Journal

Week 42 Cooking Results

Latin Skillet Scrambled Eggs, (The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show)

I don't know what I did to mess this up, but the curds would just never form, it was still ok, I suppose.

Patatas Bravas (NPR)

This was more a side dish then a main, but it was still filling. Shannon thought it was a bit too spicy...but I may have added some extra spiciness. It cooled a bit when topped with a bit of sour cream. Pretty easy to make

Chicken Curry in a Hurry (p47 Bon Appétit September 2009)

I guess by hurry, it means that it wasn't as time consuming as regular curry, even so, it was pretty good, though I doubt their serving size. It ended up being chicken and pork curry, since I used pork to augment the weight. Still was pretty good, though I didn't really follow the recipe exactly.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Prune and Ancho Chile Sauce (p97 Bon Appétit September 2009)

This took a while. The prunes from the sauce really stood out with the wine that I was drinking, but this was pretty good. I cut them into thing slices and so far have used the leftovers for sandwiches, and another meal...and still have more leftovers

Gourmet's Thai-Spiced Tomato Soup (The Wednesday Chef)

I made this (simple) and then brought it over to Chris and Holly's and made Grilled Cheese sandwiches using the La Mie Multigrain bread and Prairie Breeze Cheese. A bit spicy, tomatoey, and over all pretty good...

Week 41 Cooking Results

Lighter Chicken and Dumplings (p13 Cook's Illustrated September/October 2009)

This took a long time to make...but since I made it on Monday and I took the day off, I suppose it wasn't that big of a deal. This certainly wouldn't be the type of thing that you'd want to make on a weekday. Beyond that, I guess the best thing I could say about this was Shannon said, "This kind of tastes like what my grandmother used to make.". So that speaks pretty highly when you can bring back some taste memories. This was the first time this week I used my Chantal pot. Love that pot

Cheese Omelet (p24 Fine Cooking August/September 2009)

2/2 successes! For filling I use some leftover Parmesan cheese and some torn up turkey lunch meat. So now with the success under my belt, I feel like I can move on.

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps (p15 Cook's Illustrated September/October 2009)

So for this, I kind of figured out that the app, Grocery IQ I use on my iPod Touch was crashing on exit (occasionally) and not recording some of the items in my grocery list for the week. Specifically everything for this recipe. I ended up making another trip to Dahl's to finish my grocery shopping, but unlike before, I clearly remembered adding these items to the list...before, I just thought I might have been forgetful. Now don't get me wrong, I still like the app, it's just that it was kind of frustrating.

This actually ended up tasting pretty good. With the food processored pork tenderloin and mix of various things made for a nice dish. Filling, simple, though it still took a bit to make

Summer Corn Soup with Crisp Prosciutto and Basil (p40 Fine Cooking August/September 2009)

Another reason to take an extra trip (and in talking to Sean of O'Sullivan's salsa this weekend, maybe this is on purpose) but Hy-Vee fails to carry the Prosciutto, made in Iowa, and probably some of the best stuff in the world. Why oh why would I want something less? I gotta say, that being broiled just for a bit, really brings out some more flavors in it.

Anyways, this night of cooking proved how much I can still be a total dumb ass in the kitchen. First thing I did, was when I was peeling the potatoes, I slightly sliced my left index finger. No big deal, nicks and wounds happen from time to time when you are using sharp knives or etc, so I just shrugged, washed it off and put a bandage on it and went on. The nick, less than a day later, is hardly noticeable.

Next up, while getting ready to blend the soup up, I decided to goof off a little with the base of the blender (not the blades or the container with the blades, I'm not that stupid). I know that the food processor has protections against turning it on w/o the thing being sealed up, and wondered if this was the same. It wasn't. So what popped in my head, and I admit, as soon as I told Shannon about it, I knew how stupid this actually sounded, is that I needed to slow the gear down, so I choose to do that with my right index finger. It was going so fast that it tore off a chunk of skin and left a bit of a bruise on my finger. This actually bled more then cutting my left index finger...

So here I am, two index fingers down, but determined to finish dinner. So I put the soup in the blender (to create a nice base and add a bit more corn later), and for 2/3 batches it goes pretty well. With blending hot soup, which I have done before, you always have to be careful, since, it's hot, and the blender could totally open up and and explode. When starting to blend, it seems that hot air expands and all ways presses up on the lid of the blender, so you hold it down, and haven't filled it up too much, then you are generally good. 2/3 of the batches when fine. A little push up on the lid, settles down, and it became this creamy liquid. No problem. Last one, was a bit more then the other two, though with less onions and potato chunks. This one...yeah it didn't totally blow out the top, but it did release the seal and splattered my food processor and some other things.

While warming up the rest of the corn, in the now creamy soup, I took some of the La Mie multi-grain bread put some cheddar on it and made some grilled cheese sandwiches.

The soup was pretty good, though probably not worth the injury. But really the grilled cheese sandwiches were the true highlight of the whole thing. I imagine if I put a much sharper cheddar on that bread, it'd be about the best thing ever...

Week 40 Cooking Results

Green Chicken Enchiladas (RC Cooks Country August/September 2009)

These were easy, I did like shredding the chicken (which gives me ideas for other things I could do), but I thought the green enchilada sauce itself seemed a bit salty...but that could just be me and my now overly sensitive to salt tongue (thank you low sodium diet).

PLT Salad (p21 Fine Cooking August/September 2009)

Olive oil fried La Quercia Prosciutto Americano? Yes please! Other stuff? Does it really matter? I did think I added a bit too much lemon juice, but besides that it was quite the salad, though it didn't hang around too long (around the time I was ready to fall asleep, I felt a bit hungry, and the next day when I had leftovers, I was very hungry by dinner time).

Cheese Omelet (p24 Fine Cooking August/September 2009)

There are somethings that I think that I should just know how to do...but apparently they still take practice. Shannon had something that resembled an omelet, I had something that more resembling scrambled eggs (mine was made first). I did use an 3 eggs and my 10 inch non-stick pan (1 of the 2 I own). I think I may make this again, just so I can practice more.

Risotto with Corn, Spicy Sausage, and Wilted Arugula (p27 Fine Cooking August/September 2009)

I'll jsut start bay saying I didn't use corn on the cob (which means I didn't pre-cook it), and the grated corn the recipe calls for, was food processored corn. I think I used more corn then the recipe called for and I know I used more sausage (the recipe calls for 1/4 pound, it was closer to a pound). Other then that I followed it pretty closely and it was really truly fantastic. I do love risotto, and it's time consuming to make, but generally it's worth it.

Week 39 Cooking Results

Easy Chicken Tacos (p15 Cooks Country August/September 2009)

These were easy.... Though for me I would have preferred more of a kick in the chicken, but over all, easy to make, easy to prep and ended up being pretty good.

Grilled Turkey Burgers with Cheddar and Smoky Aioli (p36 Bon Appétit August 2009)

Around here, finding dark meat ground, would be surprising. I've actually tried to keep an eye out at the farmer's market, to no luck. So I put in some leftover ground beef to add some more fat and taste to it. It turned out pretty good, I liked using the smoked paprika (now making 3 kinds of paprika in my house). Personally, I suppose, I would've added just the paprika to the meat mixture and gone from there, but it still worked.

Spicy Spaghetti Pie (RC Cooks Country August/September 2009)

This, uh...created quite the mess. And I guess I didn't wait for it to set up either. It still tasted good. Juices from the pasta and cheese over flowed from the pie pan and created a smokey inside to the oven...then the kitchen...then the main level. So I opened a couple of windows, put in a fan, and cleared it out. But even so, it tasted good after that...it ended up more like a bake pasta, I suppose.

Black Bean Burrito Bake (Juan O'Sullivans)

The recipie here was not documented very well. There were inconsistencies between what the ingrediants said, and what the directions said. I did tell Becki and Sean on Saturday, but even so, by guessing they turned out pretty well.

Summer Tomato Pie (p22 Cooks Country August/September 2009)

I haven't tried this cold yet (we had it warm, cause I didn't read at the end of the directions where it said it needed to cool for 3 hours), but warm it was pretty good. My thoughts on, perhaps updating this, would be to used canned diced tomatoes, more cheese in the mixture and then mix it all together, so you get tomato, mayo, cheese and maybe diced bacon in every bite.

Week 38 Cooking Results

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Whole Grain Mustard and Cranberries (Bon Appétit August 2009)

This reminded me of the turnberry sandwich at Palmer's Deli, except with roast beef. I liked it, It made for easy cooking after a rough day.

Chicken, Green Bean, Corn, and Farro Salad with Goat Cheese (Bon Appétit August 2009)

This was simple, delicious and full of veggies, which even though I have made efforts (not that hard I suppose), we still don't get enough of, in my opinion. Using the feta from Reichert's just added abit of deliciousness. I guess the only thing I'd really add was something to add a bit more heat, I suppose...maybe a diced fresh jalapeno.

Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas Barbecue Sauce (Bon Appétit July 2009)

I put a lot of effort in to cooking on Friday, before I even started to make this (made oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies). The important part here was timing. I wanted to have the oven baked fries, burgers and etc to be done right after the Matta's arrived from their trip from Cedar Rapids to visit us. It did work out very well. While waiting for the cookies to bake, I did a lot of the prep work (made spice mix, bbq sauce, etc). And then based on the information they were just passing Newton, I used that information to time the fries...roll up the burgers (bigger ones for the adults, smaller ones for the kids). And within about 5-10 minutes of them getting here, a piping hot dinner was on the table! I did like the burgers, though by that time, only the strong flavors were getting though, since my sore throat was starting to set in.

The next morning, after taking my shower, I fed the girls (Taylor and Cali) breakfast (while everyone else got ready), made up some coffee for the older Matta's (and me) in my new coffee press and spice/coffee grinder. I got the Mars Blend beans from Mars Cafe. This is far more convenient then having to run out in the morning, plus from time to time (thinking of later this week when I'll need to be in Cedar Rapids by 8:30 AM), it'd be nice to be able to get that kind of caffeine kick in the morning. Afterward we all set off to the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market. After many samples some buying of various things we headed home and had a mid-morning snack of goats cheese (not from Reichert's, but a place in eastern Iowa, that the Matta's had brought), some elk jerky and olive spread on some slices of a La Mie baguette (yes the girls (5 and 3?) ate this too). Afterwards, they headed off to Adventureland and we cleaned up a bit, and did a whole lot of laundry.