2012 - Week 17 Cooking Results

Pepperoni Pizza

Why did I add bacon?  Well I was slicing the pepperoni and thought that I wouldn't have enough and starting frying bacon.  After I assembled the pizza...  I did have enough but I also had bacon.  So what could I do?  It was pretty good.

Pepperoni and Bacon Pizza

White Bean and Tuna Salad with Radicchio (p49 Bon Appétit April 2012)

So I learned something. I don't really like radicchio by itself. We both don't. When I had it for lunch, mixed with some local greens, it was quite a bit better (certainly less bitter). I had intended to half the recipe and apparently forgot leaving a whole lot of left over salad.

White Bean and Tuna Salad with Radicchio

Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps (p10 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2012)

After spending a surprising amount of time at the district 3 convention (almost 12 hours), I brought home food instead.

Risotto Primavera (p26 Cook's Country April & May 2012)

I used the current mushroom strategy (food process into small pieces) and this turned out very good. Though if I am going to spend the time making risotto, I really want to have leftovers, or at least feed a few more people. I had to replace the lemon juice with balsamic vinegar because I misplaced or used the lemon. But with the great vinegar and the actual Parmesan, worth making.

Risotto Primavera

Grilled Turkey-Mango Chutney Burgers (RC Cook's Country April & May 2012)

These were pretty good. Not great but we both ate them.

Skillet Kielbasa Macaroni and Cheese (RC Cook's Country April & May 2012)

So while I was making this I couldn't help but to think of the not so famous (but oh so dirty) song with kielbasa sausage in the lyrics. It kept me smiling while making it. Most of the recipe card items are pretty easy to do, this one included. It was quick to make and another way to make a creamy sauce for mac and cheese. I added more spice then the recipe called for and it turned out very well. We both liked it and both had it for lunch the next day.

Skillet Kielbasa Macaroni and Cheese

2012 - Week 15 Cooking Results

Ham (got it free from work around Christmas, of dubious quality) and mashed potatoes (with spring garlic)

Yeah...the hame was ok.  It did make for a pretty simple, if time appropriate, Easter dinner.  Though I have been eating meh ham all week for lunch.

Apple Cherry Steel Cut Oats

I liked this, Shannon wasn't the biggest fan of the texture of the steel cut oats.  I didn't get the kind that the recipe called for, so it took quite a bit longer then the recipe said to get that smooth texture out of the oatmeal.  Anyways, I'd make this again, though I'd be making it for myself.

Linguine with Hot Chile, Carmelized Onion and & Gremolata

Butter, I forgot the butter...what is wrong with me.  It probably would've been better with the butter, that being said it was a bit dry without.  I didn't have time to go back and red do it, because I had to work that night.

Linguine with Hot Chile, Caramelized Onion and Gremolta

Mexican Tortilla Casserole (The Splendid Table Weeknight Kitchen)

I used the ingredients, then kind of went my own way, and layered it like a lasagna.  So I went tortilla, the bean mixture (which I've made myself several times and liked better then this combination), cheese, spinach, and repeat.  It tasted pretty good and came together in a timely fashion.

Vietnamese Style Chicken Salad

I really liked this...It was, however, a bit to spicy for Shannon.  I ended up using a serrano pepper, since the jalapenos didn't look the best, but I probably should have taken the ribs out.  Anyways this is best eaten fresh and not left for leftovers...it doesn't age well.

Vietnamese Style Chicken Salad

Sally's Weeknight Kofta with Allspice and Almonds (The Splendid Table Weeknight Kitchen)

This made for an interesting dinner.  It was nice and flavorful, but I could see how it wouldn't be for everyone.  We both liked it though.

Turkey Meatloaf with Fennel and Bacon

At some point, I just started making meatloaf like I make meatloaf.  It had all these extra steps which I ignored and just cooked it.  This finished and was resting shortly before the power went out.  Now loading the dishwasher, and finishing dinner, is kind of hard to do by flashlight, but I was able to get it done and serve a relatively hot meal (I had finished the mashed potatoes earlier because dinner was so late, I gave Shannon an early course).  It tasted pretty good, I apparently forgot to buy fennel seed (or couldn't find them, one of the two).

Turkey Meatloaf with Fennel and Bacon

2012 - Week 14 Cooking Results

Ramps (spring onions), bacon, Yukon gold potatoes and Fontina (or other cheese) Pizza (idea straight up stolen from George Fromaro and Centro and I told him so too)

So I added spring garlic to...for some reason...and I clearly added to much because it had a strong garlicy flavor.  It overruled everything else.  It did mellow out after it it was left in the fridge over night, but still.  Anyways, my process.  I took the bacon, and fried it off, with the remaining bacon fat, I fried off the Yukon gold potato slices (I made to many, but they were good to eat).  They were a little to think, the idea was to get a slight crisp outside, but mildly soft potato on the inside.  Then after the potatoes had absorbed the majority of the bacon fat, I fried the spring onions and garlic off in the pan, until a bit soft.  I put everything together on my simple tomato sauce and on the pizza dough.  I think if I reduced the garlic by quite a bit, and pumped up the onion, it would've turned out fine.  I used Piave Vecchio (from the cheese shop).  But it didn't stand up well to the overwhelming garlic.

Spring onion, Spring garlic, Yukon Gold Potatoes, bacon and Piave Vecchio

Ramp and Sausage Risotto

So I used Calasparra rice, as it was recommended as a possibility for replacement of the Arborio, which, to my surprise, I didn't have in the house.  And after checking prices, the pricing per kilogram was similar to the other options pricing per pound.  And it turned out great.  Well...the risotto did.  I didn't have enough ramps (should've bought 2 pounds of ramps and a quarter pound of spring garlic), so that flavor was buried under the Italian sausage, but that being said it still tasted good.

Spring (Green) Garlic and bacon spaghetti

Again, with to much garlic...but not an overwhelming amount more, just enough to call it to much.  To make it up for a sauce I used some cream when combining all the ingredients.  Other then having a bit to much garlic, it worked...  I'd make it again.

Spring Garlic, Cream and Bacon Spaghetti

Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce

I admit, I didn't link to this recipe (google it).  But it was a fairly basic combination.  But when I saw that it wanted to use a half cup of spring garlic, I cut it down to a 1/4th cup and it was still to much for the amount of pasta being made.  Again, it mellowed out with the leftovers, but still.

Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce

Frittata with Spring Garlic, Spring Onions and Chevre

This turned out very well, I used the 1/4th cup of left over half and half, A small amount of the spring onions and garlic, about 2 oz of Chevre in the eggs and the other 2 oz on top (after cooked).  Then about 8 eggs.  I followed the general path of many other Frittatas that I had made previously.  And it turned out pretty good and tasted good too.

Frittata with Spring Garlic, Spring Onions and Chevre

And just for a change of pace...Bratwurst, with neither garlic nor onions in it.

nom nom nom (easy).

Tuna Noodle Casserole (p18 Cook's Country February / March 2012) (Delivered to Chris and Holly)

Made similarly to what I made for ourselves, but didn't dice the mushrooms down to very tiny pieces (texture of mushrooms is a problem).  I made it all up the night before, and then put it together to take over there with other meal pieces.  I held their new son, Heath, and tried to keep him as calm as I could, until they had a chance to eat their dinner.

The Rare Affair - Iowa Meats Well Done

This was fun.  I got to try many dishes, including several meats that I haven't had before.  Everything was very good, but there were a few things that I thought were outstanding.  I really enjoyed the Rabbit Stew (Alba and Iowa Rabbit LLC (or De Bruin Brothers)), Swabian Hall Pig with Pollen Spiced whole Porcetta Roasted in a Wood Fired Brick Oven (Centro and Rustik Rooster Farms) and the Toasties (The Cheese Shop of Des Moines and La Quercia).  Since it was setup in a place that kind of made people mingle, there were several opinions of things that I found shocking (to much fat on the pig (uh, real pork has fat), eww rabbit (are we tasting the same thing?)).  Anyways I really enjoyed it and would go again.  Good job to Larry to get this thing going.

Luckily, we got done early enough to make back out to West Des Moines to pick up Shannon's car from the shop.  Do you want to guess what the more expensive of the two things were?  (the car, buy a factor of more then 10x)

2012 - Week 12 Cooking Results

Cajun Sloppy Joes (RC Cook's Country February / March 2012)

Ok, so a consistent ingredient in all the sloppy joe's I make is mustard.  Mustard in one form or another (yellow, spicy, Dijon, powder, etc).  It ads a nice tang to the sloppy joes.  So without that in there?  yeah I don't like them as much.  Even adding mustard on top didn't really make it taste right.  And clearly, that is not what this was going for, but that being said, these were ok.  I do like to have a bit more spice to 'em and I think I even added more then the recipe required.  So, they were just ok.  I still prefer the random way I make mine, over this.

Spicy Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry (RC Cook's Country February / March 2012)

This turned out pretty good.  Trying to increase the ingredients and find things that are good for us, but still palatable to the both of us (we both have our own idiosyncrasies).  The simple way to prepare the broccoli and with everything else, it just made for a nice dish.  It came together pretty quickly (considering how late I started (damn you Skyrim)).  Served over a nice bed of rice worked out pretty well.

Spicy Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry

Italian Sausage and Potato Frittata (RC Cook's Country February / March 2012)

This was quick and simple and felt very familiar to me.  I was able to make it right quick and with the Graziano sausage in it, it added that spicy bit from there that I love.

Italian Sausage and Potato Frittata

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches (p26 Food & Wine March 2012) with Classic Hummus (p29 Cook's Country February / March 2012)

I was expecting to be both hungry after having this, and this not actually tasting good.  I was surprised on both counts, when it was both filling and delicious.  I admit, I jacked up the spices in the hummus and carrots, but even so, it was a super simple set of ingredients that produced a nice set of flavors.  A lot of vegetarian dishes are not like this.

Spicy Carrot Sandwiches

Spaghetti al Vino Bianco (p14 Cook's Illustrated March / April 2012)

So anytime that I make something with something alcoholic in the dish, I am always afraid that Shannon won't like the taste of it.  This used an entire bottle of wine, so my concerns were elevated quite a bit.  But with the combination of La Quercia Pancetta, pasta and Pecorino Romano, it already had several marks in it's favor.  It turned out quite well (I used baby greens as opposed to arugula, since that's what was available).  I'd like to try this again when I can get some of Larry's greens from the farmer's market. 

Spaghetti al Vino Bianco

Filipino Chicken Adobo (p7 Cook's Illustrated March / April 2012)

Shannon and tart don't generally go together very well.  I was concerned about this with this recipe.  It worked very well for me (Joseph seemed to enjoy his leftovers for breakfast this morning), but the sauce was a bit strong for Shannon.  So she used quite a bit less sauce then either of us.  Between this, and the Old hen tacos, it gets me to a chicken and an old hen away from being through the chicken from Foxhollow.

Filipino Chicken Adobo

Braised Old Hen Tacos

I was tired, I didn't pay as close of attention as I should have.  The chicken was a bit tough.  Even so, shredded, and topped with a couple of suggested cheeses from The Cheese Shop (which worked out very well), these simple tacos were ok, and the only reason they weren't better is my own fault.

Freyja's late evening adventure (or scaring the hell out of us)

So I start to sit down to a bit of late night video game playing and I hear Shannon call down the stairs. I hear her come down the stairs and she tells me that there is a whole in the screen and Freyja is missing.

This is not what you want to hear at 10:45 at night.

I quick save my game, head upstairs, put on some sandals, quick grab my house keys and follow Shannon out the door.

It didn't take us long before we hear her mews and whines. Freyja was really expressing herself. The problem was we knew where she was in the area, but not where. Shannon is shining my big mag light in the pine tree between our's and the neighbor's home. I stop and listen and I think I hear more from my left ear, rather then my right (house on the left, tree on the right). So I get the flashlight and start shining it on the low part of the roof (above what I assume was a kitchen addition), then up e steep roof line of our house. At the very peak of the roof, there are her glowing eyes reflecting back.

So the problem, now, is how do we get her down. We don't have a ladder that high, not by a long shot. So we head around to the deck on the back of the house. The deck is a quarter to half story above the main level. So we relocate Freyja and she is going between the edge and the vent (?) on the house. So we tap on the base of the roof hoping she can just gently walk down with our encouragement.

This did not work as we expected. Shortly after she leaves the peak she starts to slide down. You can hear her claws (back paws, front declaw) run along the roof. I caught her about midway between the kitchen back door and the west side of the house. I cuddle her up (so she can't jump away) and there are a few meows, som hisses and some other odd noises. We head around the house and get her back inside and begin to check her over. At first we think she just needs a good brushing. After a bit, I notice that there are some blood stains on my white undershirt.

A lot of Freyja fur and a bit of blood.

So Shannon pulls out some flour (say what) and says that it can help bind up the injury.  We checked her all over and it appears as if she absolutely shredded her rear claws as she was coming down the roof.  Several of her rear claws were damaged down to the quick.  Shannon even them out a bit and then covered the rest of them with a bit of flour.  After a couple of patches, we let her go to wander around the house.  All the windows were lowered to one notch (barely open) and now we kind of need to figure out what we are going to do there.  There's a big hole in the screen.

Quite the hole in the screen in the upstairs bedroom.

After spending a good chunk of time on Shannon's lap (I think Freyja's a bit angry with me, because I held her while Shannon cleaned up her claws) and then some time on my shoulder, she's calmed down and napping on the couch, at least she was napping until I took this picture.

Freyja, clearly unaware of the stress that she caused.

2012 - Week 11 Cooking Results

Chicken Alfredo and Bacon Pizza (Shannon's request for a birthday dinner)

So, I had my doctor's appointment and we were talking about this and that and when I told him what I was making for dinner, he paused, and said, I guess special occasions are all right, or something like that.  It struck me as funny.  Anyways, I made the Alfredo from scratch, fried up some bacon, and I had forgotten to buy some chicken, so I ran out picked up some.  And after a little work it came together.  Now I will admit, it was kind of a mess to eat (probably a combination of to much and slightly too runny Alfredo sauce), but it was a truly indulgent and a good birthday dinner.

Chicken Alfredo and Bacon Pizza

Braised Pork Jowl Tacos (sort of based on this)

Ok, so I didn't really look at the recipe.  I seared off the pork jowls, deglazed the pan with some tomatoes, added some salt, pepper and some crumbled up dried peppers and then some chicken stock.  Added the jowls back in for a slow braise.  After a few hours, the jowls were fall apart tender, and had a decent taste (I'd like to experiment more, but I don't have more jowls).  After some toppings, we had a good dinner (Joseph too).

Braised Pork Jowl Tacos

Smoky Tomato Soup

Sunday was not exactly a warm day, but still nice, so it made sense to make this.  It turned out well as a classic combination.

Smoky Tomato Soup

Chopped Steak Sandwiches

I think I may be allergic to hot cherry peppers.  Now I don't just say that.  The sandwich was delicious, but I had strange ear things happen.  Judging by taste they're very similar to the Wickles Hoagie Relish, which also does strange things to me.  It's an odd thing.  Anyways, the sandwiches were very go, though I payed for them later.

Chopped Steak Sandwiches

Quick Skillet Mac and Cheese

So I when I was making this I thought, why not make something that reminds me of my childhood.  So as it was finishing up, I added some tuna and peas.  We both reminisced about similar dishes growing up.

Quick Skillet Mac and Cheese

Chicken and Sausage Cacciatore with Grape Tomatoes

In all the times that I've used Graziano Sausage, I don't think I ever have used them as whole sausages.  This turned out ok.  I skipped the mushrooms (I apparently forgot to buy them, or used them for something else). and maybe that was why.

Chicken and Sausage Cacciatore with Grape Tomatoes

Heath and less important things, like the Polk County Convention

So Heath decided to make himself known this past Thursday (it was going to happen one way or the other).  We got to spend a good chunk of time with New mom and dad, and holding the youngster.

Sam and baby Heath with his wicked cool R2-D2 hat

He's a cute chunky little boy and clearly has his Father's hair.  I look forward to seeing him again.

So on Saturday morning, I headed to West Des Moines to participate in the Polk County Democratic Convention.  It was was an interesting, if not anal retentive process.  So I showed up around 8:AM and left around 1:PM or 1:30 PM, so clearly it's not for the faint of heart.  The big event of the day was to vote on the segments of the party platform, pass people on to the District and State convention, and elect a Minority Chair, or something like that.  It was interesting following the whole process.  Things got defined, altered, voted on, delayed to collect signatures to amend, it seems like a very legal process.  Because of the length of time and the process involved, it seemed very clear how a platform can be overtaken by a few people.  There was a whole large subsection to debate one part.  One lady was convinced that reading was being too emphasised in schools (SRSLY?) and there were several times where there was some clear misinterpretations of what was actually written in the platform.  One would expect this sort of thing with a large enough audience.  And as I thought about it more, I thought that a process like this would really only allow the highly dedicated to take part.  I've committed to two more Saturdays (one in April and and one in June).  I'm looking forward to how the next parts go.  Like I told Shannon after, it's like watching sausage get made, most people don't want to know.

2012 - Week 10 Cooking Results

Roasted Chicken Thighs and mashed potatoes

Some leftover chicken thighs, seared on both sides, then finished in the oven, then a few potatoes, boiled then mashed.  It went quicker then I thought, but turned out pretty well for the amount of time spent.

Iowa Beef burgers with smoked bacon

Simple burgers, and the wonderful smoked bacon from Crooked Gap Farm.  It was a good match.

Ground Goat Curry

I don't want to call this a "I'm cleaning out my cupboard", but that's what it turned out to be.  So there were a few things I bought for it, the coconut milk, the ginger, things like that.  But the rest was from things already in the house.  Carrots, onion, yellow potato, ground goat (yes I had ground goat in the house), etc.  Simmered the potatoes in the coconut milk and tomatoes and sriracha.  It turned out pretty well.  The goat, which it does, stands out, even with all the other flavors.

Ground Goat Curry over rice

Sloppy Sammys

In order of preparation:  Onion (until soft), Garlic, spices (variety, salt, pepper, chili powder, chipotle chili powder), other vegetables (this time jalapeno), ground meat (beef this time, until almost cooked through), can of diced tomatoes, some amount of tomato paste (I usually use what is left in the fridge), mustard (Yellow).  Simmer until thickened, serve on rolls / bread.

And since it's got a summery feel, Bratwurst

It makes it feel like summer, it does...though later in the week the weather was closer (certainly spring like).

2012 - Week 8 Cooking Results

Meatballs and Spaghetti for Romance (also includes Simple Tomato Sauce)

The sauce it self was just ok, but combined with the meatballs they were pretty good.  To make the combination of the two, they ended up being sort of stuffed into the pan that was a bit to small, so it was a bit crowded.  Even so, it ended up tasting pretty good.  Though it did use an excessive amount of pots.  And so I suppose for valentines, it'll show how much effort you put in, but for a week night meal?  That can be a bit too much washing up.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Black Beans and Rice with Chicken and Apple Salsa

So I didn't make this quite as pretty as the picture, but it ended up being a pretty simple meal.  It still took a while to cook down the liquid, but it was ok.  there's still lots of leftovers, so, I guess the final ruling will depend on how quickly the leftovers get eaten.

Olive Oil Pancakes (José Andrés)

This was actually pretty nice.  I did have to end up adding more buttermilk and olive oil so that they were a bit more liquidy.  I couldn't say how much, because I added some of one then the other until it looked right.  I don't even think the chocolate was necessary (though fits with what I saw on Made In Spain), so I may try it again without the chocolate.  I do have to say that though I do like honey, it does seem a bit odd to add honey to pancakes over maple syrup.  Though since maple syrup isn't really a European thing, it does make sense.

Chili (Saturday)

I started a bit later then I wanted (slept in) and even though I vaguely followed my working recipe, I didn't even use it.  As I look down on it, I see that I missed coriander, red pepper flakes and dried leaf oregano.  Though I suppose should have followed the part about cooking most fo the beef in another pan (getting rid of some of the rendered fat), but it still worked out.  It cooked in the oven for around 4 hours (250º for the first 2 hours, 275º for the rest).  Since that leads to a nice even cooking all the way around the pot.  It's like doing it in a slow cooker I suppose, but then I get to use my pot, which I like better.  I did reorganize my spice drawer, so I now realize how much I have left of stuff (chili powder and cumin gone, choipotle powder almost gone).  It turned out pretty well, and had a nice spice, but wasn't too strong for Shannon (she just finished off a bowl of leftovers).  And I was able to feed Joseph for a few days (he took home a pretty big bowl).

Chili with a healthy dollop of sour cream

Egg Sandwiches (after racing to meet with Blue Gate to pick up some eggs, this sounded so good)

I used some goat cheddar (from Avalanche Cheese purchased at The Cheese Shop) and some of the leftover deli meat (shaved turkey) and some wonderful eggs.  It really hits that spot for me.

Pounded Chicken Sandwiches

This certainly shows you what is just kind of balanced on the counter.  As I pounded the chicken breast out to split between the two of us, I had some dishes in the sink settle, and some tape on the back ledge of the counter fall down.  It is always fun to pound the hell out of something.

2012 - Week 7 Cooking Results

Yeasty Waffles

Joseph actually put the batter together while I ran off to the grocery store (the time to rise would've put it a little late in the evening).  It did the full rise and worked out well, like it did before.  I love that smell of yeastiness as it does it's thing.  Though the strawberries look nice, I'm aching for the strawberries of spring and early summer.  Instead of the mostly bland ones here.

Yeasty Waffles

Mac & Cheese (Dry Mustard, Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack) (p38 Fine Cooking February / March 2012)

Either it was the noodles, or the combination, but I don't think that the recipe accounted for how much liquid would be sucked up by the noodles, because it ended up being a bit dryer then i like.  On the other hand, in other recipes, I tend to use a deeper smaller dish, and while that provides less crust it generally has a saucier sauce.  On the recommendation of CJ at the Cheese Shop, I used the Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar and the Frisian Farms Young Gouda.  And then used some parmigiano reggiano (the good stuff).  Taste was good but the texture was a bit dry, but decent over all.  I think maybe the garlic in the bread crumbs, was a bit much too.  Maybe in the sauce, so it's cooked a bit more.  The other issue here is that I didn't have whole milk, just skim, so there was clearly less fat then was intended to be in there.

Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar, Frisian Farms Young Gouda Baked Mac & Cheese (whole pan)Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar, Frisian Farms Young Gouda Baked Mac & Cheese (dished)

Chicken Tostadas with Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Cream (p48 Fine Cooking February / March 2012)

I meant to pick up a roast chicken when they were on sale, however, I didn't get a chance to get out of the office until it was a bit to close to the time that we were going to go out to eat.  This came together pretty quickly and tasted pretty good.  Things didn't ended up looking that pretty, but tasted pretty good.

Italian Wedding Soup (p68 Food & Wine February 2012)

This came together pretty quickly.  I did have a few questions about it though, because as a process, it didn't make a ton of sense.  It seems very specific to say cook the orzo until it is al dente and then proceed to cook it more.  It seems like it wasn't very well thought out.  Also at the beginning, instead of taking an extra minute or three to form some flavor with the carrot and onion, it tells you to basically just to boil them.  So I didn't exactly follow this recipe as written, but more as I would expect would make it turn out better.   So with a couple of minor additions, it did end up being a pretty good soup.

Italian Wedding Soup

Speedy Baked Ziti (p66 Food & Wine February 2012)

Reading this recipe through, I became offended at the idea of buying some pasta sauce in a jar.  So I took a little extra time and then to make my own version of the sauce.  And then why would I use ground sirloin, when I have the Grazino's sausage as an option?  So, again some adjustments, and it still turned out pretty well.

Speedy Baked Ziti

Pizza, hopefully the final try.

Yep, that worked.  Ok had the right flavor, thickness and a little bit of heat. Recipe to come.  I had Shannon take this out of the fridge a bit early so it would be pliable by the time I got home, turns out I didn't get home til a little after 8.  Luckily everything came together pretty well and quickly and we ate before 9.  I did take a bit of extra time to slice the pepperoni (rather then buying that pre-sliced stuff).

Pepperoni Pizza