I took a bunch of photos of some chicken-and-sun-dried-tomato sausages from Trader Joe's that I sauteed in chopped yellow onions, scallions, and garlic and served over penne with vodka sauce, but I forgot to upload them or post about it.
The sausages were slightly bland, honestly, but then, my sense of smell is gone so I may not be the best judge.
I have learned that I FUCKING LOVE VODKA SAUCE and that I need to learn how to make it. It certainly salvages the one pasta-night of every week and makes it not suck anymore.
Last Friday I homemade sweet potato gnocchi with a pumpkin beer based sauce. This was served with a side of pumpkin and butternut squash soup garnished with crispy sage leaves. The soup was great, but I need to work on my gnocchi making skills.
I have learned that I FUCKING LOVE VODKA SAUCE and that I need to learn how to make it. It certainly salvages the one pasta-night of every week and makes it not suck anymore.
Get a large pot and sautee 4oz of chopped pancetta or bacon in a tablespoon of olive oil wih a sprig of fresh rosemary.
After they begin to brown add about 2/3 cup of vodka and reduce by half
Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and bring to a boil for one minute. Add fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Add a whole jar of marinara sauce then fill the jar 1/3 of the way with water and swish around to get the rest of the left over sauce and pour into the pot
Bring to a boil and simmer on low for about twenty minutes
Made this last night and it was great. It's a go-to for me on nice savory sauces for winter.
So, I still haven't tried making vodka sauce, but tonight I got a bag of red potatoes, chopped and par-boiled them, then sauteed two yellow onions in a pan until they were practically candied in some butter, then threw in the chopped potatoes, garlic powder, onion salt, and a generous few shakes of dill. So frigging good.
Smoking turkey legs tomorrow which means spending the evening prepping to brine them overnight. Found three huge legs for under $5 at my local market and using up the rest of my chili powder for my brine. Pictures tomorrow.
So, unrelated to your turkey smoking: I've noticed you're really into plating and presentation. How did you learn to do it? Any tips for improving my presentations? I'm a very straightforward "plop shit on a plate" kind of guy, and you clean presentations make me jelly.
Mostly it's just making sure you have good lighting and that your plate is clean ( things like make sure the edges of bowls are wiped down after pouring soup). Ensuring you have the right portion size for your plates really make a big difference. It's mostly just something that I've learned to do naturally.
I think you're the first person to compliment me on plating.
So my favorite local Indian restaurant is offering a cooking class this Saturday for the following:
Every Saturday from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm Nov. 17 , 2012 Lamb Korma & Cashew Halwa Call ahead for reservation. $20 per class (Included full meal and spices/herb for practice at home with Recipe)
Made some homemade stock from the turkey I cooked last night. Cooked up some gravy with it and then served it with some biscuits Lyddi baked. So delicious.
I need good, easy cookie recipes for Christmas presents. No one I've asked so far has any food allergies, but one of my friends can't eat foods over a certain sugar/protein ratio (hypoglycemia) and is possibly lactose intolerant (I'll ask her when she gets back). Any suggestions?
I need good, easy cookie recipes for Christmas presents. No one I've asked so far has any food allergies, but one of my friends can't eat foods over a certain sugar/protein ratio (hypoglycemia) and is possibly lactose intolerant (I'll ask her when she gets back). Any suggestions?
I have an AMAZING Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe. I'm not sure if that'll interrupt with hypoglycemia, but I'll give the recipe anyway
1 Cup of Peanut Butter 1/2 Cup of Splenda Brown Sugar 1 Egg 1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp. of Baking Soda.
1. Preheat oven to 350F. 2. Spray baking sheet with oil 3. Mix until it's all completely evenly spread out. (No more sugar granules, egg disappeared, etc) 4. Roll out 18-24 cookies, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. (They should be very moldable) 5. Bake for 9 Minutes. 6. Rest for atleast 5 more minute.
Quick and dirty experiment at oven broiled sliders. There'll be a couple more iterations before it's ready to serve to others, but first try was promising.
Farikal is a Norwegian lamb and cabbage stew. White cabbage, lamb shoulder or neck (with bones), salt, pepper, bay leaf, flour to thicken. Add some water. Braise until it's done.
Hard mode: use red cabbage, add carrots. Brown lamb after dusting with tasty spices. Saute carrots in rendered lamb grease. Deglaze with mead, and reduce. Toss in some pumpkin pie spices - clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. Braise until done.
Made WuBritos (near the bottom) last night, and they turned out famously (except for the salty guac incident). Smelling the pork all day was maddening!
Comments
The sausages were slightly bland, honestly, but then, my sense of smell is gone so I may not be the best judge.
I have learned that I FUCKING LOVE VODKA SAUCE and that I need to learn how to make it. It certainly salvages the one pasta-night of every week and makes it not suck anymore.
- Get a large pot and sautee 4oz of chopped pancetta or bacon in a tablespoon of olive oil wih a sprig of fresh rosemary.
- After they begin to brown add about 2/3 cup of vodka and reduce by half
- Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and bring to a boil for one minute. Add fresh cracked pepper to taste.
- Add a whole jar of marinara sauce then fill the jar 1/3 of the way with water and swish around to get the rest of the left over sauce and pour into the pot
- Bring to a boil and simmer on low for about twenty minutes
Made this last night and it was great. It's a go-to for me on nice savory sauces for winter.Five bucks total. What a steal.
Morning after brine with some added cajun seasoning, olive oil, and some fresh rosemary.
Smoking setup.
Spending the day on the porch.
Now waiting for it to cool down and the wrappers to thaw before we start rolling.
1 Cup of Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup of Splenda Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. of Baking Soda.
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Spray baking sheet with oil
3. Mix until it's all completely evenly spread out. (No more sugar granules, egg disappeared, etc)
4. Roll out 18-24 cookies, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. (They should be very moldable)
5. Bake for 9 Minutes.
6. Rest for atleast 5 more minute.
Enjoy! ^_^
Hard mode: use red cabbage, add carrots. Brown lamb after dusting with tasty spices. Saute carrots in rendered lamb grease. Deglaze with mead, and reduce. Toss in some pumpkin pie spices - clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. Braise until done.