Asian.
The week is winding down and we decided to stay in. For those of you that saw my original menu plan for the week, I had planned on going out to dinner on Thursday night. That never happened and we finished the night off with a re-run of the pulled chicken sandwiches from Tuesday. Tonight, I made Dan Dan Noodles. I've never heard of a dish with that name before. However, I've had the flavor combination before. Salty, nutty, with a little heat. This somewhat spicy dish gets cooled down with some soothing cucumber chunks on the top. I highly recommend the dish. See my "on the fly" variation to the actual recipe below. Planning didn't make me think of everything this week! 
Dan Dan Noodles
Cooking Light Magazine, November 2009 Issue
Continue reading Dan Dan Noodles…Asian-style goodness
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Sandwich.
It worked out well that I had planned this meal for Tuesday. We had a friend stop over on Tuesday night after an attempt to get together with us on Sunday. Our friend was going to stop over around 6:30PM and "will have eaten" according to his message. All is well on that front with the exception that we often don't get home until after 5:30PM. What's up with that!!!!!
So, this quick meal actually came together in good time. I recommend it highly and made good use of the roasted chicken leftovers.
Black Pepper and Molasses Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Cooking Light Magazine, November 2009 Issue
Continue reading Pulled Chicken Sandwiches…not your regular chicken sandwich
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cabbage.
On Sunday afternoon, while the other half was handing out Halloween candy (yes, our city is one of the scared ones and only holds official trick-or-treat during safe daylight ho
urs!), I was working on both a roasted chicken and stuffed cabbage. I hadn't had stuffed cabbage in years (other than a few times eating the swill version that Lean Cuisine makes!)
The recipe I used was pretty much self-created…with a little help from one of the cookbooks I inherited from my mother. Not knowing exactly what I wanted to put inside the cabbage, other than the ground beef I had on hand, I looked to the good ol' American International Encyclopedic Cookbook (my version printed in 1972…long before I was a thought in this world!!!) This cherished book is not all that used. I do love to pull it out and read recipes and examine the newspaper recipe clippings that my mother peppered the book with.
Hamburger Stuffing Poultry or Cabbage Leaves
American International Encyclopedic Cookbook, 1972 Continue reading Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
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Chicken - Roasting.
Classic roast chicken. Dropped some celery, carrots, and onions into the roasting pan. Set the rack inside. Dropped a washed, buttered, salted, and peppered chicken on top and started roasting.
My goal was to have chicken for a sandwich recipe later in the week. However, a couple of juicy slices of
Continue reading Roasted Chicken
Meal Plan.
Day Main Course Sides Sunday Roasted Chicken Wild Rice & Broccoli Monday Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Tuesday
Black Pepper & Molasses Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Coleslaw Wednesday Taco Night Thursday Black Pepper & Molasses Pulled Chicken Sandwiches Coleslaw Friday Dan Dan Noodles Saturday HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
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Continue reading Dinner Plan – Week of October 25th
beef - Bread Pudding - Julia Child - pumpkin - Rice.
I am thrilled to say that this week has been a complete success. Though I had a few bumps earlier in the week, my buddy Julia came through as always. This brings me to a periodic concern I have about all the cooking choices available today. Are you testing your recipes?????? I believe the secret to a good cook is a fearless nature with perseverance to the core. You can’t give up if you’re going to make a great dish. There will always be mishap and the flavor combination that becomes disaster. However, if you don’t try to move forward, you’ll be stuck with the old. (Don’t get me wrong…I make my old hat turkey stroganoff a couple of times a year. I have stopped making it weekly though!!)
Now for the details…
As I said, Julia came to the rescue. I am confident that anything Julia Child touched and put to paper is going to be successful. I pulled out the old cookbook and looked for something a bit rustic and different than we’ve had before.
Boeuf a la Catalane was it!
This French dish comes from the corner of France near Spain and the Mediterranean. It’s made with beef, rice, and onions. It’s a stew of sorts. However, witht the addition of rice, I would call it a cross between a stew and paella! Look for recipes for this dish online. I’ve even seen a variation with green olives. Though, I’d be the only one in our household eating the dish then. Hmmm…never thought about it that way. This was good enough to not want to share. Maybe I will make it with green olives next time!!! 
Now on to dessert
Since it’s Sweetest Day today, I decided to make my better half a favorite fall dessert flavor, pumpkin. I found a Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe in the October 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine. I have to say, great choice. Crunchy bread crust, creamy custard, sweet and spicy pumpkin. A hit!!! The only thing to do better would be a nice vanilla bean ice cream scoop. Reader beware: A scoop might send you over the edge with this rich, filling dessert. I’d be happy with just a small, tablespoon size scoop…melting over the warm crusty bread. Maybe it’s time to go to the store and get some ice cream!!! Recipe follows: Continue reading Home Run Ending to a Mediocre Food Week
Technorati Tags: beef, Bread Pudding, Julia Child, pumpkin, Rice
Pork - Roasting.
This week, I attempted a couple of pork recipes that didn’t go so well.
The first was a pork roast from Gourmet magazine. The roast was a 1 day wet rub marinade that included black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, garlic, and fennel seed. For taste, it was great. Unfortunately, the cut of meat I used
Continue reading You win some, you lose some
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