We needed sliced stale bread for a recipe, but we had only fresh bread. We prepared as follows: line a baking sheet with foil, then place a baking rack on the foil. Place a variety of sliced artisanal bread (we used 3 types of Whole Foods bread: pain de campagne, olive, and pumpernickel, each presliced… Continue reading Quick method for making bread stale
Cauliflower parmesan
We tried this NYT recipe, with modifications: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017170-cauliflower-parmesan First, instead of dredging the cauliflower in egg and breadcrumbs and deep frying it, we oven-roasted the cauliflower florets (tossed in a little olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper) at 425 for 30 mins, tossing midway. Second, to mimic the breading, we lightly… Continue reading Cauliflower parmesan
Japanese chicken and radish stew
We tried this recipe: https://www.cookforyourlife.org/recipes/simmered-chicken-with-daikon-radish/ Our modifications: we used 6 skinless drumsticks, 1 ½ purple topped turnips (peeled and cut into 2x2 cubes), and one bunch red radishes (trimmed and either halved lengthwise or left whole, depending on size). We added some freshly ground black pepper. To nearly cover the chicken and radish, we ended… Continue reading Japanese chicken and radish stew
Weber’s garlic-sriracha chicken
We learned about this shortcut recipe from my friend Andrea: For 9 pieces of chicken (here, 3 boneless skinless breasts cut in half widthwise and 6 skin-on, bone-in drumsticks), marinate in 1 ½ Tbsp Weber garlic-sriracha seasoning (a dry seasoning) and 2 tsp 2% plain yogurt (we used Greek), making sure the seasoning and yogurt… Continue reading Weber’s garlic-sriracha chicken
Mini-frittata with veggie sausage, mushroom, spinach, and cheese
We loosely followed two recipes: https://cafedelites.com/breakfast-egg-muffins-3-ways/ and https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/recipe/frittata-sausage-wild-mushrooms-cheddar.html. Here is the recipe: first, preheat oven to 350 and prep the ingredients: chop 2-3 shallots (we used an electric handheld chopper). Roughly chop 6 veggie sausage patties so that they are crumbled (we used a 8 oz package of 6 Morningstar original sausage patties, which we… Continue reading Mini-frittata with veggie sausage, mushroom, spinach, and cheese
Stone fruit salad with mint
We tried this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12558-minty-fruit-salad We added a dash of black pepper. (July 2018)
Watermelon chaat
We tried this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018775-watermelon-chaat We didn’t have amchoor (green mango powder), so we substituted with ¼ tsp tamarind soup base. (July 2018)
Chipotle chili sauce
We tried this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/3506-chipotle-chili-sauce To make 2 cups (16 oz) of while peeled tomatoes, we used a 14.5 oz can of no salt whole peeled tomatoes plus 3 small Roma tomatoes (peeled). We also used 3 chiles in adobo sauce. We found the sliced onions intrusive; the next time we will mince them (or… Continue reading Chipotle chili sauce
Mexican-style beef fajitas
We tried this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/3505-fajitas-meat-filled-tortillas-with-hot-sauce It is harder to execute than expected: the instructions call for halving the skirt steak width, which we did with a boning knife. We tried oven-broiling the individual slabs of skirt steak, but they wouldn’t brown in the oven. So we resorted to a hard sear on medium-high heat in… Continue reading Mexican-style beef fajitas
Mexican pinto bean stew with fire-roasted tomatoes (frijoles charros)
We tried this recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/frijoles-charros-mexican-pinto-beans-bacon-recipe.html Our modifications: first, we made fire-roasted tomatoes following this recipe: http://piglettedc.tumblr.com/post/176167609311/fire-roasted-tomatoes-broiler-version-we-tried Second, we used about three ½ inch matchsticks (1 ½ inch width total) of 5 frozen bacon slabs. Finally, to reduce sodium overall, we used homemade fire-roasted tomatoes (instead of canned), no-salt chicken broth, and reduced or omitted most… Continue reading Mexican pinto bean stew with fire-roasted tomatoes (frijoles charros)
Cooking Adventures 