Journal

2020 - Week 37 Cooking Results

Pasta

This became a garbage pasta. Not in that it was bad, but in that I used 3 partial packages of noodles, just to get rid of them. I had forgotten to take some sort of meat out of the freezer so I ended up using a whole pound of beef, I’ve been cutting my meat consumption in half. But it turns out that it was well over a pound of noodles (closer to 2), so it was probably a similar ratio. That being said, it turned out like it normally does. Pretty good.

Pork Burgers

These turned into lamb burgers. I was looking through the freezer drawer and wasn’t finding it and found a combo of half a pound of lamb and half a pound of mutton. Figured that’d work then went for it. I mixed them both together, probably not the point, and they pan seared up nice.

Kung Pao Chicken

I bought a bag of dried peppers at the Farmer’s Market a bit ago, the lady wasn’t sure I wanted them, and didn’t speak English so well, so I’m not sure what they were. So I am uncertain what dried peppers, but if they were the dried hot peppers that are supposed to be in the kung pow chicken. Or perhaps their age have weakened them (is that a thing for dried peppers?). Anyways, this was a bit of work, getting everything ready to go. I started the rice first as it was supposed to take about the time to cook that the recipe was supposed to made in. Then started things going. I got things prepped and went through the process. It was ok. I was expecting some heat, but there really wasn’t any, which is why I am so uncertain about the peppers.

I did remember having food like that with my father where we ended up both trying those hot peppers (and they are hot).

Anyways, ok, lots of active time, little in the way of breaks.

Chana Masala

This was simple to put together, as long as you have a food processor, I suppose. Some simple prep to make a dish that had a bit of heat (not to much) and some nice flavor to it, while still being vegetarian. I believe I described it as a warm hug. I served it with some naan.


Rioja-Style Potatoes with Chorizo and Peas

I was thinking I’d have to run to another store to get the Spanish style chorizo, but when looking for the pork, I found a package of D’Artagnan Spanish Style chorizo. It was on sale at my frequent grocery store (they don’t normally carry it), so i picked it up and tossed in the the freezer. And here my investment is paying off.

This turned out pretty good. I liked the sauce, and we used a bit of bread to sop it up. It was relatively easy to do.

2020 - Week 36 Cooking Results

Mexican Street Corn Salad

I remembered to have a gentle hand with the lime juice which can overwhelm this. also do now use the lime flavored chili powder that my aunt got for me. So I used jalapeño powder and just under the amount of lime juice. At least one person at Shannon’s work potluck thing wanted to have the recipe, so that’s a win.

Grilled Harissa Lamb Burgers

They were note really grilled, but I did cook them off in a pan. I also served them with a bit of feta. They were good, not too hard to make, and a good use of lamb.

Kimchi Chicken and Cabbage Stir-Fry Recipe

After I had to dump out the contents of my fridge, I had to restock a number of condiments, and this used most of the new jar of kimchi. It came together quickly, certainly more then the Lo Mein. It was good and I ate the leftovers. I did point out that I did need to pick up a few things (sherry) that apparently I drank all of.

Dublin Coddle

This took a bit. The baking time was noted as being 1.25 hours but at 1.25 hours The potatoes were still mostly raw. but who cooks something at325? I jacked up the heat a bit (400) and let it go for another 20 minutes, and then the potatoes were soft enough to eat.

I used my mandolin for the first time in a bit, and it was nice to flow through the potatoes real quick. I had some Lucky George bangers that I ordered from the Coop and used those.

Good, savory, and maybe not so good for you, but delicious to eat. Hunh. Apparently Irish bangers contain eggs, while English ones tend to not. I wonder if you could actually make those at a normal meat locker. Anyways, I wish I started earlier like I told my wife I would, but I got distracted as I am often am.

Stir-Fried Lo Mein Noodles With Pork and Vegetables Recipe

Lots of ingredients, and it did, eventually come together after all the prep work, it came together quite quickly and was fantastic.

2020 - Week 35 Cooking Results

Harissa Chickpeas With Fried Eggs

Many things taste good with eggs on top. Spicy chickpeas are among them.

Creamy Baked Pasta with Gruyère and Prosciutto

So it was sort of Mac and cheese? Without the roux or something resembling a normal sauce. But then you add a bit of Prosciutto Americano on top and ba bam. Good dinner.

Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad With Cucumbers, Red Peppers, and Basil

skipped, I plan to use the noodles for something else though.

Eggs & Bacon Biscuits

A little bit of the leftover bacon, some local eggs and some thawed locally made English muffins and you come up with nice simple dinner.

Pork Burgers

Took some pork, chopped up some jowl bacon, mixed it in with the pork along with a bit of salt and pepper. Cooked them off on the stove and after a bit of playing with the smoke alarm, eventually got them cooked off. Pretty good.

2020 - Week 34 Cooking Results

Taco Salad

Good as always. Hatch Guacamole was in the store which was a nice adjustment.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

Used some local carrots, and pulled this off pretty quickly after a stressful day. With a food processor shredding the carrots, this recipe is very very quick.

Confetti Pepper Chicken

That was a lot of work for something so bland. I thought perhaps adding some hatch peppers would add to it, but not so much. I’m sure it’s something that someone might like, but that’s not me, nor Shannon for that matter.

Harissa Chickpeas With Fried Eggs

Delayed!

Sticky Korean Beef

I made sure to do almost all the prep before I started. And it came together quite quickly. It has a fair balance of flavors, except on the heat part. I did add some samba olek after the fact which added the heat I often crave.

2020 - Week 33 Cooking Results

Skillet Tortellini with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

In theory, I could have made this in the dark…well not as bright kitchen. That being said it turned out pretty good. I got to use some Blue Gate cherry (style) tomatoes and it had a nice mixture of flavors. I think, in theory, one could get away with cutting the sausage in half.

Chicken Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Tired, made chicken burgers, may have eaten t0o many of the peanuts that would go into this, anyways. I may put it back on the list to try later.

BAT (Bacon Arugula and Tomato)

Fresh Tomatoes (this time from Grade A), some good bacon and ok sourdough bread. Good stuff.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

Delayed!

Pork Fried Rice With Corn and Shishito Peppers

While it tasted good, I am uncertain about the ratios. Basically on the amount of rice. It seems like it should’ve had a bit more. Yes it had quite a bit of a mix of ingredients. I quite enjoyed the number of shishito peppers in there (fresh from Grade A Gardens), and everything else seemed to balance out pretty well, but maybe have a cup more of rice? I dunno. Good, though. It reminded me that I need to replace the sambal oelek that I tossed, due to the fridge being without power for 55 hours.