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posts/2014/10
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Balsamic Stir-fry [new] with Seitan -- back to top
I had been disappointed the last few times I tried to make balsamic broccoli (old recipe). It was never really good and often, mushy. But, since I have gotten a lot better at stir-frying and at understanding the right sauce proportions, I decided I would try again from scratch.
I also had come across packaged, cheap, non-fried, non-canned seitan in the asian market. So I decided to try with the chicken version (though both are also pictured below). The recipe is just for the sauce. It is very roughly inspired by this but mostly just my own playing
For the veggies, I used a large and a small head of broccoli and I trimmed it more than usual (I had a lot so I didn't need the extra bulk from the stalk). To that I added 2 jalapeños and 2 small/medium bell peppers.
This was probably the best attempt at making a balsamic stir-fry. To be improved upon in the future.
Combine all ingredients up to the red pepper. Beat/mix well. Add the canola oil to a hot wok and stir-fry the garlic until cooked and flavorful. Add to the rest of the sauce
Add whatever oil you want for the stir-fry and, once hot, add the vegetables. Let sit for 20-30 second to develop some char and then toss. Repeat a few times and then keep tossing to cook evenly. If there is a lot or it isn't cooking well, you can add a tiny bit of water and then keep tossing while that steams out but try to avoid if possible.
When fully cooked, add the sauce and stir to combine. Keep stirring until it is bubbling and thickens. About 1 minute.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8950, 2014-10-02_134546
Cauliflower & Sausage Casserole -- back to top
I made a cauliflower casserole from this Kitchn recipe (and copied below).
I prepped it during the day and to then be cooked from the fridge later. I followed the recipe pretty closely with the following notes/changes:
Other than those changes, I stayed pretty true to the recipe
The final result was mediocre though everyone else seemed to like it. I should have given it more time in the oven (likely since it was from cold) and I should have steamed the cauliflower for longer since it was a bit undercooked. Also, it was extremely wet. So next time: more oven, more steam, more cooking down the sauce. The topping worked well enough.
Cauliflower & Sausage Casserole (from The Kitchn)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8958, 2014-10-02_145533
Crispy Eggs on Sweet Potato Sausage Hash -- back to top
I made breakfast for me, Meredith, and her parents. I made sausage sweet potato hash and crispy eggs.
I had defrosted some breakfast sausage patties and chopped then cooked them on the cast iron. Meanwhile, I chopped and par-cooked the sweet potatoes in the microwave. Once the sausage was finished, I took it out of the pan and added the sweet potatoes (2) and a diced onion plus a bit of oil. I let that cook with a mixture of tossing and then pressing. This was with the cast iron pan with medium (5/10) heat.
I salt and peppered to taste.
I saw this on Smitten Kitchen. I followed her procedure basically. I used a small cast iron pan (made for skillet cookies). Once it was very hot, I added a nice bit of oil and let it get near smoking. I the. Added the egg and slightly reduced the heat. As I did more, I got the technique down. I started to loosely cover with a big lid to help cook the tops. I found 2:30-2:45 was the right amount of time. It also helped that I first cracked the eggs into a small dish.
The Crispy Egg (from The Smitten Kitchen)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8970, 2014-10-03_113503
Carrot Cake Pancakes and Bacon -- back to top
I made carrot-cake pancakes for breakfast. I used my regular recipe (which I have since made into its own page. Note that the spices are doubled). It came out really thick which made it tiresome to use on the non-stick. I actually tried one on the regular pans and they worked for the one side but then I burned the other. Still, I think that I do not have to just use non-stick. Maybe use extra cooking spray but should work otherwise.
I also made fake buttermilk with the recipe also on that page (from Joy The Baker). I used almond milk and coconut yogurt.
Finally, I baked bacon. It was a pound of center cut _bacon. According to the nutritional information, it should have only been about 75 calories (_cooked) per person. I used the oven and they came out nice and crispy.
I also served sliced pineapple
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8974, 2014-10-05_110501
Balsamic Stir-Fry with Rotisserie Chicken -- back to top
I again made the balsamic stir-fry like last time. I actually followed the exact recipe. I used chopped but fresh broccoli (from Costco), some bell peppers and a few odds and ends in the fridge.
I made two batches with a pound of broccoli in both. That was about the right amount. I would say 1-1.25 lbs of veggies per batch.
For meat, I used cut-up rotisserie chicken. It was good and flavorful, but I want to try velveting some meat and using that next time (assuming I do not use seitan or something)
We topped it with culantro (similar to cilantro) and I liked that on top. I will start including that as a garnish.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8988, 2014-10-07_204025
Seared Mahi Mahi and Swiss Chard -- back to top
This was a quick and light meal. The fish was mahi mahi from Whole Foods in a coconut sauce. Not exactly sure what the sauce. But I used my regular seared salmon technique. The only thing is that the fish was still a bit frozen inside so it didn't fully cook at first. I ended up putting it in the oven with the broiler on for a bit longer.
I also sautéd some swiss-chard. Not much to say. I used the wok to make it easier. I first did the onion, then added the stems, and then the leaves. Topped it with a bit of salt and pepper
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8992, 2014-10-08_204541
Broccoli Seitan Stir-Fry -- back to top
I made a broccoli stir-fry with a thrown together sauce. The broccoli was what was left from the other day. Actually, it was a bit slimy and I probably shouldn't have used it but it was fine. The "beef" was seitan I mentioned a little bit ago.
The sauce was as follows:
Plus, I minced and sautéd
I added them with their oil to the sauce.
Honestly, it was fine. Nothing amazing or as good as some other stir-fried I have done but it was nice to experiment and try something new. I did_not_ like the beef as much as the chicken though. And I wish the broccoli was fresher
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8996, 2014-10-09_144540
Sweet, Hot, and Sour Brussel Sprouts -- back to top
I am again experimenting with stir-fried. Meredith wanted a different sauce so I read a few recipes and attempted a hot-sweet-and sour sauce. I did it with brussel sprouts which worked ok. I think I should have steamed or blanched (or roasted) them a bit more before I made it so they could get more cooked. I also had some kale leaves (but not stems).
The sauce is as follows:
The sauce wasn't anything amazing either way. I will explore using vinegar some more. The meat was about 3/4 lbs of chicken. I also did some minced garlic and ginger
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9007, 2014-10-10_210033
Chili ("One Hour") -- back to top
Meredith and I made chili from the HomeSick Texan Recipe but with lots of changes for what we had around and what we wanted. The following is our list of changes to the base recipe:
With the following additions as well
Overall, it was pretty good. It was certainly cool making chili without any seasoning blend but it still lacked some of the flavors I really like in chili. I liked making my own (essentially) chili paste with real peppers as opposed to seasonings. The entire thing needed lots of salt too.
Still, it was a good starting point for more experimentation. And I expect the leftovers will be even better!
One Hour Chili (from The Homesick Texan)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9010, 2014-10-15_210055
Green Bean Stir-fry -- back to top
Another day, another stir-fry. I threw a sauce together with the below ingredients and used it on green beans and (cooked) chicken sausage. It was pretty good though the green beans would have been better cut and the chicken sausage had so much flavor that it dominated the dish. Also, between not enough sauce and/or too much cornstarch, it didn't coat everything as well as I would have liked.
Also, I did the garlic and then discarded it but kept the oil. I do not know what I did wrong but it burned and cooked too quickly. I also cooked the sausage with two arbol chiles that I later discarded
Sauce:
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9018, 2014-10-16_141045
Sausage and Crisp Eggs -- back to top
Very quick and simple lunch. I sautéed two (halved) chicken sausages and I made a double crisp egg. I cooked both with too high of a heat and they kind of burned. Still good though...
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9022, 2014-10-17_091507
Shrimp Tacos with Cabbage Slaw and Pico de Gallo -- back to top
Meredith and I made shrimp tacos with lots of accouterments:
We got unpeeled shrimp so we had to manually peel and devein it. Honestly, it wasn't too bad but I do not think I would do it again for small ones. It just took too much time and effort. if we buy bigger shrimp, then it would be fine and worth it. Meredith sautéd them with some seasonings including cumin, chipotle powder, lime and salt.
I used the recipe from Serious Eats (_local link_) as a guide. I made a few changes including
It was pretty good. I would use this recipe again. I liked what they said about the [temperature] heat of the liquids that then get cooled. The only thing is that maybe it was too wet. Oh well. We did let it sit for about 2 hours. And it was even better the next day.
Curtido [Mexican Cabbage Slaw] (From Serious Eats)
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I used the recipe from The Kitchn mostly. The biggest changes were that I used a mix of plum tomatoes and some (old) chopped cherry tomatoes. They were a bit wet (as was warned). I also just used the entire lime rather than half. Finally, I likely went heavy on the cilantro. And I used red onion. I may have forgotten the jalapeños. Not 100% sure.
It was pretty good. Not as good as I have had in some restaurants but I do not feel like it was way too far off. Maybe I should be more reserved with the cilantro next time.
Pico de Gallo (from The Kitchn)
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We also served it with spiralized Shoe String Jicama Fries (Original Post, Local Recipe).
Meredith made the seasonings and they came out wonderfully. I think the heat was set a bit higher, maybe 425 and that worked well. They were a bit spicy though which Meredith had said before. We will certainly do this again! Also, quartering the jicima was a good way to spiralize it. I also chopped up the pieces the remained.
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Original WP Post ID: 9030
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-10-17_212022
Sweet and Sour Broccoli Seitan Stir-Fry -- back to top
I made a Sweet and Sour Broccoli Seitan stir-fry for lunch. I had read a few places where they first blanched the broccoli so it would't need as long in the wok. I don't like blanching so I tried steaming it for 3 minutes (started with the steamer already going) and it was a bit too cooked. Less next time. The other non-sauce ingredients were a sliced bell pepper and 1/2 a chicken seitan packages (see this).
I doctored a store-bought sweet-and-sour sauce (pic below) as follows:
Overall it was ok. I was a bit distracted while eating it so I can't say it was the greatest. I had really good sweet-and-sour chicken over the weekend so I want to keep working on this one.
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Original WP Post ID: 9042
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-10-21_121026
"Fall-Toush" Salad -- back to top
I made a "fall-toush" (as in fattoush) salad based off the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (and copied locally). The biggest difference was that we couldn't find delicata squash so we used a medium kabocha squash. It has the same properties of thin and edible skin and I happen to really like the squash. We essentially doubled the recipe (but kept the olive oil the same) and only used 3/4 of the squash (I cut the remaining quarter and toasted it. They were so good to snack on).
We served it with a fried egg (which I overcooked). Still, it was very good! Lots of interesting flavors and a very hearty meal!
Also, we used a Pakistani flat bread in place of pita. I am including a picture of the nutritional information below since I do not believe it. It is a 14oz bread but only has 350 calories. I doubt that! But the bread was very good!
Also, we added a small eggplant since I had it. It was actually really good in there. Especially the next day, To be included in the future!
The full list of changes are below:
"Fall-toush" Salad from
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9049, 2014-10-21_222551
Shrimp and Broccoli Rabe -- back to top
Meredith did most of this so she may have more comments, but she made shrimp in the cast iron pan with Z'atar and some alleppo pepper added afterwards.
And she sautéd broccoli rabe with garlic.
The shrimp was very good. Well cooked (except for 1piece that needed more) and flavorful. Having to shell and devein them was a pain but it allowed us to get better prices on it.
The broccoli rabe came out SUPER bitter. Need to read on how to reduce the bitterness.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9059, 2014-10-22_204032
Ham, Seitan, and Pepper Mix -- back to top
I am not even sure what to call this. I made a simple ham, seitan and pepper dish. I started by sautéing two habaneros and a poblano. Once they were mostly cooked, I added half of a ham steak (diced) and some diced seitan "chicken" (same as the other day). I cooked it all and added some salt, pepper andPenzey's Fox Point.
I nearly died making it. The air in the kitchen was so intense from the peppers. I almost threw up. But once I recovered, I was able to eat it without too many problems. Those peppers are nasty when being sautéd or stir-fried but not as bad when eating. Actually, it was a really good meal. The saltiness of the ham balanced the subtle flavor of the seitan. And then there was the backdrop of heat from the peppers.
Also, low points. 3 for the oil, 3 for the seitan and 3for the ham steak.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9062, 2014-10-23_143556
I made the regular taco stew with a few minor changes but they added up to a lot of flavor. They were to add some seasonings like chipotle powder and smoked paprika. And to add some soy sauce for an umami kick. Both of these are now reflected on my recipe book version. My changes were
This was probably one of the best versions. It had a long simmer and some (most) with the lid off to thicken it. (I noted this in the recipe as well)
(This is a rough guess but it's the best I could get)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9068, 2014-10-23_195546
Breakfast things -- back to top
This is just a log of two things I tried. The first was maple kettle corn. I did like I had in the past for the kettle corn but used maple syrup instead of sugar. The biggest issue is that the maple syrup had to cook down like candy until the temperature was high enough to pop the corn. I ended up taking it out early for fear of burning it since it was already starting to smell burned.
The pancake is from the linked recipe. It had promise but was really not all that good. It kind of tasted like pumpkin eggs. With maple syrup it was fine but I wont be rushing to make it again.
Flourless Pumpkin Spice Pancakes (from ShutterBean) Local Copy password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9087, 2014-10-25_095515
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki -- back to top
Meredith has been wanting to make these for a while! It is essentially a Japanese pancake with all kinds of fillings, etc.
We used the recipe from Just One Cook Book. Actually, the video was also super helpful. We did make a few changes based on what we like but nothing too major. Instead of pork belly, we used center cut bacon (much less fat). And, instead of only cooking the bacon on the pan, we par-cooked it for about 10 minutes at 375°F so that it was more cooked and more fat was rendered off. We also used cut up seaweed snacks for the seaweed (tororo kombu).We actually already hadOkonomi sauce, since I had bought it already. (BTW, it tastes like thicker and more flavorful Worcestershire sauce). We also used a regular noodle (though still japanese) and a lot less of it.And no mayo. Finally, we used some panko instead of tempura scraps
Making it was not too bad. It seemed daunting but it is actually pretty simple. My description of the steps are:
1/4 cup pancake batter spread out
top with powdered katsuobushi and panko
add seaweed stuff
handful of cabbage, then scallions, and bean sprouts
3 slices of bacon
a little bit of batter
FLIP.
Stir-fry separately some noodles with okonomi sauce. Let get slightly crisp.
Once cooked, move pancake onto noodles. (bacon side down on noodles)
break egg and fry.
Put pancake+noodles onto egg, noodles side down on egg
Top with sauce
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki (from Just One Cookbook)
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Additional Photos
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Original WP Post ID: 9083
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-10-26_214525
African Peanut Soup and Carrot Salad with Harissa -- back to top
We made a really good meal of African Peanut Soup and a carrot salad
We followed our general soup recipe from my recipe book. For the most part, we stuck with it but I decided to use more peanut butter. I think I essentially 1.5x the peanut butter and it was too much. A bit over powering. Still very good but not as good as in the past. Next time, I'll stick with the recipe more.
Meredith made most of this but we basically followed the Smitten Kitchen Recipe (and linked locally below). We only topped one with feta and the other with olives and capers (to still give the briney bite that feta has). This was so good. Super simple and really healthy.
Meredith made her own harissa. She is still working out the recipe but below is the one we followed. This is not exactly like the harissa you see in the store. It is a bit sweeter and more flavorful (as opposed to just heat). It is largely inspired by the harissa from Cava. It has stewed (and sun dried) tomatoes to temper the heat and bring out a bit of the flavors. The version Meredith made for this was very good but a little smokey.
We doubled the recipe (but quarter the oil). The complete list of changes are
Other than that, we stayed pretty true to the recipe. We used big carrots that we grated into as-long-as-possible strands with the food processor. We considered spiralizing but opted not to since the carrots may be too thick then. Also, not sure if we have it the full hour to infuse but it did have some time.
Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint (From The Smitten Kitchen)
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De-seed and de-stem the chiles and place in a heat-proof bowl. Pour hot water to cover them and let soak for about half an hour. Meanwhile, toast the whole seeds over medium-high heat until they start to pop and dance and smell fragrant. Remove them from the heat and grind them with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder (lame). Add everything but the olive oil, salt, and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and grind until smooth. Taste, and add salt and sugar, as/if needed. Grind some more. When the flavor is where you want it to be, add the olive oil and pulse to combine.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9101, 2014-10-27_213502
Vegetable Seitan (a la Broccoli Beef) -- back to top
I wanted a stir-fry and always love the broccoli beef. Meredith however was sick of too much broccoli. And I used home-made seitan instead of beef. I actually ended up doubling the seitan and froze four of the logs. This was not my intention but I messed up so I had to add more.
The veggies were:
I used the regular broccoli beef recipe. I made this in two separate batches for lunch and dinner. For both, they got 1/2 of the seitan recipe (1/4 per person) but I think I could go lighter next time to save the oil. Stir-frying the seitan first didn't seem to make a difference. I was a bit concerned since the broccoli was cooking slower than the other ingredients but I just moved things around so that it was on the bottom.
No real other notes here. Nothing too special but the meal was very good. And, except for all of the chopping, pretty easy!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9114, 2014-10-28_161014
Seared Mahi Mahi over Salad Greens -- back to top
This was a pretty simple and light meal. I had defrosted two Mahi Mahi steaks. I put some FoxPoint on it and cooked it with my regular salmon technique. I was afraid that I overcooked it but it was fine. Maybe just slightly overdone but only slightly. I think this technique works well but is better with fattier fish than Mahi Mahi. And when there is skin on the fish.
We served it over salad greens with balsamic vinegar
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9119, 2014-10-29_180533
Eggs, Pita and Stir-Fried Cabbage -- back to top
We both worked too late to make our original dinner plan and we were too hungry so we threw something together.
Meredith scrambled the eggs with a bit of fox point. I stir-fried half a head of cabbage. I didn't add any sauce. Just salt and pepper but it was really good. You could taste that it was stir-fried. Certainly an easy way to make cabbage. A lot faster and less residual heat than the oven!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9122, 2014-10-30_181050
Grilled Chicken and Salad -- back to top
We were supposed to make something a bit more intense but we made last-minute alternative plans and needed something fast. I simply pounded down a large chicken breast, seasoned it, and cooked it on the grill pan. We served it with pita and a salad.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9127, 2014-10-31_192058