Cooking Ideas & Activities
Cooking ... it's not so much the cooking, but the creating and eating I enjoy. A few thoughts ...
This page may change drastically/often ... not trying to create a blog, but more of a "what am I thinking of today" sort of page
Just a boring shopping list: LIST
Jalapeño Madness
I wanted to make Jalapeño poppers for a party, and over-did the Jalapeño's, so I decided to try pickling them. I even had too many Jalapeño's for that, so I added Jalapeño Jelly. So here are my 3 creations:
Jalapeño Poppers: recipe alteration was to add Cilantro and Green Onion to the Cream Cheese, cut the Jalapeño's in half, and wrap with 1/2 peiece of bacon. Bacon was held in place w/ a toothpick. I made a tripple-batch and used 2 bunches of Cilantro and 2 bunches of Chives (green onions). I also used thick-cut bacon from Costco, half-cooking it before going into the oven. Jalapeño's were the largest ones I could find at the grocery store, so each popper was fairly large (about 5" average length). They turned out pretty good.
Pickled Jalapeño's: recipe alteration was to sprinkle in some Juliene'd carrots. Yielded about 1 ??-size jar for 4-5 Jalapeño's ... I made 4 jars.
Jalapeño Jelly: recipe alteration was to de-seed only 4 Jalapeño's, leaving the other 6 full-hot. Otherwise, all directions followed precisely. Yielded 5 ???-size jars and 2 ?? size jars (filling to 1/4" headspace). Initial taste-test indicates this will not be hot enough, so next time I might just leave them all fully seeded.
26-Feb-2024
Ted's Turn to Cook
Trying to re-create mom's red-wine/Kielbasa/bean dish.
- Inspiration:
- Shopping: List
9-Aug-2020
Clearing out the Pantry: Kielbasa & Lentil Soup with Basil
Silvia is cleaning up the pantry - it's been quite a mess for quite some time. I asked her to pick one thing/ingredient, and we'll make dinner out of it ... she picked Lentils ... so I found this for inspiration: recipe. First, I need to shop for this list.
Mmmmmmm - this turned out pretty good ... it definitely belongs on the short-list for repeats. Served with salad, bread, and red wine ... and loving all the basil in there. Silvia's not so sure about the Greek yogurt, but both went back for seconds.
25-Jan-2020
Philly Cheese-Steak Sandwiches (with Roasted Root-Veggies)
Enough seafood ... it was time for a steak yesterday ... BBQ Sirloin. With the leftovers, I thinly sliced the meat and we'll convert that into a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, modified how I think I'll like it.
- Ted's Modifications:
- Meat already fully cooked, so add to veggies when they're about half-done (just to warm them up)
- Add red-bell pepper to onion (a true Philly cheesesteak doesn't use anything other than steak/onions, but west-coast style uses green peppers ... I've got leftover red-pepper and it sounds good)
- Sautee a jalapeño pepper on the side and add on request.
- Toast the bread before adding the filling ... a bit extra crunch.
1-Jan-2020
Crab Melt Sandwiches
We had quite a few crab leftovers, so how about a crab Hors d'vours
| We went from ... | ||
| this | to this | finishing thusly |
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| ... enjoying these along the way: | ||
| morning sunrise | an awesome fishing buddy | sunset for dinner |
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29-Dec-2019 (?)
Christmas Morning Coffee-Cake
Sour-cream coffee-cake remains a tradition in our household ... a cary-over from my own childhood.
25-Dec-2019
Christmas Prep
Ted's version: Plan / Shopping List
Sil's version: Plan / Shopping List
Cajun Cookin' (or is it Creole?)
It was about a week ago, we picked up Lauren at OSU, to bring her home for Christmas break ... we stopped by a place in Salem that was supposed to have good Cajun food. It was OK, but nothing special ... both Silvia and I had Gumbo ... I don't think they were using the best ingredients. I think I can do better. Shopping List
Here are the recipes/inspirations for today's meal:
- Jambalaya (x 1.5) with Cornbread
- ... rounded off with a garden-salad and wine (Chardonay or Sauvignon Blanc)
- ... and Kentucky Bourbon-Balls for desert
Dinner was a collaboration with Kris ... it really helped to have a 2nd person (especially someone who knows what he's doing). We both did equal shares of prep-work, so nothing was too onerous. Kris put the Jambalaya together while I put the Cornbread together, and we both finished up the Bourbon Balls. As for the taste/quality: way better than the restaurant. An added bonus was that Kris and I both seemed to enjoy creating together. I'm not sure I'll make the candy again ... tasty, but I'm not much of a sweet-tooth. However, the Jambalaya and Cornbread are definitely worth a repeat.
BTW, Creole Jambalaya uses tomatoes, and starts with the Holy trinity (onions, celery, and green peppers), to which meat is added. Cajun Jambalaya has no tomatoes, and starts by browning the meat, to which the Holy trinity is added. My Jambalaya does have tomatoes, but I also start by browning the meat ... so I'll call it Cajun/Creole.
22-Dec-2019
Ham and Potato casserole
Trying to use up the last of our Thanksgiving ham ... only needed to buy bell-pepper and cheese (plus a bottle of wine) to make tonight's dish. Inspiration. We decided to add some "sausage" to augment the ham ... except I bought "breakfast sausage" and Silvia intended "Kielbasa sausage" ... oh well, it turned out tasty regardless. The smokiness of a holiday ham was much better than just regular-old ham.
13-Dec-2019
What to do with a Ham-Bone?
I can't help it ... it's gotta be split-pea soup. Here's the inspiration: Split Pea Soup, and the shopping list: list. Menu: soup, bread, salad, wine.
The result: dinner turned out pretty good ... a nice aroma of smoke and cloves. Silvia went back for seconds ... 😋
8-Dec-2019
Thanksgiving
Others
- Eggplant: one of my favorite ingredients ... still trying to learn how to cook this one
- Bread: I really like Rosemary bread ... but last time I made some was Kris' grad ... need to do this again.
- Brewing: I'd really like to brew up a batch ... it's been decades. Here's a recipe that looks particularly tasty: RauchBier Brewing