Journal

2023 - Week 3 Cooking Results

We had some snow this week, and it was dense and heavy. I am grateful for the work the city does and the speed at which they do it, but they did leave 1.5 to 1.75 feet of snow in front of my driveway and it was quite heavy. Enough so I pulled something in my back. I’m starting to not notice it (days later), but it is still there.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Pork Tostadas

This was the third and final use of the pork butt, made a lot easier by having the pork already cut into pieces, I made some adjustments, due to the herbs and spice on hand (jalapeño and ancho powder instead of chipotle). The cooking made for a longer, but easy cooking night for a Saturday. We ended up having small tacos instead of the tostadas, and it was pretty good. I suppose the tostadas would work well too, but I don’t particularly like frying things.

Slow-Cooker Pork Ragu

The previous week’s vindaloo, left me with quite a bit of pork butt left, so I picked a couple of recipes to do with it. I really liked this. I made my first trip to the Aldi’s that just opened near me, and one of the things I picked up was pancetta, which was about a dollar cheaper then across the street at the Hy-Vee. Could I have done all my shopping there? Only if I shopped first and planned after. There’s not enough ingredients for my taste. It is a smaller store I suppose, but I also picked up a bottle of wine for the ragu.

I prepped everything Tuesday night so I could dump everything in the slow cooker in the morning, and this morning, drive my wife to work (snow), go to my cardiologist. The night before, I didn’t want to drink any of the wine, just in case I had a blood test, so I did the tasting method and spit afterwards. I didn’t end up having any labs, though I did get an EKG (Fine for another year).

I got everything int the slow cooker, and started my day. When I got back from the doctors, the house was already smelling pretty good. As the day wore on, it was rightfully unfair as I had to sit here and smell the pork and tomatoes meld together.

It was quite good. I probably should’ve skipped the added diced prosciutto, which may have added a bit to much fat to the whole thing, even so, still good.

French Toast

I changed the bowl, and soaked the leftover dense challah a bit more, and got into the grove of making the toast. We used the last of the maple syrup in the house, but I just ordered more (Food Coop).

Skillet Cheeseburger Macaroni

I used a full pound of macaroni, a bit more broth, and quite a bit more shredded cheddar. Pretty good.

Pork Burger

Momofuku spicy seasoned salt, pork.

Hot Dogs

All pork, all good.

2023 - Week 2 Cooking Results

On Friday morning, I went for coffee with a friend and former manager. While the conversation ranged far and wide, one thing he did convince me of, use the nice things. If you have them, use them. The sense of joy you can get out of it. It came from three examples, one of moving his mom from her house to an apartment. One was she didn’t like her every day plates, so just use the really nice ones she likes, same with the flatware vs the actual silverware. How much time does one have left to not enjoy the things you like. The other was with a suit coat that he bought, but only wore maybe once a year, even though it was expensive to him at the time. He keeps it in his closet as a reminder that you use the things you have. On a mildly drunk whim, I bought a fairly expensive neodymium low ball glass. I have a number of glasses that I drink whiskey from, some more or less expensive, most bought on a whim, but I had trouble bringing myself to use this one. I used it Friday night and had some nice whiskey out of it.

Brats

Om nom nom.

Pizza

Making of my pizza after a we bit of a break. All the bread flour I had was well past their time, so I dumped it thinking I could get more and, I could not. None, not just of my preferred brand, but none, at all. So I ended up using AP, which, is not the same. I also may have forgotten to mix the salt in, so I added it on the outside., after getting a bit of advice from my brother. The crust didn’t rise as much, or was as chewy, but far more dense. Not unpleasant, but not right. Everything else worked out ok, just disappointed in the dough.

Cheese and Meat day

Of the two Rush Creek Reserve rounds I bought, I still had one left, so I cut up some cured sausage, and some other cheese and we had an unhealthy dinner. This is the first time I’ve actually baked it, which gives a different experience.

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Of the options of pork butt, I took the smallest one which was still way more than I needed. I should have prepped the butt earlier but I didn’t so I delayed dinner a bit longer then I planned, while I extracted the bone. I ended up cubing off the entire butt, so I can use some more in the next week or so (tossing in the freezer). I ordered the Kashmiri chili powder from Amazon, though I suspect I need to get more familiar with some of the local shops. I used apple cider vinegar, instead of the coconut, as it was an acceptable alternative. I ended up using smoked hot paprika, and Jalapeño powder instead of cayenne. The general method to combine everything was pretty easy and led to a bit of snuggle time with Mani. I did end up using more dried spices so I added more water to counter balance that.

After the cooking, I served them with naan that I had gotten from the food coop (then froze) a bit ago. Good Saturday meal.

Triple Garlic Chicken Ramen

I made adjustments…ok I only used it as a suggestion, vaguely. I ended up cooking the chicken with the garlic and ginger and spicy season salt. Then made the ramen and combined the 2 with a fried egg on top. So not the same, but inspired by.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Ahh one of my favorite soups. Comes together well, takes a bit more time then a weeknight dinner, but not to bad. I always ad a bit of spicy hot sauce when I have leftovers, and it still does not disappoint.

2023 - Week 1 Cooking Results

Honey-Sriracha Shrimp over rice

Easy to do, good tasting, nice over rice.

Orecchiette with Shrimp, Pepperoncini, and Basil

I was going to make a general pasta a couple weeks ago, so this was the pasta that Shannon picked up. I didn’t end up making that pasta, so I figured, hey what can I do for this pasta type? And here we are. I made some adjustments, using dried basil, and less, since I don’t like basil. I added some Spicy Seasoned Salt, and used smaller shrimp then asked for.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I doubled the curry powder, tossed the chicken in the powder, rather than saving some for the pan. Turned out quite good.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I perhaps added more chicken (I usually go by Costco pack) and then just made it mostly as it asked for. Good soup (insert meme here).

Lamb Burgers

Added Spicy Seasoned Salt, mixed in with the lamb meat and pan fried them. Good things.

Brats

The La Quercia sausage I got when I ordered the mustard, was up to bat again! Still excellent.