Friday, April 6, 2018

Friday Food: The Easter Dinner Rebel


Friday

Short version: Scrambled eggs, tortillas and cheese, curried cauliflower

Long version: We always buy corn tortillas and I microwave cheese on top for a cheater's quesadilla. The boys put their scrambled eggs inside the cheesy tortillas for a kind of breakfast burrito.

The curried cauliflower was just steamed cauliflower with shallots and sweet yellow curry powder. After the cauliflower had steamed, I drained the water, added oil to the pan, quickly cooked the sliced shallots, and then fried the curry powder and salt for a minute before adding a bit of heavy cream. It's very important to fry the curry powder in oil before adding any liquid, or else it has a very unpleasant sharp flavor that you really don't want to eat.

Saturday

Short version: Sweet Italian sausage with bell peppers and onions, pasta with tomato sauce, green salad

Long version: The tomato sauce was the leftover pizza sauce from last week, with a little cream added. Because cream makes everything better.

Sunday

Short version: Cheeseburgers (with buns!), french fries, milkshakes

Long version: Yes, we ate cheeseburgers for Easter dinner. I'm the cook around here, and I do what I want. Plus, grocery store ham is wet and gross.

I made hamburger buns for a special treat, though. We usually just eat the patties without buns. I used this recipe, but with all white flour. I made 3/4 of a recipe, because I only had one egg left on Friday night, when I needed to start the fermenting process. Stellar planning, yes. I was going to make a half recipe, but it didn't really look like enough, so I just figured that extra 1/4 of the recipe would be okay without another egg. It was. Yum.

The french fries were also special, because instead of making everyday oven fries, I did the full-on frying in a cast iron pan. I used this method.


There's a whole lot of fryin' goin' on. Also a whole lot of cast iron.

We ended up having a taste test, because I only had enough lard and tallow for one 12-inch pan full of fries, so I did another 12-inch pan with canola oil. A. tasted them blind and actually misidentified which was fried in tallow. So there you have it. Use whichever one you have. They both (or rather, all three) make kick-ass french fries.

I only had grocery store beef, so the burgers were nothing special, though I did make "special sauce" for them with mayonnaise, ketchup, and finely diced shallots. The shallots were the best part of the entire hamburger, in my opinion.

I would always rather have a (chocolate) milkshake over pie. And milkshakes are way easier to make. Even if your blender breaks halfway through the blending and you have to finish in a food processor. Ahem.

Other than some token romaine lettuce on the hamburgers, we didn't have a vegetable. I figure if my kids consume an entire "milk chocolate flavored" bunny each at 7:15 a.m., the day is pretty much a loss nutrition-wise anyway.

Oh, and look! I took a picture! Of our actual food!


Look at me, all food bloggy and stuff.

Monday

Short version: Lazy sloppy joes, sauteed broccoli/carrots/onion

Long version: I had some ground beef left over from Sunday, so I browned it with diced onion, dumped in barbecue sauce, and served it on the last three buns also leftover from Sunday. Boom.

There was half an onion left after I made the sloppy joes, and I hate storing onion in the refrigerator (so smelly), so I sliced it and cooked it with broccoli and carrots in the pan still on the stove with bacon grease in it from making eggs in the morning.

Tuesday

Short version: London broil, sauteed mushrooms with shallots, mashed potatoes, peas

Long version: When I have large pieces of lean meat like London Broil, my preferred way of cooking it is to sear it in a cast iron pan until it's nice and crusty, but still pretty raw in the middle, then take it out and put it on the cutting board while I make a sauce. Then I slice the meat and add it right back into the sauce to cook a little more. The meat gets coated better that way, and I don't have to worry about overcooking it when it's a whole piece.

The sauce this time was diced shallots, whole grain mustard, a little water, and heavy cream.

Wednesday

Short version: All roasted things--Chicken thighs, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers/onions; and cannellini beans

Long version: You may have noticed that this is the first time since I've been doing these posts that I have ever cooked chicken. That's because I never buy chicken. I find chicken to be kind of a grody meat in general to deal with, and that goes double for grocery store chicken. The kids like it, though, and I happened to be at the grocery store yesterday where chicken thighs were on sale, so I got a package. I just seasoned them with salt and random Italian seasoning mix, put them right on top of a pan of carrot and potato chunks, and roasted it all along with another pan of bell peppers and onions.

The beans are so easy, but so good. Quickly cook a couple of cloves of mashed garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, add a can of rinsed and drained cannellini beans and some kind of herb (thyme, oregano, basil . . . this time I used the same random Italian herb mix). When it's all heated, it's done. I love these. So do Cubby and Jack.

Thursday

Short version: Pork chops, baked potatoes, cabbage and onions, baked apples

Long version: After I browned the pork chops in a cast iron pan on the stove (salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lots of paprika), they went in the oven on a half-sheet pan to finish cooking along with the baked potatoes. There was quite a lot of spice crust on the bottom of the cast iron pan, so I fried a sliced onion and some cabbage in there to take on the flavors. The boys ate their cabbage raw. Crazy kids.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Surprised you cooked chicken...I remember from an earlier post of yours, saying that you didn't like to cook it. My husband loves chicken, alas, that's why we eat it a lot. Easter hamburgers & fries look great!
Saturday - I ended up making texas rice. With bacon, rice, tomato sauce & spices, (instead of salmon patties). Some kind of vegetables, can't remember.
Sunday - Easter Dinner - took father out, as this is what he likes to do. Dinner was at a local American Legion & actually was very good. Ham, lamb, stuffed chicken breasts, vegetables, salad & dessert.
Monday - Chicken breast, salsa in crockpot over rice & broccoli
Tuesday - Pork chops in crockpot with rice, carrots, celery & broccoli
Wednesday - Chicken legs, potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms all roasted in the oven
Thursday - husband had leftover chicken legs & salad, I had egg salad sandwich & salad
Friday - husband at friends, I have my volunteer job tonight so leftover egg salad sandwich
Linda

Anonymous said...

Easter-campo lindo whole chicken roasted, carrots, roasted potatoes, strawberry shortcake
Monday-big green salad, ranch beans, fritoes, tomatoes, cheese, dreesing
Tuesday-Nachos
Wednesday-made stock with leftover chicken, added fresh veggies big pot of soup
Thursday-grilled pork chops, braised red cabbage with goat cheese

Cooking makes a big mess of my kitchen!!!

Anonymous said...

Unless I would write it down daily, I couldn't tell you. Suffice it to say we don't go hungry and all your meals sound wonderful
I cook a lot on top of out wood heating stove, it has a flat top and cast iron pans on top and dutch ovens work great.

Anonymous said...

Nothing says Easter like hamburger buns, which I'm sure were totally special for the kids. You get to make up your own traditions. Nothing special or memorable on this end; just the same barbecue and oven grilled stuff, although brussel sprouts are your dad's new vegetable of choice. If nothing we're open to change, since I'll eat just about everything - except for some of y'all's wild meat products!

Anonymous said...

I love holiday food rebellion. We tried to rebel at Christmas this year; we were going to have chips and dip and other junk. But my dad would have none of it -- rebelled against the rebellion -- so we had a full roast beef dinner, which was quite delicious but not very rebellious.

Kay said...

I can't remember back to Easter Saturday. I really miss my brain.
Easter: just us but we still had ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans, rolls.
Monday: Deviled eggs and other things but I can't remember what.
Tuesday: Taco salads
Wednesday: Steaks, potatoes & baked beans
Thursday: Errand night, so ate Fast Food
Friday: Babysat friends' children; boxed Mac & Cheese and pigs in the blanket, canned pears
Saturday: Hamburgers and oven fries
It looks like we didn't eat many vegetables, but I have a salad of whatever fresh ones I feel like eating every night. Fresh fruit every day too.
Although the highlight of the week was a yummy adult beverage of lemonade and Kentucky moonshine. Wine would have been more sophisticated but my drink went better with the burgers.

Laura Darling said...

Your meals all sound delicious! Especially the Easter burgers and the sausage and peppers! That is one of my favorites! We've been eating a new favorite meal around here - grilled eggplant, zucchini, and red pepper, on bread with goat cheese, and then put it on the grill pan for a few minutes to toast the bread and melt the cheese. It is SO GOOD, and easy!!

adb said...

It’s been YEARS since I’ve left a comment here (even though I have been a reader consistently) but your use of the word “grody” compelled me to break my silence. That word took me back. Just like when a smell triggers a memory and you are instantly transported back to a long lost period in your life. Thanks for the flashback! (I have the same feelings about handling raw chicken.)