Category Archives: What Worked Well

This Weekend Was Meant for Firepits

And Ant-Man. But what weekend wasn’t meant for Ant-Man, really? Made s’mores (yes, I know, again). Hey, at least it gets them outside. You know, because otherwise they would all just be inside talking up a storm or playing a game, with a group of friends…

or, each playing on their own individual technological device while standing or sitting in each other’s general proximity. This is hanging in the 20-teens.

But we didn’t just have dessert all weekend. Coulda. Didn’t. First we had a dinner of Sticky Garlic Chicken from Pinch of Yum. Wow, was this good and fast as the recipe advertised.

Pinch of Yum is also responsible for teaching me how to host this site and has great classes through Food Blogger Pro. If you have any interest in such things, I suggest checking it out.

Then, Sunday breakfast!

There were pancakes.

Those were for the kids. For the grownups, I made Gashouse Eggs. Yes, that’s an…unusual..name. But years ago the supermodel B. Smith had a cooking show. This was back before the United States began assigning a cooking show to every 17th person born. It was a great show, she seemed like a really nice person. Well, she had dancer/actor Gregory Hines on, and he was telling the story of being little when his parents were showbiz people and how he’d be backstage with his Mom with the likes of Milton Berle. And that Milton Berle’s favorite meal to cook after a show was what he called Gashouse Eggs.

Now you would think there would be an explanation, on either B. Smith’s show or here within this blog, as to the origins of the name. But nope, that’s where the story ends. But luckily, it’s also where the recipe begins.

Gashouse Eggs

WHAT YOU NEED
4 TBSP butter
3 TBSP Worcestershire sause
4 eggs
4 pieces Texas toast
Salt and pepper

WHAT YOU DO
Cut a small hole in middle of each slice of toast. Melt butter and Worcestershire sauce in a skillet or griddle and stir to combine. Dredge toast through the butter mixture until both sides are covered. Crack one egg into each of the pieces of toast. Let cook until toast/egg are done on the bottom side and then flip to cook the other side.

Salt to taste and eat to full.

Bought Guitar Boy a new bike (he was looking a little Shriner in a tiny car-ish on the old one). Played some tetherball and tennis. Then we enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail.

Fill a glass half full with a dry Rose, add a little bit of La Croix Cran-Raspberry sparkling water and drop in two raspberries. Re-Fresh-Ing.

Lingering around on Pinch of Yum’s site around dinner time, I made this Skinny Garlic Fried Rice.

This was seriously good and easy. If you have leftover rice, this would be a great dish, so versatile you could add anything. I cooked some shrimp with it and used various rainbow carrots from our garden in addition to cabbage (red and green). The only thing I changed was I added about 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce at the end and stirred it for about another 2 minutes.

Ended with Cherry Pie Crumble Bars from Shutterbean.

I think I added too much filling, hence the artsy close up of the Crumble Bars, and no picture of, you know, an actual BAR. Still, scooped into a bowl and topped with ice cream, there were no complaints.

And then we went back across the street, for some more, s’mores. Because, why not?

Hey, at least they were outside *watching an iPhone – Scott Sterling!!!!!!!!*

Have a great week everyone.

Fish and Hawks

I can’t remember if I’ve shared this before, but my go-to salmon recipe is Ken and Cally’s Salmon. Yes, that’s an interesting name for a recipe, but back in our late 20s/early 30s, if anyone cooked for anyone else, they got a recipe named after them. That’s just the way it was in the olden days. So Ken and Cally made us this salmon, and history was made. Cally continues to make history by being an amazing fashion designer who makes all her clothes right here in the good ol’ U S of A.

See her awesome stuff here – Kal Reiman

Ken and Cally’s Salmon

WHAT YOU NEED
1/3 cup mirin (sweetened sake – make sure its the darker one)
1/3 cup low sodium tamari (Japanese soy sauce)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp ground ginger
3 dashes toasted sesame oil
3/4 lb – 1 lb salmon fillet

WHAT YOU DO
Combine all ingredients. If you want more sauce, just up the proportions, the main liquids are all equal proportion. You then can either pour some of the sauce into a tray made from foil, put salmon in flesh side down and then wrap it up as a package and grill for about 20 minutes. Or, you can pour it into a glass dish, put the salmon in skin side down, cover in foil and cook in a 375 oven for 15 minutes with foil on, 10 minutes foil off. Serve over rice, If you have extra sauce (usually from the foil – it can’t hold it all) you should boil it down for about 5 minutes to concentrate the flavor. We love this dish, it has lots of healthy ingredients.

Sadly, it does not photograph well as a finished product. So I will spare you the orange/beige details.

And instead, present you with this:

Congratulations Chicago Blackhawks. And thanks to the neighbors who, at least this time, didn’t call the police on children banging pots and pans at 10:30 at night to celebrate! We salute you.

We Had Pasta, Some Pasta, and Finished with Pasta

I promise you all, not in the same week. Well, mostly not all in the same week. Somehow in the last week these recipes all rose to the tops of their various lists, so, armed with a loaf of rustic bread, I took on the challenge to see if the family would eat pasta three times in 7 days. Disclaimer: Drummer Boy eats plain pasta every day, but that doesn’t mean pasta with actual sauce of any kind on it will skew the results here.

First up was Spaghetti All’Amatriciana from Blogging over Thyme.

I didn’t have the thick pancetta only thin in my refrigerator, but it still worked and was delicious. It’s a keeper.

Rating from the boys: It didn’t make me gag (so 4 forks)

Next up was this lovely Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bake from Bev Cooks.

This was really good, though a bit much to do on a weekday. I happened to have roasted garlic cloves that I had put in the freezer which was my original inspiration. If I were to do this again on a weekday I would precook and chop the chicken and the roasted garlic.

Rating from the boys: Dad already fed us before practice so we don’t have to try that, right? (So 3 forks it is).

And from Oh She Glows, Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto, a vegan pasta sauce that you really have to try.

As she notes in the recipe, it may not be the prettiest sauce, but it is good and rich. I would recommend using the nutritional yeast, it gives it that pesto-heft.

Rating from the boys: It was ok (call the MIchelin folks)

But sure, those are all carbs, but what if one needs more carbs with their carbs (to balance out all the vegan eating)? Well, if one is lured by the siren song of free samples at Whole Foods, one might walk away having purchased this:

Might spread it on some rustic bread add some fresh chopped parsley. Might even throw it under the broiler for a minute or two if one is feeling so inclined. And then:

Need coconut water and celery, stat!

Volleyball, Spiderman and the Twilight Zone

I introduce these recipes without meaning any offense to the first two. The first two were delicious. Had we made only these two, the post-volleyball tournament, post-re-doing her son’s room, post-Religious-Ed mass with the dead grandmother movie (Grandma’s Bread – look it up) crowd would have been very pleased.

But then came the green beans.

First the Korean Style Bulgogi Steak, inspired by thekitchn. Thekitchn tells you how to make your own gochujang sauce but requires gochujang paste. Neither Jewel nor Whole Foods sought fit to provide me with this, but Jewel had pre-made gochujang sweet and spicy sauce.

So I looked at the ingredients, added what seemed to be missing (a little rice wine vinegar and neutral oil) and used it as a marinade for the steak and drizzled some extra on top. Wonderful.

Then, having only one usable avocado, I made Smitten Kitchen’s Obsessively Good Avocado and Cucumber Salad. It was, as advertised, obsessively good. So much so, we didn’t take a picture, so here’s one of Guitar Boy before the oral report he had to give on Spiderman creator Stan Lee.**

Presented for your consideration. A humble pound of green beans. Trimmed. Fresh. But what happens next can only be explained in..the Delicious Zone.

These Roasted Ginger Sesame Green Beans from Foodie with Family come from another planet. A planet where everyone finishes their green beans. Where children (not mine!) willingly take them from their father’s plate. Fantastic. Thanks Foodie with Family.

** Our excellent friend Jeremy Manier commented on Facebook that if Guitar Boy wanted to make his Stan Lee oral report authentic, he should make brief cameos in other kids oral reports. Genius.

Spring Salad

You know my motto, if it’s April, and you aren’t having asparagus then you better have spinach. Fine, that’s not my motto at all, but this spinach salad, well…just, well.

Spinach Salad from Two Red Bowls.

This was bacon, hard boiled eggs, almonds, goat cheese and caramelized red onion magic. I had made it as side to my standard pork tenderloin, but seriously, the salad should be the meal. Sorry pork tenderloin, but you were ditched. Much of it can be made ahead on the weekend making for an easier weeknight meal (bacon, eggs, caramelized onion – just make sure you save the bacon fat in the refrigerator to use as the fat for the dressing).

But I’ll give you the ingredients for the pork tenderloin, maybe for next time:

Marinated Pork Tenderloin (adapted from one of my favorite people, Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself, where there is no bad recipe)

WHAT YOU NEED
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley
1 TBSP fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 cloves minced or crushed garlic (I love Trader Joe’s frozen cloves)
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 pork tenderloins

WHAT YOU DO
Combine all the ingredients in a large ziploc bag and marinate the pork tenderloins in the refrigerator. It’s better overnight, but also good if done about 5 hours ahead. Again, it’s something you can do on Sunday for Monday’s dinner. Heat oven to 400.

Remove tenderloins from marinade and either sear in a pan on the stovetop and transfer to a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 25 minutes or until temperature reaches 1405F (or more, if you are like me and still barely want to see pink). If you don’t feel like dirtying two pans, you can just roast in oven and then flip half way through so both sides get a little brown.

I also served it with this minute rice blend:

It’s a mix of brown rice, red rice, wild rice and quinoa. I don’t know why I originally bought it, but it’s very good for instant, weeknight rice/quinoa. Now, you may ask yourself, if you have a rice and grain drawer

yes, I said a rice and grain drawer, then you may ask yourself, why in the world are you buying a Minute Rice blend? Because when you find out for the umpteenth time that regulators have changed their minds again about how a 5 year old rule should be interpreted, well, ain’t no one got time for measuring cups.

And please enjoy what Guitar Boy concocted for dessert to melt out of leftover Easter candy.

Stop looking at me with those sad Peep eyes.

Warm Food for Cold Days

Earlier in the week, when it was still big-coat cold, I made this soup, inspired by How Sweet It Is’ Potato and Roasted Garlic Soup,

But I changed quite a few things.

WHAT YOU NEED
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced  (or, if your onion is ginormous, use ½)
3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
5 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 bulbs roasted garlic
¼ cup whole milk
2 TBSP plain Greek yogurt
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

WHAT YOU DO
Then I followed her directions, but used an immersion blender to blend in pot. Served with Turkey sandwiches on Artichoke Bread from The Merry Thought. The bread was done as a test for an appetizer at the Super Bowl but wow, it is amazing as a sandwich. Continue reading →

New Feature – This Week in Alliteration – What Worked Well

New feature – this will be where I post which recipes of the prior week worked out the best. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get dinner on the table 4 out of the 7 days of week. Really more like 4 out of 6 because Pizza Night lives on. And really 4 out of 5 because the boys have band practice on Thursdays until after 9:00. So really, I’m killin’ it.

Hopefully this leads to healthier choices (less take out) and can also remind me as to what recipes we liked rather than searching all my various Field Notes planners.

Last week in the sub-zero wind chill, this Cream of Tomato Soup from SmittenKitchen hit the spot. Accompanying it were grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwiches. Trader Joe’s makes a gruyere/white cheddar combo cheese that makes a really good grilled cheese. Also, grate your cheese instead of slicing when making grilled cheese because then it melts faster and the bread won’t get overly toasted. Hmmm, grate your cheese sounds like a saying about being mad at someone (“That Helen in Accounting, she really grates my cheese”).

I don’t have a picture, but I also made this Roasted Almond Crusted Salmon from HowSweetEats. Now to act like a recipe commenter by telling you about a recipe I like and then making changes**, I didn’t have regular breadcrumbs so I used all Panko and added ¼ teaspoon dried oregano and a dash of onion salt. Nor did I make the glaze but instead served with lemon risotto. I cooked it on a rack on a baking sheet as directed and it was deliciously crispy.

** Still the funniest recipe-commenters-out-of-control moment is chronicled in the article, “Rainbow Cake Inspires Comment Apocalypse” at Deadspin. If you haven’t read it, please do. I’m laughing just typing the article’s name.

If that’s too much reading, you can always head over to Food.com and read the reviews for the Ice Cube recipe.

Lucky Rhino

For the recipes and pictures I promised to send, but never do.