Dinner from Miss Saigon with Jay, Jodi, Beverly and Joel. For the record, the thing I like from there ( for take-out, anyway) is #49 with chicken and no sprouts. Also, don't get the soggy scallion pancakes. It was a busy day at work so it was nice not to make dinner.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Saturday, 2/24/24
Dinner with Jen and John, brought to you by: meat! They picked up marinated chicken tenders, flank steak and a couple of sausages; I cooked them up in various ways (the secret weapon? deglazing the pan with butter); Jason made some hummus and a new style of pita that was supposed to dramatically puff in the oven but only somewhat succeeded. I didn't care (he blames their oven which doesn't get hot enough) because I thought it was better than the usual pita anyway. I made another ridiculous carrot bread from Half-Baked Harvest and I have come fully around on the cream cheese layer; I originally thought it was overkill but now I think even more would be better. It adds a nice tang to an otherwise very sweet dessert.
That is all we had! No sides, no vegetables! So decadent.
Friday, 2/23//24
We couldn't decide whether to make a buffalo chicken pizza or a BBQ chicken pizza, so we did half and half. Both had red onions and some mozzarella; the BBQ also had smoked cheddar and cherry tomatoes. Excellent as always, and a good use of a rotisserie chicken.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Thursday, 2/22/24
Cauliflower toasts (from the NYT) on bread from Jason, along with a salad made with a lot of random bits that maybe weren't meant to be together (leftover steamed broccoli, some black beans, spinach and roasted sweet potatoes)? The cauliflower is great and makes so much. Stay tuned for leftovers AGAIN!
Tuesday, 2/20/24
Chana masala (pretty much right from Made in India) and basmati rice. I put a lot of spinach in there and called it a whole meal. Could have used some kind of chutney or something, but I was tired and Aldi was out of dates. As usual I could have added even more spinach. Will I ever learn?
Monday, 2/19/24
"Braised Eggplant with Parm Vibes" from Start Here. The picture of silky eggplant nestled into a sauce made from cherry tomatoes and topped with fresh mozz really grabbed me; I found it wasn't as good as I hoped. I think I should perhaps have cut the eggplant smaller and let it cook even longer? It didn't have the texture I was looking for, although the flavors are nice. And of course I used used regular old shredded mozzarella. Anyhow, it's not bad, and Jason loved it. I'll try again when eggplants are plentiful on the farm. Served with some pasta.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Sunday, 2/18/24
Months ago (in a Money Diaries column of all places) someone mentioned a gnocchi gochujang casserole. I was intrigued and googled the recipe (which turned out to be a Blue Apron) and when I found a big pack of gnocchi at TJ Maxx it felt like time. I basically took the concept and flavor and riffed on the execution (and added cheese). it tastes good (but could have used even more of the gochujang sauce) but it was a little weird. I can picture it being made with rice cakes instead of gnocchi to better effect. Served with some kimchi that we picked up from the new little deli in Sunderland. Jason nearly fainted/cried at the price ($18 for a pint does seem like a lot but I wanted to support this little business!) but that's what we get for being too lazy to make our own. Side note: it's a bit too salty. For dessert I made a ridiculous carrot bread with a swirl of cream cheese and candied ginger crunch topping. VERY sweet but no less good. From Half-Baked Harvest.
Saturday, 2/17/24
Breakfast for dinner with Jay and Jodi. I made an enormous batch of homefries; we added black beans and collard greens to round it out, and has cheese and salsa DIY. Surprisingly few leftovers in light of how much I made. Then I went home and greedily had some more tiramisu.
Friday, 2/16/24
Another muffaletta pizza, since the first one was such a success and we had salami to use up. Delicious! Something about the base layer of provolone makes it extra good. I also made a tiramisu (from he NYT). It is lovely but leaves me wondering how it would be to flavor the cream with coffee, too? Might be too coffee-y for Jason but I think it would be good.
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Wednesday, 2/14/24
💘 Nothing says romance like tofu and broccoli. I just made a quick gochujang sauce and sautéed the tofu with ginger and scallions, then tossed in a bunch of cooked broccoli. Jason made rice so it was pretty quick. The broccoli was actually my favorite part since it soaked up all the spicy sauce.
Tuesday, 2/13/24
Spaghetti with meat sauce, plus leftover salad and garlic toasts. I am not sure if the new dutch oven actually made a difference, or if I am just projecting, but it was a very good batch of sauce (even though I forgot to add some chopped pepperoni which I had meant to do). And more relaxing that the dining hall in the middle of the dinner rush during Lunar New Year!
For dessert I made another chocolate pudding cake, since I was so disenchanted with the last one. I used a recipe from someplace called RecipeTinEats. The pros: much better texture! Actual cake and sauce. The cons: not as flavorful, and the cake was a tiny bit dry (user error, probably). I think I would make it again with the addition of instant coffee, a little more salt and a little less baking.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Monday, 2/12/24
After a long and apparently arduous afternoon of tutoring Carter (for Jason, not me) we had dinner at the dining hall. Carter predicted that it would be very busy at that hour and opted to eat later. He was right. We barely found a seat and the lines were long. I could happily just have had sushi, but there were a lot of Chinese specials for the Lunar New Year that were pretty good. Still, I think we should take Carter's advice and wait for a weekend afternoon.
Sunday, 2/11/24
A pinto bean and poblano dish from the NYT that pushed all my buttons: Ali Slagle! Poblanos! Salsa verde and lots of cheese! Super easy with beans that I cooked in the Instant pot the night before. Jason made us some corn tortillas to go with it (we debuted our new oven top griddle and it worked perfectly) and I trotted out the spinach salad (but didn't actually eat any. I was there for the beans and cheese).
Saturday. 2/10/24
Watched Ultimate all day, so got home midafternoon and rushed around trying to prep for the week and cook dinner. I tried a new recipe from SK for potatoes and mushrooms (apparently a Russian specialty). Fried (or in this case oven-roasted) potatoes topped with mushrooms sautéed with onion and garlic. I thought this was excellent, especially with a little leftover homemade onion dip in lieu of sour cream. And actually pretty easy. I made an enormous spinach salad to go with it (anticipating leftovers for the week) and also heated up the leftover breakfast sausage for a little protein. Dessert was not as good: a microwave chocolate pudding cake from the NYT. I don't know if I undercooked it, overcooked it, mixed it up poorly or what, but this was like a big bowl of grainy chocolatey sludge. Even whipped cream didn't help. At least Jason liked it and it did have a really good flavor. The microwave seems a bit unforgiving for baking so I think a regular old chocolate pudding cake would be better.
Friday, 2/9/24
Final night of waffle week, but also Friday night pizza. What to do? Waffle pizza, of course. This was a bit of a mess and more like a waffle-calzone, but basically successful. Even better was leftover waffles turned into S'mores. Maybe my favorite of everything that we tried.
Friday, February 9, 2024
Thursday, 2/8/24
Actual waffles! I used the yeasted waffle recipe from SK that I am so fond of. I love the light and super crispy texture. I had mine with maple syrup whereas Jason prefers the fake stuff. Leftover sausages to go with it. Because a sweet dinner always leaves me feeling oddly unsatisfied, I rounded out my meal with chips and guacamole.
Tomorrow night, pizza! Will it work? We don't know!
Wednesday, 2/7/24
Quesadillas in the waffle maker turn out fine, but it is neither better not more convenient than a regular old pan. I added spinach and tomatoes to the cheese blend to make it "healthier". Good, but not worth repeating. Sorry, waffle iron.
Tuesday, 2/6/24
Night two: grilled cheese (with a loaf of Jason bread, of course). This was a no-brainer: like a panini press but with the fun of those waffle indentations. And a bit of cheese leaked out on some, making them even more delicious. In my opinion, this is the best alternate use for a waffle maker. Served with the last of the salad.
Monday, 2/5/24
Welcome to Will it Waffle? Week! First stop? Latkes. Luckily, SMitten Kitchen had already tried it, so I just used her recipe (cut in half to avoid leftovers). The good: very easy, and much less messy. Tasted great. The bad? Not nearly as crispy as traditional potato pancakes. We had a lot of leftover spinach salad from the weekend, so we had that and some breakfast sausage links to go with it.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Sunday, 2/4/24
After a very hectic day at work, I was happy to go to Jay and Jodi's, have a drink, and let Jason make calzones. They turned out really well! I had made a basbousa/namoura on Saturday to bring with us, and I think it was my best effort so far. I greased the pan with tahini as a lot of people in the NTY comments suggested, but I don't think you could taste a difference.
Saturday, 2/3/24
We were double-booked for the day (in the best possible way): lunch with Dad, Liz, Peter, Maggie and Corrina, Zac and Ramona, then dinner with Jen and John. Jason made bread and I made a spinach salad (I made way too much hoping for leftovers) but they were severely overshadowed by BBQ, black-eyed peas with rice, and cookies and brownies. Glad we finally got to see everyone since out New Years Day plans were scotched due to illness.
For dinner John had a hankering for breakfast, so we made some challah and I par-cooked some potatoes to make french toast and homefries. Jen got some mascarpone and fancy bacon, we made a quick blueberry sauce and voila! I think everyone really enjoyed it. I enjoy doing the cooking and John likes bartending so it's a win all around.
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Friday, 2/2/24
The quest for pizza innovation continues. I threw out a hail mary idea at the last minute (well, Thursday) for a muffaletta inspired pizza, since we already had a giant jar of the olive salad (an impulse buy from Costco) and plenty of provolone. So all we needed was some salami (I know a muffaletta sandwich would also have other meats, but I couldn't be bothered) and Voila! We did a layer of the provolone, a layer of the olive salad, salami and then some Italian cheese blend on top. Not bad! We agreed that it would also have been fine with tomato sauce, or maybe just some sliced tomatoes. Dessert was caramel pots de creme (Classic American Desserts) that I messed up by letting the custard mixture stay on the heat just a bit too long. Grrr! The taste was excellent but they lacked that silky, smooth texture. I was disappointed but Jason didn't care.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Wednesday, 1/31/24
Jason made a batch of sesame bagels and they turned out really nicely. So we had a fancy little spread with smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, jalapeno, cucumber and scallions. Carter is back at school so he missed it, but we don't feel sorry for him, feasting at the dining halls all day.
Monday, 1/29/24
Dal makhani, from "Made in India". This is supposed to be luxurious and rich, but I only liked it well enough. For one thing, it was so very garlicky; I think the recipe called for 10 cloves and maybe ours were bigger (I didn't even use all 10) but it was a bit overpowering. It did use up some of our urad dal, so that was good. I was surprised to hear Carter say that he liked it, but he had been playing Ultimate all day and was starving. I didn't have the wherewithal to cook a vegetable, so I made Carter and I each eat a baby carrot.