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Home > 311
KitchenKatalog: Blog 311
Monday, June 18, 2012, 11:36 AM
I made Mousakka though I accidentally deleted the picture. This was supposed to be dinner last night, lunch today and then two freezer portions. However, two things happened. The first is that it took WAY TOO LONG to make. I forgot how time and work intensive this meal is. Second, I misread the recipe and did too much onion, then I added a bit more beef than usual (I usually do 4/3 of a pound, but did a bit extra). I knew right away it was making a lot when it filled my pan and I had to move it to my new dutch oven. I also used the mandolin to slide the eggplant and potatoes. I had way too much eggplant and I misjudged the potatoes. So, I made two dishes worth (about 7 servings). I decided to 1.5 the seasonings given the extra size of it all. I was not able to do a very thick second beef layer, but that is fine.
It came out pretty good as usual. Such a good, and low point meal!
Oh, I also cut the eggplant length wise which made for an easier time lining the pan. And I gave them a really good broiling!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2027, 2012-06-18_113659
Sunday, June 17, 2012, 10:06 PM
I was making Moussaka but it took way too long and I didn't want to wait. So I am having that tomorrow (see that post). So, then I wanted to go to a meal I planned later in the week from Serious Eats (I will come back and link to my own page of it later), but I apparently didn't have tuna. So, here is what I did: I took pasta (the Plus kind that is multi-grain and extra protein). While it was cooking, I took some olive oil and a heaping scoop of whole grain mustard and put it in the pan. I then added some fire roasted green peppers and then a scoop of hoagie spread. Finally, I added a wedge of laughing cow cheese. I added the pasta to the pan (a trick to get better flavor). Then, I added a bit of the pasta water I reserved (another trick to coat it). Finally some black pepper!
It was actually pretty good. Had a nice bit of spice. I do not know if it was from the hoagie spread or what, but it was good. I would definitely make it again. It would have been even better with the tuna.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2024, 2012-06-17_220655
Friday, June 15, 2012, 09:48 PM
I made zucchini fritters at least starting out with the original recipe. It was actually a bit thick before I added anything else, but then I remembered the baking powder. Except, I accidentally added corn starch. That made it even thicker! I think I may have used a bit too much flour. It was a little bit more like pancake batter. As I said, it was thick before but it made very few despite using two whole zucchinis.
I also made a small side of pasta (using the "plus" kind that is whole grain and more protein). I added some cheese, butter spray and lots of Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle. It was also pretty good!
I could have stretched it to two meals but since I didn't need lunch the next day and since the fritters are low, I just did it as one.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2014, 2012-06-15_214832
Friday, June 15, 2012, 09:48 PM
The main part of this meal was the chicken which I used with magic rub (recipe below). I tried to follow the recipe pretty closely but I had to make some changes. I didn't have kosher salt so I used half as much and just used regular. I also ran out of chili powder so I improvised. Also, I used mostly hot (but not smoked) paprika. The recipe called for doing it with pork but I used pounded out chicken.
On the note of pounded chicken, I found the easiest way to do it. I vacuum sealed the chicken and did it in there. No mess and it worked really well. Plus, I was able to reuse the bag to freeze the other pieces I wasn't using.
The chicken was pretty good. Nothing amazing, Despite cooking it on the hot pan, it didn't quite caramelize as much as I had hoped. I used the thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken, and I think I took it off at the exact right time. It wasn't overcooked or anything. The spices were a bit too heavy on cumin but not all together bad.
I also heated a pre-made peas and lentil thing as a side dish.
Magic Dust (From Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2017, 2012-06-15_214848
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 03:13 PM
This was my first meal I cooked in my new apartment. I also got to use two new kitchen toys. FIrst, I made the hamburgers with lots of seasonings including a tiny bit of nutmeg, some garlic powder, minced onion, and others. Then I used my new cast iron grill pan. It worked pretty well! I decided to have them open face (each patty was about 3 oz)
I cut the fries with my new mandoline. It was so easy! Much better than the old one or doing it by hand. I sprinkled them with olive oil, then salt+pepper and baked them at 400 for 35 min. Despite rotating the trays halfway through cooking, one set got more cooked than the other. Oh well.
I made two servings of both potatoes and burgers and took the second for lunch.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2008, 2012-06-14_151356
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 07:16 AM
I attempted to make the pretty standard taquitos included shredded chicken. About the only other change was that I accidentally added way too much salsa. Plus, it was medium instead of hot salsa. It added a good amount of tomatoes which was nice. In addition to onion, I used a red pepper, some chopped mushrooms, and carrot slices (hey, why not add nutrients). We didn't have enough tortillas so I put the remaining filling into the glass bowls, topped them with cheese, and baked them too.
I think it has been better before, but this was still pretty good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1999, 2012-05-30_071609
Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 07:15 AM
We were going to order in, but decided to save the time, money, and calories. Plus, this got rid of more stuff in the pantry. I basically cooked whole wheat shells (about6 oz or three servings). Then I added a can of 97% fat free condensed chicken soup, a can of black beans, a can of tuna, and some steamed broccoli. Then I added a bunch of spices, some grated low fat cheese and salt. Stirred it up and made this. It was alright. A bit strange I guess and not overly flavorful but it got the job done.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1996, 2012-05-29_071541
Monday, May 28, 2012, 12:06 AM
I had to use some frozen calamari I bought a while ago. The calamari was pretty gross. It was the whole tubes and the tentacles. I persevered and made a nice stir fry. I used scissors (my meat cutting tool of choice) to cut the tubes into rings and I kept the tentacles as is. Then I sautéd onions and peppers. I added the calamari and a bunch of garlic. I let it cook just until it seemed that they were all cooked. I wanted to avoid making them too rubbery. I then added rice (see 2012-05-01 for pressure cooking instructions). Then, I went a bit crazy with liquids. I added soy sauce, oyster sauce, a bunch of different hot sauces, sesame oil, rice vinegar and fish sauce.
Overall, it was actually pretty good. The tentacles still managed to give me the heebbie Jeebies, but I ate them anyway.
I also made rosted broccoli similar to here. It could have been cooked a bit more. I also made too much at 1.5 lbs. That is a lot of broccoli to eat all alone in one sitting.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1993, 2012-05-28_000645