Journal

2022 - Week 32 Cooking

There are more holes in the road. It has made it hard to get in and get out while the work. Shannon has a bit of a time getting out in the mornings, because it seems they swap which side you can get out, randomly. Friday, I needed to drop off a package at UPS and I tried between the end of my 9:30 meeting and the start of my 10:30 meeting, with no luck. I got out later in the day, but ended up parking in the church lot down the street, since construction items or equipment cover both sides of the street, and walked back home. I went down later to get my car, seeing that it might be open, but had to wait, a not to bad 5 minutes, while the dump truck was loaded. I’m looking forward to this being done. They did add a metal plate over the intersection to the main street and the street where my driveway is, since it has gotten a bit lower as time has passed. Anyways…this to shall pass.

Waiting to get back home

2022 - Week 31 Cooking Results

Brats

Jalapeño and cheddar, Crooked Gap. Skinless. Nom nom nom.

Chicken and Rice with Coconut-Ginger Sauce

I didn’t have crispy chicken skin, which is a loss, but over all this came together well, was pretty good and made good leftovers.

Chicken Sausage with Braised Red Cabbage and Potatoes

I have been hoping for the apple growers to show up so I can get some fresh pressed cider and fresh picked apples, as it is almost that season, though with the lack of rain, who knows. I picked up a can of cider from an Iowa based cider company (they make hard cider too), which is convent since it’s small enough to buy a can or two instead of a whole jug. With that, the cabbage and potatoes and sausage, it felt very German to me.

I enjoyed the mix of texture flavors and how everything joined together.

I also had some Toppling Goliath Oktoberfest with this, which fit well.

Spicy Sesame Chili Oil Noodles

I was thinking I could pick up some black vinegar at the store, but it wasn’t there. They added some more Asian ingredients, ones I would take an extra trip for, but the Black Vinegar disappeared at some point. That being said, I tried my best to follow this. And it came out pretty well. I used fresh fettuccine noodles, and this was pretty easy together. A nice quick email with not a lot of heat needed, on a very hot week (though not the hottest day).

Modern Baked Mac and Cheese With Cheddar and Gruyère

Let’s talk about the good.

First the expected texture was spot on, the noodles were a bit over done, but I could’ve probably pulled them off the water a bit earlier.

Let’s talk about the bad.

It used a lot of pans. I had a whole load of dishes with just pans.

It was dramatically under seasoned. As a comparison:

Modern   Alton Brown
1# Noodles   0.5# noodles
1/2t Mustard Powder   1T Mustard Powder

Get some more mustard, paprika, garlic powder and then we might be talking

The breadcrumbs should have had some seasoning in there, like some pepper some Parmesan cheese, something.

I used 1.5# of Hooks 3 year and 0.5# of an actual quality Gruyere, so I didn’t skimp on the cheese.

I also added some Extra Chet (special batch, Red Table Chet sausage with extra fennel) on top of the noodles and below the breadcrumbs

“Modern” baked mac and cheese

2022 - Week 26 Cooking Results

Brats

Good as always

Italian Sausage Sandwich

I had a pound of sausage, and the sausage needed for the frittata subtracted out, so I used the rest for a bit of a sausage and provolone sandwich. it was pretty good and a way to use the extra meat without some random thing later.

Eggs and Hash Browns

Scrambled eggs, hash browns baked in the oven. Good things.

Bison Sloppy Joes

So I’m not sure if that was what the Torpedo Extra IPA was supposed to taste like, the box appeared to be a bit old, but it was not my favorite. Though I did end up forcing myself to finish the 6 pack. The directions for this were a bit backwards.

It should’ve been prep the cheddar sauce, then do the meat mixture, then while the meat mixture cooks, you can cook the sauce. Otherwise you have to totally babysit the sauce while you cook the meat, trying to keep it at a temperature where it’s melted but not going to crust on the bottom.

That being said, I swapped out the chili powder with chipotle powder and they cayenne with jalapeño, which put the heat up a bit, on top of the poblano pepper that was in there.

It turned into more of a loose meat sandwich, then a sloppy joe, but adding the cheese sauce added an extra amount of sloppiness to it, I suppose.

It was flavorful, served on Kings Hawaiian pretzel rolls (who knew they existed), with a side dish. It took a bit of time, but was worth it for a weekend dinner.

Teriyaki Stir Fried Garlic Scapes with Chicken

On Friday, I mildly tweaked my back while cleaning the kitchen, so we got takeaway instead.

Delayed.

Italian Sausage and Potato Frittata

Relatively easy to do do, it was a good week night dinner. The microwaving of the potato slices certainly did cut down on the cook time. Pretty good.

Elderflower Syrup (finishing)

After a ~3 day soak, I drained the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, the bowl and eventually into a jar.

2022 - Week 25 Cooking Results

Baked Blackened Fish Sandwich

So it wasn’t blackened, really, but it was nice a pretty good. I added some Momofuku savory salt int he mix and baked them. We proceeded to eat them on ciabatta buns and it was pretty good. I vaguely followed the recipe.

Chilled Sesame Noodles

I was waiting on a work thing to get finished, but had to consider the timing of being ready for AMS. So I was racing to get this done so we could be ready for a 7 start time. This was quick. Very Quick. I added the sauce together, got the toppings prepped all while the water came to a boil and the noodles, cooked and cooled. We ate, and we then watched The Fifth Element.

Beef & Three-Cheese Noodle Casserole

I added a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, used Mozzarella and added some ricotta, that I had leftover. I may have added more cheese, since my brain conversion failed me, but it still worked.

I really liked the sun-dried tomatoes, after cooking and baking. They added a burst of tomato flavor.

Brats

Good Things.

Chicken Salad

I pulled the chicken off a rotisserie chicken, and then proceeded to make a pretty good chicken salad. A good quick meal as the weather was being hot.

Taco Salad

I had almost forgotten about the Wabi Sabi first CSA pickup, so I ran out right quick to get it and chat with Farmer Ben for a bit. I then when back home and used the mushrooms and arugula immediately. In the taco salad. I don’t normally use mushrooms, so this was a bit different, but not too much.

Elderflower Syrup

It is that time of year again, and I know that my wife loves this, so I make it again. On a note of the, its a bit odd, after I got my haircut, I stopped by the new Fareway Meat Market, to just see what was there. It certainly seems focused around the meat. Like sides, preparation things, but it had a nice variety of things. While I had not actually planned to buy anything, there was some Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic water. So I had to get that, then I got a couple of other things that I wanted to try. and finally got to use a gift card that I had in my wallet for quite a while (I used part of it to buy ice, when we lost power during the 2020 Derecho). So I ended up spending just over 3 dollars past the gift card and came home to make the syrup.

2022 - Week 19 Cooking Results

We ended up going to Tupelo Honey, which was fine, and the to Hello, Marjorie for a cocktail (TH vs HM cocktail? HM hands down, not even close). And then we realized that going to the Steve Martin - Martin Short show didn’t start until 8, not 7, so we wandered up to the the sculpture park, wandered around a bit, and sat in the shade for a bit. It was interesting to see the people that just roll through the park, which seems like quite varied in age and etc. It does seem sad to see some of the minor defacement inside Panoramic awareness pavilion by Olafur Eliasson. You could see children playing, people just hanging out, a couple yelling at each other across the street, children crying, but it was still nice to be there. We took the walk back from the Park to the Civic Center and enjoyed the Music, Jokes ribbing and general silliness of Steve Martin, Martin Short. Certainly a nice date night.

Sloppy Sammy’s

Always good, always different. Remembered the mustard.

Ramen, Chicken, and Fried Egg

Fried egg, pulled rotisserie chicken, ramen. I should’ve thought more and added some vegetables.

Rhubarb Shrub

Easy to put together, nice smell, haven’t had a cocktail with it yet. Maybe tonight.

Ramp and Sausage Risotto

Always a favorite around this time of year. I picked up some more ramps today. I did realize I have quite a bit of Arborio rice, especially since I bought another bag. Just a meal that takes time, highlights ramps and is just something you eat around the spring.

Three Cup Chicken

I didn’t have dry sherry, but I used sherry none the less, I thought this was pretty easy to put together, since I swapped out the ginger and garlic for their dried counterparts. I skipped, cause I couldn’t find, the Thai Basil leaves, but I did use the Momofuku toasted sesame oil and that added a nice flavor. Enjoyable.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Peas

Some wonderful prosciutto, pasta, peas and just over all goodness. I’ve noticed more and more that Iðunn really craves cream and high umami cheeses. Good stuff.

2022 - Week 18 Cooking Results

This week was definitely outside the norm. I headed to Cedar Rapids for a team meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and returned Wednesday evening, I stayed in a hotel for the first time since this whole mess started. It was nice to actually see and talk to my coworkers, though I am not really the type of person that needs a lot of face to face interaction, it was good to have a bit.

On Friday, I took the day off, as I am above the non-temporary max of vacation, so I got a hair cut, and went to my late visit of the Cheese Shop. Shannon decided to come home early so I, jokingly reluctantly, brought her home a sandwhich, after she discovered I went out to eat lunch.

Two slices of ciabatta with nduja dried fruit and parmesean dressed with honey

Last of my lunch at the Cheese Shop

Stovetop Mac n Cheese n Spinach (p.380 Good Eats: The Final Years)

This was a quite good mac and cheese, though I did struggle at the end adding (half as much as called for after doubling the recipe) the spinach. So I should probably use a bigger pot the next time I use this. This did leave shannon something to eat for lunch as I headed off for my first in person meeting in a long time. As a side note, I used mass market Irish cheddar, because of timing, and I feel vaguely guilty about it.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

I remember why I didn’t like this recipe. I get the paint of doing the extra work of separating the eggs, whisking the whites and all that. I’m just not going to do it. So I did it, the pancakes were fine.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Needed more salt. And more spices. For some of the leftovers I added a wee bit of hot sauce and it was much better, served with Triscuit and ate some this morning for breakfast, and it was a lot better with the saltiness of the cracker and the heat from the hot sauce. It made for a good snack breakfast. On the other side, I think it often depends on the chickpeas to how cooked they are when they are canned. Some will be a bit more chalky in texture, than others.

Brats

BBQ version apparently (what I found open(ish) first). Good stuff.

2022 - Week 14 Cooking Results

Curried Rice

Curried Rice. With bananas? With raisins. So I thought about the savory flavors and sweet. I figured, they’re the type of people that know what they are doing, You get that sweetness from the banana and the scent of the curry and that sweet and tart of the raisons. The raisins where too much for Shannon, which is entirely fair. Shannon liked the banana and curry, but she has never been a fan of raisins, so this was a line she couldn’t cross. I thought it might work, but not so much. And for that I am sorry. However, I enjoyed it, while the the concept of it…was.. not quite what I would have thought.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

I added more celery and carrots and skipped the kale. After using the parmesan rinds and letting them resting the sink, at some point one of the cats, probably Iðunn, stole a rind and ended up dropping it on the stairs to the basement. The soup was pretty good, and I think i’ve made it before, and we both had it as leftovers.

Chickpea Shakshuka

I added more smoked paprika then was called for, cause they’re always a bit lite on the spices. I was only able to get 7 eggs in the pan, which is still quite a number of eggs. It was pretty good, though I may have wanted to have the eggs a little underdone, I cooked them os directed.

Spicy Soy Shrimp Noodles

This came together right quick. The had a nice flavor, shrimp (One of Shannon’s favorite proteins), and used a couple of packs of noodles. A good weeknight dish.

Vegetarian Pizza Turnovers

We’ve had several vegetarian turnovers from this producer, they’re all pretty good, these were also that way..