Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2015/08
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Grilled Buffalo Halloumi Cheese Sandwiches -- back to top
We made a replica of one of Meredith's favorite meals she had in Australia a while back. We marinated halloumi cheese in Franks Red-Hot for at least one night. We then grilled that (on the cast iron) and roasted eggplant, onions, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms.
We served it open face with "Power Greens" on (semi-stale) baguette. Everything was really good and it is interesting that there is cheese that can stand up to the grill (I wonder how paneer would do?). The roasted veggies were really good; especially the onions. We'll do that again.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10178, 2015-08-01_234522
Fawafle with Spring Peas and Prosciutto -- back to top
Pretty standard Fawafles topped with a poached egg and some Sriracha. But what was really good was the side dish, spring peas with prosciutto.
Meredith made thing just kind of winging it. She started with some olive oil and sautéd one onion, diced plus salt to taste. She then added some butter and 2-3 pieces of prosciutto, chopped. Threw in a bag of fresh peas (Trader Joes). Let that cook down for a couple minutes and then added white wine (cheap wine from Trader Joes but not "cooking wine"). Let that reduce for a minute or two. Garnished with fresh chopped mint from the garden.
It was pretty fast, simple, and delicious. Probably a lot of starch but otherwise not too unhealthy.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10181, 2015-08-03_235006
Quinoa and Halloumi Keftedes -- back to top
We still had leftover halloumi and Meredith had come across this recipe for Keftedes (local link below). We prepped this the day before which made cooking easy.
However, we made a good number of changes including:
So basically, it was inspired by the recipe, We also completely changed out the sauce and instead used some romesco with oven-roasted chopped tomatoes.
They were very good. A lot of interesting flavor with a Mediterranean note (read: I tasted olives despite there not being any but still liked it...probably the feta).
However,note for next time: use non-stick aluminum foil!
Quinoa and Halloumi "Keftedes" (from Souvlaki for the Soul)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10184, 2015-08-04_235026
Chicken Fajita Tacos -- back to top
I made chicken fajita tacos. There wasn't too much to it. I actually kept is super simple. I sautéed onions, a bit of bell pepper (what we had left) and a few other hot peppers. I pounded two chicken breasts thin and then did them on the grill pan. All of this is pictured below. (we only ate one of the breasts)
To keep it easy, I only used one seasoning: adobo seasoning frombadia. Made this really easy but also good and flavorful.
Served on heated corn tortillas with avocado and cilantro. Could be more interesting next time, but this was fine for now.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10195, 2015-08-07_215517
Huevos Motuleños (or something like that) -- back to top
I had listened to a story on NPR about basted eggs and they talked about their huevos rancheros. I liked the idea so I used it for inspiration but I kind of did my own thing.
The steps are below. Overall, it was really, really good. Lots of interesting flavor with good textures. I really liked on my serving how crispy the tortilla got but the egg was overcooked. On Meredith's, I cooked it for less time which meant her egg was better but the tortillas wasn't as good. Next time, I would let the tortillas cook a bit longer before topping.
Also, upon further research, we found that what we actually made was closer toHuevos motuleños. Also, while this was very good with the salsa, next time, I want to try some New Mexican green or red (or both) chili sauce
Anyway, the instructions and steps are below:
I started by heating three corn tortillas on a lightly oiled (pammed) pan. Once one side was hot, I flipped them and moved on (but see note above about the timing here)
I then sprayed them again with pam and make sure to get the exposed metal parts too. Then I topped it with two eggs and a handful of drained black beans
Next, I added Pace Hot Picanté Sauce/Salsa, and low fat feta cheese (strange but it's what we had and the saltiness was good)
I covered it and let it cook around medium until it was finished.
In the mean time, I cooked some thick center-cut bacon in the toaster. I cut that into smaller pieces and topped: (same photo as at the top):
Made into a Recipe Book Post
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10203, 2015-08-09_145007
Tomato Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuits and Seared Salmon -- back to top
We made a really cool meal. It was tomato cobbler with pan-seared salmon. The cobbler was the main attraction.
We used a Joy The Baker recipe(local) recipe. We made a ton of changes based on the King Arthur Flour guide (local link -- normal password). Our changes to the biscuits based on the altitude were as follows:
Our other changes to the entire thing based on personal preference were:
I think that was about it. We followed the recipe otherwise. We did the initial cooking of the tomato stuff together together but then divided it into individual portions for the final cooking. Also, just to note, we cooked everything in the Breville min-convection oven instead of the main oven. To form the biscuits, we used a drinking cup.
They came out really good.The biscuits were tasty and well risen. Maybe a bit tough compared to others, but pretty good for our first try and for high-altitude. We cooked two tonight, saved two for later in the week, and froze the rest. (note, later in the week, we made this but the biscuits didn't want to rise then. I think they needed to be more room temperature to start but I really don't know)
The salmon was the typical seared salmon with fresh (from Meredith's garden) rosemary. The pieces were thin leading them to be a bit overcooked.
Tomato Cobbler with Blue Cheese Biscuits (from Joy The Baker)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10214, 2015-08-09_213026
Romesco Zucchini Noodles with Chicken Sausage -- back to top
This was a very quick and easy meal. We took zucchini noodles and quickly tossed them in a pan with romesco to coat (and cook the noodles a bit). We then topped it with garlic and herb chicken sausage (from Trader Joes). Very simple and relatively low-point meal.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10219, 2015-08-11_220059
Tofu Fresh Rolls -- back to top
Meredith and I made fresh rolls with tofu for dinner. We used the pressed and marinated tofu from Trader Joes. It is pretty good stuff that is so pressed that you don't even need to cook it. The fillings (mostly pictured below) were carrots, cucumber, yellow pepper, tofu, and "power greens". We also had cilantro, mint, and basil (the latter two fresh from the garden). Note that they were rolled with 22cm rice paper.
We originally were just going to use sweet-chili dipping sauce, but it was kind of boring so we threw together a red-curry peanut sauce. I took peanut butter, red curry paste, some water and some toasted sesame oil. I microwaved then mixed and added more water to thin.
We also had another tomato cobbler portion, though we struggled to get the biscuitsto rise well.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10223, 2015-08-12_220008
Miso-Shoyu Quick-Ramen -- back to top
Meredith had been playing with the Serious Food Lab Article: "Make Your Own Just-Add-Hot-Water Instant Noodles" so we decided to take it a step further and essentially make quick-ramen. Kind of like our Quick Pho, there are certainly compromises and the end result isn't (always) as good as a restaurant or the full-blown recipes, but they are close and are_much_ easier. Actually, this quick Ramen was even easier than pho!
Meredith really just did it to taste so I cannot exactly say a recipe, but she made the broth with
Essentially, it is a miso-ramen but since we also used some soy, it can be considered a miso-shoyu ramen. But, miso was the main flavor driver. We also added dry shitaki mushrooms to the broth while it was cooking
For toppings we used some broiled baby bok choy, enoki mushrooms, pickled ginger (very salty kind) and soft-boiled marinated eggs. And, we use real ramen noodles from the asian market.
The eggs gave us some trouble. We started them the day before. We tried to use the steamer method for 6 minutes but they didn't peel well and were way too undercooked. We put those back in for a bit but only managed to save one out of the four (we and/or the dog ate the rest). We tried again to steam for 8-9 minutes. That worked slightly better but not perfectly. We marinated the four eggs in
We didn't have mirin which is why we used the sherry. We also used a paper towel and capillary action to attempt to better fully coat them. The eggs were ok, but there is room for improvement.
Overall, this was really good. Not as "rameny" as a restaurant but we still really enjoyed this. It was kind of like miso soup but no fishiness (no dashi). It didn't have the mouthfeel, stickiness, or smokiness of a tonkatsu based ramen but Meredith considers that a bonus.
We will perfect this recipe and document it better
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 10226, 2015-08-14_220000
Meredith and I made pimento cheese for a party. Meredith had been holding onto this recipe for some time but never really had the chance until the party. The recipe is on this post. Meredith had taken the recipe from some book in Charleston, SC. We looked at a few recipes and this one sounded the best and also wasn't over the top.
Our changes to the recipe are as follows:
The dish was pretty good. It also seemed pretty popular at the party. We served it with bread and other crudités to dip. The bread went really fast and then people stopped eating it so we'll keep that in mind next time.
It also made an amazing meal the next night as grilled cheese.
Pimento Cheese
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Grilled Pimento Cheese with Leftovers Tomato Soup -- back to top
This was an AWESOME meal! We had leftover pimento cheese from last night. We bought cheddar-green chili bread from whole foods and made grilled cheese. Actually, Meredith made the grilled cheese and I made the tomato soup. The grilled cheese was pretty straight forward. Just butter, pimento cheese and careful heat.
We also made tomato soup entirely from leftovers. It was super simple since we did it in the Vitamix. We combined everything, and ran it on high for 5-minutes until it was super hot.
We had:
I do not think I added water, but I am also writing this pretty far after the fact so I may have and don't remember. At the end, we poured in a bit more buttermilk and then used a toothpick to make a cool design. Garnished with a nasturtium flower from Meredith's garden.
It was actually a pretty easy meal since we already made the pimento cheese. But is was so good. Decadent, flavorful, and [mostly] home-made!
Smorgasbord (incl. Pimento cheese, Spring Peas and Prosciutto, veggies, bread) -- back to top
A Meredith meal if there ever was one (though this could give it a run for it's money).
We made basically made a Smorgasbord of different things. We had:
It was pretty good. Not a ton of food, but was certainly enough
Huevos Motuleños -- New Mexican Style -- back to top
I made Huevos Motulenos like last time, 2015-08-09. I did the same basic steps except, (a) I used butter (and probably a bit too much) and (b) I let the tortilla cook for longer. Also, as I mentioned I wanted to try, I use New Mexican Green Chili Sauce (Santa Fe Ole, "medium"). I really liked it with the sauce. While it was good last time, this was better in that it was less overpowering (though very spicy). Cooking them with butter helped make it crispier and richer. We also used grated Jarlsberg Lite cheese.
This really is a super easy and delicious meal. I just have to be careful not to overdo it....
Made into a Recipe Book Post
Soy Chorizo Egg Tacos -- back to top
Fast, thrown together dinner. Scrambled 4 eggs with soy chorizo and a bit of green chili sauce. Then put it on toasted (quick way to heat) corn tortillas and topped more with green chili. Boring but fast, easy, and light (we weren't very hungry...)
Thai Style Sweet and Sour Seitan -- back to top
I made a Thai-Style sweet and sour stir-fry but with seitan (I forget the brand name) instead of meat (or tofu). I followed this recipe [local] pretty closely. My changes were:
Other than that, I basically did what it said. I was a bit worried that it (a) wouldn't be wet enough and (b) lack the flavors but I was pleasantly surprised. The tomatoes gave it a lot of moisture and the flavors were all there.
The jalapeños (incl. seeds) made it very spicy. I still really liked it. I think next time, I would use Thai peppers instead of jalapeno. And I would add red bell peppers. The recipe says you can also do broccoli, but I think, at leat for how I like to eat broccoli, I would want to up the sauce amounts too.
Sweet and sour chicken or tofu (Phad Prew Waan) (from Thai Farm Cooking School)
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Chicken Caesar Salad -- back to top
We made Skinny Caesar Salad (with this dressing). Pretty standard recipe though we keep making small changes. I will eventually move that into its own Recipe Book post. Until then, I think the biggest changes were to go lighter on the lemon and eyeball the anchovy paste. We do like this recipe a lot since it's a pretty good approximation.
You can see our toppings below including using toast for croutons. I also put some cucumber in mine to add bulk.
We made fattoush again following the same recipe (including using the Trader Joes Flat Bread).
We followed the recipe pretty closely except went much lighter on the oil and added shiso. And less buttermilk (but it was still very wet). I also topped mine with some rotisserie chicken. And we used small tomatoes from the farmers market instead of big ones.
We liked it a lot. Lots of chopping but very little cooking and nice summery flavors. The only problem this time was the radishes, fresh from the farmer's market, were super bitter.
I am not sure if the salad is supposed to be so wet, but liked it regardless and followed the recipe or went lighter on the buttermilk so I guess this is what it's supposed to be.
Eggs + Tortillas (with Borracho Beans), Kale Salad, and Leftovers -- back to top
Not the greatest picture but...:
This was kind of a thrown together meal, except that it involved some pretty time intensive things that Meredith had made over the prior weekend.
The beans/eggs thing was a very quick version of Huevos Motulenos except that we used Borracho Beans that Meredith made earlier in the week. The borracho beans were from Homesick Texan variation on Jalapeno beans. Meredith thought they were pretty good but the beans needed salt. Conventional wisdom is to not salt them before cooking since it will turn the skin hard, but she has been reading up on alternative methods. More on that when she does them.
The kale salad (not yet pictured but will be soon) was from The Kitchn [local]. She basically followed the recipe except:
I thought it was pretty good. Meredith was getting tired of it since she had it for so many meals, but it was still tasty. And a good lunch since it has the quinoa.
Kale & Quinoa Salad with Dates, Almonds & Citrus Dressing (from The Kitchn)
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Insalata Caprese (with Homegrown Tomatoes and Basil) -- back to top
Meredith made a caprese salad out of tomatoes (Cherokee Purple variety) and basil she grew! Not much more to it, but it is really cool. And they were really good. She did have to cut the tomatoes at a strange angle because of the stupid birds/bunnies/phantoms/??? that has been trying to eat them.
The salad was:
Quick Balsamic Stir-Fry -- back to top
Meredith wasn’t very hungry and had her own leftovers so I threw together a stir-fry. I used my standard Balsamic Sauce recipe but threw together all of the vegetables.
See the photo below for a picture while cooking. I used mostly leftovers and things I had around. I am probably missing something, but it was
And WestSoy Seitan.
Overall, it was ok. I feel like this was not the best of the balsamic sauce iterations. But it may just be the mix of vegetables. Anyway, it was a quick and easy meal.
Atlantic Beach Pie -- back to top
We made Atlantic Beach Pie (local) for a BBQ where we said we'd bring dessert.
Meredith had been wanting to try it since she was intrigued by the crust.
We ended up adding about 3 Tbsp butter since it wasn't coming together (may be because we did the crumbing by hand so it was bigger). Also, while we did buy disposable 8-3/4" pie pans, they were falling apart with the pressure trying to shape the crust. So we moved to a 9" spring-form pan (with the intention of not opening it when serving but it ended up being fine. In general. this made less filling than expected so there was a different shape than I had planned when you look at the final pictures.
The recipe says you can use lemon or lime. We did 4 limes and 1 lemon to make the volume.
The pie was pretty good. Others at the BBQ were surprised that it was saltines but were equally intrigued as we were. And it was pretty good. Somewhat reminiscent of a key lime pie, a lemon meringue pie, and lime bars (a la lemon bars). Also, it was so easy! The crust was really the hardest part. The rest just came together quickly and simply. We'd do this again!
Atlantic Beach Pie (from NPR)
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