It truly has been that cold!
Thanks for the reminder, lasagna or pasta bake of some sort has been floating in my head but I’m off dairy for a while so should probably pick some up. I’ll let you know if I notice any texture changes.
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I meant me having wine. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Friday or a Tuesday. 
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Sorta-kinda football food. Country-style pork ribs covered with an often used pork rub, into a foil-lined pan and topped with slices of sweet onion, covered tightly with foil and baked in a 325° oven for about 1-1/2 hours. Foil removed, some Trader Joe’s Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce was poured on top at that point and back into a 400° oven for another 15-25 minutes.
Sides were totally non-traditional - but it IS January, so cole slaw and potato salad just didn’t seem right. Egg noodles and sauteed green beans, red bell pepper, slivers of red onion and a couple of yellow sweet baby tomatoes were sauteed in butter and olive oil, and seasoned with Penzeys Fox Point Seasoning.
Wine. And probably some Licor 43 as “dessert” while watching the game. GO PATRIOTS!!!
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Snow day Saturday clam and smoked oyster chowder for dinner last night. I think it was the first time I’ve had oysters and was a nice introduction, they were pretty tasty, reminded me of mussels. I tolerated the cauliflower which is a huge win for me after weeks of stomach issues.
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Dinner was street food.
The very wet paste is just rice.
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More of the stall.
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I like making photos of people making photos of their food.
At another stall.
I will always go for shellfish and octopus first.
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The stall.
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Cleaning out some leftovers. “Everything rice” with avocado. Everyone had it a bit different. The kid ate it with nori sheets. I had a leftover fried egg. Third one was with leftover poached chicken. Everyone added their own fish sauce, sriracha, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, fried chilis, etc. This rice started with fried shallots, carrots, salt/pepper, palm sugar, shrimp paste. Then I toasted the medium-grain rice in that for a couple minutes. Then half coconut milk, half water for the cooking liquid. Aromatics are red chili and cilantro stems (discarded after cooking.) Finished with lime juice, defrosted peas, and finally chopped cilantro.
Crispy burnt bits are only for me, something about the coconut milk/palm sugar/shrimp paste always makes these taste incredible. Worth the whole 10 minutes of elbow grease it takes to clean the pot.
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In my house we “fight” for the burnt bits. I soak the pot overnight, it’s easier to clean the next day.
So the Jax Jaguars are coming north next week. BRING IT ON! 
Dinner was just OK tonight. Buttermilk & herb-marinated chicken thighs which were then roasted (this was the OK part). Steamed broccoli alongside (this part sucked due to the herb-butter thingie I made - too salty).
So a pic of the Sleepytime Boyz is included.
There was wine. But I want chocolate.
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The last few days have been all about meat. I have made chorizo sausage, Jagerwurst sausage, broken down a packer’s cut brisket into the flat and point, and produced two batches of jerky.
I need to stock the freezer before I start cycle 11 on Tuesday, and needed some culinary challenges.
The jerky is for the son-in-law. First batch was an Alton Brown recipe and the second one is from a website called Jerkyholic. Really, jerkyholic. Batch 2 wins.
The two sausages were a way to use a whole pork butt. The chorizo is fabulous. I will make a typical Mexican egg breakfast dish with this. Half of it will go to my daughter’s house tomorrow. I will smoke the Jagerwurst tomorrow.
The point was smoked today. Standard Texas brisket rubbed with salt and pepper. I had planned to make some burnt ends, but it came out so well we just sliced it. Served with my daughter’s Mac & Cheese, a spinach salad that I made with spinach, pickled onions, goat cheese, toasted walnuts and dried cranberries. Finally, I made a huge number of biscuits. Many went home with daughter and son-in-law, but the extra one stayed here because, the Grand Scallion is having her first sleep-over!
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Those biscuits are correct.
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Just made a huge pot of hot sour soup
I do not follow any ratio when making this soup. Just follow my instinct.
Poach chicken breast, leave it in the broth for 30 minute, took it out and shredded the breast to be added later on. I then add to the broth wood ear, tiger lily bud ( presoaked and tied into knots, reconstituted dried mushroom which had been presoaked in a pot of hot water, cider vinegar, red hot pepper and white pepper to taste. When all these flavors melded, I add the shredded chicken breast back in, cubes of firm tofu, chinkiang black vinegar to taste, sesame oil and scrambled egg with a tablespoon of sweet potato starch so that the soup is a bit thicker. One last thing, before serving, I like to add shallot fried in sesame oil, then a splash of soy sauce which when added to the soup before seeing gives it a whiff of very nice aroma.
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That sounds incredible! And much more fancy that the simple one i made…the fried shallot at the end is a nice touch.
Aaannnd it’s back to really damned cold again. I made a quasi- italian soup yesterday afternoon with lots of garlic and onions and mushrooms and tomatoes (canned) and then green beans, kale and orzo plus a bunch of seasonings. I rarely use pasta of any sort in my soups. I made it mid afternoon and then let it sit and came back to rewarm a bowl for dinner.
The orzo sucked up ALL of the tasty broth!!
Like, zero broth visible at all. None. There was a LOT of broth so i was surprised and kinda mad about it. Meh. I added some veg stock and tomato puree and it became soup again but i am less than thrilled with it.
Probably not ever again using pasta in my soup. I’ll put the rest in my freezer for future emergency meals.
Tonight was back to an old favorite, the espinacas con garbanzos from SK. I use less oil, more spinach and skip the bread part cuz its fussy. I had it over some plain greek yogurt for a savory yogurt bowl. Mug of hot v8 to sip and stay warm (seriously, it’s delicious!)
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But pasta is so good in soup. Cook the pasta separately and add to the bowl, not the pot. I like ditalini or thin egg noodles.
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I had a hankering for Sicilian deep-dish pizza the other day, but have been a little less than thrilled with our go-to in Cambridge MA. The dough has seemed unusually gummy lately, so I figured I’d give it a try at home. I used both Serious Eats and Cooks Illustrated as loose guides with fairly decent results. The one thing I wasn’t thrilled with was the sauce. Kenji calls for a whole tablespoon of dried oregano and nine cloves of garlic to a 28 oz. can of tomatoes. Cooks illustrated calls for 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and three cloves of garlic. I was making a whole pizza and a half pizza, so I made 1 1/2 batches of sauce with six cloves of garlic and less than a teaspoon of oregano. The sauce was still too full of oregano, so I added more tomatoes and more garlic. Next time I’ll add a scant 1/2 teaspoon. I definitely prefer the garlicky, tomatoey sauce from the pizza joint. Otherwise, it was pretty good.
The large was cheese and the small sausage with cherry peppers on half. IMG_1806|700x525
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Wet, cold and miserable day. I had oak smoked mackerel with boiled potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Boring to some, perhaps. Shortly before the potatoes were done the sprouts went in then drained both things at the same time thus less washing up later.
Also, I didn’t win any Olympics medal on my Korea trip. I lost 1kg (a little more than 2 pounds) and the partner lost 2kg! I think it’s because of all the walking we did. The metro in Seoul is vast and deep, somewhat less in Busan but still. We always use the stairs when on holidays. And the stairs of Korean metro are deep and the lines are spread out. Anyway, the partner is already too lean (only 13% fat) so losing 2kg in less than 3 weeks is not a good thing.
Another simple dinner, in Seoul. Mixed dumplings and spicy seafood noodle soup.
The partner already ate half the plate, this was mine, plus half the soup.
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Jinxed myself! I guess I spoke too soon, cauliflower is a go but something else I ate over the weekend is a huge no. I might have to visit one of those dreaded doctors soon. Gosh, hate doctors!
Fortunately, I enjoyed a tasty dinner Sunday before I got sick. Instant pot “Mongolian” beef over oats. I’m loving experimenting with the instant pot. I enjoy it much more than a slow cooker because of the sauté function so everything doesn’t come out tasting flat. Plus it’s convenient to set it while I do other chores and food is ready. I’ve cooked so many meal prep items that my freezer is exploding so probably should put it away for a while.
For tonight, I wanted to cook something more elaborate than usual weekday fare but probably should just play it safe so I’ll have soup - Zuppa Toscana inspired without cream.
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Yeah, i know i know better too which is part of why i was so frustrated . I like quinoa or barley in soups just fine so i’ll prob just use those instead in the future since i haven’t had problems with them before
