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Wednesday night I made Marcella Hazan's Braised meatloaf in white wine with dried mushrooms, using morels. The loaf broke apart (mostly into two pieces) as I was browning it, but otherwise this came out well. The mushroom gravy was rich and wonderful. Next time I'll measure more carefully, as I think the structural problem may have been that the meatloaf was a bit too wet.

Served it with a mixed green salad and buttered egg noodles with fresh dill.

Last night

Chex party mix :P

Cucumber and smoked salmon finger sandwiches

Leftover stirfry

I had some Pepperidge Farm white sandwich bread left from a loaf I bought for the meatloaf recipe, so I made finger sandwiches. I love little tea sandwiches. I cut a number of bread slices in quarters, making 2-slice sandwiches (with buttered bread) for the cucumbers. The salmon was open-faced with sprigs of dill. Goat brie on the bread.

The Chex mix, uh...well, I had a craving so I made some :(. I went lighter on the salt than the recipe calls for and added some sriracha for a little kick.

Yep, this was another one of my weird combination meals.

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This week, we have been eating out of the refrig and freezer, while I recuperated from arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday. I cooked a lot last weekend so that I would have something to eat besides take-out Chinese and scrambled eggs during the week on crutches --I learned my lesson after last year. I bought a 3 1/2 pound chuck roast at the Organic Butcher of McLean, and ground 2/3 of it with my Kitchen-aid grinder attachment. That got made into a meatloaf and meatballs. The rest of the chuck roast is a beef and red chile braise that we'll be having tonight. I had several Toigo tomato seconds that were starting to go, so I made a fresh tomato sauce with them and some roasted red peppers, which we had with the meatballs and linguini last night. I also had some baking potatoes, roasted kabocha squash, some leftover cauliflower and cheese, and a couple of bags of salad greens. So, we've eaten well this week, with the exception of the one night that J decided to heat up some frozen Trader Joe's cheese enchiladas and canned refried beans because it was easier than heating what I had cooked (?)...

But now, I'm off the crutches and off the opiates, so I'll be back to making dinner this weekend. :(

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Marcella Hazan's bean soup with parsley and garlic

Chicken sandwiches with mixed lettuces and prosciutto

I took the easy way with the soup (from The Classic Italian Cookbook) and used canned beans. She calls for two 20 oz. cans but the cans now all seem to be 15.5 oz, so I used two of those. Very quick, easy, and delicious.

(I'm glad you're feeling better, Zora.)

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Very late lunch or early dinner:

Mug of cauliflower soup to sip while staving off hunger

Sweet potato gnocchi (The Copper Pot) w pancetta (Red Apron) and hedgehog mushrooms (The Mushroom Stand), butter to bind and Parmesan

Salad of arugula and slivered watermelon radish (Tree & Leaf--shallot from Evensong)

Gold Rush apple (Twin Springs) w blue goat cheese (Firefly), membrillo (Zora; great!) and toasted walnuts

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Tofu pan-fried and then simmered in dates and tamarind sauce from Stonehouse27 (www.stonehouse27.com). I prefer to make my own sauces, but I'm putting in a plug because I found these folks at the Metropolitan Cooking Show this past weekend and loved their stuff, so I'd like them to succeed. They're a new outfit from Tennessee, their sauces have no artificial junk in them and no added salt, and all are vegetarian (some vegan). Plus, the people were super pleasant without being pushy.

Side dish of Moroccan chickpeas with apples - recipe from the Washington Post a few weeks ago (this made the house smell even more fantastic than the simmering tofu did)

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I saw this last time I was in, and it looked very crusty and good. How is it?

It seems a little underbaked, actually. That's why I started toasting it. I think the next serving of it will be heated in the oven. Usually the Costco breads are very good, but I'm not so sure here. I know it's supposed to be chewy, but it just seems a little too doughy. Possibly it's just one batch, since the crust is also pretty light in color.
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Seared NY strip with sautéed shiitake mushrooms and a red wine-balsamic reduction

Garlic-sautéed rainbow chard

La Brea white wheat petite loaf (I live above Harris Teeter; this ain't half-bad, and it's right downstairs)

I sort of feel guilty when it's work-from-home day and I don't do something that requires crazy hours of prep and mise en place, because when else do I get to do that during the week? But, given that Mr. M proposed *because* of a steak I made once upon a time, I'll guess that this met with approval.

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I sort of feel guilty when it's work-from-home day and I don't do something that requires crazy hours of prep and mise en place, because when else do I get to do that during the week?

I have yet to make my wife understand that work-from-home means WORK from home, and no, I can't do crazy meal prep, runs to the store, cleaning the bathroom, etc. because I'm in my office WORKING.

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Cheese plate featuring Red Cloud and a couple of other favorites.

Jehovah-Jireh chicken with Bull Run farm sweet potatoes, dried herbs, chicken stock, salt & pepper, slow cooked for 6 hours or so. (Thanks, rainy day inspiration! I should re-lyric a Carpenters song or something.)

Spinach salad with a warmed pomegranate juice/red wine vinaigrette, plus the oven-roasted, well-seasoned organ meat from the chicken (heart, liver, gizzard).

Wheat-free brownie bites, yes from a mix, but surprisingly respectable after a careful dose of Singing Dog vanilla and a whisper of peppermint extract added to the batter.

(Picture of chicken is before cooking; steam too turbulent for post-cooking.)

(Rest assured that sashimi chicken...never goes over well.)

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I have yet to make my wife understand that work-from-home means WORK from home, and no, I can't do crazy meal prep, runs to the store, cleaning the bathroom, etc. because I'm in my office WORKING.

Ditto. Actually, I have as hard a time convincing my mother that work-from-home does not mean I can spend hours on the phone. But yeah, it's like, "No, I didn't take the dog to the park for two hours ... I was WORKING."

That said, sometimes I've been able to do a lot of prep during lunch and/or long conference calls when I'm just listening (on headset) and not participating. Yesterday was not one of those days, and at 6 o'clock I surveyed the spoils of war, sighed, and just threw together a typical work-night meal.

It was pretty good, regardless. :(

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A semi-successful, poor-man's cassoulet...canned white beans, thyme, two types of pork sausage, cut up chicken breasts (this part didn't work...got way to dry), a head of partially crushed garlic cloves, chicken broth, and 20 minutes later a pretty decent meal for a cold rainy night.

Edited by Rhone1998
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By the way, I'm sure many of you may have already seen this great list of quick meal ideas Mark Bittman published in the New York Times a few years ago, but I just stumbled upon it a few months ago and I thought I'd share with others who may not be aware of it. There are some terrific ideas in here for when you want to put something decent together but are in a rush. I get inspired by this list all the time.

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A semi-successful, poor-man's cassoulet...canned white beans, thyme, two types of pork sausage, cut up chicken breasts (this part didn't work...got way to dry), a head of partially crushed garlic cloves, and 20 minutes later a pretty decent meal for a cold rainy night.

Accompanied by a 1998 Rhône? :(
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Relatively quick and easy weeknight meal.

Spice* rubbed roasted Eco-Friendly chicken

Roasted grapes

Baked potatoes

Stone Pale Ale

*I found the spice rub recipe while looking around on the Saveur web site. It was originally for an Iraqi style beef stew, but it works very well on a chicken. I made a good size batch to have on had, but I think I might add a bit more of the warm spices as they are a bit muted behind the pepper.

FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE:

1 1⁄2 tsp. black peppercorns

1⁄2 tsp. cumin seeds

1⁄2 tsp. coriander seeds

2 white or green cardamom pods

2 whole allspice berries

2 whole cloves

1 chile de árbol

3⁄4 tsp. dried rose petals (optional)

1⁄4 tsp. grated nutmeg

1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1⁄8 tsp. ground ginger

1⁄8 tsp. ground turmeric

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*I found the spice rub recipe while looking around on the Saveur web site. It was originally for an Iraqi style beef stew, but it works very well on a chicken. I made a good size batch to have on had, but I think I might add a bit more of the warm spices as they are a bit muted behind the pepper.

FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE:

1 1⁄2 tsp. black peppercorns

1⁄2 tsp. cumin seeds

1⁄2 tsp. coriander seeds

2 white or green cardamom pods

2 whole allspice berries

2 whole cloves

1 chile de árbol

3⁄4 tsp. dried rose petals (optional)

1⁄4 tsp. grated nutmeg

1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1⁄8 tsp. ground ginger

1⁄8 tsp. ground turmeric

Looking at the list, it makes sense that this was designed for a stew--it's pretty much just what I use to make a generic Middle-Eastern tagine, which usually include some kind of fruit. I would think that a spice rub for grilling or roasting would benefit from some more assertive flavors: garlic, onion, smoked paprika and/or chipotle chile and some brown sugar to facilitate browning. And salt.

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Looking at the list, it makes sense that this was designed for a stew--it's pretty much just what I use to make a generic Middle-Eastern tagine, which usually include some kind of fruit. I would think that a spice rub for grilling or roasting would benefit from some more assertive flavors: garlic, onion, smoked paprika and/or chipotle chile and some brown sugar to facilitate browning. And salt.

I did add salt and it worked out well and there was no problem with browning at all since I air dried the chicken before rubbing with olive oil and seasoning then roasting. The side of roasted grapes went very well with it. I think some garlic and onion would be a perfect addition.

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I think some garlic and onion would be a perfect addition.

I have dehydrated onion and garlic powder in my spice drawer, and the spice rub is the only thing I use them for. I was buying the onion powder at Penzey's, but then I saw some in the Latin spice section of a Shopper's Food Warehouse at about 1/4 the price I was paying for it at Penzey's. The garlic powder I get at Trader Joe's.
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