Culinary Goods

This great photo is from the NYTimes site because I'm not that talented with a camera. A friend made this for me two weeks ago and I wasn't excited at all until I actually opened my mouth and tried the fish. My expectations were low - like expecting to be entertained while watching the Kim Kardashian reality TV show low. And then, I surprised myself by eating it all like Hoggy McHoggerson, then wished I had more. This is really tasty. I give it a 9 and would totally make it again. Again, I don't make fish much and don't think it's that good because I'm lazy about trying new things sometimes. I only make salmon. But this is a really good flavor. AND it's easy. We marinated the fish for about two hours and it was perfect. No need to marinate longer than a few hours. We bought black cod (fresh because we live in the beautiful PNW. Take that, bitches). Because we are smart adults who know how to steer clear of bones, it was easy to eat and pull the bones out as

This was a good dessert. It wasn't spectacular, or my favorite, but it was just good. It gets a 7 and the recipe came from willcookforsmiles.com. 14 oz French bread (stale) 1¾ lb gala apples 4 Tbsp butter 2½ Tbsp flour 2 tsp apple pie spice I used pumpkin pie spice  ¾ cup brown sugar I used 1/3 C. + 1 TBS 1 cup water 5 eggs 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 2¼ cups whole milk 2 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup brown sugar I used 1/3 C. 1 tsp apple pie spice 1 tsp cinnamon Optional: ice cream for serving Here's the link to the instructions:  http://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2016/09/apple-pie-bread-pudding.html

Melly and I have been on a quest to find the best version of chocolate chip gingerbread cookies, and I like this one the best so far. I actually combined two recipes since this recipe had good texture, but not as much flavor as the ones I made a few weeks ago. They tasted very rich, so I might cut down the ginger by about 1/2 tsp. next time. These came from bakerbynature.com and they get a 7.5. 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger I used 2 tsp. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves I used 1 tsp. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated  I used 1 tsp. 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature  1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and freshly grated  I left this out 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 and 1/2 teaspoons boiling water 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4 inch chunks 1/4 cup granulated sugar

This had great flavor and gets a 7. You can eat them either as lettuce wraps or with rice noodles or rice, so I just did both. The recipe came from fivehearthome.com. 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts 1 cup canned coconut milk 3/4 cup chunky natural peanut butter I used 2/3 C. 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons honey I used 2 TBS 3 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less, to taste) 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, for garnish Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish Rice, rice noodles, or lettuce leaves, for serving Here's the link to the instructions:   http://www.fivehearthome.com/2015/05/14/slow-cooker-thai-chicken-with-peanut-sauce/

This was okay and gets a 6. It didn't have the nice, smooth texture of regular flan, and instead just tasted like an okay pumpkin pie filling. The recipe came from Fine Cooking. Nonstick cooking spray 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup whole milk 1/4 cup evaporated milk 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin Here's the link to the directions:  http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pumpkin-pie-flan-crustless.aspx?nterms=50150

These have a lot of potential, but need just a bit more flavor. Jared made them and didn't make any changes. Part of the problem is that I didn't add any of the garlic mayo to mine because mayo makes me want to vomit (and it has quite literally before). I would add more garlic to it if we were to make it again. It earned a 6.5 and was a Fine Cooking magazine. For the pickled onion 1 12-oz. bottle American pale ale 3/4 cup white-wine vinegar 1 tsp. granulated sugar Kosher salt 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced For the chicken 3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed 4 medium cloves garlic, smashed 2 Tbs. honey 2 Tbs. tomato paste Kosher salt 1 12-oz. bottle American pale ale 4 tsp. Louisiana-style hot sauce, such as Tabasco; more to taste 3/4 cup mayonnaise For assembly 24 slider buns, preferably pretzel or whole grain 2 cups baby arugula Here's the link to the directions:  http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pale-ale-pulled-chicken-sl

I'm sure you are all overwhelmed by my tremendous picture. This was good and get a 7.5. Jared has made this twice in the past month, and it has great flavor. Something else I really love about this is how tender the beef is. He got the recipe from Fine Cooking. 3 Tbs. olive oil; more as needed 2 large sweet onions, diced (about 4 cups) 2 large fresh poblano peppers (or green bell peppers), stemmed, seeded, and diced (about 1-1/2 cups) 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste 4-1/2 lb. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 bay leaves 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 to 4 inches long 3 Tbs. New Mexico chile powder (or 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder) 1 Tbs. chipotle chile powder 1 Tbs. ground cumin 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 12-oz. bottle amber ale, such as Shiner Bock (made in Shiner, Texas), Dos Equis Amber, or Anchor Steam Liberty Ale 1-1/2 qt. homemade or low-salt beef broth For the garnish: 2 14-oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 medium

I give this recipe a solid 9. It's incredibly tasty. There's a mix of sweet (jam) and savory (onions and balsamic) that just really make this smoozy spread a party hit. Someone called it Purple Smooze at some point because the actual title is too long to say. One dude yelled out loud, "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HAD." I shall call it Purple Smooze Bruschetta. This recipe is going in my permanent box. I've had the recipe for almost two years and can't remember where it came from but had never made it before. I finally made it last weekend for a game night. I put sprigs of fresh thyme on the cutting board to make it all look tasty and pretty. Fresh thyme (I pulled individual leaves off) is mixed into the smooze. I think I could have sprinkled some on top to add some depth to the presentation but I got lazy and wanted to play a game. This works well as a side or even a pre-dinner appetizer for you awesome people that like to have pre-dinner ap

So, these were good. I give them a 7.5, but they have tons of potential. I love cake doughnuts! We were sidetracked when we fried these, so they suffered. This is supposed to make 18 doughnuts + doughnut holes using a 3” cutter, obviously, less if the cutter is larger. Here are some things to make note of: You need to fry them in shortening. Watch the temp carefully. These fall apart easily, so don’t make them too large. In fact, I would weigh the dough and measure them out into equal portions. Use real cider if you can find it. This is a solid recipe that I will use again.   Apple Cider Doughnuts   Ingredients 1 cup apple cider 3½ cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg 4 tbsp. butter, at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs ½ cup buttermilk Vegetable oil or shortening, for frying For coating: 1 cup granulated sugar 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon   Essentially you boil the appl

So, this recipe came from a cookbook called “Bouchon Bakery” by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (page 86, on, and the blueberry muffin recipe I blogged earlier came from page 76). I didn’t try these, but they looked good. People said they were good, so maybe an 8 with frosting?   Pumpkin Muffins Makes 12 normal muffins or 6 jumbo muffins   1 1/2 cups + 3 Tbs. flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 + 1/8 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cloves 1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I also added 1/2 tsp. ginger) pinch of allspice 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 cup + 2 Tbs. sugar I did half brown and half white 1/4 cup + 3 Tbs. canola oil I did 50% butter 3/4 cup + 2 Tbs. pumpkin 100 grams of eggs (this is about 2 eggs) raisins (we did chocolate chips instead)   Mix oil and sugar, sift dry together. Add eggs, then flour, then other half of eggs, then other half of flour. Mix just until combined. Refrigerate this overnight (or up to 36 hours). When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 and then let the bat

This was a combination of more than one recipe, so the orange cashew rice is one I blogged a couple of years ago, but the fish is a new recipe I based on a recipe from The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. They have a recipe on page 331 called Thin Fish Fillets in Spicy Coconut  Milk, and I used that as a base. Here is the sauce that you make in a slow cooker: 6 Tbs. onion 4-6 cloves of minced garlic 1 can of coconut milk 3/4 cup chicken broth 3 Tbs. lime juice 3 Tbs. ginger paste 1 Tbs. Red Thai curry paste 1/2 tsp. turmeric and curry powder garam masala and smoked paprika (a few shakes) salt So, I put all those ingredients in the slow cooker and put it on low for a few hours. Then, I added a handful of chopped basil and frozen cod fillets. It ended up tasting like curried fish, and it was quite good. The fish took about an hour to cook from frozen to done, maybe less? Anyway, this was a solid 7.5

This was a mix between applesauce and apple butter. I got the inspiration from The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. Here is what we did: peel and chop a bunch of apples into cubes (we used a mix from the Farmer’s Market) sprinkle them with lemon juice Add a cinnamon stick add about 1/8 tsp. nutmeg and cloves few shakes of salt 1 Tbs. brown sugar Turn this on low for 8 hours, and then put a stick blender in.