I had a near exact repeat of my dinner from the other night, lox on toasted sourdough crostini with dill and drizzled with honey-mustard sauce, and some steamed baby Yukon gold potatoes, but this time the crostini was made from toasted dark rye. It was scrumptious.
I’ve had a jar of Carbone Marinara Delicato sitting around for months so tonight will be spaghetti again and trying this out for the first time. The “delicato” refers to the fact that it lacks onions or garlic for those whose digestive systems are sensitive to such. I don’t have such issues but I liked the fact that it contains carrots, which always make for a mellow pasta sauce, and I’m gonna smooth it out even more with a big pat of garlic butter.
This was a description from the above link which generally rated it better than Rao’s:
The Carbone Marinara Delicato, which is made in small batches, is also vegan, gluten-free, and contains no added sugar. Aside from tomatoes, the only other ingredients are carrots, celery, sea salt, basil, and oregano. IMO, the beauty of this sauce lies in its simplicity: it’s a versatile canvas for such a wide range of dishes, like stuffed shells, quick chicken cacciatore, and gnocchi alla Sorrentina.
I’ve been watching this guy’s cooking videos and decided to make this pot roast recipe last night.
I followed his recipe pretty much verbatim, except since I pan-seared the chuck roast (instead of searing on a flat top grill like he did), I was able to make a fond out of the browned beef bits in the pan and a good glug of red wine I reduced down. That went into the mix of beef stock, tomato sauce and aromatics that the roast gets cooked in. In addition to the carrots, celery, onions, garlic cloves, bay leaves, and thyme that he added to the roast, I also threw some whole black pepper corns and smoked paprika into the mix. I cooked the roast in my Instant Pot instead of taking 4 hours in an oven. Still took 90 minutes in the Instant Pot to get the meat shreddy.
For sides I made rustic skin-on mashed potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts. I also saved the stewed carrots from the cooking liquid to serve and recycled the cooked garlic cloves into the mashed potatoes. After straining the cooking liquid and skimming the excess fat off of it, I reduced it a bit in a pot and mixed in some flour slurry to make an amazing gravy.
Looking forward to leftovers for lunch 
Last night I made my second attempt and different variant of “chicken casserole” as an attempt at easy lunch meal prep for the week.
The first time I made it I used a specific recipe as a guideline, with cans of cream of mushroom soup playing prominently.
This time, it was much more of an “ok, I have the idea down, what can I use to make a baked chicken stew with a crunchy top?” The only thing I bought was a rotisserie chicken, everything else was already in the refrigerator/cabinet. The body of the dish was:
- Meat from one whole cooked chicken, chopped into bite-size pieces
- Half a jar of canned peas left over from another recipe
- One onion, diced
- One large broccoli crown, chopped into bite-size pieces
I mixed that, and put it in a 13x9 baking dish, which it filled completely to just below the top. Then, I poured in a mixture of:
- Two cans of tomato soup (best by date: 2024!)
- A little bit of water
- A little bit of milk
- A generous spoon of better than bouillon
- Remains of a small tub of sour cream (~4oz)
- Hot sauce
- Curry powder (generous amount)
- Turmeric
- Black pepper (generous amount)
- Salt
- Corn starch (maybe 1Tbs plus a little more)
I mixed it all in the baking dish just a little, so that everything was well coated. Then topped with:
- The remains of a container of panko bread crumbs tossed with salt, thyme, and 3Tbs of melted butter
Baked for about 35 minutes at 350. I then accelerated the browning of the bread crumbs by putting the broiler on and letting it sit for 3-4 minutes under that flame.
I find it interesting the way flavors can grow and change depending on temperature, whether it’s been cooked or not, and time to ‘bloom’ (for lack of a better word).
I wasn’t using a recipe or even measuring- just going by feel and taste. As I was making the liquid, I kept tasting and feeling like the heat from the black pepper and spice from the curry wasn’t coming through, and so kept adding more. After cooking it definitely had a heat, but the flavor lacked depth or specificity.
I just had some cold for my lunch, and it’s got a black pepper kick, and a good aroma/back notes of curry. It just needed time to grow.
After two different approaches to chicken casserole, I’d say that tomato-based liquid is definitely a more specific flavor than cream of mushroom and can easily mask more subtle flavors. But, it also ended up lighter and less rich, which is nice for something I am going to eat 4-5 times in a week. Canned soup makes for a low-effort and low cost way to get flavor into this dish, but I might even venture toward something like veggie stock in a future iteration (with corn starch to thicken) and see how that turns out.
Madras curry chicken (chicken in a tomato curry sauce) with rice and papadams.
Today was filled with minimal successes and lots of failures/frustrations, so I decided to treat myself.
The result? Smashburger style semi-sliders!
Two smallish (but too big for real sliders) ciabatta rolls griddled on my cast iron skillet with a bit of butter and olive oil. Several healthy slices of fresh yellow onion, also griddled, then on the buns. Some of my stash of frozen (now defrosted, duh) roasted Pueblo Big Jim peppers, char, seeds, and stems removed, on large chile per bun. Patties formed by seasoning a smallish ball of 80/20 pork/beef blend (no, I’m not paying 8.99 for ground chuck!) on the skillet for a minute or so before being smashed thin with my cast iron smasher/weight. Seasoned with smoked salt, fresh black pepper and garlic powder. Flipped and topped with a thin slice of Tillamook pepper jack.
Too indulgent to have with a side, but really nice. I may still further my indulgence with a nightcap to keep me from stewing, but still a heck of a comfort food binge.
Yum, I’ve been craving a good burger (or two) lately, and your burger creation sounds amazing. It seems that you did it more for thriftiness than for flavor, but a mix of ground beef and pork for a burger sounds very intriguing 
Well, with meatpackers on strike, tariffs and tradewars, I just don’t buy beef on my own dime. Even my beloved cheap and cheerful cuts are double digits.
The blend is something I’ve been buying periodically for years - if I’m making a ground beef stirfry option, the differences in flavor get drowned out by the seasoning (hoisin and or oyster sauce dishes for example). If I’m making a ground Pork stirfry or other dish, the 80/20 I’m getting is often leaner and less expensive than ground pork options which lean to hyper lean or hyper fatty (sausage grinds).
And it’s still $4/lb!
Now, to be clear, if I were wanting the perfect griddled burger, I’d bite the bullet, especially if I was going for a classic (salt, pepper, garlic seasoning), one or two slices of onion, and light cheese with nothing else), where I want to maximize the juicy beef flavor… but a green chile cheeseburger? Good enough!
And I spent the years 6-18 in Southern NM. Green chile cheeseburgers are in my blood (well, the cholesterol is for sure!)
There’s a place near here that has a farm-to-table all-pork burger that is incredibly delicious. A very different flavor than all beef, but I love it.
Corned beef and cabbage. 
You know, corned beef and cabbage is really too much for two adults. You can’t really buy a little piece of corned brisket. And i bought the smallest cabbage i could find.
I guess we’ll be eating it for lunch all week.
Fried chicken and garlic adobo rice from Jollibee. Yum!
For dinner tonight, a big tray of baked mac & cheese and also a couple of boneless chicken breasts in a richly flavourful spicy marinade. And speaking of leftovers, no, I’m not eating it all! I have to make both because having some of the mac & cheese with the baked chicken was one of the reasons I got this deliciously marinaded delicacy, but there will be lots of both left over for days.
I’m definitely reserving some of the leftover chicken for ramen for future dinners, as that was the other reason for getting it!
I’m defrosting a chunk of picanha, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, yet. Maybe a simple roast chunk-o-meat, or maybe beef in oyster sauce.
Last night I made a Piccata bake. The first time I ever had Chicken Piccata at a restaurant it was in bake form, and now Piccata is a staple weekend go-to. I alternate between making it ‘normal’ and in ‘bake’ form.
I take some homemade chicken bone broth (previously made in a big batch and frozen in quart portions) and reduce it down to about a third into a Demi-glacé.
I cut chicken breasts into bite-size pieces, shake with a mix of cornstarch salt pepper thyme and granulated garlic. Brown the chicken pieces in a pan with butter. Remove chcken, add white wine, make a fond. Reduce wine to almost nothing, throw in more butter and some olive oil, sauté / sweat some diced up red bell pepper and lots of minced garlic. Add more thyme and fresh ground pepper. Flour to make a roux. Then I add the Demi-glacé to make a veloute sauce. Add chicken back in and simmer until chicken is cooked through.
Finally I add juice from a large lemon, capers, a can of quartered artichoke hearts, a couple cups of fresh grated Parmesan, and a box of penne pasta cooked Al dente. All of that goes into a big baking pan with slices of Provolone on top (Mozzarrella would be good too, but Provolone is what I had) and a layer of Panko crumbs on top of that.
I bake in the oven on convection mode at 400-425F until bubbly and the panko topping is golden-brown.
My birthday-eve dinner: Steak Diane, baked potato, and green beans.
I’d never tried making steak Diane before. One of the steps involved adding cognac to the pan ans setting it on fire. The picture in the recipe showed just a small flame, but it was actually a big fireball for a few seconds. I was not prepared for that.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/steak-diane
I’m told “bubble and squeak” is the traditional way to use up leftover corned beef and cabbage.
I can almost taste it from the picture. Looks delicious!
Tonight I had French toast for dinner.
The marinated chicken breast and mac & cheese was had last night and it was terrific. It’s been a while since I had that prepared marinated chicken – it’s a staple at the local supermarket. I’d forgotten how pungent that marinade is – it permeated the whole downstairs with a beautiful curry-like aroma as it was baking.
There is leftover mac & cheese but it can wait – I’m looking forward to making ramen with some of the rest of that flavourful chicken for dinner tonight, along with mushroom slices, green onions, and a touch of soy sauce.
I’ll have the last of it for lunch today. The cabbage was finished Saturday, and the potatoes and carrots the next day.
(But potatoes and carrots come in small packages, so i reduced the amounts of those to ensure the cabbage would all fit.)
Look delicious! I’ve never made Steak Diane before, but I’ve made Steak Au Poivre many times, which also involves using cognac or brandy. I used to set the cognac on fire, but it doesn’t do anything to enhance the flavor, at least IMO. It’s just for show. Unless you have dinner guests you want to impress, it’s not a necessary step. I never set the cognac on fire anymore, just reduce it down and make a fond with it like I would with wine in the pan. As much as I am a bit of a pyromaniac by nature, I don’t need no kitchen fires.
Happy Birthday!
I just looked up what’s in Steak Au Poivre, as I’ve never made that before either, and it seems like both use the same basic sauce – shallots, cognac, Dijon mustard, cream, stock, maybe some other herbs depending on the exact recipe. I guess the main difference is Steak Au Poivre has the peppercorn crust on the steak, and Steak Diane omits the pepper and adds mushrooms. (Well, I seasoned the steak with a little pepper, but not like the crust on Steak Au Poivre).
Thank you!