Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2018/03
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Sticky Lemon Buns -- back to top
Meredith made Sticky Lemon Rolls from The Kitchn (LOCAL). She followed the recipe except with the notes below.
For some reason, the filling super separated but seemed to be fine when it melted. Also she was extra careful to get to the 190°F (~40 min)
They came out a little dry. Possibly due to the issues getting the filling to come together and then not being able to get as much of the filling to stay in the buns. Next time, I'll try the King Arthur suggestion of 25° higher temp for 5-8 minutes less. And hope that the filling doesn't separate weirdly.
I made Everything Seasoned Seared Salmon and we had it with BBQ Ranch Salad like we've used before but I think this was a different brand.
We had to quick defrost the salmon which I think kind of messed up the texture (and maybe flavor).
I made Broccoli Tofu. Nothing too special. Two 12oz bags of broccoli (from Trader Joes) and about 4/5 of Trader Joes Super Firm Tofu (for dinner and lunch)
Meredith and I made pie crust from The Kitchn (LOCAL). There isn't too much to say about it other than we had mixed results. We made three batches for
Meredith made two of the batches and I made one. It took a lot more water than expected. I added a total of 11 Tbsp while Meredith did about 8 or 9.
The first usage of them for the hand pies was a bust but we were more successful the next day. See those posts for more.
It was flaky and pretty good. I had extra from the pecan pie and toasted strips of it. It tasted like the top of chicken pot pie (as one would expect)
Roasted Gnocchi -- back to top
Meredith and I made roasted gnocchi from The Kitchn (LOCAL). We followed the recipe but went heavy on the peppers (and maybe tomatoes) and added a package of Trader Joes' Spicy Jalapeno sausage. We used roasted garlic powder in place of the garlic. And we used dried rosemary
We also ended up cooking it for closer to 30 minutes to get it to crisp. We also served it with some ricotta.
We both really liked it. The roasted gnocchi had a great texture with a chewy outside and soft inside. The tomatoes gave everything a sauciness. We really enjoyed it!
I made carne adovada. After last time, I decided I wanted to (a) make it myself and (b) use lean pork (pork loin). I based it on the recipe from [Rancho De Chimayo's][r] but really did my own thing below. I made it on Sunday morning and (had Meredith) put it in the oven around 4:00pm on Monday
I baked it for about 3.5 hours covered and 1/2 hour uncovered to thicken. It could have used a bit more thickening but was pretty good. The flavor wasn't as good as some restaurants but I liked it a lot still. I think it could use a bit more thickness. And maybe a bit smoother??? (not sure). But it was fun to make. I wonder where the texture in the sauce comes from.
Moved to its own page.
Meredith filled them with Mustard-Shallot Bechemel (LOCAL) plus ham, cheddar, and lightly steamed broccoli. She just used that recipe for the sauce. The crust was our pie crust but she was really struggling and ended up using some store bought puff pastry
She liked it a lot; especially the pie crust ones (though it didn't work as well).
Meredith made Buttermilk Pie (LOCAL). She used our crust but otherwise, the only change to the recipe was a tsp of vanilla.
Future Note: support the crust with a pan underneath. This bent a bit after blind-baking the crust.
Texas Style Pecan Pie -- back to top
I made Texas-Style Pecan Pie from the Taste of Texas recipe. I followed the recipe except I also added 1 tsp of salt at the end (some other recipes called for it, not all)
For the crust, I used a full batch (2 pies worth) of Pie Crust. I oiled the spring-form pan and rolled out the bottom. I cut it large and placed it in. I then rolled out the sides and formed them. Following the recipe, I baked it for about 15 minutes.
When I took it out, it had shrunken and pulled away a bit. Not sure if that will matter or not
I then made the filling. That seemed to go well, except when I poured it in (and not all fit), there was some stickier syrup and sugar on the bottom of the bowl. It may not have mixed very well. I am not sure.
I also ended up doing just ~8 oz (instead of 1 lbs) of pecans1. They super filled the pan. I wonder if the recipe uses a larger spring-form pan than mine. It also overflowed a bit (it was really wet on top; maybe because it wasn't well mixed?) so I put another pan under it.
I also made some small ones without crust.
It was pretty cooked after the initial 1.5 hours at 300°F, but I let the main one go (at 275°F) for another 15 min or so. I scrapped off the drippings. They tasted oddly like slightly burnt brownie brittle.
It came out ok. Still no idea if the remaining syrup affected anything, but it was still super sweet. The texture was a bit lumpy (egg?) but Meredith said that is how she always remembered it.
But, it won 2nd place at my work competition! So there's that!
I actually called Meredith's Mom and asked her opinion since she has been making pecan pie for years. She said to err on the side of less pecans. ↩
Roasted Shrimp and Broccolini -- back to top
Meredith and I made Lemon Garlic Shrimp (LOCAL) basically following the recipe (except the garnish and with just ~1.5 lbs shrimp). It worked out really well, though I think it would have been just fine with 1/2 the butter. Meredith also made broccolini with tahini sauce (as done originally on 2017-02-26)
Roasted Gnocchi -- back to top
We again made roasted gnocchi making nearly the same changes as last time. The only thing was this time, I roasted it too long. I did 20 minutes before mixing and adding sausage then another 15. At 15, I turned off the oven since we were doing something else at the time. The peppers and onions burned a little bit onto the pan.
Same as before. Quick (once in the oven) and super easy.
Vegetables and Seared Salmon -- back to top
We made a meal that was inspired by Flower Child in Phoenix.
We made:
The cauliflower was good as usual but the brussel sprouts were not as good as I remembered. I think I used French's instead of Dijon, didn't use salt, and the lack of bacon may have hurt it.
But I liked all of the veggies and it was a good amount of food.
Emily (who is visiting) instagrammed the post:
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