Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 252
Wednesday, October 08, 2014, 08:45 PM
This was a quick and light meal. The fish was mahi mahi from Whole Foods in a coconut sauce. Not exactly sure what the sauce. But I used my regular seared salmon technique. The only thing is that the fish was still a bit frozen inside so it didn't fully cook at first. I ended up putting it in the oven with the broiler on for a bit longer.
I also sautéd some swiss-chard. Not much to say. I used the wok to make it easier. I first did the onion, then added the stems, and then the leaves. Topped it with a bit of salt and pepper
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8992, 2014-10-08_204541
Tuesday, October 07, 2014, 08:40 PM
I again made the balsamic stir-fry like last time. I actually followed the exact recipe. I used chopped but fresh broccoli (from Costco), some bell peppers and a few odds and ends in the fridge.
I made two batches with a pound of broccoli in both. That was about the right amount. I would say 1-1.25 lbs of veggies per batch.
For meat, I used cut-up rotisserie chicken. It was good and flavorful, but I want to try velveting some meat and using that next time (assuming I do not use seitan or something)
We topped it with culantro (similar to cilantro) and I liked that on top. I will start including that as a garnish.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8988, 2014-10-07_204025
Sunday, October 05, 2014, 11:05 AM
I made carrot-cake pancakes for breakfast. I used my regular recipe (which I have since made into its own page. Note that the spices are doubled). It came out really thick which made it tiresome to use on the non-stick. I actually tried one on the regular pans and they worked for the one side but then I burned the other. Still, I think that I do not have to just use non-stick. Maybe use extra cooking spray but should work otherwise.
I also made fake buttermilk with the recipe also on that page (from Joy The Baker). I used almond milk and coconut yogurt.
Finally, I baked bacon. It was a pound of center cut _bacon. According to the nutritional information, it should have only been about 75 calories (_cooked) per person. I used the oven and they came out nice and crispy.
I also served sliced pineapple
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8974, 2014-10-05_110501
Friday, October 03, 2014, 11:35 AM
I made breakfast for me, Meredith, and her parents. I made sausage sweet potato hash and crispy eggs.
I had defrosted some breakfast sausage patties and chopped then cooked them on the cast iron. Meanwhile, I chopped and par-cooked the sweet potatoes in the microwave. Once the sausage was finished, I took it out of the pan and added the sweet potatoes (2) and a diced onion plus a bit of oil. I let that cook with a mixture of tossing and then pressing. This was with the cast iron pan with medium (5/10) heat.
I salt and peppered to taste.
I saw this on Smitten Kitchen. I followed her procedure basically. I used a small cast iron pan (made for skillet cookies). Once it was very hot, I added a nice bit of oil and let it get near smoking. I the. Added the egg and slightly reduced the heat. As I did more, I got the technique down. I started to loosely cover with a big lid to help cook the tops. I found 2:30-2:45 was the right amount of time. It also helped that I first cracked the eggs into a small dish.
The Crispy Egg (from The Smitten Kitchen)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8970, 2014-10-03_113503
Thursday, October 02, 2014, 02:55 PM
I made a cauliflower casserole from this Kitchn recipe (and copied below).
I prepped it during the day and to then be cooked from the fridge later. I followed the recipe pretty closely with the following notes/changes:
Other than those changes, I stayed pretty true to the recipe
The final result was mediocre though everyone else seemed to like it. I should have given it more time in the oven (likely since it was from cold) and I should have steamed the cauliflower for longer since it was a bit undercooked. Also, it was extremely wet. So next time: more oven, more steam, more cooking down the sauce. The topping worked well enough.
Cauliflower & Sausage Casserole (from The Kitchn)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8958, 2014-10-02_145533
Thursday, October 02, 2014, 01:45 PM
I had been disappointed the last few times I tried to make balsamic broccoli (old recipe). It was never really good and often, mushy. But, since I have gotten a lot better at stir-frying and at understanding the right sauce proportions, I decided I would try again from scratch.
I also had come across packaged, cheap, non-fried, non-canned seitan in the asian market. So I decided to try with the chicken version (though both are also pictured below). The recipe is just for the sauce. It is very roughly inspired by this but mostly just my own playing
For the veggies, I used a large and a small head of broccoli and I trimmed it more than usual (I had a lot so I didn't need the extra bulk from the stalk). To that I added 2 jalapeños and 2 small/medium bell peppers.
This was probably the best attempt at making a balsamic stir-fry. To be improved upon in the future.
Combine all ingredients up to the red pepper. Beat/mix well. Add the canola oil to a hot wok and stir-fry the garlic until cooked and flavorful. Add to the rest of the sauce
Add whatever oil you want for the stir-fry and, once hot, add the vegetables. Let sit for 20-30 second to develop some char and then toss. Repeat a few times and then keep tossing to cook evenly. If there is a lot or it isn't cooking well, you can add a tiny bit of water and then keep tossing while that steams out but try to avoid if possible.
When fully cooked, add the sauce and stir to combine. Keep stirring until it is bubbling and thickens. About 1 minute.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8950, 2014-10-02_134546
Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 10:00 PM
This was a thrown together meal using beans and stuff we made earlier in the week.
We basically took the frijoles a la Chara thing we made (see below) and poached eggs in it. Actually, the beans were burning to the bottom of the pan badly so we also used the broiler to help cook the eggs. We served them with warm, whole-wheat tortillas. This was really good with lots of flavor. I liked the bean stuff!
And we made shishito peppers with that linked method. For the dip, I took some low-fat mayo and added white miso paste and garlic powder.
We made this earlier in the week with no real plan on how to use it but figured it would be good to have.
We first made the beans with the recipe below. The only real change was that we used fresh poblanos instead of jalapeños but did use jalapeño brine.The beans cooked this way needed a bit more salt but juice was super flavorful.
Then we made the frijoles a la Charra also with the recipe below staying pretty true to it (with canned tomato) and opting_not_ to blend it. So we just added all of the beans and let it cook. The only change was that we only used two (thick!) slices of black forrest bacon and cut smaller. It worked very well in the above meal!
Jalapeno Pinto Beans (from Homesick Texan by lisa Fain)
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Frijoles a la Charra (from Homesick Texan by lisa Fain)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8920, 2014-09-30_220024
Monday, September 29, 2014, 09:55 PM
We made two different things. We made Vietnamese Cauliflower Wings and [Pescatarian]Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) with zucchini noodles.
We followed the same recipe as last time except we used a vegan oyster sauce and the Thai Seitan. I also followed my own updated advice and didn't mix the noodles until they were well off the heat. The thai basil was from Meredith's garden. It had lost a lot of its color but still had most of the flavor. Also, instead of a jalapeño, I cut up a few peppers we picked at a farm that day. Actually, we think they may have been red jalapeños. I also just put them in the stir-fry as opposed to on top.
The final product was ok. Not as good as last time. I think it was just incredibly salty from the saltiness of the seitan. And the lime flavor shown through more than last time. Still not bad; just not as good as last time.
This was a bit more work. We had heard a lot about Ike's Wings from PokPok. But we had really no interest in making wings. So we did it with cauliflower instead.
The cauliflower was based on Buffalo Cauliflower.We added a Tbsp of corn starch to the batter and a tsp of fish sauce. I think Meredith may have added a bit more water too. She did the dipping and did a nice job just coating the cauliflower.
For the sauce, I used the basic idea of the recipe but since we didn't need any to marinade, I cut it in half. I even did the thing with the garlic! To make superfine sugar, I used the food processor to grind it into powder.
I simmered the sauce for a tiny bit to thicken and caramelize it. Then, we tossed it with the cauliflower and put it back in the oven
The parts that ended up crisped on the bottom of the pan were the best but the whole thing was good. Maybe a bit salty. Thankfully, the (insane amount of) sugar helped balance the fish-sauce.
Ike's Vietnamese Fish-Sauce Wings (from PokPok by Andy Ricker, page 250-251)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8913, 2014-09-29_215539