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Mild Italian chicken sausages and sauteed peppers and onions baked in homemade spaghetti sauce;  topped with Parmesan and fontina
Roasted lemon garlic parsley potatoes

I made individual servings of each of these, using various sized Le Creuset gratin dishes. I couldn't stop eating the potatoes. The sausages were good too, but, oh, the potatoes.

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We still had some smoked pork, so we made pizza.  Used this version of Jamie Oliver's no-yeast dough and we like a thinner crust, so spread it on a pizza stone, topped with BBQ sauce, pork and Mexican blend cheese.  You can taste that it's not a yeast dough, but it's not a bad different at all.  Both my husband and I enjoyed it and the next time we want pizza and want to eat dinner in less than an hour, we'll use this recipe. 

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I made Jamie's pizza dough a couple  months ago. I was running lowish on regular flour but had a lot of white whole wheat. It didn't substitute well, at least not 1:1. Using partial whole wheat might have been okay. I also probably should have halved the dough based on the size of my skillet. The toppings part was good but the dough was way too dense.

Spreading it out on a pizza stone is a good idea. I never use my pizza stones anymore.

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15 minutes ago, Pat said:

I made Jamie's pizza dough a couple  months ago. I was running lowish on regular flour but had a lot of white whole wheat. It didn't substitute well, at least not 1:1. Using partial whole wheat might have been okay. I also probably should have halved the dough based on the size of my skillet. The toppings part was good but the dough was way too dense.

Spreading it out on a pizza stone is a good idea. I never use my pizza stones anymore.

I did oil a cast iron pan, initially, and once I realized how thick it would be, scrapped that idea.  I love our pizza stone.   If you have regular flour handy, I would recommend trying it again and using the stone. 

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Leftovers last night: braised chicken and mushrooms, cauliflower mascarpone gratin, and steamed broccoli. I had saved excess lemon garlic butter sauce from the roasted potatoes and augmented that some to dress the broccoli. Also, another basic romaine/tomato/radish/cucumber salad with bottled vinaigrette.

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Romaine, tomato, radishes, cucumber; vinaigrette
Minestrone
Reverse sear coulotte steaks with chimichurri
Creamed spinach

I was pleased with how well the chimichurri came out. I used two kinds of parsley (I have a lot) and some cilantro. The spinach (from frozen, chopped) had whole milk buttermilk and mascarpone, with some crushed cracker crumbs and grated Parmesan on top.

The soup came prepared from Iron Gate via NRG Provisions. The steaks were also from NRG. I made a dry rub for the steaks that was smoky and spicy. It made enough for at least the same amount of meat again, so I now have some in reserve. The whole production -- with the rub and then the chimichurri on great quality meat -- was successful.


 

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Spaghetti and meatballs with grated Parmesan last night. The meatballs in sauce came from Iron Gate via NRG delivery. We also had a salad (romaine, cucumber, red bell pepper, chickpeas, and chimichurri for dressing), steamed broccoli, and buttermilk dinner rolls.

The rolls were from a recipe I had seen online previously and saved. It was published in Saveur as a variant of one at The Fresh Loaf website. I used to make bread from that site a fair amount (still have a log-in for it somewhere), so I looked back at that recipe too and kind of toggled between them. I went by the flour weight on the original recipe and used most of that flour. (Saveur calls for less.) I got 14 rolls out of this, and used the sesame seeds on top. Very large rolls. Crusty on top, soft inside. Next time I'll make them smaller.

Saveur version. Original.

 

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Hubby and I have both been crazy, crazy busy at work, but I have cooked just a few meals. 

Last night Hubby smoked ribs, and I made a nappa, carrot and spring onion slaw with a bbq/mayo/honey/cider vinegar dressing.  We also had the last of some Texas caviar from a previous Sweet Fire Donna's order.

We also made venison burgers with potato wedges on the grill. 

At some point I made softshells...  they were delicious, pan fried over a rice pilaf, with sauteed squash.  

I made roasted beets and miso roasted root vegetables up at my Mom's to go with some delicious pork chops.

Other than that, I have mainly just been carving together meals with leftovers.  Tonight was leftover Goodie dip from Chop Shop to which I added some brisket from Sweet Fire Donna's roasted beets, a few chopped grape tomatoes from my garden.  

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Romaine, cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper, and chickpeas; vinaigrette
Sous vide Berkshire pork chop
Farro, peas, and toasted pinenuts
Roasted carrots with parsley

The other Red Apron meat I got from this NRG order was a single 14 oz. Berkshire pork chop, which I figured we'd share. Since it was already vacuum-sealed, I left it in its packaging to sous vide. (I did 2 hours at 144F, but I think that's a higher temperature than some call for.) I rested it 10 minutes and sprinkled it with Chicago steak and chop seasoning — (sea salt, dehydrated garlic, black pepper, dehydrated onion, coriander, dill seed, caraway, soybean oil, chili pepper) -- and then seared in a cast iron skillet for about 1 1/2 minutes per side.

This may well be the best pork chop I've ever eaten. It was moist, flavorful, strangely ethereal.

A note on seasoning: When I season things before sous vide, the seasoning never seems to come through. I've seen different advice, but the seasoning always gets washed out. I figured this was such good quality meat, it probably didn't need much seasoning and balanced cutting open the packaging, taking the meat out, seasoning, and then repackaging to sous vide against putting it straight into the water bath and seasoning before the sear. It worked out just fine that way and was easier^_^.

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Romaine, radishes, cucumber, red bell pepper, chickpeas, and hard-boiled egg; vinaigrette
Buttermilk rolls and butter
Baked salmon fillets
Mac and cheese
Corn on the cob

The salmon was the last of a package of frozen pieces from Whole Foods that my husband bought in early April. I coated them with a little mayo and sprinkled with aji amarillo pepper powder, salt, and cracked black pepper. The mac and cheese, made with tiny shells, was from the freezer and also from earlier quarantine days. As time goes by...

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Another wonderful “shelter in place“ meal with The condo neighbors. 
Last  night my Syrian neighbor cooked Florida spiny lobster that she and her husband catch by hand from their tiny kayak. She is in her 70s, and a pretty amazing lady all around, but the fact that she puts on snorkeling gear and carries a large pair of tongs down to the ocean floor to chase lobsters is impressive to me. 
She cut the tails in half, and sautéed them in some butter and garlic, and then served them on a big platter of a Middle Eastern style chicken and rice which had almonds and some kind of dried fruit in it. On the side there were a large bowl of sautéed onions and mushrooms. It was wonderful. 

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I improvised a braised skillet chicken and vegetables dish last night that came out well. It was basically skinless boneless chicken thighs and odds and ends of vegetables: red onion, garlic, plum tomatoes, red bell pepper, jalapeno, celery, zucchini, mushrooms, and broccoli. I also threw in some manzanilla olives and chickpeas. I dredged the thighs in seasoned flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, cumin, smoked paprika) before browning on both sides and then later rolled the chickpeas through the leftover flour before adding them to the skillet and stir-frying briefly.

I deglazed the pan with dry vermouth, poured in some leftover liquid from soaking porcini mushrooms, covered and simmered until the chicken was done. The resulting dish had a nice flavor and some depth to it. There was a little fat left on the chicken which I think boosted the chicken flavor.

We had even more vegetables alongside: leftover roasted carrots, peas, and farro with toasted pine nuts. It made for a pretty plate, with close to a rainbow of colors.

My husband also had the last of the buttermilk dinner rolls that I didn't freeze.

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Last night was Lemon and Apricot Cinnamon Chicken (from Turkish Delights, which is a cookbook I really like) and steamed broccoli, plus baguette slices and brie.

Tonight, more chicken: Yogurt Chicken with Chutney Yogurt Sauce and Saffron, Zucchini, and Herb Couscous. If I have the energy, I'll make a romaine and tomato salad with some kind of vinaigrette. The main course is a recipe from a blog I found online. I need to use an open jar of mango chutney in the refrigerator. The second is from Ina Garten (though I'm switching herbs).

Last night's chicken was breasts. Tonight's dinner is a mix of drumsticks and thighs.

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Tonight was chicken thighs with a Penzey's rub.  Rice- which didn't turn out how I wanted, but was fine.  Kale salad with lemon, tahini, parmigano cheese dressing. 

The other night was salmon packets with green beans on the grill.  

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Charred sumac - oregano chicken wings; carrot and celery sticks; homemade buttermilk ranch dressing
Leftover saffron couscous with zucchini and herbs, plus green and orange bell pepper

The yogurt marinade on the chicken wings, followed by a dual cooking method (charring on grill pans and then finishing in the oven) makes these wings incredibly moist. The chicken for this was somewhat irregularly sized this time, which meant a little more guesswork than usual on timing. So good.

The couscous was already very pretty but I decided to add more color by sauteeing some chopped bell pepper to add into the leftovers.

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Salad (romaine, tomato, cucumber, radishes; buttermilk ranch)
Cheese and chile quesadillas; sour cream
Leftover lemon apricot cinnamon chicken with orzo

I'd begun to think I'd lost my touch for making quesadillas. They just hadn't been coming out right. Last night's, however, were perfect. I tend to try to put too much into them, so I went more minimal, using just shredded cheddar and mozzarella, and some jarred pickled jalapeno slices. Perfection.

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Last night was grilled naan pizzas using up some leftover seasoned ground beef.  I picked up a used Weber Spirit grill off craigslist last week to replace my 15+ year old grill that's been slowly rusting away.  Very happy with the performance so far. 

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Leftover meatballs from Sunday, which were a tribute to Marisa: 

I made pasta instead of polenta. I've made this with polenta before and either way it's wonderful. This recipe liberated me from browning the meatballs and making a mess of the stove top with splattered grease. The flavor of the tomato sauce and meatballs is just fine as long as the ground beef has enough fat content. I lust after the polenta stirring machine in the video. If I had one, I'd make polenta more often.

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Sliced hard-boiled eggs with nicoise dressing
Leftover yogurt chicken thighs and drumsticks with mango chutney yogurt sauce
Steamed cauliflower
Leftover saffron couscous with zucchini and herbs
 

The nicoise dressing, a creamy, mustard-forward French vinaigrette, was leftover from our Little Pearl takeout. The little bit remaining was the perfect complement to two sliced eggs. The chutney yogurt sauce (which is pretty spicy, since I used Patak's hot mango chutney) was great on the cauliflower, as I had hoped. The mostly leftover meal came together really well.

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I've had to go into the office this week because there's a lot going on right now.  Yesterday was mildly insane, but we had an early dismissal too.  At 3pm, I let my husband know I was on my way home, but hadn't had lunch.  He then realized he hadn't eaten lunch either, so I walked into the house and he had made beef lo mein. :D  We'd had ground beef defrosting, so he used that, cut up the last of the bell peppers and about 1/2 a head of cabbage.  I devoured it and was so happy. 

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Orange and baby beet arugula salad, walnuts, dill-garlic chèvre, pimento-stuffed olives; peach-orange vinaigrette
Jalapeno poppers with bacon
Leftover bbq chicken nuggets
Broccoli- and scallion-flecked brown rice

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BBQ Chicken Nachos
Roasted peach and avocado salsa
Hotdogs and baked beans
Red potato salad with dill, scallions, grated onion, celery, bacon, and hard-boiled egg
Corn on the cob

 

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Yesterday was hamburgers, potato salad, and mixed green salad with onion, avocado, celery etc. The latter two were made by my favorite person in the whole world ❤️. The burgers turned out well, as in well-done. I'm out of practice cooking with charcoal and I"m now convinced my so-called "instant read" thermometer reads low. Fortunately, the ground beef had enough fat content (20%) to keep the burgers from drying out.

Tonight I think we'll do prosciutto-wrapped cod, a simple pasta, and steamed fresh broccoli.

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Last night, the husband did his favorite summer afternoon thing - grilled a whole chicken and a bunch of vegetables. He doesn't enjoy doing it quite as much this year, as he can't listen to baseball while grilling, but so it goes. It was quite tasty. He got the first corn of the season at the farm market on Saturday! There were also salads. I made shortbread and chocolate raspberry ice cream.

Tonight I am going to try a new recipe from the NYT. Pork chops with brandied cherries. Did I mention that I love cherry season. I also love raspberry season. There will be raspberries on the salads tonight.

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Last night was cedar plank salmon with caesar salad.

Saturday night was hot dogs and half smokes from Stachowskis on the grill with an apple/fennel/bacon/goat cheese slaw and watermelon.

Friday night was soba noodles with carrot, cabbage, shrimp and a soy/chili sauce.

Tonight was leftover salmon with the soba noodles.

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17 minutes ago, saf said:

That sounds really good. Is there a recipe or do you just make it?

Just made it because I was in a hurry- julienne sliced fennel, apple, added goat cheese, chopped bacon, and put some balsamic vinaigrette I made on it.  In the past I have followed recipes, but it was pretty darn good just like that.  

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Salad (romaine, orange bell pepper, tomato)
Chilled cream of broccoli soup
Meatball sandwiches with marinara, mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan
Corn on the cob

I've been craving a meatball sandwich. I could only finish half of mine. The broccoli soup is the Claiborne NY Times one. I usually serve it warm but I did it properly chilled this time. My "generous pinch" of cayenne was very generous (a little slip of the hand) but the burst of heat worked really nicely with the cold, creamy soup. Sometimes I think of this soup as a little bland, and I liked this accidental variation.

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I picked up some barbecued ribs a few days ago that came with a big hunk of cornbread, which did not interest me. I stuck it in the refrigerator and was pondering what to do with it when I realized I had two ancient green chili and corn muffins in the freezer. I also had some leftover stock in a carton in the refrigerator, plus celery, onions, and some bacon ends in the freezer: Shazam. Cornbread dressing. 
I baked chicken breasts with just butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice. I also steamed broccoli.
The cornbread dressing was wonderfully rich and such a lovely treat at this time of year. I felt very smug for using up so many bits from the refrigerator and the freezer. 

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Stir-fried tofu, corn, scallions, and green bell pepper
Leftover broccoli and brown rice plus cashews
Sliced tomato plate

I cut the corn off a previously cooked ear and left it mostly in intact segments. It was sort of like having ears of baby corn in the stir-fry, except not really^_^.

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On 7/6/2020 at 7:10 PM, ktmoomau said:

Just made it because I was in a hurry- julienne sliced fennel, apple, added goat cheese, chopped bacon, and put some balsamic vinaigrette I made on it.  In the past I have followed recipes, but it was pretty darn good just like that.  

Thank you. I will try this because it sounds really good.

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Ali Nazik (ground lamb and smoked eggplant)
Flour tortillas
Yogurt
Rice pilaf
Buttered green beans

The lamb and eggplant dish is from Turkish Delights. I'd been planning to make it for some time and finally got the ingredients in a WF order. It's supposed to be served with naan, which I also ordered. Despite a sell by date still days into the future, I pulled out the unopened package of naan yesterday and it was moldy🤨.  It was packaged differently from the naan I usually buy from them, which has always kept well, but was ostensibly the same product. I considered making some naan as a replacement, which isn't difficult and is pretty similar to making flour tortillas. Then I realized I had some flour tortillas from Trader Joe's, so I just went with them.

I altered the lamb recipe a little bit and probably should have stuck with it as it was. (I cooked it for a bit together instead of keeping the components separate until serving.) It was pretty good, but I think I should have gone with a different lamb and eggplant recipe in the book instead. I went back and forth on deciding.

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It was salad and sandwich night yesterday. My husband found fresh wild salmon at Costco, so I broiled all ~2 lbs. of it for use in various things. It went on top of a salad last night: baby arugula, tomato, red onion, cucumber, capers, lemon juice, and mustard vinaigrette. We also had more leftover potato salad and cold cut hoagies (ham, turkey, swiss, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers).

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Since Tuesday, we have been working on food from the freezer. We often make extra and freeze. That's good now. I had knee surgery on Tuesday. and now the husband is stuck doing everything for the next few week.

So, rum and black bean chicken with coconut rice from the freezer last night. Chicken chili over fritos the night before.

And salad with everything. That doesn't need to be frozen!

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Last night I made the Judy Rodgers/Zuni Cafe brined pork chops again. I adjusted the salt downward, which was an improvement, but I think I should also reduce the sugar content of the brine next time. The challenge is getting the ratios right when making 1/2 of the original recipe. Sides were steamed fresh green beans and, shudder, Near East brand mushroom pilaf -- yes, out of a box. Shame on me😄

Tonight I spatchcocked a chicken and roasted it over indirect heat on our charcoal grill. It turned out well, though not as smoky as I'd hoped. Sides were (I'm so not worthy) Whole Paycheck 365 mac and cheese! and the best Swiss Chard I've ever had. The chard was on special this past week and as soon as I took it out of the fridge and started breaking it down, I was astonished at how crisp/fresh it was.

Peace.

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Tonight:
Toasted pumpernickel bagel and cream cheese
Cold Salmon & Potatoes With Dill Yogurt & Paprika Oil
Leftover meatballs in red wine tomato reduction
Corn on the cob

The bagel fell out of the freezer when I was trying to rearrange things yesterday, so I took that as a sign its time for eating had come. The place I used to buy these changed ownership several years ago and they don't have bagels anymore. This held up pretty well for 5 - 6 years in the freezer, smelled like caraway seed.

There were only about half a dozen small meatballs left, so I improvised a quick sauce and reheated them in the microwave.

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We had a little potluck last night, and I grilled a pork tenderloin. I marinated  it in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, Thai chili garlic paste, blackberry jam, sesame oil, and olive oil. I grilled it to just passed medium, and everybody loved it. One neighbor contributed his famous homemade potato salad, which had a hint of horseradish, and was delicious. The other neighbor brought coleslaw. Add in a bottle of sparkly and a good, socially-distanced time was had by all.

 

 

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Salmon burgers on potato rolls with yogurt dill sauce
Smoked paprika fried potatoes
Macaroni and cheese
Corn on the cob

The macaroni and cheese came from the freezer. Rotini and pepper jack with smoked paprika. Another good summer meal for a weird summer.

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Well I accidentally got a double order of sausages from Stachowskis (I know this is just terrible, right?).  So we have been eating a lot of sausage. 

Last week I made pasta with kale, sweet Italian chicken sausage, onion, in a garlic, butter, lemon, white wine sauce. 

We also took half smokes/german white sausages over to a friend's back yard with slaw and watermelon.  I may have then repeated this for another dinner with our renter on our back patio.

I also made "beef and broccoli" with venison tenderloin.

I might be a little sausaged out for a few days- so a lot of them went in the freezer.

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