Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2019/07
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Lemon Pasta Salad with similar changes to last time
Super Easy Coconut Shrimp -- back to top
Super simple meal (considered not posting it) using a 5-Ingredient Trader Joes recipe from A Cup of Jo (LOCAL). It was pretty easy but we didn't love it. The coconut shrimp was good but as good as we would have hoped.
I made amba chicken similar to the first time. I had about 2.5 lbs of chicken so the pan was a bit more crowded. And I tried to cook the sauce less. I think those tow (especially the latter) made it not as good. Not bad, but it was missing the crunchy bits from the sauce.
Meredith made caprese with burratta
Smashed Cucumbers -- back to top
Birthday Layer Cake -- back to top
Meredith made (or is still making) Birthday Layer Cake by Momofuku Milk Bar. Since the edges of the sheet pan were more puffy, she carefully layered it to be level as you can see in the side-view picture. She also took it out of the ring and didn't use acetate but it seemed to work well!
This is a work in progress so it will be updated later.
Next time, do more like 14-15 minutes steaming.The 12ish for this was good for just eating but the yolks could have used a bit more for deviled eggs
Played around with different tips. Tip 199 was the winner!
Tofu with Chraimeh Sauce -- back to top
We made Tofu and haricots verts (green beans) with chraimeh sauce from Ottolenghi Simple.
Meredith had prepped the spices a few days earlier but then we made the rest for dinner. We doubled the recipe and also steamed the green beans (~7 min)
While we basically otherwise followed the recipe, I think the pan was too hot when I added the spices. They started to smoke right away. We ended up adding a bit of water to them to try to cool it back down. The kitchen filled with cough-inducing smoke.
We ended up mixing it all with the tofu rather than afterwards. It made a good bit of food.
We mostly liked it. It was very spicy and burned to make it but the flavor was pretty good. Next time, Meredith wants to try it with smoked (but not hot) paprika to (a) change the flavor a bit and (b) tone down the heat.
While it is nice (and easier) to use tofu, I think this would be really good with chicken too.
Eggplant Marinara with Grilled Chicken -- back to top
Meredith made Eggplant Marinara Sauce with only a few minor changes including:
and I flattened then grilled chicken breasts. I did it with Montery Chicken Seasoning. I tried something different for coating the chicken. I used a brush with a small bowl of oil (so that I could double dip) to coat the chicken before adding the seasoning. I still oiled the grates (not that it mattered, it burns off immediatly) but this also helped keep things from sticking.
It all came out pretty good. Not too difficult of a meal; very healthy; and tasty.
Hummingbird Cake -- back to top
Meredith made the Hummingbird Cake from Southern Living (LOCAL). However, that recipe's frosting calls for an insane amount of powdered sugar so instead she used the recipe from Add a Pinch ( LOCAL)
This cake was amazing! I think it was even better at the party
Puy lentil and Aubergine Stew -- back to top
Meredith mae Puy Lentil and Aubergine (eggplant) Stew from Ottolenghi Simple via ottolenghi.co.uk (LOCAL).
Changes: Did not remove (yellow) onion mixture from the pan before adding eggplant, etc. Skipped the wine. Used better than bullion. Used a combo of puy lentils and urad dal. And undercooked them.
It came out very good and easy to freeze for future meals. We will do this one again
Snow Pea Stir Fry -- back to top
We hade Snow Pea Stir-Fry. Meredith did all of the prep work during the day except for defrosting shrimp (which we quick-defrosted in water). We also served it on quinoa since (a) we had it and (b) it cooks fast(er). All pretty simple and delicious meal. Very easy.
Black Bean Salad -- back to top
Meredith made Black Bean Salad from The Kitchn again.
Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower -- back to top
A nice and simple meal using a combination of store bought ingredients and some cooking. I cubed chicken and tossed it with flour like I do for Amba Chicken. I also sautéed an onion before adding the chicken. Then we added the sauce and let it simmer. We used a store-bought instant rice as a bottom layer. And some curry-roasted cauliflower.
Miso Cod and Chermoula Caprese -- back to top
We made miso cod from a pre-marinated frozen pack from Trader Joes. Meredith assembled a caprese salad but used chermoula instead of oil and vinegar. Meredith actually made the chermoula for tomorrow's dinner but used it tonight too. The recipe is from NYTimes Cooking (LOCAL).
Meredith made broccoli bites from A Healthy Slice of Life (LOCAL). She halved the recipe and used a cannelés pan in place of a small muffin tin. They worked well. A simple and easy meal to have ready for the baby. And Caroline likes them! I can see us mixing up the grains, veggies, and seasonings for variety.
Also, we use regular mustard instead of mustard powder.
Note: a full batch makes about 25 bites.
Roasted Broccoli with Chermoula -- back to top
The broccoli idea is based on the broccoli we had at Surly Brewing
Roasted Broccoli: Halloumi Cheese, Broccoli, Hummis, Chermoula
(Not very descriptive...). Based on some old menus, it also has sumac. And I pulled some pictures from yelp.
We used Trader Joe’s halloumi. It was much saltier than I remembered. And Meredith though more sheepy. And we used regular hummus since we didn’t want to make a broccoli hummus on top of everything else.
The meal was very good though. Not as good as the restaurant but still very good. And lots of food without too many calories.
Laksa -- back to top
Meredith made Laksa using basically the recipe from Amazing Malaysian (book). It was not specific on pepper so she used 4 New Mexico Red Chile, 2 Guajillo, and 2 Morita. Other notes:
Notes for next time:
Soy Chorizo Ragu -- back to top
This is a repeat of last time using the same recipe and similar changes
2019-09-18 Update: The recipe with more changes and notes is now in our recipe book
Made a double batch of batter for these on Saturday using the Patisserie (pink book) recipe like last time, only this time I subbed Kraken rum for the brandy. I was trying to use up the last of a bottle. Cooked according to the Eat Little Bird recipe again on Wednesday for the first batch, and Friday for the second. The first batch I baked starting at 460F and the tops turned out burnt. The second batch I started at 430F, and put the wire rack underneath while baking. The tops came out nicely bronzed, but some of the bottoms were a little too brown. I may have overfilled them slightly.
Note: The double batch of batter made about 25 mini canneles using my silicone molds.