Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2021/07
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Pulled Pork Sheet-pan Nachos -- back to top
We made sheet-pan pulled pork nachos. The pork was from March. I put it on chips chips and cheese (mostly Mexican blend, some cheddar, and then we ran out). I also put some red onion around it.
We served it with pickled jalapeños, more red onion, cilantro, and avocado. Plus Meredith made Duke’s Southern Coleslaw [Duke's Mayo] with the normal changes (which we clarified. Half batch of dressing for a full amount of cabbage)
Same basic idea as New Year's
Root Beer Float Cake -- back to top
Meredith made a Root Beer Float Cake from Cakes by Courtney (LOCAL) for this week's potluck theme "Fourth of July".
It was pretty good and unmistakably root beer!
Calzone/Lasagna Grilled Cheese -- back to top
Meredith made "Calzone Grilled Cheese". It was inspired by Spinach-Ricotta Calzone and Butternut Squash Dip and Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Peppers and Crab. Her notes:
Sautéed a few handfuls of spinach until it was wilted. Then mixed the spinach with a few spoonfuls of ricotta, seasoned with a little roasted garlic powder and salt. Sprinkled a bit of shredded mozzarella on Costco sliced brioche, spread the spinach-ricotta mixture on top. A bit more shredded mozzarella, and then the other slice of [brioche] bread. Grilled and served with warmed Rao’s marinara for dipping.
It was super tasty!
Smiley Face French Toast -- back to top
There really isn't anything too special here but it was cute so I wanted to document it. At Caroline's request, I made Smiley Face French Toast.
I made quick-french toast using my regular method: 1 beaten egg and oatmeal cookie creamer with brioche bread. I cut it up and then made a smiley face with whipped cream. Topped it with different color sprinkles and some white chocolate chips on the nose. Finally, a pirouette cookie broken up as the hair
I again made my Mom's Cinnamon Pecans recipe for an Independance Day party.I used a mix of pecans, hazelnuts, and walnuts. I had been looking at many other recipes. Most of which are more candy making with you then baking it. I wasn't opposed to that but because of time, I ended up going with the stove-top ones.
As I said, I used a mix of nuts but I did 1.5x the recipe. I also toasted them a bit first. For the ingredients, for the extra sugar, I tried using brown sugar. I also had to use 1/2 and 1/2 for the milk since we didn't have it. And I added almond extract and went heavy on the spices. And added 1/4 tsp salt.
Meredith (and her mom) made Gougères from The Kitchn Baking School. She used about 6 oz of cheese. Mostly gruyere, and about 1/2 oz of unexpected cheddar.
Beet Pickled Eggs -- back to top
I started a batch of Beet Pickled Eggs. I followed my dad's (updated) recipe. He updated it from what I did before. I followed his new one but ended up topping it with 1 cups of water to fill the container.
I will update (or make a new post) when they are finished.
I steamed the eggs for 15 minutes and then shocked them in ice water and refrigerated them. I used 15 in the beet eggs. We ate two of the others. One was super over-cooked with a green ring around the yolk (yuck) and the other was perfect. So I guess we will see....
Spinach Artichoke Orzo -- back to top
I made Creamy Spinach Artichoke Orzotto [The Kitchn]. I followed the recipe except used Romano cheese instead of Parmesan. I couldn't taste the difference and thought it was very good. Meredith didn't like the Romano.
I made Armadillo Eggs for the Holiday themed Gluttonfest. I used three tubes of sausage and about 1-3/4 cans of peppers and about 1 block of cream cheese. It made 22 of them. I miscounted and thought the first tube made 8 so I tried to get 8 from the second and it was tough. It is much better to just wing it.
I tried rolling out the sausage with a plastic-wrapped rolling pin and it didn't help much. Doing it by hand was better.
I baked them initially at 350°F and then finished them at the Pettit's house at 375°F until they were fully cooked (by temp). I didn't note times.
They were delicious as always!
Meredith made Zucchini Bread [Alexandra Cooks] again replacing some (~2/3rds this time) of the oil with apple sauce (like 2020-07-26). It was still very good! This recipe is a winner! This was in addition to Armadillo Eggs for the holiday themed Gluttonfest
Caroline also helped.
Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie -- back to top
Meredith made a Chocolate Zucchini smoothie from Ambitious Kitchen (LOCAL). It was reminiscent of zucchini bread
Cheese Steak Peppers and Sandwiches -- back to top
I had ordered a "cheese steak" at a restaurant this weekend. While it was tasty in its own rite, it was very much not even close to a cheese steak (and it was not very generous). Anyway, that gave Meredith the idea to do cheese steaks.
We bought fresh shredded beef at Trader Joes. While the peppers were baking, we sautéd onions and then added the beef. The beef kind of clumped so we used two tongs to separate it. Meredith used the same seasonings as last time. Meredith also added shredded cheddar to give it cheesiness throughout. We did two peppers (four halves) stuffed and then two open face sandwiches. Topped them with cheddar slices and broiled them.
They were very good. Not quite what I would expect in Philly (including being less greasy which was nice) but still delicious!
Grilled Okra and Orange Chicken -- back to top
We made grilled okra and then Trader Joes Orange Chicken augmented with stir-fried broccoli. As I noted last time, we baked the chicken which was easier.
For the okra, we skewered them and grilled them for about 4 minutes per side since they were big. I would say they still had some sliminess but it wasn't bad.
Since it has been so long since Meredith made the sauce, we couldn't remember if she used to do it in the blender or just by hand. She just did it by hand this time and I'm adding a note to the recipe.
Zucchini Noodles and Meatballs -- back to top
Pretty simple thrown together meatballs. Meredith heated frozen meatballs and then we tossed it with Roa's Tomato Sauce and zucchini noodles.
We may pre-make a ton of meatballs some day so we can throw this together ourselves!
Basil Strawberry Shortcake -- back to top
Meredith made strawberry shortcake.
She made Easy Cream Biscuits [The Food Lab], but added the 3 tbsp of sugar to make them “scones”. Also, stuck closer to the amount of salt it calls for since I was going for sweet instead of savory.
Macerating the strawberries in a basil simple syrup. I’ll also use the basil simple syrup in place of powdered sugar in the whipped cream. Ended up not being sweet enough so ground basil leaves into sugar and added to the whipped cream. It kind of clumped so next time, will start with that.
Nicoise-Inspired Salad -- back to top
We made a Nicoise-Inspired Salad. It was based on the recipe from Real Simple. Meredith made the dressing and used anchovy paste instead of anchovies. We used honey (hot) smoked salmon.
The pickled eggs were from 2021-07-06 as was the regular hard boiled egg. They were not overcooked as I feared and they were pretty pickled (though they could keep getting better).
BBQ Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken -- back to top
This barely counts and I debated not posting it but the BBQ Ranch Salad kit from Dole with grilled chicken. I got super inexpensive chicken this morning already sliced. I just brushed on some oil and then sprinkled it with Montreal Chicken Seasoning. I grilled it for about 2-3 min per side.
Char Siu Chicken on a Stick -- back to top
This week's Gluttonfest theme was "things on a stick" so I made
Char Siu Pork [Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen]. I followed the general recipe except, even though it isn't at all the same thing, I used Chinkiang vinegar for the dark soy sauce. And I used about 2 lbs of cut chicken thigh.
I marinated it overnight and then grilled it while basting the marinade (except the last flip where I wanted to make sure it was fully cooked.
I didn't love it but it certainly wasn't bad. Just not as good as I what we get at the local Chinese restaurant.
Peach Compote Mascarpone Cream Brown Butter Jelly Roll -- back to top
Following my Char Siu Chicken on a Stick for the same theme Meredith made a jelly roll to look like a stick (a la a yule log). She used Peach-Compote Dessert Cups [Martha Stewart] as inspiration for the filling and used the "Swiss Roll" from Avocado Emoji Swiss Roll (and Inlay Paste) [Heather Baird]. For topping it, she used brown butter frosting. Some leftover from (I think) 2021-02-14 and then some more from the same recipe.
The compote was really good and we thought it would stand up well to the strong brown butter flavor. Unfortunately, we were wrong. While the cake was delicious, you couldn't really even taste the peaches!
I made koefta turkey burgers. I used the regular recipe with lean turkey. I only had a pound but I made the same amount of spices (probably going heavy on the herbs). I made four patties and grilled them. Served with (fresh from the garden) cucumber and Trader Joes Garlic Spread (aka Toum).
Very good as usual! I like these spices in burger form.
I made the regular Tawook. I actually prepped this a few days before so it had a lot of time to marinate.
It was very good as usual. I do wish I could get it to stick less to the grill. But otherwise it was pretty tasty!
Also served with grilled broccolini and tahini sauce. And some way-overgrown radishes (that weren't very good). And store bought flat bread
Grilled Peaches and Ice Cream -- back to top
We made grilled peaches. We followed The Kitchn but not copying it in. Basically, coat peaches with olive oil and grill for 4 min per side.
The peaches were weird. They weren't bad but I think too much grill flavor was picked up. And we served it with Blue Bell Black Walnut Ice Cream. That was also pretty old but it wasn't bad.
This was a fun and new way to each peaches so that was fun. Bisecting them was really hard though since the pit really wanted to stick. I tried to cut it out as best I could to mixed success.
Zucchini Strata -- back to top
Meredith made Zucchini Breakfast Casserole [The Kitchn]
She added 1/2 tsp, and a good glug of olive oil to bowl and tossed the zucchini and bread in it. This makes up for skipping the bacon. Also, was feeling lazy so I used pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese. I forgot the black pepper entirely.
Made fresh cooked a lot easier. Still took longer than they said but it was easier.
The bread was super stale when we froze it which worked well. Meredith was able to break it up from frozen and didn't need to cut it or anything!
Mango Sticky Rice -- back to top
Meredith made Mango and Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice [Simple Thai] for gluttonfest
Also used this guide (LOCAL). Did not use the instant pot because already soaked.
For the coconut topping, she used cake flour instead of rice flour in the cream since all we had was glutinous rice flour (Mochiko) and we didn’t know what that would do
The final result was pretty good! We used the instant pot to serve (but not cook). The flavor was really good and it went over well! The coconut cream topping needed to be used sparingly as it wasn't sweet at all but as long as you did that, the mix of salty and sweet worked well!
Thai Pumpkin Custard -- back to top
I made Pumpklin Custard [Simple Thai Food]
I did 1.25x so as to make five portions. We didn't have light brown sugar so the plan was to do half dark and half white for a total of 170 grams. Well, I messed up and did all dark and it was too late after I added it. The coconut milk also had tons of bits in it!
And I messed up and forgot to cover them. So lots of mistakes all around.
I liked it enough though it was far from amazing. I liked the kabocha squash though it was not very sweet.
