A year of cooking

So it's been almost a year since I last posted and what's the topic? Food, of course.

Cooking is my creative outlet but it's also a necessity because of Susan's health, which prevents her from doing much of what she would want to do. So as a result, while it's fun to create, family and personal schedules don't allow the creative process to be the ruling criterion all the time. Sometimes you gotta eat NOW!

Thus the genesis of this topic. I intend to simply list what I've made or have been making over the course of the next year. You'll have the fun (I hope) of seeing what's going on and I'll have a repository of ideas that I can return to and reuse. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

So without further ado...

Sunday, Sept 19: We need to stock the freezer (my meal survival friend) for future needs. Limited in time, I decided on teriyaki chicken on the fly, marinaded briefly then cooked on the gas grill. Lessee - soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, ground black pepper. I trimmed boneless, skinless chicken thighs (thanks for the weekly special, Nob Hill Foods - $2.29 per pound) and put the meat in the marinade for a few indeterminate minutes. Cooked on the grill until done. Chicken thighs are much easier to cook because of the fat content. They will take much more abuse before they turn dry and tough. Pushed for time we used up some leftover, already cooked brown rice and cooked frozen beans.

A post-cooking meditation revealed that I should have, of course, added aromatics to the teriyaki. Garlic, green onions, ginger in some combination would have improved things considerably. However, I was grabbing some time in between home improvement and moving in tasks. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Monday, Sept 20: I'm trying to work in fish once a week so tonight we had catfish. First, seasoned with lemon pepper and salt, then lightly coated with flour, then egg wash, then a combination of corn meal and (ground) almond meal. The nut meal was handy and besides we were out of fancy panko (and regular panko, for that matter). Rounded out the meal with boiled new red potatoes and a green salad. Kids, you really ought to learn how to do vinaigrette from scratch. So much tastier than anything bottled and cheaper to boot. We make a batch of about 2/3 cup at a time and keep the bottle in the frig to use as needed.

Tomorrow I'm cooking chuck roast in the crock pot so I just finished browning the meat. Again, I expect to put away at least half of the recipe in the freezer. Cooked meals in the freezer are like money in the bank!