Journal

2016 - Week 47 Cooking / Thanksgiving Results

Anthony Bourdain's Mac & Cheese

Probably the most expensive mac & cheese I've made, but to be fair, I did make choices to make it more expensive.  I used Red Table Meats the Royal, and then a bunch of cheese from the cheese shop to combine to make this.  It was quite good.

Grilled Cheese

Simple and quick, as is it should be for this week.

Hamburger

Om nom nom.

Leftovers?

So we were on our own for Thursday night, and Friday night, but on Saturday, I took some of the leftover turkey breast, diced it up, some potatoes, peeled and pre-cooked them a bit in the microwave, tossed in the leftover green bean dish, covered it in gravy & some chicken stock, then covered it with leftover mashed potatoes.  Prep was almost nil, though it still did take ~ an hour to come up to an acceptable temperature.

Thanksgiving turned out pretty well.  Some audibles and to be made.  Since the turkey was so big (27 pounds), it took for damn ever to thaw.  I had to use my oldest chefs knife to literally saw through to get the turkey breasts off so I could brine them.  Because of that I was also unable to make turkey stock ahead of time (for gravy and etc).  I would've had time to make rolls, but I was starting to get tired, at nights, so I picked up rolls.

My assistant this year changed, I traded in the older reliable model for the younger less knowledgable one.  I only had to correct him once.  The take away is when you are done with an ingredient, put it away, especially in a tiny kitchen like mine, where counter space is at an absolute premium.  Things were simplified from last year, knowing that I wouldn't have the same level of help.  Isaac worked out good though, he took a whole dish off my care (which was commented on in positive terms by a lot of people).

While Isaac was making the sherried sweet potatoes when the sherry cork, well fell apart.  After extracting it, we had to, well drink the rest of the Sherry, so it was a good thing to have.  (according to my uncle in law's app it was in the top 7% of all Sherry).  

The bacon from Whole foods was to thick.  But other then that things turned out as expected.  Everything was pretty good.  Another Thanksgiving in the books.

FFS, really forget the pictures?  Updating to include the pictures.

2016 - Week 47 Cooking

So this week we've got Thanksgiving, so there will be simple cooking.  I'll probably do a good chunk of that shopping on Tuesday.  We adulted and on the recommendation of the appliance repair guy (who came and re-repaired the oven), we are replacing our washing machine, which has survived just over 12.5 years.  The benefit of getting a new one, is the added technology features, and the much bigger capacity, allowing us to wash things like the comforters, without having to go to a laundromat (which is fine, just inconvenient).  Estimated repair cost (without labor) is almost half of the on sale price of what we got.  We'll be getting it delivered and hooked up pretty soon.

We added another cat to our house, more like took over the care of another cat that was family related.  So we're pushing into the crazy cat people territory.  There has been quite a bit of adjustment to the cat dynamic.  So we'll have to be patient as the various levels of cat hierarchy organization are re-built.  We've updated all her shots, got her tested and have a follow up booster already scheduled.  Then we also have an estimate for some dentistry.  It has balanced out the house by gender, with Myself, Loki and Máni on one side, and Shannon, Moonshadow and Freyja on the other.  Hopefully this settles out soon.

I also had to say farewell to my brother as he headed out west.  Clearly I have mixed feelings about this.

2016 - Week 46 Cooking Results

Dried Beans & Hocks & Parmigiano Reggiano Rinds into...something

So my brother used the beef stock and reduced it down...which was great since it was unsalted, it didn't build down to extra salted.  He didn't use the rinds, like I suggested, but it was his call, and I was happy to come home on a Monday (or Tuesday? though I was late, very late), be able to just dish up some beans and put them over rice.  Good stuffs, and everything that went into it, was something I already had (local dried beans, hock from crooked gap, etc)

Loaded Hot Dogs with Chipotle Mayo (modified)

Pork Hot Dogs from Crooked Gap, but other then that it was pretty much following the recipe.  Good stuff, maybe a little salty (fritos are really salty to me now).  Hey look at that, there is a lightly salted fritos...

Ham & Mushroom Quesadillas

A bit more prep then one might think for quesadillas, but it made for a pretty good meal.

Anthony Bourdain's Mac & Cheese

Delayed!

Crispy Skillet Turkey Burgers

Pretty good stuff, maybe a little more carb heavy then I should have, though.  Which I suppose is the drawback here.  You could get away with using a bit less bread crumbs, and try to get some of the crust from the cheese?  Anyways  Good stuffs.

Thanksgiving 2016 - Finalized

Appetizers

Bread

Mains

Desserts

Updated 11/23 to adjust for time constraints and the turkey remaining frozen.

2016 - Week 45 Cooking Results

Hamburgers w/ Kraut

Again, simple and good.

Mini-Sloppy Joe's with mushrooms

A nice combination of flavors, apparently including maple syrup (I didn't make them).

Scrambled Eggs & Sausage

Going simply this week, and what is more simple this this?

Buttermilk Pancakes & Sausage

No big stack, just a serving with a bit of maple syrup, but I do like pancakes.

Steak v Chicken

This turned into taco salad.  Started the steak first, covered in chili powder, then added the chicken, then added tomatoes and etc.  Good stuff, probably more carbohydrates then I originally intended for the meal (almost none) but still a good meal.

Thanksgiving 2016 - Draft / notes

Appetizers

  • Carrots, Celery, Cornichons - Tuesday

  • Classic Cheddar Cheese Ball - Tuesday

  • Underground Meats Summer Sausage - Do on day of, when preparing snack tray

  • Crackers (Bought variety, buying another batch still)

  • Glogg?

Bread

Mains

Desserts

2016 - Week 44 Cooking Results

Pumpkin Lasagna (Dinner Party)

The 3rd annual post-market dinner party.  Happy to make food for people and have a good time.  I trimmed out the prosciutto from last year, because while it did add a nice flavor, it may not break cleanly.  So I used some of the borsellino salami diced up to add a bit of extra deliciousness.  

Side coolneess:  Béchamel sauce stirring.

So the brownies were pretty good, however, I'm pretty sure I followed the recipe (may have opted for better chocolate then the recipe intended, and it was not, as they intended, to create a "swirl" effect, because the brownie batter was so thick, it was clearly not conducive to swirling.  I'll have to try it again, at some point.  Taste was right on.  Served with a bit of Vanilla Ice Cream (which I think I have a new favorite).

Dijon & Cognac Beef Stew (may be delayed until Sunday)

I had a house guest made this on Friday, which was nice because a. I didn't have to think about cooking on Friday, and b. it was really fantastic.  Since I don't believe that there is any Cognac in the house, Jonnie Walker Red was used.  It was really, really good.

Brats with my own Kraut (under the supervision of Brett)

OMG, I made a thing, it was good!  MUST FERMENT ALL THE THINGS!  To do this, I clearly will need to set up a place to store fermented things.

Turkey Sliders (Alton Brown: Every Day Cook, p63)

Couldn't find all the ingredients, so I had to take a pass on following the recipe.  I think the missing miso would make a pretty big difference overall, so the fact that I checked 4 stores (admittedly two with a very low likelihood of carriage).  Anyways, I had a much simpler slider, with harissa.

Steak v Chicken

So Shannon is not a big beef fan.  I've been buying and making cuts of beef (generally tougher cause I like the flavor) for the iron.  Personally I prefer pork, Shannon prefers chicken.  So in this case, I made two things, cause I love my wife and you know...leftovers of each isn't bad.  Served with a simple salad on the side.