Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2015/03
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African Peanut Soup and Cauliflower Fritters -- back to top
I made African peanut soup and cauliflower fritters. Nothing too special with either. For the soup, I followed the recipe and use collard greens which I let cook a bit in the soup. For the fritters, the main flavorings came from the 4oz feta, cumin and rosemary.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9684, 2015-03-01_203523
Avocado Basil "Cream" Sauce with Zucchini Noodles and Tofu -- back to top
We made the avocado basil cream sauce with zucchini noodles as we have done previously (local recipe). We did our own toppings and skipped the corn. We followed the sauce recipe pretty closely except that we went light on the lime (I think the recipe calls for about the equivalent of one lime and we used 3/4).
We made pan-seared tofu for the top. We cut the tofu and soaked it quickly in hot water to help harden it. We then pan seared it with just pam and finally tossed it in some thin teriyaki sauce. A bit strange with the creamy noodles but really not bad.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9681, 2015-03-02_203002
A quick and easy meal. We bought these 110cal Sandwich Rollups (we've done similar before but these were better). We topped them with low-fat cheese, turkey pepperoni (Wegmans Brand. Much better than hormel), peppadews, mozzarella balls, and a variety of other toppings. Really nothing too special but it was easy and good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9706, 2015-03-03_203004
Lobster with Cilantro Sauce -- back to top
We made one of Meredith's favorite meals. It is the same thing we did before (2014-06-14). We first grilled the lobster. We butterflied it and grilled with the shell for about 7 minutes. We pulled the meat out of the shell and let it finish cooking (the shell adds flavor so we wanted it for a while).
We poached eggs (3 minutes on a simmer) and made the cilantro sauce from the cilantro-egg-drop soup but with a single (large) jalapeno instead of thai peppers. And heavy on the spices. We first coated the bread, then lobster with the egg and then topped it with the sauce.
We also served it with [lightly] roasted asparagus (5-7 minutes at ~400°F)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9702, 2015-03-04_203049
Curry-Roasted Cauliflower and Ham Steak -- back to top
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I wanted an easy and light meal but also with things that Meredith doesn't really like since she was out of town. I made curry-roasted cauliflower (she likes roasted cauliflower but not with curry) and a ham steak. It was pretty simple and not much to it.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9712, 2015-03-06_205013
Steak and Twist Peppers -- back to top
Meredith was out of town so I made a NY Strip Steak. I salted it and let it sit for 40 minutes. After blotting it, I followed these instructions on cooking it. I had a cast-iron pan super hot in the broiler. I did 3 minutes per side and then 4 with the oven on 500°F. While it was resting, I did shishito peppers.
I made a dip for the peppers with light mayo, olive oil, white miso, garlic powder and some of the drippings from the steak.
Honestly, this was the best cooked steak I have made but it wasn't super flavorful. Maybe it is because of how I cooked it, the meat, or the lack of added butter. But either way, I was simply not impressed. I think I am going to stop trying to make steak since I tend not to be successful.
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Original WP Post ID: 9717
Original WP Pub Date: 2015-03-07_215512
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I was originally just making falafel dough to freeze but I tasted some and it made me want to make a Walafel. I made two batches of dough and froze 1.5 of it for later use. The other one I cooked on the waffle iron for 7 minutes. The dough was pretty standard except I used regular (as opposed to flat-leaf) parsley. I ended up using less than entire batch since it was simply too much.
Maybe it was because this wasn't previously frozen but it was still wet. I would do 10 minutes next time but check on it.
I also made a dip out of yogurt, Sriracha and z'atar.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9722, 2015-03-08_131034
Walafels with Poached Eggs -- back to top
Even though I just had Walafels, I decided to make it again (the dough defrosts super quickly).I cooked it for 9 minutes 30 seconds which was fine. I decided to also top it with two poached eggs. (3 minutes with a simmer).
It was good. As usual! I would do this again and again with the egg. It was better than a strange yogurt sauce (though I think tzatziki is better). I also put sriracha on it.
The broken egg version is below:
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9727, 2015-03-10_134006
Breakfast Tacos -- back to top
This was breakfast for house guests. I made veggies with onions and peppers on he cast iron pan and then I made eggs with soy chorizo. I heated the tortillas on the pan which gives them a nice crisp. It was eggs, peppers then topped with avocado.
It was good but pretty simple.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9734, 2015-03-12_100024
Belgian-Style Yeast Waffles -- back to top
I made real Belgium waffles. We used the recipe from King Arthur Flour with the following changes:
I made the batter the night before and left it out for an hour then refrigerated overnight. I used a bit less than 1 cup of batter which you can see was a bit low. Also, as I noted last time, the waffle maker doesn't cook perfectly evenly.
Still, they were very good. Lots of flavor and was fluffy. The yeasty flavor really shown through. You could also really taste the butter in the recipe. I would do this again as it was easy and good. Maybe with real milk and/or the right kind of yeast.
Belgian-Style Yeast Waffles (from King Arthur Flour)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9739, 2015-03-13_084530
We had a variety of fillings. Some worked better than others. But what helped a lot was to have spacers on the rolling pin. It made rolling it out very easy.
Fillings:
I think that was about it. We cooked them on the tray with parchment. I wanted to use silpats but I cannot find them.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9745, 2015-03-14_095210
Presumably we used my dad's recipe?
Butternut Squash Croquettes -- back to top
I made butternut squash croquettes. I used the same recipe as usual with feta. I made the dough the night before and tried to use it the next day.
I tried to waffle it. FAIL!!! It didn't come off the waffle iron which is now a pain in the ass to clean. I do not know if it was because of the cold dough or if this was just not made to be waffled. I did the other half in the oven.
Sadly, I forgot to take a picture.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9749, 2015-03-16_200344
I made shepherd's pie for St. Patrick's Day. But I also wanted to make it healthier.
For the beef, I used 1 lbs of extra lean ground beef with two small onions sautéd. I couldn't find a frozen vegetables with corn, peas, and carrots so I got an Asian Vegetable blend of broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, onions, red pepper, water chestnuts and sugar snap peas. I also used the entire pack to really bulk up the beef without adding calories. I seasoning it heavily with pepper, oregano, 21 Seasoning Salute, garlic powder, plus Worcestershire and Soy sauce (salt and unami).
For the potatoes, I wanted to make it healthier by using 8oz of red-bliss potatoes and 1/2 a small-to-medium head of cauliflower. I boiled the potatoes and steamed the cauliflower above it. I was able to mash it all and make it smooth. I added greek yogurt, garlic powder, some popcorn butter stuff, and some real butter (1.5 Tbsp). The final product was a bit sour which may have been the greek yogurt or the cauliflower was a bit green. But, the combination of the potatoes and cauliflower worked well. I also topped it with smoked paprika. I cooked it for 20-25 minutes at 350.
This ended up also being a pretty low-cal meal. 8 oz of potatoes is about 6 points and the beef is about 16. Add some for the butter and everything else. Even if you figure it was 30 calories total, we got 6 good-sized servings!
The flavor was fine. Not the most amazing thing ever. I should read more and get better ideas for recipes. But this was pretty easy and low points.
You can see some photos below of the beef mix, the proportions of beef to potatoes (which was not the ideal ratio) and the final products:
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Original WP Post ID: 9755
Original WP Pub Date: 2015-03-17_212057
Parmesan Roasted Broccoli and Miso Cod -- back to top
This was a pretty simple dinner. The cod was from Trader Joes. I just cooked it using their bake instructions.
I roasted the broccoli for 15 minutes at 450 then tossed it with parm and baked it at 375 with the cod for 12 minutes. pretty simple and not much to it. We both enjoyed the taste of the cheese though I probably could have done it for less time.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9762, 2015-03-18_192552
Ricotta Toast with Roasted Broccolini -- back to top
This was a quick and easy dinner. Meredith made a spread out of part-skim ricotta with house-preserved lemon peel, crushed red pepper, basil, and a bit of salt. We topped it with roasted broccolini and a fried egg (for mine). Garnished with a bit more chopped basil.
This was easy enough and, while a bit strange, was pretty good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9768, 2015-03-20_201526
Soy Chorizo Breakfast -- back to top
I made a (big) breakfast by sautéing some veggies that were on their way out. It was some cauliflower, red pepper, and onions. I then added eggs and a small thing of soy chorizo. I put it on toasted pumpernickel and avocado. There may have been a few other things but I do not remember them all.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9771, 2015-03-21_081559
Roasted Veggies with Fake Chicken -- back to top
We had a ton of veggies that we needed to cook before it went bad. I cut up a ton of yellow squash, zucchini, two kohlrabi, and two red peppers. I think I also added a few parsnips that we had around. I tossed it with olive oil then seasoned it with salt, pepper, Penzeys Italian mix and rosemary.
I roasted it at 450 for about 20-25 minutes, tossed it, and did another 20. I then chopped up some fake chicken (see this post), tossed it with some of the same seasonings, and added it to roast for another 10 minutes.
It was really good. Lots of veggies and a light meal. Good flavors and, after all of the chopping, pretty easy.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9775, 2015-03-24_204041
Orange Cod and Roasted Asparagus -- back to top
A pretty typical Wednesday night dinner. I made cod and roasted asparagus. Having had bad luck with using the stove on fish, I decided to bake it. I first marinated it in Wegmans Orange (something) Sauce for about an hour. I then baked it at 400 for about 10-12 minutes. I put the asparagus in for the last 5 minutes to lightly roast it. Simple, quick, and light.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9781, 2015-03-25_213017
Coffee-Cola and BBQ Slab Beef Jerky -- back to top
I am writing this pretty far post making it but I'll do my best.
I made two types of beef jerky. I bought 3.69 pounds of Beef Top Round and trimmed it to 3 pounds, 9 oz (it was pretty lean). I made coffee-cola jerky and BBQ. The coffee-cola was from this recipe (and local copy below). I followed it pretty closely including using Tender-quick. I knew this would be shared and would need to sit out a little bit so I wanted to cure it as well.
I also threw together a BBQ marinade. I used Tender-quick in that too. The recipe is below.
While I used the Tender-quick, I think they both needed more salt; especially the BBQ. It was very flavorful but a bit sweet and needed more flavor. It was also very thick making it harder to make and longer to dry. I need to get better at making marinades for slab jerky. Ground beef jerky has different needs since it can have the flavor inside it more and all the salt will be in the meat (as opposed to the leftover marinade)
I use a strainer that also helped make it easier to drain. Especially the coffee one which needed almost no draining.
I used 2/3 of the meat for the coffee cola and 1/3 for the BBQ. I marinated it starting at 4:30pm and started making it at 9:15 the next day. I did about 3hr 15 min at 150 (trying to go lower temp) and then a long time later at 140 until it was done.
Also note with this that added Tender-quick to the cola can cause it to fizz quite a bit. Make it flatter next time
Coffee Break Beef Jerky (Coffee Cola) (from Traeger Grills)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9798, 2015-03-26_102316
Sous-Vide Steak, Crab Legs, Roasted Cauliflower -- back to top
This was my first attempt at sous-vide. I used my homebrew temperature controller with a crock pot. The controller is not super smart so, even with the smallest temperature range, I was getting a pretty large range of temperatures. I aimed for around 135 which allowed it to go basically from 130-140 or between rare and medium. I figured if it was anywhere in there, I'd be happy with it.
I used flat-iron steak since it was the best I could find. I would have liked hanger steak or something leaner but this wasn't too bad. It was also a small piece which was good since I didn't want too many points. I put a bit too much garlic in the bag but it wasn't too bad. I followed Serious Eats and didn't use any oil, etc.
I cooked it in the water for about 2 hours then seared it (see the pictures). It certainly needed the sear since the color was just so gross out of the water bath. But you can see from the photos that it was nicely cooked to about medium rare all of the way through.
We also had crab legs (they were on a great sale). We steamed them for 5 minutes (I think). They had a few strange spots that we ate around and the rest of very good. Finally, we had roasted cauliflower with Indian spices.
The meal was nice and a good mix of fancy but easy.
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Original WP Post ID: 9785
Original WP Pub Date: 2015-03-27_201640
Eggs on Toast and Potatoes -- back to top
A pretty simple meal. I made some potatoes from one we had left over and I had fried eggs on toast with coriander spread.This was basically breakfast for dinner.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9795, 2015-03-31_103234