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Giant lasagna-style casserole of cavatappi; pork tomato sauce with bell pepper, onion, and garlic; ricotta and cottage cheeses with egg and parsley; and Parmesan and smoked gouda. One of my favorite comfort food kind of meals.

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Sandwiches and potato chips last night.  Slices of roasted chicken breast from a bird I'd cooked the day before, lettuce, mayo on one and the last of the peanut sauce on the others, avocado slices, and bacon, on onion rolls.

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Cole slaw
Roast chicken pieces
Giblet gravy
White rice

I reheated the rest of the chicken in a skillet with some bell pepper pieces and shallot and, when everything was heated  and the vegetables had broken down, served that over rice with gravy.  I had cooked up the giblets with onions, parsley, etc., when I first made the chicken but hadn't finished it off to make gravy, so I did that while the chicken reheated.

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250 g (1/2 lb.) ground beef
350 g (3/4 lb.) ground pork
75 g (1/2 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
75 g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tbsp. minced Italian parsley
2 eggs
fine breadcrumbs, for rolling the meatballs
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200 ml (7/8 cup) pinot grigio
salt
black pepper

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Polpette in bianco ("meatballs with white sauce")

This was served with patate e bietola. Basically potatoes and chard boiled until tender, then chopped and sautéed in olive oil with garlic and chile pepper flakes.

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5 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

250 g (1/2 lb.) ground beef
350 g (3/4 lb.) ground pork
75 g (1/2 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
75 g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tbsp. minced Italian parsley
2 eggs
fine breadcrumbs, for rolling the meatballs
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200 ml (7/8 cup) pinot grigio
salt
black pepper

I saw this on your FB page.  Just wanted to thank you.  Your posts and photos upped my meatball game

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I’m not (well, maybe a little) ashamed to say that tonight I made a taco salad.  In the freezer I had some turkey/bean seasoned taco filling.  I defrosted/heated that and served it over lettuce with jarred taco sauce and grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese.

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2 hours ago, dcandohio said:

I’m not (well, maybe a little) ashamed to say that tonight I made a taco salad.  In the freezer I had some turkey/bean seasoned taco filling.  I defrosted/heated that and served it over lettuce with jarred taco sauce and grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese.

Don't feel guilty!

"American Cheese Falling Victim to Millennial Tastes" by Lydia Mulhany and Leslie Patton on chicagotribune.com

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21 hours ago, dcandohio said:

I’m not (well, maybe a little) ashamed to say that tonight I made a taco salad.  In the freezer I had some turkey/bean seasoned taco filling.  I defrosted/heated that and served it over lettuce with jarred taco sauce and grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese.

Sounds resourceful! Tonight I'm making stuffed roasted poblanos (cream cheese, horseradish cheddar, red pepper jelly, white rice) and Mollie Katzen's Chilaquile Casserole.

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Sichuan Spicy Wonton in Red Oil (红油抄手) from the Omnivore's Cookbook blog that I found when i was looking for an egg crepe recipe. The crepes were great so I decided to make these. I haven't made wontons in probably a few years and they are always easier than I expect, so long as I don't overfill them.

I had been meaning to make this for weeks now and had bought the pork for it at least three separate times. I think I was just anticipating the time expenditure for filling the wontons. I put the tv on, remembered not to overfill them, and everything came out well. Not a single one burst open in the water! The red chili oil sauce was very hot, very very hot. I had used commercial chili oil I'd had in the pantry for quite a while instead of making my own and i added a sprinkling of crushed chili flakes instead of the 4 tsp. that are supposed to be added to the homemade version. Whoa, was it hot. Not bad, mind you, but scorching. The aromatic water that goes into the filling is worth the 20 minutes it takes to steep it. The aromatics soak up some of the water, so it's not a full 1/4 cup of water going into the filling. It seemed like just the right amount. I used ground pork, which may or may not be equal to minced pork.

We also had cole slaw dressed with Annie's shiitake sesame dressing and fried white rice with scallions and broccoli.

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Tonight was a Sunset recipe for sablefish. Sablefish was on sale at Whole Foods (wild caught but previously frozen). My God, that fish is like butter! I know I've had it before but can't recall cooking it. Pan-Roasted Orange Maple Sablefish. This was absolutely beautiful on the plate, with roasted sweet potato cubes, steamed green beans and an herb sauce with tarragon, dill, and basil. Blackberries were scattered on the plate as well. There were several sablefish recipes in the article, but I liked the fruit and vegetable components so went with this one.

I reheated the leftover wontons in chicken broth, along with some chopped carrot tops for a soup to accompany.

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Yesterday was my annual splurge  on the South Florida obsession known as stone crabs, which are in season now. I lucked into 19.99 a pound medium claws.  I do not like the traditional mustard sauce that is always served with them, so, heretic that I am, I just made regular spicy cocktail sauce with catchup, horseradish, Worcestershire, Tobasco, lemon.   They were messy, and fun, but I do not understand the mania.  Give me whole blue crabs any day.

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When I bought the stone crabs, I also picked up  some of the store’s housemaid smoked chicken wings from the cold case.  Yesterday I tossed the wings in Frank’s hot sauce, garlic, and lemon pepper and heated them through. I served them with cucumber spears and French onion dip, made with Penzey’s onion dip seasoning.  For the dip I used mostly nonfat Greek yogurt, and a little bit of mayo.

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On 11/2/2018 at 1:16 PM, Pat said:

Sichuan Spicy Wonton in Red Oil (红油抄手) from the Omnivore's Cookbook blog that I found when i was looking for an egg crepe recipe. The crepes were great so I decided to make these. I haven't made wontons in probably a few years and they are always easier than I expect, so long as I don't overfill them.

I had been meaning to make this for weeks now and had bought the pork for it at least three separate times. I think I was just anticipating the time expenditure for filling the wontons. I put the tv on, remembered not to overfill them, and everything came out well. Not a single one burst open in the water! The red chili oil sauce was very hot, very very hot. I had used commercial chili oil I'd had in the pantry for quite a while instead of making my own and i added a sprinkling of crushed chili flakes instead of the 4 tsp. that are supposed to be added to the homemade version. Whoa, was it hot. Not bad, mind you, but scorching. The aromatic water that goes into the filling is worth the 20 minutes it takes to steep it. The aromatics soak up some of the water, so it's not a full 1/4 cup of water going into the filling. It seemed like just the right amount. I used ground pork, which may or may not be equal to minced pork.

We also had cole slaw dressed with Annie's shiitake sesame dressing and fried white rice with scallions and broccoli.

Pat, that is a lovely blog, thanks for posting that recipe.  

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This weekend, I had a woefully understocked fridge, but then my Mom showed up with an assortment of leftover items from her fridge.  This to me is just a challenge, so... I made chicken breasts rubbed with mural of flavor Penzey's, that we had with sauteed spinach, miso cauliflower (needed an extra veg for Mom who is low carbing), and a rice pilaf with peas and carrots I made in the instant pot Saturday night.

Last night I made a stir-fry with onions, peppers, carrots and leftover chicken, steak and shrimp.  I added a sichuan stir-fry sauce that was an impulse buy at HT.  It was fine, it had a slight spice, but no real heat.  I could have made a better one homemade, but you know, sometimes you just want to see what the sauce packet is like.  I also made fried rice with the leftover pilaf.  Mom had her stir-fry over broccoli.

Last week I made flank steak, with roasted carrots, onion and cherry tomato, mashed cauliflower and gravy.  I have been in court a lot, so there have been a lot of take out and delivery nights.

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Last night I made oven bbq spare ribs and stuffed bell peppers.  I coated the ribs with yellow mustard and then applied a dry rub. Near the end I brushed on bottled Bulls-eye barbecue sauce. I stuffed the peppers with sauteed onion and chopped bell pepper from the tops that were cut off, plus leftover wild and brown rice and chickpeas. We had one and a half bell peppers left (of 3) after all was said and done but ate the whole 2 lbs. of ribs.

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On a rare occasion I had dinner at home last night. I pan roasted brussel sprouts in a healthy amount of olive oil, sprinkled in ground mustard, a couple pinches of cayenne and finished off with salt & pepper. The crispy edges and the slight heat from the cayenne made the sprouts absolutely delicious. 

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Watching election results had me in a state of anxiety last night to where dinner was a bit anti-climatic to all of the provisions I happen to shove in my mouth throughout the day. Dinner was composed of grocery store bought  kelbasa & fried eggs. The role of carb was filled by Lao sticky rice. In Pa Dutch County we lovingly refer to softly fried eggs as dippy.  And 'Im not  referring to the quaintly softly boiled eggs that are cracked to which you dipped toasted brioche soldiers. Just a fried egg.  The state of the yolk served as the perfect dipping sauce for my sticky rice. And instead of salt , I drizzled Maggi judiciously over my eggs. The combination of that salty sauce and yolk is such a distinctive flavor in our household, I am surprised Maggi is not a condiment at Viet restaurants. Breakfast idea, y'all. 

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5 hours ago, curiouskitkatt said:

Watching election results had me in a state of anxiety last night to where dinner was a bit anti-climatic to all of the provisions I happen to shove in my mouth throughout the day. Dinner was composed of grocery store bought  kelbasa & fried eggs. The role of carb was filled by Lao sticky rice. In Pa Dutch County we lovingly refer to softly fried eggs as dippy.  And 'Im not  referring to the quaintly softly boiled eggs that are cracked to which you dipped toasted brioche soldiers. Just a fried egg.  The state of the yolk served as the perfect dipping sauce for my sticky rice. And instead of salt , I drizzled Maggi judiciously over my eggs. The combination of that salty sauce and yolk is such a distinctive flavor in our household, I am surprised Maggi is not a condiment at Viet restaurants. Breakfast idea, y'all. 

As a kid I would only eat scrambled or dippy eggs!   I made chili, but the beans despite being soaked and then cooked for a long time (kidneys) were still fairly al dente (not bad just chewier than I like).  Not sure what their deal were, but I didn't need the added stress of not perfect chili while watching election returns, hahahaha!

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Roasted chicken breasts brushed with Sichuan chili oil
Roasted whole multicolored carrots
Roasted and mashed sweet potato with maple syrup, butter, and blood orange juice

I had the chili oil left from the wontons I'd made a week ago. Since it has raw garlic in it, I wasn't sure how long it would be safe to keep it, even in the refrigerator. It's probably overly conservative to decide it has to be used within a week and then discarded, but that's what I'm going with. I started the breast halves skin side down in a cast iron skillet on the stove,, seasoned them with coarse salt and pepper, flipped after they browned, added more salt and pepper, and did a few more minutes on the other side. I turned off the heat and brushed on several coats of chili oil. Then the skillet went into a 400F oven for about 40 minutes until the thermometer said they were done.

Because I stupidly dipped the brush back into the jar with the oil after brushing the browned but still mostly raw chicken, I figured it could only be used on more raw chicken. I have another pack of breast halves so am going to do the same thing again today (sides TBD) and then discard the excess oil. The chicken came out great this way.

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The chicken breasts with chili oil came out even better this time!  Go figure. The accompaniment ended up being stir-fried tofu and cremini mushrooms plus Chinese egg noodles, with scallions scattered over everything.

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Fall Stout Pot Roast with Autumn Vegetables
Buttermilk mashed potatoes with tarragon and chives

The pot roast was a Geoffrey Zakarian recipe I saw him, uh, perform on Food Network. The roast itself came out really well--tender, moist, and delicious. It was large enough I had trouble managing it during the browning phase, but the final result was worth it. The amount of liquid left at the end was way more than needed for some sauce, and the pearl onions didn't cook through during the short heating time, though the peas did. Using 2 cups of each was probably also a bit much. (The idea of putting buttery peas and onions on top of the platter of meat and autumn vegetables was a good one, though, certainly from a visual standpoint.)  The sprinkling of herbs on the top of the platter also was a nice touch. I chopped up extra and used them for the mashed potatoes. So, I'd do a few things differently next time knowing what I know from making this, but it's overall a good dish.

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Turkey meatloaf
Roasted carrots and pearl onions
Mashed potato casserole

The meatloaf was the only thing I made new. The sides were repurposed leftovers. I roasted the heated-more-than-cooked pearl onions from the pot roast meal, which worked well, since they were already coated in butter. I warmed the previously roasted carrots, cut in chunks, in a skillet, and served them mixed with the onions. I put the leftover mashed potatoes into a casserole, topped with shredded Parmesan and Swiss cheeses, homemade bread crumbs, and a little butter and put them in the oven to heat through and brown on top while the onions and meatloaf were finishing.

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Baked thick porkchops “Tandoori style,”  which means I briefly marinated the chops in a mixture of fat-free yogurt, Tandoori spices, lemon juice, olive oil, and diced jalapeño. 

I also roasted butternut squash cubes with a bit of brown sugar, and chili salt;  and had a kale salad with leftover Cesar dressing.  

 

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This weekend we had leftover chili Friday night with cheese and chips, and last night I roasted fennel, carrot and onion, and served it over mashed potatoes, and topped with shredded chicken that I had made in the instant pot previously.  That is also my lunch today.

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That looks delightful!

Last night I used the shredded chicken I had and stuffed it into a baguette that I toasted in the oven with olive spread and Duke's mayo.  I then stuffed it with fennel and carrots that I pickled this past week with coriander seed and fennel seed and baby spinach.

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Bacon-wrapped pork tenderlojn
Broccoli mac and cheese
Balsamic-dressed Swiss chard with pistachios and dried cranberries

Pork was done in a cast iron grill pan, initial browning on the stove and finished in the oven. The stemmed, torn chard was sauteed in some olive oil, then dressed with a little balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and finally tossed with the fruit and nuts. It looked festive. Getting to be that time.

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I wasn't going to make nachos, which seems like such an unhealthy dinner, but I had the nacho cheese, the chips, a wee bit of chili left, a wee bit of shredded chicken left, a wee bit of salsa left, a wee bit of olive paste, banana peppers and greek yogurt.  And I hate waste, and I like nachos (so I really try to limit my consumption), so alas last night was not the greatest or worst of nachos, but I think with the processed nacho cheese it was saltier and not as good as my normal nachos with pepperjack and american cheese combo.  I also could have grilled some pepper and onion which I often do, but I didn't... oh well, it was one dinner.

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I had some items that needed to be used up, specifically 2 chicken breasts, a bag of small potatoes and a 1/2 cup of heavy creamy.  I boiled the potatoes then mashed them with their skins on and added some of the cream instead of milk with the butter.  Then I cut up and sauteed the chicken breasts, added some pesto and the rest of the heavy cream.  I was very happy with how it came together and tasted.  

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Prime NY sirloin strip steak, done by the reverse sear method
Harissa-spiced chickpeas
Baked spinach (Smitten Kitchen take on Julia Child)

This meal took quite a while to make but was fantastic. Earlier in the day,  I was trying to clear out old open packages and decided to soak and cook the chickpeas. I hoped 6 hours soaking would be enough and it was. They soaked from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and then were boiled in chicken broth for 2+ hours until they were done. Then I tossed them with some Cava harissa I had in the refrigerator.

The prime steak was from Costco. It was at least 1 1/2" thick. The quality of that beef is just remarkable. It came out great, despite the fact I had to get the oven temperature down 100 degrees from where it had been to bake the spinach before I put it in to do its low cooking. I checked every 10 minutes or so until the internal temperature was right (maybe 40 minutes) and then seared on both sides for several minutes each in a cast iron grill pan.

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Thursday  I made Spaghetti Al Bianco, Hubby's favorite pasta dish, with ground turkey instead of pork.  This past weekend, I made a shrimp hot and sour soup from Better Living.  It turned out really nicely, I didn't have mushrooms and Hubby doesn't like them anyway, so I put some miso paste, which worked nicely as a substitute.  I also put a little lemongrass paste in for depth, and a few chili flakes to kick it up just a smidge.  Saturday night was leftover pasta with spinach added.  Sunday I made a pork tenderloin roast that I rubbed with ginger paste, miso paste, maple syrup, apple cider and rosemary- this was just delicious, I will do this again.  I baked it with vegetables that I drizzled a little of the extra rub on and added some olive oil, salt and pepper.  I also made a kind of version of carnitas (at least the first step in the instant pot it will go under the broiler to crisp tonight) and will make either tacos or enchiladas or something tonight.

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From November 18, 2018, I picked up take away from Cagla Onal-Urel's Green Almond Pantry at Palisades Farmers Market to make my own "Little Little in the Middle".  I presented the Red Lentil Köftesi with Pomegranate and Satsuma to be wrapped with hydroponic Red Butter Lettuce.  The Romanesco Cauliflower salad is served over Smoky Eggplant spread.  The Roasted Rainbow Carrots are served over Fava Bean spread.  100% plant-based deliciousness has never tasted so good.

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