Scotch Chocolate Cake

After the Thursday night chili back on January 4th, I also had a dessert for our crew: Scotch chocolate cake, which is also known as Texas Sheet Cake. It's a bit chocolate-y and a bit delicious.

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"Scotch Chocolate Cake," [in my world, also known as Texas Sheet Cake]. Credited to Susie Timmons. From "Popular: Cake Request Gets 22 Responses," by Michael Hastings, Food Editor of the Winston-Salem Journal. Published October 6, 2010.

Meal No. 2004: Simple Beef Chili

During the previous week, a ridiculous arctic blast of cold air included blustery gusts that made it a miserably brutally cold day in Winston-Salem. The best reward I could conjure up for the five of us at dinner Thursday a week ago was a big pot of beef chili and homemade sweet cornbread.

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

Sweet Southern Cornbread adapted from "Golden Sweet Cornbread," from bluegirl on AllRecipes.com.

Meal No. 2003: Potato and Cheese Soup

Wednesday of last week, Winston-Salem was still in the depths of a rather lengthy cold snap. I kept a fire going through the afternoon and mostly stayed inside, except when Sumner needed his breaks. When suppertime rolled around, what sounded most ideal for dinner was a pot of potato and cheese soup. It really did the trick before the crew headed upstairs for an evening movie: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

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"Potato and Cheese Soup," from a cooking class at KitchenArt in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Meal No. 2002: Pioneer Woman Pancakes

When lunchtime rolled around last Wednesday, rather than leftovers I thought we should all sit down to some nice hot pancakes and country sausage patties. So we did, and it was also a chance to see how Ree Drummond's recipe for pancakes turned out. The batter required some serious thinning to get the right result...the first six I made were incredibly thick and cakey!

Fire No. 38

The deep freeze was still in full force that day in the Midwest and on the East Coast. We got just above freezing for a high but it remained overcast and grey, which was a great excuse for yet another roaring fire.

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"Perfect Pancakes," from Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. [Published 04 May 2009]

Meal No. 2001: Pork Medallions with Ginger-Soy Mushroom Sauce

With a pork tenderloin I needed to use and some great leftovers from the previous night's dinner to use as sides, I brought back an old favorite for last Tuesday night's dinner: pan-seared pork medallions with a ginger-garlic-soy mushroom sauce. I reheated company mashed potatoes and green bean casserole from the preceding meal. It all turned out pretty nice!

I will point out that it was cold as the dickens on that morning, with a low of 8°F at just before 8 am. You'd better believe that I was ready for that cold snap to be over with!

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Based on "Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce," from The Bon Appétit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild, 2006, p. 398-399.

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," a long-time Jones family favorite.

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

Meal No. 2000: New Year's Day Meatballs

The first major project I undertook on this great old house was the demolition of the old kitchen and bathrooms and construction of a whole new kitchen area and bathrooms for both downstairs and up. The first meal prepared in the "new" kitchen was on May 26, 2009. Just over eight-and-a-half years later, on New Year's Day 2018, I served up the Two Thousandth meal: New Year's Day Meatballs with company mashed potatoes and layered green bean casserole. All three of those dishes were favorites in the Jones household, especially around the Christmas and New Year's holidays...as the name suggests!

In case you're keeping track:it took almost five years for me to reach Meal 1000, but only three-and-a-half more to hit 2000.

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"New Year's Day Meatballs," from Carol Fultz in Indiana (Recipe received in 2001).

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," a Jones family favorite (received December 2001).

Meal No. 1999: Apple and Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

On New Year's Day, the lunch fare was another new recipe: apple and cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal, made in the Instant Pot. I really had to doctor this up to make it edible, because it came out like brown soup. I ended up making a regular pot of oatmeal to add to it just to get it to thicken up and be a bit more hearty. I also had to sweeten it a bit. By the time I was through tinkering with it, I think we all found it pretty palatable.

When I was getting up that morning, we were down to a ridiculous 14°F and so for the second day in a row, a fire was called for.

Fire No. 37

It made for a nice morning for Sumner and me.

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"Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal," by Laurel Randolph. In The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook, Berkeley: Rockridge Press (2016), p. 22.

Meal No. 1998: Indian Butter Chicken

On the final night of 2017, the dinner menu at the Roediger House was another new recipe for the Instant Pot: Indian Butter Chicken. It was on a list of Instant Pot recipes that had been sent to me to try out. Fortunately for me, coconut milk and garam masala are always on the pantry shelf. It was mighty good and is likely to reappear.

The winter holiday cold snap is continuing. We were forecast for sunny skies and a high of 32°F that day, but it quickly became overcast and here at the house we never got above 24°F. I got a raging fire going first thing that morning and kept it going till bedtime.

In the ongoing chronicle of various things related to the Roediger House, this was the 36th fire in the new kitchen fireplace, since its first use New Year's Eve 2009.

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"Pressure Cooker Indian Butter Chicken," from Jay's Sweet -N- Sour Life.

Meal No. 1997: Sausage, Red Onion, & Shiitake Mushroom Pizza

Last Saturday night's dinner offering was sort of basic and then a little better than basic: sausage pizza with sautéed red onions and shiitake mushrooms. It did the trick on a quiet winter night.

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"Sausage, Red Onion, and Wild Mushroom Pizza," from Bon Appétit, March 2005.

Meal No. 1996: Savory Breakfast Bread Pudding

We had one episode of Season 7 of Game of Thrones remaining and decided to watch it this past Saturday morning, along with a bit of breakfast casserole. The new recipe I tried was a real hit, it seems, and is likely to find its way back to a future breakfast gathering here at the Roediger House. King Arthur Flour dubs it "Savory Bread Pudding," and it's a real upgrade on the common sausage-egg-cheese-milk-bread casserole we've all had experience with.

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"Savory Bread Pudding," from King Arthur Flour. [recipe clipping]

Meal No. 1995: Steak Diane

For the final Friday night of 2017, I made probably my best steaks-with-pan-sauce ever. On the plate was a perfectly cooked filet mignon with a mushroom-shallot-dijon-brandy-soy cream sauce that was spot on...and some roasted baby Dutch potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. I was in beef heaven.

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"Steak Diane," from Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 127 (January/February 2018), p. 20-21.

Meal No. 1994: Bourbon Chicken Thighs

Last Thursday morning, in the bright sunshine when it was only 18°F outside, this was my view of the house when I went to fetch the trash roller cart after city pickup:

Then, for dinner that night, I broke out the Instant Pot and Bob Warden cookbook, and in bowls at dinner time was bourbon chicken thighs over rice. It sure went down great with some cold beers.

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"Bourbon Chicken Thighs," from Bob Warden. In Great Food Fast, Brandon, MS: Quail Ridge Press (2012), p. 68-69.

Meal No. 1993: Bacon-Wrapped Cheesesteak Meatloaf

As if the previous evening's Christmas feast wasn't enough to do us all in, a wildly overwrought new recipe was on my mind for a trial. So this past Wednesday four of us sat down to the monstrosity known as bacon-wrapped cheesesteak meatloaf on our next evening for a few episodes of Game of Thrones. To go with it, I made company mashed potatoes and I also still had a container of my homemade applesauce to share.

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"Bacon Wrapped Cheesesteak Meatloaf," from Twisted. I used the Americanized version of the recipe from Genius Kitchen: "Philly Cheesesteak Meatloaf," posted by Elisa.

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

Inspiration for Homemade Applesauce came from the late Evelyn Coulson of Cana, VA. Guidance for Homemade Applesauce came from:

• "Spiced Country Applesauce," from Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Published 11 September 2009.
• "Homemade Applesauce," from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. Published 16 October 2013.
• "Sarah's Applesauce," from PHATCAT on AllRecipes.com.

Meal No. 1992: The Christmas Feast

What a fantastic Christmas it has been. Although Winston-Salem has been in quite a cold snap, there was plenty of warmth within the Roediger House this season (even though I didn't get around to decorating). When it came time for friends to gather for our annual Christmas feast, this past Tuesday evening, the food was almost as good as the company.

Most of the usual dishes were on the buffet bar although I sampled a new recipe for preparing a whole turkey with the most delicious gravy to go with it.

The beef tenderloin in wine sauce cooked up tender and tasty.

The rest of the fixins were reasonably well-received, too:

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

Apple & Bacon Stuffing / Onion-Mushroom Wine Sauce

I suppose I always mention that we love this meal so much that we have to have it multiple times a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Memorial Day "Thanksgiving on the Half-Year." But when you get a plate like this, what's not to like?

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"Turkey and Gravy for a Crowd," by Alli Berkey. In Cook's Country, October/November 2017, p. 6-7.

"Beef Tenderloin in Wine Sauce" (p. 296) and "Spicy Horseradish Sauce" (p. 295), from The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. Compiled and Edited by Julie Fisher Gunter. Oxmoor Press (2006).

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," a long-time Jones family favorite.

"Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping," from Southern Living Slow-Cooker Cookbook,  (Oxmoor House, 2006), p. 234-235.

"Cornbread Stuffing with Apples and Bacon," from fellow UNC alum David Venable and QVC's In the Kitchen with David. Found online.

Meal No. 1991: Baby Back Ribs

On Christmas night it was the special treat of baby back pork ribs.

Good gracious, they cooked up mighty fine.

With creamy mashed potatoes and more of my homemade applesauce, I was more than happy to knock down 7 or 8 of those ribs single-handedly.

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

"Creamy Mashed Potatoes," from Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. Published online 03 November 2007.

Meal No. 1990: Not So Cajun Chicken

The Christmas Eve meal this past Sunday was Roediger House favorite Not So Cajun Chicken.

It's creamy and flavorful and warm and comfortable. The sauce really brings it all together in such a great way, which I guess is why this is one of the meals that's been made most over the years.

And yes: I'm enjoying the new cooktop!

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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. Credit to Jimmy Randolph for helping track the recipe down. (Another version of the recipe can be found here.)

Meal No. 1989: Southern Fried Chicken Thighs

Every once in a while, you just gotta have some fried chicken. I've not experimented with this much and haven't had great results the few times I have attempted it. So last Saturday night I was interested in giving it another go, in hopes that a combination of sous vide and deep-frying would guarantee a more pleasing outcome.

And wow. Wow! People, I'm telling you: wow. Crispy and full of flavor inside and out: this was some really awesome fried chicken. The Joule did the sous vide cooking of the thighs, and I used the Paragon to heat a Dutch oven full of oil up to 375°F for a quick goldening crust. I used the Instant Pot again tonight to handle a new recipe for macaroni and cheese. I'd already made a batch of applesauce and green beans sounded right with it all. And there were hoecake-style biscuits, along with honey butter. I sure hate you had to miss this fine meal on Christmas Eve Eve!

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Fried Chicken, with ideas and help from:

• Sous Vide and Frying Guide from "Can't F***-It-Up Fried Chicken," from the folks at ChefSteps.
• Breading/Seasoning based on "KFC Secret Fried Chicken Recipe," from Chef Joel Mielle of Recipe30.com.
• Buttermilk Soak based on "Creole-Spiced Fried Chicken," from Chef Josh Galliano. In Food and Wine, March 2015, p. 70, 72.

"Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese," from Bob Warden. In Great Food Fast, Brandon, MS: Quail Ridge Press (2012), p. 122-123.

Inspiration for Homemade Applesauce came from the late Evelyn Coulson of Cana, VA. Additional ideas and guidance came from:

• "Spiced Country Applesauce," from Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Published 11 September 2009.
• "Homemade Applesauce," from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. Published 16 October 2013.
• "Sarah's Applesauce," from PHATCAT on AllRecipes.com.

"Fluffy Southern-Style Hoecakes," by Erica of My Busy Bees and Me. Recipe first encountered through her YouTube video.

Meal No. 1988: French Toast (again!)

I still had the rest of a challah loaf and a lingering hankering for another batch of French toast this past Saturday morning...and I do believe it was even better than what I'd made just a few days before.

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"French Toast," from King Arthur Flour online.

Meal No. 1987: Chicken Fried Rice

Last Friday night called for an earlier supper, so that I could make it to the annual Christmas party that I've enjoyed at the home of Joe and Lucy Milner for nearly 30 years. This was my second go at classic chicken fried rice, and it sure was good all over again.

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"Classic Chicken Fried Rice," from the Woks of Life.

Merry Christmas 2017

Back in January, before I'd taken down the decorations from last Christmas, we got a lovely snowfall. It's sort of perfect for a holiday card, although I really wish I'd gotten the house washed before this!

It's bitterly cold here in Winston-Salem on Christmas Day 2017, and it's perfect for a roaring fire:

Fire No. 35

And also perfect for some homemade eggnog:

On this delightful Christmas Day, know that all best wishes for joy in your world and peace on our earth are sent from this home to yours during this glorious season...

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"Homemade Eggnog," by Beverly Sims. In Cuckoo Cooks from Gilboa Christian Church in Cuckoo, Virginia.

Meal No. 1986: Chicken and Dumplings

Thursday evening's big bowl of comfort food was another new recipe tried out in the Instant Pot: chicken and dumplings.

I guess chicken and dumplings ain't really my thing, although everything except the dumplings was pretty good. I'm a much bigger fan of chicken pastry.

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"Easiest Ever Chicken and Dumplings," from Bob Warden. In Great Food Fast, Brandon, MS: Quail Ridge Press (2012), p. 66-67.

Meal No. 1985: French Toast

The mid-day meal on Thursday was the inaugural use of my brand-new cooktop: classic Challah french toast.

As I noted in a few recent blog posts, the Bosch cooktop (that was installed when the kitchen was demolished and rebuilt in early 2009) developed a circuit- or motherboard issue that was going to be quite costly to repair. It seemed to me that the hundreds of dollars to fix a broken one could go a long way on an upgraded cooktop! After doing my online research and thinking it through a good bit, I settled on a 36-inch Samsung induction cooktop. In all the years I've consulted Consumer Reports for (mostly) major purchases, I think this was the first time I'd seen a 100 rating:

I wasn't in any hurry, but suddenly the cooktop was on an extra big sale with an additional discount for Samsung appliances, which knocked the price down by over $600.00. I ordered it promptly, and the appliance delivery crew was here late Wednesday afternoon. My electrician was able to schedule me for first thing Thursday morning, so now it's all hooked up and working great.

Interestingly, only a few of weeks ago, I'd finally decided to take advantage of a great sale and replace my old hand-me-down Revereware cooking ware with the AllClad set I'd had my eye on:

Perfect timing to be ready for induction cooking!

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"French Toast," from King Arthur Flour online.