What We Ate: Saint Patrick’s Day

before

Schatzi: I like Corned Beef & Cabbage any day of the year, especially in the winter months. Coming home after a long day at work or school to a house warm and reeking of delicious meat is never a bad thing, and my trusty ancient Crock-Pot is invaluable for Corned Beef and Cabbage, as well as Pot Roast–which aren’t very distant relatives, really. After all, Corned Beef & Cabbage closely resembles the New England Boiled Dinner, and is an adaptation the Irish made after their arrival in America. Since I like it, I always take advantage of the corned beef sales around March 17, historicity be damned!

I do a pretty basic Crock-Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage: Cut carrots, potatoes, and onion into large chunks and scatter in the Crock-Pot. Rince the beef, pat dry, and cut into two large pieces to better fit my Crock-Pot. Toss in the seasoning packet, rub the beef with a tablespoon or two of brown mustard if I have any, the pour over two or three tablespoons of brown sugar mixed with a half cup of water, and add a bay leaf. Cover vegetables with a dry Irish stout (I prefer Beamish, but sometimes Guinness is all I can find) and some water. Pop the lid on that sucker and cook for 8-10 hours on low. Add cabbage wedges in the last 30-40 minutes of cooking.

corned beef & cabbage: after

What We Ate: March 14th

Schatzi: I know, it’s been awhile. It was a tough month, however. I’m now on my penultimate term at college, and had to really buckle down in preparation for finals last term. The good news is, I passed my classes and did very well on all my final exams and projects! However, that also means we have a few updates to post to get caught up.

First off, March 14 is a special day for several groups of people, and we celebrated it with a couple of nice little steaks. I’m a fan of steak and potatoes, so I also made my esteemed Yukon Gold & Chevre Gratin. I tried a slightly different format for that this time, and I’m not sure how I like it.

our steaks

Yukon Gold & chevre gratin

gratin in years past

What We Ate: Salad Days

now THAT'S a dinner salad

We were feeling a bit bogged down by all the pasta we consumed after making Sunday Sauce, so on Monday night, Eli whipped up a pair of massive dinner salads for us. On a bed of red and green leaf lettuces, he laid out orange bell pepper sticks, sliced radish, sliced red onion, hard boiled eggs, deli ham, and beef salami, all topped with Riverhouse Cheddar & Chives dressing. They were colorful, tasty, and incredibly satisfying.

Tuesday, I was busy finishing a final project for one of my classes, and as I feverishly typed, Eli whipped up a light luncheon consisting of leftover vegetables and meats, jalapeno and garlic-stuffed olives, and some delicious deviled eggs. (Personally, I think he just wanted an excuse to use the swanky deviled egg dish I bought him as a housewarming gift.) Our paprika, cayenne, and chili powders are all missing sicne the move, so they do lack that bright dash of red, but were tasty nonetheless.

Tuesday's lunch tray

obligatory LOOK AT THESE FUCKING PEPPERS remark

Kashi gives it away! Again!

You might recall Kashi giving away free cookies a few months ago. They made good on their promise to mail people who signed up a free cookie from their new(ish) line; I received mine and enjoyed it, did you?

Oddly enough, while today Slashfood reviews Kashi Bakes, last night I actually watched a Kashi commercial all the way through, and noted that they were again offering somethign for nothing. For a very limited time only–til March 15–Kashi is signing people up for a free frozen entree coupon! Get yours while they last!

http://kashi.com/

Sunday Sauce a la Dean Ween

our Sunday Sauce, all served up

Schatzi: About a year ago, someone on Reddit submitted Dean Ween’s recipe for Sunday Sauce, and I fell in love. At the time, however, I was living with Jon & Maiya, and the latter disapproves of pork being cooked in her kitchen, so I had to wait a while to try it. Quite a while, as it turns out. I passed the link on to Eli, who also loved it, and we began making plans to spend a day making Sunday Sauce. But then we both kind of forgot about it. However, we both had this last Friday evening off, and we decided to stay in and finally make Sunday Sauce!

I have really mixed feelings about posting this because there’s an unspoken code in my family regarding recipes. Basically, you never tell anyone the whole truth when it comes to cooking because the best meals are improvised and you couldn’t tell it on paper anyway. You have to adjust on the fly, using your senses—your eyes, your nose, your experience, and most importantly your mouth. If it looks and tastes fucked up then it is fucked up. Basically, if you don’t know what good food tastes like, you will be throwing darts when you try and cook. (Continue reading Dean Ween’s recipe here.)