Journal

2021 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

So I had a delicate balance here. I wasn’t sure where to start, and I wanted to avoid getting the heat to be too much for Shannon. So without guidance, I had to guess. And it really wasn’t as spicy as I wanted (that gentle space on the edge of Shannon’s tolerance. 


Also, Fresh Iowa strawberries and whipped cream.

Lamb Brats

Option presented by Ethan, at Crooked Gap, it has the spices of a brat and the taste of lamb. Quite good.

Charred Red Pepper and White Bean Salad

I assumed this would require me to turn the oven on, and on a particular, perhaps the broiler, so when it was quite hot out, I said, nah. But apparently, it did not. So I guess I’ll try again next week.

Spiced Beef Pitas

So I trimmed this down a bit, Pretty much just did the spiced beef. I served it with naan, instead of pita, cause that’s what I had. We were in a rush, cause, for some reason, we were running late. Combo of me picking up Shannon a bit late, find out out to pick up our CSA share, and Shannon working until 5. We did get Shannon’s car detailed that day, and they did a fantastic job. It’s really to bad we live close to very large trees that drop pollen all the time.

Slow-Cooker Citrus-Braised Chicken Tacos

I started getting things ready after running downtown to pick up from Blue Gate, stopping at Daisy Chain Coffee to get a bit of a pick me up. It was pretty easy to prep the parts ready for cooking in the crock pot. I wanted to add a bit of heat, so I added a bit of Momofuku spicy salt, and some chipotle powder. I set it for 5 hours on low, then ran off to the store to get some cream, and sour cream.

I then spent a good chunk of that time working with Shannon to hang some window treatments. some black out curtains for our bedroom and a translucent set for the new windows in the living room. I used my handy drill and followed the directions. I even had Shannon do one because my left hand is dumb. I watched a quick video on hanging stuff on plaster. Things are looking pretty good.

After taking a break, listening to a bit of music, medicating the cats, I got to work finishing off dinner. I cooked off a lot of the liquid, while prepping a lot of the other things, spilled a bit, added a bit of salt.

All and all, a pretty good meal, without a ton of effort.

I did, however, use the last of the Cheese Bar Batch 1 Hot Sauce, which is sad, but now I’ll get to head into batch 2.

Also, Iowa strawberries and whipped cream, cause ‘tis the short season for it.

2021 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Brats & Burgers

We went to Cheese Bar’s Lua Luau Sunday, and I may have over ate / drank, it was no longer reasonable for me to make one of these, but instead, Shannon picked up something on the way home. Due to the lack of plans on Memorial Day, I made Brats for lunch and burgers for dinner. Good meals.

Gochujang noodle bowl

I ended up doubling this recipe, except the pork. I also skipped the sesame seeds. It was pretty good. Maybe a bit more sauce? I did get through most of my toasted sesame oil, so I can swap to the Momofuku version.

Cumin Scented Chicken

Shannon came home wanting pizza, but I wanted to use the chicken so I tossed this recipe, took the chicken tenderloins tossed them when a bit of salt and savory seasoning and baked them off. We had sandwiches.

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

Delayed!

Tuna melts

I had been watching a presentation for most of the day, while people were installing windows in the living room and our main better. Shannon came downstairs to feed the kids after getting home from work, and we were just waiting for them to finish. I wasn’t sure I had bread in the freezer, but I did so I quickly mixed up some tuna salad and got the tuna melts going. Not my best work, as the tuna salad was a bit more liquid then it should be.

2021 - Week 21 Cooking Results

This was a particularly unproductive week, as far as cooking goes.

Brats

Good things.

Pasta

Italian sausage, penne rigate, tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Good things.

Gochujang noodle bowl

Delayed!

Cumin Scented Chicken

Delayed!

Breakfast Burrito With Scrambled Egg, Chorizo, and Refried Beans Recipe

Pretty easy to put together and I used the leftover beans to have burritos a number of the days then I transitioned into wraps (Cheese and turkeys). Good quick meal overall.

2021 - Week 20 Cooking Results

Ground Turkey and Peppers

WTF was this? It was bland. I thought great, something else to do with ground turkey. I regret the time I spent on this. It was so bland it was hard to doctor up to be tasteful.

Soy Braised Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Rice

A bit of acid, heat, sweet and savory? This was delicious. I have been working my way through a tub of Gochujang, and this was a wonderful use for it. It was a good weekend dinner. I served mine with extra chili church and Shannon passed.

Pasta e Piselli

I saw this and thought maybe it would compare well with the serious eats version. It is entirely a different type of thing. I add a bit more cheese. Now that I read this intro, it makes sense on how soupy it was. I guess, I should not assume that similar, not the same words, aren’t the same things.

Kimchi Bokkeumbap

Another use of Gochujang, a nice flavor profile, curious for other versions to see how they stand up. I didn’t end up using the seaweed, as I was not sure that the seaweed I had was the type that was needed, so I skipped it. Other then that I stayed pretty close to the recipe. Good things.

Burger

Local beef, delicious.

2021 - Week 19 Cooking Results

We both took Friday off, we had planned to meet my parents at a state park in between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, but it looked like it might rain, so we just met them in Cedar Rapids instead. Mom served a nice meal, and we chatted for several hours. Afterwards, I dropped off a bottle of whiskey that I had bought on behalf of Nathan and a beer, and ended up dining out (post CDC change) with the Matta family. Though we were in a very loud section of the restaurant it was nice to spend time, joke, chat, and just be with people.

Pasta Alla Zozzona

Interesting process to get a wonderful flavor. I quite enjoyed this pasta. I ended up using puréed whole tomatoes, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen “passata”…anywhere. This’ll have to get made again.

I did have to make an adjustment cause I though i had red pepper flakes, but I did not, so I used a bit of jalapeño powder. I’ll need to make a list for all spice.

Spicy Orecchiette With Tuna, Peas, and Lemon Recipe

I made the effort to get a spendy jar of tuna. This was fantastic, but was it so fantastic that it was worth 3 times the price of the tuna, I normally buy? Perhaps. Comes together pretty quickly, and surprisingly enough, the cats only noticed when we started eating dinner. Red pepper flakes substitution applied on this as well.

Ground Turkey and Peppers

A bit of a long day, surprise end of day work, so I didn’t feel cooking, so, Delayed!

Soy Braised Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Rice (if I can find Sweet Potatoes)

We went out to the Cheese Bar, and ate there, So Delayed until today.

Taco Salad

Went with just beans, instead of beans and chorizo. Good things.