Journal

2012 - Week 37 Cooking Results

Fusilli with Green Beans, Pancetta, and Parmigiano

While I finally used the right meat, I still messed up in the ingredient list.​  Skipped a step or town, I don't know where my mind was, but it wasn't there.  It didn't help that the I started cooking things wrong.  I should've started the water to boil so much earlier.  I really want one of those induction cooktops to just bring the water to boil faster.  I was waiting for the water to boil and had everything else done, still waiting for the water to boil.  Even so, you can tell how good the direction is going.  I got more beans, and am making this again.

Spicy Turmeric Jasmine rice stuffed into ​Peppers, topped with cheese and broiled

Topped with a bit of the Zingerman's City Goat, it sure looks pretty, but the issue here was eating them. Now I suppose if we ate at a table, that'd probably make more sense, but trying to put a fork through the pepper, didn't work to well.  I think it probably would've been better if I would've chopped them up and put them into the rice itself, and then maybe topped that with cheese.​

This did bring up that some times it'd just be a lot easier to have a torch to use, then to try to get that magical balance in the broiler.  This was especially apparent with one of my peppers ​was quite a bit taller then the other two.

It still had a decent flavor profile​, but needs a lot more tinkering to get it right, and maybe me buying a torch.

Roasted Fig, La Quercia Prosciutto, and Arugula sandwich

So we traveled all over Des Moines yesterday, ran up and down places, took lots of pictures for a project for our niece's class​, but even with all that activity, we still were stuffed from eating lunch with friends for lunch after the Beaverdale Fall Festival Parade.  So we just had dessert instead (Snookies).

So, skipped.​

Braised Carrots and Shallots with Crooked Gap Brats

The carrots and shallots came together pretty well, and relatively quickly.  They were ok.  Not great, not bad.  Probably not the best pairing for brats.​

Quick Chili (late addition)

​I've been thinking about soups and stews for a while, though only recently has the weather cooperated enough to actually allow the desire to make this happen.  So I used this as an excuse to trim out a lot of extra things from the house (older spices) and go from there.  Starting here and then moving forward, I did a step by step tweet for the process.  When I go all out, I usually soak my own dried beans (takes more time, has less salt).  I think I did it a bit out of order, I should've probably done the meat first to create the browning (in batches) then the onions and other things.  Even so, it all worked out pretty well, a number of older spices got used and I discovered I can self edit a bit with heat level (I didn't use all the peppers I had, just most).

I had fresh cayenne pepper for the first time.  And they're pretty spicy, more so then I thought they would be.

2012 - Week 36 Cooking Results

Chicken & Golden Rice (p24 Food & Wine August 2012)

​This turned out really well.  Nice flavor of the rice, nice flavor of the chicken shredded on top, it just worked and was relatively simple.  I plan to use the rice again to stuff some peppers.

Pork Larb Lettuce Wrap (p19 ​Food & Wine August 2012)

​We didn't really have any lettuce to wrap around, we can pile it on arugula (very good arugula), but after watching ISU suck less the Iowa (a Win is a Win), I didn't really feel that it was fitting for the meal.  So this turned into pork burgers.  Shannon went off and picked up some dip things and we ate.

Smoky Beef Fajitas

These were messy, but tasted good.  I twas worth the effort, though it wasn't that smokey.​

Chicken with Peach-Jalapeño Salsa

Made a chicken sandwich instead.  Yeah Yeah, I just didn't feel like it.​  I served the sandwich with some of Larry's cantaloupe.

Quick Skillet Mac and Cheese

Modified this a bit, and ended up making the topping a combination of bread crumbs and parmesan.  I'm not sure what the ratio was (I used quite a bit of parmesan and whatever I had left in the freezer of bread crumbs).  But it worked,  The crust almost broke and had this magical taste to it.  It could be that I was using the 24 mo Parmesan, or it could be that it was a combination of that and the bread, but whatever the crust was amazing.

2012 - Week 35 Cooking Results

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Ground Pork and Shredded Vegetables

This was quite good.  And even though I was still not feeling the best when I made it, a quick thought in my head said, "hey, dummy, you have a food processor, it has a shredding blade." and the rest of me realized this made this a whole lot easier.​  Some quick pushes through the food processor and a bit more work and it came together very quickly.  I used two jalapeño peppers, which was just about right for me, but a little two spicy for Shannon.  Though later in the we we both headed to Lemongrass for lunch and had another very good penut sauce based dish.

Smokey Corn Quesadillas (p48 Fine Cooking August / September 2012)

This was quite simple.  I did double it to server the both of us, though, to serve as a main course.  I suppose I could've gone through the effort to cut the corn off the cob (not that it's particularly hard), but I didn't.  It worked all the same though.  It wasn't that smokey though.  I thought about swapping the smoked paprika with chipotle chili powder, but stuck with the paprika.

All Beef Hot Dogs (Crooked Gap) with Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Lemon Tarragon vinaigrette (p48 Fine Cooking August / September 2012)

I'm glad I gave the hot dogs another chance,  there pretty good.  Not as good as my favorite (Eden Farms), but certainly a good one.  I really hope Ethan does make a all pork hot dog​.  The salad turned out nice.  the vinaigrette was nice and balanced and the fresh tarragon added a nice flavor on top of everything.

Fusilli with Green Beans, Pancetta, and Parmigiano

I really liked this.  So I went and got some La Quercia Rossa Prosciutto, got it sliced to thin and went back and got thicker slices (oh the shame of having extra Prosciutto).  Anyways, I'll have to make this again with Pancetta.  But it was quite good with the Prosciutto.

Watermelon, Feta, and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Glaze with Buffalo Burgers

So I forgot to make the glaze...but made the salad without it.  Then I topped the buffalo burger with a little of the La Quercia Rossa Prosciutto.  Even without the Balsamic glaze, it was still good.

find the balance for the La Quercia Borsellino Dry Sausage Pizza.

​So I used a non-stick pan, a little olive oil, and then heated up the oil at medium-high heat.  I cooked the sausage at that heat from 4-6 minutes or so (forgot to time myself), and I had some slices that were crisp tender, some were a bit tinder, and some of the narrower slices were crisp.  It let do a nice bundle of flavors over all.  I let the cooked pieces rest on a paper toweled plate.  I think it got the texture about right.  I was happy, we ate happily.

2012 - Week 33 Cooking Results

Emily's Family Pizza Party (they'll stop by on their way back through)

So I often make to much food for two people, but when I have more I want to make sure everyone gets as much as they want.  So with an army of nieces and nephews I made 3 pizzas.  I didn't get to do the couple to three day rise that I normally do, because of timing, so they had about 24 hours to rise, 2/3rds in the fridge.  I put together all the sauces (excluding garlic) and prepped all the cheeses and as soon as they arrived, went into action.  First up was a pepperoni pizza for the kids.  First time using a pepperoni (s'right).  Next up I put together the more "adult" pizza once again using the La Quercia Borsellino Dry Sausage, but then combining it with some buffalo mozzarella and Parmesan.  Now unlike last time, where I pan seared the sausage  a bit before putting them on the pizza.  The sausage, while tasting amazing, ended up a little dry.  So this time around I figured I should just do a bit of oven cooking.  There was something missing this time around, I think the searing added a quite a bit of flavor.  So, perhaps I should do this again and gently sear the slices.  For the third pizza, I used the green onion sausage from Crooked Gap.  All three turned out well.  I probably could've gotten away with not making the third pizza, but why would I?  Because of allergies, I used canola instead of vegetable (soybean) oil.  The crust turned out a bit different.  A little more flakey crust.  It was nice to see Emily and all and I think the winning quote was when one of my nephews called the pizza crust, "Cookie crust".

La Quercia Borsellino Dry Sausage, Buffalo Mozzarella, Parmesan Pizza

Bangers & Mash

Should've made gravy...but didn't.  This was a simple meal but I was having trouble tasting things, so I could really just go by texture.  The bangers were dense, much denser then many sausages that I've had.  It seemed to turn out well, I got no complaints...or complaint.

Bangers & Mash

All Beef Hot Dogs (Crooked Gap)

I'm not sure this got a fair shake.  My tastes were muted.  The casing wasn't done the best, but I'll try these again.

Sloppy Sammys (Crooked Gap beef)

This is one of those "empty the fridge" moments for me.  Finished off the BBQ sauce that was in the fridge and a bunch of other miscellaneous ingredients. Clearly you have the base of onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, spices and usually mustard and then combine stuff on that.  So I think it had some pureed chipotle in adobo sauce, but not to much.  Both Shannon and Joseph enjoyed it, and I could taste stuff which means it was spicy, but not to spicy.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo (after hearing Jenny talk about it while we were making sausage a bit ago, I can't help it, and there was okra at the market)

Spending 4 hours to make dinner on a Wednesday is probably not the best idea, but this was delicious.  I had to cut short some of the directions at the end because it was 8:PM and they wanted to cook for another 45 minutes.  Certainly a very filling meal and warming, and luckily, it wasn't to hot out.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Cheesy Farro and Tomato Risotto

Kept forgetting to buy farro, so skipped.

2012 - Week 32 Cooking Results

At some point during the week, my sense of smell became degraded, and all my tastes muted.  It became harder to effectively cook, because I started to get worried that I might get Shannon sick and I just generally felt like monkey butt.  So some of my tastes are based on the muted taste plus the texture (the spicy chicken and pork tacos last night were mostly on texture).  So I've been a bit sick, but not so much so that I stopped going to work (though maybe one of the days it would've been nice to just sleep in).

With all the lime usage this week, I'm very glad that I bought that juicer a while back.  It is a simple tool, but so effective.

Grass Fed Beef Burgers (Crooked Gap) (low and slow)

Mixed the beef with some salt and pepper, then made a burger using a little vegetable oil in the pan.  It took quite a bit longer to make, but the end result was a juicy burger.  It didn't have that same sort of char on the outside that makes it have that extra savory flavor.  At least it didn't taste like bacon.  Anyways, it turned out pretty good.  I'd call it a success.

Cube Steak with Lime Mojo

I think this turned out well.  It was lime flavored with some spice.  Other the not finishing her peppers (Shannon's not a big bell pepper fan), she cleaned off her plate.  

Chicken with Spicy Mexican Marinade

So in thinking about what to do with this, I thought tacos...why tacos?  Well apparently the Tacopocalypse tacos I had for breakfast wasn't enough (the wasabi brisket was extra good yesterday), and I thought hey, maybe the spice will help clear me out the lingering lung stuff.  Normally I wouldn't hesitate to dose out some extra spicy salsa (Habanero or hotter) proceed to eat a jar (one way or another), but lately I've been having more and more trouble with the extra hot.  So with this, I used some red pepper, red onion, jalapeno pepper, some green zebra tomatoes and topped with a little salsa verde.  The mayo marinade worked out pretty well I think.  It wasn't too spicy (no complaints) but honestly, this was probably the worst of it, so I felt textures (chicken and pork were done right) and broad chemical heat taste (yes, there were jalapenos in there), but that was about it.

Pork and Chicken tacos after a Spicy Mexican Marinade

Banh Mi Burger

So the change I made to this was to add pickled jalapenos and used champagne vinegar since I don't have white vinegar.  The quick pickled carrots turned out well.  Even though I had to eat the first carrot, because I didn't have enough of a shape to make match sticks (even fat match sticks) sized pieces.  Going back and doing it over, I got t eat a carrot and I got a nice, relatively even carrots.  Everything combined together and I think the vinegar helped things stand out enough to taste.  I'm fairly certain it was good.

Banh Mi Burger

10 Minute Tomato Sauce

This turned from something simple to "Sam's cleaning out his fridge".  So that leftover ricotta?  A bunch of other things ended up in there.  It tasted ok.  But not a true test of the recipie.

Chorizo and Eggs on toast

So we've come to the decision that this was pretty bland.  It's one thing to have something special and sell it.  It's another to treat it as something special and sell it.  I guess it's to be expected and it shows the difference between Hy-Vee (where I bought the Chorizo) and The Cheese Shop (where everything I've had there has been at least good, most excellent, and a number of things freaking amazing).  So we learn, Trust Your Cheese Monger.

2012 - Week 31 Cooking Results

Blackberry Sauce (p196 Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)

I was misled slightly with the quantities of blackberries that I had.  So...uh...I skipped this.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (p148 Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)

I made this late at night, I used double the vanilla, the taste was about right, but because of a little misstep, there were hunks of corn starch in there.  So I messed this up.  Though if I have time, I think I'll try again next week.

Pork Tenderloin, Chorizo, and Blackberry Balsamic Gastrique

So I put a big chunk of the blackberries in a small sauce pan.  Drizzled some of my mid-range balsamic vinegar.  Then cooked it slowly.  I fried off some chorizo in a separate pan, then took the rendered fat and added that to the gastrique.  I wrapped the pork tenderloin in the bacon and seared it off.  Going back to think about it, I should've seared it on the sides to get the appropriate color and deliciousness on the bacon as well.  I thought it would crisp up a bit in the oven when I put it in there.  I guess having pork on the inside, prevents it from drying out before the rest of it dries out.  Anyways, that being said, the combination of the chorizo, tenderloin, blackberry and balsamic went together well.  Used a bit of the sauce to dress up the arugula around the plate.  It worked well.  Looks pretty good too.

Pork Tenderloin, Chorizo, and Blackberry Balsamic Gastrique

Turkey and Blackberry "Burgers" (La Ventosa Ranch)

So I have these ring molds.  Admittedly I don't do a ton of fancy presented food, but hey, I had the circle thing going this week so why not add to it.  So this is the first time with the ground turkey, and I am thinking, though do not have confirmation, that they are putting their turkeys out a bit early because of the growing expense in feeding them.  So it had many of the same notes as the tenderloin.  The turkey was of unknown fatness, but I'm guessing lower 90% or about there.  It didn't dry out too quickly (on the ones I cooked to about the right temperature).  So I used one to cut out these circles in the bread, then toasted them, then used another to make these smaller turkey burgers.  I didn't get their size quite right all around, but mostly consistent (basically 3 the same, and one that was quite a bit bigger.  The notes worked well, we felt fancy, and we didn't have to go out...not that we don't like to, but you know...  Anyways nice combination all around.  You can see the cheddar (style) cheese under the turkey.  So we have a layer of bread, cheese, turkey, chorizo and the blackberry balsamic from the night or two before.  With a couple of locally grown (I think these where from Tai at Foxhollow) tomatoes on the side.  I could've seasoned the turkey with a bit of Worcestershire, and I think that would've added to the flavor over all.  Good overall and the blackberries are almost gone.

The chorizo...it's not like the Spanish chorizo, where it just exudes that magical flavor.  It exudes a bit.  But it is not like the Mexican style of chorizo either.  But it sure isn't as expensive as the Spanish.  It's ok...not spectacular.  It was a new product at my Hy-Vee.  I like to try new things.

 Turkey Burgers with a Blackberry Gastrique

Chicken and Two Cheese Tortas (p171 Food & Wine July 2012)

Yep, it is that good.

The Cheese Shop Pizza part II

So you can really tell the quality of the parmesan.  I'll just say that.  I didn't take the time to really spread out the sausage like I should've and there were patches of just cheese, and with the Cheese Shop's Mozzarella and the 24 month parmesan, they are quite good just by their own.  So how to I continue the excessiveness?  I put a whole La Quercia dry cured sausage on the pizza.  And wow.  just wow.  Now I hope this is not to offensive to the fine people there, but damn that was magical.  I don't even know what else to say.

La Quercia Dry Cured Sausage pizza

Grass Fed Beef Burgers (Crooked Gap, yes Crooked Gap)

Ok, so adding a slice of bacon per 1/3rd pound?  You kind of loose the beefy flavor.  I'm going to try again, low and slow.

2012 - Week 30 Cooking Results

Chicken and Two Cheese Tortas (p171 Food & Wine July 2012)

This was good.  Like real really fantastically I think this might be a mistake good so I'm going make it again.  While clearly the pickled jalapeno round out the sandwich and I think really pull them all together, Shannon had it without and still thought the sandwiches are good.  It's a nice interplay between all the various pieces.  Though the recipe called for iceberg lettuce, I couldn't bring myself to do that (Cleverly Farms only had, I think, a test plot of iceberg).  So the keys here.  It didn't take long to make, it comes together quickly and using excellent ingredient it makes a damn fine sandwich.  So much I was a bit upset when I didn't get to have leftovers (Joseph and Shannon finished it off).  I did switch up the recipie a little and used 24 month Parmesan and fresh mozzarella from the cheese shop.

Chicken and Two Cheese Tortas

BATs (Bacon, Arugula and Tomato and this time with better bread, but no cheese) (Blue Gate)

So combining some Vande Rose Farms Bacon, fresh tomatoes, Cleverly Farms arugula, some wheat bread from La Mie.  It is such a good combination.

Bacon, Arugula and Tomato

The Cheese Shop Pizza

So we have some freshly pulled Mozzarella, 24 month aged parmesan, and Olympic Provisions Saucisson Sec.  A bit excessive?  Perhaps.  The Saucisson Sec was magical both cooked and uncooked.  It also exuded this delicious fat that could be used to top other things, or add flavor elsewhere.  I did a bit more mozzarella then I should've (top left corner below couldn't handle the water exuded).  So next time around I'll have to figure out how I'll have to decrease the mozzarella content because of the added liquid, or if I just added a bit more then the 8oz that I should've.  Anyways  It was good, I'm going to do it again, though this time around I'll keep my sausage more local, though I will be working my way through the rest of the fine offerings of Olympic Provisions at the Cheese Shop.

Clearly Excessive use of Products from the Cheese Shop Pizza

Spicy Ground Pork Tacos (Crooked Gap)

Combining dried spices, fresh peppers (jalapeno, hatch, etc), black beans, some chipotle smokiness.  It made for good tacos.  I should've gotten smaller tortilla.  The place here in town that makes the tortillas I buy does apparently make tortillas at the 6" size...I guess I'll have to ask my grocery store about it.

Grass Fed Beef Burgers (Crooked Gap, yes Crooked Gap)

So I had a talk with Ethan at Crooked Gap about the beef.  Usually when I buy meat at the market the target meat to fat ratio is around 10-20% (for taste, not for health).  This beef turns out to be a much lower fat ratio, he wasn't sure what it was, but said between the combination of being grass fed (makes the cow leaner) and Dexter cattle (also a leaner breed that's more of an all around animal (work, milk and meat)).  So I'll have to change up how I do this.  Either a lower and slower cooking or adding fat from something else (bacon or chevre, for example) to get it to that target 15-20% ideal fat level.  I figured it was problematic when it didn't exude much fat, like one would expect out of a good fat ratio meat.  I bought some more and will be trying either the low and slow method, or fat adding.  I haven't decided yet.

Grass Fed Beef Burgers with Chive Chevre

Tomato and Feta Salad (Blue Gate, Reichert's Dairy)

Tomatoes good, feta good...I don't think I added enough of the other stuff to make it good overall.  It needed something a bit more.  I served this on the side of brats.

Tomato and Feta Salad

2012 - Week 29 Cooking Results

Whole Foods opened this week.  I went on opening day (with a couple of friends) over the lunch and squeezed through the overly crowded store.  We ended up not buying anything, because we felt that if we actually had to make it to a register it would've taken another half hour or so, just to get out of the store.  A few comments right off the bat here.  Their selection of pork seemed kind of pathetic considering the location where they are.  The price on the chocolate I really like to use is quite a bit less then the other source, so I hope that they adjust their prices accordingly.  The local Iowa wine selection is...well, very limited (Jasper plus a couple of others, no Cedar Ridge).  This was my first visit to Whole Foods (grocery shopping is not something I generally do when I travel).  There are many things I will like to try, I like the layout, generally, but it's quite a way out of my way.  A side trip to Gateway gives me an 8.3 mile trip.  To Whole Foods, 13.2 miles, including driving on I235 generally during the worst part of the day (evening rush hour).  What I really hope this does, is bring the game of GWM up.  They have good people there (though I think they have lost quite a number to Whole Foods) and I trust their general recommendations.  Will I go from time to time?  Do they have some things that I want that I haven't seen elsewhere? Yes.  I imagine we'll take a trip in a couple of weeks to really look at all the things they have.

BLTs (My brain can't help going to the BMT reference in The Princess Bride) (Grade A Grass and Gardens, Cleverly Farms)

So I love cheese, and that would be the only drawback to something like this.  So in thinking about this I was like what could I use for a cheese that would accentuate, but not over power the combination.  So where else would I go?  The Cheese Shop has always provided me with insightful and good suggestions as to what to use.  So CJ suggested Harbison from Jasper Hill.  This is a very soft cheese and worked like mayonnaise on the sandwich (a really excellent, slightly smoky one).  It turned out excellent.  Trust your cheese monger, they are usually right.

BAT(Bacon Arugula and Tomato)

Sausage and Tomato Pizza (Crooked Gap, Blue Gate)

It has been quite a while (6 weeks), since I made a pizza, and this was a nice break back into the process of it.  I may have overcooked the sausage a bit, but it all worked out in the end and tasted really good.  The tomatoes were good as well.  This week, I think I will make some more pizza, but use some of the mozzarella made by The Cheese Shop and something simple on top...I'll figure it out.

Sausage and Tomato Pizza

Baked Potatoes (Grade A Grass and Gardens)

Oven on, back downstairs to hide in the basement from the heat.  Good meal, minimal time in the kitchen.  Served with a bit of bacon, sour cream and I was going to try to serve chives, but...well...they're dead.

Pork Burgers (Crooked Gap)

nom nom nom.

Chicken and Bacon and Ricotta Frittata

So I open the fridge, I have a single chicken breast, some bacon, some ricotta...which I didn't use and used sour cream instead.  And then I have leftover chèvre (I meant to break it out for game night...but...well...forgot, people were distracted by ice cream anyways).  So I used 3 pans, and there were plenty of elements, and it looks a mess, but it tasted pretty good.

Chicken, Bacon, and Chèvre Frittata (messy but good)

Tomato and Pepper Pasta (Juan O'Sullivans)

This was ok...it was not quite how I thought about it in my head, but even so, it turned out pretty well.  Perhaps I should've added more of the pasta liquid.  Oh well.  I added a bit of leftover pork (1/3rd pound) and it came together.  It was better heated up the second day.

Tomato and Pepper pasta

2012 - Week 28 Cooking Results

So i made 3 kinds of Ice Cream this week:  Lemon Cream, Backyard Mint (or really, front of Mars Cafe Mint), and what we'll continue to call Mocha (dark chocolate, but the coffee, which I think I've been making some too strong coffee) all from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  Everything I've done in here so far has really turned out to be quite fantastic.  So if you have the interest, it's a good one to go with.

Also, it was pointed out to me that Carly started a new blog Tarragon and Toast.  I'm hoping she really continues this.

Grinders (Crooked Gap, Cleverly Farms)

So the taste wasn't exactly how I intended.  I guess if the peppers were pickled, it would've added that flavor that I wanted.  But it was a combination of the Crooked Gap Itallian sausage, tomatoes, some pickle relish, some extra spices.  Then put on a nice hoagie bun, and topped with Cleverly Farms peppers and some Point Reyes Toma.  Even though it didn't quite turn out like I wanted, it was still very good.  If I trusted my broiler, I probably would've broiled 'em a bit to add a little toastiness and some extra-melitiness.  Still, good all around.

Grinderlicious

Cornmeal and Ricotta Waffles

I dont know if I messed up the recipe, or it was just that liquid...but these were ok.  One thing that would've proved nicer would be to have a second or third waffle maker to use, cause when making this many waffles, I ended up eating my waffles, while making more waffles which apparently were mostly eaten by Joseph (totally fine).

Eden Farms Hot Dogs (bought for the 4th, didn't end up using)

Oh how I have missed these.

Egg Foo Yung with Chicken and Shiitake

On Friday, I couldn't bring myself to make this...or do much in the way of cooking...so this instead:

Egg, Bacon, and Arugula open faced

Mini-Burgers with mini-ciabatta buns (Coyote Run Farm)

They look good, don't they?  We've got some Liptauer on top, arugula, onions, burger, and inexpensive cheddar style of cheese.  These were quite good.  I really quite enjoyed them.  The mini-ciabttas?  The texture wasn't as...well...ciabattaey?  I think the small size led to a little to much density for what the bun should be.  Still worked out though.

mini-burgers on min-ciabattas

2012 - Week 27 Cooking Results

Risotto with Corn, Spicy Sausage, and Wilted Arugula

I have made this before, and this turned out well again.  I should've taken the time to go find a fresh corn stand, but, it was hot out...  Anyways, good meal (and my rice for risotto is almost gone).

Risotto with Corn, Spicy Sausage and Wilted Arugula

Pork Stir Fry based on Spicy Orange Chicken Stir Fry (Cleverly Farms, Grade A Grass & Gardens)

So we have a combination of broccoli, broccoli leaves, carrots, red onion, cabbage, scallions (Blue Gate, credit where credit is due).  Combined with the pork and the reduced orange juice sauce, it worked out well.  Full of veggies making me feel healthful.

Veggies, early cooking, thanks to Joseph for the prep workOrange Pork Stir Fry over Rice

Chicken Salad for a picnic for the free Flick at the Des Moines Art Center

So I wanted to add dill, but not so much to overwhelm it.  So I used the baby dill, but just a bit (maybe 3/4th teaspoon, for the whole salad), and then I thought what about some chipotle flavor.  So I added some powder.  Next time I think I'll go after a combination of the pepper and the adobo sauce.  So with that, plus the addition of the normal type of items, I had a decent tasting chicken salad.  But what to pair with it.  I headed down to my friendly neighborhood cheese shop, and got a nice suggestion of Asher Blue from CJ.  It worked out very well.  Shannon, who is not the biggest fan of blue, found it good and I liked the playfulness that it had with the dill and chipotle.  A good salad.

Butterflied Pork Chops with Roast Potatoes (Crooked Gap, Cleverly Farms)

Potatoes took a bit longer to cook then I thought, but I prepared them simply.  Tossed with melted butter, salt and pepper and baked for a while, then a while longer.  We ate the pork (which was done) while the potatoes finished.  It was a pretty good meal, nice and simple.  Though cooked on a day when the air was already having trouble keeping up, turning on the oven, probably not the best of ideas.  The pork chops rendered off quite a bit of fat, and before serving, I cut off the fat cap, but it turned out good.

Grass Fed Sloppy Sammys (Coyote Run Farm)

Used a mixture of ancho chile powder and cayenne, worked out well.  This is one of those things, like the chicken salad, where you just change whats in there, adjust things and it just generally works.  Sauce is too runny?  cook it a bit longer, to salty? add more (non-salty) stuff.  Sometimes I wish I would've taken notes, but usually not.  It's one of those things that it's good or even magical for the moment, having it again, just the same way?  Won't ever happen.  On that note, I noticed mini-ciabatta buns at Gateway Market.  This will be a nice use for either for mini-burgers or mini-sloppy joes or other mini-things.  I'll have to try them out.