Journal

2013 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Grilled Meatloaf Burgers (RC Cook's Country June / July 2013)

So uh, reading is hard, an clearly I didn't do it.  Cause when I combined all the ingredients and went to look back, I end up needing to top it with a sauce which I had already combined with all the meats.  So...It became sloppy Joe's   I used most of the remaining BBQ sauce that Joseph had made and they turned out pretty good.  Though we didn't have enough bread left in the house.

Chicken Divan (p27 Cook's Country June / July 2013)

This took a bit longer then I thought to make, even when I had prepped everything first.  It did, however, end up tasting really good.  Especially since ended up being a combination of chicken and broccoli, basically.  Since broccoli isn't the most popular ingredient in this house, and we both liked it, the sauce that went with it tied everything together and made it quite tasty.

Open Face Brie, Apple and Arugula Sandwiches

Simple, good and fast.  La Mie ciabatta and some Henri Huton Belletoile Brie (70%).  The Brie had a bit of extra funk, but not to much, so it made for a nice balanced sandwich.

Fettuccine with Sausage and Kale

I made this real quick, before I headed off to the Cheese Shop's Gypsy Beer & Cheese class.  So I made dinner, ate, and then left it warming for Shannon when she got home (she had no desire to sample beers).  It was pretty good.  I used Red Russian Kale from Cleverly Farms.

Open Face Bacon and Egg sandwiches with Arugula

Another simple sandwich, the issue here was I thought I had more bacon (unfrozen) then I did.  So one of them got ham on them.  I've made this before, I'll make it again, though I'll cook or use less of the shallots.

Meat Audit

So sometimes I don't remember what's in my freezer, so I figured I'd do an audit so I could reference it.

Not Pictured:  whole stewing chicken, whole roasting chicken. 

2013 - Week 21 Cooking Results

Pappardelle with Arugula and Prosciutto (p53 May 2013 Bon Appetit)

This turned out ok.  I did get to eat some extra prosciutto which was nice.  Perhaps I didn't follow the directions right, but it was good to eat, not so good as a leftover.  Perhaps i should do this again, it does make a good spring meal.

Grilled Steak Tacos with Spicy Slaw (p13 June / July 2013 Fine Cooking)

I vaguely followed the recipe.  ​The spice rub worked well, even in a pan.  Actually it worked very well.  I did have to put the flank steak back in the pan because it was slightly undercooked, but a minute or two more and it was just above rare and nice, juicy and a bit spicy with the ground ancho pepper from AllSpice.

Turkey-chorizo burgers with guacamole (p14 ​June / July 2013 Fine Cooking)

Ground turkey thighs combined with a bit of fresh chorizo.  It made for a good burger.  The chorizo added fat and spice to the turkey which was for the best.  The guacamole added a nice touch as well.

Spiced Lamb Patties with Apricot Couscous (p16 ​June / July 2013 Fine Cooking)

This was I think ​was the winner for the week.  At least for me.  It was just such a nice combination of ingredients.  A bit of tart, spice and fragrance that was just an enticing combination.  Good stuffs.

Fusilli with Peas and Feta (p17 ​June / July 2013 Fine Cooking)

​I wish I had fresh peas for this.  It was very quick, very simple.  The peas with feta.  Delicious.

There was an extra meal in here.  Someone at the market had berkshire pork.  It tasted pretty good.  I messed up the chive blossom potatoes (undercooked the potatoes a bit), but the pork was perfect.​

2013 - Week 20 Cooking Results

Linguine with Hot Chile, Caramelized Onions, and ​Gremolata

This turend into a sort of garbage pasta, cleaning out the fridge...Maybe I'll make this right sometime.​

Ramp and Sausage Risotto

It has been a while since I've made risotto, and this turned out really well.  I was supposed to use the chopped greens near the end to add extra flavor, but even so it was a nice balance between the Crooked Gap Italian sausage, the ramps and the creamy rice flavor.  It was a nice use of probably the only ramps I'll be able to get this season.

Spring Vegetable & Potato Frittata​ (modified, spring onions)

I skipped the asparagus and the garlic and onion and just did a lot of spring onions and some potatoes.  It came together quickly and tasted very good.  Finished off with a little broiling and we ate away.

Brazilian Chicken Salad Sandwich

I skipped the beets, because I didn't think I could get them beyond Shannon, and as I went upstairs to make it, the only thing she had to say was a warning not to go heavy on the dill.  Luckily for me, there was no dill in here, so it worked out.  The salad itself was ok, maybe it would've been better with the beets, or a bit more spice or ​something.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't that good.

Pork Burgers

I combined the pork with some of the leftover Italian Sausage and it added a nice bit of spice to the remaining pork.  It made for a good burger.  Even though I hadn't ran out, it's nice to be able to buy it again from Crooked Gap.

Brats with AgriCulture Sauerkraut (new vendor, awful web presence)

​The sauerkraut was good.  I'm not the biggest fan of sauerkraut  so I really wouldn't be able to judge it completely, but if I needed it, I'd prefer this over some of the others that I've used as an ingredient in the past.

2013 - Week 19 Cooking Results

Thin-Crust, Whole-Wheat Pizza with thickened tomato sauce and Lamb Sausage (p24 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013) (Modified)

​So, I think the dough needed to rest a bit more, or I needed to take it out of the refrigerator a lot earlier.  Since I made this on monday, I didn't take it out until 5:30 or 6, so it just didn't have long enough to warm up before I started stretching it out.  Normally I'll take the dough out around mid-day, so it has hours to come up to room temperature before I start to spread it out.

So the edges of the pizza were puffy, crisp edged and chewy in the middle, which is good, but the middle just didn't have enough volume to counteract the weight of the toppings and liquid above.

So the choice here is to bring it out earlier, reduce the liquid (already added tomato paste to make it thicker), and maybe let it age a bit more to develop more gluten.​

I'll try 1, then 3 then maybe 2, but you can't make pizza sauce too thick.​

Still tasted good, but was just not what I wanted in that middle part, which is very important.​

Bacon, Cheese and Jalapeno Tacos

Quick, tasty and easily repeatable.​  I liked the heat bite of the jalapeños  but understand why Shannon skipped them.

Chicken Enchiladas ​(with general direction)

I say general direction in the sense that I looked at the ingredients and added my own twists.  I used the layering method (simplifies the process, no rolling involved).  I used chicken, salt, pepper, black and pinto beans, cumin, Jalapeno Powder, Chipotle Powder, and onion.  It turned out well, and when you don't have to brown the meat (rotisserie chicken), or roll them, it decreases the time to do it.  Good stuffs.

Linguine with Hot Chile, Caramelized Onions, and ​Gremolata

Delayed until next week, we went to Zombie Burger instead.​

Lamb Bratwurst (Hedgeapple Farm)

These were quite lamby, but we love lamb.  Perhaps it was a bit much?  I dunno, I'm undecided at this time.  Luckily, I have another package to go through.​  Maybe change what we put on it, to match better with lamb?  I'll think on this.

​Fried Egg Pitas with Arugula

​I picked up some tapenade from The Cheese Shop, and this made the recipe really easy.  The only change I made was to shred a bit of Prairie Breeze over everything.  Turned out quite well.  Well enough and easy enough after my first lawn mow of the season (should've done it a week before), I called lazy for making dinner, and still made this for dinner (for the second time that week).  The arugula was from Grade A Gardens.

2013 - Week 18 Cooking Results

Thin-Crust, Whole-Wheat Pizza with thickened tomato sauce and Lamb Sausage (p24 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013) (Modified)

Delayed, forgot about going out to eat with my parents for Joseph's graduation.​

Cuban-Style Picadillo (p19 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013)

​This took a while, had lots of pieces (requested to be on a bed of rice and a side of beans), but ended up being right up my alley.  However, with the addition of the olives and capers, it removed it from Shannon's alley.  I suppose it was a good thing that I like it, because I'll end up being the one eating all the leftovers.

Macaroni and Blue Cheese with Chives

So I used the Shropshire Blue and Vermillion River Blue in combination with some Prairie Breeze.  This turned out really well, it wasn't a completely smooth sauce, but it had a strong, but not to strong, blue cheese flavor, which was quite good.  It didn't last that long.  Good stuffs.

Blue cheese and Bacon Meatloaf

​So instead of using bison, I ended up using a combination of beef and Graziano sausage.  I mixed in some of the remaining Rouge River Blue in and covering it with some thick cut bacon.  This was a mistake.  The thinner bacon would've probably got crispier.  But even so, it still worked out well and tasted good.  And you have, leftover meatloaf for...meat loaf sandwiches.

I also picked up my Cedar Ridge Single Malt Whiskey order.  It was nice to trek by myself and come back, just to have a little alone time.  Though for 30 minutes or so of the drive I spent it on a conference call.  I also picked up two extra bottles for friends.

2013 - Week 17 Cooking Results

Thin-Crust, Whole-Wheat Pizza with garlic oil, three cheeses and basil (p24 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013) (Modified)

So like the other pizza from them, I'm not so good with the pizza stone, and because I'm unwilling to sacrifice stones to practice, I combine them and have a pan pizza to some extent.  ​On that note the amount of garlic oil was a bit to much for what the pizza turned out to be.  But I do think that this crust could handle the normal thickened sauce that I make for their non-whole-wheat crust.  I guess we'll have to find out.

Cuban-Style Picadillo (p19 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013)

Delayed, made Sloppy Sammys instead.​  Joseph came over, ate dinner, made cookies, then didn't leave any cookies behind...  Just saying.

Spiced Chicken Dosa (p96 Food & Wine May 2013)

I didn't use near as much zucchini as the recipe called for, ​(1 / 3) but even so it turned out pretty good and was quick enough for a busy night.

Adobo Chicken with Bacon and Bay Leaves (p90 Food & Wine May 2013) with Ginger Rice (p92 Food & Wine May 2013)​​

​So I had to cut the recipe because I didn't have a big enough pan to address all the pieces of chicken.  The combination of both the ginger in the rice and the adobo chicken made for a great meal.  It wasn't quick, but it was very good.

2013 - Week 16 Cooking Results

Sesame Beef and Snap Peas

​So this was simple to make, came together quickly and because I served it with rice, I actually started the rice early and still had to wait for the rice to finish.  Good taste, and good for rewarming the next day for lunch.

Fusilli with Three Cheeses and Red Bell Pepper

So I am thinking the reason why this wanted to use 3/4th a pound ​instead of a whole pound.  Even after adjusting the amounts a bit up, I still ended up with a not so creamy version of it.  I did use some very nice cheese (Sharfer Maxx), so the taste was there, but I expect this could've been better.  However, my point remains.  unless there is a reason, a magazine editor should remember what options are generally available to their average reader.  So I do have a reason to be reasonably annoyed when they call to use 3/4ths of a 1 pound box of pasta.

Rice and Beans with Fried Eggs

This goes to the point that you can add a runny egg yolk to almost anything, and it makes it better.  Simple dish, that defiantly lost something when I couldn't add runny eggs to it when ​I took it to work for lunch over the following day or two.  But even so, good the first time around, not so bad even without the eggs.

Mahi Mahi sandwiches

I really need to replace the non-stick pan.  Even oiled, it is starting become problematic.  I guess I should add this to the list of cookie sheets, half sheet pans, 9x13 baking dishes...  What am I waiting for.​

Anyways, practicing on searing the Mahi Mahi, got a nice sear on one of the two sides and they were just about the right size for the bread that we normally buy.  Basically we treated the end product like it was a pounded out chicken and put mayo, honey dijon, baby spinach (hurry up farmer's market, I miss you) and for me, a few pickles.  Turned out pretty well.  Shannon asked if this was a good fish for fish and chips, and it's really not, but I guess I'll have to try that sometime, though not with these.

Thin-Crust, Whole-Wheat Pizza with garlic oil, three cheeses and basil (p24 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2013) (Modified)

Didn't skim the recipe well enough, ended up making the dough on saturday, and considering that it wanted the dough to be refrigerated for at least 18 hours, it made it hard to make it on Saturday.  So we headed out to eat instead.

Burgers with pepper jam

​nom nom nom...

2013 - Week 15 Cooking Results

Bacon, egg, sriracha, arugula sandwiches (ATK Instagram feed)

So there wasn't any arugula at the store when I went shopping, and it's clearly to early for my favorite arugula to be around, especially with the coldness lately.​  So I just used baby spinach.  It was good, but I still want to do this with the arugula.

Lemony chicken and Orzo Soup (p40 Bon Appetit April 2013)

Super simple, I changed things around a bit though.  I seared the chicken first, so that it was almost cooked all the way through, then had that rest while I cooked the vegetables.  I by itself the soup it self was pretty plain, but when you add that squeeze of lemon juice and that sprinkling of baby dill, it takes it from being blah to yum.  To be fair, I do love the taste and smell of dill.  My wife didn't add that much but still liked the soup.​

Mahi Mahi Tacos (based on here)

Crap.  I knew I should've checked seafood watch, before I bought that Mahi Mahi.  Bad Sam.  Anyway, I've never been thrilled at the selection / price balance of the fish selection.  Yes, I live in the middle of a land locked state, and the idea of buying fish, where I know it has to travel quite a bit just to get here, let alone the number of days and treatment of the fish.  So when I saw a package of IQF Mahi Mahi at CostCo I was excited.  I'm supposed to eat more fish, here's fish (not from China, no offense to the people of China, but your business practices are to shady to apply to food that will go into my body).  But it turns out it's from Ecuador.  To late now, can't take it back, must be more mindful in the future.

Anyways, Quick sear on the Mahi Mahi that was covered in a nice spice mixture (cumin and smoked serrano) and then some normal taco toppings.​  It came together very quickly, which was nice, cause it was a wicked long day that day.  Also very tasty, and all things considered, pretty good for us.

​Brown Rice and Beans with Ginger Chile Salsa (p42 bon Appetit April 2013)

Two things, prepped at the same time, topped with a 3rd thing, prepped while the others are cooking.  Good use of time, and came together well.  I didn't have the red jalapeno peppers, but I used green instead.​  It was spicy, but not to much, and simple to make.

Pork and Peppadew Burgers

​Ok so I intended to chop up some peppadews and put them in the burger, but end I went another way.  I participated in a cheese destiny event.  I walked into the Cheese Shop with the purpose of picking up a cheese for the burgers, and Brett just happened to be answering the question of another employee at the Cheese Shop as to what his favorite cheese for pork was (Shropshire Blue).  So it was a cheese destiny event (Brett's quote).  In the chiller case was their fabulously delicious pepper jam.  And bam, there was dinner.  Pepper jam, Shropshire Blue, and ground pork from Crooked Gap.  Fan-freaking-tastic.

​It is an excellent combination, you must make it.  I may make it again.