Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 223
Tuesday, December 15, 2015, 12:00 AM
Meredith and I made Lighter Lasagna Soup. Like the last time, we used that vodka sauce. Other than that, we really didn't mess with the recipe except to skip the bread and use regular pasta.
We shredded mozzarella from a block. The chicken sausage was a Spicy Parmesan Sausage. We had about a full pound but it was also very, very stuck to the casing so there is no way that much got into the soup.
It was really good. The recipe is pretty easy and doesn't take much creativity, but it's still really good!
2016-05-18 Update: Recipe moved to its own page
Saturday, December 12, 2015, 12:00 AM
Somehow I forgot to take photos, but we were going to two different parties so we made more food.
We made this for our first party. We followed the same recipe as the first time with the addition of green onions.
I do not know what is with that recipe but it really needs 2-3x the mayo.
The flavored seemed a bit off this time but adding more tabasco helped. I still don't think it was our best showing...
We again made Ramen Rice Krispies like last night except we made a few changes.
We actually made two half batches but for both, the biggest change was that we doubled the butter (well, halved everything but the butter). I read on this site that butter makes it softer since they were very crunchy the day before. They essentially have the same amount of dry stuff and marshmallows but double butter. That worked well!
We also experimented. We made one batch with 1 Tbsp tahini to up the sesame flavor. That was a bit strange. I think it added too much toasted flavors and was a bit too rich.
The other batch was with wasabi. We started with about 1/4 tsp wasabi powder and kept going up since we couldn't taste it. We ended with around 1 tsp but still was too weak. So this batch was better but mostly because it tastes regular.
Sadly, this was not a hit at the party. I think in the future, I won't tell people it has seaweed. That got some strange reactions.
Friday, December 11, 2015, 12:00 AM
Meredith and I had friends over so we decided to make some strange and different foods. They brought the salad which was very good but I do not know what was on it. I talk about the things we made below
We made Lebanese Moussaka using the same recipe as last time including those changes (canned chick peas, tomato liquid, extra seasonings including pomegranate mollasses, etc).See note below about pomegranate mollasses.
Other than doubling everything, we stayed pretty true to the recipe. I should note that we didn't have ground all-spice so I ground it myself but they ground easily. We also let it cook for a good, long, while.
The one thing of note though is that I tried to make my own pomegranate molasses. I used this Alton Brown recipe (local) except that I apparently had some trouble. I followed the recipe closely, but I think that I let it go too long (either time or heat). When it cooled, it was like taffy. And made much less than the 1 cup. Then, after it was in the fridge, it turned to a solid block! I was able to microwave it (and turn it essentially molten) and use in. I used the planned amount (roughly double the Moussaka recipe) but note that it was probably even stronger.
I think, in the future, I will not be making it myself. I am sure I saved calories over the super-sweet store-bought stuff, but it just doesn't make sense. The cost of the pomegranate juice plus the time and effort aren't worth it.
Still, I thought the Moussaka came out pretty good. I was worried as it was cooking since it didn't have the full flavor, but as it cooked down, it started to taste great. I think next time, I will see if my Lebanese Cookbook has any different suggestions just to mix it up (though it would probably be less easy then). We served it with a double portion of Cauliflower Rice
Pomegranate Syrup or Molasses (From Alton Brown, via The Food Network)
Local Copy -- (U: guest, P: name of my dog, lower case)
This was a strange one...
Meredith found this recipe for Ramen Rice Krispies on Joy The Baker (local). The broken (junky) ramen noodles are interesting enough, but when you add the furikake (to quote: "sweet/salty/seaweed/umami") seasoning, it gets very, very strange.
Making it was easy enough, though I used my hands to toss (since that is really the only way to do it) and it was HOT!. We just halved the recipe, which made more than enough for us (we only had one pack of ramen).
The only other changes we made were to use pam on the pan, and to use all of the ramen in the mix and just furikake on top.
Meredith seemed uncertain but I really (really!) liked it. I love salty sweets and this was a great example of it. We bought the regular furikake (see pictures below) but they also had others including one with bonito (fish) and one with wasabi. We will not be touching the fish one any time soon but the wasabi could be interesting!
Only thing that would have been better was if they were chewier. They came out hard as a rock.
Ramen Rice Krispie Treats (from Joy The Baker)
Local Copy -- (U: guest, P: name of my dog, lower case)
Wednesday, December 09, 2015, 12:00 AM
We made standard and simple Zucchini Fritters (or Latkes) for Chanukah. Not much to them. The regular recipe but doubled. I tried using some nutritional yeast for extra flavor and that worked ok. I am not sure if I tasted it or not.
Tuesday, December 08, 2015, 12:00 AM
Simple meal of seared salmon and leftover (really, extra) corn-pudding from the other night. The salmon was done with Penzeys Northwoods Fire seasoning. The website describes it as:
What could be better than two types of Northwoods Seasoning? Northwoods Fire has the same great flavor as the original, with the added kick of smoky ground Chipotle and hot Cayenne red pepper. A wonderful seasoning for all grilled foods--steaks, fish, chicken and chops, even grilled vegetables.
Hand-mixed from: coarse flake salt, paprika, ground chipotle pepper, black pepper, cayenne red pepper, thyme, rosemary and granulated garlic.
Anyway, we baked the corn pudding from cold for about 20 minutes at 350. That was enough to get it warm, but it (for better or worse) wasn't too hot. I think if it got hotter, it may have leaked or spilled. I think I may have liked them more tonight, but that could have also just been in comparison to everything else.
Monday, December 07, 2015, 12:00 AM
We used the leftover turkey from the other night to make Monte-Cristos.
We based it on this recipe (no local link since it really wasn't much). Essentially, we made a turkey sandwich with some fancy mustard and leftover cranberry sauce, dipped it in egg, and grilled it. We let the first one bake a bit in the oven while the other was being grilled, then baked them both in the oven for a bit to try to cook more of the egg
They got a bit too soggy; especially the first one but the flavors were good. I think it is something I would try again, but I would try to use less egg and maybe read some tips on how to do it.
Saturday, December 05, 2015, 12:00 AM
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)
We made this first to eat and snack while cooking the rest. We had (bottom right, clockwise)
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 dry-brined it for about 24 hours. We then threw together a spice mixture of
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)
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)
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)
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.
She used:
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)
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.
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.
Friday, December 04, 2015, 12:00 AM
Note: This was moved into My Recipe Book
This was nearly a complete repeat of the chicken pot pie (recipe) from last time. I think we even kept most of the changes. We also added a shallot since I thought I was going to have to use them instead of onions but we ran out and got more onions.
I think the only real change from last time was that we used less Franks Red Hot and we actually had lemon juice this time.
I have to say, this recipe is so easy and really good. I think this will become a winter-time staple. I also want to try doing it with Seitan some time (and then I guess Osem to make it vegetarian)