Journal

Week 52 Cooking Results

Cider-Braised Chicken (p23 Cook's Country December/January 2010)

This was actually pretty simple and good. A great use of apples and apple cider, I should perhaps try this again in 2010 when I get apples and cider from local producers.

Baked Four-Cheese and Pasta Casserole (p20 Entertaining Holiday 2009)

Make a roux, Add cream and then use that as a base sauce for the sauce. I was shredding cheeses and went to find the Gorgonzola and remembered that I left it in my car...in the glove box... I wasn't worried about it going bad, it hadn't gotten above freezing, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to shred the cheese. I turned out it probably shredded better then it probably would've had it been unfrozen (it is a fairly soft cheese).

I guess that marks an end of a year. I used most of my cookbooks this year, though not all, some are just kind of impractical. I have no idea where to get some of the products to make certain things. The though had come, but was quickly vetoed because of economic reasons. If It required me to buy a new pan that I couldn't see myself using for anything else or required ingredients that I knew I couldn't find (while I may be curious about beef tongue, I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to find it).

I expanded a lot of knowledge and now don't feel so wasteful about the magazines that I subscribe to (Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country, Cook's Illustrated Entertaining, Fine Cooking, Bon Appétit). I've also let some go this year or before. I found that I like well tested recipes (which is why I tend not to use recipe only websites) but even the venerated institutions mess up their instructions from time to time.

Week 51 Cooking Results

Ham and Split Pea Soup (p58 The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition)

This was quite good...but I made lots...and still have lots. I used the ham bone from the honey glazed ham.

Honey-Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet and Tangy Slaw (RC Cook's Country December/January 2010)

This turned out well. The pork chops were great and the slaw was pretty good with it. Considering neither of us like slaw too much, and we liked this, I guess that means something.

As a point here. I was just thinking about it and when we had the glazed pork chops we had pork quite often in the past week...and the pork was almost exclusively from Eden Farms (I did have to subsidize the pea soup with other ham, cause I didn't have enough meat left).

Good stuffs.

We did a whole lot of travelling this past week. The first trip to Cedar Rapids, we left early, Spent the 23rd time with my family, spent Christmas Eve morning with the Matta's, and the rest of Christmas Eve day and eve with Shannon's family. Christmas morning we spent a good chunk of it with the Matta's (the two girls were so excited) and then spend a good chunk of the rest of the day with my family (Cara and her family, Lovina and her family, Jed, Joseph, Isaac, parents and us).

We kept an eye on the Iowa road conditions map and decided to risk it, even though a good portion of central and western Iowa were "Travel not advised", we decided to head back home. Shannon had to work Saturday and all that. The trip back was normal for the most part until around Altoona, where roads went from fine to "I think I'm gonna slide off the road" in the space of a few moments. At one point we were going 30 or so on I-80.

First trip: ~297 miles and 6 hours 27 minutes of driving (google estimate + 1 hour for some awful driving)

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Ames for a meet up that normally happens around Thanksgiving to see Shannon's Uncle, cousins and her sister and parents. We ended up at Black Market Pizza. The food was quite good. I really liked that place. We had: The Reuben, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Barbecued Iowa Chop, Mr. Meaty, and The Iowegian. All were pretty good, but the reuben was quite fantastic. We were late and left in a hurry, which I felt bad about. I'm thinking we should visit uncle Jan more often.

Then we headed back over to the Matta's to have a little get together with some old friends (Dave, Mark, Cam, Rich, Lena, Jenny, Nathan Shannon and I). We stayed up late chatted, shared some stories, remembered old times... It was a good time. We had a lazy morning at the Matta's and headed back home.

Second Trip: ~300 Miles, 6 hours 4 minutes of driving

So a grand total of nearly 600 miles and over 12 hours of driving...

Quite worth it though.

Week 50 Cooking Results

Chopped Steak Sandwiches (p109 Fine Cooking December/January 2010)

This was quite good, even though I couldn't ge the tips that it asked for, but it still turned out great. I really enjoyed this.

Oven-Baked Chicken Chimichangas (RC Cook's Country December/January 2010)

This was pretty good. I don't know about the trade off between fried and baked, but the insides were pretty good. I couldn't find cilantro, to go in them, so it didn't turn exactly right, but good none the less.

Skillet Carbonara Casserole (p17 Cook's Country December/January 2010)

This was pretty good, quick to make, but I was also baking cookies at the time, so it made for a very crowded kitchen. But it turned out well and given my recent past with hot pans in the oven, I didn't burn myself.

Honey Glazed Applewood Smoked Berkshire Pork, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Peas with Shallot and Mint (p24 Cook's Illustrated November/December 2009)

I wasn't totally satisfied with the peas, I think I used too much lemon juice and cooked them too long. I was a bit distracted through. The garlic taste of the mashed potatoes was a bit too strong, I probably should've sautéed them in the butter first, before I soaked them in the warmed milk and butter. But even so, it was still good, it was just a bit too strong. The ham turned out very well and that with two bottles of Boom Boom! Syrah, I think I had a a happy Dave, Chris and Holy, and Shannon.

Quicker Hoppin John (p19 Cook's Country December/January 2010)

I was thinking that I'd have enough ham left for another use, being that it was a decent sized ham, so lucky for me, this was right in there. This had quite the down home feel to it. Good, hearty, and relatively cheap for the amount of servings that it'll provide. Though I probably upped the average serving cost, buy using the ham I did...But I'll be eating this for a few days I think...since it made lots.

Week 50 Cooking

  • Ham (either Black Forest or Apple Wood Smoked Berkshire Pork (I already have both), for movie night)
    • Mashed Potatoes
    • Sauteed Peas with Shallot and Mint (p24 Cook's Illustrated November/December 2009) (Yes, Chris, I know you don't like peas)
  • Oven-Baked Chicken Chimichangas (RC Cook's Country December/January 2010)
  • Skillet Carbonara Casserole (p17 Cook's Country December/January 2010)
  • Quicker Hoppin John (p19 Cook's Country December/January 2010)
  • Chopped Steak Sandwiches (p109 Fine Cooking December/January 2010)

Week 49 Cooking Results

Cassoulet (p19 Cook's Illustrated November/December 2009)

Nom nom nom nom...I'm so making this again. And being that I still have leftover Eden Farms pork shoulder (put back in the freezer), I can make it almost the same way. I didn't find some of the ingredients, which I found a bit annoying, but over all, I think it turned out fantastic.

Leftovers!

Well We ate Cassoulet, and other leftovers, combined some things to make leftovers, used the cooked pork loin to make something out it (twice). So it was a totally lazy week for me, as far as cooking went.

But it has been quite the success, no more meat and cheese in the fridge, no more leftovers. Just a mostly empty fridge.

Week 49 Cooking

I've been making some pretty big meals lately. And we've fallen behind, so this week, we'll be cleaning out the fridge. I imagine I'll make tacos out of the pork (shredding it), sandwiches perhaps, eating some other things and what not.

  • Cassoulet (p19 Cook's Illustrated November/December 2009)
  • Leftovers!

Week 48 Cooking Results

Scrambled Burrito

Simple...and ok. I don't really have much else to say about it.

Pork and Elk Mini Burgers

I had a bit of pork left over from a previous recipe and some elk in the freezer...so blam! I wanted the flavors of the elk to be in front, so I didn't mix it up with a bunch of other thing, it was just elk. It tasted pretty good.

Pork Loin Sandwiches

I sliced off a couple of pieces of Eden Farms pork loin and then breaded and fried the pork as the recipe called for. Though I did find out that I really need a candy thermometer or oil one or whatever, because I had to use my instant read thermometer to find out what the temp of the oil is. I don't think that is the best thing for it. Anyways, it turned out pretty good, though I don't know if the oil was quite high enough. But they still made for good sandwiches. As one that rarely uses that much oil to fry things, I was in a bit of a quandary as what I should do with the remaining oil. I ended up pouring it into an apple juice container and tossing it. Seems pretty wasteful though.

Greek-Style Penne with Lamb, Parsnips, Tomatoes, and Cinnamon (p68 Bon Appétit November 2009)

I think we both really liked this. Plus this being, I think, the first time I've used parsnips, it tasted very good. Plus the smell of the parsnips sautéing in the pan was really truly glorious.

Roast Pork Loin in Horseradish Crust

I should've trimmed more fat of the pork loin. I also should've brined the pork loin. I have to remember that the pork that I buy from Eden Farms is not like the pork that you get in the store and needs to be treated with a bit more care. But over all this was pretty good, though I did adjust the temp at cooking for the point of getting potatoes in the oven at the same time. But it turned out pretty good. there's a lot left over though.

Cassoulet (p19 Cook's Illustrated November/December 2009)

I had forgotten about Shannon's work's Christmas Party, so, I'll be making this today.