The on-going chronicle of all things related to the George and Laura Roediger House (c. 1905) in the historic Holly Avenue Neighborhood of downtown Winston-Salem, NC. More info and pictures can be found at RoedigerHouse.com. [Mobile users: CLICK TO SEARCH the blog.]
With extra corn and black beans remaining from a recent round of sweet pork nachos, and just the right amount of ground beef searching for its purpose, I happily put together a new sheet pan of nachos last Tuesday night. All that cheesy goodness and the hearty mix of flavors, with the satisfying crunch of salty tortillas underneath and dollops of sour cream atop each bite: I was happy enough!
A recipe I'm glad to have snagged a decade ago keeps bearing great benefits when I'm in the mood for a giant sugar cookie...or if I want to push it even further and make Mardi Gras tri-colored cookies. The source website and its author disappeared quite some time ago so I no longer have a working link to take you to the recipe, however. In the meantime, just know that these were pretty terrific once again last Monday night!
"Mardi Gras Sugar Cookies," from Kelly of AmericanCupcakeAbroad.com. [Published 20 February 2012]
With two fine homemade hamburger buns remaining from the previous evening's cheeseburgers, plus a cooked split chicken breast waiting in the fridge, I took inspiration from Subway, fried up a batch of bacon, threw together a cupful of ranch dressing, and turned it all into chicken-bacon-ranch sandwiches...which were delicious for the main meal last Monday.
Exactly two weeks prior to this past Sunday night's meal, I made the same menu: juicy burgers on the grill on homemade hamburger buns. I wanted to try those buns again without making them quite so large. I'm glad I did: the fine cheeseburger on fresh-baked incredibly delicious hand-crafted buns made for a magical meal.
I still ain't so great at even apportionment.
But lordy did they bake up mighty fine.
"Juicy Burgers," originally from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks recipe magazine, July 2003, p. 52-53. After Pillsbury was purchased in 2001 by General Mills, home of Betty Crocker (founded in 1921, mind you!), it basically ceased to exist as a company and lives on just as a brand. I guess that's why a Pillsbury cookbook recipe from 2003 is now only found on the Betty Crocker website.
"Beautiful Burger Buns," from Ellen "Moomie" Dorsey of King Arthur Baking. See also the accompanying blog post, "Burger Buns with a Beautiful Backstory," by PJ Hamel. [Published 28 June 2021]
Let’s start with dinner, as it is the driving force behind most of the blog entries here. I had asparagus in the fridge, leftover focaccia, and a couple of split chicken breasts. Sounds like a recipe for success, and for abundance. The process: bake those breasts with herbs and spices until a juicy flavorful tenderness results; roast the fat asparagus cuts to an ideal state; add in Rice-a-Roni just because...heat the foil-wrapped focaccia as the chicken nears the end of its cook time...and a platter of grand proportions becomes the Saturday night special at the Roediger House.
It was a day of nearly full sun and gorgeous blue skies, and while we never got above 49°F here, at least the winds were negligible and one could fancy the joy of warmth if strategically positioned in the angular sunbeams of mid-winter. While giving Sumner outside time, I was more than happy to catalogue the latest signs of spring that morning, including the buds of blossoms-to-be on the Bradford pear, and the many tips of tulips from the bulbs I planted last fall.
Cooking guidance from "Baked Split Chicken Breast," from Prospective Phd on AllRecipes.com. [Updated 13 February 2023]
If the wetness of this winter is set to play on repeat, I could at least try to rise above it. But right about the time I almost fix my attitude, the pressing needs of a house pooch require the experiential fullness of the morning misery, and into the morose grey blah-land I trudge, umbrella in hand and towels ready at the back door. Then I’m completely remediated in my downtrodden dumps by the patient cooperation of the very best man’s best friend, his tail wagging, his snout kissable, his loving affect lighting up the hallway where we transition from drear to dream life. That lovable Sumner is better than I deserve.
Our ventures into the muddy muck as the drizzle persisted last Friday morning took a darker turn for one very unlucky squirrel, though, as that determined hunter within the otherwise sweet Sumner scored his 11th kill. It was a messy dirty battle and Sumner got some pointed bloody pricks to his nose, but we are now down one more pesky yard rodent here. As I try to note each time these property pests are put down, we tend to be overrun with them, and they do not limit themselves to merely running around. Ask me about the outdoor furniture cushions I’ve recently thrown away because they had been ripped apart for some nest-lining stuffing.
A burst of pseudo-inspiration set my yeasty yearnings into motion last Thursday, enough to throw together an overnight fridge-rising dough for a focaccia loaf to incorporate into the Friday dinner. I was working out an idea that I had to follow through on, even if it was an odd one: patty melts with sautéed thin-sliced onions, classic burger sauce, on thickly-risen focaccia so that it could be sliced as a bun. Messy as heck? Yeah. Gloriously tasty? No doubt.
The focaccia was pretty awesome.
"Overnight Refrigerated Focaccia = The Best Focaccia Bread Recipe," by Alexandra Stafford of AlexandraCooks.com. [02 March 2018 / Updated 06 January 2022]
"Classic Burger Sauce" from "Best Old-Fashioned Burgers," by J. Kenji Alt, in Cook's Illustrated, No. 93 (July/August 2008), p. 11.
It is Mardi Gras season (and the timing of this blog entry's posting just happens to coincide with the official Fat Tuesday of 2023), and I still had on my baking wishlist another go at Mardi Gras king cake cookies with a devilish pecan praline topping...and the requisite adornment of green, gold, and purple sparkling sugars. Even though I botched a small part of the technique, rendering the cookies a bit more fragile than normal, they were remarkable nonetheless when I made them last Thursday evening! They also just look plum fancy.
Let's also note that it was a warm day and I took full advantage of it with a 6.33-mile walk down through the Sunnyside and Washington Park Neighborhoods.
"King Cake Cookies with Praline Pecan," from Bree Hester of BakedBree.com. Adapted from a recipe originally developed by Aimee Broussard.
Last Wednesday presented a fine opportunity to dig out of the freezer a vacuum-sealed portion of saved Cafe Rio sweet pork to pile on top of my latest batch of sheet pan nachos. Well-cheesed, boosted with diced onion and black beans and shoepeg corn, helpfully balanced with tangy sour cream: it was difficult to exercise portion restraint.
Perhaps the key to the Valentine's Day dinner's success was randomly selecting a different skillet chicken recipe from a blogger who'd already come through in excellent fashion previously. A final chicken breast from a sale-priced bonus pack begged for a creative use, so I made creamy garlic chicken, mixed in spaghetti, and side-armed it with roasted Brussels sprouts. It took only one glass of wine to get me tipsy but it was a special night, after all.
"Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts," from Karina Carrel of Cafe Delites.
Hot cheesy slices of thick-crusted homemade pan pizza, featuring a pesto base and adorned with ricotta and mozzarella, were a hearty source of great comfort last Sunday.
I'd argue that comfort was needed. Once more, the heavy hand of winter brought its bone-chilling grey and wet drear, full in its miserableness, hours upon hours of rain, blustery winds, and while it's good to be alive I also hate every minute of that kind of weather.
Sumner knew the best course of action was hunkering down and clinging to any warmth that could be generated.
This forecast calendar was meteorologically accurate with its nomenclature for that day.
"Fool-Proof Pan Pizza" [Updated 03 January 2020] and "Pesto Pizza" [Updated 27 February 2019], by J. Kenji López-Alt, former culinary director of SeriousEats.com.
It was not earned and was counter to my best interests, but chocolate sugar cookies last Saturday night sure were tasty.
"Chocolate Sugar Cookies," by Lindsay Conchar of LifeLoveandSugar.com. [Published 25 November 2020]
When I made chicken tikka masala pizza (for National Pizza Day, supposedly), I ended up with more than a little leftover spiced chicken pieces. With a spare chicken breast still chilling in the fridge, it made perfectly good sense to make a good ol' regular batch of chicken tikka masala to be served over basmati rice, bulked up with what I already had on hand. Delicious? Sure! And here's the state of my fine yellow crocuses as of that morning:
"Chicken Tikka Masala," from Cook's Country, October/November 2014, centerfold recipe cards.
Last Saturday's surprisingly sunny and warm afternoon gave me ample time to do some yardwork, including pulling enough weeds to aggravate the old man's back, and also scooping up more of the daunting clippings from my monstrous ornamental grass. I fell back on a tasty supper option for Meal No. 3293 that wreaked havoc on the next-morning weigh-in: a simple corruption of carbonara, full of onion and bacon, served over fusili pasta that proved to be a bit chewy. I do not make this much any more, enjoy it while I'm eating it, and then settle into belly regret once the bowl is (mostly) cleaned.
But hey: I did at least have an ever watchful overseer while I dug around in the flower beds.
"Pasta Carbonara," a recipe shared by Monie Lawrence of Raleigh, NC.
These legions of "National Day of..." things aswarm in social media and boosted by filler news articles are mostly goofy. Every day is something. It seems that last Thursday had been designated (by someone somehow?) as National Pizza Day. That's worth observing no matter how ridiculous the designation. So I tried a different same-day pizza dough (which was fine but I did not love) as well as a new topping or style: chicken tikka masala. At first blush I looked askance at the small individual size of the two pizzas but they were more than filling!
Every once in a while, I appreciate even the subtlest colors emerging over the city as the day dawns; I might capture the sight and, less often, also post it. This past Wednesday morning's obscuring shadows not yet touched by those rosy fingers of young daylight are why I did not even bother to try to catch a photo of the stealthy sneaking silhouette of the raccoon Sumner and I spotted across the street in the driveway of my alarm company (their building is visible in the lower right of both this photo and this photo). In 20 years of downtown living, this is only the second raccoon I've seen; the other was way over in the undeveloped southern portion of the Innovation Quarter along Research Parkway.
Although it was a mostly overcast day that Wednesday, I was very happy to see the first crocus bloom. And when I drove down to Montgomery County for an afternoon session with new teachers, the grey gloom was more tolerable with an early February afternoon that reached 70°F.
By Friday morning, the earliest daffodil blooms had emerged, helping boost my spring-seeking soul just a bit more into the realms of approaching joy:
"Roberta's Pizza Dough," from Carlo Mirarchi, Brandon Hoy, Chris Parachini and Katherine Wheelock. Adapted by Sam Sifton. Found on New York Times Cooking.
Chicken tikka masala was contrived by me with some inspiration from:
After an online planning meeting with a school district I've been working with the last couple of years, I switched last Tuesday's gears and headed out with inspired purpose to accomplish long-delayed tasks from my to-do list: investigating options for repairing the soles of my now well-worn-and-walked-out New Balance shoes, and trying to get my KitchenAid stand mixer repaired (both tasks were strike-outs, unfortunately), plus a very productive time at the dependable ol' Kinko's where I harvested the lovely fruits of some recent graphics communication projects. This is one of those times where the money saved from DIY really is remarkable. So I splurged on very reasonably-priced salmon and very-on-sale asparagus for an evening meal of roasted delights. Ah, salmon: I've missed you.
With the previous evening's bounty of gradiose burger buns leaving three of those enormous rascals in waiting, and with a repeat trio of the fellas for a dinner and movie hang, it seemed a ripe opportunity for the relative simplicity of chicken salad sandwiches. I cooked the chicken breasts in the sous vide, with seasonings and fresh-cut rosemary sprigs. Once I'd given the finished breasts time in an ice bath to stop the cooking, I made the dressing, diced the chicken, stirred it all up, and put it away for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld. I dug some of the innards of my hamburger roll out so that I could better focus on the chicken salad. My obligatory oversized pile of Sun Chips made a welcome return to my dinner plate.
Adapted from "The Best Classic Chicken Salad Recipe," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Culinary Consultant at SeriousEats.com. [Published 03 June 2015 / Updated 17 April 2020]
Dressing for chicken salad similar to approach in "Chicken Salad Melt," a Roediger House original recipe.
We put Scream 2 on pause halfway through the movie last Sunday night so that I could fetch festive plates with gorgeous and grand slices of fresh-made Meyer lemon bars. (It was the sweet finisher after the giant cheeseburgers on my oversized homemade burger buns.) The Ina Garten lemon bars are always fairly stunning, and it isn't only because of the three cups of sugar in them. I'm nearing the end of my winter tranche of Meyer lemons, so they've all been juiced and I'm putting to use the last of that sweet seasonal juice.
"Lemon Bars," by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Published in Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2001.
In my initial stream of thoughts about dinner last Sunday night, I was leaning toward peanut butter bacon burgers, given that it's been a good while since I made those. Ah, but without any hamburger buns tucked in the cabinet, it was a chance to just make my own. As their given name implies, those hamburger buns were indeed "beautiful," and also bodacious! So huge were they once baked that I pulled back on the bacon and peanut butter additions and just made the burgers themselves large enough to try to match the gracious surface area of those sturdy split buns. Now that I have gone through the process once, I am certain that I should divide them into 8 or 10 buns next time so that a more reasonable size and bun stature results. Tall and still tasty were they, simply supplemented with the last of my beef and cheddar melts sauce.
"Juicy Burgers," originally from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks recipe magazine, July 2003, p. 52-53. After Pillsbury was purchased in 2001 by General Mills, home of Betty Crocker (founded in 1921, mind you!), it basically ceased to exist as a company and lives on just as a brand. I guess that's why a Pillsbury cookbook recipe from 2003 is now only found on the Betty Crocker website.
"Beautiful Burger Buns," from Ellen "Moomie" Dorsey of King Arthur Baking. See also the accompanying blog post, "Burger Buns with a Beautiful Backstory," by PJ Hamel. [Published 28 June 2021]
February's first Friday was at last a grandly sunny day under brilliant blue skies, and yet it was besmirched by brutal headwinds increasing the chill factor of a 40-degree afternoon. The 5-mile walk that day was a challenge, particularly when being pushed about by those unexpectedly muscular blasts from the wind warlocks. You see, of course, where this is leading: soup for supper. This time, it was an overdue emergence of broccoli-cheddar, warm and thick and cheesy and well-broccoli'd. I do believe its place in the regular rotation has not yet received due consideration, for it always pleases the tastes and tummies when I've served it up!
There was enough of this good soup remaining to provide the Saturday meal as well, an even colder day but with mercifully calmer breezes and the beauty of full sunshine. I was thinking about an article I read a day or so before, a stage-setter for the anticipated weather patterns of the month of February. It included a tidbit of info that I guess I’d never thought about or considered: the encouraging accelerated pattern of increasing daylight that occurs over the next couple of months, plus the promise that sunset will be after 6 pm by month’s end. And with the early morning 23°F chill last Saturday came additional signs of good hope to get me through the winter: the crocus (see photo above) and daffodils (photo below) are on their way!
But wait...there's more: the bluebird couple was once more found inspecting the bluebird house on the fence. I love seeing those rascals.
The feeling that spring is coming nearer, the bright light of a clear day, those initial shoots with their collaborating promise...it almost made me forget how frickin' cold the day began.
Based on "Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup," by ChefNini and posted to GeniusKitchen.com.
A bit of beef called out to me for a mid-day meal last Thursday, and that meant pulling prepped slabs of filet mignon from the freezer, using the sous vide to make short work of cooking them, and finishing with a pan-sear. Garlicked roasted asparagus spears, abundant and vibrant, were a glorious accompanying pile.
Also, I have to confess: it was a winter Thursday that just about did me in. Temps hovering around 40, the wet blanket of unrelenting dim drear, more than an inkling of cabin fever, morose and drizzly and unending. I trudged through the requisite afternoon walk, missing its usual elements of enjoyment, unsuccessful at pushing off the bleak mood of the day. I ought to acknowledge, though, that the sugar overload from the huge portion of King Cake I consumed late morning probably did not benefit my mental state!
I'm not steeped in the traditions around Mardi Gras or Carnivale. My simple roots growing up in a small unincorporated community, attending a moderate Southern Baptist church, living in and going to school in a rural county just barely in Eastern North Carolina, kept me unwise to the larger world. Customs and faiths and practices that were not Protestant and regional were otherworldly to me. (At around age 12, I asked my new neighbor and classmate from New York, a Catholic, if they were the ones who didn't believe in Jesus.) I'm pretty sure I was well into adulthood, for instance, when I first saw an Ash Wednesday-marked forehead on someone. We might acknowledge the Lenten season at church on Sunday, but I remember no one in my circles of contacts who practiced "giving up" something for it.
All that is (ironically) rather confessional, a bit too much so. I am neither swept up by the partying leading up to the Season of Lent, nor the piety subsequently called for once it commences. But culinary endeavors are a temptation to which I yield. My one recorded prior attempt at making a King Cake, from 2015, did not thrill me, as I recall. Since then, if inspired by the holiday, I have instead made Mardi Gras King Cake cookies, or Mardi Gras-colored sugar cookies. Not so long ago, a newer King Cake recipe popped up on my radar and I saved the recipe to see if my recent yeast dough shenanigans have helped me improve my approach and the corresponding results. In the meantime, I've been advised that King Cake is appropriate any time between January 6th and Mardi Gras...or any time you damn well feel like it!
On the first day of February, I set about making the sweet enriched dough to put aside for an overnight refrigerator rise. The next morning, after it was reported that Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter, I divided it and rolled it out, opted for a sweet cinnamon filling, braided and circled each loaf (cake?), gave each its final rise, and baked them. Once they had cooled, the glazey icing and sparkling sugar were applied in my customarily non-artistic manner.
"Mardi Gras King Cake," from Amy Nash of HouseofNashEats.com. [Published 22 January 2022 / Modified 19 January 2023]
