We had GLORIOUS weather this weekend - I spent most of both days outdoors planting, transplanting, weeding and admiring my handiwork. All of the kitties (three of them, strictly indoors) also got a brief trip outside (lap only, no actual freedom) to enjoy a little sun while getting their claws clipped. They loved every second of it!
Anyway, crudités and stuffed mushroom casserole was WFD - an improvised dish that ended up being delicious! Based on one of my favorite stuffed mushrooms recipes, basically I just made the filling (minced mushroom innards, sausage, onion, garlic, herbs, white wine, cheese) with double the normal amount of mushrooms and added a couple of eggs to bind, then topped with extra cheese and baked. Fantastic. Next time I would probably add a little extra wine and maybe some ricotta to moisten, as the egg dried things out a bit, but this will definitely be a repeat. When I make this as stuffed mushrooms I usually use breakfast sausage, but today I used hot Italian links and they were also excellent.
Last night’s dinner, but putting it here. Freezer meal of homemade hot and sour soup, with the additions of shrimp, and frozen peas + TJ’s soycutash, as well as frozen dumplings (Costco) Totally hit the spot after a busy day in the yard. Happy May & spring!
Beautiful May day on the So. Oregon coast, not really soup weather but when I saw this on IG it screamed spring. White Beans in a Parm Broth with Peas, Asparagus, and Lemon. Romaine wedge with creamy Greek dressing, kalamata olives, orange pepper and peperoncini.
FYI Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy season 2 is on cnn tonight. 9:00 pdt.
Shrimp and veggie tempura, an annual spring treat during asparagus season prepared by DH. Typically, he’d go with an extra-jumbo shrimp, but we had some 26-30’s to use up and he rolled with it. Veg included garden asparagus, and carrot and onion.
Served with steamed rice and homemade, soy-based dipping sauce.
Got my very first wok (yes, it took me this long!), seasoned her up, and took her out for a spin tonight. Pad Kra Pow again. Had a little trouble with the eggs sticking, but otherwise all went swimmingly. Added green beans this time, on a tip from Kenji (I also got his The Wok book). Lots of thai chilies in this and the accompanying nam pla prik. Such a great, simple, and flavorful dish.
Completely inauthentic chicken taco recipe with homemade flour tortillas (no tortilla press, so they are a bit misshaped). Chicken breast rubbed with a mix of hot paprika, paprika and oregano and seared in a pan for a few minutes. Afterwards used the same pan to cook some green cabbage and cauliflower. Served together as the taco filling and topped with a kohlrabi-jalapeno-cilantro “salsa“
I made a Vietnamese-ish slaw/salad loosely based on this recipe. I followed the dressing pretty closely (but subbed Lakanto for sugar and chili-garlic sauce for the chilies). My veg were CSA spring lettuces, shaved fennel bulb, cucumber, carrot, CSA radish, and jalapeno. Tossed in some shredded chicken breast poached in pho-seasoned broth earlier today. Topped with mint, chives, crispy shallots, and chopped peanuts.
Old school tacos with leftover Peruvian chicken, Tillamook cheddar and garden greens. Choice of tabasco, sriracha mayo and garlic-lime crema for sauce. The last of some homemade refries from the freezer. Leftover Peruvian rice.
Seared and roasted chicken thigh with aji verde, roasted potatoes, onions, garlic and piquillo peppers, street corn. Mixed greens salad, jicama, tomatoes and green onion with sherry vinegar/oo dressing. A G&T.
The BF made Mongolian Beef - his first time cooking with a wok too! Tasted as good as any we’ve had in a restaurant. Stir-fried veggies in basically the same sauce were great too. I found a recipe for daikon rounds, with butter, garlic and soy, but unfortunately he burned those a bit. Still, winner of a dinner!
Only to then have me scream like a lunatic banshee at him for cleaning the wok with the chainmail scrubber we use on the CI pan. AAAACKKKK!! i immediately dried it over the burner and rubbed flaxseed oil into it, then wiped it clean. but I may have to re-season it. oh well, i guess he can’t be perfect ALL of the time…
Chicken Piccata was requested. While I was tempted to add hot cherry peppers (rendering this to my spicy “Chicken Piccata-ish”), I stayed traditional. Delicious.
Marcella Hagen’s Bolognese over rigatoni - Mr Bean’s pasta of choice. Served with caponata made with Asian eggplant because that was what I needed to use up and a chopped salad.
The sauce was part of a batch a made a while ago with probably close to 4 pounds of meat. I like to make a large batch when I make Bolognese and freeze portions to have it on hand.