Bool Kogi

Last night, we had Bool Kogi for dinner. Bool Kogi (or Bulgogi) is a traditional Korean marinated steak. This was not marinated by yours truly. Instead, it was again another purchase from Trader Joe’s. The instructions on the package said to “Grill it quickly!” (exclamation point and everything), so I did. I used our grill pan and quickly grilled it all up.

To accompany the meat, I cooked up some spaetzle and topped with slow-cooked broccoli and goat cheese.

Stuffed Pork Chops

This isn’t a recipe. In fact, half of this meal was store bought and the other half I’ve blogged about before. But I figured that having a food blog means to blog about all kind of meals, not just ones I’ve made from scratch.

With our recent move, my commute is a half hour longer each way. By the time I get home, I’m tired and both Cauli and I are hungry – so I try to throw something together in 30 minutes with little work. This has often resulted in us getting take out (Chinese) or ordering in (pizza). Recently Cauli and I have been trying to cut back on how much we eat out. I’m hoping to chronicle this attempt with Hunt the Recipe.

For dinner last night, we had apple stuffing stuffed pork chops. We bought the stuffed pork chops at Trader Joe’s – a good buy at around $6.50. The results were good – not great. Just your standard pork chop with some stuffing. I imagine this would be an easy recipe to make after Thanksgiving – buy some thick cut pork chops, slice them almost all the way open, and stuff some leftover stuffing in, and bake.

Accompanying the meal was some fried, homemade bread (courtesy of Cauli’s mom) topped with slow-cooked broccoli. I’ve talked about slow cooked broccoli before (here and here). This is such a great way to make broccoli and can be used a variety of ways: on its own, topping pasta, or spread on bread or crackers.

Key Lime Pie

Not too long ago, I was craving key lime pie. I decided to look up the recipe and found that it is incredibly simple to make, using just four ingredients: graham cracker crust, lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. So when my mother and grandmother-in-law came over for dinner a few weeks go, I decided to make some key lime pie.

I found the recipe at Baking Bites, a great reference for all things sweet. I followed her directions completely and was rewarded with a very fresh tasting, custardy pie. There are some things that I would do different next time. The most important being that I would make the graham cracker crust. The pie was so fresh tasting, and jarred with the processed/packaged/preservative taste of the store bought crust. I would also zest the limes and add that to the pie – not only adding to the lime flavor but giving it a nice green-flecked look.

Beef Stroganoff

Most Sundays, Cauli and I go over to his mom’s house for dinner. It’s a long-standing tradition with their family and one I’m happy to be a part of. Last night, we invited his mom over to our new condo for dinner. I wanted to cook something classic and easy, as I often bog myself down in newer, more complicated recipes.

 

I found the recipe for beef stroganoff at the always good Simply Recipes. The meal cooked up in less than 30 minutes, due to some minimal prep work (slicing the beef and shallots prior to cooking). I served it over some penne pasta (which was all we had on hand, though egg noodles and rice would have worked as well) with a simple romaine salad on the side. I followed the recipe exactly as it was written; however, check out the comments on the Simply Recipes site for variations.

Judith Jones Redux

Sorry for the bad picture.

It’s been quite a while since I last posted. Seems we got busy all of a sudden and then we wound up moving. Needless to say I stopped cooking for awhile. As a result, Cauliflower and I have been living off of take out, delivery, and fast food. I hang my whisk in shame.

But we’re now all moved in, and I’m happy to say that I’ve begun cooking in our new kitchen on our new induction range. Tonight’s dinner was basically a tuna casserole, based on my previous posting of Judith Jones’ macaroni and cheese. I made the same bechemel sauce, boiled some macaroni, and added two cans of tuna and some frozen spinach (thawed). The result was good, though it was hard to taste the cheese over the flavor of the tuna. Next time I would use just one can of tuna.

Sour Cream Lime Squares

Last summer, I made lemon shortbread bars and I was surprised and happy with how they turned out: thick, sweet, and tart. This summer, I decided to try them with lime.

They came out a bit goopier than last year as I used a smaller pan and didn’t cook them quite long enough. Regardless, they firmed up a bit in the fridge and have a wonderful sweet, limey taste. If you have limes, this is a nice substitue to lemon bars.

Cucumber and Dill Sandwiches

I’m a big fan of British tea, and I love cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches. I made my own version Memorial Day weekend, using fromage blanc instead of cream cheese and adding some fresh chopped dill. Despite the gloomy, wet weather, we were able to enjoy a bit of Spring.

I plan on making this sandwich for lunches during the week – quick, easy, and light (depending on how much fromage blanc I smother on).