You Are What You Eat: August 17 through August 23
I got back to basics and did a lot of cooking this week, with many new recipes. Of course, this was sandwiched between a trip to Pittsburgh and my parents coming to town, both of which required some eating out.
Saturday, August 17 - John, darlox and I went to Pittsburgh to see Iron Maiden in concert. We got there early enough for some food and beverage. We pre-gamed at a bar called The Beerhive which had an interesting draft selection, then moved over to dinner at a Peruvian place called Chicken Latino. The menu had some similarities to the Guatemalan place M and I tried a few weeks ago, but the Peruvian chicken I ordered was far better than any entree I had there. I would recommend both places.
Sunday, August 18 - The new September 2019 issue of Eating Well arrived, and unlike the last issue it is chock full of recipes that looked interesting. I had a minor misfire with the first attempt, which was the Skillet Chili Mac. I didn't realize how much it really was chili until I finished it. I should have just made my own chili and dumped in some pasta rather than making their subpar chili. Oh well. It was fine, and made lots of leftovers.
Monday, August 19 - I turned back to 660 Curries and came out with the Baby Potatoes with a Garlic-Red Chili Sauce. The recipe helpfully warned me that it was very hot, so I cut down the heat inducing spices significantly. It was still too hot, as in M came downstairs for dinner and hadn't even made it one step into the dining room before saying "oh, this is going to be spicy." Liberal applications of yogurt cooled it down, but she still found it too much for her taste. I did like it, but clearly I need to dial it even farther down. M wrote "too hot" on the post-it on the cookbook.
Tuesday, August 20 - This meal was a two parter, with both dishes from the new September 2019 Eating Well.
First up was the Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Lemon-Chile Vinaigrette & Toasted Hazelnuts, which required no cooking whatsoever and made a tasty side dish that we both enjoyed.
The main course was the Creamy Tomato Soup with Tortellini, which generated a very rich and flavorful tomato soup with nice little cheesy bits. It rises to the top of my tomato soup list.
Wednesday, August 21 - I found of one the increasingly few recipes from the Moosewood Favorites that I hadn't made before. This one was Italian Polenta-Stuffed Peppers. It's a little complicated and time consuming to make (because polenta often is), but the results were nice. If I can find a faster way to make polenta I may make it again.
Thursday, August 22 - For the second time this year, Moosewood offered up the Spring Egg Salad. It was joined by another slaw-ish recipe from Moosewood. I had not previously made the Confetti Kale Slaw. I didn't like it quite as much as the Shaved Brussels, but M is a fan of slaw and slaw-like salads and judged it good.
Friday, August 23 - My folks were in town, and they requested Indian food. We went to India Garden for the first time this year and had several pleasant curries. I had the Malai Kofta, and my only complaint was that I wanted more paneer balls because they were delicious.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 7
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 5 / 7
New Recipes: 6
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 2
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
New To Me Restaurants: 2
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 0
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 1
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 234
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 141 / 196
New Recipes: 82
Leftover Nights: 8
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 113
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 46
New To Me Restaurants: 57
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 43
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 15
Repeated Recipes: 23
Saturday, August 17 - John, darlox and I went to Pittsburgh to see Iron Maiden in concert. We got there early enough for some food and beverage. We pre-gamed at a bar called The Beerhive which had an interesting draft selection, then moved over to dinner at a Peruvian place called Chicken Latino. The menu had some similarities to the Guatemalan place M and I tried a few weeks ago, but the Peruvian chicken I ordered was far better than any entree I had there. I would recommend both places.
Sunday, August 18 - The new September 2019 issue of Eating Well arrived, and unlike the last issue it is chock full of recipes that looked interesting. I had a minor misfire with the first attempt, which was the Skillet Chili Mac. I didn't realize how much it really was chili until I finished it. I should have just made my own chili and dumped in some pasta rather than making their subpar chili. Oh well. It was fine, and made lots of leftovers.
Monday, August 19 - I turned back to 660 Curries and came out with the Baby Potatoes with a Garlic-Red Chili Sauce. The recipe helpfully warned me that it was very hot, so I cut down the heat inducing spices significantly. It was still too hot, as in M came downstairs for dinner and hadn't even made it one step into the dining room before saying "oh, this is going to be spicy." Liberal applications of yogurt cooled it down, but she still found it too much for her taste. I did like it, but clearly I need to dial it even farther down. M wrote "too hot" on the post-it on the cookbook.
Tuesday, August 20 - This meal was a two parter, with both dishes from the new September 2019 Eating Well.
First up was the Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Lemon-Chile Vinaigrette & Toasted Hazelnuts, which required no cooking whatsoever and made a tasty side dish that we both enjoyed.
The main course was the Creamy Tomato Soup with Tortellini, which generated a very rich and flavorful tomato soup with nice little cheesy bits. It rises to the top of my tomato soup list.
Wednesday, August 21 - I found of one the increasingly few recipes from the Moosewood Favorites that I hadn't made before. This one was Italian Polenta-Stuffed Peppers. It's a little complicated and time consuming to make (because polenta often is), but the results were nice. If I can find a faster way to make polenta I may make it again.
Thursday, August 22 - For the second time this year, Moosewood offered up the Spring Egg Salad. It was joined by another slaw-ish recipe from Moosewood. I had not previously made the Confetti Kale Slaw. I didn't like it quite as much as the Shaved Brussels, but M is a fan of slaw and slaw-like salads and judged it good.
Friday, August 23 - My folks were in town, and they requested Indian food. We went to India Garden for the first time this year and had several pleasant curries. I had the Malai Kofta, and my only complaint was that I wanted more paneer balls because they were delicious.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 7
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 5 / 7
New Recipes: 6
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 2
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
New To Me Restaurants: 2
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 0
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 1
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 234
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 141 / 196
New Recipes: 82
Leftover Nights: 8
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 113
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 46
New To Me Restaurants: 57
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 43
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 15
Repeated Recipes: 23