Journal

2016 - Week 7 Cooking Results

French Style White Bean Stew

A bit of work, pretty good...maybe not worth the effort.

Cumin and Ancho Chicken Tacos

I thought I had ancho powder, I did not.  so I did a combination of cayenne and serrano and forgot how much serrano can hurt while cooking.

So it was spicy, but good. and this is a super simple way to do things.

Cheeseburger 'n' Fries Casserole  (severely modified, somewhere between this, the Lightened version I picked up from C and my own inspiration)

So one benefit of tracking the various intakes into my mouth is the fact that I I actually mostly wrote down what I put into it:

  • 4 T olive oil
  • 0.5 pounds red onions sliced
  • 0.5 pounds cheese curds 
  • .75 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 pound ground bison
  • 3 oz pickles
  • 1 t jalapeño powder
  • salt/pepper

Why Cheese curds? I had some (given to me) and figured they weren't squeaky anymore so it would be time to use them.

I did forget, like the dietician version suggests, to broil them at the end so it didn't have that crisp topping like one might expect.  So That clearly needs to change.  Anyways, worth more investigating and manipulation.  Clearly the bison was a sami-random addition.

St Paul Sandwich

This was interesting.  It really is a combination of something of the location.  Pretty good, fairly easy. 

Japchae

Reading further, it was noted that it'd be better as a side dish then a main, but we had it as a main anyways.  I couldn't find the right noodles, I cut the amount of soy sauce in half, and forgot to add the green onions.  Still, a pretty good flavorful dish.

2016 - Week 6 Cooking Results

Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

The other sweet potato had started to turn, so I had half the sweet potatoes I need for this.  It was pretty good.  Made better by the yogurt addition (recipe stated).

Angry Pig Fried Rice

Modified.  Shannon doesn't like Tofu, so I axed that out and added more snap peas (replacement to snow peas).  This wasn't super angry, but it was pretty good.  Easy to make and an example of good process.  Cooking the eggs separately so they present better in the rice.  Good things.

Garlicky Spaghetti with Lemon and Pine Nuts

bright lemon flavor, some savory and some deliciousness overall.  Lots of pans to use, but quite good and simple.  Normally, we would've Just had this, however since we are trying to be better, a little mixed greens salad (I cannot wait to get greens from dirt and Iowa again).

French Style White Bean Stew

Delayed!

We went to Baru 66 after a long absence.  6 Course menu, all good things.  The thing that stood out for me was the butternut squash puree.  It was stunningly good.  Don't get me wrong, there were several moments in the meal where I got the wonderful feeling of this is amazing (I'm guessing my body releases endorphins, cause it's a rush), but the butternut squash puree left me pondering for quite a while.

2016 - Week 5 Cooking Results

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

This was the win for the week.  While the combination could've been better, the idea of doing it this way instead of tuna or eggs or chicken, is a good one.  I'm looking forward to putting my own spin on this. 

Easy Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

Quick and nice.  Maybe a bit to sweet, though judging by the ingredients, it was probably the point.

Curried Potato Quesadillas

Pretty good, maybe a bit more something, but pretty good.

Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Delayed!

Pork Burgers

Little bit of farm pork from Knoxville, little salt, and pepper.  Some time in the pan, ensconced in some Wild Yeast Bakery sourdough bun.  Topped with a little Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze, and various other toppings.  I will never grow tired of this.

2016 - Week 4 Cooking Results

Sriracha chicken and Edamame Sandwiches (I'm only vaguely following this)

I used a rotisserie chicken, and didn't use as much of the edamame that it called for, even so, I found them distracting from the dish as a whole, it made it just kind of odd.  Maybe the edamame was to big?  So you bite, chew and oh there's another soy bean.  Maybe if it was something smaller, like petite peas or something it wouldn't be entirely distracting.  Taste wise, good call.  mildly spicy (also added some Sambal Oelek).  Good stuffs, after you get past the soybeans.

Hoisin Pork with Napa Cabbage

Blue Gate says they have Napa Cabbage, I'm like of course I need to make something with Napa Cabbage. So this was it.  It turned out pretty well, I had to make a special trip to find an acceptable Hoisin sauce.  

Spanish Style Chickpea Quesaddillas

Very quick, a little different, and still quite good.

Bangers and Roast potatoes

These were non-standard sausages.  I did not like the texture or the flavor of the spices.  Kind of ruined it for me.

Soboro Beef

Very simple, yet had a surprising depth of flavor.  Good stuffs.

2016 - Week 3 Cooking Results

Pasta e Fagioli

The warning in the recipe is right, this does not hold well, for the purpose of being a soup.  However, it basically turns into a rice dish the next day, which is perfectly fine.  Yes it felt as if the rice was a bit overdone, but for leftovers, can you expect anything else?  Good dish and a nice use of the parmesan rind (which I noticed I had over a pound of).

Creamy Pasta with Smoked Bacon and Peas

So this clearly needs to have some further thought put in it.  It says 10 slices of smoked bacon of pancetta.  Here's the problem, not all slices are the same.  Are they paper thin, like you'd get on a add bacon request at most places?  I stopped at 5 because I thought it was getting a bit much (almost an entire pound of thick cut bacon).  And when I say, that might be too much bacon, it's probably too much.

Still turned out pretty good.  Maybe more peas?

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

I can almost do this without even glancing at the recipe...  I almost forgot the caraway seeds, but I knew something was missing, so I looked.  Good things.

Sriracha chicken and Edamame Sandwiches (I'm only vaguely following this)

Delayed!

Buttermilk Pancakes

The whole point of this was to sample the Great River Maple bourbon barrel aged syrup.  I don't think I used enough (was afraid of using to much), but you could definitely smell an extra vanilla smell straight off.  I'm going to wait to make pancakes again before a decision is rendered, but preliminarily, it was pretty good.