Journal

2016 - Week 6 Cooking Results

Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

The other sweet potato had started to turn, so I had half the sweet potatoes I need for this.  It was pretty good.  Made better by the yogurt addition (recipe stated).

Angry Pig Fried Rice

Modified.  Shannon doesn't like Tofu, so I axed that out and added more snap peas (replacement to snow peas).  This wasn't super angry, but it was pretty good.  Easy to make and an example of good process.  Cooking the eggs separately so they present better in the rice.  Good things.

Garlicky Spaghetti with Lemon and Pine Nuts

bright lemon flavor, some savory and some deliciousness overall.  Lots of pans to use, but quite good and simple.  Normally, we would've Just had this, however since we are trying to be better, a little mixed greens salad (I cannot wait to get greens from dirt and Iowa again).

French Style White Bean Stew

Delayed!

We went to Baru 66 after a long absence.  6 Course menu, all good things.  The thing that stood out for me was the butternut squash puree.  It was stunningly good.  Don't get me wrong, there were several moments in the meal where I got the wonderful feeling of this is amazing (I'm guessing my body releases endorphins, cause it's a rush), but the butternut squash puree left me pondering for quite a while.

2016 - Week 5 Cooking Results

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

This was the win for the week.  While the combination could've been better, the idea of doing it this way instead of tuna or eggs or chicken, is a good one.  I'm looking forward to putting my own spin on this. 

Easy Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

Quick and nice.  Maybe a bit to sweet, though judging by the ingredients, it was probably the point.

Curried Potato Quesadillas

Pretty good, maybe a bit more something, but pretty good.

Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Delayed!

Pork Burgers

Little bit of farm pork from Knoxville, little salt, and pepper.  Some time in the pan, ensconced in some Wild Yeast Bakery sourdough bun.  Topped with a little Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze, and various other toppings.  I will never grow tired of this.

2016 - Week 4 Cooking Results

Sriracha chicken and Edamame Sandwiches (I'm only vaguely following this)

I used a rotisserie chicken, and didn't use as much of the edamame that it called for, even so, I found them distracting from the dish as a whole, it made it just kind of odd.  Maybe the edamame was to big?  So you bite, chew and oh there's another soy bean.  Maybe if it was something smaller, like petite peas or something it wouldn't be entirely distracting.  Taste wise, good call.  mildly spicy (also added some Sambal Oelek).  Good stuffs, after you get past the soybeans.

Hoisin Pork with Napa Cabbage

Blue Gate says they have Napa Cabbage, I'm like of course I need to make something with Napa Cabbage. So this was it.  It turned out pretty well, I had to make a special trip to find an acceptable Hoisin sauce.  

Spanish Style Chickpea Quesaddillas

Very quick, a little different, and still quite good.

Bangers and Roast potatoes

These were non-standard sausages.  I did not like the texture or the flavor of the spices.  Kind of ruined it for me.

Soboro Beef

Very simple, yet had a surprising depth of flavor.  Good stuffs.

2016 - Week 2 Cooking Results

Spicy Carrot Fried Rice (more leftover rice)

This was not as filling or as spicy as I thought it might be.  I was actually kind of disappointed in it.  It was fine, it's relatively good for you, but maybe with some chicken on there?  I dunno.

Salami Americano, Tomatoes and Parmesan Pasta

Usage of ingredients in the house.  Finished off the last of the Salami Americano that I bought.  It was pretty good, though I could've cut the salami a bit smaller and had a bit more.  Maybe added some onion too.

Glazed Meatloaf

I modified this a bit, since I was, surprisingly, out of ground pork (even with a freezer stuffed frozen local meat).  So Italian sausage, FTW.  On Friday, when I was thinking about making this, I don't know if I was more excited to have the meatloaf with mashed potatoes (which I under salted) or meatloaf sandwiches...  This did come together very well and I was pleased with the results (other then the mashed potatoes).  And it did make quite good sandwiches.

Spiced Lamb Burger

Followed the directions, except for the grilling part, then diverted a bit, because of the side I wanted to serve.  So i turned out cutting the thick pitas in half and had the meat end up being cooked on the stove top. And instead of being burgers, they were kind of loose meat.  Anyways, flavor profile was good.

Cuban Style Black Beans and Rice (Saturday)

I started cooking dinner around 3...ok maybe a bit later (had trouble finishing off the game I was playing).  Lots of pauses (enough for me to run take a shower, thanks lazy Saturday).  Good things.  It was worth the timing and effort and we had it as our main.

2016 - Week 1 Cooking Results

Chicken Burrito with Brown Rice

Relatively simple, nothing to exciting, but still good.  Made extra rice to use for the fried rice.

Fried Brown Rice with Scallions and Eggs

Simple, quick (since rice was already was made).  Pretty tasty, nice simple meal.

Herbed Chickpeas over Noodles

I was supposed to dry the chickpeas, this was supposed to crisp them up.  I didn't, however do that, so there wasn't any crispy chickpea bits.  Even so, it was filling, kind of bland but filling.  I had to get parsley late in the week, the chives looked way to thick to be chives.  I did, however, find the battery that I was looking for (HDMI switcher remote).

Pizza!

So I broke out some leftover (bought it for New Years) Salami Americano to top the pizza.  It tastes so good and cubes up nicely.  I had forgot / was to busy to make dough early enough in the week to have this on Friday, so we had it on Saturday.

There is always some difficulty when using a new meat on pizza.  You want to make sure that the meat doesn't exude to much fat, but you want it to use some.  So if you pre-cook the meat, you make cook it to much, so when you put it in the oven, it over cooks.  But if you don't, the meat may exude to many juices and run over the side of the crust and make the edges soggy.

So we ended up with some soggy edges (to be fair, the kitchen was cold so the pizza dough didn't rise as much as it should've.  Even so, good things.  Very good things.

Cuban Style Black Beans and Rice (Saturday)

Week got weird and busy with some late work nights, delayed.

2015 - Week 53 Cooking Results

Pork Chops and Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes (had on Christmas day at the Matta's, so good)

So I didn't use the herbed goat cheese like the recipe called for, but did use a very good goat cheese to do this (probably to a note of the ridiculous), but this made the kitchen area of the house smell amazing while it was baking.  It is an amazing combination, though clearly something that should only be had once in a while.

Lamb Burgers

Good stuff.  I don't have enough lamb.

Pasta with Hot Italian Sausage

Quick, emptied out some leftovers from the fridge.  Good things.

Pizza (Saturday or Sunday)

Never made the dough, so no pizza to be had.

2015 - Week 52 Cooking Results

Pork Cutlet Cuban Sandwiches  or Pork Cutlet and Corn

These turned out really good.  I was happy with the pork and ham and the reduced sauce for it.  Good things.

Bangers and fingerling potatoes

Om nom nom nom.  Even added some cheese curds.

I made some Baked Beans (thanks to Holly, for lending me her smaller slow cooker) and some peppermint brownies.  So I sent them off with Shannon to her work party and she came back with an award.  Feels good.  For me the peppermint brownies are incomplete, there is something not quite right about them.  The process reminds me of being very similar to Nuclear Brownies, but there's a little roughness to the texture.  Anyways I think I may work on them a bit to see if I can get them to where I like them.  The candy canes were added to early, because instead of being crumbled, they clearly melted.  So it will be a balance of getting them into them while the brownies are still accepting, but before they'll melt.  Anyways, thanks for the commendation.

2015 - Week 51 Cooking Results

Egg in the hole open faced w/ bacon and cheese

So maybe I forgot to put the cheese on there and instead of digging out my forming rings, to have nice round circles, I just widened the air bubbles a bit.  Either way, this was a semi-throw back to Shannon's childhood (her grandpa would make these).  Good stuffs.

Cheesy Corn Casserole  with Jalapeños and Cilantro

This was surprisingly good.  I looked at this and had my doubts, but it sounded interesting, but eating it and the next day.  Good things, I'd make this again.  It's easy, and most of the time doing it is while it is baking in the oven.

Pork Cutlet Cuban Sandwiches 

I didn't have all the ingredients for this, so hopefully we'll have this early next week.

Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices

Simple, tasty, kind of wish it was colder outside.

Penne Arrabbiata

This has a nice underlying savory flavor with a nice spicy flavor on top.  Good things.

2015 - Week 50 Cooking Results

Turkey Risotto (tried to do this last week, didn't have enough Arborio rice)

This used most of the last of the turkey stock, and the last of the turkey.  I think this is my second favorite thanksgiving turkey leftover usage (sandwich remaining at the top of the list).  It came together well.  The thing here is that I didn't follow a recipe, per se, but the process.  Though this I added quite a bit more salt...however the turkey stock didn't have any salt in it, so it was like adding the salt that was missing.

Turkey Soup (tonight)

Things come together really quickly when they're almost done anyways.  Turned out pretty good.  Only made a bit, not a full pot, though.

Buttermilk Pancakes (Leftover buttermilk)

Om nom nom.

Sausage, Red Beans & Rice (leftover (frozen) sausage)

One of those things that I should make more often.  a little light on the sausage, but still a good meal.

Pasta e Ceci

This was quite good.  I even used a really good anchovy filet.  I also used some of the La Quercia pancetta (big hunk cut off a bigger piece.

2015 - Week 48 & 49 Cooking & Thanksgiving Results

Buttermilk Pancakes

doubled, quick and good.

All Pork hot dogs (Crooked Gap)

nom nom

Bangers and Butter Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

tomato bangers and I believe wabi sabi fingerling potatoes.  Good stuffs.  Maybe a bit less tomato in the banger...

Burgers (trying vendor from Iowa Food Coop, Bear Creek Acres)

needed more fat.

Ground Pork and Beans Taco Salad

quick, the point.

For Week 49 we ate mostly leftovers, some takeout and some I feel like making this now type of food.

Thanksgiving

Preperation

Cooking

Results

The pie was a complete and utter failure.  I missed the part bout withholding a bit of the gelatinized part for the pumpkin top, so the texture of white chocolate part was just...wrong.  Even before this the crust, which was nicely put of the sides, collapsed to the base so there was a super thick part in the middle and nothing on the sides.

The apple crisp was a bit lemony, but not as lemony as the last time I didn't an apple crisp.  I think I'm going to the next one, more like what Joseph does at work, where you just have to finish it off for individual servings.

Other then that, we were ready at almost exactly the time we said.

I cannot express the amount of help that Joseph provided and how thankful I am for it.  We ripped through the day off prep, he offered to make extra things.  He did the ice cream, he ran off to get his apple corer, which just zipped through the apple prep.  He even wore a beard net (even though I didn't ask, nor would expect it).

So thank's Joseph, I really appreciate it.

Another Thanksgiving in the bag.  Now to start thinking about next year.