Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2013/05
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Corned Beef with Poached Eggs -- back to top
I wanted to do something with corned beef but I was tired of just doing reuben things. I warmed/fried a bit of corned beef on the pan, put it on top of a whole grain english muffin and then topped it with a poached egg. I poached the eggs using the trick from Serious Eats where you strain away the very wet part of the egg. I forgot to use the strainer though to put the egg in the water. Still, it worked really well for one (closer in the pic) and pretty well for the other. I did cheat a bit with a tad of vinegar in the water.
The corned beef was from Whole Foods and didn't have any nitrates. I liked the idea of healthier corned beef and it was pretty good flavor wise but a bit too salty. Oh well.
I also had (too much) steamed sugar snap peas. I didn't calculate the points, but it wasn't too bad. 3 eggs (6) (only two pictured), 2 low-fat, whole grain english muffins (6) and 1/4 lbs corned beef (~4)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5772, 2013-05-01_204543
This was a very, very special meal that had a lot of requirements. I needed to make something that was very fast and/or could be prepared earlier; I needed something Meredith loved; and I needed something that felt special. I ended up going with tuna tataki (link to earlier post). I prepped the sauce earlier and we just did the tuna when we were ready. It came out okay. We were distracted and talking on the phone while making it and I forgot to coat the tuna with some of the sauce fist. Still, it was pretty good (even though the presentation kind of failed).
I also purchased a red-velvet cupcake; a fruit tart; and a salted carmel tart for dessert. We just ate the cupcake and saved the others
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5778, 2013-05-02_093001
Falafel and Za'atar Dip -- back to top
I basically did my normal falafel but I went heavy on the spices and added garlic powder and lots of za'atar. I also really let it cook for a long time (25 min/side). I do not know which change made the difference, but they came out exceptionally well! Lots of flavor, lots of crunch, etc. They even tasted like they were fried. I think making smaller balls helps that since there is just so much more surface area. Plus, then you get 20 little falafel which is more than enough food!
I also made za'atar-garlic dip. I just mixed a lot of za'atar and garlic powder in fat free greek yoghurt. It gave the meal some more protein and it tasted pretty good!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5782, 2013-05-06_141633
Shakshuka and Stir-Fried Broccoli -- back to top
I threw together shakshuka from the following:
I did the onions and shallots first, then added the peppers, then the rest. I let it cook for about 30 minutes or more and then poached eggs inside of it. I topped it with grated parm cheese. It came out very good. Lots of flavor. And the broccoli was nice and covered with the tomatoes. I probably could have cooked it a bit longer, but it was fine. It did have a nice spice to it, my guess is it was the jalapeño seeds.
I also tried to make something with the rest of the broccoli. I had the dipping sauce from tuna tataki(from 2013-05-02). I strained it to remove any chunks of stuff, including some old tuna that was there. I added some (actually, too much) corn starch. I then steamed broccoli a bit then added the sauce. As I said, it was too much corn starch and the whole thing thickened too much. That wasn't so bad, except that the sauce was extremely salt and way too lemony. It may work well for a tuna dipping but it pretty much failed for coating/stir-frying broccoli. I ate a few pieces and threw out the rest.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5787, 2013-05-07_210733
Open-Face Seasoned Hamburgers on Eggplant -- back to top
My original plan was to make taco cupcakes but for various reasons, I didn't end up cooking until 9:00pm. So I came up with this. I made a bunch of small burger patties from extra lean ground beef with lots of stuff mixed in. I do not remember everything, but there was: garlic powder; salt and pepper; crushed red pepper; 21 seasoning salute; and probably other things I am forgetting. I did them on the grill pan.
While they were grilling, I thickly sliced two graffiti eggplants, pammed them and then sprinkled them with salt (key ingredient with eggplants; though better if you can let it sit for a bit). I then broiled them for 5-6 minutes/side.
I used a bit of low sugar ketchup and some hoagie spread, then I put the seasoned burgers on top.
They came out very good though extra messy. I assume the liquid coming off of them was the eggplant since I used such lean beef and the patties dried out a bit. Still, I liked how fast and easy the meal was. It was also very healthy at just 5 or 6 points for the beef (1/3 lbs extra lean) and maybe one for the pam + low sugar ketchup.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5791, 2013-05-09_094200
Open-Face Falafel Patties with Za'atar spread -- back to top
I wanted to make falafel (with the changes I noted on 2013-05-12) but I wanted enough for a lunch a day later. So instead of eating it all, I made them more into patties, then I served them open face on multi-grain, low-fat english muffins. I made a za'atar dip with za'atar, greek yogurt and garlic powder. I also served them with a thin slice of tomato.
They were extremely good as always these days. Nice crisp to them with lots of flavor. I liked them served this like too. I think I would use tzatziki instead of za'atar dip in the future if I didn't have to make it myself. Either way, I would also add a thin slice of cucumber.
Point-wise, it came out the same as just eating the whole thing but this is more interesting and makes more.
Made two servings. Here is the points for one (4 open-face things)
2x Multi-grain low fat english muffins...5.8
1/2 can chick peas...4.8
1/8 cup flour...1.4
1/2 tsp olive oil...0.6
4oz (1/2 serving) FF Greek Yogurt...1.6
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14.2 or 14
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5798, 2013-05-11_225440
Carrot (and regular) Pasta with Zucchini Fritters -- back to top
I made a mixture of carrot "pasta" and regular. The carrot pasta was inspired by this Kitchn Post, but I didn't really follow anything specific. I used a vegetable peeler to slice down 4-5 carrots (after discarding the outside). Then, I put four cloves of minced garlic into about 1 tbsp of olive oil and a heaping scoop of Smart Balance (already hot). I also added a heaping pinch of crushed red pepper. After that went for about 30 seconds, I added the carrots and then one serving (2oz dry) of mostly cooked pasta. I mixed it all and added a bit of the pasta water. I also added garlic powder, salt and pepper. When I put it into the bowl, I added some cheese.
It came out very good. Much more bulk than just the pasta and a good amount of flavor. I liked it very much and I would definitely do it again. I may also find a way to get more of the carrot out of it. I still had a good amount of carrot left. Using thicker carrots would work much better but they didn't have them at the supermarket.
I also madezucchini fritters with with no major changes. I did let them cook a bit more to crisp them up.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5800, 2013-05-12_200245
Another copy of the first time. It may be a copy, but it is also becoming one of my favorite meals. It is really easy and rather healthy. I would be interested in making a vegan version sometime with seitan and vegan oyster sauce
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5807, 2013-05-13_192412
Buffalo Cauliflower and Zucchini plus Cod -- back to top
I made buffalo cauliflower but I also did a zucchini and a few pieces of jalapeno. It was pretty good though I don't think it was incredible. I had made a batch of batter (but with extra water) and I ended up making another half batch. I basically winged it with adding Franks Red hot, garlic powder and ranch powder. I like how the batter hardens around it and pools a bit. I used Smart Balance (melted) instead of oil to make the sauce. Maybe I made too much sauce so it didn't crisp up nicely.
The zucchini worked pretty well and I would definitely do it again. The pepper was okay. I want to look into other batter recipes that may work better.
I also had miso-soy cod from Trader Joes. It was very good and easy enough to make in the microwave.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5811, 2013-05-15_210848
Seasoned Cod; Asparagus; Thai Coconut Rice; Candied Tomatoes -- back to top
The fish and the asparagus was the easiest and most regular part of this meal. We roasted asparagus in the oven. I am not sure how long. Meredith did it. And for the fish, we just sprinkled it with Penzeys singapore seasoning and microwaved it for 3:30. Of course, the fish popped a bit and made a mess but it was simple enough. Not amazing but we were in a hurry since everything else in the meal took so long.
Meredith did most of the work on this so I do not know all the details. She followed the recipe below but I'll let her comment on the changes I forget. We improvised a way to steam it with a frying screen. So it was a rather loose seal. And we kept having to refill the water. We used red thai rice. We thought it would be sticky but it wasn't really. We also strained off a bunch of coconut milk stuff after it was added since it was too much. We used champaign mangos which were really good.
Meredith had found this recipe but I was put in charge of making it. I halved the recipe since it seemed like it would just make way too much and that was an insane amount of sugar. We also used grape tomatoes (and more than 24) instead of cherry tomatoes. But, on the note of cherries, we also dipped them in the candy coating.
I followed the (halved) recipe pretty closely but I forgot that the temperature jumps very quickly at the end. I pulled it off the burner around 315 instead of 305. We thought it tasted burned but actually, according to Exploratorium it should have just been into the caramelization. Maybe I used too high of a temp throughout and it got a burned taste from that. Either way, they weren't incredible. Certainly an interesting idea but once you get past the crunch, it is just tomato-like. It was also stressful as we didn't realize it was truly candy making until we committed to it. The mess was pretty bad too and I thought there was no way we would ever get that pan clean, but it turns out that soaking candy stuff in hot, soapy water is sufficient
Thai Mango with Coconut Sticky Rice (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Candied Tomatoes (from Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5818, 2013-05-19_101420
Calamari Steak and Roasted Asparagus -- back to top
I started with roasted asparagus I put them on parchment paper, pammed them, and added salt and pepper. I cooked them at 425 for about 10-15 minutes. These were really thin so you may need more time for thicker ones. Of course, I find the thin ones to be the best.
I wasn't really sure how to do the calamari steak but I decided to pat it dry and season it with McCormick Chicken Seasoning, salt and pepper. I then did it on a hot grill pan for a minute per side. A lot of recipes said to score it but it looked like it was already scored with lots of little cuts so I skipped that.
The calamari steak was a bit strange. Surprisingly, I don't think I overcooked it, but it still had a strange texture. Not like rubber bands, but chewy and springy. Okay, a bit like rubber bands. I would do it again but I want to read up more on how to make it and try something different. The asparagus was very good and I was easily able to eat a whole pound of it!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5821, 2013-05-20_102922
Cod and Sugar Snap Peas -- back to top
I had cod but I was going for really fast cooking so I again turned to the microwave. I used the auto setting on fish. I thought it was overcooking it because it was going for so long but when I opened it to look, it wasn't finished so I let it continue. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with the auto settings on this microwave. It cooked it really nicely. The fish didn't pop as it did last time and it was cooked nicely. The seasonings were salt, pepper and Penzeys sandwich sprinkle.
I also steamed some sugar-snap peas and topped them with spray butter and cheese
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5862, 2013-05-21_105948
Falafel and Roasted Turnips -- back to top
I made the basic falafel but did two things differently. The first is that I made it two days earlier and only cooked it tonight. Some recipes call for letting the matter sit for a while but I do not think it really made a difference. The other thing I did was cook it on Reynold's Non-Stick foil instead of a silpat. It is hard to say for sure what difference it made, but I do think the silpat have a nicer crust. It wasn't a big deal either way.
I also roasted some turnips. I am trying to see if I think they can stand in for potatoes in some dishes. So far, I think they would work though they have a slightly different flavor and they are more work since you have to peel them.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5878, 2013-05-22_102928
Taco Cupcakes and Oven-Fried Zucchini -- back to top
I made taco cupcakes using the normal idea with a whole julienne zucchini. I liked using extra zucchini as it gave the mixture more volume. I filled all 12 and still had a bit leftover. I was out of regular cheese so there is none on the bottom layer and I used parm on the top. Actually, it worked pretty well without the bottom layer cheese so I'll skip it from now on. They were also very spicy from the tiny bit of Dave's Insanity that I added to the mixture.
I also made oven fried zucchini. I added curry powder to the bread crumbs to try to mimic that of my favorite restaurant but it still wasn't as good. I wasn't even as good as last time. I'm not sure why. My only guess is that I misread the temp and did these at 425, not 475.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5882, 2013-05-23_104427
Grilled Koftas and with other grilled vegetables -- back to top
I decided to try grilling again. I made koftas but only roughly followed the recipe. I just chopped up a bunch of mint and then added the other seasonings. I used dried onion since I didn't feel like chopping it. I also added a serving or so of bread crumbs since it was very wet (likely due to using quickly defrosted beef). I also added a whole, finely chopped,jalapeño (including the seeds)
For grilling, I also skewered whole jalapeños, slices of red pepper and broccoli florets. I pammed the veggies and added salt and pepper.
I am still getting the hang of using a charcoal grill. I filled the chimney starter and let it go for a long time since at 20 minutes, all the coals were not yet white. I made sure all vents were open; dumped the coals, and let it sit for another minute or two. I then just added everything. I didn't time it at all or anything, but just flipped it at a certain point. The veggies had a nice char, as did the kofta burgers, but I think that is part of the flavor. I thought the heat was dying, but I think I was wrong since I still felt a lot of it as I took everything off.
I served the koftas open-faced on whole grain english muffins and a za'atar + garlic powder + salt and FF greek yogurt dip/spread.
Surprisingly, eve yt hing came out pretty good. The burgers were probably a bit overdone, but I didn't mind since they weren't dried out. The veggies were somewhat blackened, but not bad. I removed the charred part from the red pepper but kept it on the jalapeños. The jalapeños were very good but very, very hot. The broccoli was okay but the red pepper was out of this world! I was a bit skeptical that the meal would be a success (hence the picture while cooking it, plus I took pictures of it all prepped in case it was a failure).
I think I would still prefer to move to a gas grill (and keep it hush-hush) but at least I don't feel like this was a failure on the charcoal.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5888, 2013-05-27_194453
Balsamic Broccoli Stir-Fry -- back to top
I made a balsamic broccoli stir-fry for a lunch side. I steamed some broccoli and then made a stir-fry sauce. It started with about a Tbsp of low sodium soy and maybe a tablespoon or two of balsamic. Then I added a bunch of garlic power and rosemary. Finally, a big scoop of corn starch. I do not know if it was the cornstarch or the heat of the pan, but I put it down and it sizzled then became solid. So, I made another batch but lighter on the corn starch and a cooler pan to start. I added the lightly steamed broccoli and tossed it a bunch when it was boiling. I then moved it to the container.
The sauce was acceptable but not as good as I wanted. I need to lookup difference recipes to see if something similar has been done and then modify them from there.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6147, 2013-05-28_205325
Rutabaga Chips and Open-Face Almost-Reubens -- back to top
First, the rutabaga chips. I peeled and then quartered a big rutabaga I sliced it into 3mm or 1.8" slices (the second from the smallest setting on my mandoline, also blue labeled). I then laid them on a tray (one with a silpat, one with non-stick aluminum foil). I pammed both sides and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. I cooked them for about 10 minutes at 375, flipped them and did 15 at 425. I then flipped them again and did about 10-15, again at 425 and took them out. The temperatures were inspired by this link but I thought they needed a higher temp. The oneson the aluminum foil got a bit crispier but came out less nice since they slid around a lot. I am not sure if I would go thinner next time or not. Either way, they worked out pretty well. Not very crispy, but then again, neither arepotatoes. Still, I think between rutabagasand/or turnips, I can stop using potato in many things.
I also made mini, open-faced almost-ruebens. The "almost" is because they didn't have rye so they are not, by definition, a reuben. I used Trader Joes whole grain english muffins (3 points each). I was originally going to just make two open-faced ones, but they were small and didn't need much meat. So I was able to make four! (actually, 8 but half are for lunch). For four of them, they had all of 1/4 lbs of corned beef and 2.5 oz lite jarlsberg cheese. So, a lot of food for not too many points. I would definitely do this again. And I liked doing "sandwiches" open-faced. It makes it seem like more food plus, you lessen the points form the carbs. Oh, and I used lite thousand island dressing
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6150, 2013-05-29_205644
Poached Eggs over Roasted Asparagus -- back to top
I wanted something fast and light. I roasted asparagus as I did on 2013-05-20 basically the exact same way. While that was going, I poached eggs like on 2013-05-01. Note that the time in the water was about 4-5 minutes. I thought they were overcooked but the yolks were still pretty runny.
The meal was pretty good. Kind of plain, but it was fast
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6154, 2013-05-30_100835