Tag Archives: dinner

[25] Beef Stew Variation 1

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

Beef stew isn’t really considered your average summer dish. I wouldn’t typically make it in the summer any more than you would. I think of beef stew as a deep winter dish, full of warmth and flavor, and no small amount of fat. It’s most certainly not “summery”, “light” or “refreshing”.

However, guess when none of that matters? When it’s the middle of summer, you have most of the ingredients on hand, and you accidentally thawed stew meat instead of beef chunks for stir-fry. At that point, you make stew and be thankful you can get a blog post out of it!

Actually, it turned out quite nicely, and I’m looking forward to making it again when the weather cools off. And given we live in Chicago, Bill and I should have plenty of cold weather in which to repeatedly make this dish.… Continue reading →

[23] Turnips in Creamy Mustard Sauce

Cover of How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

I just posted about a meal that was made basically based on what was in the fridge, where the main dish was pork chops. This was the major side dish. This recipe is actually a variant on a recipe in How to Cook Everything; the mustard sauce is not normally creamy. However, I had cream in the fridge that didn’t have any other recipe home and was going to go bad, so creamy mustard sauce it was.

Very good choice, I’d say. But maybe that’s just because I didn’t want the cream to go bad. 😉

h2. Ingredients

2 tbsp butter or extra virgin olive oil
1.5 lbs turnips, cut into chunks about the size of radishes (He says really most root veggies will work here.)… Continue reading →

[22] Skillet Pork Chops, variation 1

Cover of How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

As you might expect, given the “About”, many times this blog is about forcing ourselves (Bill & I) to go look in the cabinets, fridge & freezer, and see what we have and what we can make.

Of course, to make it a little more crazy, I try to throw moving and house-guests into the mix. Without really planning ahead for the guests. I won’t say this is the BEST plan, but it’s working out for me better than you might expect. I anticipate a kitchen disaster any day now, but up until this point (including last night, which will be another entry later on).

Of course, in this instance, the guest was just Jessie. She’s seen us at all kinds of chaotic times, and had plenty of recipes tested on her.… Continue reading →

[14] The Best Scrambled Eggs (So says Mark Bittman)

Cover if How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition, by Mark Bittman

Really? THE best? That’s a pretty strong claim, Mr. Bittman. However, I must say, the idea of having the best scrambled eggs ever is super appealing, especially when you point out that they take so long to cook that they’re great for dinners.

So, that’s what we had for dinner last night. Mr. Bittman’s scrambled eggs. Which were certainly better than my personal scrambled egg “recipe” which involves no specific recipe at all, but they did cause Jessie to miss her bus. Luckily Bill is an awesome guy and walked her home. Unluckily, I could not join them, because we didn’t know when, exactly, our CSA share was supposed to arrive. Further unluckily? It didn’t arrive until after Bill got back, so I could have joined them after all.… Continue reading →

[9] Pork Tacos with Roasted Green Onions

Cook Once Eat Twice Recipes

Since we made the Barbecued Pulled Pork from this cookbook yesterday, today was the day to see how good the premise of the book holds up. Thus, pork tacos!

I won’t say I was blown away with this recipe. However, it was super easy to make, so I’ll accept that this wasn’t really cooking (to make the “Cook Once, Eat Twice” name stick). It kind of reminds me of those nights that you want to eat what’s in the house, but you’ve just got a bunch of leftovers around. “Man, I don’t want another pork sandwich. How about… putting it in a tortilla and calling it a taco?”

Ingredients

8 green onions, trimmed
2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt

8 soft corn tortillas

2 c pork from Barbecued Pulled Pork, reheated

Directions

# Preheat oven (toaster oven in our case) to 425°F.… Continue reading →