Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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Home > 73
KitchenKatalog: Blog 73
Tuesday, February 02, 2021, 09:15 PM
I made our regular Lasagna Soup (which we hadn't made in over a year!). We didn't have mushrooms but I added some Trader Joes "Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend". We also had to decase chicken sausage. I prefer it ground since it's harder to break up the decased ones but I used some scissors.
I actually ended up adding some more water since I thought it was a tad too thin. We also used a bunch of different pastas. One pack of tortellini but also some penne and (???) since we needed to use it up.
It came out very good as usual. Super flavorful. Though it was not a hit with Caroline (which may be why we hadn't made it in a year)
Sunday, January 31, 2021, 08:02 PM
Meredith made white bean chicken chili using rotisserie chicken instead of boneless-skinless. It was good as usual though could have used a bit more salt.
Friday, January 29, 2021, 07:36 PM
Meredith made Soy Chorizo Ragu with a mix of zucchini and regular pasta.
It was delicious as always.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 09:10 PM
Meredith made Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from America's Test Kitchen. Unlike the seafood gumbo, this uses a "dry roux". It is supposed to be easier and, while not the goal, healthier (since there is way less oil).
Meredith followed their instructions on toasting the flour. She got it pretty dark though still not quite the cinnamon color (she compared). You can see in the photos below that it did get dark; especially when broth was added
Her other changes were to add a bit more water (maybe a cup?) and go light on the cayenne.
We expected this would be easier but it was not!!!. It took over two hours of constant work. We also expected it would be very thick between all of the meat and the fact that it uses about 4x more flour than the seafood gumbo. It was thicker but it didn't need as much extra water as expected.
We liked it. It may have needed a bit more salt (or bouillon) but it was still plenty flavorful. And we would add okra next time. It is so odd that this didn't call for it.
And I think we would do the dry-roux again even for other gumbo recipes. It wasn't easier but it does lend itself to prep ahead.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 02:34 PM
Meredith made Asian(ish) Chicken Salad using bagged coleslaw ingredients again and rotisserie chicken. So much easier!
Monday, January 25, 2021, 09:06 PM
We made Croque Monsieurs on the rustic loaf bread. That worked really well for this. It was a lot easier to match the sizes.
I also made a curry cauliflower soup. Meredith had made curry cauliflower last week and we still had a lot leftover. I kind of followed roasted broccoli soup. We debated using cheese like the broccoli soup and Thanksgiving 2018 but decided not to. I messed with the flavors using a mix of soy sauce, Worcestershire, and some other seasonings. I also added some apple cider vinegar for brightness. It was actually pretty good by the end! I do think I would have liked cheese in it.
Monday, January 25, 2021, 09:02 PM
I made Almost No-Knead Bread but followed the basic hearth bread cooking method in a pan. I again used about 1/2 tsp of year, not 1/4.
I liked it like this. It made it easier to cut and use for Croque Monsieurs and there was still a nice crust and flavor. I don't think not having the dutch oven caused too many issues.
I let it rise for about 25 hours.
Monday, January 25, 2021, 02:29 PM
Meredith made another batch of Smoked Salmon Black Bean Salad. She again doubled except the black beans