Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 331
Saturday, May 28, 2011, 07:14 PM
We wanted to make grits but we based it on polenta. We mashed polenta then added frozen corn, some almond milk, cheese, canned pickled jalapeños, salt, pepper, some Emril cajun seasoning and crushed red pepper. We let it cook and meld together. The bacon was (supposedly) lean which we let pan fry as much fat away as possible.
The polenta/grits were pretty good. It made for a nice breakfast We didn't make a lot but it was enough for breakfast.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1202, 2011-05-28_191416
Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 07:07 PM
The idea for these were based on a Hungry Girl recipe but we didn't actually have it so I have nothing to quote. We made the taco bowls in the oven. We tried two different but similar ways. For both, we heated a tortilla in the microwave and draped it over one of the pyrex glass bowls. With one, we just sprayed it with pam and with the other, we used an additional pyrex dish over it to push it into place. Then we baked them at around 450 for around 15 min. I didn't actually measure the time. Just until they were crispy. Anyway, the ones with the additional bowl had a nicer shape but the tortilla part with the second bowl steamed and didn't get very crisp. So, I think the method without the second bowl was better.
The salad was lean taco meat, some green leaf lettuce, tomato, salsa (as salad dressing) and cheese. Overall, it was pretty good. Not really much to the salad as much as the bowl. It was a quick meal though.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1199, 2011-05-24_190734
Saturday, May 21, 2011, 07:01 PM
We made sloppy joes when my mom was here to visit. We basically followed the same recipe. I really let the onions caramelize before adding the beef. I also added a bunch of tomato paste. We let it really simmer for a long time and that also helped quite a bit. The filling was really good. We also served some cheese and arugula.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1191, 2011-05-21_190144
Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 06:58 PM
Pretty standard grilled sandwiches. Meredith's was a grilled cheese and mine was a light reuben. I used less corned beef, fat free thousand island, and no butter.
The asparagus was steamed and then we poured a sauce over them. I do not know the recipe but I think it was basically soy sauce, sesame oil, and onion and garlic powder. It was a nice addition to standard asparagus
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1188, 2011-05-18_185808
Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 06:53 PM
We made these very similar to last time including doing the chicken in the pressure cooker. I didn't really aim to do it the same but I basically did. However, I didn't do the salsa which was missed. THe cheese wedges really do a nice job making the filling creamy. Oh, and since I shredded the chicken, there were larger pieces (Meredith has much more patience to shred it all)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1183, 2011-05-17_185348
Friday, May 13, 2011, 12:36 PM
The dough was based on the same recipe as last time only I didn't use all of the water and half the olive oil. Playing with the water and flour, I got a much better dough that I was also able to knead by hand.
Meredith and I decided to cut our dough in half and make two pizzas. Meredith managed to not use the rolling pin hence her very round pizzas with thicker crust but smaller size. I had to use it so mine are bigger, thinner and oblong. In general, we used a lot less dough than a restaurant which is why Meredith's came out so small.
We each cooked one of ours on a tray and one on the cast iron pan upside down.Obviously, the ones on the pan came out much nicer.
We made the tomato sauce as well. Meredith used some truffle salt which gave it a nice flavor. The cheese was a mix of colby-jack and a mexican blend, both low fat.
The top photo is my pizzas and the bottom is Meredith's.
My first pizza was regular with sauce, cheese, fat free ricotta, ham, and brocoli (my favorite pizza combination). My second with a breakfast(ish) pizza still with tomato sauce but also with gimme lean, egg beaters cheese, some ricotta, green onion and jalapeno.
I do not know exactly what Meredith used so she'll have to comment to clarify. Her first was a mexican pizza with: salsa (instead of sauce), jalapeno, green onion and cheese. Her second was plain with broccoli, ham and I do not know what else.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1180, 2011-05-13_123626
Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 12:31 PM
These were based on the recipe below. The slaw did not come out great but Meredith liked it on them. Also, Meredith made guacamole which was really good. She doesn't follow a recipe. She just plays with it until it works (a true Texan). There was really barely enough for 4 tacos and it definitely does not serve four. However, it is rather healthy with just beans and tortillas (we used flour instead of corn though)
Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw (from SmittenKitchen)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1175, 2011-05-10_123126
Monday, May 09, 2011, 12:26 PM
This was based on the same seafood mix as previous times . Despite letting the seafood defrost first, there was still a ton of liquid when we added it to sautéed onions and garlic. We added some dried basil and let it cook down. Unlike the last time, it cooled into a thick sauce which when mixed with the pasta, was very good. Also, I added some tomato which cooked into the sauce and disintegrated.
I think next time we use the mix, we should steam the seafood so it doesn't get overcooked waiting for the liquid to cook down. We still need some kind of sauce to heal spread the flavor but the seafood gets too cooked when we do it all in the pan. Just a thought for the next time
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1172, 2011-05-09_122640