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KitchenKatalog: Blog 272
Thursday, December 05, 2013, 09:23 AM
I made Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Meredith and I have done this a few times before with beef but this time I actually followed the recipe and used chicken. Also, I went heavy on the salsa. I also used frozen broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts. They were bigger pieces than, say, peas+corn+carrots but I wanted more veggies and something healthier.
I used canned chicken as the recipe suggests but I didn't love it. Canned chicken always tastes a bit too much like canned tuna to me. I would use it again in a pinch but I think I prefer beef or maybe shredded chicken next time.
Finally, I used flour tortillas. I used two medium-sized regular ones. They are 130 cal each which is kind of high but considering this may four medium-sized or three large servings, that still not too bad. I also used light instead of fat free cheese. (I'd rather have the extra calories with the better flavor). The first layer was mozzarella and the top was a mix of mozzarella and cheddar
The original recipe is on page 66 of Hungry Girl 1-2-3 but I also wrote it up in "My Recipe Book"
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6973, 2013-12-05_092308
Monday, December 02, 2013, 08:43 PM
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
Tuesday, November 26, 2013, 05:45 PM
I made my Bailey's Irish Cream Cheese cake. I did the pretty regular recipe. I do have two notes. First is that this was the first time that I actually used a 9" pan and therefore the original recipe numbers. However, I realized that the way that my Dad had scaled it wasn't overly clear. And I always knew liked to have extra crust. So what I did was use the 10" pan numbers for the crust. And for the rest, I did a 4/3 x multiplier. It was a bit too much but it was better than not having enough.
The only other note was that I had to buy a type of fake Bailey's that has less alcohol. It didn't taste like it had the same bite which I attributed to the lower alcohol. So, I used Irish Whiskey to scale the recipe.
I usually have V cups of 17% ABV Baileys. I have 13% fake irish cream and 40% irish whiskey. So, the math is as follows: (Vb= Volume Bailey's, Vw= Volume Whiskey)
Vb+Vw=V
0.13Vb+0.40Vw=0.17V
in matrix form, this is [1 1;0.13 0.40]*[Vb;Vw]=[V; 0.17V]
V=0.44 cup so we find that Vb=0.3748 cups and Vw=0.652
Overall, the cake came out pretty good. I think maybe a bit undercooked. And it was served the first day too cold and the second too warm so it was hard to get a great idea of it. Oh well. What was amazing was how much easier it is to make this as I have done it many times and I am comfortable following complex recipes.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6959, 2013-11-26_174505
Saturday, November 23, 2013, 05:28 PM
I made cauliflower dough pizza. I had seen various recipes for it in the past but I was hesitant because I though any calorie savings were negated by the cheese. But I cam across it again and realized that it was really not that much cheese.
I followed the recipe below. After making the cauliflower "sand" and cooking it, I laid it out on a pan sandwiched with paper towel and pressed it (stood on it). I wonder if that was not enough because it was pretty wet when I added the egg. Still, I made it as large as I thought it would fit on the bottom of my cast iron pan. Here is where I made another mistake. I should have just split it since it was a bit too thick. After I cooked it (see below), it was still pretty wet. I would have preferred it to be smaller and thinner.
Anyway, because it was so thick, it didn't really crisp very well, even though I did the first cook for about 15 minutes. I made my own sauce with 1 14 oz can of tomatoes. I immersion blended it a little bit and added oregano, a bit of olive oil and seasonings (oregano, basil, salt, pepper, etc). I also topped it with some ham (from a ham steak) and peppadews.
The whole thing was pretty good and I'd do it again but I would improve it as I mentioned above. I had to eat it with a fork a knife but hopefully I won't have to next time if I cook it well. I do think that the idea is pretty cool, even if it will never be as good as the_real_thing.
Cauliflower Pizza Crust (from Tasty Kitchen)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6955, 2013-11-23_172820
Thursday, November 21, 2013, 08:36 PM
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
Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 08:29 PM
I had been wanting to try making wontons "fried" in the oven so I decided to make them with mushrooms. I took a small onion and cooked it down / sautéd it (but slower and with more oil than usual). I used about 2 Tbsp of canola oil. I then thoroughly chopped 8 oz baby bellas and 8 oz crimini. I let them really cook down and added some white wine and I let it cook down even more. I then took half out and immersion blended it so it was a mixture of chunks and smooth mushroom.
I then made a bunch of different wonton types as you can see from the above and below picture. The complete half-folds held the most which was good to know for the future if I want to use something else and actually fill it. Some of the other kinds were cook but really didn't hold much. Actually, the trick I figured more and more was to use less filling. I also used a pastry brush to wet the edges instead of my fingers so that it was easier keep my hands dry.
I cooked them at 350 for 20 or so minutes
I also made seitan using the same idea as here with even less soy. I also used white wine in the sauce. I made 2x the recipe and froze half for another time. Again, I mixed it first in a bowl and then the food processor. That works really well to not make a mess.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6930, 2013-11-19_202919
Monday, November 18, 2013, 08:43 AM
I made Beef Bulgogi based on the recipe below, but I made a bunch of changes. I will still include the recipe, but here are my changes:
I used tri-trip beef which had some more marbling and only 0.6 lbs. I froze it for 40 minutes to become easier to cut. I then thinly cut it. I marinated it overnight and cooked it on the cast iron pan. I deglazed with white wine and added that sauce
They were very, very good. One piece was not really cooked enough but the rest of very good. Maybe a bit salt, but still, it had lots of flavor. I would certainly do this again
I also tried to make stir-fry broccoli by first steaming it and then mixing it with a sauce of 1/4 cup Soy Vey and 2 Tbsp vinegar and 1 Tbsp sriracha. However, it was too wet and basically just cooked the crap out of it. The broccoli was good, but way over cooked.
Finally, I had pickled red onions. I made them based on the recipe below but I used regular salt instead of kosher salt. I used less but it was still too much. It was way too salty! I would definitely do it again but with_lots_ less salt
Beef Bulgogi (from AllRecipes)
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Pickled Red Onions (from Smitten Kitchen)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6924, 2013-11-18_084308
Sunday, November 17, 2013, 11:24 PM
I made cauliflower fritters using my regular recipe/procedure. This was the first time I actually used feta and I liked it a lot. It gave a nice salty flavor and really made the fritters more interesting.
I also made something like chicken Cordon Bleu. I took chicken tenders and pounded them somewhat thin (though I should have gone thinner. I then laid a small slice (~1/3 oz) of swiss cheese and then a slice of ham. I folded it over and pressed it together. I tossed it in a bit of flour that had been salt and peppered. I then cooked them in the cast iron pan. I had a few problems with the pan. Most notably, I was unsure of how hot it was and I think it was still too cool when I added them.
Also, since my meat thermometer died, I was not able to check the temp. This led me to overcook them. Still, a combination of the gooeyness of the cheese and the saltiness of the ham made it pretty flavorful. I would do them again. Or something like it.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6917, 2013-11-17_232459