KitchenKatalog: Blog 176

This is nearly a 100% copy from earlier in the week using the same recipe. Again, we just fried the eggs and used Tavern (deli) ham instead of Canadian bacon

Japanese Curry

We make Japanese Curry. While we didn't make it from scratch, we used roux blocks which are very common in Japanese home cooking. They are really easy. You sauté the vegetables and then add 3 cups of water and half the package (or adjust as needed). Once they dissolve, it thickens a good bit.

We actually ended up letting it simmer for longer since we wanted to soften the potatoes (and the carrots to a lesser extent).

We decided not to serve it on rice, but there was more than enough food. We could probably do it on rice (maybe cauliflower?) to bulk it up and make lunches¹. It was really good!

The whole package is 12 "servings" so 3 each (~330 cal) is not too bad considering the other veggies. ↩

Sous Vide Duck Breast + Skin

I've always been a bit strange about duck but Meredith and I had it a few different times at some restaurants so Meredith and I decided to try making some with sous vide. I followed this Serious Eats Recipe (Local¹)

I followed it pretty closely including letting it dry-brine overnight in the fridge. I sous-vide cooked it for about 1.5 hours. I then seared it on the cast-iron on the grill (cleaner) but at lower heat as per the recipe. As you can see from the photos below, the skin looked to crisp nicely:

We also served it with Artichoke Cream with Truffle (given as a gift). I do not think I loved the truffle too much... or the duck. It was not dry, but it was a bit chewy and the skin was super fatty! Both Meredith and I didn't like the skin and really weren't crazy about the duck.

But, I took the skin and then pan-fried it (without adding any more oil. It was mostly leftover duck fat) to make something like chicharrones but duck skin. It was also just...ok. We didn't eat much of that either. It is pictured below

What was really good is Meredith sautéed up a bunch of sliced mini bell peppers with crushed red pepper and insaporitore per patate fritte (french fire seasoning) from Italy. They were really good, but had a few spicy bites!

Next Time

Next time, we will likely just, well, not make duck! Or, if we do, try some other sauces and/or recipes and/or preparations.

U: guest, P: name of my Boston Terrier, all lower case ↩

Corned Beef Hash

Meredith and I were making different dinners so I went with Corned Beef Hash. I basically followed the recipe but only one potato and about 1/3 lbs of corned beef (cut as a single 1/2" slice in the deli). I still did it with a poblano pepper (and it was really hot).

I also tried to fry the egg separately but in the same pan. Next time, back to poaching inside the corned beef hash. I also think I overcooked the hash a little bit but it was still good!

Pesto Eggs Benedict

I made Meredith eggs benedict for lunch. I used the NYTimes Recipe (Local). I used the recipe as a general guide, but really only used it for the hollandaise. I followed their recipe and then added a nice chunk of some frozen home-made pesto Meredith made last November to make pesto-hollandaise.

I used deli ham (since Meredith doesn't like the thick canadian bacon) and I just, on Meredith's suggestion, used a fried egg instead of poached (though I overcooked them a bit). I just assembled it by myself (and didn't do the herbs).

It was pretty good. You could really taste the pesto. There is a good chance I used a bit too much too but it was good.

Tenderloin Sous Vide

I made sous vide tenderloin using the same temps (and roughly the same times) as our anniversary -- 133.5°F for about 2-3 hours.

The only real chane I made was to heat the cast iron on the grill to keep the mess out there! It worked well, though left a sticky residue but that may have happened either way.

Hot and Sour Tumeric Chicken Soup

I made Hot and Sour Tumeric Chicken Soup¹ from Simple Thai Food. I actually followed the recipe pretty closely except I used Better Than Bouillon for the stock and, even though they say it is not the same, I used ginger for the galengal. I also used the powdered tumeric and I used chicken breasts. Oh, and we sliced the (fresh from the garden) peppers to increase the heat.

Despite following the recipe, we didn't love it. The tumeric flavor was just too overpowering. You could really taste the kaffir lime and the lemongrass though. It kind of reminded me of Tom Yum but not as good, or as sweet. Meredith really didn’t like it and didn't even end up eating hers.

So, it was a fun and new experiment, but it is not going to be into our normal rotation.

ALso, I do not think I was supposed to strain it but eating around the lemongrass and ginger was a bit odd.

U: guest, P: name of my Boston Terrier ↩

Turkey Taco Skillets

We made what has become our pretty standard Turkey Taco Skillets. Nothing particularly special but still really good, as usual. It made a lot of food and we have lunch too!

Really no changes other than our usual dicing the peppers instead of spiralizing them!