon's Uncle)

  • etc

2011 - Week 47 Cooking

A whole lot of cooking going on this week, most of which will have to do with Thanksgiving.  However, I do still need to feed us on the other days of the week, so I have to plan something.  Dinners this week will be simple (again) for obvious reasons.

2011 - Week 46 Cooking Results

Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza

I must remember to buy red pepper flakes.  I've been using other spicy items that don't really fit with the flavor profile that I want (cayenne, chili, etc).  I still, however, want the heat...  Anyways, with that minor distraction, it still turned out pretty well.

Breakfast Risotto

First, I want to say that this was good, however I had a problem with this recipe.  "4 hot Italian sausages, casings removed."  What does that mean?  Is there some standard hot Italian sausage size?  Beyond that I ended up using about a pound (it started off over, but after it was cooked I started, well, eating it.  But there was plenty left.  The risotto came together pretty quickly and got nice and smooth.

Breakfast Risotto

Turkey Meatball Pita Sandwiches

I made a good chuck of meatballs, made the sauce, kinda wished I had nice fresh tomatoes (not the crap that you buy in most stores).  It was pretty good.  Would've been better with lamb.

Turkey Meatball Pita Sandwiches

Pancakes (we've got a lot of extra fruit)

I had some pumpkin spice from last year.  Joseph used some a bit ago, but I figured before I go around and make some pumpkin bread, I should probably get rid of this, so I can buy some relatively fresh new pumpkin spice.  So I put them in the pancakes.  It ended up being most of a smaller container and it went right in there.  It mixed up pretty well and ended up tasting pretty good.  I was pretty happy with the way they turned out.  Served with some of the leftover fruit, a good quick (and cheap) meal.

Tuna Melts

An old favorite.  Certainly a quick thing to do.  Low, slow, and lots of butter.

 Tuna Melt

2011 - Week 46 Cooking

So I've been busy.  I've been setting aside other responsibilities, coming home just mentally exhausted and feeling the pressure of what seems to be like thousands of people on my back.  Other things in my life are falling to the way side.  I haven't had the mental cycles left to read (the last book I finished should not have taken me almost a month to finish, but when I open the book and am starting to doze within a page or two, it doesn't really work out very well).  I'm behind on my cooking magazines and I feel like I'm leaving to much stuff for Shannon to do while I've been so busy.  It's excessive.  On top of my main focus, there have been these other issues which should not be issues.  Anyways, hopefully here in the next couple of days there will be a sudden drop in stress, and then I continue on with my normal high level.  We'll see.  I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very long day.

On the other side, taking a three day weekend this weekend, a Matta visit, having a game night (Clue, Munchkin, Scene It and Acquire) and having Joseph take over my kitchen and prepare a meal for everyone (Matta's, us and him) and a trip to Tartine (with the Matta's).  I'm tired, but I don't feel as stressed right now.

I also have the impeding Thanksgiving.  Now I admit I didn't get the menu fully planned until the Sunday before, but I know I started trimming and marking what was going to be in the meal, well before though.  Last year we had 6, this year we'll have 16 or 17.  Enough that I will be opening the spare silverware that we got for our wedding (I'll need to find it first) and I went ahead and ordered another set of dishes (we had 18, we will now have 24).  But I have my concerns about making enough food.  Last year I made heaps and heaps to much, but this year....  Who knows.  Joseph and I have been talking about some items, and I know that some items will need to be done last minute, but we'll have to see what comes of it.  This past weekend I have had issues with keeping up with dishes (between me roasting pumpkins and the several things he made, it just couldn't catch up).  So we'll see.  I'm also concerned if my wrists will hold out.  in roasting pumpkins, and cutting them, one of them gave me such trouble that I though my problem was bigger then I thought, but it was probably just that pumpkin, cause the other 2 I roasted weren't near as difficult.

So on the docket this week, I am going to roast more pumpkins and see if I can get enough pumpkin flesh before roasting so that I can make the pumpkin bread that people like (and hopefully make enough to pass out to people).

So I guess the point is, we're going to be going on the simple again this week.

2011 - Week 45 Cooking Results

Parmesan, Lardo (Iowa White Spread) and fettuccini with Lardo Toast

Clearly an experiment.  And it seemed to work pretty well.  My favorite comment that I had about it was that I really don't need chap stick with this.  So it was a nice balance between the noodles, white spread and parmesan.  It made for a good, savory taste, and extra good on the toast.  I would make this again, and I plan to use the Iowa White Spread in some other method.

Parmesan, Lardo and FettucciniIowa White Toast

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

So easy enough, I took the baked mac and cheese recipe that I use (closely based on the Alton Brown version, I used smoked paprika).  When cutting into it, you can certainly smell the pumpkin and it made for a creamier mixture (more liquid from the pumpkin puree).  So to do this, I added 3/4ths to 1 cup of pumpkin puree.  It was what I had left in the freezer.  We both liked it and ate it on Thursday and again for lunch on Friday.  I used extra breadcrumbs to get a better crust, that we both seem to like.  I probably should have used a bit more cheese and butter on the crust portion, but it still turned out very well.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese crustPumpkin Mac and Cheese, served

Smoky Chipotle-Chocolate Chili (Movie Night)

So this:

2 canned chipotle Chiles in adobo, minced

Really messed me up.  The way that this ingredient is listed I think of it in two ways.  Either it means 2 peppers from can of chipotle chilies in adobo, or 2 cans of chipotle chilies in adobo.  I don't think that it's abundantly clear here.  I actually thought about it while making this.  To me it would make the most sense if they would put in either 2 cans or 2 peppers/chilies, and that would make it more clear, so because it was that way, I used two cans.  So was it smoky?  Yes.  Was it spicy?  quite a bit to much.  I even added quite a bit more of the tomato puree to add volume and reduce the peppers to everything else ratio.  No such luck.  Even though I tend to make new things quite often, I feel some dread before something new gets the external stamp of approval.  So to get around the spiciness, people changed this vegan chili to a vegetarian chili, by adding cheese and a whole lot of sour cream.  With that, it made it semi-palatable, though still far too spicy.  I had some on leftover mac and cheese and some at the office for lunch and there is still some left.  So I'm slowly working my way through it.

Burgers

Yep.  We used some of the leftover BBQ sauce that.  I looked for grass fed beef at Hy-Vee again, but didn't find any.

Chicken Tacos

Some ground chicken...ka done.

2011 - Week 45 Cooking

Yesterday was the Friends and Family preview of The Cheese Shop (opens officially on Tuesday).  It is going to be trouble to have it so close and easily on my way home from work, but I will have to control myself.  I bought a few things including the Mt Tam (from Cowgirl Creamery) which I remember very well from my first tasting.  This coming week includes 11/11/11 which should be fun plus with 11/12 on the way to?  whee.  Keeping things simple this week as well, because even though I think all the kinks are out, who knows when I'll have to stay late at work.  I'm hoping not at all, but this is one of those got to do what is required.

  • Parmesan, Lardo (Iowa White Spread) and fettuccini with Lardo Toast
  • Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
  • Smoky Chipotle-Chocolate Chili (Movie Night)
  • Burgers
  • Chicken Tacos

2011 - Week 44 Cooking Results

Sausage and Cheddar Pizza

This is one of my favorite combinations.  However, there are the inherent problems in this.  Both sausage and cheddar tend to release extra fat, so that is just something you have to deal with.  It reminded me of the combination (though better tasting) that I'd order in college.  I've been playing with the sauce recipe a bit, because following it has made it a bit runny, so I'm swapping some of the whole tomatoes with diced tomatoes.  And this was, perhaps, to much of a swap.  Though the taste profile is still there, but it was perhaps a bit too dry.  So I'll play with it a bit more and see what happens.

Sausage and Cheddar Pizza

Les Is More Burgers (p265 The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends)

So this was an interesting way to make a burger.  A quick hot sear plus a finish in a BBQ sauce?  It actually tasted pretty well.  I think everyone was generally happy with the way they came out.  The BBQ sauce was pretty good.  I have to admit that I didn't think I needed all the sauce to simmer the burgers, so I separated it out.  I'm actually looking forward to using it, probably this upcoming week.

Chevre Omelettes

I made two, they weren't the prettiest (need more practice), but they tasted good.  I had chipotle chevre and Shannon had chive chevre.

Chipotle Chevre Omelettes

Soft Tacos with Sausage and Feta

This was quite delicious.  It was simple, quick and just good.  After a long day I went directly into cooking this and was quite simple and just turned out well.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

So I had put this in the oven, opened the fridge and there was the pumpkin that I intended to add to the mix.  So it was just a baked (although good) mac and cheese.  So I'll have to make this again.

2011 - Week 43 Cooking Results

Tomato, Basil Feta, and Bacon Pizza (either done the same or done right, haven't decided yet)

So I made it right this time, and it turned out pretty well, but the issue here is that I didn't have enough of the right kind of tomatoes.  The ones I have been using are these low moisture that are used for salsa.  They're flavorful, but not so exuding of moisture, which makes them perfect for this purpose.  But I had to go with another varitial, and this didn't have the same properties.  I also cooked the bacon less, so that the extra cooking time that it had in the oven wouldn't char it to much.  Anyways, I had a happy brother, who got to try, and wife, who got the leftovers.

Tomato, Basil Feta and Bacon Pizza

Crooked Gap Bratwurst Patties

Good as they were before and a quick meal.  I served these with fries, which means that we had potatoes 3 times this week.  Which is a bit much.

Ham Steak with Brown Sugar and Lime Glaze (Crooked Gap)

So I skipped brown sugar and lime glaze.  I had not had the crooked gap ham, and this was ok.  Maybe it was the way I prepared it, but it ended up being a little dry.  But I wouldn't call that a definitive outcome on their ham steak.  I served it with some peas and some BBQ sauce.

Broccoli Raab with Hot Italian Sausage (from Larry Cleverly)

So I got the recipe from their stand, and it really did turn out pretty well.  Simple and pretty quick, so it all worked out well.  The flavor was pretty good, but, the texture...I still struggle with the texture of cooked greens, I'm generally fine with the flavors, but the texture, even though I try to use it more and more (greens are good for you).  So I'm learning or at least training myself.  As the recipe said, I served with roasted potatoes.

Broccoli Raab with Hot Italian Sausage with roasted potatoes

Spicy Burgers (peppers from the Sullivans)

Going along with the simplicity for the week I just chopped up a few jalapeno and added them to some ground beef.  It was good.  Going with the whole mini tangent, they were on little cocktail buns.

Spicy Burgers