Journal

2020 - Week 32 Cooking Results

I barely cooked this week. Thursday, I threw together some pasta with some canned goods, onions and pulled out some still frozen sausage from the freezer (much like, if not exactly like, last week’s pasta). Late Tuesday, I threw out almost everything in the fridge.

So with that:.

Nasi Goreng

Didn’t happen.

Skillet Tortellini with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

Didn’t happen.

Chicken Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Didn’t happen.

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Didn’t happen.

BAT (Bacon Arugula and Tomato)

Didn’t happen.

2020 - Week 31 Cooking Results

Spaghetti and Italian sausage sauce

This is one of the things that is nearly never the same. The only significant change, was when I halved the meat in it. I caught some flack from a nurse monitoring me, when I explained how I had no idea what the fat content on the sausage was, or the beef I use, other then general guesses. There are Things I am willing to do to help in my health, less meat? sure, making meat be dry and meh with no fat? No.

Tuna Melt

I forgot to buy things like celery to put in here, so I ended up with small diced carrots and some peppers. It worked, but only just barely. This was done because on my last trip to Costco, specifically to buy gin, I still took a walk through, looking for gloves for administering medication for Freyja and stumbled on a multi-pack of tuna. I gave it a shot, it’s pretty good.

Egg and Bacon Sandwich on English muffin

Good as always, used the last up of that Lucky George bacon.

Nasi Goreng

Delayed?

Tarragon-Mustard Chicken Skewers (modified)

The tarragon looked a bit gross, so I skipped it. I ended up making it a little spicy. Stone ground dijon mustard, some hot honey that I got for Christmas, the lemon juice and garlic. Added a bit of dried mild pepper spice and set them in the fridge for a soak.

Eventually I took them out of the fridge and put them in a 400F oven on a half sheet pan and rack. and had them get some color on them. They turned out quite fantastic. Like enough so I wish I had written down the combination and ratios of items. This seems like a thing I’ll have to do again.

I served them on some giant flatbread (larger then a plate), halved (one for each of us) with fresh Blue Gate tomatoes, onions and perhaps some mustard. Good dinner.

2020 - Week 30 Cooking Results

Sam’s Pizza w/ Lost Lake Mozzarella and La Quercia Pepperoni

CJ gave me a taste of the La Quercia pepperoni and Lost Lake had their first mozzarella of the season, so this was meant to be. Getting back into the groove if it I started it the previous week so it would be ready on Sunday for dinner. It all worked out together. That pepperoni is quite good. I’ve had a few and this is certainly right up there.

Lamb Burgers

Ended up being mutton from Lucky George. Added a bit of salt, pepper and a bit of the Tingly Momofuku Seasoned Salt. Good Things.

Breakfast Burrito With Scrambled Egg, Chorizo, and Refried Beans

Simple, I used Crooked Gap chorizo, which is not as fatty or as thinly ground as Mexican chorizo you might buy at the store. Even so it ended up as a tasty easy dinner, though that might not have been their intent. I did end up using my blowtorch and a fork to fire roast the pepper. I will state for the record that the flame from the torch is hard to see in the bright light of day.

Hungarian Chicken and Noodles With Cabbage

Fresh Cabbage from Blue Gate. I think it was missing paprika, perhaps even smoked paprika. Even so, it was pretty good and pretty simple to make.

Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake

This was not a Parmesan bake. Reading the comments on the recipe, they replied to the complaint about the lack of Parmesan, and they said it ended up better that way. This seems like a load of poppycock. I would think at least a combination of mozzarella and Parmesan would be a compromise to getting what you wanted as opposed to titling it with the word Parmesan and not actually having Parmesan in it. This was disappointing in what I would’ve expected. They could’ve called it a Chicken Pasta Bake and I would’ve been happy (ish). Under-spiced, no Parmesan. Still ok, but really disappointed. Used the Lost Lake Mozzarella.

2020 - Week 29 Cooking Results

Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera

Decided against this! I got confused as to the days of the week since I was off on Monday.

Cemita Burger With Refried Beans, Chipotle Mayo, Avocado, and Oaxacan Cheese

Followed this for the most part, made the parts, may not have mad as flat a burger as called for. Ended up putting it on sourdough, which was pretty good. I did melt the cheese over the burgers, which I don’t normally do (I don’t like fully melted cheese for good cheese). And though a bit messy, it was a good flavor combination.

Spiced Chickpeas Gyros with Tahini Yogurt

The texture was ok. I’m sure they don’t mean it to be smooth like hummus, because they used a potato masher, but maybe something more then not gritty, but something similar to that. It was ok.

Seattle Chicken Teriyaki

So I suspect the chicken would’ve turned out better had I actually cooked them over a fire. Allowing the excess liquid to drip away. I suppose I could’ve used a half sheet pan with a grate to have the same effect, now that I think about this. But I cooked them in skillets in the oven (my 12” skillet was still dirty and going through the dishwasher again). But even so it tasted pretty good. Simple over rice.

Taco Salad

Good as always.

2020 - Week 28 Cooking Results

Baked Ziti with Ricotta

I waited for later in the week to do this (waiting on the Cheese Shop to pull mozzarella). As it was getting hotter in the week, maybe making it this week was a mistake.

Boiling water for the pasta
Reducing sauce in another pan
The oven going.

It was quite warm in the kitchen.

That being said, it turned out pretty good. After visiting the Cheese Shop, I tried a new pepperoni they had brought in and on that thought, I said this would be nice with the green onion sausage mixed in and I could add the pepperoni to the pizza. But alas, not this time.

West Indian Rice and Beans

I followed (ish) the recipe and came up with something. Bean forward, but still nice. I added this over flat bread and sprinkled a bit of cheese over the top. I ate the leftovers the next couple of days the same way, except a dash or two of hot sauce. Filling, taste and a nice vegetarian option.

Eggs And Bacon

Opened a package of bacon from the freezer, working on using the bacon. Ended up with scrambled eggs and bacon with a side of buttermilk biscuits.


Sam’s Pizza (retry, now with bread flour and yeast)

Checked mid-week and the dough has already risen, so I’m doing better there. Already doing better than last time.

The dough was quite a bit more springy, and I had an issue getting it stretched out to the entire pan. I kept working at it.

I started to put the pizza layers together, then remembered I hadn’t cooked up the sausage yet. So with he sauce on the dough, I cooked up the sausage and continued.

I added 2 more minutes to my own time. It didn’t look done enough. At 14 minutes, and ok at 16. I’m curious if my old oven and new oven’s 500ºF is a bit different. So I’m going to have to experiment a bit with the placement of the rack, maybe putting it on the lowest setting to crisp up the crust a bit.. but then you don’t want the the toppings to undercook, nor the crust to over cook…

Anyways, way more successful than last time. Better crust, rise and the expected chew.

Hamburgers

Salt, Devon beef from Lucky George, and a pan. Good things.