2011 - Week 31 Cooking Results
Chiles Rellenos Casserole (p15 August/September 2011 Cook's Country)
Even though this description is first, I used the peppers for the pizza first, so this was my second use of them since Wednesday. This did take a bit to prepare, but the results were pretty good. And it did taste like a chile rellenos. Though the ones we get around here are usually a bit more doused in cheese.
Pan-Roasted Chicken with Cheesy-Herb Mashed Potatoes (RC August/September 2011 Cook's Country)
So perhaps the sauce, I sort of turned into gravy, and perhaps it was a bit darker then it should have been, but it was still delicious. It was an interesting way to make mashed potatoes, the rest of the meal was pretty much the same sort of processes that I've done before. The mashed potatoes, though, with a little bit of chicken broth and then microwaving them and then putting in some Boursin cheese made for a creamy delicious mashed potatoes, with out a lot of dirty dishes (boiling water pot, etc). I was delaying making this meal because it looked like it would take a long time, but it really didn't.
Sloppy Sammys (I have peppers and a strange craving, beef from Coyote Run Farm)
I have never really made this the same way more then once. It always comes as a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but it never seems to be quite finished until I add the yellow mustard. Nothing adds that right taste then some mustard added to the sauce. Basically it comes down to this. Onion, spices (various), ground meat (beef, pork, etc), diced tomatoes, a bit of tomato paste and then finish it all up with some (or quite a bit) of mustard. Simmer them up until the sauce thickens and then deliciousness ensues.
Pork Burgers
So the pork from a new vendor was far better then the pork from the last one, but still does not match up to my favorite. Did, however, make pretty good pork burgers. I saw him again at market, but after spending a lot more then I intended, I didn't have enough money left to visit his stand. I I know I have something from him here somewhere, but I can't find it so I cannot give him due credit.
Fried Egg Pitas with Arugula (p71 August/September 2011 Fine Cooking)
So this was really easy, take some eggs and arugula from the market. I didn't find any tapenade at the store, and I didn't feel like making any, and besides, Shannon is not a big fan of olives. So it worked out pretty well, but really, why wouldn't it?
Veggie Pizza (want to try this again)
So I called an audible. We headed up to the Sullivan's to attended a presentation on farming and production in our zone (related to reducing costs, increasing yields, etc). Near the end of the presentation Sean whipped out his pepper roaster and roasted up a few peppers. He offered several people (including us) a bag of roasted peppers...and who can say no to that? I had bought some peppers from the store (it's a bit early for most peppers, it's been an odd summer). It was an interesting night. Finally got to see where they lived (it had a georgeous view), and the surprisingly small kitchen for the amount of salsa they produce. Becki made many comments on how when their daughter got married she made them take the dress out to the garage when they were making salsa. Overall I was pretty impressed at the relatively limited amount of capital (no numbers presented) that they outlaid to make what they had. Starting small and working their way up. It's pretty impressive.
Anyways, back to the food, I had these roasted peppers and used them (Poblano and Hatch) along with a couple of jalapeno. Sauce spiced with some red pepper flakes, some smoked mozzarella, and you make a nice pizza.
