Journal

2018 - Week 37 Cooking Results

After getting the impression that fall was actually here, because there was a general cooling, we are back to warmish, but not as humid weather. My thoughts of food have started to turn towards fall, and winter squashes and the dishes that contain them, however earlier this week as it had heated back up (but we hadn’t turned the air back on yet), so I skipped a dish because of that, but I’m still thinking about them, since spaghetti and acorn squash are here. I’m looking at the weather prediction this week and getting frustrated as they are mostly in the upper 80s which really isn’t conducive for winter squash based recipes, at least for me.

We had a strange thing happen this past week. We’re planning a little weekend trip to Springfield, Illinois (Lincoln, FLW house, etc). We are trying airbnb for the first time and we booked well in advance. So from what I gather from multiple sources, the place we are staying changed ownership, airbnb was supposed to basically give you the option to re-book under the new owner’s schedule. They did not. Now if this was a misinterpretation between the host, owner and airbnb, I am unsure, however, it was easily resolved after the initial confusion, other then the refund coming back and the money going in.

Yesterday, our shower head started to leak out the top, so I ran out to pick up a new shower head to replace it. The shower seems kind of big for the place, but we now have a detachable head that I’ve wanted for a while, and it’s really quite easy to do.

Tuna & Noodles with Kimchi

I think this would’ve been fine without my modifications, but Serving a noodle dish without some cheese? To my wife? Yeah that probably won’t fly well. I added some Holey Cow (Central Coast Creamery) and mixed it in which raised the amount of fat and definitely added quite a bit of flavor.

Seared Garlic Sausage (Red Table) on buns with Kraut

These are so good sausages, in dishes, on their own, on bread. I really love these things. I made little sausage medallions and seared them on both sides, so you could pile them up on the buns and top with kraut. Good things.

Braunschweiger (Lucky George) on Rye (Tuesday)

Shannon has an art class, I have Tuesday night ritual, this leaves me to my own devices on Tuesday night. So I get to play with things I’m pretty sure (braunschweiger) or know (rye) she won’t like. I had lunch with Proctor that day, and he suggested the Salted Rye at the downtown Hy-Vee, so I headed down there (I was going to go to the Kosher deli, but part of me feels vaguely disrespectful of their beliefs by taking it and putting pork on it, not that I wouldn’t, but you know another option showed up). Anyways, mildly drunk I made myself a sandwich and it was good. Thus all was good in the world. I then took a nap.

Stuffed Delicata Squash, based on This

Used the Italian sausage to make little patties to put on pretzel buns. Made for a good alternate meal as the temp was rising again.

Thai Pumpkin and Chicken Curry

With the leftover pumpkin from making the first pumpkin bread of the season, I pulled this together. I had to make a couple of modifications (green curry paste instead of red, on hand plus red was out in the store). As another change, I served it over quinoa instead of rice (I thought I had rice, but didn’t). The taste was pretty good.

2018 - Week 35 Cooking Results

Chicken Spiedie Skewers with Italian Dressing

So as I have been taking some time off to avoid my vacation bank max, it has been a lot easier to take the recipes that need a bit more time and get them going, then maybe take a nap, then work a bit more on it.  This really wasn't that hard, and only took a little bit of preplanning.  I had sticks leftover from the partial melon balls we made for one of Shannon's work things. so I used those, but I really supposed I didn't need to, as we just took the chicken and put them on buns with tomatoes and etc.  Still pretty good.

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

Chorizo acquired from Remnant Hills Farm.  Tacos made.  Good things.

Kimchi Mac and Cheese

I had leftover onions from the Chicken Spiedie and cooked the chicken that was meant for the grilled chicken sandwich, so I added those (cooked) near the end.  I even dumped in some of the remaining Italian dressing (just to use it).  I've made this before and it was quite good, and with these additions, it was still quite good.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Ceaserish dressing

Delayed?  Cancelled?  We went out with friends instead.

Lamb Burgers

The pork bag is getting pretty full, because of this, I puled out some pork instead.  Good stuff.

2018 - Week 32 Cooking Results

Brats (Lucky George) and Insalata Caprese (Butcher Crick, Wabi Sabi)

This is what an Iowa based dinner should be like. the salad was wonderful as I let it marinate together for a bit.  The mozzarella (Lost Lake Farm) combined well with the tomatoes and basil to be a delicious combination.  Then brats done right.  Good things.

Grilled Cheese with Nduja and Tomatoes

Stole the idea from the Cheese Shop and added tomatoes.  It was quite good on a fairly generic sourdough.

BLT Wrap (sorta following this)

I meant to buy flour tortillas, but clearly reading is hard, and bought white corn tortillas.  basically a BLT wrapped in a white corn tortilla (including toasted breadcrumbs).

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

I've been really busy at work, and have started taking short naps when I get home (15-30 minutes (sometimes i don't sleep I just close my eyes)) just to set a line in the day and separate my thoughts.  But Thursday and Friday I was pushed a bit beyond and was just tired.

So For this night I took the pork and made pork burgers.

Gong Bao Ji Ding

This night I took an extra nap while the chicken was cooking in the oven and we had diced chicken sandwiches. 

2018 - Week 30 Cooking Results

Pancetta, Robiola, on english muffins (maybe with egg?)

While the robiola wasn't as good as Lois', it was pretty good and the combination.  I made some with an egg on top and some without.

Eggs with piment d’Esplette

I'm not sure if I didn't add enough piment or my taste buds were starting to go to hell, but I'm not sure what flavor I was looking for.  I may have to try this again.

Broccoli Bolognese with Orecchiette

The Broccoli was less then fresh by the time this came around, and we were both under the weather (and tired), so I made a simple red sauce with Italian sausage, and used the noodles I had on hand.  Not necessarily the best use, but it fit the need.

Taco Salad

Good as always.

Sub, vaguely following this

These turned out pretty well.  Relatively easy to put together, some fresh mozzarella from Lost Lake.  And while I didn't have basil based pesto on hand, I did have a jar of sun dried tomato pesto that I used instead.  Other then turning the oven on pretty high on a warmer day, it was a low effort meal.

Black Pepper Brats (Lucky George)

I really enjoyed these.  Nice pepper heat and bit to them.  Maybe a little off then what you expect from a brat, but right up my alley as far as a taste profile goes.

2018 - Week 24 Cooking Results

So after reading some about elderflowers after Wabi Sabi Farm posted about it, then talking with them at market, I went down the road a bit with some experimenting with elderflowers.  After I made a cocktail / mocktail (3 small strawberries, 2 T strawberry puree, 2-3 T elderflower syrup, over ice, topped with sparkling water, and gin (2-3 shots) if you are so inclined).  I do think I need to version the elderflower syrup, I used a 1:3 ratio and the juice of one lime, as I don't need as much sugar in my life.  Looking at a cross section of elderflower syrup recipes, they tend to soak it for a lot longer.  I've seen time frames from 5 minutes to 48 hours, which seems like a range of flavors and tastes.  I'm tempted to buy a syrup, but I'm pretty sure I a. don't want to spend that much money and b. need another bought syrup in my fridge (still have a lot of tonic syrup left).  I steeped the flowers for about 20 minutes.  It does have a decent smell and a mild taste, but is oft lost in the strawberries and gin.  So more things to try. More tweaking to do.  I may try elderflower alcohol next week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken on Salad greens)

This turned into a sandwich.  Cause that's what was wanted.  I roasted the boneless skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs for the other salad at the same time.  It was an effective use of the oven as the temperature kept increasing this week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken mixed with mayo and etc and put on a sandwich)

A simple combination of chicken, celery, some pickles, some other good things and put on bread or buns.  Quick and simple, as the cooking was done the day before.

Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)

Served to me with the Pseudo Sue.  Good things.  This would make a good cook out combination.

Chopped Pork (leftover Cuban pork) Tacos

Combined with beans, tomatoes, and warmed up it made a good meat part for a taco salad.

Daeji Bulgogi (Adjusted)

I expected this to be a bit spicy, but not excessively so.  And for me, I could tell that it was building into an area that I enjoy, but my dear wife does not.  So I warned her, and her being the dutiful taster that she is, tried, but then couldn't take the heat.  I felt bad, and made her scrambled eggs (Blue Gate Farm) instead.  I baked the sauce, onions and pork in the oven at 375 for a bit until the pork was about the right temperature.  Some was a bit over (as I didn't consistently slice the tenderloin), but to much so.  I enjoyed it, but feel bad for my wife.

White Park Beef Burgers (Lucky George)

Salt, little buns, good stuff.

2018 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Double Shot Mocha Chunks (Garlic Fest)

Little metly, a bit delicious and they disappeared really quickly at Garlic Fest.  I enjoy spending time on the Grade A Gardens land, relaxing afternoon.

Cuban-Style Oven-Roasted Pork (Start Saturday for Monday, Berkshire Pork)

So reading later, I realized this took around 6 hours of cooking to finish.  The bone came out fairly cleanly and the pork is really tender and juicy.  It did cool down the rest of the house as the oven was running for a good chunk of the day.  We put the pork on Tortas and ate to our hearts content.

Spiced Lamb Burger

I skipped the spices and just made mutton burgers in a pita.  This was an even older then normal sheep from Lucky George.  Good things.

Spicy Pork Tenderloin Bowl with Greens and Carrots

Shannon went to have fun with her co-workers, I picked up something at the cheese shop, so skipped.

Kimchi and Ham Torta

Simple, using those torta buns.

2018 - Week 21 Cooking Results

Quick Kimchi Pancakes

So my idea was to put the kimchi pancakes in with some pork in a flat bread.  I, however, didn't get home from work in a timely fashion so the timeline got messed up.

Kimchi Mac & Cheese

So uh...this was pretty good. Really good actually.  I am going to make this again, without a doubt.  I used some local kimchi (not as good as the Brinery, but not as expensive either).  I also added some chopped cooked chicken thighs.  Maybe the next step is to make it into a baked dish with a bread crumb top.

Italian Sausage, Ramps with mozzarella on English muffins

So my idea was to combine the tastes of ramps and Italian sausage in a delicious edible combination.  I don't think I had enough ramps and maybe it was missing something else, but the ramps have disappeared so I won't get to work on this again for a bit.

Brat Burgers (skinless brats sqaushed)

Good Things

2018 - Week 16 Cooking Results

Pizza

So it has been a while and I seemed to forget how important it was to get as much liquid as possible out of the tomatoes (I did poke a squeeze them, as I do) plus I used buffalo mozzarella this time, which may have added to the liquid that eventually pooled and dampened the crust.  I went back to the standard King Arthur Bread Flour (after uses some of the other flours in my house), which behaved as I expected.  I would like to do a mix of the others or at least something, but that would probably require me to make pizza more often then is really good for me.

Kimchi Fried Grain (Quinoa)

Using leftover Quinoa, this came together pretty quickly and tasted pretty good.  Certainly a way to use leftover grains that I cook (which is the purpose).

Pork Hot Dogs

Good as always.

Mutton Burgers

On the one hand, eating the last of the mutton in my freezer is sad, on the other, it's almost Market season!  Served with Cabra Blanca.  Good Stuffs.

2018 - Week 11 Cooking Results

Lobster or Chicken Alfredo

It was a bit weird to be both sad and try to celebrate the anniversary of my wife's birth.  As I didn't have enough lobster for the both of us, I gave her the option of what she wanted (lobster).  She also got chicken for the next day for lunch.  We also had little cakes from Let Them Eat Cake in Valley Junction.

Butterflied Pork Chop spiced with Ras El Hanout in flatbread

Simple and came together pretty quick.  Seared the pork chops, took them out, sliced them, added them back, with a can of diced tomatoes and finished them the tomato liquid.

Taco Salad

Simple, good stuff.

Shepherd's Pie (Modified)

I added some Ras El Hanout (instead of garlic) and a kiss (maybe two) of Irish Whiskey (lil for me, lil for the Pie).  Happy to have mutton to use (Lucky George).

Hamburgers

Always good with grass fed beef.

2018 - Week 10 Cooking Results

Pumpkin Lasagna

As I didn't have fresh pumpkin, I used some puree, and it turned out pretty well.  Notes from this, I made this the day before., which I think allowed everything to kind of settle into the pan pretty well.  I also added a bit of whole milk before putting it in the oven.  Good Stuffs.  I made this for a few friends coming over to play D&D in person.  It was fun, though much like the predictions, I starting to zonk out shortly after midnight.

Rigatoni with Sausage and Chives

Relatively simple, pretty good.

Fried Bologna Sandwich

I used mortadella, and fried it up in the pan.  Good things.

Red Table Meats Garlic Sausage, onions, tomatoes and rice

So I made this similarly to the baked rice from a previous week.  Good stuff.  I think it turned out more like it was supposed to.  I used the 12" skillet, which allowed for more crispy edges.

Sloppy Joe's

I used some ras el hanout in it.  Worked out pretty good.