I'm tired

So, after a long day at work yesterday I am too tired to try and be clever. And I didn't cook at all last night, just laid on the couch with a gin and tonic and ..can't even remember what I ate. Oh ya, leftovers from work. BUT, the night before I made a yummy pasta dish we like from the Epicurious website - Campanelle with Sausage and Beans. Lots of roasted garlic, beans, a little grated cheese and cooking it for quite a while give it a nice thick flavorful sauce. I use a bit more sausage than they called for, and next time I might make it half mild Italian, half hot italian, just for a little more heat. But it was very yummy and we're still munching on those leftovers.

Chops and Spoonbread

The most successful thing in our garden right now is our sage, and I guess I should actually start using some of what's out there instead of letting it stay and look pretty. Last night Drew seared some pork chops with sage, salt and pepper, then threw in a bottle of beer and let them marinate, and cooked some yummy spinach with lots of onion and garlic. I made the Cheddar Corn spoonbread from The New American Cheese cookbook. I've made it before and it's been a hit repeatedly, but for some reason this time it was overwhelmingly salty. Also, the recipe calls for using only two egg whites, I used three, and I felt like the texture was the best its ever been. Next time I'll leave out the salt and keep the third egg white. Of course, the saltiness didn't keep me from eating it cold out of its dish on the couch this morning.

hmmmmm

Okay, not a very auspicious beginning. I have been bad about posting, and it's not because there haven't been things to post or because my lovely boyfriend hasn't taken shots of my sometimes pretty food. Just sheer laziness. So, here are some things done lately, and I will be better from now on:

My parents came over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I made a Beer Braised Chicken dish from a recent Food and Wine magazine. It turned out well, but honestly both Drew and I were not thrilled with the flavor. Something tasted kind of musty - we think it might have been the saffron? However, I really think I did the recipe just as it was written and that it tasted as it was supposed to. Probably won't be making this again, though it was pretty.

Also, a week or so ago we had burgers done my favorite way - with my friend Charles' recipe. Mix the burger meat with pepper and whatever other spices you want. Slice butter into 1/2 tablespoon slices, coat them in minced fresh thyme, and form patties around the thyme-coated butter. Grill or fry as normal. While they are cooking, you put butter, red wine and brown sugar into a small saucepan and cook down until it is nice and thick. Pour over burgers when they are ready. Its ridiculously yummy. I added some blue cheese too.

A Plethora of Hotdogs

My first post! This blog is mainly for me to keep a record of what I cooked, what recipes I used, how I changed them, and what did and didn't work. If anyone else happens to enjoy it, fabulous!

At the last minute on Derby Day we panicked and thought we didn't have enough fried chicken. So, we ran out and got a few packages of hotdogs. They weren't touched and have been frozen as I figure out ways to use them that aren't too disgusting. I'm kind of sad that this is the first entry on the blog, since it's nothing special, but tonight I used them in one of our regular dishes: hotdogs cooked in beer and sauerkraut and potato pancakes with sour cream. Totally simple, totally bad for you yummy dish. And I toast the hot dog bun in the oven just beforehand.