Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2019/06
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Smoked Pulled Pork -- back to top
We had more leftover pulled pork but we tried to smoke it with a small smoker1 Meredith bought me last year. As you can see in the video below, we filled the bag with smoke and then let it sit. We actually did it twice since the smoke seemed to dissolve. Well, that was a bit too much! I thought it tasted a bit too smokey. Almost like I just puffed a cigar. But we can play with that. And play with how much wood to burn and how to smoke it. But it was smokey!
See below for a note on our smoked drinks. I think we need to better figure out how to get he smoke flavor without the ash flavor too! Or just how to better use it.
Meredith also made more coleslaw but this time using Duke's Recipe (LOCAL). We halved it and basically just eye-balled the mayo (and used Hellman's). I think she followed the amounts on the rest except added some green onion and just used red cabbage. I liked it!
We also tried to smoke drinks. The first night, we put bourbon into a mason jar, filled it with smoke, and shook it. We thought that would quickly absorb the flavors. It didn't.
The next night, we tried to make a smoked Manhattan. We filled a cup with smoke and let it sit then filled another with the drink, topped and covered with smoke, and let that sit. When combined it was too smokey. We tossed it.
Chicken Fajitas -- back to top
I made fajitas. Meredith had planned to marinate the chicken but didn’t have time so I just cut it into thin strips, added oil, and seasoned it. I used a mix of Montreal Chicken Seasoning, Badia Adobo Powder, and Roasted Garlic Powder. I sautéed it with the cast iron the set it aside.
I did the veggies (1 onion, 2 red peppers, 1 jalapeño) with roughly the same seasonings.
We were going to make guacamole but the avocados went bad so we just used Wholly Guacamole. Also had sour cream.
Finally, we used Trader Joe’s “homemade” Tortillas. (I quartered mine)
Tacos -- back to top
We made simple, easy, ground-beef tacos. We used 90/10 lean ground beef with a sautéed onion and a packet of taco seasoning. Served with fresh avocado, sour-cream, and cheese
Meredith made pasta salad from The Kitchn (LOCAL)
Changes
I liked it a lot. At first I thought it was a bit different but then I started to really like it. It’s definitely drier than traditional pasta salad but I think that’s fine!
Pimento Grilled Cheese -- back to top
Meredith made Fosters’ Pimento Cheese earlier in the week which we made into grilled cheese. Also had BBQ bagged salad
Also, the next day, we made pimento cheese quesadilla. That worked okay except that the cheese dripped out
Meredith made Southern Style Deviled Eggs with the only major note being that she used smokes paprika for the garnish.
Lemon Garlic Shrimp -- back to top
Lemon Garlic Shrimp with roasted green beans (~20 min at 400°F).
I made a full two pounds so I adjusted up everything. I also still laid it out flat and coated it since last time I made this much it wasn’t as good. (I think last time I tossed it all in a bowl).
I skipped the crushed red pepper so Caroline could still eat it. Also, I think the garlic was a bit older
Meredith and I made the Ottolenghi Simple Lamb and pistachio patties but we used turkey this time (we've used chicken the other times). Like last time, we baked+broiled them. They got even less color than before. I wonder if we could combine methods to get color but keep it as easy and healthy as baked. They were still good and it was better not having had the mix sit for a while.
We served them with tortillas since it is what we had. They worked fine!
Soy Chorizo Ragu -- back to top
Meredith made a (vegetarian) Chorizo Ragu (she changed the name since "Bolognese" is really something different) using the modified recipe from Donna Hay (LOCAL)
Changes: soy chorizo, which is more of a Mexican style chorizo. That led to swapping oregano for the rosemary. Also, no added salt, and only did 1tbsp of the sugar. Topping it with burrata, and did a zucchini noodle/real pasta mix.
2019-09-18 Update: The recipe with more changes and notes is now in our recipe book
I made Fajitas using the same seasonings as last time (Montery Chicken, Badia Adobo, Roasted Garlic Powder). This time I froze half for future lunches. There was less chicken this time so I used an additional pepper to add more bulk.
They were pretty good though last time they were better
Meredith had the idea to try Beef La Lot meatballs. We used the seasoning option #2 using McCormick curry powder. We just made the meat and skipped the sauces. Also we didn't wrap them and instead just made them into meatballs. Baked in the oven at 375°F for about 15-18 minutes.
The biggest change was that we tried to use lemongrass from a tube. We went light. I think this was certainly not as good as using real lemongrass (at least as much as I can recall). Maybe we just needed to use more? We use the tubes of basil without issue but I do not remember thinking that the lemongrass smelled particularly lemongrassy.
We also roasted broccolini with salt, pepper, and roasted garlic powder for about the same amount of time.
They certainly weren't bad but very fish-saucy.
Corn Salad with Tomato, Basil, and Feta -- back to top
Meredith made corn salad from The Kitchn (LOCAL). She used a combo of green onion and shallot in place of the red onion. Did about half the cider vinegar and half the olive oil. Used squeezy tube basil instead of fresh.
It was really good and made a ton!
Seared Salmon and leftover corn salad
I made a big (2x) batch of Butter Chicken. I followed the changes of Last time except I forgot the ground cumin in the chicken and a few other notes:
I used the serrano since we could get them more easily but I didn't like it as much. It was hard to gauge the spice level and they were spicy. Also, half-and-half was a nice experiment but I think it failed. I liked it more with real cream. I am not sure if the onions did anything though I do appreciate bulk.
I liked it but I seem to recall enjoying it more before. Not sure if the flavor was that different or not. This time tasted sweeter (even though still only half the honey). And it was super spicy!
I think in the future, I will continue to evolve with last time's changes.
I also made about 2 cups (dry) of rice. I made four frozen and four served (Meredith's parents were visiting) servings.
Meatloaf and Asparagus -- back to top
Meredith made her (now usual???) Lamb Meatloaf, but sans lamb (as per the first time). She used grated parm cheese so it didn't taste like sheep as it did last time
Meredith made her usual Banana Bread. When I asked about notes, she said
365° for an eternity
It came out looking a bit more burned but didn't taste burned. I actually think this was better than usual (though I always thought it was good)
Eggplant Marinara Sauce -- back to top
Meredith's Mom made Eggplant Marinara Sauce from Rachael Ray (LOCAL). She really just did the sauce and did it more as a dip
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