Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2020/08
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Grilled Gem Lettuce 🥬 with Burgers 🍔 and Hotdogs 🌭 -- back to top
I made grilled lettuce with the basic idea of Pan-Seared Gem Lettuce. I just brushed butter on the bottom and grilled it. We were out of lemon so it was just butter, salt, and pepper.
They were actually pretty good. I mean, it mostly tasted like the grill but still not bad.
We also had hot dogs and hamburgers on leftover Hawaiian Rolls
Zucchini Breakfast Casserole (Strata) -- back to top
Meredith made a zucchini casserole/strata from The Kitchn (LOCAL). We used fresh bread and didn't even try to toast it.
For the bacon, I baked it and then sliced it rather than crumbling it. Honestly, while you could taste it in there, it wasn't a major flavor and we could probably skip the bacon next time if we wanted.
Meredith used Unexpected Cheddar from Trader Joes instead of parmesan cheese (and likely less of it).
Otherwise, we liked it a lot. Caroline wouldn't eat the zucchini but ate it otherwise
Broccolini Quiche -- back to top
Quiche with broccolini, caramelized red onion, and unexpected cheddar.
Meredith reduced the liquid milk and cream to be about a total of 1 to 1.25 cups since she always had leftovers. This has been noted in the recipe. Meredith also crimped the crust which made it hold a bit better.
We really liked the combination! It worked well and even Caroline ate a good bit of it.
Chicken Tawook and Cucumbers -- back to top
We made Chicken Tawook. We used about 3 lbs of chicken tenders but, unlike last time, cut up again (we prefer the better flavor and texture of it when it's cubed). The only real note on the marinade is we were out of lemons so we used lime. It marinated for about 28 hours.
I need to try to get it to stick less to the grill. Other than that, it was really good as usual!
Meredith also made Smacked Cucumbers using a homegrown cucumber!
Juicy Lucy Turkey Burgers -- back to top
I made Juicy Lucy turkey burgers using the same recipe as before. They call for 4 oz of cheese for 4 oz of meat and that is insane. I used 1-2/3 lbs of lean turkey to make 5 x 1/3 lbs burgers. I used mini snack blocks of cheddar (I think 3/4 oz?) and that worked really well. No leaks, easy to form, and it held together really well!
I also grilled broccoli for about 8 minutes. I just tossed them with oil and then salted them on the grill.
Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini -- back to top
We made our regular grilled shrimp with Montreal Chicken Seasoning.
We also tried pesto-grilled zucchini. We sliced it and then marinated it in pest and lemon juice. I then grilled it for about 5 min per side. I thought it was pretty good, though I didn't really taste the pesto as much as the lemon. And it needed more salt. But it was different and new.
We had grilled okra and chipotle sauce. We also had grilled salmon burgers and hamburgers but that's not too interesting.
Emily and Victor are visiting and we think we added them as okra converts
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchilada Skillet -- back to top
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchilada Skillet with fresh butternut squash
Curry Chickpeas -- back to top
Curry chickpeas using a vegetarian base instead of chicken since Emily was eating
Birthday Dinner: Egg Clouds, Ribs, Eggplant, and Boston Cream Pie -- back to top
While boring on its face, this was supposed to be a meal Caroline would really like. We actually wanted to make mac and cheese like she loved at the Pettit's but it was (a) way too unhealthy for us to justify (we were having cake!) and (b) we didn't have everything. So we went with egg clouds.
They were pretty typical but Meredith forgot the salt. It didn't matter since we used Trader Joes Unexpected Cheddar which is saltier anyway.
We also had extremely burnt failure-ribs. That is on its own post.
After the ribs, I grilled grilled eggplant that Emily prepped from Healthy Recipes (LOCAL)
Finally, we had Boston Cream Pie for dessert. That too is its own post
Boston Cream Pie -- back to top
Meredith made Caroline a Boston Cream Pie (with Tahitian Vanilla Pudding) from BraveTart. Caroline helped (and it was adorable). Used Ruby Chocolate for the ganache and then some "gold food-mist stuff" since the ruby chocolate color wasn't very pretty.
We weren't thrilled with the ruby chocolate.
The cake was fine, maybe a bit too much nutmeg. The pudding was very good!
This was part of her Birthday dinner
Sous Vide Ribs (FAILURE) -- back to top
I made sous-vide ribs from Serious Eats (LOCAL) based on The Food Lab1
I had three racks of ribs so I did:
I followed the directions to let them cure overnight. I vacuum sealed with the "gentle" setting and then sous-vide cooked for about 12-13 hours. I let them cool and then refrigerated them.
To heat it up, I sous-vide cooked them again at 150 for a few hours to warm it up.
I split them all in half and planned to do half dry and half with Sweet Baby Rays. All on the grill.
Well, I messed up some of the temperatures and used heat under the ribs.
BIG MISTAKE. See the next photos
For the record, the steps I took were:
Maybe that was the wrong order since most were super, super burned with a nice char and almost no meat!
I do want to try this again but I am absolutely doing it in the oven.
I made Tofu Sata. I used three blocks of tofu since Emily and Victor were eating and only slightly scaled up the ingredients.
We had leftover frozen sauce from a previous time (though not sure when).
Challah Two Ways -- back to top
Emily brought really good challah with her when she came to visit but upon hearing more about it, I learned she doesn't knead it or anything. That is certainly not wrong per-se but I was also very surprised by it.
So we decided to try to make it again with us each doing it our way. And to add to the mix, Emily never baked at high altitude and I didn't know what kind of changes to try.
We used a recipe from a family member1
My plan was to roughly follow the directions except use the food processor to knead it. The only other change is that I proofed the yeast. Well, it was so sticky. I added a bit more flour and it was still way too sticky. I probably should have been using a wooden spatula rather than my hand so we didn't loose so much.
I tried to move it to the food processor and it just gummed it up and jammed. I moved back to the bowl, added flour, and tried again. This happened 3 times before I finally got it into the food processor to knead properly. And who knows how much more flour.
I finished it by hand, rubbed it with oil, and was ready to go.
Emily followed her normal process but accidentally added 4.5 cups of flour (by volume, I used weight) and then took some out. So we both had way too much flour.
See the photos below. We let them rise for about 2-3 hours
(Emily's on the left and mine on the right)
Emily's looked like more dough and very well could have been since I lost so much in the back and forth. But mine rose larger. Not surprising since it had a lot more gluten to work with.
We let Victor do the hard work of braiding it. He followed this Youtube video (LOCAL)
I was surprised they do not let it sit and rise again once braided. I think I would do that when I make this again but it did work out just fine so maybe it really isn't needed!
Victor didn't do an egg wash (by choice? by mistake?) so they didn't have that shine.
We cooked that for about 30 minutes. Victor made the call on when to pull them. I think mine needed a few more minutes but it was really not too bad!
Victor said that mine was easier to roll out but I am not sure how much difference there was.
(Emily's on the left and mine on the right)
I knew which was which so it was not really a fair comparison. Mine seemed to rise a bit more in the oven but that could have also been how it was braided.
Emily's was denser than mine and fell apart more easily. But honestly, they were not as different as I expected. Sure, I could tell the difference but it wasn't super stark. And they both tasted really good!
Not sure if it had to do with the technique, oven placement, or size but mine needed a few more minutes in the oven.
I expected much more of a difference! I guess enough gluten built up naturally or it didn't make a huge change.
Recipe wise, I would consider this again but I would also do a bit more research to tune to the volumes. This dough was much fattier than my Dad's challah but I liked the extra moistness and softness.
Either way, it was pretty easy to make! I would do it again. Though having Victor do the braiding saved a lot of (my) effort.
The recipe claims "it will not rise" but that was very wrong for mine and mostly wrong for Emily's ↩
Red Curry Soup with Tofu Puffs -- back to top
Meredith made vegetarian Thai Red Curry Soup with tofu puffs. She used a vegetarian base instead of Better Than Bouillon and also made more of it. The noodles were a mix of rice noodles and zucchini noodles.
We all liked it though, like last time, it needed more broth mix and more curry!
Curried Shakshuka -- back to top
Meredith made Curried Shakshuka from Eating Bird Food (LOCAL). This was a suggestion from Emily and we really liked it.
Meredith followed most of the directions except she did not put feta inside and skipped the cayenne. It was still a bit spicy. Maybe from the pepper? Or the curry powder?
Either way, we liked it. Lot's of healthy bulk and very filling. Caroline ate some egg but wasn't super thrilled (not surprising). I liked the curry flavor as opposed to regular shakshuka!
Blueberry Protein Donuts -- back to top
Meredith made blueberry protein donuts. She followed the same idea of last time with the matcha glazed donuts as a base.
The biggest note is that the matcha glazed donuts call for melted coconut oil but then you add it to cold ingredients. Instead, she used olive oil which worked really well.
She also baked it just a bit less. They were really good.
Grilled Shrimp and Mango Salsa -- back to top
no photo
We made the typical grilled shrimp using Montreal Chicken Seasoning on 1 lbs of shrimp.
Meredith made mango salsa but because they weren't very ripe, it was more mango pico de gallo.
Meredith also made cauliflower rice with Badia Adobo Seasoning. Surprisingly, Caroline was all about the rice today and we ended up making more!
Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake -- back to top
Meredith made a Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake from Eating Bird Food (LOCAL)
Her notes: Skipped jalapeño, added a few mini bell peppers, and didn’t use the whole spaghetti squash because that would have been too much. Also more turkey.
Also topped with a homegrown tomato
Presumably she used the Love and Lemons way to cook the squash
Impossible Juicy Lucies -- back to top
I made us Juicy Lucy Burgers using Impossible Beef. It was just 12 oz so I scaled everything down and made just three. Like last time I used snack blocks of cheese. They seemed to be “absorbed” more by the impossible meat than the turkey.
If I had real beef to compare, I suspect I’d get it right 99% of the time. If you gave it to me and told me it could be beef or impossible beef, I’d guess I’d get it right 70%. If I really thought it was beef, I’d suspect it would go unnoticed most of the time. Not bad!
Overall, I would absolutely do it again with the Impossible Beef but it is also by no means going to be my default or first choice.
I also grilled zucchini with Penzeys Ranch Powder. That was an interesting choice (by Meredith) but it worked okay.
Meredith made iced sugar cookies. She used the Honeycomb Sugar Cookies from (LOCAL) A Beautiful Mess and their Vegan royal icing ( LOCAL) with about half the sugar (they call for so much)
This was our first attempt with this kind of thing. It worked pretty well though some of the balloons were a bit breakable. Especially ones that Caroline (impatiently) made.
The icing stored well and was used again for 2020-08-27
We had Chicken Tawook for lunch. There was real difference than our usual except that it was a large serving (like last time) and we had tons of leftovers. Also, it only had about 3.5 hours of marinating time.
We served it with mini naan breads. They were delicious as always!
We also had grilled corn on the cob. We actually made it the other day and just reheated it.
I made a super big batch of sous vide pulled pork. I used a small "Picnic Roast" but it was tiny so I got a mega one at Costco. I had again modified the rub as noted on 2020-06-17.
I tried to track the weights and I probably do have it but in the end, it was just about exactly 8 lbs. (which I froze 6 of)
I tried something different for prep. I rubbed it over a bowl which was so much better since I was able to keep everything that fell. I will do this again for sure!
I divided it into 5 portions and vacuum sealed it with the "gentle" setting (and double-seal).
Cooking on the grill was tough as there was a lot or pork so some had to be closer to the hot side than I would have likes. Also, while nothing like the ribs, I had a small fire. I actually think it may have been the wood chips and not fat. Either way, there were some burned bits I needed to removed.
I think I would consider the oven next time. Or maybe in the winter.
Meredith used a different sugar cookie recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction (LOCAL) using leftover icing from 2020-08-22.
I was a bit torn about which cookie I preferred but it was good to have different options.
You can see that Meredith is getting better with her icing skills.
Sous Vide Filet Mignon -- back to top
I made sous-vide filet mignon at 137°F for about 2 hours. I cut up beef tenderloin and used salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary (with less pepper on the one that was for Caroline).
I used the gentle vacuum with double-seal.
When I was searing it, first rubbed the meat with canola oil and then added butter as I was going to try to add flavor.
It came out pretty good. I liked just having the rosemary though I still wish there was more flavor
Meredith also made her favorite green bean recipes
BLTs -- back to top
BLTs with home-grown tomatoes. Also had avocado on them.
We used salad greens as "lettuce" which I actually preferred!
I made pesto chicken sous vide. I pounded down three chicken breasts, coated them in Kirkland brand pesto and sous vide cooked them for about 2 hours at 150° (following Serious Eats).
When they were done, I saved the liquid as a "dip" for Caroline and a salad dressing.
I added some more pesto and sprayed them with pam. I do not know if it was leftover crap from the pork but I had to move them since it kept flaming up.
I think I prefer to "sear" on the pan than the grill. I think it works better but there are other things I may try in the future.
I served mine on salad greens with some of the liquid as a dressing.
Curry Shakshuka -- back to top
Meredith made Curried Shakshuka. She followed the recipe except didn't use cayenne or black pepper. There was a nice bit slight spice from the curry powder. We liked it a lot!