All for 'project'

We made Moussaka with the recipe from here (which I have updated). It was extremely good. We did the normal changes listed on the recipe page. It was so incredibly good. We always really like it but it was just really, really flavorful today. Perfect amount of saltiness with all of the other flavors showing through very nicely. As usual, it had lots of leftovers. It easily makes 6-8 servings...or 4 if they are very big. I calculated the Points plus here to be less than 38 for all of it. So good!

The tacos were filled with a simple egg, black beans, onions and cheese mixture. We put them into homemade tortillas done like we did here. I do not remember what we did last time, but for these, we split the recipe and then made 6 (instead of 4). We also used almond milk and olive oil

I made black bean empanadas just as I have done before. I started with the normal dough. (though I accidentally used too much salt) I sautéd an onion, added a green bell pepper, a jalapeno pepper and some frozen corn. I figured out a trick with the beans. After adding them, I dropped a bit of water in the pan and covered it. It steamed them and make it really easy to mash with a potato masher. I added some crushed red pepper, habanero tobacco sauce, and a bunch on other seasonings. Finally, I added some white vinegar for an extra tang to it.

They came out really good. I liked the addition of the vinegar in the mix. And the salty dough was even better. I do not know if it was the extra peppers and stuff but I had leftover filling which was a nice appetizer while they cooked.

Of course, they didn't look as nice since I am nowhere near as good at folding and crimping them, but they were fine.

I made my own seitan and used it to make a quick version of the balsamic broccoli.

For the seitan, I googled for Mark Bittman's recipe and found The Messy Apron site which I used as a guide. I used

I put it all in the food processor with the dough blade on the dough setting and added the liquids. It splattered everywhere inside so I need to do it better next time. I let it combine and eventually added a bit more gluten. The food processor really seemed to chop it up and it took a while to combine. When it eventually did, it seemed like it had been well chopped (not really a good thing). I let it sit for 20 minutes and then when I was going to cook it, I used my hands to stretch and mold it. Then it seemed to come together, look shiny, and be more what I expected. I think I should have done that before resting it (if it would work, not sure if the rest is what let it do that) or, at the very least, let it rest again for a while.

Anyway, to cook it, I read on the gluten box, to use the pressure cooker. I mixed:

I let it come to pressure and then I cooked it for 30 minutes (heat setting 3/10 on the induction burner) and let it naturally release (takes about another 5-10). They cooked up interestingly. There was a much more noticeable skin. And the bottoms were a bit more cooked and browned. Finally, the liquid turned into a syrup. I think I should have used heat setting 2/10.

As you can see from the picture, it was very airy. The final result had a nice texture and was pretty good, though too salty (reading over the ingredients, I am not surprised). I think I would consider the pressure cooker again if I am in a hurry but I was to try boiling it next time. Plus, then you have the leftover liquid to let it sit in.

For the balsamic broccoli, I basically went for a faster version of my previous iteration. I added:

I had to use broccoli with the stalks. So I cut off and chopped the crowns and then finely chopped the stalks. I steamed all of them: I finely chopped the yellow squash but didn't steam it.

I added the squash to the pan and sautéed for a minute or so. I then added the sliced seitan and the broccoli. Finally, I added the sauce and let it all cook together.

The whole thing wasn't as good as prior times I did the balsamic broccoli. I do not know if it was the extra dressing or the lack of other ingredients. I don't_think_ it had to do with omitting the oil (and saving points!) but maybe.

Meredith and I were in India for Thanksgiving and missed it with the family. When we got back, we heard Christmas music on the radio and my first reaction was, "it's still too early!" Then I realized that it wasn't; we just got out of sync by missing the holiday. So we made our own!

We focused on appetizers and the meal while basically skipping dessert (we bought a thing of caramels but fell asleep before we could indulge)

Appetizer Tray

We made this first to eat and snack while cooking the rest. We had (bottom right, clockwise)

Turkey

Item	x	Cal	Fat	Carbs	protein	fiber	per	Total
Ff dressing	8	15	0	3	0	0	0.33	2.61
Corn starch	1.5	30	0	7	0	0	0.76	1.14
Vital Wheat Gluten	16	35	0.00	1.00	7.00	0.00	0.75	11.98
Total		725.00	0.00	50.50	112.00	0.00	15.72
Per Serving	2	362.50	0.00	25.25	56.00	0.00	7.86

We wanted real turkey but obviously, we weren't about to make a whole turkey for the two of us. So we basically followed The Kitchn Guide (local) with a dry-brine we got from Serious Eats. We simple used the following (halved)

Unfortunately, I went way too strong. It made for a good flavor but the edges were salty. It was fine since we really don't eat the skin anyway.

We combined it all and then used the mortar and pestle to mix. I coated the breast with butter, then seasonings.

We used the small convection oven and checked the temperature at 50 minutes, 70 minuted, and then pulled it around 75-80 minutes. The final temps were too high in places and about 155 in the middle part. I know they say 165 but I knew it would keep cooking.

After taking it out of the oven, I drained the liquid from under the roasting pan and basted it with it while it rested. I was able to do a pretty good job carving. Some meat was still on the bone but I just ate it off myself (oh darn).

I liked it a lot. I thought it was very strongly turkey flavored (as opposed to salt, water, and/or seasonings) but maybe a bit dry (though most turkey is a bit dry).

How To Cook Turkey Breast (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Hasselback Tater Tots

Again, we followed a Kitchn Recipe (local). We followed the recipe as inspiration but did it slightly differently.

We used fingerling potatoes and cut them with small wooden skewers as guides. We just made sure to press where we were cutting down so that the guides would work. Squeezing them did help open them.

Roasting half way, then tossing with olive oil again also worked really well. As you can see, they opened up really nicely. This is a cool trick to get the potatoes to open for you to toss.

We did our own thing with seasoning. I made some garlic oil (low heat garlic and oil for about 5 minutes) with some rosemary. We tossed it with the oil (too much oil) then added some salt and pepper. At the half way (20 minutes), we again tossed with some garlic oil (again too much probably) plus some chopped, fresh rosemary and some parmesan cheese.

At about 35 minutes (15 after tossing again), we upped the heat to 460 and ended up with about another 10-15 minutes. We then tossed them with some more parmesan cheese.

They came out really good! Crispy and flavorful. I couldn’t really taste the garlic and maybe more salt next time, but they were still one of our favorite things on the menu.

Hasselback Tater Tots (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash

We used the recipe from 101cookbooks (local) as the main guide. We basically followed their instructions except we added some cheese to the mixture too, used almond milk, and used smoked paprika instead of anise. Adding the cheese was actually, initially, by accident. I mistakenly told Meredith that everything else goes in but I was wrong. We were able to pull out most but actually decided to keep the rest in. Oh, and we used frozen corn (and extra) and regular (non-clarified) butter.

We baked it as per their instructions, but we did this first thing so we let it cool, then reheated it and broiled it with the extra cheese.

Maybe it was the cheese in there, or it would be this way anyway, but it tasted like quiche. You also barely tasted the corn, despite going heavy on it. I wouldn't say it was bad, but not really what we were going for. Oh well.

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash (from 101CookBooks)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Cranberry Sauce

Meredith made the cranberry sauce with some inspiration from this Kitchn recipe (local), but it was really her own creation. One thing I really liked is that she used about half as much sugar as it called for making the cranberry flavor stand out more and be less cloyingly sweet.

Essentially, she just simmered it for a while, added the rum, and then let it simmer some more, just until it was the right thickness.

Very Basic Cranberry Sauce (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Brussels Sprout

Nothing too fancy here. We halved them, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. We roasted them with the potatoes so about 425 for 20 minutes, tossed, then another 15 at 425 and then 5-10 at 460 (we took them out before the potatoes).

They were just barely not burned but I think that is about how you want them. They were good. Really, exactly as you'd expect.

For The Dog

Ok, we're not crazy enough to make Thanksgiving dog food, but we are crazy enough to buy close-to-Thanksgiving food. She was ambivalent.

Pretzel Turtles

We were at a holiday event and someone brought these. They were so good that we had to ask what they were and how to make them. It turns out that they are made from Rollos. The recipe is super, super simple. Place a Rollo on each pretzel, bake at 350 for 4 minutes, then quickly press on a pecan. Let cool (we used the cool garage).

They were so simple and also really good. Actually, perhaps too good! More than a few people reported that this was their favorite of our candy. And we barely made it.

Oreo Truffles

We made this from this Kraft Recipe (local). We followed the recipe pretty closely except we used Greek Yogurt cream cheese (about the same calories but more protein, less fat). We dipped them in dark semi-sweet chocolate (which we also thinned with coconut oil).

They also came out really good. Easy ingredients but actually pretty labor intensive

Whiskey Carmel

Meredith had made these for me a while ago and they were really good so we decided to try them again. We used the recipe from So How's it Taste? (local). The recipe is actually pretty simple. I think the hardest thing is (a) the temperature adjustment and (b) not stirring the sugar.

On the note of altitude, we followed many guides that said to basically just linearly adjust the temperature based on the boiling point of water. Essentially, just decrease by 10F

They were really good. I think we just have to be more careful about using too much grease on the pan. Also wrapping them is a royal pain. We ended up using parchment and tape to hold it.

Additional Photos

Honeycomb

We love honeycomb candy we used to buy at the grocery store so we decided to make it. We used this Joy The Baker recipe (local) and followed it closely except again the temperature (see above). However, we had trouble with the combination of candy and digital thermometers. Before I knew it, the temp had gone to 300°F (where it was supposed to be if not for the adjustment).

It became really hard to stir and control. I think it was too hard/too hot. It kind of became a sticky mess as you can see from the photos. And a ton left on the pan.

They did mostly work. There was certainly a honeycomb structure but it was smaller than we would have happen. I would try it again but I would be more careful about the temperatures. It goes up in temp really quickly.

Additional Photos

Divinity

We made divinity again like last year. Again, we used the Paula Dean Recipe (local) but I think that was a mistake. It was so sticky. We could barely work with it. It stuck to the parchment paper and everything else. Also, it wasn't as good this year (as our second last year) but that could also have a lot to do with the fact that we made it about 5-6 days before we ate any. Also, we did salt them but didn't use salted nuts. I liked the salted nuts in there too. And, again, as noted above, we adjusted for the altitude.

I looked at some other recipes that seem to use less sugar. I think I would try that in the future. Also, I will lay them out of silpats since they won't tear while peeling them off.

We [tried] to make Rosemary Shortbread again like 2015-11-06 with this recipe. The only difference to the recipe being that we didn't want to use the egg-wash and we went heavier on the rosemary.

However, we somehow really messed it up. While we prepped everything over the weekend, we wanted the cookies to be fresh so we prepped the dough, then refrigerated it for two days. Then we warmed it enough to roll into a log (we wanted to make them round and this is an easier way to cut them).

Well, the combination of the refrigeration and everything must have messed them up because they spread everywhere on the pan. Or, it could have to do with the silpat, but I highly doubt that. The crumbs were amazing though!

We had a family friend visiting with a very restrictive diet but we decided to see what we could do. Here is the full list:

Add on that Meredith and I are trying to eat much more healthily and this becomes quite a challenge. We decided on Indian but this was also hard as tomatoes seem to be everywhere!!! I mean, we had to search through tons of recipes for ones that didn't call for them in the first place.

Panner

I'll get to the saag panner soon, but first just the paneer. We wanted to make it low fat since otherwise, it is like eating cheese and that is a ton of points. By the way, in the future, we could do tofu in place of paneer and save a ton of calories and ease. But no soy for this meal.

I read a bunch of recipes but went with this "Food for 7 Stages of life" recipe (Local¹). I liked that they went through all of the different options for curdling the milk and made it pretty clear that skim was ok.

However, we went with 1% (hence the really low fat but not quite fat free). We made some other changes as we went including:

The thing that really amazed me was low little it made. As you can see in the photos below, it made all of 7.25 ounces out for 1/2 gallon 1% milk (73 oz.). That is insane! You can see how much whey is left too (we saved some for other uses).

Oh, next time, I will use a larger pan. Once the milk started to boil, it made a huge mess!

Photos:

Saag Paneer

Again, we really struggled to find a recipe that didn’t call for (and seem to rely on) tomatoes. But eventually went with Vegetarian Times (Local).

It worked out ok. Mostly tasted like sautéed spinach with a strong flavor of ginger and coriander. Essentially, like Indian sautéed spinach but not saag paneer. I think this is one of the recipes that really do benefit from heavy cream, etc. I do not know if I would attempt saag paneer again unless I am willing to use the cream.

Lentil Soup

We again struggled with the tomatoes, but eventually ended up with this Food.com recipe (Local) recipe. Actually, this was doubly difficult since we struggled to find vegetable (or vegetarian chicken) broth without tomatoes (see the photo below).

We used all of the regular broth and half of the low sodium. It was pretty simple. Maybe a bit mushy but not bad. I think if we made this one again, we would go light on the cardamom. That flavor was a bit too strong.

Indian Lentil Soup (Dal Shorva) (from Food.com)
Local Copy (U: guest P: name of my dog, lower case)

Roasted Cauliflower

We did our regular Curry Roasted Cauliflower Recipe again with the Tandoor Chicken Masala (same as used on 2015-11-11). We made a ton of it. Probably 2.5 heads worth. It was so much that, for the first time, I didn't finish what was left.

Also, I do not know if we didn't need it before or used it and forgot to note it, but we didn't add salt and it was missed. Good otherwise. Nice char and, as usual, lots of flavor

The original site has a good bit of useful pictures. Therefor, I also included a link to the PDF printout on the local page ↩

The plan for this meal was to be surf and turf, but the lobster tails were, unknown to us, frozen. Thankfully, I had prepped cauliflower fritters for the next day and we decided to make them for tonight (though we ate them after)

Anyway, we had sous-vide beef tenderloin (same cut as filet mignon). We had some at the Santa Fe Foodie Classic. I knew I had done it before so I figured we'd dit it again.

Sous-Vide Tenderloin

I was a bit nervous since Meredith really doesn't like steak and this cut was very expensive (especially since it was from Whole Foods).

I used the same method as the first time (2015-03-27). I used my STC-1000 based temperature controller with the crock-pot. The controller is more a thermostat so it's either one or off (and there was no cooling method).

I followed the Serious Eats (LOCAL) guidance and did it with 131°F aiming to be around medium-rare and medium. Actually, I had to use celsius so I did 55°C (<==> exactly 131°F). I set it with a 0.3°C (the minimum) with the heat on the high setting. Again, there was no cooling so I watched the temps and it seemed to go between 54.7°C (130.46°F) to 55.5°C (131.9°F).

I couldn't find the vacuum sealer bags so I just used heavy-duty freezer bags and I submersed them in the water to get rid of all of the air. I was also able to weigh them down with the meat at the bottom of the bag so they staid in the water (see the set up).

I prepped it with some salt and pepper (before I read in the Serious Eats article that you shouldn't do that). I started it around 5:30 and let it go for about 2.5 hours.

They really came out extremely tender and flavorful. It was great since it is so easy to overcook this cut of meat, yet this was cooked through perfectly!

Other Stuff

The asparagus was just cooked at 425 for 5-8 minutes or so (while searing the steak) with pepper and smoked salt.

I prepped the cauliflower fritters before for tomorrow but decided to make it tonight. Actually, we really didn't need it but we ate some (and took the rest for lunch)

The caprese came from this Whole Foods recipe (local copy). Actually, we just used it for inspiration. We roasted the potatoes, used mozzarella, and then topped it with sage and balsamic. It was actually pretty...ok. The mozzarella, or at least this mozzarella, had very little flavor. I would try something like this again but with better cheese.

Sweet Potato Winter Caprese Salad (from Whole Foods)
Local Copy (U:guest, P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Meredith and I wanted to make a dinner that was a bit nicer than something we would do during the week but also not go too crazy. I did a bit of googleing and we came up with making Chicken Cordon Bleu and roasted potatoes.

Chicken

For the chicken, I very loosely followed this Betty Crocker recipe (Local ¹). We bought 2 breast for about 1.25 pounds of chicken² and flattened it out as best I could. I did some salt and pepper on both sides. I then spread some dijon mustard on followed by lacy (low fat) swiss and (low sodium) ham. As seen in the pictures below, we then added fresh chives (forgot before) but we ended up moving them down to the mustard layer.

I rolled them up as best I could and used a toothpick to hold it. We made an egg wash of 1 whole egg and a bit of water. I then took panko bread crumbs and broke it up and bit before adding salt, pepper, and hot-but-not-smoked paprika.

I put it in the oven at 375°F (+convection) originally for 27 minutes but ended up adding another 20 (47 total) since I kept getting some low temp readings (as well as high-temp ones. I was confused). In the end, I think it was fully cooked and wasn't too dried out. We cut them in half and saved two servings for lunches. The flavors were really good though. And, one of them came out really pretty as you can see in the photo below.

I also really liked having the mustard it in there. I am glad I read that addition.

Potatoes

At Thanksgiving, my mom made super delicious potatoes. They had a great texture with a crisp outside and a creamy center. It turns out she used canned potatoes. I was a bit surprised, but I think that was really the key. They were essentially par-cooked already.

I decided that I am comfortable using canned tomatoes all the time; why not canned potatoes. We used two cans of whole potatoes and tossed them with 1.5 Tbsp of melted butter. We used some Emril's Cajun Essence and Penzeys' Roasted garlic powder. I originally was going to do 40 min at 375°F (+convection) but since I had to let the chicken keep going, I ended up at an hour. I had tossed them every once in a while to keep them from burning.

They came out really good. Maybe not as good as my Mom's but still had a nice texture. And I want to explore using canned potatoes for other things.

Additional Photos

U: guest, P: name of my dog, all lower case ↩
The recipe says 4 breasts for 1-1/2 pounds. You really cannot find chicken breasts that small these days ↩

I followed the Serious Eats recipe (Local¹) but with a 6.31 lbs chicken (Free range, organic, and on sale!). I watched some videos on how to spatchcocked it which was surprisingly easy!

I liberally spread on olive oil and seasoned it with lots of salt and pepper. Nothing else!.

I tried to also use the smoker boxes. I didn't put them under the grate since I knew I would have to flip it out later, but it should have worked. Maybe I soaked the pecan wood chips too long, or maybe they needed more heat, but I never saw it smoke and I certainly didn't taste it. I will read up on using these boxes later.

You're supposed to cook it on indirect heat for most of the time and then flip it onto the skin and cook on direct heat for the rest. However, it says at the bottom:

Well, two things went wrong here. First, in the actual recipe says to go to 110°F. I was aiming for 140°Fish due to the first instruction.

Well, when I checked on it the first time, it was about 110°F but I didn't realize that was done so I let it go longer. When I check again, it was easily >160°F. Oops! I flipped it to the hot side, reduced the heat, and just did it for 10 minutes.

Actually, being that it was with the skin and bone, it was perfectly fine cooked! Juicy and fairly flavorful. There wasn't much flavor other than chicken, but that is fine for not having brined it or even really seasoned it. However, I didn't taste a single bit of smoke.

I think next time I would be more adventurous with the seasonings. And maybe do some reading on those smoker boxes to get more flavor. And be more careful with the temperatures (though again, it was fine)

Photos