Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2022/04
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Southern Banana Pudding -- back to top
Meredith made Southern Banana Pudding. It was very good though we should have cooked the pudding a bit longer to thicken it. Also, it rose a bit into the above oven rack. Oops!
Still very tasty!
Soy Chorizo Ragu (and leftover open-face sandwiches) -- back to top
We made Soy Chorizo Ragu w/ Zucchini Noodles but (a) one of the zucchinis had gone bad and (b) I forgot to save some water to help mix it. It was good but the noodles didn't mix well with soy chorizo.
So we had lots of leftover soy chorizo and not much noodle (or zucchini). For lunch the next day, I added two scrambled eggs and made them into sandwiches.
Vegan Ceviche with Green Sauce -- back to top
Vegan Ceviche [Karla's Closet] with Cilantro Chili Dip (or Sauce) (green sauce) instead of the cilantro and pepper. Very good as usual though I think I prefer it the original way.
Crumbled Tofu and Shiitake -- back to top
Meredith made Crumbled-Tofu-and-Shiitake Lettuce Cups [Martha Stewart] but just on rice. The only real recipe note was that she forgot the corn starch.
We really liked it. Strong hoisin flavor but not in a bad way.
Smashed Patty Melts -- back to top
I had a patty melt at a restaurant and decided to also make them the next day. I used english muffin bread which I "griddled" (with butter, not mayo as I would have preferred) and did the 15-Minute Caramelized Onions [Serious Eats]. I then followed Smash Burgers [The Food Lab/Serious Eats]. I assembled as the onions between the patties and then (cheddar) cheese on top.
It was good but not as good as I had hoped. Not sure what I need to do next time.
Crumbled-Tofu-and-Shiitake Lettuce Cups and Smacked Cucumbers -- back to top
Since we liked it so much the other day, we made Crumbled-Tofu-and-Shiitake Lettuce Cups [Martha Stewart] for Tony and Kacie. Last time, we thought it was a tad too sweet so we went light on the hoisin this time and yet it was sweeter!!! 🤷♂️. We did not like it as much. I do not know if it was the cause but we did remember the corn starch this time.
We also made a double batch of Smacked Cucumber in Garlicky Sauce [Every Grain of Rice] but light on the oil (effectively halved).
I also made rice the day before adding coconut oil which is supposed to reduce the calories
Banana Black Walnut Easter Bunny Cake -- back to top
Meredith had prepped the cake part of Banana Black Walnut Cake [Sprinkle Bakes] a long time ago and froze it. Unfortunately, we learned in the meantime that I am not a huge fan of black walnut! :-(
So we finally defrosted it for Easter where Meredith did the Easter Bunny Cake [Jenny Steffens] thing.
My aforementioned feelings towards black walnut aside, it wasn't bad. I especially liked the frosting! And the black walnut also mellowed with time.
I thought the frosting was reminiscent of brown butter frosting. Meredith thought that the frosting, combined with the nuts, reminded her of pralines.
While the frosting was delicious, the frosting hardened quickly and the cake was soft. This make it really challenging to “bunny”.
Grilled wings and sausage -- back to top
Not much "cooking" from scratch here but we had the Pettits over (and Meredith's parents) so I did a bunch of grilled meat. I bought from Sprouts some marinated Jamaican Jerk and also some black garlic wings. Plus chicken sausages. And hotdogs for Caroline.
Spinach Artichoke Orzotto -- back to top
Creamy Spinach Artichoke Orzotto [The Kitchn]
I've been on a wing kick (not all posted, and some takeout) so I wanted to try making chicken tawook wings. I dry-brined them overnight (just salt; no baking powder) and mixed them with a half-batch of tawook marinade in the morning.
I grilled them which went fine. Very little sticking actually (probably the skin of the meat helped compared to chicken breast).
While they weren't bad, I think I prefer regular chicken for tawook instead of wings. The skin got a bit too gummy. If I do try it again, I will try to wipe off more marinade (as opposed to what I did which was to coat it).
Reverse Seared NY Strip Steak -- back to top
After my last reverse seared failure, I wanted to try Reverse Seared Steak [Serious Eats] again.
I used prime grade NY Strips from Costco and I quasi-dry-brinned them. At around 3.5 hours before cooking, I gave them a nice coating of salt (and some pepper) and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours before moving them to the counter to warm up.
I put them in the oven at 275°F and they came up to 125°F super fast. I was resting them when I realized I probably didn't place the thermometer well. After re-inserting it and seeing I was far from temp, I put them back in the oven. I took them out around 130°F (ish) and let them rest for about 15 minutes.
I finished them on the baking steel on the grill with lots of ghee but nothing else.
They were much (!!!) better than last time. You could really taste the meat; they were tender and juicy; and had a way better texture.
Between the resting time plus probably searing too long, they did get a bit more medium well rather than medium but that didn't seem to affect flavor too much. I also had a lot of fat catch fire and you could taste a bit of the fire-flavor (not in a good way) but it was pretty subdued. Overall, I was very happy with how these came out compared to before.
Also sliced into a sandwich with leftover
Date: 2022-04-10 15:39:58 -- back to top
Date: 2022-04-10 15:39:58
id: 20220410153958
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