Journal

2020 - Week 10 Cooking Results

Latvian Stew (I will admit this is based on the description in A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which I found to be so intriguing, that I have to try it)

So, I generally stick to cookbooks, trusted websites and friends suggestions. A lot of people out there don’t have enough information (I suppose this also includes some websites and cookbooks) or notes, or directions. But I wanted to make this stew I read the description of. So I did some googling and came up with a couple of versions, and this one seemed about right (maybe a little light on the spices). That being said, I got a number of doubtful looks when I told people I was making a stew with apricots. But after the 2ish hours of work (a big chunk of that was getting the meat off the bone and chunking it out from there) and about an hour and a half in the oven simmering, it came out to be this silky, mildly spicy, with undertones of mild sweetness. It really was joyful and worth the effort. I ate it with a bottle of an Australian blended wine (Cullen) suggested by a friend at the Cheese Shop.

I used 4 / 6 of my cutting boards.

I am uncertain if the hotel that was in my dreams last night was my picturing of the hotel in book (the dream ended up being an anxiety work dream, if I’m honest), but it seemed like it was that similar grand, but worn down.

Wonderful meal.

Sloppy Bison

Chopped onion, olive oil, pinch of this that and the other, a bit of mustard, diced tomatoes and tomatoes sauce. I’d try to tell you the spices, but honestly, no idea what I used.

Grilled Cheese of some sort

We ended up going out instead. I have the cheese and mortadella, I’ll probably do it Sunday.

Fish of some sort.

Lovely tuna steak, salt, pepper, sous vide and finished in a pan. Getting pretty good at that method. Pink on the inside a pretty good sear on the outside. I should probably turn the pan up a bit, but I also like to avoid the smoke alarm. I need a vent fan.

2020 - Week 10 Cooking

One thing I have noticed in the past couple of weeks, is it is really hard for me to do more complicated programming and listen to new music at the same time. On some simpler things, I’m able to mildly split my focus and do both, but working on the logic of more complicated things, it’s hard to have something in my head that I’m not particularly familiar with. Normally I would listen to music on Monday afternoon while I had run out of podcasts, where I seem to be able to compartmentalize them pretty well, but the last several weeks, this really hasn’t been option.

  • Latvian Stew (I will admit this is based on the description in A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which I found to be so intriguing, that I have to try it)

  • Sloppy Bison

  • Grilled Cheese of some sort

  • Fish of some sort.

2020 - Week 9 Cooking Results

Things got a bit weird due to some minor exhaustion on my part. Luckily I was able to regenerate on Friday by doing minor chores (picking new glasses, picking up prescriptions, etc), mindless things (refilling prescription containers) and napping. As a minor coincidence, both Shannon and I went to the same place to eat, though nearly four hours apart.

Turkey and Bean Chili

I made this Sunday afternoon. I liked the way that it started with whole dried peppers (even though I didn’t have all the kinds, cause of course). Which made me rethink that it would be a better method to make chili in general. By allowing the dried peppers to re-hydrate in warm stock then blending it all together it seems like you get a bit more consistent flavor throughout. Though I suppose I could be imagining things, since I can’t remember having grit or the inconsistent flavor from other chilies that I’ve made with just ground dried peppers. It was an interesting process though, and made some pretty good chili.

Chicken and Rice Meatballs With Hummus

These were easy to make, and would’ve been easier had I remembered to make the rice beforehand (associated with the curry or menudo). they came together well and were nice with the hummus that I bought. Easy dinner that just got passed over a couple of times.

Chicken Massaman Curry With Wheat Beer and Potatoes

So I stopped at 3 stores with no luck, and while I could’ve ordered it from amazon to make it that week, that seemed a bit excessive. I think I need to add some smaller specialty markets to my go rounds. Or at least find something that has a reliably good selection of ingredients that I would occasionally use. I didn’t realize, when I started, how much this would make, so I had to call a lot of audibles. Initially I thought the normal green curry paste I had in would work, but considering this was supposed to be a mild curry, I didn’t want to had the whole 8oz of paste, so I added the 4oz jar, diluted with a bit of water. I could’ve sworn that I had star anise pods, but I did not. So I looked up a reasonable conversion and didn’t have 5 spice powder, or ground anise, so I ended guessing on some cloves. Other then that, I generally followed the recipe. it still worked out pretty good. I think that’s one of the things that comes with making a lot of food, is you can call an audible and it’ll still turn out ok. This is not exactly a weeknight dinner thing I suppose, but it worked on a Saturday afternoon.

Ground Pork Menudo

Delayed!

Taco Salad

Good, as always.

2020 - Week 8 Cooking Results

Orecchiette with Broccoli, Anchovies, and Chiles

Simple preparation. The savoriness of the anchovies didn’t stand out against the broccoli, nor did the heat. It was still good, but having more heat and anchovies would probably be better. I may do this again, with some adjustments. I’ll have to see how many anchovy filets are left in the jar I bought.

Turkey and Bean Chili (may get pushed into Sunday)

Pushed into Sunday.

Chicken With Tomato and Turmeric Rice

The chicken was well seasoned, but that didn’t seem to disburse out to the rest of the rice. Still good. I used the rice I had on hand, so it took a bit longer to cook (another half an hour).

Grilled Bologna Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls

So these probably fall into the “old ways” cooking of high fat, high flavor. It was good, but eating I was thinking about how I shouldn’t be eating it. That being said, I also at the leftovers the next morning for breakfast. I used Mortadella and Holey Cow, but other then that followed the recipe for the most part.

Bison Burgers

I made these very simply. A bit of salt, low and slow. Good things. I ordered another 5# from a local producer.

2020 - Week 7 Cooking Results

Chicken and Potato Curry

Simple dish, I adjusted the spices a bit, not to much, to what I had on hand (chile powder to…a specific chile that I cannot recall right now). I did have to make some adjustments, as I added more chicken and potato then called for (as that was what the on hand had, without leaving leftovers. so I added a bit more water. I do regret that I forgot to add the heavy cream at the end, as I do think it would’ve added a nice finishing touch to add to the over all dish.

Bulgarian Moussaka

I had a package of Lucky George….ground meat, where the label had mostly rubbed off. I suspect pork, as, generally, their beef is in brown paper. But I was not certain, as this recipe called for either pork or beef, it seemed like an opportune time to use it, since it would be fine either way.

It turned out to be pork.

I found this dish to be curious, ti was wonderful and filling but the combination of yogurt, flour, eggs and baking soda to make a topping to it was interesting. It created a mildly gelatinous topping that had a nice yogurt flavor that went well with the rest of the elements.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

While fresh, the addition of greens to a soup can be wonderful thing, but often does not do much if you have leftovers. As I thought this might be the case, I skipped the kale addition. However, due to a bit of an adventure with Freyja, the soup condensed down quite a bit more then expected. So it ended up being just more then 2 servings.

We have been struggling the last few days in finding a Freyja to give her the twice daily does of medication. I did, see her, after she skipped out on a dose, calmly walk out from under the guest bedroom’s bed (I quickly grabbed her and gave her the medication she almost missed). After further investigation, when she was again trying to skip a medication dose again. I then after inspecting under the bed, finder her. To be honest I found Mani first which, I believe allowed me to notice further down, there was the Freyja, as she blended into the under-bed darkness. Several years ago, Moonshadow would sneak up into a cut int he fabric at the bottom of the box spring and hide away from us (especially around medication taking time). As we tore this out quite a bit ago, it was no longer really an option. However, with the addition of an under bed container, Freyja’s newest spot, is on top of the container in the box spring. Making her very hard to see, and near impossible to grab. So while we were trying to get her out from under the bed (removed the storage container, then she went to the wall, making also hard to get her), I over reduced the soup, as I only intended to bring it to a boil while finding her (then turn it to simmer). It was at a rolling boil when I got back to it.

Turkey Burgers

I used the Savory Momofuku Seasoned Salt and mixed it into the turkey. As there is not much in the way of guidance, I made a guess as to how much should be used. I added a bit more then the amount of salt and pepper that I would use for the pound in a half that was there. It seemed to add a bit more of an oomph then I thought to expect. But had a nice addition to the flavor profile of the turkey. It was a good add. I look forward to adding the others to something simple to get a general idea of what they do, though the spice level may leave me a little cautious as I do not want to make it to much for my dear wife.

Orecchiette with Broccoli, Anchovies, and Chiles

Delayed!

2020 - Week 6 Cooking Results

Spicy Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

I was looking at the noodles going into this and thinking yeah I could put the whole thing in there. It was a good thing I didn’t. They rice noddles sucked up some of the liquid and expanded out. If I would’ve added the whole package of noodles, it would’ve ended up being a noodle dish, which would’ve been fine to, I suppose.

Chicken and Potato Curry

Delayed (Gusto Pizza for Oscar Sunday)!

Bulgarian Moussaka

Delayed (Cheese Bar early Valentines)!

Sweet Potato Burritos p198 (Power Vegetables!)

So some spices on some sweet potatoes. A bit of a roast, then combining them with other burrito ingredients. It was pretty good. A nice way to have a vegetarian dish. I also combined some black beans and diced tomatoes and simmered them down quite a bit. Good, filling, nice.

Bison Burgers

Good things.