Meal No. 2790: Grilled Filet Mignon

This moderate winter, free of extremes at either end of the temperature scale, finally offered up occasions of warmth and previews of the coming spring this past week. Not only did we get our second over-60°F day on Tuesday, but we got our first 70°F+ day Wednesday, when it got up to 71°F. That allowed me more time to work in the yard, which was completely awesome, but it also gave me quite an appetite. For dinner that night, I pulled prepped filet mignon bags from the freezer stash, tossed them into the sous vide immersion bath for a couple of hours, and finished them on the grill. Roasted spiced sweet potatoes and garlic-roasted asparagus brought it all together.

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"Roasted Sweet Potatoes," from Chelsea Lords of ChelseasMessyApron.com. [Published 04 March 2019]

Meal No. 2789: Sous Vide Cheeseburgers

For only the second day this entire winter, temps in Winston-Salem managed to climb above 60°F this past Tuesday and I was happy to take advantage of it with some yard labors. But weather like that also put me in the mood for cheeseburgers, so I broke out a couple that I'd already prepped and stored in the freezer, plopped them into the 143°F immersion bath for a couple of hours, and finished them in duck fat in the cast iron skillet before adding cheese. Served on toasted buttered brioche buns with Sun Chips on the side, it suited the Tuesday evening needs.

Meal No. 2788: Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

A mostly simple meal filled the plates last Monday night: sous vide chicken thighs with garlic, shallots, and thyme; roasted chili-spiced sweet potatoes; and garlic-and-olive oil-roasted bok choy.

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"Roasted Sweet Potatoes," from Chelsea Lords of ChelseasMessyApron.com. [Published 04 March 2019]

Mid-February Dessert Treats

I can't say that I get all that worked up about Valentine's Day, but it need not be an impressive spark to light the fuse that propels me to jump into some joyful kitchen endeavors. In keeping with the holiday, I used its 2021 appearance as an excuse to try out a new recipe for red velvet pound cake. Those are four pretty awesome words there, and in pairs one must submit hungrily to their siren call: "red velvet" and "pound cake." Glory, hallelujah, and hell yeah. Am I right?

With part of a jar of thick and flavorful caramel left over from the amazing burnt sugar syrup caramel cake a few days before, I found myself wanting to employ it in some sweet creation. Then it hit me: how about a salted caramel version of homemade Klondike bars, just to see if I could pull it off? The usual light fluffy interior of those isn't, in fact, ice cream, but a combination of swiss meringue and whipped cream, mostly. Perhaps because I'd warmed the caramel too much, or because I didn't counter the weight of the additional sugar content, I was unable to restore the swiss meringue to its fluffed and airy peaks, resulting in a denser bar than intended. But the chocolate coating still worked out just fine and the finished product was a frozen dairy treat that one could be proud to boast about. Since it was a double batch this time, there was all the more to share with the neighbors but also to hold onto for the gleeful satisfaction of the Roediger House.

To mark Mardi Gras on February 16th, I worked up a dozen and a half mardi gras sugar cookies, all green and purple and yellow...and amazingly delicious, to boot.

I could not bring myself to stop the sugar stampede. On the afternoon of the 15th, while supper cooked, I made the base for double chocolate liqueur ice cream and then churned it on sackcloth Wednesday. That's some ridiculously good ice cream, if I may say so.

Before bedtime that Wednesday night, it was the fear of having to discard the rest of a carton of milk, getting too near the end of its shelf life, that drove me back into the pudding section of my collected general desserts recipes notebook. I measured what I had, and it was precisely 4-and-a-half cups, the exact amount needed either for my vanilla pudding recipe, or for a new one I hadn't made before: hot chocolate pudding. I thought it would have to play runner-up to the vanilla version but I'd say they both tie for tops. Final analysis: perhaps pudding is pudding, and I'm putting it in my belly regardless.

The final entry in the mid-February sweetsstakes came on Saturday night, February 20th. Because I'd made that wonderful double liqueur chocolate ice cream, it seemed to beg for some delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting...and I happened to have a recipe for that very thing that I'd wanted to try out. I was extra inspired because it came from that same recipe blog as that heretofore-mentioned amazing burnt sugar syrup caramel cake, so the pedigree was a real selling point! The crumb was tender, moist, and impressive even if the cake layers' flavor wasn't really kicking...but the fudgy icing was itself well worth it and led to privately licked plates.

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"Red Velvet Pound Cake," by Amanda Rettke of the I Am Baker blog, found at IAmBaker.net. [Published 12 February 2021]

Adapted from "Homemade Klondike Bars," by Stella Parks, the Pastry Wizard at SeriousEats.com. [Published 06 September 2018 / Updated 15 April 2020]

"Mardi Gras Sugar Cookies," from Kelly of AmericanCupcakeAbroad.com. [Published 20 February 2012]

"Double Chocolate Liqueur Ice Cream," by Kita Roberts. From her Pass the Sushi blog. [Published 23 July 2019]

"Hot Chocolate Pudding," from the Food Network Kitchens.

"The Best Yellow Cake I've Ever Had," from Sally McKenney of SallysBakingAddiction.com. [Published 25 May 2020]

Meal No. 2787: Sous Vide Pork Chops

Last Friday I had a chance to try cooking wonderfully thick center-cut boneless pork chops using the sous vide immersion circulator, and then I finished them off with a good sear in the cast iron skillet. They were absolutely perfect after two hours of cooking at 140°F. I sort of tinkered around with an onion-marsala-thyme sauce to go with them, and it also was spot-on. The sides were some good ol' favorites: roasted potato cubes with blackening spices and simple roasted Brussels sprouts (with only olive oil, salt, and pepper). This was another night where it wasn't all that fancy but it was an abundance of hearty goodness.

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"How to Cook Pork Chops Sous Vide," by Carrie Havranek. From SimplyRecipes.com. [Updated 13 February 2021]

"Sous Vide Pork Chops," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Chief Culinary Consultant of SeriousEats.com. [Published 08 April 2016 / Updated 25 June 2020]

Meal No. 2786: Chicken Salad Sandwiches

We found ourselves confronted with an icing event back on Febraury 18th, and with it came the worry of a loss of power.

Fortunately, although the ice accumulated to about a quarter-inch thickness, the rain abated mid-day and temps got up to 35°F here, so the melting commenced.

Last week's polar vortex that wreaked so much havoc in Texas and dropped temperatures into negative territory in the country's mid-section only brushed past us here in North Carolina.

Given that our electricity situation was uncertain, though, I planned on an inexpensive and simple supper: chicken salad sandwiches made from sous vide split chicken breasts.

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Adapted from "The Best Classic Chicken Salad Recipe," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Chief Culinary Consultant of SeriousEats.com. [Published 03 June 2015 / Updated 17 April 2020]

Meal No. 2785: Salmon Croquettes with Chili-Garlic-Lime Aioli

Last Wednesday, in the final hours of uncertainty before the onslaught of a somewhat major ice storm, the evening hours could still proceed with the last gasps of normalcy. I started a bit late in the kitchen given that I'd decided to take on a multi-stage prep for the meal, but it was all worth it in the end. On the plates that night: really delicious salmon croquettes with chili-garlic-lime aioli, along with roasted green beans. This is my second time making this meal, and it won't be the last.

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Recipe sent to me by my sister Allison, who cracked up when I asked about the source: adapted from "Salmon Burgers" (p. 396) and "Herb Sauce" (p. 395), from Denise Austin, Shrink Your Female Fat Zones, Rodale Books (2003).

"Chili-Lime Aïoli," from David Wald of Princeton, NJ, May 2009.

Meal No. 2784: Creamy Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola

Last Tuesday, with the yucky rains finally giving us a brief reprieve, when supper rolled around I was interested in a tasty bowl of comfort and goodness: creamy chicken marsala with gorgonzola. It always surprises me how delicious it is, given that it's pretty simple to throw together. That night it was particularly on the money, too.

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Based on "Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola," by Jill Anderson (Sleepy Eye, MN). In Taste of Home, February/March 2012, p. 34-35.

Meal No. 2783: Roasted Salmon and Broccoli

After almost three weeks without it, I was glad to roast up some salmon this past Monday night, along with the usual plate partner of roasted broccoli. Always filling and good, and fortunately a healthier choice, it's a meal I come back to again and again.

Meal No. 2782: Potato, Cheddar, and Bacon Soup

Some years ago my sister in Indiana sent me a recipe for a pretty solid cheddar potato soup that I tinkered with just a bit to suit the tastes of this household. It's been on hold, apprarently, for quite a few months but last Saturday night was perfect for resurrecting it. Here in Winston-Salem last weekend, we were caught with a moisture system that was stalled and temps that remained at or near freezing. The trees and shrubs had off-and-on ice accumulations and it was a fine day to stay in place. I declined a request from my neighbor that I take him to go search for the housemate who'd stolen his truck, because it sounded like weapons might be involved.

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"Potato Cheddar Soup," from the Roediger House. Adapted from "Potato and Cheese Soup," from KitchenArt: The Store for Cooks [now closed] in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Meal No. 2781: Sous Vide Filet Mignon

A Friday night filet mignon was especially excellent after achieving a perfect cook temp via a sous vide immersion bath, followed by a flavorful sear in the cast iron skillet.

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Adapted from "Super Crispy Roasted Potatoes," from Christin Mahrlig of SpicySouthernKitchen.com. [Published 16 September 2014]

Burnt Sugar Syrup Caramel Cake

Recent kitchen endeavors had left me with a reserve of egg whites that I hated to see go to waste, so I dove into the cake recipes collection and came up with one that was as-yet untried: burnt sugar syrup caramel cake. Oh so delicious, and even kind of pretty. Those cake layers were spot on, and perhaps the frosting is a bit over-sweet, but what's wrong with something being enthusiastically tasty?

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"Burnt Sugar Caramel Cake," from Sally McKenney of Sally's Baking Addiction. [Published 09 September 2019]

Meal No. 2780: Sheet Pan Beef Nachos

We have so far been denied the usual sporadic treat of a refreshingly warm winter day, so it was all the more welcome when bright persistent sunshine prevailed last Tuesday and defied the forecasts by climbing almost to the mid-60s. (The last time we got over 60°F in Winston-Salem was December 13th.)  Sumner and I took full advantage of it to get in about a four-mile walk down through Old Salem and back up through downtown.

That helped work up a solid enough appetite for a return to a previously-overdone regular dinner feature: sheet pan beef nachos. They'd been missing from the dinner scene for right at six months, so I suspect the overeagerness of my munch mission can be explained away by the fondness born of absence.

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Taco-Style Meat Based on "Crispy Beef Tacos," by Hilah Johnson. From HilahCooking.com.

Seasoning was based on "Taco Seasoning I," from Bill Echols on AllRecipes.com.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Salted Coffee Caramel Skillet Cookie with Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

The name of the blog post says it all, once it gets done saying quite a bit. I was on a bit of a run with ice creams and super-duper cookie concoctions as we began the month of February. Following the successful maple walnut white chocolate blondie with vanilla ice milk back on February 4th, I was ready to go with a different skillet cookie with yet another frozen dairy treat. Ah, but I had one of my blessedly rare kitchen screw-ups when I made it a couple of nights later, because I completely forgot the brown sugar! But on Monday a week ago, I gave it a second trial. Pictured above is an oatmeal chocolate chunk salted coffee caramel skillet cookie, topped with homemade Vietnamese coffee ice cream, and drizzled with a bit more coffee caramel sauce. I'm glad I don't have to get a read on my glucose levels again until my next regular check-up this summer, or else my doctor might get to fussing at me.

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Adapted from "Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Salted Coffee Caramel Apple Skillet Cookie," from Tieghan Girard of the Half-Baked Harvest blog. [Published 29 October 2013]

"Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream," by David Lebovitz. In The Perfect Scoop. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press (2007), p. 35.

Meal No. 2779: Spaghetti with Homemade Meat Sauce

As the first full week of February drew to a close Sunday a week ago, and I was riding high on an early finish to writing a draft of this month's professional journal article, there was solace to be found in preparing a simple dinner of spaghetti with homemade meat sauce. However, thanks to the generous sharing of a rack of smoked pork ribs from the neighbors down the street, my spaghetti went into a leftovers container and I licked my fingers and smacked my lips over some meaty ribbed goodness from their grill.

I'll also mention that the day began with an unexpected, but still lovely and brief, complete but moderate dusting of snow that morning. Sumner's golden coat looked extra regal against the white backdrop that morning but it all faded quickly as the day proceeded. This has been a chilly winter and remarkably consistent, really. So far this season, all daytime temps have generally been in the 40s or 50s. We've had not really cold extremes, but we'd also at that point had no days even in the 60s, much less in the 70s.

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"Our Favorite Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce," from Joanne Gallagher of InspiredTaste.net. [Published 16 January 2020]

Meal No. 2778: Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

The freezer is well-stocked with prepped proteins, waiting for a drop in a properly-heated sous vide bath to make supper super simple. Friday a week ago, the choice was chicken thighs, along with roasted whole green beans and some stovetop stuffing. I'm cataloguing on the blog no small number of, well, pedestrian meals...but they make me happy.

Thanks to some dedicated kitchen concoction efforts the weekend prior, I also had already stowed away a batch of stracciatella sweet cream chocolate chip gelato, which I brought out as a wonderful dessert after dinner. The base is very similar to the vanilla ice milk I had also made, although this gelato depends more on heavy cream. And the chips of chocolate scattered throughout are homemade, my friends. Homemade!

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"Stracciatella Gelato (Sweet Cream Chocolate Chip)," by Stella Parks, the Pastry Wizard at SeriousEats.com. [Published 06 August 2018 / Updated 15 April 2020]

White Chocolate Walnut Blondies with Maple Cream Sauce and Vanilla Ice Milk

Oh my goodness. Oh my gosh. Lordy and mercy me, and let's throw in a few geewillikers for good measure. After being so good with salad for dinner a week ago Thursday, I blew it all with an over-the-top dessert: maple walnut white chocolate blondies with maple cream sauce and homemade vanilla ice milk. It was amazing from top to bottom, from head to toe, from warm and luscious first bite to the increasingly pointless spoon-scraping around the side of the bowl.

This was my third time making these blondies but the first time making the recommended maple cream sauce from the source recipe. Previously, I went with either no sauce, or I used a different maple sauce recipe to get the result to be more like a copycat of the famous Applebee's dessert (that it seems they no longer offer).

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"White Chocolate Walnut Blondies with Maple Cream Sauce," from Jillian Hatsumi of ABajillianRecipes.com. [Published 23 July 2018]

"Classic Vanilla Ice Milk," by Stella Parks, Pastry Wizard of SeriousEats.com. [Published 22 August 2018 / Updated 15 April 2020]

Two Puddings for the Commencement of February

As we moved into the doldroms of February, I refused to be robbed of a joyful heart and spirit. What better way to counteract the blues and blahs of winter's shortest month than making sweet concoctions in the happy place of my kitchen? First up: a dark chocolate pudding, with a sharp flavor that probably wouldn't thrill all comers...but I sure enjoyed it. That was a mid-day treat on February 1st.

That night I made up another pudding, to be served the next two nights after dinner: homemade vanilla pudding. Remember: vanilla pudding doesn't have to be extraordinary. It just has to be vanilla pudding, and I'll be down with it. But this vanilla pudding was extraordinary, as in extraordinarily and amazingly delicious. 

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"Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding," by Stella Parks, Pastry Wizard of SeriousEats.com. [Published 13 January 2012 / Updated 30 August 2018]

"Vanilla Pudding," from the Food Network Kitchens.

Meal No. 2777: Pan-Seared Chicken Tenders on Caesar Spinach Salad

Last Thursday night, it was a return to a simple salad, with homemade Caesar dressing and adorned with pan-seared seasoned chicken tenders that had been cooked sous vide. It's mighty easy to pull out yet another vacuum-sealed bag of those bulk-purchased tenders whenever I need a meal like this, and that Caesar dressing is just dependably awesome.

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Based on "Easy Lemon Caesar Salad Dressing," by Kim of lowcarbmaven.com.

Meal No. 2776: Simple Beef Chili with Beans

The first day of February remained cold and very winter-like, all gray and overcast with a chilling wind and little reason to enjoy any outside time. It was a day that begged for a hearty warm soothing meal like beef chili, so that's what went in the pot. It was about as good as I can remember, and I've made this recipe dozens of times over the years, I'm sure.

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"Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans," from Cook's Illustrated, Number Sixty-One [March-April 2003], p. 10-11.

Meal No. 2775: Emeril's Skillet Beef Stroganoff

Apparently, if it's not salmon on the plates, it's stroganoff. Such was the repeated endeavor Sunday a week ago, a disturbingly chilly and rainy day where we couldn't quite get cold enough for the precipitation to become in any way interesting. So with ground beef and mushrooms I needed to use, Emeril's skillet beef stroganoff was the reasonable choice, and also a nod to its regularity.

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Based on "Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet," by Emeril Lagasse. Found online at The Food Network and also on Emerils.com.

Nutella Chocolate Cake

The next-door neighbor has asked me to help her keep a current supply of Nutella on hand, since she knows I make regular trips to Costco, but I'd held back a jar in reserve in case she needed some when I might not have a shopping trip on the immediate agenda. A week or so ago, I came across a recipe for Nutella cake that I thought she might enjoy and decided to try it out for the first time back on January 29th. It's pretty good stuff, although I substituted a simpler Nutella frosting for the one that the cake recipe developer had recommended. No regrets here! And, as the photo below shows, I tried to give as much of it away to the neighbors as I could...

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"Nutella Cake," by Jen Sobjeack of BakedbyanIntrovert.com. [Published 20 January 2021]

"Nutella Frosting," by Sally McKenney of Sally's Baking Addiction. [Published 20 October 2019]

Meal No. 2774: Roasted Pork Tenderloin

On the final Friday night of January, it was all about roasting: roasted hoisin-glazed pork tenderloin, roasted Brussels sprouts, and roasted spiced potatoes. It proved to be a delicious and substantial supper, all tasty and good.

The next morning proved to be the second Saturday in a row with a multi-hour predatory perching by the neighborhood hawk. On a trip outside with Sumner, a swirl of feathers caught my eye, likely evidence of a missed pigeon poaching, which led me to look around for him. And there he was in the same tree as the previous weekend. Still didn't get to witness action and by mid-day he had moved on.

Meal No. 2773: Creamy Sausage Spinach Pasta

I had the privilege of two days of sessions with the latest two cohorts of the High Point University Leadership Academy last week, conducting this initial training virtually. The content can be pretty intense, but they were a fantastic group and a pleasure to work with. I bet it got all of us kind of worn out, though! I'm glad that that Thursday night's supper was pretty simple and quick but also pretty darned good: creamy Italian sausage pasta with wilted baby spinach. The contents of the bowl were zippily consumed and lips were happily smacked.

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"Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta," from Nichole of TheSaltyMarshmallow.com. [Published 17 August 2018]

Meal No. 2772: Roasted Salmon & Broccoli

After a full day of online teaching on Wednesday a week ago, it was nice to then turn to a simple but much-loved meal for supper: roasted spiced salmon filet with roasted broccoli florets. As long as I'm using my handy temperature probe, it's proving to be impossible to mess this one up.

Meal No. 2771: Oven-Roasted Baby Back Pork Ribs

Thanks to a recent extra good special at the Harris Teeter, I came home with several racks of baby back ribs. Two of those were prepped and vacuum-sealed for storage in the freezer, but one was saved for cooking. That happened Tuesday a week ago, and I do believe it's about the best they've ever been. With no other sides needed or wanted, it was all pork, all night: I guess my final tally was 9 or 10 ribs.

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"How to Make Great Ribs in the Oven," by Emma Christensen. From The Kitchn. [Published 01 July 2017]

Carrot Cake / Chocolate Cream Pie

Over the weekend before last, I got my dessert desire up and running enough to make a couple of special treats. The first of those was amazing carrot cake, following the recipe that was shared with me several years ago by friends and colleagues who live in Woodstock, Virginia. That was my Friday evening endeavor.

On Saturday night, I brought back a fun recipe that I hadn't made in almost three-and-a-half years: Emeril's chocolate cream pie. Mercy, that rascal is just always quite good. It did not behave as well as I was accustomed to while I made it but the finished product was pretty special.

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"Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake (1981)," also known as "Best Carrot Cake (October, 1997)," from Southern Living. Compiled in the Southern Living 1981 Annual Recipes, Birmingham: Oxmoor Press. Also found online. The recipe I follow was recommended and shared with me by John & Ebbie Linaburg of Woodstock, Virginia.

"Emeril's Chocolate Cream Pie," by Emeril Lagasse (2007). Featured on The FoodNetwork.com website.

Meal No. 2770: Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

Hope it's not too trite to keep having some form of chicken on a Sunday evening, but that's sure what occurred just over a week ago. I pulled some prepped vacuum-sealed and seasoned bone-in chicken thighs out of the freezer and happily tossed them into a sous vide bath to cook for almost three hours. As they neared the end of that time, I roasted green beans in a garlic-infused olive oil and also threw together a batch of stovetop stuffing. Ain't nothing all that fancy about this meal, but it satisfies something fierce.

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"Sous Vide Chicken Thighs," from Anne of UpstateRamblings.com. [Published 01 September 2019]