Wednesday, 12/30/20

 I was casting about for something new to do with tofu, and I came upon a recipe for "Pan-Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu" from some random blog, and since the picture was so pretty and I had all the ingredients, I gave it a try. Nothing really new: dust tofu with cornstarch, pan fry, make a sauce with soy sauce, ginger-garlic sauce, honey,  sesame oil, and little more cornstarch. I doubled the sauce, added Chinese broccoli, and served all over rice. I added the tofu to the sauce and let it simmer. to get that crispy-chewy texture I am always hoping for. It turned out really well! Even though upon reading through the recipe after dinner, I realized that when she called for ginger-garlic sauce, she meant sambal oelek (not really the same thing, lady!). I had used some Chinese sauce I had, confusingly also called ginger-garlic sauce. Oh well, still delicious. Even Carter, who has been quite the fussy young man lately, liked it.

Tuesday, 12/29/20

 Grilled cheese, plus a little beet salad for Jason and me and a tangerine for Carter (you would think we asked him to eat poison. So fussy sometimes). Anyway, Jason is still working on a new technique for a crustier loaf (I can't actually tell a difference, sadly. But he is enjoying himself, I think). He added rosemary this time, but it was a bit too subtle. The sandwiches had swiss and provolone; it was a good mix of sharp and melty.... Carter said it was smelly, but he admitted they tasted just fine (maybe it was the bacon on his?).  Finally, out of laziness, I let Jason talk me into making them on a sheet pan in the oven. I was very dubious, but it worked! They needed a little time under the broiler at the end, but the end results were good. I hate to say he was right, dammit.

Monday, 12/28/20

 just leftover macaroni and cheese, with leftover cabbage for the adults. I let Carter slide with just the peas that I threw in the mac. I could honestly eat homemade macaroni and cheese several times a week. Only Jason is holding us back.

Sunday, 12/27/20

 Baked fish sticks (from the NYT; no changes. I used cod), rice pilaf, and sautéed cabbage, Nepali-style (garlic, ginger and lots of spices). My pilaf was only meh, but otherwise a pretty good meal.

Saturday, 12/26/20

 Cheese stocks properly restored, I made a big batch of macaroni and cheese (Martha Stewart via Smitten Kitchen. No changes except I use whatever cheese I have around, and skip the nutmeg) and a Caesar salad. Overall success, although even the small amount of smoked cheddar I used really came through. Carter was too psyched to notice, luckily. Jason groused a little because I threw some peas in there. I don't know why; you barely notice them.

Friday, 12/25/20

 Well, I don't know why I had planned tofu for dinner on Christmas. I mean, it didn't feel like Christmas at all, but that is a bridge too far. So I thought maybe macaroni and cheese would be more festive, but I didn't have enough cheese (!). After a little more brainstorming, Jason made popovers and I made chicken in a Marsala cream sauce with broccoli. So I would still not call it festive, but at least it was delicious and a little luxurious.  Looking forward to next year!

Thursday, 12/24/20

 We decided to try at least a mini Christmas eve dinner, so everyone got to pick one thing: Carter went with shrimp cocktail, I picked cheese and crackers, and Jason made little pizza/taco cup things? It was pizza dough fitted into muffin tins, than filled (in this case) with beef, beans and cheese. Surprisingly tasty. For dessert Carter and I made white chocolate/pretzel haystacks. This was semi-disastrous, as I inadvertently heated up the white chocolate too fast, causing it too seize. I was able to fix it, but in doing so (shouldn't have added that heavy cream. It's counterintuitive that water is the answer, but there you have it) I changed the texture a bit, so they didn't firm up as much as they should have. Tasted fine, though! Maybe I'll try again on New Year's Eve.

Wednesday, 12/23/20

 Another Smitten Kitchen dinner: bacon and brussels sprouts frittata, plus Jason made some pita to go with it. It is hard to imagine that bacon, eggs, onions and cheese wouldn't be a good combo, of course. Carter thinks I am torturing him with the menus this week, but he conceded that this was the best of the lot. I'll make some macaroni and cheese to make it up to him.

Tuesday, 12/22/20

 We had a lot of leftover matzoh, so that was dinner. Served with cottage cheese, tuna salad, some guacamole, peanut butter, a little weird salad I made....Anyway, it was kind of random and the matzoh was a little stale, but basically fine.

Monday, 12/21/20

 I made split pea soup, using the hambone from a couple of weeks ago. I more or less just followed the recipe from the bag of split peas, and it it pretty tasty. Jason made us a loaf of bread to go with it.

Sunday, 12/20/20

 A cauliflower and caramelized onion tart (more like  a quiche), from Smitten Kitchen. The flavors are great, (even though I undercooked it and had to put it back in the oven) but I would make a couple of minor changes: cut the onions and cauliflower smaller, and mix them into the cheese/custard mix. The recipe had you layer onions, cauliflower and shredded cheese in the pan, then pour the egg and milk mixture over, and I felt everything didn't meld together enough. I also skipped the layer of dijon mustard, even though I'm sure it would be fine. It didn't need it.

 Luckily it was pretty rich, because that's all I served.

Saturday, 12/19/20

 Got home late from delivering cookies and grocery shopping, so I threw together a pasta with a leftover zucchini, tomato sauce, spinach, peppers, onions, ricotta, and tomato sauce. I had some cute little rotini; I tossed it all together and baked with some mozzarella. While this seems to me like a fairly uncontroversial dinner, my darling son hated it. Too close to lasagna, I guess. I don't understand his aversion; he loves macaroni and cheese? And pizza? So there is no rhyme or reason to it. Anyway, Jason and I liked it.

Friday, 12/18/20

 I made carnitas (from SK; I did them old-school, on the stovetop), plus corn tortillas, various condiments, and some roasted delicata squash. On a whim, Jason and I bought a tortilla press and some masa and made our own tortillas. The project got off to a rocky start (we don't always cooperate well in the kitchen), but the results were good, and certainly very easy. The carnitas were great, though.

Thursday, 12/17/20

 A ramen taste-off. We tried four varieties. They were all pretty tasty, but some are definitely better than others. Doctored up with mushrooms and broccoli, it was a tasty albeit very salty dinner.

Carter liked the green,I liked the upper left, and Jason finished all the rest

Wednesday, 12/16/20

 Pizza night...two taco pizzas, one with fresh mozzarella, and one with pepperoni, mushrooms, and provolone  🍕. Delicious.

Tuesday, 12/15/20

 Tofu, with Chinese broccoli, garlic sauce and rice (from a cookbook called "Chinese Take-Out Cookbook"). Tasty enough, especially with a little chili crisp on top. Finally busted out my bottle of oyster sauce, which, not surprisingly, smells very fishy.

Monday, 12/14/20

 Potato pancakes, salad and a GIANT ham. Why on earth did I buy a 9 pound ham, even on sale?? We ate only the tiniest fraction. The potato pancakes were (predictably) good, and the salad was a slight improvement over the previous night's. This time I tossed romaine with parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil and some sun-dried tomatoes. Carter wasn't a fan but he isn't really a salad guy.

Gonna be freezing a lot of ham.

Sunday, 12/13/20

 Popcorn chicken, for the benefit of the boys who always request it. Clearly they aren't the ones making a giant mess breading little bits of chicken. Anyway, I double-dredged it in flour mixed with a little cornstarch, paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne and some crushed up dried onion. I will confess that it's tasty, but still...

Also had a loaf of bread that Jason was experimenting with. He is trying to get that ultra-crusty Hungry Ghost texture (spoiler: he didn't but warm bread is always nice). Plus a salad that was pretty blah despite my homemade Goten-style dressing.

Saturday, 12/12/20

 Went to Jen and John's for a cocktail and an early dinner. It was a little drizzly, but nice and toasty next to the fire pit. They had (funnily enough) chicken rice soup and bread. But their bread was an addictively crusty and delicious rosemary loaf from Hungry ghost Bakery. Even Jason was envious. 

It was so nice to see friends again!

Friday, 12/11/20

 Used the rotisserie chicken to make a stock, and then used the chicken for chicken rice soup (no recipe). Really good, even if I do say so myself. Carter noticed that I stuck some zucchini in there, but he liked it anyway. Jason made an experimental loaf of bread with pickled jalapenos and queso fresco. I really liked it! I thought it could have used even more jalapenos, but I can see why he would want to err on the side of caution. Nice easy dinner after a long work week.

Thursday, 12/10/20

 we had picked up some hummus from the store, so Jason made a batch of pita and I made a tomato/cucumber avocado salad. I also had some oven roasted tomatoes to go with it.  Quick and one could almost deem it healthy. Compared to tater tots, at least.

Wednesday, 12//9/20

 OK, so this was not healthy. Quite the reverse. We cooked up some tater tots, and topped them with cheese and leftover gravy. We also had broccoli, so at least there was a vegetable? Jason dubbed it American Poutine and I don't know about that, but I am always here for french fries with gravy.

Tuesday, 12/8/20

 Made a last minute decision to have nachos for dinner (no regrets). I used up some refried beans, and used a little of the leftover rotisserie chicken. Someday I will make something healthy again.

Monday, 12/7/20

 Leftover tots. Mondays are long days.

Sunday, 12/6/20

 Easy dinner of pork with scallions, ginger, garlic, zucchini and good old Cravings sauce. Tossed with spaghetti. Carter didn't even notice the zucchini!

Saturday, 12/5/20

 It was a terrible weather day (rain that turned into beautiful giant fluffy snow that turned back into freezy cold rain), so baking was the answer. I made a batch of challah from SK, that Jason kindly braids for me. He had a go at a circular braid this time, and it turned out very pretty. I also made a batch of cinnamon rolls (from the Times). I have made them before and they are always great. Dinner was the challah, some sweet potatoes (some people may have had marshmallow on theirs) and a rotisserie chicken from the store, plus a quick gravy. Very cozy.

Friday, 12/4/20

 A reprisal of Tater Tot casserole. Added more vegetables (corn, carrots, celery, peas and some leftover broccoli) and pre-cooked the tots for extra crunchiness.  Tater tot casserole, why are you so low-brow and yet delicious?

Thursday, 12/3/20

 Leftover calzone from the freezer, plus the leftover riced cauliflower. The calzones reheated beautifully; the cauliflower not so much. Carter didn't love either, fussy little man. I thought the calzones were great.

Wednesday, 12/2/20

 Baked fish sticks (actually filets as it was easier) from the Times. I am out of horseradish for cocktail sauce, so I made a quick chipotle sour cream instead. Jason fried some fries, and we have plain old broccoli with it. So it looked like a school lunch, albeit a tasty one. Sautéing the panko with garlic before breading really gives the fish a nice crunch.

Tuesday, 12/1/20

 Jason and I picked up some boneless wings from Big Y, and I supplemented with cauliflower (riced, then sauteed with garlic,  crushed red pepper, capers, feta and raisins). So yeah, Carter just had wings for dinner.

Monday, 11/30/20

 I knew I would be tired from work today (after a four day weekend), so I had Jason make a loaf of bread and boil some eggs. Bread and cheese, roasted tomatoes, deviled eggs. Sadly, Carter says he does not like caraway seeds in his bread (he made a lot of ridiculous faces, but I think he was being melodramatic), so there was bitching. But he cheered up once he wasn't so hungry.

Sunday, 11/29/20

 I marinated some tofu in the morning, with no clear plan of what to do with it (kind of my cooking theme this week). Decided to make fried rice, since it had been awhile. Since it had peas, carrots, peppers and zucchini, no other dishes necessary, so that was nice.