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posts/2014/01
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Sweet and Regular Potato Hash with Chicken Sausage -- back to top
I had the other two links of sausage from the other day so I made a hash. I cut up two_tiny_ potatoes and a sweet potatoes and sautéd them in a frying pan until they were about half way there. I then added chopped up sausage. At the same time, I sautéd a whole bunch of shallot in a bit of olive oil (I didn't want it to burn with the potatoes). When the potatoes were almost done, I added the shallots, salt, pepper and tossed to combine.
It wasn't too fancy of a meal but it was still pretty good. Also pretty easy. Maybe a bit carb-heavy but not too bad I guess.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7056, 2014-01-02_134933
Seitan Chorizo Topped with Poached Eggs -- back to top
Meredith and I made breakfast for us and Emily. I made the seitan chorizo multiplied by 1.5x. Meredith poached eggs (without vinegar too) and we topped it with scallions (it was some weird asian kind. I'll ask Meredith and update it)
The whole thing was pretty good. I am really liking this seitan chorizo recipe (and I have done it a lot in the past few weeks). It was also a great protein packed breakfast.
2020-11-27 note: the truth has finally come out. Emily had requested “poached eggs” which Meredith begrudgingly made. Only after she made it did Emily realize she meant to say “Fried eggs”
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7059, 2014-01-05_135130
Seared Salmon and Roasted Kabocha Squash -- back to top
I made dinner for me, Meredith and Emily. First, I made seared salmon using roughly my usual technique. I didn't have cast-iron so I used a stainless steel pan and I added a bit of coconut oil. I took them out of the oven a bit too soon making it slightly undercooked but still very good. Also, the skin came off a bit in the pan as you can see (they are a bit broken). I then took the skins and fried them in the leftover coconut oil and they came out really crispy and good. I could have probably done with less coconut oil (or none).
And I made a Kabocha squash. I followed the instructions from NomNomPaleo, but really, all I did is as follows. I cut the squash into wedges with the skin on. Then pam the squash and the tray and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I cooked it for 30 minutes at around 400 flipped at the 15 mark. However, the temperature was probably not exact since the oven isn't exact and I upped it at the end for the salmon.
On Emily's suggestion, I ate the whole thing, skin and all! It was so good. The squash had an amazing flavor and the skin was even really good! I would do this again. It was also so simple!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7062, 2014-01-05_214405
Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top
I intended to make my regular Taco Stew with lentils. I followed the basic recipe except that I forgot to add the can of tomatoes. I think that is why the color is so off. I also used extra squash.
Despite forgetting the tomatoes, the stew was really good. I think I like the lentil version more than the beef one. Not only is the lentil one easier, but I think it tastes better (and my be healthier too)
(BTW, the beer is my Brown Ale)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7092, 2014-01-07_090602
Rutabaga "Patatas" Bravas -- back to top
I again made Patatas Bravas using rutabaga like I did before. I followed the same basic idea for rutabaga with a bit of chipotle powder on them as well. On that note, I also used some chipotle powder in the sauce. I really adjusted the sauce spices as I see fit.
I then topped it with poached eggs. I let them cook too long so they were a bit over done. I also tried the trick again where you strain the egg. I am not sure if that made a difference or how fresh these eggs really were. Either way, it was a nice protein boost for the meal. Also, the whole thing was pretty easy and healthy.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7112, 2014-01-08_155718
Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Tomato Sauce and Shrimp -- back to top
I made spaghetti squash in homemade tomato sauce with shrimp. Nothing really new with the squash. I did it in the microwave as usual. I made the sauce from sautéd onions, then 28 oz petite diced tomatoes. I added a tiny bit of olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, some oregano and then some "italian seasonings" (Emril). I defrosted about 2/3 lbs of frozen shrimp (for two servings, 264 cal total) and sautéd/steamed them (they had a lot of water making it more like steaming).
Everything was very good. Again, nothing too special but I liked it with shrimp. It was certainly easy to do!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7116, 2014-01-09_101935
Stovetop Popcorn -- back to top
I have always enjoyed popcorn and I had been using the air popper for a while but it always tastes a bit stale. And I had to spray it with pam to get any seasonings to stick. Plus, I had some stove-top popcorn at friends house. So I decided to try it.
I used the basic method outlines by this America's Test Kitchen video which I also outlined below:
I followed this with small test batches. As I said above, I used heat 7/10 but I think I would bring it to 5 or 6. I also put a layer of parchment under the pot so I could shake without scratching (can only do that on induction).
On my first test, I used canola oil and I liked it a lot. The popcorn had a bit of the oil flavor and was a good texture. Enough oil stayed on the kernels that I could just season without pam. The next batch, I tried extra virgin olive oil. This seemed to smoke a little bit and a few kernels had a smokey taste but not too bad. While it is a healthier oil, I didn't like that it was smoking. And canola isn't really too bad anyway.
In the future, I may try to use regular (ie non extra virgin) olive oil. Also, Meredith found this post also by America's Test Kitchen and they use water. Not sure if I am willing to try that.
I also need to test with different pans. I did small amounts here (1/4 cup) which is half of what I normally pop. There was more room in the pan but probably not twice as much (though I could test with the pan dry and see). But if I go any bigger, I need a lot more oil to coat the pan. I'll play and see what I can figure out.
Also, I want to investigate adding seasonings right to the oil while popping. Maybe some garlic and pepper in the oil then other seasonings on top.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7120, 2014-01-11_111144
Lentil Moussaka -- back to top
I made lentil moussaka using the regular recipe with the lentils. I went a bit heavier on the seasonings too.
This was my first time doing it into an aluminum lasagna pan and it was a tight fit. I thought I had made too much eggplant and potatoes and it ended up being pretty close. When I do it again into a pan like this, I may up the recipe a bit, especially the béchamel where it was really, really close.
I had made this and cooked it for 25 minutes. I then let it cool and took it to my friends where did another 20-25 minutes. I thought it was less flavorful than usual but it may just be that I was eating a lot of other stuff then too.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7128, 2014-01-11_161534
Buffalo Cauliflower and other experiments -- back to top
I started out making buffalo cauliflower. I made the batter with some ranch powder too (I've done this before but I only just added it to the recipe). Anyway, I made the batter too wet causing a lot to fall off and just cook the batter on the pan. It also didn't go very far so instead of making a second batch, I decided to play.
I steamed the remaining cauliflower and used the immersion blender and potato masher to mostly mash it with some chunks. I added the rest of the ranch powder, an egg, some flour, and other seasonings. I tried to make it like a pancake on the non-stick but it was just not really cooking and didn't flip well (Back left of the right picture). So I decided to pan-fry (more oil than sauté but not as much as really frying) it (back right of the right picture). This worked a little bit better but not much. It did have more flavor from the oil. Finally, I put the rest of the batter in the pan and I cooked it while moving it making a strange cooked cauliflower mush (bowl in right photo). Actually, that was pretty good. The ranch powder really helped with the flavor.
So, it was a strange meal but actually pretty good. Lots of food.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7133, 2014-01-12_092115
Roasted Kabocha Squash (and leftovers) -- back to top
I am still working through leftover moussakka, but today, I also roasted a kabocha squash. I followed the same as I did last time(sliced into crescents, 30 minutes at 400, flipped half way). I used pam, salt and pepper. The squash again came out really, really good. I thoroughly enjoyed eating it this way. I did east some of the skin but not all of it like last time. I wonder if it was a bit more roasted last time making the skin more edible (though the meat was fully cooked).
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7138, 2014-01-13_095717
Open-Face [Almost] Reubens on Eggplant with Home Made Thousand Island Dressing -- back to top
I had heard of using eggplants as pizza crust (may or may not do in the future) but I decided to try to make open-face [almost] reubens instead.
I sliced an eggplant into about 1/4 to 1/3 thick slices (thicker than thickest mandoline setting). I pammed it, then sprinkled it with salt, pepper, and caraway (to fake rye bread flavor). I roasted it at 400 for 12 minutes. I then flipped them and did the same seasonings and roasted them for 5 minutes.
I then topped the eggplant slices with home-made fat free thousand island (see below), then [heated] sauerkraut, then pastrami (Hillshire Farms brand), then slices of swiss-cheese. The pastrami was 7 ounces which is a little bit less than I wanted but to be honest, it was enough. I roasted them for other 5-7 minutes to melt and heat it all
The dressing was from the recipe below. I upped the relish to a full tbsp since it needed it. I also did use low-sugar ketchup since I had it. The dressing was pretty good though I do not recall how other commercial ones. This was pretty easy and good though so I'd do it again.
Overall, they were pretty good. Nowhere near as good as a_real_ reuben, but good enough for dinner and was certainly healthier. I actually calculated the points below too. I would do it again for sure though two slices of rye bread wouldn't have been too many more calories/points that I may just consider that next time.
(oh, I also had leftover squash)
Fat Free Thousand Island Dressing (from Ari's Menu)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7142, 2014-01-14_200726
Socca with Various Home-Made toppings -- back to top
This was Meredith's idea and mostly her execution but I'll do my best to explain. We had socca (french chick-pea flour crepes) with all kinds of toppings inspired by a restaurant near us. I have my picture assembled. Here is everything we had. Note that everything was made by scratch:
So, it was a pretty easy and very pretty meal. We would certainly make it again!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7149, 2014-01-16_084242
Pecan-Crusted Cod, Braised Leeks, and French Onion Soup -- back to top
Meredith and I made fish, soup and braised leeks.
The fish was cod that we coated in a mixture of pecan meal, salt, pepper, and a bit of panko. We coated it all around and really patted it on. We then baked it for like 12-15 minutes at 350 (ish--with that oven). It came out pretty good. Not the most flavorful but you could really taste the fish. It probably would have been better if we marinated it or did something like that.
We made french onion soup (sans cheese) with lots of really well reduced/caramelized onions, Then, we made the soup with a mixture of beef and chicken broth and white wine (2:2:1 ratio or so). Not much else there. The soup was pretty simple and pretty good though not incredible. I do not know what I could do to make it more rich.
Finally, we did braised leeks. We cut off the greens and then peeled the outer layer. The rest was from the recipe below. Not too special to the recipe but they weren't very good. They were a bit mushy and stringy. I have never had braised leeks or leeks in any real form for that matter so I have little to compare it to.
It was certainly an acceptable meal but at no point was anything all that special. Maybe we will use some of these ideas again but with changes.
Braised Leeks (from Martha Stewart)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7154, 2014-01-18_162124
Green Papaya Salad and Summer Rolls -- back to top
There were kind of two parts to this meal. The first was the papaya salad and the second was trying to roll it in rice papers.
First the salad. We julienne the green papaya at first by a mandoline and then manually which was a pain but I managed. We followed the recipe pretty faithfully except we increased the amount of dressing since we had a lot of papaya. And we used only 1/2 pound shrimp. Finally, we fried all of the scallions both for the dressing and the marinade. We skipped the peanuts but also added thai basil, mint, and cilantro. Meredith also did something like massage the papaya with the dry seasonings to soften it a bit. The salad was really good. A lot of flavor, though less than the one we have had at a restaurant. The herbs added a nice amount of nuance to the dish. I like the green papaya more than ripe since I have had pretty bad luck with papaya in the past.
The second part was trying to make summer rolls out of it with rice paper. The real problem was that these were too small of rice papers for what we tried to do. They just didn't come together well (though I think Meredith had more luck than I had). I think we would have had more luck with larger papers. I definitely want to try and do these again (with veggies and the more regular things inside). But with larger rolls!
Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp (from Splendid Table)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7158, 2014-01-19_162220
Cauliflower Fritters and Sautéed Shrimp -- back to top
I made cauliflower fritters from the regular recipe with the following seasonings:
They were incredible good! I do not know why they were so good this time but they were! Maybe it was the feta (I used a bit more than regular though I do not know how much). Or the seasonings. Either way, they came out great
And I made a small amount of shrimp. I water-defrosted it and then I did something between pan-frying and sautéing (I added a tiny layer of oil. More than if I just used pam but less than if I were pan-frying). As soon as I thought they may be almost cooked, I took it off the heat and kept tossing. This is similar to what I did the other day and it was the only time that it was not overly overcooked! After they were done I tossed them with some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7169, 2014-01-21_204855
Black Bean Falafel (of sorts) -- back to top
I kind of-sort-of-maybe-but-not-really made black bean falafel. I followed the basic falafel recipe and methodology but with a lot of changes. Obviously, I used black beans. Instead of cilantro and parsley, I used a mixture of herbs Meredith sent me home with. I think they were thai basil (though it may have been sweet/regular), mint and probably something else I can't remember. I And I mixed up the spices a bit by adding some Montreal chicken seasoning and going lighter on the others. I kept the olive oil, lemon juice, baking powder, and flour. I also am not sure if I added salt or not (I got distracted and couldn't remember).
I cooked them the same way but I let them go a bit longer since they were really wet and mushy. Even with that, the insides were much less cooked. I think that is simply the beans vs chick-peas.
Anyway, it was a fun way to use up the herbs and make an easy, fairly light meal (calories only really from the flour, beans, and the tiny bit of oil).
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7173, 2014-01-22_203958
Breakfast Cupcakes for Dinner -- back to top
I made breakfast cupcakes for dinner using the regular method. For the filling, I started by sautéing half an onion and some canadian bacon (closer to ham than bacon). I then took that out of the pan and added 5 scrambled eggs. I combined them all and added it to the par-baked shells.
They came out pretty good. I overfilled the under layer and then didn't have enough for the top. And I forgot to salt the eggs but some salt at the end was enough.
I also made roasted(ish) asparagus. I usually do it at 425 for 10-15 minutes but I just did it at 350 for a bit longer and it worked fine. I liked chopping them into smaller pieces first since they get a bit stringy.
Overall, a pretty good and easy meal!
Edit/Update: (2014-01-24) As I think about it, I think this is an example where I could have cut calories/fat with half real eggs and half egg beaters. The flavors would have likely still been there. I'll do that next time
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7177, 2014-01-23_193727
HomeBrew 10: Irish Red Ale -- back to top
Batch 10: Irish Red Ale
I made an irish red ale off the recipe below. It is almost entirely based on the Brewing Classic Styles recipe except I switch to Maris Otter, added sugar (to dry it out and boost ABV). Finally, the roasted barley sold by my shop is 415L so it came out a lot darker too.
Also, this is my first time I did closer to regular BIAB. I did mostly full volume (~75%) with just some for a mash out withheld.
The recipe is below:
Jamil's Red
(PDF) (TXT) (HTML) (XML -- Stored Locally)
| Method: | BIAB | Style: | Irish Red Ale |
| Boil Time: | 60 min | Batch Size: | 1.25 gallons (fermentor volume) |
| Boil Size: | 1.8 gallons | Efficiency: | 80% (brew house) |
| Boil Gravity: | 1.046 (recipe based estimate) |
| Amount | Fermentable | PPG | °L | Bill % |
| 2.3 lb | United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale | 38 | 3.75 | 78.6% |
| 2.5 oz | American - Caramel / Crystal 40L | 34 | 40 | 5.3% |
| 2.5 oz | American - Caramel / Crystal 120L | 33 | 120 | 5.3% |
| 2.5 oz | American - Roasted Barley | 33 | 300 | 5.3% |
| 2.5 oz | Cane Sugar - (late addition) | 46 | 0 | 5.3% |
| Amount | Variety | Time | AA | IBU | Type | Use |
| 0.31 oz | Kent Goldings | Pellet | 5 | Boil | 60 min | 24.47 |
| Amount | Description | Type | Temp | Time |
| 6.3 qt | Mash In Around 161 for 153 rest | Infusion | 153 F | 60 min |
| 1.7 qt | Mash Out with boiling | Temperature | 168 F | 10 min |
| Wyeast - Irish Ale 1084 | ||||||||||||
|
| From Brewing Classic Styles. I am not sure about efficiency. It may be a bit too strong since I do not know about the number. I also played around a bit with the numbers. --------------------- Added a bit of sucrose for ABV boost and to dry it out but I may cut if I come out high on boil grav or pre-boil efficiency --------------------- Mash out volume and strike volume are from iterating. Exact temp for mashout doesn't matter as much. |
Date: 2014-01-26 20:41 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2014-01-26 20:41 UTC
Here are my notes and again, my comments in italics if I remember
We'll see how the fridge works out. I'll probably add some notes later on it.
Note that this is been cold-crashing for the past 10 days!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7187, 2014-01-26_180910
Summer/Fresh Kale + Shrimp Rolls and Cilantro-Parsnip Soup -- back to top
I made a really cool meal of summer/fresh rolls and cilantro-parsnip soup.
First the fresh rolls. I bought larger 31cm wrappers which made it a lot easier. To fill it, I sliced a red pepper, julienned carrots, sautéd kale (I don't like it raw), cilantro and sautéd shrimp. All of them are pictured below laid out.
I made 5 rolls (3 dinner, 2 lunch) and they came out pretty good. They didn't have a huge amount of flavor but summer rolls don't usually. I could have probably done a bit more seasonings on the shrimp and the kale.
And then I made parsnip soup. I actually ended up throwing cilantro in since I had a ton leftover. It was very, very roughly based on this but I am not even going to include the recipe since I made so many changes. What I did is below:
I let it all simmer for a while and then immersion blended it.
So the meal was very good; especially the soup however the major downside is that it is actually a very expensive meal. Between the shrimp, the kale and the veggies, it added up quickly. Oh well, still a lot better than eating out.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7184, 2014-01-26_195804
Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top
I made the pretty standard lentil taco stew. The only thing of note is that I was out of black beans so I used chick peas. Other than that, it was pretty much just the normal recipe. Delicious, but normal.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7196, 2014-01-27_194708
Seitan Chorizo, Roasted Cabbage, and Fried Eggs -- back to top
I made a combination of some of my classic meals. I started with roasted cabbage following the normal recipe. I used the second-from-the-last slicer setting which gave me smaller pieces. I liked that.
The main thing was the seitan chorizo. I basically followed the recipe exactly but I multiplied it by 1.5. The big thing here was how I ended up cooking it. I did what I had done before where I put it out on the pan before turning on the heat. This takes a while and is pretty messy. However, this time, I didn't really have enough room in the pan. As it started heating, it all stuck together so I chopped as I tossed like I do with ground beef. Well, it ended up breaking into crumbs! I wonder if I can cook it like that next time without having to break it up first. I will definitely try that next time. I liked this texture more too.
Finally, I topped it with two fried eggs (somewhere between over-easy and over-medium).
The whole meal worked very well. I really liked how the cabbage and the seitan combined and, mixed with the egg, was the perfect texture. I would do this combination again too.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7199, 2014-01-29_194752
Reuben Cupcakes -- back to top
I made reuben tacos using the regular cupcake recipe. I made the filling by taking a bunch of sauerkraut, some julienned zucchini (for extra bulk), some caraway seeds, a bunch of pastrami/corned beef and finally, some fat free thousand island dressing. It was very good and it was easy to chop it all together. The only major issue was that it was very wet.
I finally topped it all with quarters of low-fat swiss cheese.
I would make it again, but try to make it less wet. But the amount of filling was perfect.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7205, 2014-01-30_202452