KitchenKatalog: Blog 194

We made steak with chimichurri. The chimichurri was from The Kitchn (LOCAL ¹). Meredith prepped it ahead following the same closely except using lemon instead of lime since we didn't have it.

I made the steak with the sous-vide using the same temp as 2016-07-01, that is 136°F for about an hour to an hour and half. This time, I salted it before since we missed it last time. I then seared it on the cast iron with ghee and a bit more salt.

Finally, we roasted some brussel sprouts at 400°F for 30 min or so with some fox point.

I liked the chimichurri a lot and I think it worked really well on steak. But I also think the steak was a bit tough. It could have been cooked at a bit lower and/or less time on the sear. It was still good, but could be better. It was also not the highest quality level of steak, so that may help in the future.

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

Whole30 Mayo

I made some Whole30 compatible mayo with the recipe from Whole30 (LOCAL ¹). I actually tried to make this last week but it failed. I used real, good olive oil and I didn't read all of their tips that they post below the recipe.

This time, I followed the tips. I made sure the egg was warm enough, I used a more neutral oil (sunflower) and I added it super slowly. And I then used a 1/2 lemon at the very end. It did seem to work. We got real mayo. I only ate a little bit, but it tasted like normal mayo except needed some sugar (which makes sense as to why it is so hard to find it)

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

Romesco Cod

Meredith made romesco cod. We used the regular recipe sans ciabatta (for Whole30). She did the cod by seasoning it with salt and pepper, and then dredged it in coconut. She sautéed it with ghee and then when it was mostly done, she spread on the romesco.

Fajita Lettuce Wraps

This was a prep-ahead meal since Meredith needed to be out the door quickly. So all of the work was done on Sunday afternoon. This is to. be dinner and lunches for two people.

For the fajitas, I sautéed 1 large onion and 3 sliced (on the thin side) red bell peppers in ghee. I added some salt, garlic powder, and Penzeys' Mural of Flavor (see below).

For the chicken, I pounded it out just to be even and then put on some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and even more Penzeys' Mural of Flavor. I got the grill really hot to sear the chicken and then turned the heat to medium and did it for 4-6 min per side.

It came out really good. I liked the seasoning on both the chicken and the vegetables, though it was especially good on the chicken.

I also made a quick stir fry for just broccoli. I stir fried the broccoli and added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I then added a bunch (too much) coconut aminos. It was ok with the stir-fry. Maybe a bit too sweet.

Mural of Flavor

"Green" Shrimp and Zucchini Noodles

We made shrimp with cilantro sauce/dip. We've done this before, but I think this is the first time we did it this with zucchini noodles.

It was really easy, especially since we prepped a bit ahead. Meredith made te sauce on Sunday and we defrosted the shrimp that night. Over Monday night, we marinated the shrimp until today.

I cooked it in something of a mix of stir-fry and sauté. I heated the cast iron pan on medium high and then did the shrimp while tossing it. I added some more chili sauce as it was cooking. Then, as it was almost done, I added the zucchini noodles, more chili sauce, some salt, and finally a bit of chicken broth. I think the broth really helped it since it have the sauce something to mix and stick to the zucchini to.

This was super simple. I think it took all of 10 minutes once we started today. It was pretty darn good, especially for how extremely simple it was.

It was also pretty darn healthy for a good amount of food. I think we would do this again.

Karniyarik - Turkish Stuffed Eggplant

We made Karniyarik, a Turkish stuffed eggplant dish with beef. We used the recipe from The Domestic Man (Local ¹). This dish is very well suited for prep ahead. We made the beef mixture on Sunday and did the eggplant and baking it on Monday.

We followed the recipe pretty closely. The only changes for the beef were that we used garlic powder. Otherwise, we just skipped the parsley, and did the eggplant differently. We halved the eggplant and salted it. After some time, we patted it dry before doing it on the stove (with [too much] coconut oil). I Think I would use ghee next time though...and maybe less.

We liked it a lot. It needed more salt but was otherwise really good. The serrano on top was also very good, I think we would add some hot peppers to the beef mixture too.

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

Whole Striped Bass and Roasted Potatoes

We decided to be adventurous and try making a whole fish. We got two small striped bass at Costco. We read a few recipes and went with Alton Brown's (Local). We were a bit surprised by the temperature and time, and sure enough, when we took it out, the temps were way above the 120°F they suggests. Still, it was perfectly moist. We kind of struggled to eat it but we eventually just pulled the meat off the bones.

It was a lot of work and kind of gross but also fun to try something challenging and new. The flavors were also pretty good, though I do not think Bass is my favorite fish. We would try to do a whole fish again, but use a different fish and different recipe/method.

We also made roasted potatoes like we had before on 2016-12-03. We tossed it with some ghee and then used Za'atar, salt, and pepper. I roasted it for 60 minutes at 375°F. I forgot to turn them at all, but it was also very good.

Fish Pictures

Salsa Chicken with Shishitos

I had originally made three salsa chicken breasts to prep ahead but we decided to eat them tonight. I pounded out the chicken breasts and then topped them with salt, pepper, and Pace Salsa (Whole30 Compliant). I baked it at 375°F for 25-30 minutes until it was done. (actually, I went a bit too long).

I also made Shishito pepper using my recipe. I used some extra ranch dressing from the Cobb Salad we made (but didn't really write up, recipe here. Same as used for the Buffalo Chicken Casserole.

Update: Salad

We used the leftover chicken and sliced it up to be chicken on a salad. We made a dressing by mixing Pace Salsa with the Cilantro Sauce. It worked surprisingly well as a salad dressing.