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KitchenKatalog: Blog 311
Sunday, May 20, 2012, 07:15 AM
This was not a very successful meal. My goal was to make a good (but small) steak and some roasted beets. I let the beets roast for a while, maybe 40 minutes at 450. That may have been too much, but was going well. Then I tried to cook the steak like I did before. I bought a small (8 oz) NY strip steak. I put it on a really, really, really hot cast iron pan. It started pumping the apartment with smoke, but I kept going. Then, I threw it into the oven after the flip. This pumped the oven full of smoke, but also added a lot of heat to the oven, and being that the pan was very hot, it probably added a lot of radiant heat.
Well, in the time it was in the oven, the steak got a bit overcooked, but the beets BURNED. They tasted awful. Even the ones that were less burned tasted like smoke, The steak was okay, but a bit overcooked and not all that good (even though I let it sit to reabsorb juices, etc). Also, the apartment had a 4 foot visibility from the smoke. Once it started smoking, I took off the fire alarm so that was one less thing to worry about.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1982, 2012-05-20_071530
Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 07:09 AM
The meatballs were very good and very tasty. The sauce may have cooked down a bit too much to the point that is was really just goop. But, it was still rather good.
I tried something slightly different with the zucchini. Before I grated them, I grated half an onion. Well, that made onion mush with LOTS OF WATER. I had to drain it as best I could and I still struggled to get all the water out. This may also be why I had so much trouble pressing the water out of the zucchini. Despite spending a day in the fridge with lots of weight on the pans, I had to put in new towels and stand on the pans to really get the water out. I may try my Dad's suggestion next time which is to use dried, minced onions. THey will absorb the water!
I made the meatballs based on the recipe below. The major changes I made was to use extra lean beef (and less, 2/3 lbs), egg beaters, no garlic and finally to bake the meatballs (375 for 25 min). For the sauce, the only change I made was less oil and I replaced half of the brown sugar with Splenda. That saved about 8 points plus. I realized as I was making this that the points would climb so I actually calculated them. The entire meal (half of what I made) was 17 points plus. I guess that isn't awful compared to what I would get if I ate out, but it was a bit more than I think I want (not that I have been budgeting).
Meatballs:
Beef...10.5
Bread crumbs ...2
Egg Beater...0.5
Brown Sugar (halved)...8
Ketchup...7
Fritters
Egg...1
Flour...6
So, the entire meal was 34 but I made dinner and lunch so 17
Sweet and Sour Meatballs (From Food.com)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1973, 2012-05-16_070920
Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 09:40 PM
This is based on the recipe below. I pressure cooked some chicken breasts and shredded it instead of using rotisserie (obviously, much less chicken). Also, since I pressure cooked it, I used the broth from that instead of chicken broth (well, this is more real chicken broth). I skipped the olive and the lemon juice. Instead of couscous, I used quinoa (and again, less of it). I cooked the quinoa with chicken broth (not from the pressure cooker). I used the orange juice in the quinoa but skipped the lemon in the chicken.
Overall, I liked the meal a lot but there wasn't really any new flavors. It kind of reminded me of most other tomato-like meals. Though, I let it cook to be pretty dry which was different. Again, like yesterday, it had chickpeas which I am getting kind of tired of it now. So, good, but nothing too special.
**Mediterranean Chicken Stew with Cinnamon Couscous ** (from The Kitchn)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1968, 2012-05-15_214008
Monday, May 14, 2012, 09:39 PM
I used the recipe below to make this. I didn't have good mozzarella cheese so I just used grated, 2%. I also used toscano for the top. The arugula I used was a bit old and possibly pushing its lifetime. It worked pretty well. The dominant flavor was the balsamic vinegar but I still liked it. The chickpeas gave it some real protein too. Also, I used whole wheat penne (and less) instead of shells
I was in a hurry to I forgot to take a picture of my dinner serving, and then took a picture of the lunch version.
Pasta Shells With Chickpeas And Arugula (from Serious Eats)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1965, 2012-05-14_213902
Friday, May 11, 2012, 12:42 PM
This was based on the below recipe except we used the griddler to grill the chicken and then sliced it. We also added some sliced carrot to the cabbage part. Instead of Soba noodles, we used brown rice noodles (and 1/2 pound instead of 3/4). I also think we skipped the scallions but I may be wrong.
It was very good and I really enjoyed the peanut sauce, especially when we mixed it all with the cabbage. It made 4 servings (lunch!) so overall, I do not think the meal was too bad in calories either. We didn't have chicken for the lunch. ALso, we used olive oil and less
Peanut Noodles, Cabbage, And Chicken Salad (from Serious Eats)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1959, 2012-05-11_124242
Friday, May 11, 2012, 12:37 PM
This was supposed to be like taco cupcakes, again using the basis of the taco stew as the filling. However, I accidentally added fajita seasonings instead of taco. It was different. Not bad, but different. THe filling was beef, a lot of onion,zucchini, seasonings, salsa (key ingredient) and some corn. I forgot the black beans until I was assembling,
To assemble, we put a layer of wonton wrapper down, then some beef, some cheese, another wrapper, more beef and more cheese. We put a bit too much beef into the first layer so they two wrappers didn't totally meld together. Still, most held their shape.
While it would have been better had I used the correct seasoning, I still liked them a lot. I also really like using the wonton wrappers since it gives a nice crunch and a nice texture
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1955, 2012-05-11_123717
Friday, May 11, 2012, 12:29 PM
This was supposed to be the standard Posole, but we did a lot differently. First of all, we forgot to buy peppers. So, the only peppers in here were a bunch of pickled jalapeños. We _didn't _use chipotles so there was no smokiness (A good thing, I think). Also we used canned tomatillos. And, since I didn't want to only use half of a can, We had more than double the amount. We used fresh cilantro but dried parsley. I also added all kinds of spices including some hot (not smoked) paprika and some crushed red pepper
I do not recall what. if any, other changes I made, but it was very good as usual. Maybe even better. A bit spicy.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1950, 2012-05-11_122903
Friday, May 11, 2012, 12:15 PM
Grilled extra lean hotdogs and corn. I have never grilled corn still in the husks, but it was very good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1937, 2012-05-11_121517