Journal

2015 - Week 16 Cooking Results

 

Vietnamese Lemongrass and Chile Chicken

So I didn't realize I needed to brine the chicken, in the mixture so I called an audible.  So instead of soaking the chicken, I added the soaking liquid to the rice.  The chicken preparation was only modified a little after that.  Shannon didn't even realize that this was a "screw up" dinner and not just what was planned.

There was a bit missing in the spiciness, but overall still ended up really good.

Pounded chicken thighs sandwich (Wild Yeast Bakery Des Moines bread (sourdough or brioche))

Simple and good.  We had this on the honey brioche.  A simple sandwich on good bread.  Good stuffs.

Grilled Cheese (Wild Yeast Bakery Des Moines bread (honey-brioche))

This ended up going on the sourdough, because for lunch I used the second half of the loaf to make a ham sandwich for lunch for the both of us.  So I used some good cheese from the cheese shop...which I can't recall right now, some Prosciutto Americano, and some of the Cheese Shop's pepper jam and came up with these wonderful sandwiches, helped by the wonderful bread they were on.  Good stuffs.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches (Wild Yeast Bakery Des Moines bread (sourdough))

I did forget the yogurt.  We didn't have yogurt, but I don't think that the flavored yogurt would've gone well on the sandwich.  Be that as it may, the sourdough has quickly become my favorite.  Admittedly it is fairly easy to do, since most available sourdough the bread is not sour, nor is it actually quality bread.  But even compared to really good sourdoughs this has come up aces.  Anyways, even missing the sour cream, which does add to the sandwich, this was really good.

Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry

Delayed.

2015 - Week 16 Cooking

So there is growing anxiety as the date of the PET scan comes close.  This has been just a whole mess of emotions, but at least we'll know quicker (PET in the morning, review with the doctor in the afternoon).  The PET scan was approved by Shannon's insurance, so that's good at least.  I can't imagine the stress for people that have to go through this for months and months.  So we are moving forward, anxiously tirelessly moving forward.

So the grass is coming up.  So on top of having to do most of the in home chores (kitchen is already mine, but now added the vast majority of Shannon's responsibilities), soon I'll have to start mowing the lawn.  I'm running out of distressing time, or injecting time where I shouldn't.  There is a burden here, but it is a burden I must take on.

I have been working from home.  I started back This past Wednesday and for the most part it is working out pretty well.  There are some problems and I do miss my dual monitors, but I'm making it work, so I can be here in case Shannon needs me.  So far it involves heavy cat management (she's only allowed to lift Freyja), and some moving of things.  She is becoming more and more independent, which is good.  We'll probably have to have the discussion of when I should go back to going into the office.  I've liked the working from home, but I can only bend the rules for so long (though with reasonable justification).

2015 - Week 15 Cooking Results

Egg Salad

I uh...added to much yellow mustard, and it's not like I could correct it.  It still tasted fine (to me at least) but I was left with all the leftovers (which again was fine with me) but egg salad shouldn't be that color of yellow.

I do hate peeling eggs.

Vietnamese Lemongrass and Chile Chicken

delayed!  I just didn't feel up to cooking last night, so we went out instead.

Stewed White Beans with Green Chile and Herbs

This was shockingly bland.

Green Onion Sausage Baked Pasta

Made a simple sauce (sauce, diced tomatoes, a bit of tomato paste), spiced it up a bit, mixed in some Mozzarella, then topped with a sprinkling or three of parmigiano reggiano.  Baked for a bit.  Delicious.

Chorizo Tacos

Good stufss

2015 - Week 14 Cooking Results

So apparently I misnamed the previous post, repeating week 13 (fixed).  So the original hopes was to have Shannon get released from the hospital on Wednesday 4/1, however that didn't happen, She was finally released on Friday.  So that didn't leave much time in the way of cooking.  Even so, I was able to cooke a bit.  After getting the boot (I snore) one night, I went home and made myself an egg sandwich, and it felt calming.

I did make some pasta, and I have to remember that for the Hy-vee pasta, it's either terrible or the directions have you cook it for way to long.  I made some rigatoni with some onion, diced tomatoes and some Smoky Borsellino Salami.  This worked out pretty well, maybe not well enough, but good.

And some simple scrambled eggs (eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper) were made per request.  So things are working, Shannon is improving

2015 - Week 14 Cooking

So this week is going to be a challenge.  I don't have any distinct plans, because I do not know what to expect out of the week.  I'm not sure how long Shannon will be in the hospital or what she'll feel up to after she comes home.  So I bought a number of things and am able to make a number of dishes from simple to complex.  I'm not taking any meat out of the freezer, but have beans and other protein rich items (that should be easy to digest and high in fiber).  So no plans this week, I went shopping yesterday...I've made some jello for today to comply with her clear liquid diet.  I tried to talk her into some chicken stock gelatin, but she didn't seem excited by that.

Honestly other then using gelatin for some other purpose, but actual Jello dish?  I don't remember the last time I've done anything remotely like that.  I'm trying to make it pretty.  I should've put Strawberry on the bottom, then orange, then cherry.  I did add some peppermint to the strawberry layer.  I curious at how it will turn out.  I thought I had a nice dish to put this in, but apparently not.

anyways, we'll see how the week goes.

2015 - Week 13 Cooking Results

Shepherd's Pie (with pork, not lamb)

This seems so long ago, but I was really happy with how it all turned out, even though I had to delay it for a bit and not have it on that one holiday.  It was a nice meal to have and the leftovers were great.  

Bratwurst Patties (Crooked Gap)

From Story City.  Good quality meat, lightly spiced and seared in a pan.  Good stuffs

All Pork Hot Dogs (Crooked Gap)

Quick meal for art class night for Shannon.

Green Onion Sausage (Crooked Gap) Pizza

I was really proud of the way both the crust and the taste turned out for this.  it had that outer crispness and the inner chew to make you feel as if you you have something substantial.  Really quite delightful.  I added some leftover salumi that I had thin sliced in the fridge.  Added a bit of extra savoriness.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

I'm not a huge fan of half boxes of noodles, but when making this, so I'll usually double a recipe and just have leftovers.  But because I adjust the recipe a bit it changes things.  Also, in looking in the freezer, I found out that I didn't have any normal breadcrumbs left, but I did have cornbread crumbs left.  So the cornbread, combined with a bit of parmesan, salt, pepper and butter and crisped up in a pan, before coating the top of the mac & cheese.  There was a nice combination of Hook's 4 year cheddar, Appenzeller, and Emmentaler.  And then some of the thawed homemade pumpkin puree.  Good stuffs.

2015 - Week 12 Cooking Results

Pork Chops (Provided by Joseph, form the pig that is in his freezer in my basement)

So there is a clear difference between the breeds of hogs and the taste of the meet.  It is not even fair to compare your standard breed to the vast majority of the heritage breeds that I've tried.  Good stuffs.  If I'm not mistaken, it's a Berkshire pig that he got butchered for him (as opposed to the Hereford, I normally buy).  They were quite good.  simple pan sear, salt and pepper.  I'm looking forward to tasting when Joseph starts smoking some of the rest of the pig parts (bacon, etc).  I served with corn and apple sauce.

The tostadas, from lat week, except for with chorizo

Worked well, probably even better.  Good stuffs.

Shepherd's Pie (with pork, not lamb)

delayed until today.  I didn't get home early enough to make this on Tuesday, so today it is!

Spicy Tuna Pasta

I really think that Cook's Illustrated may need to go through and revisit some of their older recipes.

Jalapeno chicken Salad

Not as spicy as you might think, but not a bad combination of ingredients to make a chicken salad.  I had those on Joseph's jalapeno bread (so good) and Shannon had it on the wheat ciabatta.