Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2021/10
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Ramen with Gyoza -- back to top
This was really just thrown together and not the kind of thing we would normally document but we wanted to for the first time. We had bought some boxed "ramen soup starters" which we used as the broth. And used frozen (really old, found in the freezer) gyoza as the meat. Using gyoza in the soup as the meat worked really well. We will do that again! We may or may not buy the ramen soup thing again. It was good but not much better than we could do with chicken broth and miso.
Served with corn, bean thread noodles and scallions.
Meredith also made Smacked Cucumber in Garlicky Sauce [Every Grain of Rice]
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara -- back to top
Baked Spaghetti Squash Carbonara [The Kitchn] with the noted (on the recipe page) use of a different way to make the spaghetti squash. The only major change was to replace half of the parmesan with mozzarella. It was really good. I am not sure why we don't make this more often!
Brunch: Mochi Waffles, Baked Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal, and more -- back to top
We had friends over for brunch. People brought stuff and Meredith and I made things too.
We made mochi waffles, baked blueberry muffin oatmeal, and bacon. People brought an egg-bake, fruit salad, and some (leftover) sopapillas.
We wanted to try to be gluten free but I've actually been wanting to make something like this for a while. I used Mochi Waffles [Keeping it Relle] as the starting point. The original plan was double it and also add 2 tbsp of oil (1 tbsp per recipe) and add 1/2 tsp of almond extract.
Originally measured and it was way too wet. Added half cup flour. Still too wet. Added whole bag. Too thick. Added half cup milk. Too wet. Oh well. So that was frustrating!
According to this site, that whole 1 lbs bag says is just over two cups. I suspect this was extra susceptible to measuring by volume vs weight.
They were wet but cooked up mostly okay. I had to premake and keep heated a bunch which didn't help. Some were nice and crispy, others were more chewy. But they were pretty good and different. Not as good as the Ube ones but not bad either.
Meredith made Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal [A Beautiful Mess] with using almond flour for the crumb coating. And an alternative coconut milk. It was very good and very popular!
We also did it with frozen blueberries making it super easy!
Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili -- back to top
We made Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili [What's Gabby Cooking] to bring to the Pettit's house. We used the recipe roughly doubled. Meredith had made quinoa earlier in the week so we used that.
Using pre-made quinoa meant it didn’t get to absorb as much water so the whole thing was soupier than usual.
Otherwise very good as usual!
Brussel Sprouts with Mustard and Bacon -- back to top
I made our usual brussel sprouts with mustard and bacon. I used 6 slices of bacon (a tad heavy) and fried them in the pan. When they were mostly done and starting to curl, I took them out, added an onion, chopped the bacon, and then added it back in. I eventually added the bag of brussel sprouts and cooked that down.
I used a mix of yellow and dijon mustard.
Very tasty as usual. Served with an egg.
Sweet Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches -- back to top
These were a multi-week project.
Meredith made Sweet Corn Ice Cream [Spoon Fork Bacon] a week or so ago. She followed the ingredients but upon trying to strain through the cheese cloth, nothing went. So she just used the strainer (which also didn't catch much since the Vitamix really blends it well).
The end result batter tasted great but was very thick.
Fast forward to freezing it. This was our first time using the ice cream maker. Meredith was having trouble getting the last bit out of the bowl so she turned off the mixer for a minute. Mistake. It frozen solid. She ended up having to let it melt, get the batter, and try again later.
Yesterday we made it again. We didn't exactly know what to expect but it seemed to work...kind of. The batter was so thick that is didn't churn very well. However, it did freeze (as much as expected before putting it in the freezer) and, while it became largely solid in the freezer, it was still (barely1) scoop-able and wasn't crystalized or anything. So I guess it worked. 🤷🏻♂️
We served it as suggested on Hawaiian bread. That worked well to cut the sweetness.
The ice cream was unapologetically and unmistakably corn! Certainly not a bad thing but it was a strong flavor. Like I said, the bread cut it nicely.
It actually bent our scoop! ↩
Venison and Breakfast Tacos -- back to top
This was part planned and part thrown together. We were cleaning out the freezer and found some super old frozen meat. It was old but clearly commercially sealed and didn't look freezer burned. So we used it for tacos.
There were some bits that were really odd and dried out but I think they worked. When I tasted it, I thought it was super gamey but it was actually pretty good in tacos. (Just used store-bought seasoning)
We had my dad (who had just arrived) and the Pettits so, on Caroline's suggestion, we also made breakfast tacos.
And my dad brought some leftover thing and the Pettits brought calabacitas
Wings and Taco Pasta -- back to top
For my birthday, I wanted wings and Impossible smash burgers but they were out of impossible beef and it was really late. So I made Vegetarian Taco Pasta [Shutterbean]. It worked out well and was easy! The only real problem was that I started to simmer it with the lid on (oops) so it was going to be too wet. I upped the heat to burn off some liquid and was very diligent about stirring to keep it from burning. Also, no cilantro.
The wings were the normal Oven-Fried Buffalo Wings [Serious Eats], though I thought they came out a bit salty. I did them as BBQ wings with some butter, crushed red pepper, and BBQ sauce.
Turkey, Basil, and Pistachio Patties -- back to top
I made a double batch of Lamb and pistachio patties with sumac yogurt sauce [Ottolenghi Simple] with the turkey basil modification (we were trying to use up basil before it froze).
I actually did the onions, basil, pistachios, and salt the day before. The onions has so much water that I kept using paper towel to try to drain it down.
When I was ready to cook them, I added 3 lbs of lean turkey and formed them. In the end, I forgot the oil but I think that was okay. 15 min at 400°F.
Even though it was a double batch, I separated it into three and froze two of them.
Crispy Salmon and Mac and Cheese -- back to top
We made crispy salmon as Grilled/Seared Salmon using the rub from Spiced Salmon Kebabs [Bon Appétit via Epicurious]. We let my dad make the rub since it was better when he did it. Just looking at what he did, he chopped the oregano much finer (and maybe used more?) and went heavy on the cumin. I took the mix and rubbed it on the sliced salmon in a bowl. I think that also coated it better. Anyway, it was delicious.
Update: See our recipe book for an updated description
The Pettits brough mac and cheese. Not sure about theirs but it was good.
And Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting for dessert.
Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting -- back to top
Meredith made [Vermont Spiced] Pumpkin Cake [Food52] for our birthday cake. When she made it last year the frosting was too powerful and you didn't taste the cake. So Meredith thought about what frosting to use and decided that maple sounded good...and then realized that was actually the suggested frosting!
She used the frosting recipe on the main page but used
inspired by Martha Stewart. The frosting was plenty sweet (I can't imagine how sweet it would have been with 3.5 cups!) but you couldn't taste the maple at all! Much more next time.
My dad (and Mason) also made a sugar-free chocolate cake. He used his No-Fail Pound Cake with xylitol for sugar. It was good but I think it made my stomach a bit unhappy...
African Peanut Soup and Grilled Cheese -- back to top
African Peanut Soup with a vegetarian base. No blending. Also had grilled cheese on the side.
Brussel Sprouts with Mustard and Bacon and Cacio e Pepe Ravioli with Fried Sage in Brown Butter -- back to top
Pretty standard brussel spout hash. I did it similar to last time but I poured out some bacon fat which worked fine.
Ravioli was like last year
Roasted Broccoli Soup and Turkey Sausage Stuffing Fried Rice -- back to top
Main thing was Roasted Broccoli Soup but Meredith also made Turkey Sausage Stuffing Fried Rice from Trader Joes.
Both were very good. It made a ton of soup!
Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers and Sandwiches -- back to top
We made cheese-steak peppers and open-face sandwiches like last time. I toasted the peppers three times to cook them and even peeled off some blistered skin. For the steak, I super sautéed onions and peppers then added thinly-shaved beef. I just used salt and garlic powder.
I added some cheese to the mix and then also topped it with cheese.
Not the same as a real philly cheesesteak but pretty good!
Spicy Peanut Udon Salad -- back to top
Meredith made Spicy Peanut Udon Salad [healthykel_] using Emily's suggestion of adding super-firm tofu. It was good but needed a lot more dressing.
Also served with "popcorn chicken" and sweet-potato fries
Cake Bread Pudding -- back to top
Cake Bread Pudding [Momma Rambles]
Used the recipe as a guide. We had about 2-3 slices of cake so we also added one slice of pumpkin swirl brioche. Also used some pumpkin spice creamer for more flavor