Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2011/05
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Balsamic Chicken with Pasta and Broccoli -- back to top
I made a balsamic chicken marinade but it was a long time ago and I do not recall the recipe. I thought we had more chicken but I was wrong so to stretch the dish, we added whole wheat pasta and steamed broccoli. It was pretty good and the chicken came out pretty nicely. We had some leftover parmesan cheese which we put on too
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1160, 2011-05-02_121443
Mango Salsa Tilapia -- back to top
This was just frozen tilapia topped with a mango salsa. We also had roasted carrots,potatoes and sweet potatoes. I wanted to just try carrots but we didn't have enough. I will to roast them alone sometime. The tilapia was fine and about exactly as expected. It was a fast and easy meal. Also, the third piece was really good cold for lunch. I actually think it was better cold than warm.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1162, 2011-05-03_121502
Tacos -- back to top
Not very interesting. Just used normal taco seasoning.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1169, 2011-05-04_122546
This was based on the same seafood mix as previous times . Despite letting the seafood defrost first, there was still a ton of liquid when we added it to sautéed onions and garlic. We added some dried basil and let it cook down. Unlike the last time, it cooled into a thick sauce which when mixed with the pasta, was very good. Also, I added some tomato which cooked into the sauce and disintegrated.
I think next time we use the mix, we should steam the seafood so it doesn't get overcooked waiting for the liquid to cook down. We still need some kind of sauce to heal spread the flavor but the seafood gets too cooked when we do it all in the pan. Just a thought for the next time
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1172, 2011-05-09_122640
Black Bean Tacos -- back to top
These were based on the recipe below. The slaw did not come out great but Meredith liked it on them. Also, Meredith made guacamole which was really good. She doesn't follow a recipe. She just plays with it until it works (a true Texan). There was really barely enough for 4 tacos and it definitely does not serve four. However, it is rather healthy with just beans and tortillas (we used flour instead of corn though)
Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw (from SmittenKitchen)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1175, 2011-05-10_123126
Pizza -- back to top
The dough was based on the same recipe as last time only I didn't use all of the water and half the olive oil. Playing with the water and flour, I got a much better dough that I was also able to knead by hand.
Meredith and I decided to cut our dough in half and make two pizzas. Meredith managed to not use the rolling pin hence her very round pizzas with thicker crust but smaller size. I had to use it so mine are bigger, thinner and oblong. In general, we used a lot less dough than a restaurant which is why Meredith's came out so small.
We each cooked one of ours on a tray and one on the cast iron pan upside down.Obviously, the ones on the pan came out much nicer.
We made the tomato sauce as well. Meredith used some truffle salt which gave it a nice flavor. The cheese was a mix of colby-jack and a mexican blend, both low fat.
The top photo is my pizzas and the bottom is Meredith's.
My first pizza was regular with sauce, cheese, fat free ricotta, ham, and brocoli (my favorite pizza combination). My second with a breakfast(ish) pizza still with tomato sauce but also with gimme lean, egg beaters cheese, some ricotta, green onion and jalapeno.
I do not know exactly what Meredith used so she'll have to comment to clarify. Her first was a mexican pizza with: salsa (instead of sauce), jalapeno, green onion and cheese. Her second was plain with broccoli, ham and I do not know what else.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1180, 2011-05-13_123626
We made these very similar to last time including doing the chicken in the pressure cooker. I didn't really aim to do it the same but I basically did. However, I didn't do the salsa which was missed. THe cheese wedges really do a nice job making the filling creamy. Oh, and since I shredded the chicken, there were larger pieces (Meredith has much more patience to shred it all)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1183, 2011-05-17_185348
Grilled Sandwiches and Asparagus -- back to top
Pretty standard grilled sandwiches. Meredith's was a grilled cheese and mine was a light reuben. I used less corned beef, fat free thousand island, and no butter.
The asparagus was steamed and then we poured a sauce over them. I do not know the recipe but I think it was basically soy sauce, sesame oil, and onion and garlic powder. It was a nice addition to standard asparagus
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1188, 2011-05-18_185808
We made sloppy joes when my mom was here to visit. We basically followed the same recipe. I really let the onions caramelize before adding the beef. I also added a bunch of tomato paste. We let it really simmer for a long time and that also helped quite a bit. The filling was really good. We also served some cheese and arugula.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1191, 2011-05-21_190144
Taco Salad in Burrito Bowl -- back to top
The idea for these were based on a Hungry Girl recipe but we didn't actually have it so I have nothing to quote. We made the taco bowls in the oven. We tried two different but similar ways. For both, we heated a tortilla in the microwave and draped it over one of the pyrex glass bowls. With one, we just sprayed it with pam and with the other, we used an additional pyrex dish over it to push it into place. Then we baked them at around 450 for around 15 min. I didn't actually measure the time. Just until they were crispy. Anyway, the ones with the additional bowl had a nicer shape but the tortilla part with the second bowl steamed and didn't get very crisp. So, I think the method without the second bowl was better.
The salad was lean taco meat, some green leaf lettuce, tomato, salsa (as salad dressing) and cheese. Overall, it was pretty good. Not really much to the salad as much as the bowl. It was a quick meal though.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1199, 2011-05-24_190734
Fancy Grits and Bacon -- back to top
We wanted to make grits but we based it on polenta. We mashed polenta then added frozen corn, some almond milk, cheese, canned pickled jalapeños, salt, pepper, some Emril cajun seasoning and crushed red pepper. We let it cook and meld together. The bacon was (supposedly) lean which we let pan fry as much fat away as possible.
The polenta/grits were pretty good. It made for a nice breakfast We didn't make a lot but it was enough for breakfast.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1202, 2011-05-28_191416
Salmon, Roasted Potatoes and Zucchini with Bread -- back to top
We put BBQ sauce on the salmon and just baked it. It was pretty simple but ended up being really, really good. The salmon was cooked perfectly and tasted great. For the potatoes and zucchini, we did a light coat of olive oil then seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, crushed red pepper and some italian herbs. I do not remember the exact ones. We roasted them in the oven. We bought the bread at Whole Foods. It was a whole wheat bread with a LOT of seeds. I think it was called Seeduction or something like that. It was very good!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1207, 2011-05-29_171834
Meredith made avocado mousse from the recipe below. I do not know if there were any changes other than using Splenda for the sugar (or nectar). Also, we halved it. It was very, very good. The texture from the avocado along with the strong chocolate taste from the coco combined to make this really good. The problem is that avocados are not low in points at all. They have a lot of fat, albeit healthy fats, making this still quite a special treat and not a healthy alternative.
Raw Avocado Cacao Mousse (from The Kitchn)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1211, 2011-05-30_172256