Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook

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Taco Cupcakes and Zucchini Fritters -- back to top

This was a very successful meal. First, the zucchini fritters. I followed the original recipe with my notes from that day (basil,cayenne, spices). I also used a bit extra baking power. I was nervous about these since last time they stuck. I extra pammed the pan and all. I also tried to make them thin so they would cook more. When I went to flip the first one, it stuck but then I switched to the sharpest, flattest metal spatula I had and I really scraped before flipping. That worked well! I also let them cook a bit longer. The fritters were as good as, if not better, than the first time.

The taco cupcakes were inspired by the recipe at EmilyBiltes but I am not going to copy the recipe since we didn't really follow it for anything but the idea. We had eggroll wrappers but not wonton so we quartered the wrappers. We pammed muffin tins and pressed a layer into the wrapper. Then we added our taco meat stuff, put some grated cheese on it, then pressed another layer into it. The double layering helps hold it all together and kind of join the wrappers. We then topped it again with the taco and then cheese.

The recipe calls for cooking them for 18-20 min at 375. However, since we had the oven at 425 for the fritters, we used that for about 8 minutes. Just until the edges of the wrappers were crisping. While that worked, next time we will do the lower temp for longer. The part of the wrapper not hanging over the edge didn't get as well cooked but we couldn't go longer without burning the outer part.

Meredith made the taco filling so she may be able to clarify, but it was largely inspired by the taco stew without the water. We used sautéd onions, browned extra-lean beef, black beans, taco seasonings and diced yellow squash (since more zucchini would have been redundant).

These were extremely good, even if the wrappers didn't fully crisp. We will definitely make them again. And use the idea with the wrappers to make other meal cupcakes as well.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1850, 2012-02-29_205714

Taco Stew -- back to top

Normal taco stew. Nothing special. It was good.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1857, 2012-03-08_214639

Taco Cupcakes -- back to top

I made taco cupcakes using the method from here. I basically made taco meat, but with extra onion, then I added a chopped zucchini, some corn, and a can of black beans.

It actually made a bit too much meat. I overfilled the tacos making them come apart. I have to be more careful about that, but other that that, they were very good. I used Old El Paso low sodium seasoning. I may some day try to make my own taco seasoning.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2102, 2012-07-09_131022

Taco Stew -- back to top

This was the standard taco stew. I kept it pretty darn close to the recipe. I think the only thing was I just put the whole seasoning packet in for extra flavor and ease.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2130, 2012-07-23_151807

Taco Stew and French Onion Soup -- back to top

I had a soupy (and salty) meal. I made the pretty standard taco stew with no major changes. I might have used a bit too much broth and didn't let it cook down. It was a bit salty but pretty good. Point-wise, it was 11 for the beef, 8 for the beans, 4 for the corn so 24 for the whole thing. It made three large portions. I had about two for dinner and I have one for lunch. 8 each.

I also made French Onion Soup. I let 3 sweet onions caramelize with a bit of oil and Smart Balance. I let it go for a while covered then I turned up the heat and let it get nice and caramelized I then added 1 cup of wine and 3 cups of a broth (mixed 1/2 and 1/2 beef and chicken). It was also a bit too salty. (theme of the meal). I used the broiler to melt some swiss cheese on top. I do not know the points for this. Probably not too high as most of it just comes from the oil.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 3179, 2013-02-21_204520

Taco Stew and Brussel Sprouts -- back to top

I made this at Adam's apartment. I used roughly the normal taco stew but we really just threw it together more than anything. I used extra zucchini, more meat, lots of salsa, etc. I also used peas instead of corn since that is all we had. There really isn't much more to tell about it. It was pretty standard. As a side note, we didn't have any sour-cream or yogurt so we used bleu-cheese dressing. It was actually a really different but nice flavor.

The brussel sprouts were done between 400 and 450 (I don't recall which we used, I think it was 450). They were pretty good!

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 3253, 2013-03-12_182534

Taco cupcakes and zucchini -- back to top

I made taco cupcakes doing the pretty standard mixture. I used 2/3 lbs lean beef and a whole zucchini julienned. I also added beans (which I don't usually do but I have done in the past). I added salsa (which I do not recall if I usually do) and corn. In the taco seasoning, I also added garlic powder, onion powder,cayenne, 21 seasoning salute, and a few other things. The salsa gave it a bit more heat than usual but I really liked it.

I again didn't use cheese on the bottom layer but I did use low-fat mexican cheese on the top. I was a bit worried since the shells were past the expiration but they seemed okay.

I also made oven-fried zucchini with the extra zucchini but this time I actually used the right temperature (475). They actually were a bit over-cooked. I'll be more careful next time

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6215, 2013-06-26_195627

Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top

I made a lentil version of my normal taco stew. I did the normal recipe without the meat and I separate simmered 3/4 cup lentils in 1-1/2 cups water for about 10-15 minutes until it was mostly cooked. iI then added the lentils to the stew base.

I also added a big squeeze sriracha and a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar for some tang.

I really liked it with the lentils. I actually think I tend to like most ground beef things with the lentils. I guess I did miss the beef a bit but the lentils also had a bunch of flavor unto itself.

Oh, I also added a potato since I had them.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6937, 2013-11-21_203622

Lentil Taco Cupcakes -- back to top

I made lentil taco cupcakes (with the regular method) as I have done before. I reduced the lentils to 3/4 cups (and 1.5 cups water, simmered for 10 min then drained). I sautéd half an onion, a julienned zucchini, half a green pepper, and a jalapeño. I then added the lentils. Instead of just taco seasoning in water with extra spices, I did about 1/3 cup hot salsa, some water, taco seasoning and other spices. The other spices included chipotle powder which added a nice extra punch. When I mixed that into the rest, it was not wet enough so I added some white wine and let that cook down.

They were really good today. Last time I wasn't as impressed but they were better tonight. The shells were nicely crispy and the filling was well seasoned and flavorful. The filling was just enough making me thing that 3/4 cups lentils==2/3 lbs beef is a pretty good relation.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6967, 2013-12-02_204347

Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top

I intended to make my regular Taco Stew with lentils. I followed the basic recipe except that I forgot to add the can of tomatoes. I think that is why the color is so off. I also used extra squash.

Despite forgetting the tomatoes, the stew was really good. I think I like the lentil version more than the beef one. Not only is the lentil one easier, but I think it tastes better (and my be healthier too)

(BTW, the beer is my Brown Ale)

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7092, 2014-01-07_090602

Lentil Taco Stew -- back to top

Really nothing special. I made the regular lentiltaco stew. Followed the recipe without really any changes except maybe that I used red onions and went heavy on the zucchini. I also topped it with cheese

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7536, 2014-03-01_200852

Taco Stew -- back to top

Not much to say here. It was the standard taco stew. I used extra zucchini and just about 3/4 lbs of beef, but that was about it. Everything else was standard.

Oh, and we had white beans instead of black since that is all we had.

Huevos Rancheros Taco Style -- back to top

It was already around 8:45 and we needed dinner. We also had some defrosted ground beef that we had to use so I made the regular huevos rancheros and then also added taco beef. It worked fine and was a good way to get some extra protein in there.

Taco Stew -- back to top

We realized we hadn't had taco stew in a long time so we decided to have it. We used the regular recipe but also added some worcestershire (which worked pretty well). Not really much to it. It is a simple and easy meal.

Oh, and we used tons and tons of zucchini

Bell Pepper (Turkey) Taco Skillet -- back to top

Meredith and I made the Bell Pepper Taco Skillet from Inspiralized (Local ¹). This was our first time spiralizing the peppers. Despite what the video showed, we found it best to core it and then use enough pressure on the balde to get the edges through. This way, we got the strips but didn't have to go through the needlessly hard center.

Anyway, the only real change we made was to double it and use turkey. I think Meredith also replaced some paprika with chipotles and tumeric. And we just microwaved the corn.

I do not know if it was that we did a double batch so it was crowded or if it was the super-thin pepper, but there was a lot of liquid. We ended up separating the batches and trying to get some of the liquid off.

I think they were pretty good. There was certainly a nice kick but also flavorful. I do think I prefer peppers non-spiralized and slightly bigger but this was different. It also made a lot of food!