Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 287
Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 10:29 AM
I made the basic falafel but did two things differently. The first is that I made it two days earlier and only cooked it tonight. Some recipes call for letting the matter sit for a while but I do not think it really made a difference. The other thing I did was cook it on Reynold's Non-Stick foil instead of a silpat. It is hard to say for sure what difference it made, but I do think the silpat have a nicer crust. It wasn't a big deal either way.
I also roasted some turnips. I am trying to see if I think they can stand in for potatoes in some dishes. So far, I think they would work though they have a slightly different flavor and they are more work since you have to peel them.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5878, 2013-05-22_102928
Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 10:59 AM
I had cod but I was going for really fast cooking so I again turned to the microwave. I used the auto setting on fish. I thought it was overcooking it because it was going for so long but when I opened it to look, it wasn't finished so I let it continue. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with the auto settings on this microwave. It cooked it really nicely. The fish didn't pop as it did last time and it was cooked nicely. The seasonings were salt, pepper and Penzeys sandwich sprinkle.
I also steamed some sugar-snap peas and topped them with spray butter and cheese
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5862, 2013-05-21_105948
Monday, May 20, 2013, 10:29 AM
I started with roasted asparagus I put them on parchment paper, pammed them, and added salt and pepper. I cooked them at 425 for about 10-15 minutes. These were really thin so you may need more time for thicker ones. Of course, I find the thin ones to be the best.
I wasn't really sure how to do the calamari steak but I decided to pat it dry and season it with McCormick Chicken Seasoning, salt and pepper. I then did it on a hot grill pan for a minute per side. A lot of recipes said to score it but it looked like it was already scored with lots of little cuts so I skipped that.
The calamari steak was a bit strange. Surprisingly, I don't think I overcooked it, but it still had a strange texture. Not like rubber bands, but chewy and springy. Okay, a bit like rubber bands. I would do it again but I want to read up more on how to make it and try something different. The asparagus was very good and I was easily able to eat a whole pound of it!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5821, 2013-05-20_102922
Sunday, May 19, 2013, 10:14 AM
The fish and the asparagus was the easiest and most regular part of this meal. We roasted asparagus in the oven. I am not sure how long. Meredith did it. And for the fish, we just sprinkled it with Penzeys singapore seasoning and microwaved it for 3:30. Of course, the fish popped a bit and made a mess but it was simple enough. Not amazing but we were in a hurry since everything else in the meal took so long.
Meredith did most of the work on this so I do not know all the details. She followed the recipe below but I'll let her comment on the changes I forget. We improvised a way to steam it with a frying screen. So it was a rather loose seal. And we kept having to refill the water. We used red thai rice. We thought it would be sticky but it wasn't really. We also strained off a bunch of coconut milk stuff after it was added since it was too much. We used champaign mangos which were really good.
Meredith had found this recipe but I was put in charge of making it. I halved the recipe since it seemed like it would just make way too much and that was an insane amount of sugar. We also used grape tomatoes (and more than 24) instead of cherry tomatoes. But, on the note of cherries, we also dipped them in the candy coating.
I followed the (halved) recipe pretty closely but I forgot that the temperature jumps very quickly at the end. I pulled it off the burner around 315 instead of 305. We thought it tasted burned but actually, according to Exploratorium it should have just been into the caramelization. Maybe I used too high of a temp throughout and it got a burned taste from that. Either way, they weren't incredible. Certainly an interesting idea but once you get past the crunch, it is just tomato-like. It was also stressful as we didn't realize it was truly candy making until we committed to it. The mess was pretty bad too and I thought there was no way we would ever get that pan clean, but it turns out that soaking candy stuff in hot, soapy water is sufficient
Thai Mango with Coconut Sticky Rice (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Candied Tomatoes (from Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5818, 2013-05-19_101420
Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 09:08 PM
I made buffalo cauliflower but I also did a zucchini and a few pieces of jalapeno. It was pretty good though I don't think it was incredible. I had made a batch of batter (but with extra water) and I ended up making another half batch. I basically winged it with adding Franks Red hot, garlic powder and ranch powder. I like how the batter hardens around it and pools a bit. I used Smart Balance (melted) instead of oil to make the sauce. Maybe I made too much sauce so it didn't crisp up nicely.
The zucchini worked pretty well and I would definitely do it again. The pepper was okay. I want to look into other batter recipes that may work better.
I also had miso-soy cod from Trader Joes. It was very good and easy enough to make in the microwave.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5811, 2013-05-15_210848
Monday, May 13, 2013, 07:24 PM
Another copy of the first time. It may be a copy, but it is also becoming one of my favorite meals. It is really easy and rather healthy. I would be interested in making a vegan version sometime with seitan and vegan oyster sauce
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5807, 2013-05-13_192412
Sunday, May 12, 2013, 08:02 PM
I made a mixture of carrot "pasta" and regular. The carrot pasta was inspired by this Kitchn Post, but I didn't really follow anything specific. I used a vegetable peeler to slice down 4-5 carrots (after discarding the outside). Then, I put four cloves of minced garlic into about 1 tbsp of olive oil and a heaping scoop of Smart Balance (already hot). I also added a heaping pinch of crushed red pepper. After that went for about 30 seconds, I added the carrots and then one serving (2oz dry) of mostly cooked pasta. I mixed it all and added a bit of the pasta water. I also added garlic powder, salt and pepper. When I put it into the bowl, I added some cheese.
It came out very good. Much more bulk than just the pasta and a good amount of flavor. I liked it very much and I would definitely do it again. I may also find a way to get more of the carrot out of it. I still had a good amount of carrot left. Using thicker carrots would work much better but they didn't have them at the supermarket.
I also madezucchini fritters with with no major changes. I did let them cook a bit more to crisp them up.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5800, 2013-05-12_200245
Saturday, May 11, 2013, 10:54 PM
I wanted to make falafel (with the changes I noted on 2013-05-12) but I wanted enough for a lunch a day later. So instead of eating it all, I made them more into patties, then I served them open face on multi-grain, low-fat english muffins. I made a za'atar dip with za'atar, greek yogurt and garlic powder. I also served them with a thin slice of tomato.
They were extremely good as always these days. Nice crisp to them with lots of flavor. I liked them served this like too. I think I would use tzatziki instead of za'atar dip in the future if I didn't have to make it myself. Either way, I would also add a thin slice of cucumber.
Point-wise, it came out the same as just eating the whole thing but this is more interesting and makes more.
Made two servings. Here is the points for one (4 open-face things)
2x Multi-grain low fat english muffins...5.8
1/2 can chick peas...4.8
1/8 cup flour...1.4
1/2 tsp olive oil...0.6
4oz (1/2 serving) FF Greek Yogurt...1.6
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14.2 or 14
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 5798, 2013-05-11_225440