Journal

2022 - Week 20 Cooking Results

One-Pan Bacon-Cheeseburger Pasta

I had set aside this bottle of wine for the purpose of saving it for a special(ish) occasion, but here we are. The one pan part was spoiled by the “I refuse to fry bacon in the microwave”. That being said, it was extremely thick bacon that I fried in a pan, and other then the American cheese and microwave bacon, I followed this pretty closely (added more mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce. I swapped the American cheese with a local Iowan variant (Milton, but not Prairie Breeze), shredded, and spread across the top. The bacon was extraordinarily thick. But the wine. Holy smokes. Worlds Apart Wine. fantastic.

Spicy Pork Noodles

In listening to Dave Chang on his multiple podcasts, I get the idea he doesn’t like precise recipes too much, so this makes sense. That being said, I adjusted down the suggested amount of chili crunch, since I didn’t know how spicy it would turn out, and still needed to have it in the range that Shannon would tolerate. so I used ~ a quarter of a jar of the crunch. Other then that, it turned out pretty good. I added more crunch when I had leftovers later.

Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables

While trying to reorganize the freezer a little, I found more chicken so I took out two packs and it was more then 1.5 pounds of chicken that I needed, so I adjusted the recipe up to accommodate. Over all this worked out pretty well, except i didn’t really have more red pepper or onion around. But still, pretty good, as the temp was cooling down a bit.

Italian Sausage Burgers with ramps

So I know I like ramps and sausage, and I had a bit of sausage left, so I thought this might make a good topping, and it did…with a light touch. Perhaps pickled ramps would be better here, but it still worked. I did mix some mild Italian and a bit of spicy just to get enough to make patties for the both of us.

Fresh Fettuccine with Bacon, Ramps and an Egg

This was ok. Rampy, fatty and eggy. but combined…it was ok.

Brats

Good as always. I’ve ben short on buying, as I try to get the freezers more organized.

2022 - Week 19 Cooking Results

We ended up going to Tupelo Honey, which was fine, and the to Hello, Marjorie for a cocktail (TH vs HM cocktail? HM hands down, not even close). And then we realized that going to the Steve Martin - Martin Short show didn’t start until 8, not 7, so we wandered up to the the sculpture park, wandered around a bit, and sat in the shade for a bit. It was interesting to see the people that just roll through the park, which seems like quite varied in age and etc. It does seem sad to see some of the minor defacement inside Panoramic awareness pavilion by Olafur Eliasson. You could see children playing, people just hanging out, a couple yelling at each other across the street, children crying, but it was still nice to be there. We took the walk back from the Park to the Civic Center and enjoyed the Music, Jokes ribbing and general silliness of Steve Martin, Martin Short. Certainly a nice date night.

Sloppy Sammy’s

Always good, always different. Remembered the mustard.

Ramen, Chicken, and Fried Egg

Fried egg, pulled rotisserie chicken, ramen. I should’ve thought more and added some vegetables.

Rhubarb Shrub

Easy to put together, nice smell, haven’t had a cocktail with it yet. Maybe tonight.

Ramp and Sausage Risotto

Always a favorite around this time of year. I picked up some more ramps today. I did realize I have quite a bit of Arborio rice, especially since I bought another bag. Just a meal that takes time, highlights ramps and is just something you eat around the spring.

Three Cup Chicken

I didn’t have dry sherry, but I used sherry none the less, I thought this was pretty easy to put together, since I swapped out the ginger and garlic for their dried counterparts. I skipped, cause I couldn’t find, the Thai Basil leaves, but I did use the Momofuku toasted sesame oil and that added a nice flavor. Enjoyable.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Peas

Some wonderful prosciutto, pasta, peas and just over all goodness. I’ve noticed more and more that Iðunn really craves cream and high umami cheeses. Good stuff.

2022 - Week 19 Cooking

With the weather about to do what its going to do, I keep thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the seasons pass and some of them skip over others. I’ve been barely able to open my windows and we’re expecting to turn on the Air Conditioning in a day or two. this morning my dreams were interacting with the loud ass thunderstorm that happening in the background.

The Mint has finally broken through, it has been a bit delayed to the extended lower temperatures, but I expect to be able to harvest some in the next week or two. the chives on the other side of the house have popped up. I mowed the lawn for the first time last week, and even though I’ve been debating if it is necessary at all, due to construction.

2022 - Week 18 Cooking Results

This week was definitely outside the norm. I headed to Cedar Rapids for a team meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and returned Wednesday evening, I stayed in a hotel for the first time since this whole mess started. It was nice to actually see and talk to my coworkers, though I am not really the type of person that needs a lot of face to face interaction, it was good to have a bit.

On Friday, I took the day off, as I am above the non-temporary max of vacation, so I got a hair cut, and went to my late visit of the Cheese Shop. Shannon decided to come home early so I, jokingly reluctantly, brought her home a sandwhich, after she discovered I went out to eat lunch.

Two slices of ciabatta with nduja dried fruit and parmesean dressed with honey

Last of my lunch at the Cheese Shop

Stovetop Mac n Cheese n Spinach (p.380 Good Eats: The Final Years)

This was a quite good mac and cheese, though I did struggle at the end adding (half as much as called for after doubling the recipe) the spinach. So I should probably use a bigger pot the next time I use this. This did leave shannon something to eat for lunch as I headed off for my first in person meeting in a long time. As a side note, I used mass market Irish cheddar, because of timing, and I feel vaguely guilty about it.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

I remember why I didn’t like this recipe. I get the paint of doing the extra work of separating the eggs, whisking the whites and all that. I’m just not going to do it. So I did it, the pancakes were fine.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Needed more salt. And more spices. For some of the leftovers I added a wee bit of hot sauce and it was much better, served with Triscuit and ate some this morning for breakfast, and it was a lot better with the saltiness of the cracker and the heat from the hot sauce. It made for a good snack breakfast. On the other side, I think it often depends on the chickpeas to how cooked they are when they are canned. Some will be a bit more chalky in texture, than others.

Brats

BBQ version apparently (what I found open(ish) first). Good stuff.

2022 - Week 17 Cooking Results

Pancakes

Felt like pancakes, so I made them. Found out that I have overbought on syrup, so…We’ll be having pancakes or syrup flavored things. for a bit.

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Ok…why haven’t I made this before? These had a nice flavor, came together relatively easily and cooked off nice. Ended up with that lime flavor that comes through, and just nice over all. Gonna have to do this again. I used chipotle powder and went from there. Quite good. Looks like you could make some variance to flavor. But that lime base was quite nice.

Beef and Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

When you read, “1/4 - inch pieces” do you think a 1/4” x 2” or do you think 1/4” square. I read it as 1/4” square. Looking at the picture now, it looks like it was the former.

I started off cooking the basmati rice, using some of the Momofuku Spicy Seasoned salt, some oil, as I was out of unsalted butter.

I prepped all the parts, got the beef starting to marinate, found out that I was out of Soy Sauce, so I need to order more, but I looked for alternatives and ended up using Worcestershire sauce to complete the amount needed.

I started prepping all the other things making decisions, and then started cooking. I set off the smoke alarm once, and got a warning a second time, even after turning the heat down. Everything came together well after that, and then served nice and hot. Good meal.

Garlicky Broiled Ship

Easy to do, quick main, should’ve made a side.

Garlicky Penne with White Beans, Arugula and Crispy Prosciutto

I started with a bit more prosciutto then was called for, but I may have ate some before and after cooking it. Which was fine. The dinner put together was pretty good topped with the crispy prosciutto. I nice bite with he crispy, fatty, bitter, good things.

2022 - Week 16 Cooking Results

Spicy Umami Pasta

I skipped the olives, it was a bit spicy and a bit savory. The recipe appears to be a single serving so I quadrupled it. Shannon took the leftovers to work.

Hamburgers

I added some seasonings and it was pretty good.

Eggs and hash browns

Good and easy.

Korean Spicy Marinated Pork With Chilies and Kimchi

I put together the marinade and cut up the pork right before making the sausage sandwiches. It certainly smelled good. I tossed it with the pork and in the fridge it went.

I prepped everything else to get through the cooking pretty quick. Pulled the pork out of the fridge, and worked through the items in the approved batches in my 12” skillet. I was able to pull off the pork in 3 batches, then tossed everything together to serve over rice.

Sausage Sandwiches with Marinara and Mozzarella

I got some chicken sausages and used my normal ciabatta brat buns to make this. I tried a new marinara sauce, not that I buy them very often, but it is certainly better then I remember others being. But it was nice and this was pretty easy to put together. Pretty good.