0083 - Cooking

It's nice to have a kitchen again, even if it isn't mine. I pretty much expected Brian to have a can opener and a microwave, but  - probably thanks to Laura - he actually has a well-stocked kitchen. :)

We're tired of eating out. It's nice from time to time, but it's about all we've done for the last month (plus) and it gets old... pretty much the same stuff on the menus, half the time we're disappointed about something, it's not as healthy as home-cooked, and it costs more. The conundrum I have is that I often have a hard time sitting down and planning out a week's worth of meals. Unfortunately, that step is necessary for a successful trip to the grocery store. Even more unfortunately, I abhor grocery shopping because of all the other shoppers. So... in summary... I love to cook... but... I hate pretty everything I have to do in order to be able to cook.

Whining aside. I did find some recipes to try out this week.

I stumbled upon an episode of Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network that featured pork chops which looked so delicious that I had to record it and let Mike see what the puddle of drool was all about. We both agreed that this was a meal that had to be made. Usually I'm not a pork chop girl, but all the flavors just seemed like they would be so perfect together. I guess I should explain that as I look at a recipe, I'm putting all the tastes together in my mouth, and odd as it sounds, I can usually get a feel for whether or not the final product is going to be good or not. I don't know if anyone else does that or not, but I do. And I suppose "good" is a subjective word...

So here's the recipe. My comments are as follows... It looks intimidating, but it's not bad. I didn't make the polenta ahead of time, and that's a crucial step. I also didn't use "polenta" as such. The HEB we went to was pretty stank, and they didn't have polenta so I used yellow cornmeal, people claim it's the same thing but I'm sure there is some slight, but important, difference. I would add more parmesan to the mixture next time, although after the flavors melded together the next day, Mike said it was better. I didn't have a grill or a griddle, so I tried frying the squares, which hadn't set yet... so, epic fail on that count. If I had another pan to bake with I would have put them in the oven, but I think that since they weren't set, it probably wouldn't have mattered. Also, my pork chops had a section of meat on each side of the bone... in hindsight, I should have created pockets on both and divided the proscuitto and fontina evenly. And lastly, I think the sauce needed to reduce a bit more. Overall though, the chops were delicious. Two things really made them pop... brining imparts so much flavor (I brined overnight), and drying the meat off to saute it and get a nice crust really concentrated that flavor and sealed in the juices.

I attempted Tom Ka Gai but that stank HEB didn't have several of the ingredients I needed (fish sauce, lemongrass, kefir leaves), so what I made was a decent attempt, but I'm not even going to judge the recipe yet because it's not fair to do so. It was edible, and maybe even a little impressive given what I had to work with, but I was disappointed because I've wanted to make it for a while... it's such a delicious soup and since we don't always know where we'll be, it would be nice to make it at home and have it taste like it does at the good Thai restaurants we've been to. I can't get the original recipe to post, but this one is similar if you're curious.

Another recipe that will go into rotation: Zucchini Fries. The woman who posted this didn't really post a recipe so much as an idea, so I kind of did my own thing. Basically I mixed flour with a bunch of seasoned salt and some garlic salt, because that's what I had on hand, and then I mixed some panko with shredded parmesan. I cut the zucchini into 1/4" strips lengthwise, then put them flat-side down and cut them into 1/8" strips, rolled them in the flour, dipped them in egg, and then into the breadcrumb mixture. I would probably cut them thinner next time, about half that size so they get even crunchier. Then again, I'm a thin fry girl, not a steak fry girl, so make it according to what you like. And I would do a 1:1 ration of panko to parmesan. I didn't have any marinara, or spaghetti sauce, nor did I have the ingredients to make my own, but I think that would have made them better. I'm a dipper... I love almost any food that gets dunked into something else. They were good as is though, nice and crisp, not soggy. And pretty healthy really.

I have some cauliflower and broccoli... I was going to make mashed cauliflower and roasted broccoli to serve with the steak fingers I'm making later this week, and I still might, but this is also tempting... I made it several times after I first saw the episode air and I love it. It's so tasty whether you make it as a salad, or eschew the spinach and just serve the veggies as a side with the lemony dressing. Steak fingers are from Pioneer Woman, haven't tried them but they look delicious.

You may have surmised that there's not much is going on outside of the kitchen. Mike takes the bike out in the mornings. I sleep in. The cats and kittens rule the house. To be able to cook, I have to let one of the kittens into the pantry and shut the door so the other lays outside the door and they play. I swear they're worse than toddlers, because toddlers have playpens. Otherwise they're all over the counters, and since they don't know the difference between a countertop, which is merely annoying, and the stove, which could be catastrophic, I figure it's a nice compromise. When Mike starts work, which will most likely be next week, I will start painting the bedroom; I'm saving that to keep my busy while he's gone and I'm lonely/bored. It's not our house, but it's our home for the time being, and it's nice to have a space of our own again without having to live out of a suitcase.