Topic: What are you eating / What did you eat.

[8ullfrog]

Read an absolutely strange cooking tip today, going back to the absorbency of pasta.

To prevent bitter pasta salad, it was suggested you soak your cooked pasta noodles in a cup of milk, so the milk is absorbed instead of the dressing.

Seems like a waste of milk to me.

Kind of weird how many people wonder why store bought pasta salad is bitter, but there are no good answers.

[6pairsofshoes]

Creamy gouda cheese with some sesame flatbread.  Nice late night snack.

I am not a big fan of pasta salad, but haven't noticed it being bitter.  But then, I don't buy it at the store, so I know nothing of these issues.  Some people insist that you attempt to recreate the Dead Sea with proportions of salt when you cook the stuff.

[8ullfrog]

Foreman grill burgers with sliced onion and a nice cheddar.

Honestly, I should have cut more onion, it was the highlight.

Good dinner though, very much enjoyed. No sides, but it didn't really need them.

[6pairsofshoes]

Turkey sandwich on oatmeal bread with some spicy cornichons on the side.  Seltzer.
It's a warm day and that was a quick, easy lunch.  I have no idea what we'll eat for dinner.

[8ullfrog]

Been a while, but I had a screw up and recovery.

I was going to make chili fries from scratch, but after spicing the meat and cooking it with onion it was way too spicy. I didn't think the pinto beans would soak up enough of the heat to be pleasant, but I had a bunch of elbow macaroni (Not really a fan), so I made mac and cheese and added the meat and onion to that.

The cheese and the pasta soaked up the heat better than the beans and fries would have. I feel like if I had forced through the chili fries they would have been bitter and gross.

So I guess I need to scale back a bit on spices and maybe skip the white onion.

The recipe was extremely unmeasured, but here's what I can remember

1lb ground beef, your choice on fat
Paprika, cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder to taste (I know, I should have skipped the onion powder, hindsight)
1 diced white onion, small
? cup Elbow noodles. It was in a freezer bag, I think that's a quart?

any bechamel cheese sauce recipe will work, I used mild cheddar. I'm looking at some online and kind of gawking, there are some fancy béchamel out there. Mine was just the basics, margarine (gasp), flour, milk, cheese. I added some of the drained fat, so it might be more of a cheese gravy than a bechamel, but I do weird stuff when I'm at the stove.

The fancy bechamel recipe I found says it's $9.99 in ingredients. LOL
https://www.food.com/recipe/cheddar-cheese-sauce-with-a-bechamel-base-47141

I really don't get why it's fussy. I didn't "scald the milk", I didn't "strain it through a china cap" (I don't even know what that is.)

Plastic wrap never made it into my recipe either. Everything was blended before a skin could form.

Honestly maybe I should just post a basic country gravy recipe, you essentially do that and blend grated cheese in.

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/country-gravy/d5294752-1c56-40a7-aca2-1c87d41f393f

Yup, that's way closer.

Anyway, once you've got your cheese sauce mixed up, pour it over your elbow noodles and stir aggressively to make sure it really gets in there.

Add your meat mixture (I call it burrito meat)

I think next time I will do a more basic chili, and might honestly omit the fresh onion entirely. I was mad at myself at the stove, and I hate that.

I've mostly been eating bag salads and frozen crap, this was the first heavy meal I've made since February?

[8ullfrog]

Tonight, I added bacon bits to a burrito.

Produce has been exceptionally poo lately in the entire area, and bacon bits start to expire the second you open the packet.

Wish I'd known that before I tore it open.

Also, it was "National Burrito day" depending on how much stock you put into such things, so I figured might as well make a burrito.

[goldshirt*9]

Off to the local pub for fathers birthday tonight, Pre order the meal which I shall be having the exciting Burger and chips.
Safe bet in a local pub me thinks

[8ullfrog]

Here in the US, the safety burger tends to be called the "All American".

Please report back on what the safety burger is called at said pub.

Tonight was boring, hot dogs.

[smokester]

Here in the US, the safety burger tends to be called the "All American".

Please report back on what the safety burger is called at said pub.

Tonight was boring, hot dogs.

In my local (a publove pub) it's called either a "juicy scallywag" or a "cheesus christ".

Not that I've tried either.

[6pairsofshoes]

Our neighbors had us to dinner and made some nice salad and fish with sides.  I took what was supposed to be a good expensive bottle of wine and it was meh, so that was disappointing.  I made some dessert.  Now I'm up & on here.

Looking forward to more sleep and breakfast.

[8ullfrog]

Last night dinner went from a recipe to "don't have that, don't have that, don't have that"

It actually turned out really good. (Steak sandwiches) but my apartment smelled like onion rings the rest of the night. (I sauteed onions for the sandwich)

Originally it was going to be baked sliders. Then I realized I'd have to go to the store for that kind of rolls, then I went down the recipe and the only items I had from it were the onions and the Worcestershire sauce.

Gotta say, the task definitely failed successfully, those sandwiches ended up fantastic. I used sandwich rolls instead of the doofy little slider rolls I have to add to the list to even remember to buy.

[6pairsofshoes]

We're having spaghetti with a pesto I made: half cilantro half basil with pignoli and pecorino romano.   It freezes well and it's great to whip up a batch, freeze half (without cheese) and then pull it out when you can't think of what else to eat for dinner.

[6pairsofshoes]

I had dinner from the "remorse" food category:
steamed broccoli, carrots & mushrooms with baked potato & sour cream.  Had to eat some good ice cream for dessert as a corrective.

Now I'm contemplating pouring a glass of alcohol containing wine.

[smokester]

I had dinner from the "remorse" food category:
steamed broccoli, carrots & mushrooms with baked potato & sour cream.  Had to eat some good ice cream for dessert as a corrective.

Now I'm contemplating pouring a glass of alcohol containing wine.

I wondered where you'd gone, 6. I ruled out that you'd gone on a bender but now I'm not so sure ...

[6pairsofshoes]

 

I wondered where you'd gone, 6. I ruled out that you'd gone on a bender but now I'm not so sure ...

I haven't overindulged on alcohol since I was a stupid teenager.  Now a couple glasses of wine or whatever, and I'm done.  Just had a slice of nice thick crust pizza with eggplant but it was disappointing.  They didn't really do anything with it but layer it over some tomato sauce and toss a little cheese on top.  Eggplant is a difficult vegetable but it can be magical if cooked well.  Next time I'm going back to my regular putanesca slice.

I'd like to learn how to make a good foccacia.  I haven't had a great deal of experience working with yeasted breads, but it would be fun to figure out how to do it well.   There's a great bakery near here that makes a French foccacia called a fougasse.   Their recipe includes rosemary, preserved lemons and duck fat.  It doesn't last long after it comes out of the oven as it flies off the shelves.  I love duck, but when we cook it we don't really know what to do with the fat.  We usually pour it into a jar and stick it in the fridge for a few months and then we throw it away, not having figured out what to do with it.