Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2020/12
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This came about because my dad was talking about the food he ate growing up and I thought this sounded...interesting.
It was based on the Foodgasm Recipes (LOCAL) except I doubled it and used four cans of tuna. (Originally just three then I added another can at my Dad's). And I used frozen mixed vegetables instead of just peas.
I made it in the Instant Pot since I was going to prep it and bring it to my Dad's. Through a combination of bad interface and use error, and lack of good heat control, I struggled. I made the roux but when I added the milk, it was not hot enough to really do anything and was just warm. I eventually got it back to boiling but it was still not thick so I added some corn starch to thicken it. I also added some soy sauce (at our house) and tamari (at my Dad's) to give it some more salt and umami.
It was actually pretty decent. Not the most amazing food ever but fun to make and fun to say we ate this! It does make me want to try Tuna Noodle Casserole sometime.
Pear and Pistachio Ricotta Cake -- back to top
Meredith made a Pear and Pistachio Ricotta Cake based on the Apple Pine Nut Ricotta Cake from Cook Republic (LOCAL). Her changes:
We liked it a lot. Very moist and not too sweet. More cardamom next time. You could barely taste it in there!
Roasted Gnocchi -- back to top
Roasted Gnocchi with fennel, peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
Instantpot Egg Bites -- back to top
Meredith made Egg Bites (a la Starbucks' Sous-Vide Egg Bites) based on the recipe from Rachael's Healthy Plate (LOCAL). She only used the base of that and instead made two varieties: soy chorizo and burji.
They were pretty good. The texture was similar, though less smooth. A lot easier than regular sous vide style (where you use a ton of tiny mason jars) since this used a mould. And it was pressure-steamed vs being genuine sous-vide.
Pumpkin-Apple Bliss Balls -- back to top
Meredith made these from Tone it Up.
Her comment:
These were extremely unpleasant to roll, so they better be really tasty to make up for it. I have my doubts.
Meredith said they were pretty tasty but not work the “ick factor”
We had friends over for an out-door, socially-distanced lunch. I made our regular tawook with about 2.75 lbs of chicken. I didn't increase the marinade at all since I did it in a bag.
Otherwise, no real changes or notes!
We served it with the Trader Joes Garlic Spread (Toum) and pita. We didn't do other sides since our guests brought salad (and potatoes)
Turkey Arugula Patties -- back to top
Turkey Pistachio Arugula Patties with no real changes.
Blueberry Granola Cookies -- back to top
Meredith made Granola cookies using Blueberry Granola. This was with the recipe from Milk Bar: Kids Only by Christina Tosi.
Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili -- back to top
Meredith made sweet potato quinoa chili again using the Japanese sweet potatoes. It came out really good as usual!
Potsticker Stir-fry -- back to top
Meredith made Potsticker stir-fry. Going back over past times, I we do not talk about doubling it or anything but we really needed more sauce. I am adding a note to the page to 1.5 to 2x the recipe as needed
I thought it was fine enough though.
I made my Dad's baked latkes. I used three medium russet potatoes and 2 really small onions. I also used two small Japanese sweet potatoes. I do not know if it was too much onion (I don't think so) but it was super, super (!!!) wet. I ended up squeezing them in batches over a container and getting a ton of liquid off. That seemed to work well!
Otherwise, I followed the recipe and they were really good!
I made Rose Levy Beranbaum's Basic Hearth Bread. I was trying to figure out how to juggle the sponge and the mixer bowl and decided to actually prep it the day before and do the overnight.
Because the kitchen is cold, I let it sit out for about 1.5 hours before going in the fridge. Also,
The next morning, around 9:00, I did the rest of the recipe. It was cold in the house so for the first rise today, I turned on the oven and let it warm up a bit, then turned it off and let the bread rise there. That worked well (maybe too well?). Anyway, I did the second rise but it (a) went fast and (b) I was doing the biscotti so after it had gotten pretty big, I put it in the fridge. And then took it out about 30 min before shaping it.
I debated how to interpret the directions for the oven and decided to do the following:
I was worried that it would burn that close on to the baking steel but it seemed fine as you can see in the photo below.
When I rotated it, I also added more ice figuring it is so dry in ABQ.
I didn't make any altitude changes figuring I could use this as a baseline
It came out pretty good. Very substantial crust but the inside was maybe a bit too soft and with too small of bubbles. Not bad for sure but room for improvement. I need to research what to do differently.
Christmas Biscotti -- back to top
I made regular Christmas (red and green cherries with pistachios) biscotti
I didn't do anything differently except I did the initial cook at a slightly higher temperature and for the longer time frame. Well, despite that, they were super raw inside. I had so much trouble cutting them that many fell apart and they were really thick! I was not happy!
I cooked them longer for the second bake to get the fully cooked. They taste great as usual but I do not know what to do about the initial timing! I will have to do some reading and thinking about it.
As I remake these, I am realizing I also made a few errors in addition to the timing and done-ness. I should have used the offset spatula to get under them when they were hot and I should have taken them off right away to cool. I let them cool for the 15 minutes on the pan. So it was almost certainly too hot.
I was really unhappy with how the biscotti came out yesterday so I thought I'd try again with some changes.
First and foremost, I realized I made mistakes yesterday. Notably, I didn't use the offset spatula to take it off the silpat and then I also didn't try to do that until I was ready to cut.
So today, I made some notable changes:
With those, they cut way better! I was much happier with them.
Croque Monsieur -- back to top
We made Croque Monsieur using the bread from yesterday. They were really good!!!
Meredith made Tempeh Tacos based on Eating Bird Food (LOCAL). She followed the recipe closely and also made some cauliflower rice with adobo powder.
Decent option for vegetarian tacos!
Pull Pork and Cole Slaw -- back to top
We had pulled pork (the last from 2020-08-23). I reheated it in the cast iron which I think helped crisp it up even more. I heated it up, broke it up from being vacuum packed, and then, when it was crispier, I added BBQ Sauce.
Meredith also made her regular coleslaw but actually measured the lemon juice and it was maybe a bigger bag of slaw. Either way, it was really, really good!
Served with quartered tortillas which worked really well (BBQ tacos!)
Black Bean Soup (and sides) -- back to top
I made Black Bean Soup from Love and Lemons (LOCAL). I followed the recipe uncharacteristically closely. It came out pretty good. A lot spicier than I would have hoped, especially since we planned to give it to Caroline. But she actually liked it (though it was spicy). I will consider dropping the spice next time!
We also had the bagged BBQ Ranch salad and some toaster hash browns (as an approximation for latkes on the last night of Chanukah). For the hash browns, you toast them right on the grates three times at full setting. They come out super crispy.
White Bean Chicken Chili -- back to top
Meredith made White Bean Chicken Chili from Eating Bird Food (LOCAL). She skipped the jalapeño and used only half the green chile (using the 505 Brand medium). Also, she used Costco Rotisserie Chicken instead of cooking it. Anf finally, she followed the tip to mash one of the cans of beans.
We really liked it. It was really tasty and flavorful. It certainly didn't taste too salty1, though we were feeling it later
Meredith went light on the salt and then decided it did need more and added it later ↩
I made Pulled Pork to freeze for future meals. I did the noted change of just doing salt, garlic powder, pepper, and coriander in the crust. The biggest note was that I finished it in the oven. It was a lot and I wasn't sure it would all fit on the grill. And this was way easier. Taste wise, going into the bag, it good. We'll see if we notice a difference when we crisp it up. There was still a crust but less pronounced than some others.
I started with a lot of pork but I didn't have enough of everything. For the crust, I did:
Cooked souse vide at 165°F for about 24-26 hours (not sure how long it took to finally come to temp)
After it was out of the bags, I weighed them to be about 6-3/4 oz so I adjusted my initial weight accordingly
| When | Weight | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 14 lbs 10.2 oz | I had trimmed off fat from the original package but this includes spices |
| Post Cook | 10 lbs 4.3 oz | based on 4 lbs 5-7/8 oz of liquid) |
| Final | 8 lbs 8 oz | I did eat some but certainty not more than a few oz |
About a 42% loss. Not too bad
Redemption Salad -- back to top
Meredith made the Asian-ish Shredded Chicken Salad / "Redemption Salad" from Dinner: A Love Story (LOCAL)
Main change were rotisserie chicken, soy sauce for fish sauce, and cashews for peanuts (someone ate all our peanuts). Also used just 2 tbsp olive oil. And to make life really easy, we used bagged cole slaw and broccoli slaw.
We both really liked it and will definitely be making this again!
Croque Monsieur -- back to top
Croque-Monsieurs with leftover béchamel from 2020-12-13. We used a French Loaf from Costco (which was so good!) This was with Black Forrest Ham. It was also pretty thick slices from Costco
Crustless Quiche -- back to top
Meredith made a crustless quiche. 5 eggs, 1/3 cup egg white, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup half and half, 2 tsp kosher salt.
Today’s variety: chopped roasted broccoli, 3 green onions sliced, and some shredded cheddar. Maybe about a cup.
Asiago Rolls and Filet Mignon -- back to top
I made Sous Vide Filet Mignon at 137°F for about 1.5 hours. I finished it on the grill+Baking Steel as (new) usual. They were really good, though a bit fattier than I would like. And, as usual, I made an "au jus" with the liquid which is a nice dip!
Also, since this was replacing our usual trip to Taste of Texas, I made their asiago cheese rolls. I halved their recipe but had all kinds of problems. First, on me, I only used 2 cups of flour. I added the other cup when it was clear something was wrong. (I did not halve the yeast)
I still really struggled since it was so wet and not a ton of dough so it was hard to do in the mixer. The food processor eventually brought it together after I added some flour. Overall, it was really wet and hard to work with.
The first rise was a bit too long but I think that wasn't a big deal. However, I was running late so I heated the oven to let them rise after being shaped in there. They may have risen a bit too much as they were super airy. They really needed to be much denser!
And Meredith made her favorite green beans
Armadillo Eggs and Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates -- back to top
I made armadillo eggs for Christmas morning. I didn't really make any changes to the recipe except our normal noted temp change. I had run out of sausage so I also made a few with some sweet Italian sausage leftover from dinner tonight.
I had already contaminated the cream cheese and I didn't want to waste it all so I tried to make bacon-wrapped stuffed dates. I filled the pitted dates with cream cheese and wrapped it in 1/3 slice of bacon. I used a toothpick to hold it. I baked them at 350°F for about 30 minutes, flipped half way. I also wrapped a few leftover jalapeños.
Ginger Bread Sticky Buns/Star with a Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing -- back to top
Meredith made Ginger Bread Sticky Buns/Star with a Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing.
For the dough, she used Joy The Baker King Cake recipe with the following notes:
The filling and frosting were from Gingerbread Brioche Cinnamon Rolls from Half Baked Harvest (LOCAL). She added a 1/4 tsp clove to the filling.
She did half as normal buns and then did the other half with the star Shape from Better Homes and Garden (LOCAL). It was not nearly as hard as it looked.
They came out good though the star got overcooked. The icing was delicious!
Christmas Dinner -- back to top
We were pretty full from all of the Christmas Breakfast (sticky buns and armadillo eggs) so we pushed Christmas Dinner to the next day.
I made the gravy and that was it. I just did it with onion, scallion, (homegrown) sage, butter, and flour. I did end up adding some cornstarch after it was too thin. I kind of read the Serious Eats notes but not really.
Other items were:
I tried to do the ham on the grill to make more room and I was not thrilled with how it came out. It was hard to cook evenly! I would not do that again
Dessert gets its own page
Peppermint Bark Yule Log and Cranberry Bars -- back to top
Meredith made a Peppermint Bark Yule Log for Christmas. The recipe was based on Joy the Baker (LOCAL) but with peppermint instead. She used the cake recipe as it was but made the whipped cream with vanilla and peppermint extract (to taste) and chopped up peppermint bark. She also didn't use gelatin as the ones we had smelled off.
It did crack but you couldn't tell at the end. She topped it with coconut to make is "snowy"
The whipped cream with the little chunks were really good! And the whole cake was nice and delicate but also really good.
Meredith also made cranberry crumb bars. They were good as usual!
Asian Chicken Salad -- back to top
Meredith made her new favorite Asian Chicken Salad (aka Redemption Salad). It was delicious as last time!
Also, Meredith used peanuts instead of cashews.
Denver Scramble -- back to top
I used leftover ham, an onion, and green bell peppers to make a Denver scramble (a la a Denver Omelet). I lightly sautéed the stuff then added 6 eggs and lots of cheese.
It was surprisingly good!!!
So good in fact that we made it the next day for breakfast! (The photo is from breakfast)
I made the Taste of Texas Pecan Pie for New Years.
I used Trader Joes frozen crust and it was miserable! As you can see from the pictures, it all broke into strips. I had to lay it into the pan and press it together. Far from ideal.
I cooked it for about 1:45 at the 300°F (though I did closer to 310°F) and then I meant to turn it down but I honestly can't recall if I did or not. Either way, I did another 45 min at whatever temp I used.
I made one big one (with about 10-12 oz pecans) and then four littles. The last little one, I did the liquid first then the pecans since I didn't want to go to a fifth one! You can kind of see that in the photo. It was, the back left in the oven and I think the back right in the cooked photo.
They really puffed up but eventually settled down when cooling. Actually, a bit more than I would have liked but they still came out pretty good.
I was not overly happy with the result. First, it was super hard to cut. That may have been because there were too many pecans and they weren't chopped. It was around 12oz whereas the first time, I used about 8.
And the crust kind of came apart. And finally, it may have been a bit over cooked. Not 100% sure.
I added the note to the page, but you MUST put something under the pan if using the spring-form! It was such a mess and filled the kitchen with smoke the next day! I ended up using the steam cleaner on it.
White Bean Chicken Chili -- back to top
Meredith made a double batch white bean chicken chili from Eating Bird Food. She ran out of chicken Better than Bouillon so she had to use veggie. It was still very good, though not quite as good as last time. Maybe it was the broth or something else.
We also added 3 tiny1 bell parties.
not “mini” or “petite” but tiny. Walmart gave us the tiniest little peppers and we’re not sour about it at all ↩
-- back to top