Journal

2019 - Week 10 Cooking Results

Creamy Chicken Chowder with Garlic-Parmesan Oyster Crackers

I ran out of milk, so I added extra cream and water. I didn’t have the garlic or parsley, so they were just parmesan oyster crackers. It was pretty nice though. A nice flow of activity. I started a bit early so we would have enough time to medicate Freyja and drive out to see Captain Marvel. Made for a pretty good meal on a not as cold but really windy day.

Spanish Baked Rice with Chorizo and Chickpeas

I had leftover chorizo from the braised chicken thighs dish from a bit back. It worked well in this situation and this came out to be quite delicious. It took a bit, but couldn’t be helped. It had a lot of inactive time, which worked out well.

Cottage Bacon & Eggs on English muffins

Simple and good. Using cottage bacon from the freezer.

Beef Burgers

So when I was making the Spanish baked rice, I accidentally stuck my hand in the wrong box and opened up a tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes, because of this, I decided to go with sloppy joes. As I used my last can of diced tomatoes on the baked rice, I picked up a can as a side trip and got buns as well. I used some of the leftover BBQ rub in the mixture and it turned out pretty good.

Brats

Easy and simple.

2019 - Week 9 Cooking Results

Parmesan Minestrone with Chili Mayo Toasts

For being a recipe from a celebrity, this was pretty good. I think the chili oil used may be a bit more spicy then the one I picked up (learning the lesson that I should’ve taken the time to make my own). But pretty good overall. I did make some swaps, frozen green beans over canned, Pecorino Reserva over parmigiana, because I picked up the wrong cheese from the fridge.

Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles

I really enjoyed this. It was spicy, but not to spicy that Shannon would have issues, like a building spice. Meaty and fairly consistent throughout. It really should be a standard. I used about a pound of dried noodles (costco ftw) that I had around the house. It did use the last of my plain ground pork. Which is, I suppose, part of my goal of emptying out the freezer.

Sous Vide Pork Chop (Lucky George)

I need a vent hood, so I can effectively finish things at high temperature. After dealing with the smokey main level of the house, the pork chop was pretty good.

Deer Burgers (Thanks Charlie!)

We had to start Freyja on medication for hyperthyroidism, and she does not take medication very well…at all (we were both injured). So my original thought of doing a couple of separate smaller versions didn’t work out very well. I stuck to just a bunch of butter and salt and pepper. Still pretty good.

Spanish Baked Rice with Chorizo and Chickpeas

Delayed!

2019 - Week 8 Cooking Results

Tomato Curry Chicken

Too much condensed tomato soup taste. It was not an ingredient in a larger balanced dish, but just overwhelmed everything else.

Chorizo & Chickpea Braised Chicken Thighs

I adjusted this quite a bit. Well, some. I had some leftover onions so I added those to the mixture. So it ended up having quite a bit more stuff around the chicken then chicken itself, which was fine. It turned out to be quite tasty. Good stuff. There is a lot of the stuff around the chicken left so I’ll probably make some rice to put it over for lunch.

Pasta With Sausage, Basil and Mustard

This was surprisingly simple and delicious. As a fan of mustard, this really is right up my alley. I had to slow down the process as I waited for the water to boil. I did, however, leave the pan on very very low, while we were eating, so I over cooked the leftovers a bit, so I can’t report on how they were, fairly. It’s a good thing.

Chicken Salad

I have been getting home later than I intend to this week and combined with my recent desire to nap after work. So an hour or so of running the sous vide, didn’t seem to be the way to go, so I planned on a snack. I got everything put together and got the chicken going. Then took the snack downstairs to Shannon and we watched TV for a bit while the chicken cooked with the salt, lemon and tarragon. Shortly after the minimum time finished, I headed back upstairs to finish the recipe. I didn’t follow it fully as I know how to make a chicken salad. I should’ve let it cool down further, but it was already closing in on 8:PM. So I mixed them in with the mayo and mustard and vegetables and served them on rolls and it was pretty good. I like the process of it because you have a nice perfectly cooked chicken as a basis for a salad. There is, however, something to be said for the torn chicken from a rotisserie, but even so, it’s a nice alternative with a bit of extra fat and flavor from chicken thighs.

Hamburgers

White park beef, good stuff.

2019 - Week 7 Cooking Results

I have been trying to make notes throughout the week of cooking to make these more accurate to the feelings that I had at the time making them. Clearly this week got away from me (I’m playing the “Why is Sam tired” game again). I’ve tried to adjust the process a bit for how I collect recipes to make too. So I have a list of things I might want to make that I do throughout the week, rather then just waiting for for Sunday morning to go through a weeks worth of email and bookmarks. It kind of distributes the effort through the week, rather then making a large burden all at once. It also works better when my emotions aren’t particularly cooperating.

For Valentines Shannon picked the Cheese Bar. They did a fantastic job.

Halal Cart-Style Chicken and Rice With White Sauce

Perhaps it’s because I didn’t take the time to toast the rice, as I started dinner a bit late and it was this or Shepherd’s pie. But the rice was not quite done, but didn’t have more time to really play more. So that as a distraction, this still came together really well. I like the flavor combination of the sauce and the chicken and rice. I had it for breakfast for the next several days.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I could have sworn I bought wild rice. I could’ve sworn I put it away, but when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find it so I used some leftover jasmine and basmati rice. I really liked the way this turned out. And I think I’ll have to do it again with wild rice.

Taco Salad

an old standby for the win.

Coconut Apple Ginger Dal

This ended up being more filling then I expected. It was savory and sweet at the same time, which was pretty nice. It had some long cooking times, also a plus, because it allowed me to rest my eyes for a bit.

Shepherd’s Pie

I make the shepherd’s joke almost every time I make this, as it’s included in the recipe. I know I bought the mutton in the mid to late fall from Lucky George with the intentions of making Alton Brown’s version of a Shepherd’s Pie. I added a bit more Worcestershire sauce, didn’t particularly measure the corn and peas. I had a bit more mutton then called for, but what I’m I going to do with a faction of a pound of mutton? I had some potatoes that I bought from the last winter market and peeled them, only to remember how annoying peeling small potatoes can be. To save a pan, I finished it in my 12” pan. I should’ve had a bit more potatoes, I think. Oh well. Still came out really good. I bought a bottle of Champagne for New Years that we didn’t end up opening, so we had it with the Pie. It was a nice contrast.

2019 - Week 6 Cooking Results

Porter Bacon Mac & Cheese

In selecting the porter to use, I was thinking of going to a bells porter, but ended up with the Alaskan Brewing Company Smoked Porter. As I am no longer on limited sauce I was able to finish off the beer myself. Pretty good. So making the sauce I may have added a bit too much butter, but it still came together pretty well. I used more pans then the recipe called for so I could get the sauce started while the pasta was finishing. I used a whole package of (just over a pound) of large black pig bacon from Lucky George Farm. After combining everything in the pan I made the sauce in, I dusted them with some buttered breadcrumbs. Baked it off and it turned out really good. A bit of smokey flavor from the porter, nice cheese and bacon flavor. Good things.

Coconut Apple Ginger Dal

Delayed (went to dinner with the Mattas)!

Beef and Bean Soup

It’s chili, with a lot more chicken stock. We had some leftover corn chips (not Fritos). It was pretty good.

Boogaloo Wonderland Sandwiches

This was interesting. Ground beef, onions, softened up, then add something like a ketchup based bbq sauce. Baked and melted cheese and sauced. Kind of like a sloppy joe, but not as juicy. I couldn’t bring myself to use American cheese, so I topped it with Holey Cow. It went over ok. I think I liked it more than Shannon did.

Fish

So this time around I seared off the tuna steaks after getting them up to almost the right temperature. I may have left them in the pan a touch to long, but I feel like I’m getting the hang of this. So like an extra 30 seconds too long.

2019 - Week 6 Cooking

For the month of January, per Shannon’s a request, I did a sober(ish) January. I had one beer a week at the cheese shop (traditions are important to me). We both agreed that when I went to Cedar Rapids for an overnight for work, that it didn’t count. I started a bit late, so the 5th will be 4 weeks of mostly sober living. Meh. I get it. And it’s important, and clearly don’t need to drink as much as I do at my peaks. But I’ll be happy to be able to add and cook with it again.