What You Should Have Eaten #53

I like to consider myself an expert when it comes to food. I’ve been eating it all my life, so I think that affords me some consideration.

I’ve been cooking for a considerably shorter amount of time, but it does run in the family. My grandfather owned and ran a deli then a coffee shop in a little town in Indiana, and my dad has always been a great cook. My sister and my mom are also no slouches in the kitchen.

Besides the occasional sandwich or bowl of cereal, I never cooked for myself until I got my second apartment in college. Anything fixed in my first apartment was usually something frozen and thrown in the microwave. At that time I still doing most of my meals on campus.

My parents bought me my first cook book, a copy of “Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book” that’s still in my kitchen. It’s pretty basic as far as the types of recipes it includes, but it includes TONS of them.

Right now I’m working my way through Rachael Ray’s “365: No Repeats.” It’s a mostly incredible book that I’m about halfway through. It’s taking me slightly longer than a year to get through because I only get to cook from it once a week. I’m a single father of three wonderful kiddos. I learned early on that the key to keeping your sanity while raising a family alone (well, mostly alone) is to have a steady routine. Between homework, baths/showers, extra-curricular activities, and somewhat early bedtimes, I just don’t have the time to cook during the week. Saturdays are a lot more flexible, but I like to fix something fun for the kids, so I rotate grilled meals (burgers, hot dogs, steaks), taco nights, hamburger helper, etc. These are sure-fire meals that I KNOW they’ll eat. Sunday nights, though, those are for me. That’s when I bust out Rachel and get my cook on. I usually end up doing a slight (maybe major on occasion) variation on the dish to make it a bit more kid friendly, but I try and encourage them to try new foods and dishes.

One thing I’m going to attempt in the coming weeks is to fix these Rachael Ray recipes while keeping an eye on how much money I’m spending. I won’t lie; some of her recipes can result in high grocery bills. I’m going to see what substitutes can be made in order to make the recipes a little more cost friendly.

One thing I DON’T tend to skimp on, though, is alcohol. As I think about what to type here, though, I find that my reasoning for not getting the cheap stuff could also be used to not skimp on ingredients for my meals.

It’s not always true that you get what you pay for, but I find if you spend a little more on alcohol, you’re going to be buying a better product. It’s taken me about 13 years to figure this out.

I was pretty much a straight-and-narrow kid growing up. Before turning 21, I know of one beer I had (a Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde). I’m not 100% sure that I finished it. Once I turned 21, though, I did my best to catch up for lost time. In college, my beer of choice was Miller Genuine Draft. After college, I graduated to Amberbock. Sometime after my first kid was born, maybe around 2005, I discovered craft and high-gravity beer. My life was changed. I joined the UFO Club at Nashville Flying Saucer. I discovered some good places to buy good beer. I’m not necessarily snobby about beer, but I usually won’t drink any big domestics like Budweiser or Miller if other options are available.

I’ve also recently started paying attention to the various brands of liquor I’m buying. I can’t afford the TOP top shelf stuff, but I’ll spend a bit more and stay away from the stuff that feels like it’s melting your throat when you drink it. I like Viking Fjord vodka and New Amsterdam gin. I’ve recently discovered Oronoco rum, and I’ve got a bottle of Cabo Wabo tequila that I haven’t opened yet.

My liquor cabinet also contains a wide assortment of liqueurs, from your more common peach schnapps and blue curacaos to your slightly more off-the-wall piscos, Fernet Branca and Galliano. I have WAY more licorice-flavored spirits in my cabinet than I’d like. I hate the stuff. Tastes nasty.

I've peppered this post with pictures of the liquor cabinet and various pieces of glassware I've got. I like to collect beer and shot glasses. Whenever I travel, I pick up a shot glass from the city I'm in. Whenever I plan a trip to The Flying Saucer, I try and go on Wednesday nights when they sell special brewery glasses. It's a hell of a collection to try and move, though. I also collect beer bottle labels, but sometimes there aren't labels...so I collect the bottle. I've also also discovered growlers. Half-gallon of beer? Don't mind if I do.

Next week I’ll be posting meals again. These will be recipes I cook for my family on Sundays, and we’ll see how they turn out. I’ll also be including a mixed drink or two with the meals. Feel free to comment on any of the dishes or drinks. Have recommendations on substitutions? Please, let me know.

                       

BIG BIG BIG REMINDER: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #37

Warm Tangerine and Grilled Chicken Salad served on Grilled Garlic Crisps

My ex-mother-in-law brought me some peaches yesterday (not necessarily out of the kindness of her heart. She was given some and didn’t think she’d be able to eat them all. Oh well, they smell wonderful.), so I decided to make a dessert. My son suggested peach cobbler, and I just happened to have all the ingredients, so that’s what I’m doing.

 

 

I was a little hesitant about this dish when I started slicing up the peaches. The first one I cut into was rotten in the middle. I was hoping this wasn’t a subtle message from the ex MiL (doubtful), and I was also hoping this wasn’t going to happen as I cut into the other three peaches (it didn’t). I tasted one of the slices, and it was delicious. If nothing else, the filling would be excellent.

 

 

And I say that because the topping gave me pause. The butter did not cut into the flour and sugar easily to make a crumb topping, and the milk/egg mixture did not just moisten the topping, it made it doughy. I just put some dough blobs on the filling and crossed my fingers when I put the stuff in the oven.

 

The drink is pink. Already, this is a bad sign. Meh, it’s passable but no great shakes. I think this is the most Galliano I’ve put into a drink. It’s usually a teaspoon or two, but this time it was ¾ of an ounce. Like I said, not bad, but not great.

After going through my cooking photos, it seems as if I already made this drink. I apologize for the double post

Let’s start out with changes to the ingredients. Apparently tangerines aren’t in season, so I had to substitute some generic oranges. I think they’re Minneolas. Also, I’m doing two pints of red grape tomatoes because my Kroger Marketplace didn’t have any yellow ones. And I actually bought olives for this. I didn’t with the last recipe that called for them, but I decided to try them. I did, however, but some green ones that were stuffed with blue cheese, so we’ll see how that affects the recipe. Also, no fennel bulb. I guess I’ll throw in a little bit of whatever is in my fennel spice jar…seeds?

Let’s do this!

I really need to read these recipes in advance…or pay attention to the recipe’s name. I didn’t realize I’d need to get my grill ready. Not a problem, though. The coals can heat up while I get everything chopped and prepared. This’ll be the first time I’ll be cooking chicken on the grill. Before it’s either been steak or hamburger. This should be interesting.

I couldn’t find any chicken cutlets, so I got some breasts and I’m going to cut them in half to make them a bit thinner.

My God, these olives smell nasty. I hope including them won’t come back to haunt me.

Fennel = licorice. I hate licorice.

 Yeah, there is no way I’m going to make my kids eat this. I don’t know if I want to eat it.

There is a better-than-good chance that I’m using a paint brush to brush the olive oil on the pita.

 This is by far one of the ugliest things I’ve cooked, and also one of the worst tasting. In the beginning, the orange tries to exert itself, but everything is overpowered by the olives. It’s awful. I tried to eat my entire serving, but all I could choke down were the pita and the chicken. I think I’m going to try and pick out the chicken and save it for lunch, maybe drown out the olive by bringing along some steak sauce or something. I hate to just throw it ALL away. I spent so much money on the ingredients, and that’s what I’m most disappointed about.

The cobbler was good.

Probably for the rest of the month I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit it out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But my experiment this weekend proved to me that I actually AM making a spot of cash whenever the ads are clicked. So I’m going to put this little disclaimer on the bottom of all my posts for the next month or so, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #35

Southwestern Pasta Bake

Tonight’s drink is a St. Vincent, which has gin, Galliano, cream and grenadine in it. I used to really hate gin. It all tasted like rubbing alcohol to me. But then I found New Amsterdam Gin. It’s smooth with a really nice citrus aftertaste. Whereas I used to buy whatever liquor was on sale, I’m starting to find I’m brand loyal to some things, and New Amsterdam Gin is one of those things to which I’m brand loyal.

The drink is fine as a one-off, but it’s too creamy to really enjoy more than one at a time. When I’m done with this I’ll be enjoying a BBC (Bluegrass Brewing Company) American Pale Ale. It’s good, but I had their Nut Brown Ale last night, and it knocked my socks off. It was one of the best nut browns I’ve ever had, no lie.

Guess what? I’m leaving out the onions. Shocking, I know.

I’m using fresh cilantro but dried parsley. I’ve got a LOT of dried parsley, and this just seems like an opportune time to get rid of some.

This is a very easy recipe to make. Get everything prepped in advance and you’re set.

As with almost all of my Sunday night meals, I knew my kids wouldn’t touch this. They love plain pasta with parmesan cheese, so I held out a little bit of the penne and served it up with some oranges, carrots and celery. As long as I can give them a healthy alternative, I don’t feel the need to try and force them to eat something like this. Now, I might not be so accommodating if this were an every night sort of thing, but I’m only able to cook like this once a week, so it’s okay. Of course, they have to at least TRY the dish if they want dessert. I’m accommodating, but I’m not a total softy.

I enjoyed the meal, but it was rather bland for something calling itself a Southwest dish. But I’m okay with that since I don’t like spicy things. If you DO like spicy things, I’d suggest using a hotter type of pepper, using the onion I omitted, and maybe mixing in some cayenne pepper with the chili pepper.

What You Should Have Eaten #32

Italian-Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti

Tonight’s drink is a Texas Rancher. It was originally supposed to be a Mermaid, but at first I didn’t realize that there was a difference between orange bitters (which I have) and bitter orange (which I don’t have). Looks like I need to figure out what bitter orange is.

The two vermouths in this drink take away any tang that the grapefruit juice might provide. Sad, ‘cause I was looking forward to a little tang. It’s not bad, though. Not great, but not bad. I’d maybe use a bit less vermouth and pump up the gin and grapefruit juice. I’m not sure what the maraschino is doing in there.

I’ve only got 12 oz. of cherry tomatoes and not an entire pint. I hope that’s not going to make a big difference. The cherry tomatoes at my local Kroger Marketplace carry pint-sized grape tomatoes, but not cherry tomatoes.

I’m using my sweet white vermouth instead of the dry I’ve got just because I’ve got more sweet and the recipe doesn’t say which is better.

I was extremely disappointed when I learned that the produce section was out of “fresh” basil, and it looks like I’m out of the dry stuff. I guess I’ll substitute a bit of Italian seasoning and see what happens. Next year I need to start a small herb garden.

Small list of ingredients and a small recipe usually means an easy time in the kitchen. I hope that holds true for tonight. I’ve got my sister bringing over a loaf of frozen garlic bread, and I think that’ll round out the dinner quite nicely.

I went into this knowing the kids wouldn’t eat the spaghetti with anything in it, so I held out some of the noodles for them and topped it with some parmesan cheese. That’s how they like it.

Well, I thought the dinner was edible, but it wasn’t anything great. I cooked the shrimp too long, so they were tough, and when you get down to it, it’s just spaghetti. My favorite part was the loaf of Pepperidge Farm garlic bread that my sister brought over.