Yesterday I got a text from a friend who owns a brewery. He told me he was featuring the best Rueben ever.
I brought two home for us. He made the corned beef and the sauerkraut himself. It was delicious.
Cheaty Chicken and Dumplings.
Boiling 2 on-sale-for-89-cents-a-lb chicken quarters in the last of the stock made from the Christmas duck with added peppercorns, salt (since our homemade stock doesn’t have any) and bay leaves. Drain and strain. Celery, carrots and onions in the same pot with a bit of olive oil to do that thing that I forgot the name of that makes the veggies a little softer and clearer.
Here’s the cheat-y part. Add back broth plus a can of Cream 'o Soup and the chicken, now shredded. Get it back up to simmer and add the easy-peasy drop dumplings which are just flour, baking powder, salt and milk.
I’m only up to the cooling the chicken before shredding part. It isn’t done yet but you know I’ll take a pic if anyone asks.
Also, chicken quarters are prefect this type of application because they are always a lot cheaper than legs and thighs because nobody wants the backbone, but it is GREAT for soup.
Plus and also extra super-duper cheat-y. Use canned biscuits cut in half or quartered. Most people love them, though I find them too salty.
This reminds me that I need to make tinga de pollo soonish.
Tonight was crab cakes, green beans, blueberries and biscuits.
A Bacon King burger and fries at Burger King, and an ice water.
A carne asada frozen dinner, because I was lazy. It was…sad.
I still haven’t made the lovely dinner hash pictured by @purplehorseshoe in post #1926 because I haven’t yet got the right ingredients, but it did indirectly inspire me to at least do something with a couple of potatoes I had sitting around. Peeled them, cut them up, and tossed in a bag with olive oil, Herbs de Provence, and garlic salt, then roasted for about an hour. Meanwhile sauteed half a chopped white onion, then simmered with Bush’s Homestyle beans with bacon and smoky barbecue sauce. A fairly decent almost-vegetarian meal except for the bacon.
Tamale pie tonight with a fruit salad - blueberries, kiwi fruit, and clementines. I didn’t do a good job with pantry inventory and didn’t have any plain black beans to use, so I used a can of Bush’s Sidekicks ‘Taco Fiesta’ instead and it turned out well. I may do that again.
Tonight we had home made pizzas. The crust recipe was the one off the King Arthur 00 flour package. One pizza was topped with pepperoni and mushroom, the other was topped with hot soppressata. Both had some calabrian chile relish added.
It was tasty enough that we decided we’d have the same thing tomorrow night, and my sweetie mixed up another batch of dough.
Leftover pepperoni pizza with spaghetti sauce into which to dip the crusts, BBQ Fritos and a glass of ice water.
Went out for Vietnamese: Cơm Bò Lúc Lắc - Shaking Beef Rice Plate with cucumber, pickled vegetables, fried imperial rolls, and fried egg.
Pork chops sous vide then torched, served with mashed potatoes and green beans.
I have two tiny lamb chops prepped for a snack: salt, and wooorchesheshwhatevs, set up in my fridge so the edges dry (for that nice sear.)
Just finished KP duty, so I have a nicely cleaned cast iron pan to put the HEAT on those babies.
Might pan fry some pierogi later. I do have bacon and onion, which are required.
Two lamb chops the size of my palm won’t hold even lil’ ol’ me for long.
Ersatz Pulled Pork, Hubby Don’t Want Pullaparts, Super Mustard Cole Slaw and Corn.
The pork is Asian thin sliced for ramen and not butt or shoulder. Asked Dany if I should make one of the Pillsbury Grands he bought and he said I could make it, but he wasn’t gonna have any. I showed him. I made Bacon Cheese and Onion Pullaparts. He had plenty.
The mustard splorted way too much into the mustard in the dressing. I scooped out as much as I could, added extra honey and reduced the rice vinegar. Both fellas actually liked its extra mustardiness.
As planned, more pizzas. Still delicious.
I am all for extra mustardiness.
Tonight was chicken bites in peanut sauce and air-fried potatoes (with extra mustard in the dressing, yes). Apple and kiwi fruit salad.
Taco baked potatoes
Thickly loaded freshly made pizza from the local grocery, baked on a pizza stone in a hot oven.
Oven baked cheeseburgers topped with onion rings.
Leftover Vietnamese food. Just as good the next day.