Thank you! I am hoping to be able to post more often, brings me joy to read everyone’s plans and it is fun to be able to contribute.
I like this recipe as a jump off (though I always use cabbage, not lettuce, for garnish). I also tend to use whatever mix of dried mexican chiles I have available.
As for pelmeni; we buy them frozen from either a local spot called Euro Market (owned by the most lovely Bulgarian folks) or from Bell’s Market in NE Philly. I will ask my husband what brand we get, I let him tackle those shopping trips while I hang in the car because it gets ferocious in there around New Years and you can only get hip checked by so many Babushki before wanting to scream, lol.
I am eyeing up a pelmeni mold? tray? I am not sure how to describe it but if I can figure out a good recipe of my own, I will be very excited.
I bought a couple from Amazon after Kachka was COTM on Chowhound — one aluminum, smaller holes, the other plastic, larger holes. Recommend the metal one for sturdiness (though it may easily have been user error on my part on the plastic one).
You might try her recipe as a reference — I think it’s on Smitten, will check and link if I find it.
We have lots of holiday/winter break leftovers to address. My current plan for two adults and a less-picky-but-still-rather-choosey 6 1/2 year-old in Asheville, NC (not bothering assigning days as it never sticks):
Cooking for 3 in southwestern Ontario
Mon: leftover Beef Wellington, leftover fondant potatoes
Tue: Surimi enchiladas in a white sauce, roasted Delicata
Wed: leftover beef from New Year’s Day Wellington braised with mushrooms, tomatoes , wine and orzo, maybe Greek lentils aka Fakkes
Thu: I think it’s time for Chicken and Rice
Fri: probably Salmon, style to be determined (ginger soy halibut was a bit of a miss last Friday)
Sat: ribeye or t-bone
Sun: take-out to be determined!
I liked this a lot. I briefly marinated the tuna in a couple Tbsp of the sauce, broiled, and drizzled a little more over. The recipe makes a lot. I added a little splooge of wasabi paste to the marinade, too.
I would offer to lend you my nephew who ate us out of dry pasta given how many rounds of Mac and cheese he requested (he also verbally reserved the leftovers each time lest anyone else get a notion they were up for grabs)
Lol! The monster mac and cheese weighs around 7 lbs. coming out of the oven and, by my count, has about 6000 calories. I divvy it up into 12 very generous portions, which we seem to be able to manage (you could easily get 18 or 24 out of it). I only reheat the amount we’re going to eat on any given night.
Still, we occasionaly end up eating leftover-leftover mac and cheese, such as this morning, when I chopped up what we couldn’t finish last night and baked it into a frittata.
Hello from Pasadena, CA, where the Rose Parade (and Bowl) crowds have dissipated, it’s somewhat sunny yet cool, the Christmas decorations are still up in our home, and I’m resolved to get through the pandemic stockpiles as I cook for two adults.
We finished the last of our NYE leftovers last night (Wed), and the holiday treats are gone, so starting fresh from a mostly empty fridge and a grocery trip later today.
(I’ve been on a soft food diet since mid-December, when I took out two molars thanks to an almond - so I’m mostly living on puréed soup, applesauce, overcooked pasta, and such; can’t wait to chew food again!)
Thur: Veggie burger, salad, put some beans in to soak overnight. (I’m having soup.)
Fri: Probably doctored-up frozen pizza from grocery, salad, bread pudding from freezer. (I’m having soup.)
Make minestrone soup.
Sat: Make quick focaccia and have that with the soup, plus salad and the bread pudding for dessert? (I’ll likely mush up my soup serving.)
Sun: Repeat with different dessert.
Mon: See above, but a late afternoon dental appointment will determine if I’m able to finally partake of the whole meal. If so, I may just have a ginormous salad.
Details on the pastitsio/Cinci chili dish, please? Are you just layering the pasta, chili, and bechamel? DH is from Ohio and whenever I make a batch of Skyline-style chili, we have waaaay too much left - this would be a great use for it!
Except I split the cooked pasta (rigatoni) in half and tossed one part with melted butter, pecorino, beaten egg, and black pepper. The other half I tossed with enough meat sauce to generously coat. Layered into pan: eggy/cheesy pasta, topped with meaty pasta, topped with a full layer of meat sauce, topped with Besamel (to which I also added some shredded pecorino). A sprinkle of pecorino over the top and baked about 40 min, broiled the top (but not close to the heating element).
Happy New Year! Winter is finally here. It snowed a little in early December then just before Christmas, and continuing over the holidays, it rained and rained and rained. And the temperature continued to be mild. The snow we got before Christmas has now washed away and it is looking a little more like April than December. It cooled down a little earlier this week so it is now -11 Celsius (I think that is in the low teens in Fahrenheit) but it feels really cold since I have become so accustomed to the warmer temperatures this year. There are no after work activities this week since it’s my first week back at work after a two week staycation but I am hoping to get some spring cleaning done on Saturday then an art gallery visit on Sunday. This week’s meals involve finishing up bits and bobs in the fridge.
Today: My take-out lunch today is a hot chicken sandwich with peas and fries. The fries are a little soggy but everything else is delicious. I will have a caesar salad for dinner.
Saturday: Cleaning out the kitchen cupboard that I was going to do over the Christmas holidays but it fell by the wayside. I try to do my spring cleaning during the winter when the weather isn’t so nice so time to get on it. I will get take-out for dinner.
Sunday: The Golden Globes are on! I so missed the awards season the last three years… I have a little cheese and olives left from NYE so I will finish it up and get some more bread and some kind of salad on the side to get my veggies in.
Monday: Shrimp salad.
Tuesday: Ramen to finish up some random veggies in the fridge.
Wednesday: The last chicken skewers from last summer’s Costco run, Greek salad on the side.
Thursday: My first screening with the film society for 2024! I will have dinner out beforehand.
Hi, all! Happy New Year! Back to cooking for 2 in Chattanooga. Actuals and next week’s plans:
Monday, January 1: Banana nut waffles for breakfast; roasted garlic-potato soup with arugula salad garnish, biscuits from the freezer
Tuesday: Pizza and trivia
Wednesday: DD’s last day here; whole-wheat crêpes flipped expertly by Mr. mbcraw4d and served with ricotta and seared cherry tomatoes.
Thursday: Korean takeout
Friday (today): Peanut butter-miso black-eyed peas (rather than chickpeas; I need to use up my Rancho Gorda supplies!); this is a complex and surprising dish with the usual many components that are typical of an Ottolenghi recipe.
Breakfast: Whole-wheat raisin and walnut rolls
Saturday: Maltese ricotta pie and orange/fennel/olive salad from Family. I also need to cook a giant bunch of farmer’s market collards.
Sunday: Baked ziti, collards, German apple slab pie
Monday/Tuesday: Scrounge
Wednesday: Chorizo chilaquiles, chopped salad
Thursday: Scrounge
Friday: Salmon skewers and mashed potatoes with leftover veg on the side.
Hope everyone’s getting back into the swing of things. Have a good week, and happy cooking!
The salmon skewers sound very good. Are you grilling them? Have you had any issues with the fish either sticking to the grill, or flaking apart on the grill (and if so, any tips?). I’ve grilled fish kebabs once - halibut - and it was succesful, but I’ve been too hesitant to try it with a nice piece of salmon (although I’m sure I would love the outcome if I could get over my fears).
— one aluminum, smaller holes, the other plastic, larger holes. Recommend the metal one for sturdiness (though it may easily have been user error on my part on the plastic one).
