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And of course there's this quick and easy option.
Didn't click on this sooner. Def one of my favorite YouTube cooking vids.
Supermarket a couple weeks ago had both the refrigerated Rana alfredo sauce and the shelf-stable jarred Rao's alfredo sauce on sale, so I got one of each. Tonight's dinner was chicken alfredo & pasta with the Rana sauce. The Rana sauce was only 11 oz, so I had to add a bit each of whole milk and salted starchy pasta water to have enough liquid, but the Rana sauce is pretty thick so thinning it worked well. This time I also shredded the chicken breast meat instead of the usual cubing it. Otherwise, I prepared it the same (baked instead of stovetop pan, extra spices & herbs, rotini instead of linguine, part-skim mozzarella & grated Parm) as I usually do and served it with garlic bread.
The Rana sauce is a definite step up from all the jarred alfredo sauces I've used previously, but it'd also be a bit pricey if I didn't catch it on sale and have a coupon for it. Still have to try the Rao's sauce to know which is best. I really need to learn to make alfredo sauce from scratch, but that'll require more planning than I normally do.
Leftover alfredo tomorrow, not sure what Tuesday's dinner will be.
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Just grilled hot dogs, baked beans, and potato chips for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow night, we're having Christmas Eve lasagna at my sister's house.
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It is regularly pasta night in my house, as tonight, though over the weekend I had made a batch of vegetarian chili, with my favourite yuppie lentils. Dessert was Australian lumberjack cake. (Apple and dates, with a broiled brown-sugar coconut topping. Needs to be watched more carefully than I did (alas!), at least with my oven that runs hot, but will probably add it to my recipe collection.)
I also made a batch of varenyky/pierogies for the next few days. I must roll out the dough thicker than my grandmother did, because I always end up with leftover filling, but this year I left it late enough that it will go into the pot for the stargazy pie that is on the verge of becoming my solstitial tradition. Doing a full Christmas Eve thing on my own is too much, but I do try to keep it meatless, and I can work in some of the other traditional things over the twelve days.
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Friday night Dad had fish baked in parchment, some hushpuppies, and a baked potato. (I skipped dinner because I sat down after cooking was done and fell asleep till 2am.)
Last night was just grilled cheeseburgers and chips.
Tonight Dad is going over to my brother's and his wife's place for dinner. I'm feeling less sociable than usual, so I'm staying home. I've got a birthday coupon for a free Hardee's Frisco cheeseburger, will get fries with it, and then finish researching a new external hard drive for my laptop.
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We did a roast dinner on Xmas day, and everybody lent a hand, which was lovely
* My wife did the roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings
* The kids did the stuffing and the veg (peas and Brussels sprouts)
* I did the roast chicken. First time I've done one, and it turned out very well, if I do say so myself, and also made a very nice soup for the day after
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Merry Christmas, joyous Yule, and happy New Year!
Wegman's largely did our Christmas dinner, but we did make homemade mashed potatoes and stuffing as grammy's recipe is a must.
Christmas eve my dad showed my nieces how to make gołąbki (stuffed cabbage leaves), which my mom, grandchild of Polish immigrants, taught my dad to do. A Polish food that probably most Poles don't eat on Christmas eve, but none of us like fish that much.
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Yay, people are here! (Which is something I never say in real life.)
Dad brought back extra smoked pork ribs, some corn on the cob, and cheesy potato casserole from Sunday dinner, so we both had that warmed up for dinner last night. Those ribs were soooo good. I really wish I had a smoker.
Tonight, I'm fixing slow-cooked (beef) chuck roast, Kenji's crispy potatoes, some porky blackeyed peas, and some dinner rolls. But first I need to clean out a bit of the fridge and do some dishes. And throw together an apple pie for Dad before I run out of juice.
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*drools; keyboard shorts out*
Dammit. Decades of technological advancement and I still regularly short out keyboards by drooling on them. Get on it, Silicon Valley!
Anyhoo...
Christmas dinner at Quibble Acres was a tenderloin from Omaha Steaks (a gift from my parents). I tried a reverse sear, roasting it at 300F for an hourish and then searing it in herb butter. It turned out amazing. I was in grave danger of meat-triggered coma.
Tonight I'm thinking some ginger-sesame chicken thighs with roasted broccoli and rice. Nothing too fancy.
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I had two amazing homemade cheeseburgers last night so good I dreamt about them afterwards.
Went to Wegman's today. Tomorrow will be chili, half ground beef and half chorizo. I can go easy on the cayenne, because the chorizo is already spicy.
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I had two amazing homemade cheeseburgers last night so good I dreamt about them afterwards.
What did you put on them? Tavern style or smashburger? These are important details.
I had cereal for dinner. I have no regrets.
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I had two amazing homemade cheeseburgers last night so good I dreamt about them afterwards.What did you put on them? Tavern style or smashburger? These are important details.
I had cereal for dinner. I have no regrets.
salt, pepper, liquid smoke, and Worcester sauce. Toasted bread with a lot of thick shredded cheddar on it went into the broiler for a few minutes. Lettuce and ketchup.
Heavenly.
Tuesday's dinner was good, though I probably should have made more of the potatoes. And I still haven't made the apple pie.
Was going to have tomato soup tonight because it's cold, but we're out of canned soup. So now I'm researching tomato soup recipes, because the canned soup isn't even that good. The difficult part is trying to winnow out all the "ooo, lets add that" possible ingredients that I really don't need. I just want a simple tomato recipe for good soup, not an elaborate production that takes dozens of ingredients and half a day (or more) to make.
Guess tonight's dinner will instead be a jar of Rao's chicken noodle* soup with a little extra chicken, chicken stock, and noodles added. And probably (cheddar) cheese toast with it.
* Because that's all picky Dad will eat: chicken noodle soup or tomato soup. No other types of soup. sigh
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I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
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scotch bonnet
I think I'd rather eat the entire stock of a Scottish millinery than eat a single Scotch bonnet pepper. My fire resistance doesn't go that high.
I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
If you'd forgive my ignorance and felt inclined to generously inform a clueless white girl, could you elaborate just a teeny bit on the significance of the meal?
I'm not entirely estranged from my family's ethnic food-ways inherited from our European roots, but it's been a near thing after outlasting years of pressure to fit in where I had no interest in doing so.
(Among other things, there's probably enough vampire, uh, Transylvanian (let's go with that) in my bloodline that I have an apparently baffling and shameful aversion to garlic. ;) )
I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
Not that this has anything to do with very much, but I can't see 'turkey neck' without 'Do The Crusher' playing in my head...
My wife also ate black-eyed peas (with brown rice) on New Year's Day.
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I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
If you'd forgive my ignorance and felt inclined to generously inform a clueless white girl, could you elaborate just a teeny bit on the significance of the meal?
I'm not entirely estranged from my family's ethnic food-ways inherited from our European roots, but it's been a near thing after outlasting years of pressure to fit in where I had no interest in doing so.
As a white Southern (U.S.) girl, Freehold's meal minus the hot pepper is almost identical to what my mom's mother used to traditionally fix for New Years Day, though she (and my mom) would fix the blackeyed peas with salt pork, smoked ham hock, or bacon instead of turkey neck, and the greens (mustard or collard) with pork and a good wack of garlic.
I think traditionally the blackeyed peas and rice, or hoppin john, and greens are supposed to be invoking good luck & new beginnings. Or something. That's what I was told when I was little.
Edit: Here's a video that explores the tradition: Tasting History: Hoppin' John for New Year's. (Warning: Tasting History with Max Miller is an addictive timesink, and you may find yourself spending hours watching his videos.)
And while sweet potatoes are tasty, a sweet potato pie is heavenly.
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I needed something easy for dinner tonight, so I popped in the oven the new (to us) brand of frozen pizza that just showed up at one of the local supermarkets last week. Now granted, I eat a lot of middling frozen pizza and national chain (also middling) pizzas, so my taste buds are calibrated on merely whelming pizza. But holy crap, this ItalPizza pizza is easily the best frozen or fresh I've had in at least a decade. We had the wood-fired pepperoni & smoked sausage pizza tonight. While the sausage, pepperoni, real mozzarella, and even the sauce were very good, the crust was amazing. It tasted like fresh crust from a traditional mom & pop pizzeria, light & airy inside with a delicate brickoven crisp outside. It's a bit on the small side, which is dangerous, because I could easily see me stuffing myself with an entire one of these pizzas.
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scotch bonnetI think I'd rather eat the entire stock of a Scottish millinery than eat a single Scotch bonnet pepper. My fire resistance doesn't go that high.
it is dropped into a pot with greens and fatback and a loooooot of water and cooked together.
Nice and spicy.
Someone who eats the pepper by accident is said to have good luck for the year.
I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
If you'd forgive my ignorance and felt inclined to generously inform a clueless white girl, could you elaborate just a teeny bit on the significance of the meal?
I'm not entirely estranged from my family's ethnic food-ways inherited from our European roots, but it's been a near thing after outlasting years of pressure to fit in where I had no interest in doing so.
(Among other things, there's probably enough
vampire, uh, Transylvanian (let's go with that) in my bloodline that I have an apparently baffling and shameful aversion to garlic. ;) )
this is a tradition going back to slavery in the US when black people were given/found/grew what was seen as "lesser" foods and food-adjacent items to eat. It turned out to be unexpectedly full of nutrients. Beans/peas are full of protein, greens are especially nutritious and the liquor is full of vitamins and minerals and has the flavor of everything it cooked in(including the pepper. Mmmmmmmmmmmm spicy and great on a cold day. Feel like you're coming down with something? You aren't anymore!!!!). Smoked meats were usually available in very very modest quantity and could be used to flavor an entire meal when larger portions were unavailable. Pork was also usually available in modest quantities, and sweet potatoes- a rare link to Africa- were also usually available/grown.
It is to be eaten on new years day for luck, and to remember history.
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I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
If you'd forgive my ignorance and felt inclined to generously inform a clueless white girl, could you elaborate just a teeny bit on the significance of the meal?
I'm not entirely estranged from my family's ethnic food-ways inherited from our European roots, but it's been a near thing after outlasting years of pressure to fit in where I had no interest in doing so.
As a white Southern (U.S.) girl, Freehold's meal minus the hot pepper is almost identical to what my mom's mother used to traditionally fix for New Years Day, though she (and my mom) would fix the blackeyed peas with salt pork, smoked ham hock, or bacon instead of turkey neck, and the greens (mustard or collard) with pork and a good wack of garlic.
I think traditionally the blackeyed peas and rice, or hoppin john, and greens are supposed to be invoking good luck & new beginnings. Or something. That's what I was told when I was little.
Edit: Here's a video that explores the tradition: Tasting History: Hoppin' John for New Year's. (Warning: Tasting History with Max Miller is an addictive timesink, and you may find yourself spending hours watching his videos.)
And while sweet potatoes are tasty, a sweet potato pie is heavenly.
ALL HAIL THE SECOND GREATEST COOK NAMED MAX
Hey-hey! Friday I also finally made Dad his very belated caramel apple pie. Other than the crust getting a little too overdone (darker than I preferred, but definitely not burnt), it came out fine. Dad was very happy though, and that's all that matters. I stupidly made myself a root beer float (lactose = bad, carbonation = bad) as a snack, and I paid for it later, but I clearly didn't learn a lesson as it still tempts me. It was sooooo good.
Tonight was nothing fancy: grilled chicken breasts (cut into cutlets, dry-brined, and seasoned with mushroom garlic seasoning), creamed spinach (from frozen), and garlic toast (also from frozen). Dad also had the last tiny bit of leftover roast potatoes and some applesauce, and I had the rest of the leftover butter & parmesan noodles (from a box).
There's enough leftover chicken and spinach for tomorrow's dinner, which is good. I've got to run across the county to check pets and then stop a couple places for groceries (and report on Transformers figure sightings), and Dad will be visiting my very sick cousin.
I'll deal with Tuesday's dinner another day.
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I have eaten the most important meal for black people on new years day- sweet potatoes, black eyed peas with turkey neck, mustard greens with a scotch bonnet and fatback, rice, and of course, a gigantic glazed ham.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2026
If you'd forgive my ignorance and felt inclined to generously inform a clueless white girl, could you elaborate just a teeny bit on the significance of the meal?
I'm not entirely estranged from my family's ethnic food-ways inherited from our European roots, but it's been a near thing after outlasting years of pressure to fit in where I had no interest in doing so.
(Among other things, there's probably enough
vampire, uh, Transylvanian (let's go with that) in my bloodline that I have an apparently baffling and shameful aversion to garlic. ;) )this is a tradition going back to slavery in the US when black people were given/found/grew what was seen as "lesser" foods and food-adjacent items to eat. It turned out to be unexpectedly full of nutrients. Beans/peas are full of protein, greens are especially nutritious and the liquor is full of vitamins and minerals and has the flavor of everything it cooked in(including the pepper. Mmmmmmmmmmmm spicy and great on a cold day. Feel like you're coming down with something? You aren't anymore!!!!). Smoked meats were usually available in very very modest quantity and could be used to flavor an entire meal when larger portions were unavailable. Pork was also usually available in modest quantities, and sweet potatoes- a rare link to Africa- were also usually available/grown.
It is to be eaten on new years day for luck, and to remember history.
Thanks to both you and Ambrosia Slaad! Good to know! :)
Nothing particularly traditional has been in the offing recently on my end: too isolated to feel inclined to do a full Ukrainian Christmas, in terms of both effort and quantity. Might do belated bits and pieces if I find the energy. DeathQuaker's mentioning gołąbki a few posts back offers an idea of what to do with the other half of a cabbage if I decide to make borshch.
Instead, this weekend's been a batch of Ants Climbing up a Tree, in a Taking 10, casual sort of way: some sort of packaged Sichuan stir-fry mix (close enough to the "chili crisp" that I gather was big a while back), proper doubanjiang, onion, ginger, cumin (not-a-vampire aversion to garlic), generous splash of soy, fried up with ground pork and noodles finished in a bit of broth, served over rice and with indifferent frozen mixed veg, which helps turn down the heat.
Also baked a batch of hybrid ginger snap / oatmeal raisin cookies that turned out fine, but a bit less zingy than I would have liked. Next time I'll have to use lighter molasses or add more spice, bearing in mind that the recipe is from the Prairies and a person who's probably about my age (?) but has an inexplicable fondness for the sorts of stuff that induces bemused reminiscences from my mum and her siblings and was already unfashionable in their youth.
Good to see people appreciating Tasting History.
it is my dream to have a Max vs Max Tasting History gladatorial battle.
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Tonight was steak fajitas, since there was a special on steak last time I was at the store. Just seasoned them with a combo of kosher salt, chili powder, cumin, and dried oregano, then grilled. While they rested I stir-fried up sliced bell pepper and yellow onion. Made some rice cooker rice. I've started adding a bit of lime juice and some dried cilantro to the rice at the very end, stirring it in a couple minutes before eating. It makes bland rice much more interesting.
And now I will lie on the couch like a bloated python, swaddled in soft blankies and meat bliss.
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There was beef stew when I got home.
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*drool*
My wife made stew this weekend and, since it is impossible to make stew in quantities smaller than "medium-sized Mongol Horde rations" I've been having left-over stew for lunch all week. Left-over stew is even better than just-made stew, IMO.
*sings happy little song about stew*
*drool*
My wife made stew this weekend and, since it is impossible to make stew in quantities smaller than "medium-sized Mongol Horde rations" I've been having left-over stew for lunch all week. Left-over stew is even better than just-made stew, IMO.
*sings happy little song about stew*
This is why I like beef stew. Don’t have to cook again for a couple days. Plus it gets better with re-heating.
I am thinking of making some beef bourgionon.
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*drool*
My wife made stew this weekend and, since it is impossible to make stew in quantities smaller than "medium-sized Mongol Horde rations" I've been having left-over stew for lunch all week. Left-over stew is even better than just-made stew, IMO.
*sings happy little song about stew*
Bambamada babambabamda bamabambamada babambabamda STEW-OO SPOOOOOON
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Dinner tonight was pizza soup. Mostly because I had suitable ingredients (including overripe tomatoes that had to be dealt with) and it's been a while, but also, sometimes chopping the heck out of a pile of vegetables is pleasantly cathartic.
Got a middling baguette to go with it at one of the supermarkets I rarely stop at because it was actually more or less on my way this evening, and of the usual places I might go A) the one was, conversely, inconvenient, and B) the other, though pleasingly more diverse/international in its stock, regrettably does not do fancier European bread. Great paranthas, though. (Oooh, maybe next time!)
I do also need 1) to get my knives sharpened and 2) to learn how to do it myself.
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Ooo, pizza soup. Like instead of a beef stock & onions base, make tomato soup with pizza seasonings, plonk your slice of buttered crusty baguette on top of the mini-crock bowl, add a dusting of parm and a hill of fresh shredded mozzarella, and broil! Genius!
{Italians and New Yorkers roll for psychic damage vs the horror of pizza soup}
Ooo, pizza soup. Like instead of a beef stock & onions base, make tomato soup with pizza seasonings, plonk your slice of buttered crusty baguette on top of the mini-crock bowl, add a dusting of parm and a hill of fresh shredded mozzarella, and broil! Genius!
{Italians and New Yorkers roll for psychic damage vs the horror of pizza soup}
That sounds like weird tomato soup.
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Isn't it great? ;)
We do both (beef stock and tomatoes, about 1:3 ratio) and of course onions!
Recently, inspired by xkcd, I have added trying out popular regionalisms from the land of my foremothers to my list of things to do eventually, speaking of horrifying the Italians, but I would need to plan a trip to the butcher's.
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My recent best attempt at cooking was chicken jardiniere which I think I've posted about before. I used ATK's recipe portioned for two, subbing salt pork for pancetta. Basically a French stew of leg quarters, onions, carrots, potatoes, and peas with thyme and wine, finish with parsley and lemon juice. The "two portion" meal made three generous servings. I served with a side of Trader Joe's "mini baguettes" which are little crunchy bread sticks you bake from frozen for about six minutes.
I also liked my "I'm too tired to cook but I need to eat something containing protein and a vegetable" meal this week, which was three Trader Joe's spanakopita, a scoop of garlicky seasoned cottage cheese, and some kalamata olives.
Planning to make some braised cabbage and beans (or lentils, maybe?) today if the rain doesn't just glue me to the easy chair.
I am making beef pork bourguignon.
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I made chicken and halloumi kebabs for dinner this evening, though, to my shame, I forgot to put any cumin in the marinade.
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Shame. Shame. Shame. *ring* Shame. Shame. Shame. *ring*
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I got a 6-pack of eggs. Was going to have fried egg sandwiches for breakfast. On the way home I slammed on the brakes because I was running a new stop sign. It’s a stupid place for a stop sign and my driving was obviously a bit on “autopilot”. Anyway, my groceries went from the back seat to the floor board. Cracked 3 of the eggs slightly, so I had egg sandwiches this evening. And realized that I forgot tomato for the sandwiches.
Speaking of egg sandwiches... that's what I was going to have for breakfast this morning. I'd bought a lovely ciabatta from a bakery stand at the farmer's market and was going to put it on that.
And then I discovered that my ADHD self had accidentally put the eggs in the freezer the last time I'd used them. While technically they should still be okay, there were still in shell and all cracked, so thawing them and then using them could lead to contamination, so I'm inclined to chuck them. They're still in the freezer as I make up my mind as to what to do with them but I don't think they're usable. IIRC if you freeze eggs you're supposed to beat them first and then freeze them in containers, e.g., ice cube trays. Anyway I'm disgusted.
The chicken sausage and cheese sandwich on ciabatta was tasty, however. (No tomato for me, can't get good tomatoes around here this time of year)
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They're still in the freezer as I make up my mind as to what to do with them...
You know, every time I think I'm a grown-up, I read something like this and my brain instantly starts yelling: "Ooo! Ooo! You could pack them into the middle of a snowball and huck them at people!"
I suppose the only difference between an adult and a child is that I at least have the sense to add the disclaimer that I'm not ACTUALLY recommending you do this.
dooo iiiiittttt... doooo iiiitttt...
Yeah, I wanted to throw the frozen eggs at something. Even as I thought it, the idea was rejected; makes no sense.
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Got some new cookbooks:
Edna Lewis, In Pursuit Of Flavor and The Taste Of Country Cooking
Walter Staib and Martha Murphy, A Taste Of History
Max Miller, Tasting History
Michael W. Twitty, The Cooking Gene.
So much reading to do. :-)
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Wow, didn't know I had fellow food history fans in here. I collect historic cookbooks. :)
For viewing, in addition to Max Miller's channel, be sure to check out Townsends.
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For viewing, in addition to Max Miller's channel, be sure to check out Townsends.
Townsends is a gateway to nutmeg heresies and/or nutmeg addiction.