Tag Archives: how to cook everything

Tomorrow’s going to involve a lot of typing.

Today I knocked out three recipes from “_How to Cook Everything_”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764578650?ie=UTF8&tag=metaco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0764578650, so I’ll be typing quite a bit tomorrow. I’m going to put two of the three in one post, I think, because I didn’t taste one separate from the others.

What do you all think? Should everything be it’s own post, or should everything go together or some of each?… Continue reading →

[40] Beef Daube

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

HOLY COW! Another big, round number! Fabulous.

So, Thursday night I made this stew. We were having our friend Jessie over for dinner, and it was a gross, wet day outside. I’d planned to make this one Monday night, but we switched the menu around in honor of those two things. (Jessie doesn’t like chicken thighs, which are now on the menu for Monday night.) Luckily, we HAD gone grocery shopping by the time we decided to switch things up, so it was easy to go to a different choice on the menu.

I love it when things just work out.

I had put it on the menu because my friend Nancy had recently made it, and highly recommended it. Frankly, that’s all it took.… Continue reading →

[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 →