Meal No. 3598: Arroz con Pollo

Yet another dependable dish for company in the RoHo archive is arroz con pollo, a full-flavored one-bowl meal made all the better with another steady stand-by: white cheese dip with green chiles. For Donna and Ebbie Saturday night, this was served up, in keeping with the approach of Cinco de Mayo...although quite frankly I'd planned these menus without ever thinking about that Sunday celebration day. They were gracious in their kind comments about it, and I just wanted to make sure that guests so special were afforded an appropriate measure of gratitude for having journeyed down to Winston.

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"Mexican Chicken & Rice," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 115 (January/February 2016), p. 10-11.

"The Best Mexican White Cheese Dip," from eatingonadime.com.

Meal No. 3597: Slow Cooker Cuban Lechón Asado

Friday's arrival of two very dear friends and colleagues from Virginia, so marvelously gracious to journey down to make it a fantastic weekend at the Roediger House, is occasion enough for celebration. The catch-up and fill-in conversations with regularly-refreshed wine glasses are front and center, but we've still gotta eat. The overnight citrus-based slow-cook of a pork shoulder, with a bit of Cuban spice and a touch of Mexican heat, became pork mojo sandwiches on homemade burger buns, with creamy lime sauce plus Mexican coleslaw. All that could suffice but I insist that pulled pork in that setting deserves Mexican chipotle street taco barbecue sauce to boost the luscious drippiness of the whole enterprise.

Once homemade burger buns were discovered here, I have a hard time ever wanting store-bought ones, if the time works out for me to make my own. I had an early misstep in the process but they still turned out mostly all right. What went inside of them certainly helped mask any shortcomings.

These ladies are so very special, and that night was the ramp-up to a fantastic and all-too-fast weekend.

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"Slow Cooker Cuban Lechón Asado," from Cory Fernandez of TheKitchn.com. [Published 10 December 2022]

"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]

"Mexican Chipotle Street Taco BBQ Sauce," a Roediger House original recipe. [First Made 08 May 2023]

"Cilantro Lime Sauce," from Alexa Blay of Key to My Lime. [Published 04 September 2019]

Mexican Coleslaw assembled using:

• Base Recipe: "Mexican Coleslaw," from Christin Mahrlig of SpicySouthernKitchen.com. [Published 08 August 2017]
• Seasoning Mix: "Homemade Chili and Taco Seasoning," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Published 03 February 2011]
• Enhanced Sour Cream: "Easy Lime Crema," from Lisa Bryan of DownShiftology.com. [Published 22 April 2020]

Meal No. 3596: Skillet Beef Stroganoff

Thursday's workday on coaching and feedback conversations at an elementary school in a neighboring county gave me a chance to detour off the highway to stock up on groceries, but my hunger propelled me to put together a quick delicious dinner so that it could be served by about 5:30 pm that afternoon. To the dinner table came yet another recurring house favorite: skillet beef stroganoff. The bowls were joyfully cleaned and what remained in the skillet sure is good leftovers for thems what might be in need.

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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.

Meal No. 3595: Sausage Puff Pastry Pizza

The late afternoon inspection of my irrigation system backflow assembly, required yearly by the City of Winston-Salem, ran up against more involved supper plans. So I had to go with one of my quick-and-easies: a puff pastry pizza. With a smear of homemade quick tomato sauce, some shredded cheddar, and some previously-cooked Italian sausage, all on an easy refrigerated puff pastry sheet, this weeknight pizza came out rather nice and even more so with a finishing topping of mozzarella and provolone. All of this under a glorious first day of May as the new month began last Wednesday, so there was certainly a full enjoyment of outside time after having just spent two days on the road for a work trip.

A good work trip, by the way, including this tasty indulgence on the drive back home from Wilmington:

Replacement Microwave Installed

When the new kitchen was designed and brought online in 2009, a family-sized large-capacity microwave was definitely on my list. The requisite research at that time led me to choose a Panasonic inversion countertop unit, which I ordered that February while I was off on a work trip. I suppose things were busy enough just a few years later when it died in the middle of Thanksgiving Day cooking, because I do not seem to have mentioned it on the blog. And while I should have made a warranty claim, that was back when my travel kept me hopping so much that things like that just fell through the cracks. Fortunately, Costco had a similar solid Panasonic model that I could snag quickly and it's been a steady workhorse ever since.

It might be a coincidence but after one Friday's cleaning by the ladies, I discovered that the microwave's turntable spun not just during cooking cycles but also anytime the door was opened. (Fortunately, it stopped spinning if the door was closed during non-operation.) While it still works perfectly well, I reckon it is a bit long in the tooth, especially with its frequent use by this kitchen dabbler, so I went ahead and upgraded to a newer model. That arrived at back on April 27 and has already been happily pressed into service.

Meal No. 3594: Not So Cajun Chicken

The list of meals thought of as special or traditional or favorites of the house is pretty extensive, but always in the top rankings will be the beloved Not So Cajun Chicken. First encountered when I was living in Raleigh and regularly consumed at Crowley's on Medlin Drive, it was my friend and college roommate Jimmy who found a reasonable approximating recipe for it that I've happily used ever since. It was the very first meal I made in the new kitchen when it was completed in 2009. And it returned to the Roediger House dinner table last Sunday at lunchtime, grandly sauced, suitably spiced, nestled comfortably on fresh-steamed rice.

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"Not So Cajun Chicken," a dish I regularly enjoyed at Crowley's Old Time Favorites restaurant and bar on Medlin Drive in Raleigh, NC. (Another version of the recipe can be found here.) A heap of thanks is due to Jimmy Randolph for tracking down the recipe for me.

Meal No. 3593: French Toast

This spring is proving to be busier than I've come to expect, but it's all good, because I do really enjoy my work. Last Saturday, that meant a seminar day with members of the latest cohort of aspiring administrators in the High Point University Leadership Academy. Our focus was on observation tools and data collection, a prelude to the instructional walks we'll do together in the coming fall. It's not that I got home so very late, but the lovely spring day meant there had to be quality time outside with the dogs. So dinner was simple: French toast on brioche bread, with a childlike abundance of maple syrup about which this adult will feel no remorse.

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"French Toast," by PJ Hamel of King Arthur Baking online.

Chocolate Éclair Cake

When once more the host of regulars found their way back to the Roediger House last Friday, the dessert served up was another special request. This time it was a pan of chocolate éclair cake, something I'd not made in almost two years. Around here we also sometimes enjoy an eggnog version at the holidays but this standard and original old stand-by has been, well, neglected.

I'm no food stylist, and when you've got six people's bowls to fill, considerations of a photogenic nature drop pretty far down my priority list. We'll leave the pretty staged shots to the food bloggers, and in the real world of human appetites ready for their sweet evening finisher, the slices will come out sporting an honest and uncontrived face. As long as the crew is happy with the taste, I'll let the photography medals go to others.

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"Chocolate Éclair Cake," a common and popular recipe.

Meal No. 3592: Beef Chili with Beans

Friday night it was the RoHo regulars back at the table again. It was a chilly grey day and I changed up the menu so that we could have beef chili with beans, along with a big dish of Granny Wilson's honey wheat cornbread. For some, the sour cream had to accompany the sharp cheddar cheese; for others, cheese was enough to please. We had our fill, almost completely emptying out the Dutch oven, but still there could be found a bit of room for dessert. More on that in tomorrow's blog post.

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

"Granny Wilson's Cornbread," a recipe shared with me by Linda B. Dunlap.

Meal No. 3591: Roasted Salmon & Broccoli

Spiced roasted salmon, and roasted broccoli florets, settled gloriously side by side on a dinner platter last Thursday night, a conclusion to another gorgeous sunny day in downtown Winston-Salem.

Chocolate Pudding Cake & New England-Style Vanilla Ice Cream

It started with losing my grip on a nearly-full 18-count carton of blue eggs, as I was shifting things in the fridge, and the attempt to keep them from tumbling out onto the floor involved a sad cracking of most of them. That meant either tossing it all, which would be a waste, or salvaging what I could. I immediately thought of two great uses for yolks: pudding (for the weekend batch of banana pudding) and dense and chewy New England-style vanilla ice cream. Tuesday night's dessert course was therefore charted, and I was hell-bent on including a chocolate counterbalance to it in the form of chocolate pudding cake. Made only once before with this particular recipe, it was freakin' fantastic again, and all the better with that frozen dairy heaven-sent ice cream.

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"Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake," from Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 13 May 2020 / Updated 07 July 2020]

"Dense, Chewy, and Rich New England-Style Ice Cream," from Max Falkowitz, former senior features editor of SeriousEats.com. [Updated 28 February 2019]

Meal No. 3590: Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday night was a fridge clean-out dinner: Hawaiian rolls were still on the counter, and cooked bacon was the fridge item. Slices of American cheese for top and bottom, a bake in the lower oven, and amazing bacon and cheese sandwiches were the simple supper.

I'm choosing to believe that that morning dawned with the chilliest temperature we'll see here for the next several months: 38°F. Then, it turned into a sunny and pleasant day, perfect for my short drive down to the campus of High Point University for the Culmination Celebration of HPU's Leadership Academy Cohort VII. What a wonderful event, with remarkable almost-graduates, all so very impressive—and I am so glad for the honor and privilege of working with them these last two years.

And I do feel a bit bad that I ended up on the front row for the session they presented about their work specifically with me on Instructional Leadership and Coaching!

And hey: let's give you all one more quick capture from this needless and extravagant dash cam in the new car, from the start of my travel that morning:

Meal No. 3589: Deviled Beef Short Ribs

The final full week of April—already arrived at, somehow!—dawned crisp and well-chilled. After so many wonderful spring days the week before, it was a rude invasion of unpleasant air but out into it I went anyway to meet my Apple watch's Earth Day Challenge. Not exactly a stretch but 30 minutes to stroll out to Research Parkway and back along Fourth Street was the magic formula necessary to add this badge to my self-satisfied tally. The morning weigh-ins have been troubling, but a review of recent blog posts certainly reveals the lack of discipline in my culinary care-taking.

The evening meal was a special one regardless of the bathroom scale's admonishments, a favorite feature that's been absent since January 2021: deviled beef short ribs. Such incredible flavor from that long low-heat roasting, plus the sinful spiced mustard baste, and finished off with toasted panko and parsley, the serving size remains just one because of how indulgent these are. Roasted herbed asparagus is certainly a welcome add-on but I did overdo (size and stuffing) the twice-baked potatoes...lordy, there is no absolution potent enough to wash away all that tasty transgression.

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"Deviled Beef Short Ribs," by Jeremy Sauer. In Cook's Country, April/May 2014, p. 12-13.

Some inspiration taken from "Building a Better Stuffed Baked Potato," by Bridget Lancaster and Erin McMurrer. In Cook's Illustrated, Number Seventy [September & October 2004], p. 9.

Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding

Last Saturday's long gathering day for a birthday celebration concluded with a special-request dessert: banana pudding. The recipe I've long depended on is unnecessarily elaborated upon in the following paragraph, but I deviated from it slightly by crafting a special batch of vanilla bean pudding using a recipe from the Food Network. Then I assembled things according to my standard approach, straight from the side of a box of vanilla wafers. It was a nice finish to a fine evening.

A long-ago purchase when at my not regular grocery store is how I came to have a box of Murray Vanilla Wafers on hand, right about the time I was interested in a recipe for banana pudding. I wrote down what was on the box (see photo above) and have had it in my original recipe book ever since. Oddly enough, though, the company subsequently altered that recipe on its website, and now it does not even make vanilla wafers at all. Ah, but a military wife and mom posted a short-lived blog that hasn't had an update since 2011 and it still has the recipe on it as well, for any of you who might be interested!

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"Murray's Old Fashioned Nana Puddin'," from the Murray Vanilla Wafers [now discontinued] package. Also found online at http://melissaannbrook.blogspot.com/2011/04/banana-and-vanilla-wafer-with-pudding.html.

"Vanilla Pudding," from the Food Network Kitchens.

Meal No. 3588: Cheeseburger Sliders

It was time for another Roediger House Regulars birthday gathering, largely an all-day affair last Saturday. For mid-afternoon snacking, there was my own version of Mexican restaurant white dipping sauce, paired well with cantina-style tortilla chips. And when suppertime arrived, I served up cheeseburger sliders on homemade Hawaiian rolls:

...along with a choice of chips. Well-cheesed top and bottom, souped up in flavor with a mega-dollop of elevated burger sauce mixed in with the meat, all piled on those amazing fresh buns: we siddled up to those sliders and converted them from outside us to insiders.

It was a picture-perfect morning weather-wise, all the better for the runners and walkers and joggers participating in Foothills Brewing's 2024 CraftHalf Half-Marathon and 5K Race, with the start and finish of the routes coming right in front of the house (as was the case in 2022 and 2023). The pooches were delighted and not overly excited, which I found a bit surprising. They took it in stride, and this papa beamed with pride.

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"Cheeseburger Sliders," by Natasha Kravchuk of Natasha's Kitchen. [Published 27 March 2020]

"Hawaiian Sweet Rolls," from Kate Dean of I Heart Baking. [Published 15 March 2017 / Modified 15 March 2022]

"Beef & Cheddar Melts Sauce," a Roediger House creation.

"Mexican Restaurant White Dipping Sauce," a recipe worked out by me, sampled by Spring Street, and approved of by all.

Meal No. 3587: Chicken Salad Melts

Since the previous evening's meal gifted me with just the right amount of cooked chicken breast, last Friday I turned it into a souped-up chicken salad, to be piled high atop a remaining brioche burger bun, crowned with a slice of American cheese, baked until just melted, and served with harvest cheddar Sun Chips. It was a pretty tasty supper for starting off a fine weekend. And I was a little surprised I hadn't made this in over two years (or 570 meals ago)!

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Based on "Chicken Salad Melt," a Roediger House original recipe.

Meal No. 3586: Split Chicken Breasts

Thursday's tasty dinner was baked herbed split chicken breasts, together with roasted spiced potatoes and roasted asparagus spears. It was an abundance of food, more than I needed, and yet I still found room tucked down deep for the final offering of lemon bars.

And Lordy, what another gorgeous spring day it was in Winston-Salem. I started early, with my 3.2-mile walk taken care of before sunrise. It was a reasonably productive morning for doing a bit of writing and also catching up on some personal correspondence. The pooches appreciated that there could be so much outside time, as did I, and that included my first do-it-myself scrubbing of the new Toyota Camry. It struck a handsome pose once I was all done.

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Cooking guidance from "Baked Split Chicken Breast," from Prospective Phd on AllRecipes.com. [Updated 13 February 2023]

"Alabama Great White Sauce" (p. 362), in Smoke & Spice, by Cheryl and Bill Jamison. Boston: The Harvard Common Press, 2003.

Meal No. 3585: More Peanut Butter Bacon Burgers

The previous evening's peanut butter bacon burgers were pretty fantastic but there was enough left over for another round Wednesday night. All I had to do was to make some fresh buns for them, which were not as good as I had hoped, even when prettified by a yolk-centric eggwash that gave the baked buns a lovely culinary clearcoat. Still: with bacon, peanut butter, the cooked cheeseburgers, and beef-and-cheddar-melts sauce waiting to be deployed, it seemed the menu could hardly be anything else. Also, it occurs to me that peanut butter bacon burgers seem very much like what a dog would come up with, if put in charge of the restaurant kitchen for a night, knowing human beings were whom he must still serve.

Speaking of dogs, the two cuties in this household are awfully glad that the weather is nice enough for the good outside time, even if today maintained the feel and threat of sprinkles. We were mostly lucky.

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"Brioche Burger Bun (Brioche Burger Buns Recipe)," from Christina Lane of DessertforTwo.com. [Published 22 June 2023 / Updated 13 December 2023]

Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

Not that dessert was even needed last Tuesday, following those amazing peanut butter bacon burgers, but it still seemed the proper course of action. To the moment's need rose the glorious idea of lemon bars on buttery shortbread crust, and while the filling still remained a tad jiggly, they helped close out the evening in fine form.

It was another fine spring day in downtown Winston-Salem, and the pooches were decidedly happy to be able to frolic on the driveway.

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"Lemon Bars," by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Published in Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2001.

Meal No. 3584: Peanut Butter Bacon Burgers

It's been almost three years since I last made peanut butter bacon burgers. Ridiculous, radical, delightful, and delicious...I do love the involved process that goes into pulling off this particular kitchen creation. When these served three of us last Tuesday night, things went a little quickly because the bacon was all fried up the previous day, and I'd made beef and cheddar melts sauce for last week's round of grilled cheeseburgers. I had the afternoon free so grinding the peanut butter was easy enough. After dicing up boneless beef short ribs and (this time) chuck tender steaks, those meat pieces had chill time in the freezer while I showered. Then I did the pulse grinding, divided and gently shaped the patties, and griddled them to a perfect medium. A couple of slices of cheese on top, then the assembly station on the buffet counter, and we all had tall grand monstrous peanut butter bacon burgers to chomp down on by 6 o'clock.

This was the 33rd occasion for this particular delicacy, and I always like to update the history accordingly:

• Inspired by Yo Mama's in the French Quarter of New Orleans
• First Made: Meal No. 180
• Last Made: Meal No. 2921
• Fresh Home-Ground Beef, typically from boneless beef short ribs and top sirloin
• Homemade Peanut Butter
• Homemade Classic Burger Sauce (recipe below)
• Labeled Sample "Final Product" Burger: Guide to Meal No. 234

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Classic Burger Sauce

from Cook's Illustrated, July-August 2008, p. 11.

4 T mayonnaise
2 T ketchup
1 tsp sweet pickle relish
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.

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Guidance on grinding, shaping, and cooking burgers from "Best Old-Fashioned Burgers," by J. Kenji Alt, in Cook's Illustrated, No. 93 (July/August 2008), p. 10-11.

Meal No. 3583: French Toast

A delightful Sunday brunch meeting with a friend, colleague, and former masters student, all wrapped up in one impressive package, allowed me to be spectator to her order of delicious French toast and bacon as we discussed upcoming plans for some training she wants me to do. That image stayed with me and informed my own dinner choice Monday night, from our dependable King Arthur recipe and with brioche as the bread base. And yep: I had to fry up a huge batch of bacon as well.

By late morning that day, I'd finally put the finishing touches on the 2023 taxes and made the necessary copies and walked the envelopes to the downtown post office. That left a gorgeous afternoon to be fully enjoyed, in the peace that comes from finally putting aside that dreaded task. It's at long last the camp chair season, with these great breezes and exceptionally pleasant temps, and even into the evening the sitting was swell in The Grove.

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"French Toast," by PJ Hamel of King Arthur Baking online.

Meal No. 3582: Cheeseburgers!

As we reached the latter part of last week, I knew I'd put off doing taxes as long as possible. So Thursday's meal was simple and straightforward, thanks to the sous vide immersion circulator: juicy burgers, finished in a hot skillet and adorned with two kinds of cheese. I'm always glad when barbecue kettle chips can take the passenger seat on the Boonton melamine platter.

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"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.

National Cinnamon Crescent Roll Day

It was the second year when I was home and able to observe national cinnamon crescent roll day, a goofy concoction full of sugar and carbs and fat, easy to throw together and impossible to resist the temptation to over-indulge. That occurred Wednesday evening, and the sugar hangover was a price happily paid.

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"Cinnamon Crescent Rolls," from Julie Evink of Julie's Eats and Treats. [Published 27 February 2020 / Updated 08 September 2022]

Meal No. 3581: Small-Batch Sheet Pan Beef Nachos

Enough seasoned browned beef and other requisite ingredients remained from a recent dinner of beef nachos that I could make a perfect small batch for last Wednesday's dinner. All too cheesed again, as if that's actually a bad thing, and quickly consumed in the late afternoon after another good day at the Roediger House...I'm not being especially adventurous but once completed I was no longer ravenous.

Emeril's Chocolate Cream Pie

After botching it the last time I made it, and having extra time for kitchen exploits this past Tuesday, I thought I'd make another run at a delicious simple dessert in the form of Emeril's chocolate cream pie. Added to the recipe collection back in 2011, it ought to have shown up here more, given how it really fires on all the right cylinders. All too tempting as bedtime approached, I was unable to resist it that night once it had properly set up, in spite of the lateness of the hour.

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

Meal No. 3580: Baked Spaghetti

Tuesday was another make-it-up meal, a lesser riff on a house favorite: baked spaghetti. It still turned out pretty good, albeit not better than my standard version, and was fine mid-afternoon fare on a grey rainy day.

Meal No. 3579: Chicken, Mushroom, and Boursin Strudel

Going on a memory and a whim, I took leftover chicken and used it as the core of a strudel last Monday night. I sautéed shallots, mushroom, and garlic, added in a splash of wine, and threw in some seasonings. Then came Boursin and heavy cream, followed by a short simmer. Once it had thickened up, it was ready to be piled down the middle of a store-bought puff pastry, which I braided and egg-washed. A long bake to a crispy golden brown and I knew it was ready for serving up, to the deep satisfaction of the table.

The Great American Eclipse 2024

This past Monday was billed as the Great American Eclipse, as a huge swath of the country was in striking distance of either partial coverage or, for the lucky ones in a 100-mile band, a short totality. While we were lucky enough to be near a different solar eclipse back in 2017, this one was also pretty satisfying. I suppose this was the final solar eclipse of my lifetime, since the next U.S. one will be in 2045, and it will only be in a handful of northern tier states.

Meal No. 3578: Rotisserie-Style Whole Chicken

I imagined I'd have more than a standard use for a rotisserie-style whole chicken but my allotted time and my ambitions were not well-aligned...so Sunday night's supper was somewhat standard: chicken from the Instant Pot, crisply-roasted asparagus spears, and a mess of simple stuffing. I did not let the weight of it slow me down when I undertook my downtown stroll after dinner and before clean-up.

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"How to Cook Instant Pot Whole Chicken - Rotisserie Style," by Sheena from GlutenFreePressureCooker.com.

"Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning," by Judith Hanneman, The Midnight Baker.

National Coffee Cake Day

When time permits and the mood allows, I'm game for indulging in the kick in the kitchen pants that comes with recognizing various "National Day of" observances. Sunday's was National Coffee Cake Day, and that propelled me to try out a new recipe: cinnamon crisp coffee cake. With reverse creaming and buttermilk, a light hand on the final stirring, and the bonus of a middle layer of cocoa and cinnamon to set it apart from standard fare, this was a pretty terrific first attempt. The oversized rectangle still warm from the oven was Sunday's midday snack, and there were squares to be shared with neighbors on the block.

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"Cinnamon Crisp Coffee Cake," from Molly Marzalek-Kelly of King Arthur Baking.