Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

On the menu at Chez Rylander this morning.
- Pancakes made with vanilla soy milk, toasted walnuts, bananas and maple syrup
- bacon
- 4 egg omelet with thyme, sauted red bell peppers and green onions

My friend Ben has suggested that I take a snapshot of the meals once and a while. I agree. Unfortunately, I've forgotten every time this week. Even the chicken tacos and guacamole we had last night. And for this morning, I forgot until I had cleaned up. All that was left to capture were a handful of toasted walnuts. Enjoy!

Pregnancy cravings

She really wanted pulled pork. I don't know why, but she did. We have our usual pulled pork spread - Alabama baked beans and cole slaw. She wanted to so badly she made the beans and came home with the bag of slaw. I just did the rest; the actual cooking of the pork. Which, by the way, turned out better than usual. I attribute this to the fact that, (a) I bought the pork shoulder from the Lincoln Market, and (b) I dry rubbed it at least 8 hours before cooking.
She was happy. I was happy with it.

Chicken Soup

I read that chicken soup really can help a cold and that it's not an urban legend. Since Alisha and I both have lingering colds I decided to make some.
I admit, I didn't have 12 hours, plus 8 hours to cool, to make perfect chicken stock. But I did have a high quality chicken base and some boneless breasts. I used Martha Stewarts chicken noodle soup recipe as a template, which I then added chopped oregano and thyme.
I poured it over Farfale pasta, bow ties to some, which made it fun, as Alisha says. Her only complaint that was vocal was that the noodles were to al dante....which translates into: "not mushy enough for soup." You can't win them all.

Greek burgers...sort of

Ok, I reheated burgers I had cooked on the grill this last weekend. But I did make my own tzaki sauce and stuffed it all in a warm pita with a side side of mixed greens, lemon olive oil and grey sea salt.

Blueberry Pancakes

Speaking of blueberries. This recipe was out of the Maine blueberry book as well. Delicious, huge fluffy pancakes. The secret I believe is folding in whipped eggwhites berry it goes to the griddle. Best blueberry pancakes this house has seen.

Ginger Blueberry Cake

Scott bought me a Maine wild blueberry cook book a few years back. A few weeks back our neighbors, Jen and Brandon, did some blueberry picking up in Michigan and gave us some. It was enough to make some this cake from the book. I served it to small group, who liked it. It's like a sweet spice cake, but more still savory. People who don't normally like ginger liked this cake.

Enchiladas

What does Emeril Lagasse know about enchildas? Enough.

Jambalya and morning sickness

I needed to make something the night before that I could heat up the next day to feed Alisha and myself. Jambalya hit the spot. I made it all between 9:30 and 11 at night and it come out perfect. It was the Epicurious recipe I keep on hand. But what really made it, besides the perfect mixture of spices and meat, was the basmati rice. It came out tender and moist, not sticky.

Avacados

Authentic guacamole recipe from Saveur #104, Sept 2007.
What makes it authentic? It's first layer is ground down in a volcanic rock mortar and there is neither sour cream nor lime juice. Not that I mind those ingredients. This is very fresh and very good.

Curry Chicken and Safron Pullao

From "My Indian Kitchen" classic recipe book. Pretty good, except we did not have chipatis and the saffron was stronger than either of us are used to.

Char grilled steak

It's not a lie. Char grilled foods are good. I made pepper steak tacos with a spicy salsa from my new Weber grilling book. It was made from skirt steak. I splurged and bought it from Whole Foods. It was an impressive cut of meat. I then charred it over charcoal and hickory chunks, warming the tortillas in foil on the cool side of the grill. Two big thumbs up.

Some recent dishes

-Skillet Lasagna from Americas Test Kitchen
-Pizza, crust from kitchen aid food processor book, my sauce, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, green peppers
-Jerk chicken, red onion potato salad, asparagus with a roasted garlic and rosemary olive oil
- grilled chicken breasts, coal roasted corn/compound butter (webber book), salad with creamy dressing, grilled pita with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper
- sage skillet corn bread
-butterfly pork chops with webber book classic bbq rub
- chicken breasts with fruit medley (grilling step-step)
- gyros (chx, Cooking Illustrated)
-plum chicken (stiry fry Williams)
-szechuan noodles (ida gardner)
-keema mattar

Saveur...meat, meat

Sloppy Joes, July 2007 Saveur

Chicken tacos

We usually have beef tacos and use a base seasoning of from the spice house taco seasoning and add garlic and made some chopped onion. Oh, and usually some Mexican chili powder. However yesterday morning I was searching the kitchen for something simple to make with some frozen chicken breasts I had left in the fridge. One thing led to another, mainly me spying taco shells in the cabinet, and chicken tacos was on the menu.
I used a recipe from some site called "mexican recipes". I have this information on chicken taco meat for a while. The cooking process involves boiling the chicken, then slicing it and sauteing with onions, bell peppers and garlic. Then some of the reserved chicken broth is added along with diced or pureed tomatoes, cumin and chili powder. Let that simmer for a while and you have some terrifically moist and flavorful chicken that can be used in tacos, flautas, enchillads, etc.
I made some jasmine rice and black beans to go along with it.

pulled pork

We had a couple friends over Friday night and made way too much pulled pork.  Yes, it was tasty and moist, and the Sticky Fingers mustard based sauce was yummy, but we still have pork left.  We made way too much.  Alisha also made Alabama picnic style baked beans and my coleslaw recipe.  For an appetizer I roasted some poblanos, tomatoes, seranos and jalapenos and made some salsa.  It was extremely hot so I tried adding some lime juice to it.  It tasted good, but still had a lot of heat.  I will make it again though.  The recipe came from Saveur’s 2006 issue on traditional Mexican faire – a vineyard family in California provided the recipes.

pasta, chives, and flatbread

I was trying to make a tagliata pasta with chive sauce and cremini mushrooms.  As it turns out, I couldn’t get my hands on the right pasta, so I substituted spaghettini instead.  I think it would have turned out better if the pasta didn’t sit so long after coming out of the water for the starches to bind together – but we were finishing up some cleaning before small group.  So, pasta was mediocre, but I did bake some foccacia with rosemary.  That turned out well and I served it to group with olive oil.

I'll grill when it's 40 degrees...in shorts

Cheddar burgers on grilled challah bread, guacamole, fresh tortilla chips and grilled zucchini

The night before was a buckwheat crepe disaster!

Egg Salad

Saveur’s latest issue has a special on chives. I love chives and also grow them during the spring and summer. They are quote hardy and are like a delicate green onion. I made the “fork and knife” egg salad, but chopped up my eggs more. I should have made my own mayonnaise for a superior taste, but I had a couple other things ready to happen in the kitchen at the time. Also, the recipes recommendation for who to simply hard boil the egg was right on and really helped get the shell off while preserving some egg.

picadillo

For those that aren’t properly acquainted, picadillo is a tasty tex/mex dish that might actually have its proper roots in Cuba. I’m not a food historian so I wouldn’t know the exact origins. Start with some ground beef, in this case I splurged and bought the ground stuff from Whole Foods, and then add onions, garlic, chopped potatoes, salt, pepper, vinegar and one or two chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. Simmer it that for 20-30 minutes and you’re set for one easy and flavorful meal. It also makes excellent leftovers. Serve with optional sour cream (to take off the heat), cheese, salad, flour tortillas or some other side that offers a cooling effect.

meatballs

beef meatballs with marinara and buchintini

italian sausage

Italian style chicken with sausage, peppers and onions

A toast of a roast

Orange Glazed Pork Roast with Parsnips and Red Onions, from a new magazine by Cooks Illustrated called Country Cooking

Butter Pecan Brussell Sprouts, from epicurious…so maybe bon appétit or the like

It was the best pork roast I’ve ever cooked.  Very juicy and flavorful.

Chickpea dinner

Grilled chicken with chickpea salad
garlic bread....fresh roasted, though I should puree the roasted garlic
for lisha

Quick and tasty dinner before small group

American Chop Suey from March Saveur

Just like a chili-mac, but sweeter and spicier.

NCAA Championship

Double Cheddar burgers (Tilamook!) with grilled onions and grilled okra
Chocolate sugar cookie

Sunday had lots of cooking

Alisha made out.  She received three freshly prepared meals.  Ok, I used mix for the pancakes but put in real blueberries.

Morning – Bacon, Blueberry pancake and over easy egg

I had a crepe from Iconium Café while she was at a meeting.  Apricot jam and brie with a side of Marquez lamb sausage and feta

Afternoon – Grilled quesadillas with caramelized onions and grilled pineapple slices

Dinner – Garlic-lime chicken with leftover smashed potatoes and salad with Olive Lemon Oil dressing

Easy Saturday Night

Grilled pork chops
Roasted Cauliflower (recipe from Cooks Illustrated)
Mashed potatoes

Friday, oh Friday

Alisha cooked.
Frito Pie and salad

Meals from the last couple of weeks

Grilled burgers, red potato salad
Schicuan Green Beens and rice
Hummus bin tahini
Grilled chicken and Greek salad with raspberry vinaigrette
Croque Monsieur
Chicken Sausages, sour cream biscuits
Pasta Shells with spicy sausage and broccoli rabe
Garlic oil and red pepper pasta
Lemon Spaghetti
Indonesian Spice Cake
Beer braised beef ribs
Chicken Vesuvio