Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 247
Saturday, November 22, 2014, 10:55 PM
Meredith and I made a smokey tortilla soup from Home Sick Texan (local link).
We stayed pretty true to the recipe with the following changes
The soup was really good. Smokey but lots of flavor and delicious. I would certainly make this again. It was also pretty easy.
Note the chicken was from the pho earlier in the week.
Smokey Tortilla Soup (From Homesick Texan, page 127)
Local Copy password is the name of my dog, all lower case
This page was converted from Wordpress with a custom script by Justin Winokur. Most links and images should still work. However, if any links are broken, see the HTML (or Markdown) source to try to deduce the intended destination.
Original WP Post ID: 9290
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-11-22_225510
Thursday, November 20, 2014, 09:30 PM
We had steak tacos with cabbage slaw and some sautéed peppers and onions. The cabbage slaw was from this meal. I used a bit too much onion but other than that it was really good (I like this recipe a lot). It is a bit strange for this meal but we planned it when we had considered shrimp tacos so we stuck with it. The onions and peppers were just cooked in the cast-iron pan before I did the steak.
The steak was a big piece of round. I thought it was similar to Eye of Round from thai restaurants but this had a lot more fat in it. It was really chewy. I also wasn't sure if I cooked it well. I think I had too high a heat on the cast iron so the outside overcooked before the inside. I checked the temp a bunch with the thermometer and got inconsistent readings. I let it sit 5 minutes before cutting it but it still lost a lot of juice. BTW, I had marinated it in 1 Tbsp oil plus 2 Tbsp soy sauce. So while I would do steak tacos again, I would look for a better cut of meat.
The tortillas were from Whole Foods. I had considered making my own the the Whole Foods ones are really good and it saved a lot of work.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9280, 2014-11-20_213015
Thursday, November 20, 2014, 02:25 PM
This was a super-simple side dish for lunch. I sliced up an asian eggplant and stir-fried it. For sauce, I just used a bit of the thin, low-sodium teriyaki.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9276, 2014-11-20_142507
Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 12:35 PM
This was a simple Wednesday night dinner. It was mango coconut mahi mahi from Whole Foods and sautéd swiss chard. I did the mahi mahi on the stove+oven. Simple and fast. Pretty good too! (The mahi mahi may have been a tad overcooked)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9267, 2014-11-19_123523
Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 07:20 PM
I made lentil moussaka. The only real change was that I used green (or french?) lentils instead of the brown ones and I used asian eggplant. The brown ones may be a bit boring, but I think they are better in moussaka Just a better texture.
As you can see from the photo, making it in a big tray meant I didn't have enough "bechamel" sauce. Next time, I'll make more if I am using a tray like this.
Also, I used the mandoline to slice the eggplant and potatoes into 1/4 in slices. While it is fine for the potato, I think it may be a bit thin for the eggplant since it shrunk and was too thin.
It was nice in that it made 8 solid servings!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9271, 2014-11-18_192009
Monday, November 17, 2014, 07:15 PM
My quest for a cilantro stir-fry sauce continues. This time, I used a low fat and calories (70 cal/ 0.25 cup) cilantro dressing from Trader Joes. I mixed 1/2 cup dressing with 2 Tbsp of the thin low-sodium Kikkoman Teriyaki. It was good but not what I was going for. Honestly, it kind of tasted like a slightly cilantro lite italian dressing.
The actual stir-fry was
It was certainly a good and fast meal. I will keep playing with sauces
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9262, 2014-11-17_191542
Sunday, November 16, 2014, 05:35 PM
I was craving Pho but I didn't want to go out and get it and I didn't want to go crazy like last time. Instead, I tried to make an easier version at home.
I made one gallon using mostly the seasonings from last time (just the first addition). And, instead of making stock, I used light Better Than Bouillon (I usually go heavy. It calls for 1tsp/cup or 4 tsp/qt and I go heavy. This time, I used 3tsp=1Tbsp/qt).
Also, instead of all rice noodles, we used mostly spiralized kohlrabi. Once it softened, it was pretty good!
It worked out well but could be improved as I note below. I liked the fully developed flavor and it certainly tasted like mediocre pho. Not as good as the real thing, but honestly not bad either! And I think with my noted changes to be made next time it will be even better!
We also used the opportunity to poach chicken to shred for later in the week and some for the soup
Here are the ingredients I used this time with notes on what to change for next time (especially the black pepper). This really came together quickly! And it was pretty good.
In the broiler, char onions and ginger. Note that the ginger may need more time. Add to the broth when finished.
Make l stock out of the water and Better Than Bouillon or use purchased stock. Note that this represents a 1 Tbsp (3 tsp) to 4 cups (1 qt) ratio as opposed to what is called for.
Toast the whole spices (anise through fennel seeds) in a pan until aromatic. Add to the broth. Add the salt, sugar and cardamom.
Bring to a simmer. Add chicken and poach chicken for 13-18 minutes or until it has reached 160. Remove chicken and allow the soup to continue to simmer, covered, for an hour or so. Strain and serve
Serve with normal Pho things
The biggest thing is to cut the pepper as noted. The soup had a very strong pepper spice that kind of burned! Also, I will reduce the cinnamon and the star anise.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9258, 2014-11-16_173553
Saturday, November 15, 2014, 06:10 PM
Meredith and I had company over so we decided that it would be a good idea to make a few things that we like and know would be good but still kind of special.
We made three things we've had before. We made cilantro egg drop soup (w/o meat) and with less oil and nothing special on the croutons. For the meal we made our now-standard-but-intense Beef Bourguignon (with less meat and olive oil instead of butter) and we made zucchini noodles asian peanut sauce.. It came out a bit watery but it was still good. We also served bread.
The meal was pretty good. It took a bit too long making it and made our friends wait a bit but we were only a few minutes late. The meal was a success though.
This page was converted from Wordpress with a custom script by Justin Winokur. Most links and images should still work. However, if any links are broken, see the HTML (or Markdown) source to try to deduce the intended destination.
Original WP Post ID: 9240
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-11-15_181000