Journal

2014 - Week 53 Cooking / 2015 - Week 1 Cooking Results

Moroccan Chicken Burgers with Feta and Carrot Slaw

These were pretty good.  Easy to make with a food processor.  I honestly don't know what I'd do without it.

Chicken Salad with Carrots, based on this

So I simplified this a lot and then instead of grating new carrots, I added the leftover slaw and a few other things.  It was not the best I've done, but wasn't bad.

Golden Onion burgers, based on this

I added the last of the Harissa that was in the cupboard to the meat to spice it up and some salt and pepper.  it made for a good quick dinner.  Had the onions going in one pan, put fries in the oven and prepped the beef before cooking it off.  With the timing everything came together at almost exactly the same time.

Mac & Cheese with Ham & Peas

So with the free ham (certificate) from work that I already broke down into usable pieces, I took out a bag of 3 hunks and chopped up 2 of the hunks added some peas to the doubled mildly modified Alton Brown baked mac and cheese recipe.  I swapped the paprika, which I didn't happen to have on hand for some reason.  I added about the same amount of the jalapeno powder.

Pork Belly Tacos

These didn't turn out how I envisioned.  Still good, though.  The Pork Belly / Fresh Side was already sliced and so I couldn't get the size of the lardons that I wanted, because I was already limited by the slices.  That being said, it still cooked up well and tasted pretty good.  I had mine with some of the normal toppings and some of the Harry Hotter sauce from Juan's which perked everything right up.  On a side note, the Kalona's sour cream is amazing.

For New Years I also broke out the Goat Cheese Brie and made some Cheddar and Horseradish spread (using Prairie Breeze)

2014 - Week 51 Cooking Results

Goat Burgers

Added a bit of harissa, some salt and pepper and some mayonnaise before I put them on the hot pan.  Not to shabby.

All pork Hot Dogs

Good as always.

Bangers and Mash

I didn't add enough salt to the mashed potatoes.  I was disappointed, however the potatoes were very hot when it was trying to taste them.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

Good stuffs

Deviled Chicken

So last night when I went to make this the idea was put forward to do something like a Cordon Bleu.  So I pounded out the chicken breasts (couldn't find the meat pounder, so I used my 8" pan), put some of the ham that I had from the now seemingly yearly ham from work (not the half ham that I bought from Crooked Gap this week).  I used some of the cheese that I had bought this week.  Seared the chicken outsides, then put it into the oven to finish it off.  Got a little cheese ooze.  I then cut the combination and put them on bread.  Good stuffs.

Sloppy Sammys

Done and done.

The hot chocolate mix turned out fairly well, though I didn't have enough corn as the recipe called for but even so, it was pretty good.

I made a gingerbread this week.  It was kind of cakey, but was called a bread.  It tasted good (even if I replaced the golden syrup with honey).  However, when I took it to work, it didn't disappear like things normally do.  We both liked it, the people I talked to liked it, but who knows.  Maybe people didn't know what it was?  It was kind of a poor showing for snacks and etc there.

2014 - Week 50 Cooking Results

 

Turkey Stock Risotto (still debating on buying turkey to add it to it)

I did add Turkey.  It turned out well.  Since the stock that I made didn't have salt in it, then I had to add way more salt then I normally would of, but even with that extra step there was a lot of extra flavor from the turkey stock that you don't necessarily get that same savory flavor from the homemade stock.  That being said, this was pretty good.  I vaguely followed some guidelines, spiced it how I thought it should be spiced, and added salt until it came up to where ti should be.  And I made quite a bit.  Enough to feed Joseph, Shannon and myself and have leftovers.  Good stuffs

Skillet Goulash

I also used the Turkey stock here, and substituted a bit of leftover purchased chicken stock for the extra that was needed.  I used a mixture of hot and sweet paprika (because it is what I had).  This turned out pretty good, but was better the next day when more of the sauce had been sucked into the noodles.  I had it a few times for lunch.

Green Onion Sausage Pizza

Good as expected, good looking crust.

Beef Burgers (local)

Simple and good.

Apple Cider Cooked Farro

So I adjusted this a bit, so it was more like a risotto.  I kind of skipped the toppings but the mixture of the water and apple cider, then finishing with the apple cider vinegar.  Simple meal.

Seared chicken tacos (why do I found tacos so comforting)

quick simple and good.

2014 - Week 50 Cooking

I'm not particularly thrilled about cooking lately.  Maybe it's not having farmer's market to go to, or having to restrict the budget (or lack thereof) to a more reasonable level.  Anyways, I am having trouble cutting back on some things more then others.  Funny thing, I've stopped buying alcohol (for the most part), and have been drinking out of the cupboards (for good or ill) but have, so far, been unwilling to switch to a lower grade of coffee.  Though I have reduced the number of times that I go to get an expresso drink at Mars by 2/3rds.  Anyways this does sound particularly whiney, but I'm never been one to deal with habit change that well.

Also, the freezer is running low on meat.

  • Turkey Stock Risotto (still debating on buying turkey to add it to it)
  • Skillet Goulash
  • Green Onion Sausage Pizza
  • Beef Burgers (local)
  • Apple Cider Cooked Farro
  • Seared chicken tacos (why do I found tacos so comforting)

2014 - Week 49 Cooking Results

Leftovers

om nom nom

Turkey Stew

Timing and work made this get delayed longer then expected (Thursday).  I finished off the stock on Wednesday night, where it had a nice wonderful silky mouthfeel.  Where you know it clearly has more fat and gelatin in it then your normal stuff from a box or can.  Certainly not salty, since I only add a dash or two of salt to help the original set of carrots, celery, and onions sweat a bit.

Anyways, I just headed up the red potatoes and carrots, then tossed in the celery.  Then to warm up the turkey...the turkey last.

Added salt and pepper to get the right flavor.  Good stuffs.

I still have a whole bunch of soup left and a bunch of stock left, which I plan on making into risotto.

Turkey Wraps with Daikon Radish Sprouts

Leftover turkey, some other things and cut off the tops of the radish sprouts.  Good stuffs.  Added a nice mildly bitter fresh touch to the thing.  We'll see if they grow back (and I can remember to water them)

Buttermilk Pancakes

Leftover buttermilk from something for thanksgiving, made into pancakes.  Good things.

Stuffing Hash

So I got a bit cheffy here.  Maybe not as clean as it should be, I probably would've made the hashbrowns in the smaller pan, to make a round one for each, instead of splitting down the middle for another one.  anyways, it was a nice combination.  Seared hashbrowns, seared stuffing rounds and an egg on top.  Good stuffs.