Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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KitchenKatalog: Blog 254
Tuesday, September 09, 2014, 06:00 PM
The original plan was to make sloppy joes but we decided on tacos instead. I used 1 lbs of extra lean beef and added half a medium head of cauliflower roughly chopped. The idea was the expand the amount we would get. Since there was more to the "beef" mixture, I used a bit more water with the taco seasoning and added all kinds of spices such as:
The cauliflower worked well to bulk up and extend the meal. Thus it also ended up being only 1/4 lbs of beef per person.
We still had another half of the cauliflower so, to continue my obsession, I stir-fried it with some sliced bell peppers. I simple used salt and Penzy's Chinese FiveSpice. The spices were interesting. Almost a little sweetness but also well rounded. (I bet it would be good on popcorn)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8834, 2014-09-09_180018
Monday, September 08, 2014, 11:00 PM
We made Bahn Mi sandwiches There wasn't too much to them. Meredith made mushroom pate the day before. We pressed firm-tofu and then pan fried it. The first batch used a lot of oil but I then just used pam after that. It took a more careful watch but honestly, the results with pam were nicer than with the oil. We then brought all the tofu together and put some Kikkoman low sodium Teriyaki and tossed it to combine.
We thin sliced some cucumbers and added some jalapeño and cilantro. We were going to used some picked carrots but they were super old and we didn't trust them. The bread was stale since we pushed off this meal but the flavors were mostly there. It could have used the carrots,
We also ate leftover Miang Kham (one bite salad) but without the leaves. We just assembled it on a spoon.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8830, 2014-09-08_230028
Monday, September 08, 2014, 01:10 PM
I was looking for a quick lunch and I wanted to use up some rotisserie chicken I had left. Of course, continuing my stir-fry kick, I decided to make something with it.
I stir-fried half an onion and a few small bell peppers in 1Tbsp of oil. I did actually measure it so I knew what I was using. I let them stir-fry for a little while until mostly cooked and had some charring. I also added a bit of garlic powder at this point. Side note: I am getting better. I do not use water and I can get a nice char on the veggies. I think the trick is heat on 8/10 (medium high) instead of a full heat; patience; and alternating 20-40 seconds sitting still and continual tossing/mixing. Oh, and not overcrowding the pan. Use batches if needed.
Anyway, meanwhile, I made 1/2 cup of chicken broth (from Better Than Bullion) and added it it a bunch of Emril's Cajun Seasoning. I am not sure how much I used. I then added 1 Tbsp of corn starch. When the veggies were done, I added the broth and let it bubble and thicken (was very fast). Finally, I added about 6 oz of rotisserie chicken (skin removed, mostly white meat) and tossed to combine. Finally, I garnished it with a good bit of cilantro (which was really good with the rest). The sauce was fine. Nice and thick which I liked for coating and the whole thing was pretty good!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8787, 2014-09-08_131023
Sunday, September 07, 2014, 03:55 PM
Meredith made this so I really can't add too much. I think she basically followed the directions. The idea is you take a bit of everything and roll it into a leaf and eat it in one bite
we bought leaves that looked like the cha-phlu (aka piper sarmentosum). However the first night we had it, I thought they tasted strange and instead skipped the leaf. Meredith didn't mind and tried it the again the next day. What was a bad tasting lead the first day turned into a horrible, gross taste the next.
Turns out, we bought Betel leaves, a major ingredient in Paan, a drug used like tobacco in Asia. To quote the linked Wikipedia article
Betel leaves are used as a stimulant, an antiseptic and a breath-freshener. Betel quid with tobacco is strongly carcinogenic
Thankfully we (a) ate very little and (b) didn't mix it with anything.
So next time, we will find the right leaves or use something else. Serious Eats used chinese broccoli
Miang Kham (Thai One Bite Salad) (From Simple Thai Food via Serious Eats)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8819, 2014-09-07_155509
Saturday, September 06, 2014, 09:55 PM
Meredith and I made a quick meal for dinner. It was eggplant in garlic sauce and crab with butter. The crab was already peeled. It was the same crab we used earlier.
The eggplant in garlic sauce was because we were looking for a quick and easy side dish. Plus, I wanted to keep playing with stir-fries. We didn't have chinese eggplant so we used regular. Also, as per the recipe (linked below), we did it in two batches. I think one of the batches was more cooked than the other. And using the regular eggplant had a bit thicker skin. I wouldn't plan to use it again, but it was a fine substitute. Otherwise, we stayed pretty true to the recipe except more garlic. A lot of other recipes call for black vinegar but this one didn't (and we couldn't find it anyway).
Szechwan Eggplant Stir-Fry (from Food Network /Tyler Florence)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8781, 2014-09-06_215558
Saturday, September 06, 2014, 10:00 AM
This was a quick meal Meredith threw together. We put cilantro (coriander) chutney on an english muffin, a little bit of crab, and then a poached egg. Meredith poached the eggs separately for 3 minutes and then quickly reheated in the water before topping them.
The crab was either real crab or incredible good imitation crab. It was a good deal so we bought a lot to use for meals.
Meredith also made iced Matcha lattes
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8784, 2014-09-06_100015
Friday, September 05, 2014, 10:50 PM
Meredith had suggested we make something with a lot of Thai basil since she wanted to take hers out of the garden soon. She came across a recipe for Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) and we decided to use it with zucchini ribbons instead of noodles. The recipe is linked below and I stayed pretty true to it. The biggest changes (besides the noodles) were
I had everything prepped so it was pretty easy. I first started the garlic and shallots on medium high heat instead of the highest. I had experimented with something before and the garlic just burned immediately so I wanted a lower heat. I then added the pound of ground (lean, free range, organic) chicken. I am not sure why it got so liquidly but I had to drain the liquid from the a few times.
The recipe said to push the chicken aside but I removed it and did the veggies (w/o the zucchini). Once they were done (took some time), I combined the chicken, veggies and sauce and tossed with heat until it was well incorporated and boiling.
I followed the recipe and added the "noodles" (zucchini ribbons cut about 8 inches) and then mixed. This was a small mistake as it ended up cooking down the zucchini a bit too much. It had a good texture but no bulk. Next time, I will do the basil but not mix with zucchini until it is served so they warm but not get cooked. I did like using the ribbons. They had a cool look and a nice texture.
Anyway, the meal was actually really good! You could really taste the brightness of the fresh lime juice with the salty and savoriness of the oyster sauce and fish sauce. Cooking it nearly killed us as the Thai peppers made breathing really painful but the final dish had a nice but nowhere near overpowering spice.
I made three portions. We ate two and 1 is leftovers. Also, we served it with a Thai beer brand
Pad Kee Mao (Chicken Drunken Noodles) (from CHOW)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8772, 2014-09-05_225012
Wednesday, September 03, 2014, 07:50 PM
At lunch, I was looking to make some cauliflower but I didn't want to heat the whole house by roasting for nearly at hour at a high temp so I decided to stir-fry it. In the past, I had used a bit of water to kind of steam the broccoli but for this cauliflower, I decided to just use a tiny amount of oil and let sit for a time to really get that crisp. I tossed the cauliflower in a bit of oil and then curry powder and salt. I put a thin layer of oil on the wok and, at high heat, stir-fried it. It came out pretty good. Maybe a bit oily but certainly not bad.
I repeated the same idea for me and Meredith for dinner. This time, I had more cauliflower plus an onion and some bell peppers. Also, instead of curry powder, I used the Indian spice blend made for me by my Indian friend's mom. I used that with smoked salt and it also came out really flavorful. Again, maybe a tad too much oil. Finally for dinner, we also had over-medium fried eggs on english muffins with "Coriander Chutney".
I think I am just starting to get a hang on stir-frying veggies. The trick is patience, letting them sit for a bit, and not overcrowding the wok. Also, as I discovered later (not for this meal), sometimes a medium-high heat is better.
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Original WP Post ID: 8765
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-09-03_195021