Journal

2011 - Week 52 Cooking Results

Taco Salad (sort of)

A combination of meat, peppers, guacamole, a bit of cheese and chips.  This wasn't exactly a healthy meal, but it was pretty good and certainly quick after a late shopping trip.

Sloppy Sammys

Quick, random and delicious.

Chicken Salad melts (I have to work this night)

So I picked up a rotisserie chicken and then make a salad, because I had gotten home from work later then I expected, and had to go back to work not to much later, so they just turned into chicken salad sandwiches.

Meat Loaf

So this was a combination of a pound of beef, 3/4th a pound of Graziano Sausage, and half a pound of ground turkey.  Along with some bread, milk, celery, and green peppers.  I did forget to add an egg or two to help with the binding, but it still turned out pretty well.  I was thinking about added a hot pepper of some kind and some shitake mushrooms, but after I had all the veggies in there, it started to look like there was a bit to much and it'd make the loaf too crumbly.

Bacon Covered Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf Pizza (why not?)

You already have a nice flavor built up and you put slices of that on a pizza, it seems like it works.  I think it would've been better if I made the loaf a bit firmer I could've sliced up cleaner pieces to put on.  It's a nice concept though.  Perhaps to make a mustard sauce to go over it, as well.  I did add some spicy brown mustard to a couple of my pieces and it turned out pretty well.  So the pizza sauce I think I finally have it, and I'm going to try it one more time to make sure that it works out a second time.  I got to thinking, and part of the reason why could be the tomatoes that I'm using (switching from Muir Glen to local store brand (cost over taste)) and the amount of liquid in the whole tomatoes compared to the Muir Glen...so perhaps this recipe would only qualify for a certain type of tomatoes, based on the liquid content.  Kind of makes me want to be able to test that (get all sciencey up in here) but I'm pretty sure I don't have the tools and don't really want to buy them either.

Meat Loaf Pizza

New Years

So for New Year's we spent it over at Holly's sister's.  I had my first, and probably last, paraffin hand wax treatment.  It was interesting.  My big hairy hands, couldn't get all covered and when I peeled the wax off, it took some of my hair with it, not a ton, but certainly enough to make it less then desirable.  I brought over a loaf of chocolate short bread/cake and a few cheeses (Fromager D'Affinos (a new delicious treat), Mt Tam (one of my favorites), Prarie Breeze (Iowa made cheddar style deliciousness)) from The Cheese Shop of Des Moines and a bit of Cabecero Lomo Iberico De Bellota (which was crazy delicious).  I drank from a bottle of Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Whiskey, and share a bit with Chris and another guest.  Later in the night Steph (one of the hosts) made me the best white Russian I've ever had.

New years day, Shannon and I took my bother Joseph to lunch at Tartine and to see a movie.  After he went home, I proceeded to make a very expensive sandwiches (smoked turkey, arugula and a mixture of the Mt Tam and Fromager D'Affinos on a La Mie ciabatta).

2011 - Week 52 Cooking

After quite the weekend (fun with friends, 3 Christmas events), menu planning and etc just was tiring to me.  So I intended to go to the store just to pick up some stuff for dinner and some staples to get through the next day or so and so I could end up packing my lunch.  Once there, my brain just ticked on and I came up with a general menu plan.  As I was shopping (late on Monday) I ran into Joe and Christina from La Mie.  We chatted about how our days were a little messed up from all the not working and not preparing.  I then continued on, so here's the menu plan for the week, most of these are just things I like, including the meatloaf.  The meatloaf came from another thought.  Knowing that the Matta's were having meatloaf yesterday (part of Jenny's menu planning) it made me think about it as well.

  • Taco Salad (sort of)
  • Sloppy Sammys
  • Chicken Salad melts (I have to work this night)
  • Meat Loaf
  • Meat Loaf Pizza (why not?)

2011 - Week 51 Cooking Results

Spinach and Tomato Lasagna (p23 Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012) Simple salad with Catalina Salad Dressing (p23 Cook's Country December 2011/ January 2012) (Movie Night)

So I don't think there was a way to add more spinach to this dinner.  That being said, everything turned out very well.  The Lasagna was quite good and had a good spinach flavor to it.  We sent a good chunk home with our guests and still had some hefty hunks for ourselves.  It is certainly not a easy fix'em meal, but it is quite good.  

Spinach and Tomato Lasagna, simple salad with catalina salad dressing and some lovely bread.

Scrambled eggs and La Quercia Tamworth Country Cured Bacon

So this bacon was stunningly good.  Being the near silly price, and perhaps a bit to thin of a cut (my fault for asking for it that thin), but this is what bacon should be.  Not that  lousy stuff that is, while still good, just barely so.  The cost does make it a bit price prohibitive, but for that special treat?  Oh hell yes.

Pancakes and Crooked Gap Maple Breakfast Sausage

The important point here was the sausage, it was pretty good.  Not scream worthy.  When it came down to it, I had to remake the patties (they were done as they type that would would expect for bratwurst patties or hamburger patties) and make them into something more that one would expect.  It worked pretty well with the pancakes.

Skillet Burgers with Sauteed Onions and Horseradish Sauce (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)

Fairly quick and pretty good tasting.

Skillet Burgers with Sauteed Onions and Horseradish sauce

2011 - Week 51 Cooking

A good chunk of baking this week, should be fun.  Then I get to relax under the care of friends and family (at least not have to think about what to make).

  • Spinach and Tomato Lasagna (p23 Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012) Simple salad with Catalina Salad Dressing (p23 Cook's Country December 2011/ January 2012) (Movie Night)
  • Scrambled eggs and La Quercia Tamworth Country Cured Bacon
  • Pancakes and Crooked Gap Maple Breakfast Sausage
  • Skillet Burgers with Sauteed Onions and Horseradish Sauce (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)

2011 - Week 50 Cooking Results

Lamb Sausage Pizza

A little lamb sausage from the good people at Hedgeapple Farm (I used some earlier in the week with the omelet) and the rest of the roasted red peppers.  This time around I used a fixed amount of tomato paste to thicken up the sauce.  And I really think that this is an issue with the whole peeled tomatoes that I am using.  While I prefer to use Muir Glen, that gets a bit expensive over time.  So I ended up using a much cheaper version.  These clearly have more liquid in the tomato.  So to address this, I started puncturing each tomato and squeezing out more of the water from them, so I end up with less liquid.  And this gets me most of the way there.  However even with that, you still end up with a little to much water.  So if you look at the bottom left corner of the pizza, you can see where it has leaked off the side and this usually gets under the pizza and that segment (which can spread wide, as steam does) and you are left with this soggy segment of bottom crust.

Ideally, I like the crust with a crisp outer part and then a nice chew to it.  Having the soggy bottom really can ruin the ideal experience.  So, you try to counter act this by making sure the pizza has some what of a raised crust edge.  But even with that, you can never be quite sure how much the dough will rise or fall in the oven or if something will be squeezed creating a crevice to allow for a leak.  When I think about this, it makes me interested in doing a video to watch it.  Though I certainly don't have the setup to do so.

This time around I added 3 tablespoons of tomato paste to the base sauce recipe that I've been using, and it provides almost enough.  This could just be a matter of squeezing a bit more liquid out of the sauce.  I don't want to cook it down, because at the level that it is a no cook sauce which makes for less dishes.  So this makes a good baseline, it's not too thick, but still has good taste.

The combination of the lamb sausage and roasted red peppers is a good one, though I don't know how much the red peppers added to it, but it does beak up the coloring and gives people the impression that vegetables are actually used in the house.  I'm curious as to what spices they used in the lamb.

Lamb Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Mini burgers with Wickle Pickle relish

Clearly much simpler, then last week because I didn't have to run around and make the relish.  They also had quite a bit more heat to them, which I like, though my body doesn't like this as much as the rest of me does.  I perhaps added a bit to much relish, because the burgers themselves became a little broken, but it could've also been the semi-crowded pan and the spatula I was using.  These did turn out well taste wise, though I think I've done similar versions with turkey.

Mini Burgers with Wickle Pickle Relish

Garlicky Potato Soup with Parmesan Toasts (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)

This was simple, and a good way to get rid of the last of the potatoes.  Good taste, quick to make and gives me a though on how to do something else.  So the recipe calls for steaming the potato, which gets them mostly cooked, and my thought here, is at that point you can take the mostly-done potatoes and then cover then with salt, pepper, and well, butter and then fry them in a pan to make a breakfast style potato dish.  I also served these with some chocolate caramel tarts from La Mie (delicious).

Garlicky Potato Soup with Parmesan Toasts

Fluffy Dinner-Style Omelet (p30 Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012) with Lamb Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper

Another method for making omelets.  Another Style, more lift more process.  But it turned out pretty well.  I did make this perhaps a bit more done then it should've been (cutting board wasn't ready).  But I did like the combination of lamb sausage, roasted red pepper and chevre.

Fluffy Dinner-Style Omelet

Ginger Glazed Pork Tenderloin (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)

The glaze came together very well, and I think tasted very good.  It was a nice simple meal and certainly a chance bring pork back to the table.  A good plate of food.

Ginger Glazed Pork Tenderloin

2011 - Week 50 Cooking

I also made Chocolate Short Bread this week.  My taste buds are still a bit messed up (lingering cold), so I'm not totally sure how it tasted, but people have been complementary.
Chocolate Short Bread
  • Lamb Sausage Pizza
  • Mini burgers with Wickle Pickle relish
  • Garlicky Potato Soup with Parmesan Toasts (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)
  • Fluffy Dinner-Style Omelet (p30 Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012) with Lamb Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper
  • Ginger Glazed Pork Tenderloin (RC Cook's Country December 2011 / January 2012)

2011 - Week 49 Cooking Results

Mini Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Relish (p24 Fine Cooking December 2011 / January 2012)

The relish was ok.  I would've preferred the wickle's pickle relish instead, in fact I think I may just do that.  But it was ok over all.

Mini burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Relish

Tex-Mex Chile-Lime Chicken Soup (p76 Fine Cooking December 2011 / January 2012) and Corn Muffins with roasted red peppers, scallions and cheddar (p25 Fine Cooking December 2011 / January 2012)

So one of the last farmer's markets of the season FoxHollow had a deal on older hens.  Ones that had spent their life laying eggs and now are past their prime.  So you have older, not so tender chickens, ready for a long cooking.  Tai said they were good for making soups and anything that was for long cooking.  And she wasn't kidding.  The soup turned out great.  Great tasting stock, and a good mix of spices.  Joseph came down and helped out (read as made entirely) with the corn muffins in my newly bought mini-muffin tins.  The muffins, while I think they were intended to be that way, were a bit gritty (through no fault of Joseph).  I would've used a finer grade of corn meal.  It made for a great dinner and I've been requested to have dumpling soup for the next time, though I still want to do a version of Coq au Vin as well, so maybe since the dumpling soup was requested, that'll have to take priority.  Great dinner with my wife and brother.

Tex-Mex Chile-Lime Chicken Soup

Corn Muffins with Roasted red peppers, scallions and cheddar

Baked Potatoes

Long day, lazy cooking.

Potatoes, Greens and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

Ok, maybe I over made these, and over stuffed the quesadillas, and perhaps made the salsa and greens mixture a bit to runny because there was to much water left in the greens.  I have to say, though, it worked out pretty well.  Certainly a good vegetarian dish.  (no pictures, it wasn't pretty)

Pancakes

Added extra cinnamon this time around.  Still good, felt right with the season.

Meatloaf with Mashed potatoes

It's been a while.  While I was even making the meatloaf, I was thinking more about making meatloaf sandwiches the next day, as opposed to the dinner that night.  I love me some meatloaf sandwiches.  Now I admit, I didn't mix the meat together the best, but it still turned out pretty well with a combination of Italian sausage, ground pork, and ground beef (about a pound each) topped with a bit of bacon.  It turned out well enough, the sandwiches were a happy Sammy leftover.  I used the oven probe thermometer that I bought for Thanksgiving and this made this real easy.  I was able to figure out where I was in the process just by looking at it.  I don't understand why I didn't buy one of these before.

Meatloaf

2011 - Week 49 Cooking

Can you tell I'm using the potatoes that are left over?

2011- Week 48 Cooking Results

Turkey Soup

Recipe?  Who needs a recipe?  So after using the bones and other items still leftover after cutting off the meat from both the turkey and the smoked turkey to make stock, and then combined the stock (one had quite a smoked smell and taste).  Using this combined stock I had Joseph cut up some veggies while I went shopping (I was running a bit late last week).  I came home and was able to combine the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, some spices (I don't really remember what) and eventually turkey (just to warm it up at the end).  So it all came together very nicely and had some pretty good complements from Joseph and Shannon.  I have to say that on Friday, it made me feel a bit better as a was struggling with my cold.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes (p140 Food & Wine November 2011)

I didn't think I could find aged provolone, well I suppose I didn't really want to try, so I used parmesan instead.  And it was quick and worked out really well.  Though the cherry tomatoes...I miss the farmer's market.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

Bacon Hamburgers with Catalina Dressing (p200 Food & Wine November 2011)

This was quite a bit of work (to make the dressing) that wasn't really worth it.  The combining of the bacon and the ground beef was pretty good.  Especially since the bacon is from Crooked Gap Farm, which basically turned them from burgers to the smoky bacony burgers.  Quite a good addition both in the addition of fat and the addition of flavor.  So I'd make the burgers again, but I'd skip the dressing.

Pizza

So after a week of classes and a bit of work it was nice to just throw together something.  In my quest to adjust the sauce I went back to the whole tomatoes (punctured to drain more liquid) from the mixture of whole and diced.  This time I added some tomato paste to the sauce mixture and it turned out pretty well.  So I just need to figure out how much is the right amount.  The combination of pepperoni and bacon came out of a bit of necessity.  A desire to get rid of the pepperoni and  there wasn't enough there to actually top the pizza, so there was some bacon in there, so there it was.  It was ok.  But I think this is leaded to a better path for the sauce, which leads to a better crust (sauce not leaking off to the side, etc).  So we'll see.  Once I'm happy and stop iterating I'll post my version of it.

Pepperoni and Bacon Pizza

Baked Mac & Leftover Cheese

Combo of leftover bits from thanksgiving and augmented with some other (cheaper) cheese.  There was some blue, some goat and some other things that I cannot remember.  I thought it was an ok mixture.  I think the Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk (I hope they are not to offended) kind of over powered everything else, but what can you do?