What's cooking? (530 views)

My dad and my uncle were here today to work on hanging drywall in my front bedroom. I filled a cast-iron skillet with sausage stuffed peppers and marinara and when they were heated through I put some grated fresh mozzarella and Parm on top and ran it under the broiler. Easy enough and delicious with a loaf of semolina bread and a salad (with romaine! I hope we're OK!). For after lunch I made Jam Crumb Cake; good, but I remember the others I've made as better.

Last night, though, for my first recipe of 2018 I made One-Pan Noodle Bowls from Cook's Country and it was an excellent recipe. I used the last of my pho broth from the freezer and some Denver steak (like flank). I didn't have green onions so I added a thinly sliced onion with the mushrooms. I am definitely going to try this again with the pork/chicken broth called for in the original recipe. The recipe link I posted goes to a blog where the cook subbed chicken for the pork so... easily adaptable!

Leftovers for the next few days plus I am making mashed potatoes for a family party on Saturday. Instead of a casserole, probably going to go with the regular make-ahead ones in the CI Make-Ahead Cookbook (really becoming a favorite cookbook and I see they have a new version, too).

Stay safe and warm all!

Not much cooking here but LOTS of snow and wind. Right now I am having 3 rooms of the house painted, the family room, kitchen, and front foyer. They were supposed to finish today but with the snow only one painter made it to the house (and I am surprised he came!). He has 4 wheel drive. He worked a few hours, then left at 2 PM. Tomorrow they should finish. Since things have been a mess and the kitchen was off limits for a day, I did not do any cooking. What I did do today, however, was start putting my cookie jars back. I have roughly 50 cookie jars and I keep them on the soffets over my cabinets in the kitchen since the cabinets do not go all the way up to the ceiling. So I put them all back except for one area that they have to go back and touch up. All I can say is that taking them down was a lot easier than putting them up. I think Saturday after they are officially (hopefully) done, I will mop and dust in the kitchen and then make a big pot of beans for the upcoming week. I have some sage to use and beans sound comforting to me especially in this weather. Stay safe and warm!!

Karen

Applecrisp-You must live near me?!! (I am in Southwestern CT). Our high tomorrow is supposed to 9 as well with a low of -7 and windy. And BTW....I understand your recipe predicament. It is something I suffer from as well, but you can never have enough!!!! So don't fret it! Just don't feel obligated to make them all. I still have some in my files that I am sure have been sitting there forever, but "someday" I will get to them. Stay warm!!!!

Karen

Karen and Applecrisp, it's very convenient to quickly scroll through recipes if they are sorted into sub-folders to fit your need. Even so, I've come to realize there are recipes I would never prepare. It's time to purge those from my files. New Years resolution? Depends on how much time I can set aside for sitting by my PC.

Stay warm!

The family party got downgraded to takeout. Lots going on and it was important just to get together. I made some chicken soup anyway--been feeling blah lately and nothing sounds good, but chicken soup is always good, right?

I've got the cleaning out bug, too. I went through old CL, Cook's Country, and Cook's Illustrated magazines and got rid of a whole drawer of saved magazines. Felt good. I was surprised at how few recipes I saved. And, unlike you modern cooks , I got a new accordian folder for recipes--my old one was held together with packing tape!--so I went through all of those and got rid of ones that I will probably never make. It feels good to clean out in the new year.

applecrisp, the front bedroom has been my project for two years now! I did the demo by taking down the old plaster and lathe and then family and friends have been helping me hang drywall. We're almost at the point where I can call someone in to mud/tape, hang closet doors, hang a ceiling fan, reinstall attic access, trim out the windows/baseboards/door. I hope 2018 is the year it is finished! Did you make the black bean brownies?

Karen, how'd the painting turn out? When I had my house painted years ago I came home to discover I had chosen the totally wrong color for the living room--I told the painters to stop and went back to the paint store to try again. I got it on the second try!

goblue, thanks for the Country Loaf recipe. Do you use the pumpernickel flour? I always say this will be the year I experiment with yeast more, but I've yet to actually do it.

So happy for the heat wave in OH, too. In the 50s on Thursday! I'll be glad when the snow melts and we can start fresh again.

Erin Elizabeth,
I used dark rye flour, which is technically not the same but very close.  This bread was a little denser than a typical loaf, which is probably to be expected.  I followed the instructions for obtaining a crustier loaf, but it didn't quite turn out that way--still good with the soup, though.

erin -- Hope you get the room done -- this is the year! I bet you will love it when it is all done. And I am definitely on the cleaning/tossing kick too -- but haven't tackled my bedroom closet yet.

I did make the black bean brownies and I thought they were very good especially since it had no flour, and I could not taste the black beans at all! They were quite soft/delicate/fudgy so once cooled, I put them in the freezer a bit before cutting. I only tasted one ... a bit frozen and it was good. I especially think this would be great if someone wants a dessert, can't have gluten... , and doesn't want to deal with getting specialty ingredients etc. I made them in the food processor and made sure to blend really well. I can't wait to forward the recipe to one of my friends that has to eat gluten free. I did add a bit vanilla, upped the salt and oil a bit since Sallyt mentioned those tweaks when she posted the review (thanks!), so I did the same.

Wallycat, it was in the high 30's today. It felt so nice and no need to dress like the Michelin man.

Soupandstew, How ironic that you made meatloaf. Same here, I haven't made it in years, and I was thinking of making it this weekend.


Have a great week all!

I will definitely make them again and I'll next time up, I am going to try the version you suggested. Thx for the recco. I do like the idea of making them in muffin cups. I don't have silicone muffin tins but I do have parchment liners on hand. I was so curious to try black bean brownies and really surprised that you can't even tell that beans are in there.

It is very cold out here. My mother and father are at home and I'm in office right now. I think my mother is cooking something especial for me today. I hope to get delicious, spicy and something tangy to have in dinner.