The Cookbook

[George K]

Last night's dinner:

Ravioli Lasagna

Servings: 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound bulk mild or hot Italian sausage
1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 cup water
1 (20-ounce) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli (such as Buitoni)
8 ounces whole milk mozzarella, shredded and divided (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450°F with oven rack 8 inches from heat. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Add sausage, and cook, stirring to crumble, until browned and no longer pink, 6 to 7 minutes.

Add marinara sauce and 1 cup water; cook until mixture boils, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring and scraping bottom of skillet to release any browned bits.

Add ravioli, and cook, stirring often and gently, until sauce is thickened and ravioli is just tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Transfer half of ravioli mixture to a medium bowl. Sprinkle ravioli mixture in skillet evenly with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Top evenly with remaining half of ravioli mixture; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven until mozzarella is melted and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with basil leaves, and serve immediately.

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I used a 50/50 mixture of mild italian sausage and ground beef.

Here's what it looked like before going into the oven, before adding the cheese.

Finished product:

[George K]

Yesterday's Lunch - Texas Chili

1 lbs Ground Beef or substitute ground turkey, or ground chicken
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Red Bell Pepper Diced
1 Green Bell Pepper Diced
1/2 large White Onion Diced
28 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
1 tbsp Salt
1/2 tbsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Ground Cumin
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tbsp Maza Harina

Set your instant pot to sauté mode. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Once your oil is hot, add your bell peppers, and onion. Sauté well to release the flavors until softened. About two minutes

Add your ground meat to the Instant pot. Brown.

Add all of your seasonings except for the Maza Harina. Mix well.

Put the lid on your Instant Pot by twisting the lid and closing the valve by pushing it away from you. Set It to the pressure for 1 minute.

It will take about 10 to 15 minutes to build to pressure. Once it is done cooking, allow it to manually release for 15 minutes.

After the 15 minutes, naturally release by using a hot pad or towel to pull the valve toward you. Do not do a manual release before this 15 minutes.

Once all of the pressure has been released, twist open the Instant pot lid and remove. Add 1tablespoon of the Maza Harina if so desired to thicken your chili. Continue to add 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.

Serve this chili in a bowl as is or topped with sour cream, green onions and shredded cheese.

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Note: the directions didn't say to add the diced tomatoes, LOL. I assume they go in before the cooking in the IP.

I let pressure release go longer than 15 minutes, just because I forgot about it.

I had a 50/50 mix of ground beef and mild Italian sausage that I used. Seemed fine.

It needed a bit more "herb-ey" stuff, so I threw in some oregano and Italian seasoning while it was thickening. Helped a lot.

3 ½ stars.

[Mik]

Tonight’s dinner. Delicious, served it over microwave jasmine rice.

https://www.nospoonnecessary.com/fig-balsamic-glazed-chicken-thighs/

[Aqua Letifer]

Feta cheese, black beans, fajitas. On a tortilla.

Easy, fast, cheap, good for you, delicious.

[Mik]

No boring chicken breasts!

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_cilantro_lime_chicken/

This is marinating in the fridge now. Will serve with avocado slices and a citrus tossed salad.

Palomas or Margaritas to drink on the deck. It'll be 80F at dinner time.

[Mik]

The chicken was delicious. Highly recommend.

But tonight I have some duck confit and lardons that I need to use up, so I'm making a Cassoulet.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/234677/how-to-make-cassoulet/

[Aqua Letifer]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

The chicken was delicious. Highly recommend.

But tonight I have some duck confit and lardons that I need to use up, so I'm making a Cassoulet.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/234677/how-to-make-cassoulet/

Holy crap that looks awesome. Did the chicken dry out any?

[George K]

I had some strip steaks from Costco.

I thawed one, seasoned it with salt, pepper, and Paul Prudhomme's Cajun seasoning. Drizzled with olive oil and into the sous-vide at 135 degrees.

Out of the sous vide, and into a cast iron skillet with canola oil and butter. Baste with the oil and butter.

Sear and flip...

After flipping - sprinkle blue cheese crumbles onto the top of the steak while the underside sears. Baste with the oil and butter again.

Yum.

(oh baked potato in the air fryer with butter and green onion, steamed green beans in the Instant Pot.)

[Mik]

@Aqua-Letifer said in The Cookbook:

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

The chicken was delicious. Highly recommend.

But tonight I have some duck confit and lardons that I need to use up, so I'm making a Cassoulet.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/234677/how-to-make-cassoulet/

Holy crap that looks awesome. Did the chicken dry out any?

Not at all. The marinade also served as a brine.

[Catseye3]

I have learned of a thing called duck fries. They are fries cooked in duck fat. They're supposed to be abfab, up there in the food porn category.

Have you tried these? Are they all that?

[Mik]

They're good - nice and crispy. If I cut up potatoes to roast, I use duck fat to coat them first.

[George K]

Tonight's dinner: Stew

Subtitle, "Never make this again."

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon oil
1 pound stew meat cut into 1 inch chunks
1 small onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup dry red wine or beef stock
3 cups beef stock low sodium, see note*
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups baby potatoes or potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups carrots cut into 1 inch chunks
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 fresh sprigs
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch

Directions:

Turn the Instant Pot to Saute and allow to heat up. Once Instant Pot is heated, add in oil.

Season beef on all sides liberally with salt and pepper.

Add seasoned beef and chopped onion to pressure cooker and let cook on all sides until beef is browned on all sides. Once meat is nearly fully browned, adds in the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute longer, being careful to not burn the garlic.

Add in red wine and scrape up any browned bits of liquid on bottom of pressure cooker. Turn the Instant Pot off.

Add in beef stock,potatoes, carrots, crushed tomatoes, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaf, fresh thyme, and a pinch of salt. Stir to incorporate sauce.

Place lid on instant pot and be sure vent knob is closed to seal in pressure.

Set to manual pressure for 30 minutes. To do this, hit pressure cook or manual and adjust cook time using +/- buttons. If you have the Ultra model, hit ultra and then adjust to high pressure and then set cook time to 30 minutes.

Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure cooker to release pressure naturally or for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

Once pressure has been released, open up pressure cooker, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Hit cancel on pressure cooker (to turn off keep warm function) and turn back to saute.

Notes:

In place of crushed tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce.

To keep this Instant Pot Beef Stew gluten-free, use gluten-free Worcestershire Sauce.

For a thicker stew, use 3 cups beef stock. For a thinner beef stew, use 4 cups of beef stock. You can also use 2 tablespoons or cornstarch in place of the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for a really thick stew.

You can purchase pre-cut stew meat from your grocer, or cut up a chuck roast or top-round yourself into 1 inch cubes.

A dry red wine such as Merlot or Cabernet is best. Of course, if you do not drink alcohol, feel free to use additional beef stock in place of wine.

Be sure to use prepared horseradish, not horseradish sauce. (The ingredients are just grated horseradish, salt, and sometimes vinegar.)

Use whole bite sized new potatoes, quartered red or new potatoes, or 2 inch cubed, peeled russet potatoes

I add my potatoes and carrots later in pot roast, but for this recipe, I don't have issues with the carrots and potatoes getting mushy. If you want firmer potatoes and carrots, add all the ingredients BUT carrots and potatoes and cook for 20 minutes and let pressure release naturally. Then add the potatoes and carrots and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

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Way, WAY too tomato-ey. Not what you expect for a "beef stew." I should have seen this when I looked at the ingredients.

I used masa to thicken, and I don't think it really changed the flavor too much. At least it didn't make it worse, which would have been damn near impossible.

1 out of 5 stars.

Blecch.

[Mik]

I hate when something so elemental doesn’t come out well.

[George K]

@Mik when I think of "stew," i think of "Malliard-rich beef." I think "thick." I think "rich." I think..."beef."

None of that happened today.

But...whatev...

Tummies full, so that's good enough. Lesson learned.

Side note - I put the spuds and carrots in when I started cooking. Too mushy, as the recipe cautioned.

[Mik]

On the grill tonight (not using oven or pan)

https://plumscooking.com/recipes/agave-lime-salmon/

[George K]

@Mik looks good!

But...

1. I don't have a grill.
2. Mrs. George will not eat fish.

[Mik]

You don't need a grill. Number 2 I cannot help you with.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

You don't need a grill. Number 2 I cannot help you with.

Yeah, I know.

But, considering that, I'm not about to experiment with fish. Hell, even pork chops are a reach.

[Mik]

[Mik]

It was excellent! I cut the salt in the salsa down by 3/4..way too much and I knew it. We went to a local farmers market today so I put some fresh garlic scapes in it.

Highly recommend. Also recommend the Kirkland Rose Prosecco. Low alcohol and delicious. Under $10.