Thread: What did you have for dinner? -Part dois

Pasta with fresh mozzarella, mini tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

So I haven't posted here in a while. I really need to start taking pictures again. I got a new job recently that has me not getting home till much later in the evening, usually around 6, then I did previously. Which means time to cook has been severely reduced which doesn't help when my Wife's emotions are generally very tied to how hungry she is and all her life dinner was around 5:30 at the latest

I think I've mentioned before we plan out about 3 to 4 weeks of dinners in advance and just do a big shopping run. So this time i tried to plan dinners I could prep and have ready or cooking before I got home, and that I could have done within 15 to 30 minutes. Surprisingly, its actually been very fun where I originally thought it was going to make for bland food.

Did BBQ chicken one day, where I took some advise from reverend ages ago and actually made a rub of spices for the chicken and only put the BBQ sauce on near the end. I used to just soak the chicken in sauce and that was it. The rub was a mix of paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and a bit of onion powder. Had a nice kick to it and complimented the zesty & sweet BBQ sauce I had. Seared the four breats in my new steel skillet (my favorite wedding present) and then chucked it in the oven at 450 for about 15 minutes. They cooked wonderfully and the flavor was great.

The best part...I made the two extra breasts so that I could cut them up and save them. Later on in the week I pulled out a pizza crust, used the BBQ sauce instead of marinera, used a mix of chedder/mozarella/monteray jack cheeses, and made a really really tastey BBQ chicken pizza out of it.

Been experimenting with a few types of "Grilled Cheese" as well. Did an Italian Grilled Cheese, where I buttered the slices and added garlic, basil, and rosemary to it. Used mozarella cheese and then had a little marinera for dunking. Was very tasty going with a ceaser salad.

Also did a pepperjack and bacon grilled cheese. These were GREAT. Took Monteray Jack cheese along with some diced red, yellow, and orange peppers. Cooked up some bacon and used about 1/3 of it to tear into smaller pieces. Threw the cheese, bacon, and peppers onto two nice large slices of white bread and cooked on the griddle. These were REALLY tasty and amazingly quick.

Kept the other 1/3rds of bacon for dinner last night (...we ate the other 1/3rd as we were cooking. Damnit, bacons good!). Jallman and Reverend helped me out about a year and a half ago first introducing me to a roux as a means of making a cheese sauce. My cooking class last year had me go a step further as well, learning how to make a bechamel sauce. So yesterday I boiled some rotini pasta and started up a simple bechamel sauce using half heavy cream / half 2% milk. Added garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to it. Then stirred in about two handfuls of a mix of freshly grated parmesean and romano cheese. Melted wonderfully into a very thick sauce. Layered the rotini with the sauce and small pieces of the left over bacon in a round pyrex dish. Mixed some breadcrumbs and grated parmesean to top the thing off and threw it in the oven.

WOW, it tasted good and was addicting. I need to definitely leave more bacon for it because it tastes best with the salty kick of the bacon mixed with the really good cheese flavoring. The meal took a bit longer to prepare, but was well worth it.

I was worried going into this new job I wasn't going to get to have as much fun cooking any longer. Throughout most of December we were eating out, making boring quick easy meals, or doing pre-made in a bag type of things. It feels good to start actually cooking again.

Now I just want it to be warm so i can use my grill again damnit.

Originally Posted by Zyphlin

Been experimenting with a few types of "Grilled Cheese" as well. Did an Italian Grilled Cheese, where I buttered the slices and added garlic, basil, and rosemary to it. Used mozarella cheese and then had a little marinera for dunking. Was very tasty going with a ceaser salad.
.

You should try a grilled cheese with prosciutto and fresh sage sometime.. I make these on occasion (when I have the ingredients), usually with a mix of cheeses, muenster because I love its consistency when melted and typically swiss with this particular sammich.

Speaking of bacon.. that was a component of the salad I made last night. Nice thick sliced slabs of bacon cooked and then crumbled.

It was a spinach and bacon salad with brown sugar glazed walnuts, with feta, dried cranberries, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.. it was fantastic (for a salad), and the walnuts were amazingly easy to glaze, and although I normally am rather indifferent regarding walnuts the glazed ones are great for munching just by themselves

I had pizza. Nuff said.

homemade(if you consider store bought corn tortillas dipped in store bought enchilada sauce and rolled up with some cheddar and monterey jack cheese and baked in the oven till the cheese melts to be homemade) enchiladas.

Originally Posted by Zyphlin

Now I just want it to be warm so i can use my grill again damnit.

Tempurature, inclement weather, blizzards, hurricanes, are no impedence on if or when the Good Reverend grills.

Hardees Big Hot Ham 'N' Cheese and side salad

last night I made a pork tenderloin (served med-rare) with an orange rosemary glaze. As is the case a lot of the time I see what is in the fridge, and then come up with what to make from there. I saw a navel orange that was a bit too old for eating by itself, and came up with dinner around that.

A run to the store for a pork tenderloin, and a raid of my rosemary bush later I had the pork marinating in some of the glaze and the rest simmering in a pot to reduce, and then as I slowly baked ( 300 degrees) the tenderloin I glazed every 10 minutes or so..I pulled it when the internal temp was about 140. Served with fingerling potatoes cooked in the same pan as the tenderloin, and a side of asparagus steamed, shocked and then skillet sauteed briefly with a bit of olive oil, garlic, coriander, and white pepper.

the glaze was as follows (no I do not have measurements, it was done to taste- a bit of that, some of this, taste, and tweak.)
brown sugar, fresh squeezed orange juice, grated orange zest, chopped rosemary, a little balsamic vinegar, some garlic, a dash of salt, and some white pepper.

A whole bag of Totino's pizza rolls and I loved it