Journal

2015 - Week 32 Cooking Results

Kimchi Fried Rice

This was really good and reminded me how easy fried rice can be, so this could become a staple, the only issue being is having already prepared rice ready to go.

BLTs

Tis the the season!

Sweet Corn Mac & Cheese

This turned out very well.  A good balance of mild cheeses (which I forget) and the sweet corn.  Good stuffs.

Sweet Corn & Big Daddy Onion Risotto

So I had a bit of Sopressata left in the fridge and decided to add that.  While on one hand it was pretty good, but on the other, it really, for the most part, overwhelmed the the sweet corn and onion taste.  They were there, but not as prevalent as I intended.

Spicy Merguez Sausage & butter roasted potatoes

Delayed!  Dad bought us dinner at The Cheese Shop after Joseph finished selling bread.  Good stuffs

Chorizo (Lucky George Farm) Tacos

I like the Crooked Gap Farm chorizo better.  Still pretty good tacos.

2015 - Week 31 Cooking Results

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches with Hummus

Good as always.

Big Daddy Onion & Bacon Fat Risotto (topped with toasted breadcrumbs)

Not really following a recipe, but what I've done over the years.  cooked the onions a bit first then the rice, then started to add warm stock to it.  At some point I added some bacon fat.  Yeah this probably isn't an every day thing.  It was pretty good though.

Bacon and Kimchi Burgers

Simple, I used a seasonal Kimchi from The Brinery (can't remember the name right now, but it was really quite good).  A very nice combination of things.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Delayed!

Baked Italian Sausage Pasta (or not baked, depending on Mozzarella availability) (topped with breadcrumbs)

Baked!  Good things.  Simple combination of ingredients, some good sausage.  Baked for a bit.  The Iowa Sourdough made for a good topper for this.  Certainly more then just adding a bit of texture to the top.

Shredded Cod salad (one filet of cod left)

I'm going to have the cod for lunch today.

Grade A Gardens had some tomatoes at their stand.  So with that, some 14 day Sourdough from Wild Yeast Bakery and some jowl bacon from crooked gap farm (not present).  Om nom nom nom.  So good.

I've been slowly using the last of the honey that I got last year from Blue Gate, but at the market yesterday, they had quite the spread of honey, so I picked up a big jar.  Woo!

Update: 10:52:  Kimchi is Adam's Great Escape.

2015 - Week 30 Cooking Results

Pizza with Sausage of some kind from Underground Meats (cause I can)

i used the pepperoni. I wasn't sure if there would be enough left, but after cutting it thin (a bit inconsistent, maybe should've used the mandolin). I did make a mistake though. I used olive oil in the dough and it didn't have the same sort of crispness that I've grown to expect.  So vegetable oil is a must clearly. 

Beyond that, the pizza turned out really good. The pepperoni was fantastic.  

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches with Hummus

Delayed until today. Shannon wanted hotdogs on 7/23 and being that I was thinking about having them this past week anyways, but they got pushed out of the cut.  

Last night, I didn't feel like making them, not that it is hard, just wanted a meaty sandwich. So I used some of the lunch meat that I had bought, some prairie breeze, arugula and various condiments. I had mine on some of the not good enough for customers jalapeño and cheddar and Shannon had hers on the Iowa Sourdough. Good things. 

Bloody Mary Burgers

 The Bloody Mary part didn't stand out to much nut it was still a decent combination. 

Tomato & Chorizo Risotto

i didn't have near as much chorizo as the recipe called for. However, it was a really good chorizo (Underground Meats) and I think it really ended up balancing overall. It may have been that conversion to metric. It was a good meal, nevertheless.  

Bean and Ham Torta

Simple, quick and pretty good.  

Desserts

Blueberry Mousse

this didn't have enough blueberry flavor.  

2015 - Week 29 Cooking Results

Short week due to the family reunion and a late work night for Shannon (scheduled).  While Shannon was working I made pizza dough for Today and then had sausage and cheese for dinner (oh so healthy).

Rotini with Ground Pork and spicy peanut sauce

Sometimes you want the water to boil faster.  As I was prepping the kitchen and then spicy pork peanut sauce, I was still waiting for the water to boil faster.  Do I want an induction burner (?) with my fire?  Yes I do.  Anyways, I turned the peanut sauce down while the pasta cooked.  It was a good meal, it was super easy, and didn't take to long, other then the boiling of the water.

Cheater Chorizo Burgers

Looking for meat in the freezer for this, I noticed I was almost out of ground pork from Crooked Gap farm.  Luckily for me, it was a pickup week, so I picked up another 4 pounds and after this week have 3 left.  So I reduced some of the ingredients here by a third, but not all of them (teaspoons don't do thirds very well).  I didn't have hot paprika on hand, so I used smoked, instead (not that it was a mild smoked, but it was certainly not as hot as some of the hot paprikas I've had).  So it was probably spicier or more herbal then it should've been, but it was still very good.

Sobrasada & Eggs

I saw somewhere on line that this was a common usage for this.  Simple combination (rendered the fat off the Sobrasada first, then added beaten eggs), led to a very good simple dinner.  Served with bagels.

'njuda & Butter Potatoes

Using the rest of the Underground Meats 'njuda, I broke it up into peaces and pan fried it with chopped up butter potatoes.  Cooking it in the wonderful tasting 'njuda rendered fat, then oven finishing.  Good things.  Very good things.

2015 - Week 28 Cooking Results

Blueberry Pancakes

Someone brought blueberries to the market, I bought those blueberries, had them in and on the pancakes, and in cereal a bit later.  Good things.

Sausage Fest!

On a recent trip to Madison for work, I had the opportunity to stop by Underground Meats.  I had recently had their summer sausage at The Cheese Shop of Des Moines, and wanted to go.  So I picked up:  Soppressata, Spuce Goat, Morpolse, Chorizo, Pepperoni,  and Sobrassada, Fairly a cross section of the things they produce.  And we tried it, with some of the Hook's 20 year Cheddar.  

Asian Pork tacos with lime tossed red cabbage

Asian spices, pork, cabbage.  Good things.

Garlic Scape Pasta

Used the scapes in the tacos...pasta skipped.

Separately:  Spicy Carrot Sandwiches x 8 or 9 times

Turned out pretty well with the family, younger kids were skeptical.