Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2021/05
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Banana Chia Pudding -- back to top
Meredith made Banana Chia Pudding from The Conscious Plant Kitchen (LOCAL). Her notes:
Used canned coconut milk for the milk. Topped with a couple Nilla wafers and a bit of whipped cream.
I don’t think it would win in a competition against our southern banana pudding, but I would happily eat this regularly. Also, it’s easier to prep.
Chickpea Blondies -- back to top
Meredith made Blondie Mini Muffins [Tone it Up]. As with last time, they were a bit undercooked tasting but Meredith said that was a pro, not a con. It made 11 mini muffins
Meredith made Horchata De Almendra with the only real not being to use half the sugar. Meredith squeezed it with a "nut milk bag" and got about 2 cups of liquid out (which is pretty impressive!).
I use the leftovers to make Horchata Cake (just winging it)
I decided to try to make Horchata Bites like 2013-07-04 but ended up with something more like "Horchata Cake" using leftovers from 2021-05-03
I was just winging it but this is what I ended up with.
I mixed it all together really well and then baked it. I originally did it for 15 minutes but checking the temp told me it wasn't done. I ended up going for another 15 (total 30min) with a final temp around 192°F.
The dough had a very stretchy and sticky.
It tasted pretty good. I wouldn't say it was amazing or the best thing ever but it had a nice flavor and a nice texture. I don't know what I would do to make it tastier though.
Zucchini Noodle Pesto -- back to top
Meredith kind of winged this. It was a mix of zucchini noodles and real pasta with Kirkland pesto. Served with burrata (and some fish sticks)
Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding -- back to top
Meredith made Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding from From my Bowl (LOCAL). It was certainly less blue than the original!
Guacamole Quinoa Salad -- back to top
Meredith made Guacamole Quinoa Salad inspired by Tone it Up. She used frozen roasted corn and yellow squash.
She added Fritos to hers and I added whisps to mine for crunch.
it was pretty good! Using salsa as a dressing works really well too!
Five Minute Apple Crisp -- back to top
Meredith made "5-Minute Apple Crisp from A Beautiful Mess (LOCAL). She followed the recipe except cooked it at 325°F by accident. The lower temperature kind of showed as it was a bit crispy but still very good! We will do these kinds of things again!
Mexican Street Corn & Quinoa Bowl -- back to top
Meredith made Mexican Street Corn & Quinoa Bowl [Healthier Together by Liz Moody] for her lunch. She followed the recipe in general except:
I only had a bit but I really liked it as did Meredith. I particularly liked the sauciness from the hummus!
We will have these again! And maybe with some beans to bulk it up a bit
Plain Ground Beef Jerky (with experiments) -- back to top
I made very (very) plain jerky of just ground beef (93/7) and salt. I followed my 2000-2300 rule and used 1 tsp of salt. That actually weight 6 grams (I guess the anti-caking agent?) which agrees with the package. That was 2360 mg of sodium. But in the future, that was too much. It came out salty! Next time I will do 4 grams if I just using salt.
I had recently found my old reddit post where I claimed a wetter starting mix was drier at the end. I decided to test that out. To the whole 1 lbs mix, I added 1 tsp of water (I should have dissolved the salt in it but that would have been too easy!). Then I made half and added another 2 tsp (so that half had the wetness of 5 tsp/lbs). As you can see in my photos, I divided it up.
I rotated the trays every 2 hours or so and stopped it at 7 hours. I honestly couldn’t tell a difference. I guess that is debunked. But the water did make it easier to form so I would do 2-3 tsp (with salt dissolved to make it easier).
They tasted kind of boring but not bad. Super concentrated beef flavor but nothing like New Mexico style!
1tsp salt. Supposed to be 2 grams sodium but 1.5x4 = 6 on the side
1 tsp water on all
2 more tsp on second half (total eq 5)
Soy Chorizo Ragu -- back to top
Soy Chorizo Ragu w/ Zucchini Noodles with some shredded mozzarella on top.
Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies -- back to top
Meredith made Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies [Healthier Together by Liz Moody] staying very true to the recipe.
They were really good. The icing tasted like real cream cheese frosting.
We would do them again!
Croque Monsieur -- back to top
Croque Monsieur [Bon Appétit] with bread from Costco that we had froze and defrosted this morning
Meredith made Chess Squares from Kevin & Amanda (LOCAL).
Meredith said it was outrageously easy! Almost too easy so she added a tbsp non-fat milk powder to the base and the custard. She also cooked it at 315°F and it still took a long time (55 minutes)
We liked it. It was very sweet
Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake -- back to top
Meredith made Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake [Eating Bird Food]. She prepped it the day before and we reheated it for dinner. She also set aside some of the meat mixture for Caroline since she doesn't like the spaghetti squash.
Served with yogurt and sour cream.
Meredith made Red Sangria from Cookie and Kate (LOCAL)
Used honey crisp apple for the seasonal fruit. Not the most seasonal, but it’s what we had that would work. Also, did 2 tbsp of maple syrup for the sweetener. I liked it! Much less sweet than the Costco sangria. The fruit was boozy!
Chocolate Cake with Coffee Frosting -- back to top
Meredith made a chocolate cake with coffee frosting for "Gluttonfest" and in particular a friend's birthday.
For the cake, she used her standard Cakes by Courtney recipe. For the frosting she used Coffee Butter Cream Frosting from Imperial Sugar (LOCAL)
For the frosting, she added some extra butter and sugar since it was so loose. But some time in the fridge solidified it enough. And it just barely made enough. though could have been because it was so loose at first.
The cake was very good and well received
Toffee (FAILED) -- back to top
I tried to make English Toffee [Sally's Candy Addiction] but it didn't go well. I followed their direction on adding the nuts and, as it expected, it separated. I thought it was back together but it was not. As you can see in the picture, there was lots of butter all around it!
I also think it burned a little bit. I aimed for 285°F which is a tiny bit above the altitude-adjusted temperature but below that of the other recipes. But I started to also notice some more-cooked toffee coming up and got a mix of readings from 285 to 315!!!. I wish I knew how I mix it better while it was cooking!
Overall, it was fine but not particularly good in my opinion. Others at "Gluttonfest" liked it more than I did.
I would try this recipe again but I would not add nuts. I would either skip the nuts or pour over the nuts
Meredith made pesto eggs. She discovered it from The Kitchn but the actual recipe is from TikTok (LOCAL). She followed that recipe including ricotta and honey.
It was pretty good and fun to cook the eggs like that. Especially the little bits that cooked on the pan where it basically turned into pesto Parmesan crisps
Tuna Pasta Salad -- back to top
Pasta Salad with Roasted Peppers, Tuna & Oregano [The Kitchn]
Heavy on the tuna. Light on the pasta. It was 12oz of gluten free penne
Meredith made Mary Berry's Bakewell Tart. Unlike last time, this time she used the Pâte Sablée from Mary Berry as well. It may have been the recipe or the heat in the kithchen or something else, but she couldn't get the Pâte Sablée off the counter and ended up forming it in the pan. And Meredith also didn't trim the pan down.
So it wasn't as pretty as last time, but it was still very good and well received. Lots of almond flavor balanced by the sweet (maybe a tad too sweet?) icing. Meredith also had some trouble with the icing hardening but I thought the lines looked good
I made No-Knead Brioche [Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen] again adding 1 oz additional flour (I have now noted it on the recipe).
I made a double batch like last time which worked well. I started it Thursday morning and let go until Saturday morning. I cooked it for about 36 min and pulled around 192°F. (I was aiming for 185-190 but oh well)
And you can see I had a small hole. But it was pretty good as usual!