Grab-Bag

Made this marmalade last month; I should have looked up how much water is usually added to marmalade, but I blindly followed the "add water to cover" direction and the result is too watery. At some point I plan to remake the jam.

Had Meyer-Lemon Lentil Salad a few weeks ago - it was kind of fussy to make, but delicious.

We've mostly been eating "old favorites"-type recipes that I've already written about here on the blog. It's been a busy time for both of us, and that looks to continue for at least the next few weeks (in fact, one or both of us will be traveling from now until the very end of April). Probably not a lot of updates as a result.

Last week's menu:

Su: fancy-pants steaks; mashed potatoes with crispy leeks; salad with blue-cheese dressing
M: pasta with marinara
T: soup-swap soup (Beef with Barley, it was excellent!) and bread
W: pizza with caramelized onions, rosemary, and local camembert-style cheese
R: take-out
F: roasted sweet potatoes & cauliflower
Sa: roasted chicken with carrots, parsnips, and rutabaga

Bacony PB Cookies

Made following this recipe from the brown-eyed baker; substituting bacon drippings for the shortening gives them a subtle bacony flavor.

Steakhouse Dinner at Home

So full. This may be the most decadent meal we've ever made just for the two of us. We did split a single (large) steak, so we had a (very small) nod toward prudence.

* salad with blue cheese dressing (I used 1/2 C milk, 1/4 C yogurt, and 1 Tbsp buttermilk powder)
* sous-vide style steak
* crispy-leek mashed potatoes (1 leek, fried in generous vegetable oil with generous amount of salt until crispy, mashed into 2 steamed potatoes with a small nob of butter and some fresh-ground black pepper)
* peanut butter and bacon cookies (recipe forthcoming from V)

Old Favorites: Menu, Week of Feb 17

Su: Mac & Cheese
M: Curry of Indeterminate Ethnicity; Naan
T: out
W: Parsnip & Leek Soup
R: Goosh Buns
F: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Sa: Braised Chicken; Corn Bread

Menu Week of Feb 10

Su: pizza w/ Italian sausage & roasted red peppers
M: pasta w/ marinara sauce
T: roasted sweet potatoes & sauteed kale
W: out
R: V-Day dinner at Blackbird
F: gnocchi w/ sage butter sauce; salad

Leftovers! Menu, Week of Jan 27

Su: left-over lemony lentil soup; bread
M: pasta with red sauce (made Sunday)
T: Beef Rogan Josh; Naan (made by frying peach-sized lumps of bread dough in ghee, 2-3 min per side)
W: Mexican Corn Chowder
R: omelet with left-over wild-mushroom ravioli filling (...still need to write up the original recipe)
F & Sa: out

Esther Ann's Beef Stew

Some of my earliest food memories are of eating this stew at my grandmother's house, and it was one of the first meat dishes I made on my own. Today there are a number of ways I could fancy it up, but it's too precious of a memory for that. For those without fond childhood memories to preserve, you might try switching in your favorite stew spices (marjoram, perhaps?) and browning the beef before starting the stew.

Esther Ann's Beef Stew

• 2 lbs stew meat (Grandma uses top round), cut into large chunks, perhaps 2-3"
• 3 celery stalks, cut into 2" segments
• 2 medium onions, cut in lengths
• 4 carrots, cut into 4 pieces 
• 1 C tomato juice
• 1/3 C quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into large chunks

Preheat oven to 300F.

Combine beef, celery, onions, and carrots in casserole dish. In a small bowl, combine tomato juice, tapioca, and seasonings. Pour over meat and veggies, stirring to cover.

Cover and bake for about 2 1/2 hours. Remove the cover and add the potatoes. Bake for another hour, uncovered, or until potatoes are very soft.

Can also be made in the crockpot by combining all ingredients and cooking on low for 8 hours.