Journal

2013 - Week 14 Cooking Results

Lamb Burgers

I love lamb.  I meant to do this for dinner last sunday, but I didn't take out the lamb early enough, it was still very frozen by the time I could've used it, so we had the ham and mashed potatoes again.​

​Omelette Baguette

I was exhausted   Went to work early (like I've been doing), left even later then I have been working (after 7), and just didn't feel like going through the effort.  So I simplified.  3 eggs, a dash of soy sauce, some ground pepper, then it was more of a build your own sandwich thing.  I did use La Mie petite baguettes and for mine I added some of the pickled peppers bought for the red beans and rice.  It worked out and was tasty  I should make the real thing sometime, but for now, this worked.  I cut off the ends then cut the remaining parts of the baguettes into thirds.  Good quick meal.

Green Onion Sausage Pizza (Larry's Mention of it made me want it)

nom nom nom.  I used Zachte Boerenkaas from Holland's Family Farms​.  This was at the suggestion of Brett from The Cheese Shop of Des Moines.  This added a nice creamy texture and a flavor that is stronger then mozzarella, but not overpowering.  Great suggestion and a great pizza.

New Orleans Red Beans and Rice with Pickled Peppers

Did I make it look like a sundae on purpose?  Perhaps, but ​it worked.  It was nice, the rice soaked up the liquid in the bowl and combined together to be a nice balanced flavor.  I added a bit more heat with some hot sauce.  I'd make this again, and I'd be curious to make it with out using canned beans.

Grilled Ham and Cheese with Strawberry Red Wine Jam

I've been a more beer and whiskey mood lately, so the idea of opening up a bottle of wine to use a couple of tablespoons, just didn't really appeal to me.  So I skipped that part.  That being said, tit turned out very good.  I used some very nice Gruyere, and then got a loaf of bread from La Mie (had to make a run in the middle of the day to get that and a couple of petite baguettes).  I wish I could remember what the bread was called, but it was very good as toast and grilled, almost wished I made a sandwich out of it before it turned.  Anyways, very simple, and very good, you can mod the recipe down to fit your own needs, I will have to try it again sometime and go after the wine when I'm more curious.

Ham Steak and Mashed Potatoes

There is something just magically about butter, cream and potatoes.  You can mash potatoes, but without the butter and cream, it just doesn't taste like it should or have that texture it should.  I'm curious if you could do this with some non-cow based substances, but right now I have no reason to try.  The ham was ok.  I thought about splurging on a Eden Farms ham, or something like that, but just couldn't bring myself to drop $50+ on a whole ham.

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2013 - Week 13 Cooking Results

Skillet Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese (RC Cook's Country April / May 2013)

Came together easy, after a long day of work, tasted pretty good.  It a creamy sauce and just right broccoli.  Good thing.​

indoor Burgers with Crispy Onions (RC Cook's Country April / May 2013)

So I didn't make the crispy onions, and instead of using america cheese, I used Holland Family Farm's 18 month Gouda and some La Quercia Tamworth Smoked Pancetta.  It did make a tasty burger.

So on a side note I understand why the fine folks at La Quercia have renamed the bacon to smoked pancetta (it's hard to justify the $/pound if someone thinks it is just bacon), but I don't really agree with it.  It really is diluting the idea of pancetta.  It still tastes good though.​

Hawaiian Fried Rice (p5 Cook's Country April / May 2013)

This is pretty much as expected.  Tasted good, came together quickly fit in well for the week.​

Hot Pepper Noodles (p22 Bon Appetit March 2013)

I made this on Friday.  Friday was the first day of the week that I actually got home at a reasonable hour, and I proceeded to nap instead of just coming home and starting to make dinner.​  This led to another late dinner like the rest of the week, but I sure felt good about it.

Soft Chicken Tacos

​Good repeat meal.  I used the Milton Creamery's Quark, like I did last time.  It was another wonderful suggestion from the Cheese Shop.

2013 - Week 12 Cooking Results

Ditalini with Chickpeas and Garlic Rosemary Oil

So this ended up being pretty good, it was filling, vegetarian and ​relatively quick to make.  Which was good.  Though I still struggled with timing all this week because of how busy I've been.  I added a bit of hot sauce, Shannon did not, we both were happy.

Avgolemono Chicken Soup

Such a simple set of ingredients, a ​simple but delicious flavor.  I used a chipotle rotisserie chicken and some leftover rice and it was a good quick combination.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

Finally made it right, came out good, quick meal before we ran off to do something else.​

Moroccan Slow-Cooked Lamb

Skipped, for a good reason.​  We had eggs on toast instead.

Soft Chicken Tacos

​I love tacos, and during this time I added a new salsa I tried (Renfro's Jalapeno Green Salsa).  It really tied everything together nicely.  I may have to do this again... 

2013 - Week 11 Cooking Results

Pasta with Abruzzi-Style Lamb Sauce (p98 Food & Wine March 2013)​

This is the second meal made out of a shoulder of lamb.  I can probably do one more.  I really liked how this came together, the only draw back, was that I didn't season it enough early on.  So it definitely had a lack of salt to it.​  Adding salt after the fact was good enough, but not totally ideal.  I do try to use as little salt as possible in my cooking, because of my blood pressure, but that often leads to a bit of a borderline that sometimes you are on the under-seasoned side.

Ditalini with Chickpeas and Garlic Rosemary Oil

Delayed until next week.​

Avgolemono Chicken Soup

Delayed until next week.​

Egg Salad with Pickled Celery ​and Course Dijon

So I made my first, I think, pickled thing, It was pretty simple and quick and tasted pretty good, and made a nice addition to the simple egg salad that was here.  Plus I'm not sure if it was this method fo hard boiling eggs, or the eggs themselves, but they turned out just right and were pretty easy to get out of the shell.  I'd make this again.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

​So uh...I forgot to add the pumpkin to these.  This wasn't the biggest deal I suppose, but it would've made the pancakes a bit fluffier.  Even so, they were good.  but I'll probably make them again, to get rid of that last can of pumpkin.  So they weren't as fluffy, but they did still have a nice flavor (bought some pumpkin pie spice mix).

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2013 - Week 10 Cooking Results

Chicken Goulash with Biscuit Dumplings (p64 Food & Wine March 2013)

​So this was very good.  It's not very often that my local Hy-Vee has boneless chicken thighs  so when they do, I tend to buy up as much as can fit in my freezer.  Since my freezer is still fairly full, I didn't buy to much, and ended up using it in this dish.  This came together pretty well, though it's sauce was a bit to thin (perhaps I should've added more flour), but when it was time to add it, I thought that perhaps the dumplings would've soaked up a bit of the liquidness.  And they did, in the bowl, but it was still necessary to use a spoon, instead of a fork.  Even so, this was quite good, and worth another doing.

Country-Style Potato-Leek Soup with Kielbasa (p39 Entertaining Spring 2013)

I wish I would've had better Kielbasa, but I did have a coupon, so I guess that's ok.  Plus it saved me a trip.  But even so this came together well.  After I bought the amount of leeks that I needed, Shannon expressed concerns about having that many leeks in one dish, but after the reduction of the water in the leeks, it just reduced to be not near as much as one would expect by just looking.  When all was said and done, it came together quickly and tested pretty good, except for the lame Kielbasa (Johnsonville).

​Spicy Sichuan-Style Lamb with Cumin (p61 Food & Wine February 2013)

This was spicy, certainly spicier then I think either of us was expecting.  Certainly the heat with the lamb flavor was a bit unexpected, but still very good.  I suppose I would keep it the same way, but turn it down a bit for Shannon.  It's not often that I'd say this, but I think this could've used more vegetables.  A red bell pepper maybe?

Pasta with Abruzzi-Style Lamb Sauce (p98 Food & Wine March 2013)

Delayed until next week.​  We were coming back from Heath's first birthday, and decided on burritos (of the bandit variety) instead of me cooking.  Which I suppose is the 3rd night this week we've done so (Baru 66's La Quercia Dinner and eating separately while I was off prepping instructions and boxes for Chris's Brick Built Science Center of Iowa thing).

2013 - Week 9 Cooking Results

Pasta with Roasted Onions, Radicchio and Blue Cheese (RC Cook's Country February / March 2013)

Very quick to make, used Chiriboga Blue Cheese (a mild, but still quite flavorful blue) and this turned out very well.  Shannon wasn't a fan of the mildly bitter aftertaste of the radicchio, which I can understand, but over all, it was still a very good dish.​

Chicken Cordon Bleu for Two ​(p28 Cook's Country February / March 2013)

So I ended up having a cheese explosion and so they didn't look as pretty as I'd like, thus no pictures, but it still was quite tasty and not that tough to do.  I used a very nice Gruyere, and a not so nice slices of ham.  It came together very well.  I'll certainly try to make this again sometime, perhaps with better ham.

Creamy Pappardelle with Leeks and Bacon (p75 Bon Appetit February 2013)

So this is a sort of play on a carbonara and it works.  It had a nice combination of flavors and textures.  What was depressing about this meal is that I opened up some mixed herbal greens (store bought) well within the supposed expiration date, and was overwhelmed with rankness.  I miss farm fresh greens.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancake

I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice, so I used a combination of spices that make up pumpkin pie spice and made this.  It turned out well, though because of the color of the batter, and the consistency, it was a bit difficult to tell ​the doneness, so I may have overcooked a couple.  Even so, it was still a nice dinner and a good use of the leftover pumpkin that I have.

Rigatoni with Spicy Calabrese-style Pork Ragu (p72 Bon Appetit February 2013)​ (Friday)

This was really damn fantastic.​  So does it need the 4 hour simmer?  Who knows?  I alternated between using water and tomato juice to keep the liquid there, and used a couple of extra spices, but really, this is probably the best tasting pasta sauce I've made.  Worth the time?  I'm not sure, but considering I'd stir, set the alarm on my phone, and watch tv / nap and then come back and stir some more when it went off, it wasn't that much of a burden, other then the time to have to start.  So I guess it makes for a nice weekend meal.

Crispy Lentils with Ground Lamb

So this was really good.  What I didn't like is the assumption that I would have just cooked lentils on hand and there were no suggestions as to how to prepare them.  So I guessed, added some spices and went from there.  and it ended up working out.  A little lamb supplemented with a bunch of lentils, it works out well.

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2013 - Week 8 Cooking Results

Tuna Noodle Casserole (p18 Cook's Country February / March 2012)

So this is was a challenge.  Between the time that it took, and trying to be helpful to Brandon as he was fixing our table, and trying to make dinner in a timely fashion.  Helpful won out over timely as we ended up eating at 10:PM.  I used a bottle of Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde to spice it up a bit.  It turned out well, we both liked it and even though we were eating very late, it was still a good meal.  The leftovers disappeared quickly.

Pasta with Roasted Onions, Radicchio and Blue Cheese (RC Cook's Country February / March 2013)

Delayed until next week.​

Hearty Spanish-Style Lentil and Chorizo Soup (p19 Cook's Illustrated March / April 2013)

So I had some Spanish Chorizo sitting in the freezer from...a while ago.  To get this to all come together on time I really should've started when I got home (but I napped instead), This was probably not the best idea for a weeknight dinner, since it does take a while to make, but the final product was very good.  I imagine that if the chorizo doesn't exude that magical red liquid, then this wouldn't turn out so well, but if you get some of the good stuff, you are pretty much set.  We were both happy with the dish, but not so happy with the lateness of the hour.

Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara (p11 Cook's Illustrated March / April 2103)

So I've never really had that much of a problem making spaghetti carbonara (besides, even failure of this tastes pretty good), but this was an interesting way to do it.  The bacon that I had taken out of the freezer was a bit thick, and I think ended up being to much, so I trimmed the bacon back a bit ​(it was surprising to me too) and went from there.  I rendered enough fat off to generate the sauce and it came together well.  It did seem a bit complex, but it worked, so maybe someone would need this, but maybe a bit of overkill if you've done it successfully before.

Bison Burgers

Topped with a bit of bacon (bought at Big Boy Meats), and fried in the bacon fat, it was nice to have the bison grace our table again.​  The bacon itself was pretty good, prefer crooked gap's better (though the big boy bacon was cleaner cut).

Quick Ground Chicken and Bean Tacos

This was a little milder then I intended, but still ended up working out pretty well.  Combined the chicken, beans, spices, onions, tomatos and tomato paste together to form the base of the ​taco, then topped it with your normal things.  Quick to do, made for an easy Sunday night.

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2013 - Week 7 Cooking Results

Connecticut Steamed Cheeseburgers (p13 Cook's Country February & March 2013) (toying with the recipe)

So I did this again, left he recipe the same. (even the sprinkling of cheddar on top at the end), but I also put a small cut of Stichelton from the Cheese Shop in the middle.  Now because of that the tops broke open a bit and didn't look great (until I sprinkled the cheddar over at the end).  It added the little funky fun from the Stichelton.  Quite the good thing, a new way to make a burger from time to time.

Green Rice Casserole (p20 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

So this was postponed from last week and then I finally got around to making it last night (luckily most of the ingredients were not of the spoiling variety).  This actually turned out pretty well.  Basically it's spinach, rice and a whole bunch of cheese to add fat (cheddar and cream cheese).  I had my doubts, but we both liked it.  I, admittedly added a dash or two of hot sauce to it., but even without, it was pretty good.

Tagliatelle with Quick Lamb Sugo

Lamby, lamb, lamb.  This came together quickly, left me with a whole lot of tomato juice leftover and all and all this turned out well.  I ended up making this on Monday, which means I didn't get a chance to get some Pecorino Reserva, but used Parmigiano Reggiano, instead.  Still went over well.

Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie

After having an excellent valentines dinner at Baru 66, I followed it up by making something relatively quick and homey.  Some of the directions on this I question.  It just seems to go to fast, high heat on almost everything.  This seems like it doesn't give much of a grace period to those who may not have prepped everything, or can't pay exactly the closest of attention.  Even so, I changed it up a bit, added a bit more spice, especially a bit of red pepper flakes.  Since the mushrooms didn't come in an appropriate weight sized packaged, I used a couple of ounces less (rather then a couple more).  I also peppered the toast, which added a bit more.  Turned out real well, I'd make this again.

Big Fork Bacon Sausage (on a bun, curiosity got the better of me)

Pretty good.  Nice flavor, probably be better cooked over a fire.

2013 - Week 6 Cooking Results

Green Onion Sausage Pizza

A return to form, fitting for the particular day that it was on.  I didn't roll the dough up enough to prevent the sauce from spilling off, so one corner of the pizza was a bit soggy, while the others had the nice crisp crust that one expects.  I'm glad I have more of the green onion sausage, that reminds me.  I need to find a time to do the Jerry and Nay & kids pizza party.

Black-Eyed Peas with Greens (p11 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

Ok, so there are a lot of things that I avoid, because I think, hey, I probably won't like that.  Collard greens has been one of those, but seeing pictures of Ben cook down the greens and rave about the taste, I figure it was worth a shot, especially since the grocery store I go to had cartons of fresh greens already chopped up and ready to go (which, well makes it much less of a time investment).  So a cooking we go.  As a label reader I was surprised at how nutrient rich the greens were.  I admit, when it told me to dump out the bacon fat...  I didn't, but even so, it was still pretty good for you I imagine   It had a very nice flavor, the peas blunted the expected bitterness, and there wasn't enough to even trigger Shannon's sensitiveness to bitterness.  I had mine with a dash or two of hot sauce, Shannon's was plain.  So this makes me more curious, and I'm looking forward to further experimenting into this area of southern cooking.

Connecticut Steamed Cheeseburgers (p13 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

I was expecting this to be not so good.  And I actually thought about skipping it and just making burgers, but I made this and it actually turned out surprisingly good.  It didn't hurt that I used a very nice Gruyere to top it off.  But even so it came out tender, juicy and delicious.  Maybe this would be something that you could modify and start off with a quick high heat sear, then steam them complete.  Or put some cheese in side, or something of the like.  I'll have to play and figure out what I want to do here.

Green Rice Casserole (p20 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

Delayed to next week.  Lots of leftovers in the fridge, figured it's best to get through those before adding more.

Chicken and Rice Soup (p17 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

So it's always a good idea to dress up the generally bland stock/broth that you can buy with more flavor and this was a prime example of it.  The process added a lot of flavor to the stock and made a better soup over all.  The problem here is the time.  I was either napping or got home a bit later then I expected.  I also would've liked more rice in the dish.  I admit, I didn't find the short grained white rice that the recipe wanted (that I was willing to buy), and that even added more time., but even so, it would've been nice to have a bit more.  Tasted good though.

Ham & Eggs in some preparation

So I thought hey, I could do a ham and scrambled eggs thing, or ham and egg sandwiches or etc.  I ended up pulling out a package of the La Quercia Pancetta to top it off.  It was pretty good, and why wouldn't it be?  It ways it was the quickest meal of the week.

Chorizo and White Bean Stew (p40 Bon Appétit February 2013)

Ok so I had remembered seeing fresh chorizo out at Whole Foods, and this is what the recipe called for, so I made a special trip out there.  The dish came together relatively quickly and tasted pretty good.  The chorizo itself was just kinda...well ok.  Not under spiced, but not that good either.  Not like the magic that the Spanish chorizo that I have purchased before.  Even so, it turned out to be quite a nice meal.

2013 - Week 5 Cooking Results

No-boil Mac and Cheese with white truffle oil (slightly modified from p30 Bon Appetit January 2013) (really this time I'll use the truffle oil)

So I added less spice, and added about 1/4 a cup of white truffle oil.  It turned out very bold truffle flavor.  So maybe it would be better to reduce the white truffle oil a bit, to be not so bold and more subtle.  Still, turned out well and disappeared quickly.

Pan Roasted Brined Pork Chop (modified from p52 Bon Appetit January 2013)

Second time around, it still came out great, even greater, because the pork was closer to the temperature that it should've been.  Serveed with mashed potatoes and a nice honey mustard vinaigrette.

So last time and this time I used some of the left over butter and rendered pork fat to bring the mash together.  This is truly a fantastic thing to do.  It carries over the pork flavor to the mashed potatoes with the extra butter that makes a truly great mashed potatoes.  I used a combination of Yukon Gold and Russet.

The baby greens remind how much I miss my local greens.

Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo Secco

So this Chorizo has a wonderful flavor, and I want to find more things to use it with.  This was great., nice flavor to the already good eggs.

Surprise, more awful burgers to use, putting them in Sloppy Sammy's with other beef

This worked.  Bury that awful beef burgers in spices, onions and some other beef.  Good stuffs.

Bratwurst from Big Boy Meats

These were pretty good.  Nice taste, texture and flavor.  I think they may have even been made by hand, because they were still connected together.

Green Onion Sausage Pizza

Delayed until Sunday.