Cuban Black Beans and Rice (p19 Cook's Illustrated March / April 2011)

I made this on Friday. I started at ~4:PM. I had used up all my white rice, and so when the recipie called for it, I thought since it ahd a long time in the oven that it'd just magically work out, when I used Basmati rice instead. This was clearly a mistake. As the rice and the beans sucked up more and more liquid and took more and more time to cook, I became more frustrated. I ended up eating a sandwich and making one for Shannon as well. As the clock grew closer to 10:PM it and after adding an extra cup of chicken stock and 3 cups of water, the rice finally was to the point where it was no longer crunchy. After letting it cool a bit, I had some topped with a little lime juice and scallions, it was quite good. Though frustrating that it took that long. I plan to use it, reheated as a side dish next week and perhaps as something to take to work for lunch.

Cider Vinegar–Braised Chicken Thighs (p49 February 2011 Food & Wine)

This turned out very well. A very tasty dish. It does make me want to have a shorter braising dish, because my stock pot is relatively tall and narrow, it didn't allow for the chicken to rest properly in the dish. The sauce that was left over, was very rich and made for a good dish over rice, so for leftovers, I cooked up some rice for the leftover chicken and sauce.

Braised then broiled checken thighsCider Vinegar Braised Chicken Thighs with peas

Veal (free range, grass fed) Burgers

These were good as one would expect. I suppose if the grind was a bit thicker. I think the course grind is much nicer for burgers then the grind that most ground meats have.

Unlabeled Pork with potatoes and rice (frozen, can't tell)

After opening the package, I still couldn't tell what, exactly this should be, so I ended up cutting up the pork into 3/4th" cubes and proceeded to use that, onion, the potatoes, garlic some vegetables and spices mixed in with a bunch of rice to create what turned out to be pork rice. Adding some soy sauce and some sriracha sauce made it quite good. Good for dinner and leftovers...and more leftovers...perhaps I made too much.

Pancakes

nom nom nom...