Buffalo Chicken Chili.

Kevin

Cottage Pie.

Decided to try a different spin on cottage pie, using sliced potatoes on top instead of mashed potatoes, mainly because I could never get a good crust on my mashed potatoes. Turned out pretty well. The sliced potatoes roast up better and lets more of the gravy through to glaze over the top.

Bolognese Sauce.

Never made a a bolognese sauce so I tried the one from Closet Cooking. I used a lot more celery and carrots since I don't eat many vegetables and minced them myself instead of running through the food processor. Turned out pretty chunky. I thought it was weird to use both canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Should be a better way to do that. Pretty tasty. Camera is way busted now.

Minestrone.

There's not really a lot soups I like. Stews, chowders are ok. But I was never a big fan of chicken and noodles or even chicken and stars when I was younger. Too much broth, too salty, and ultimately not enough quality substance.

I had couple cups of tomato puree leftover that I needed to use along with some celery. I forgot to buy stuff for cabbage rolls and I also didn't feel like putting forth the effort for them so I opted to make minestrone.

I like my soups on the thicker side so I only used 2-3 cups of beef broth (much deeper than chicken broth) and about 2 cups of tomato puree. I thought that I might have chopped too many vegetables (a couple stalks of celery, 4 carrots, 2 cubed Yukon potatoes, half a zuke, half an onion, lightly sauteed) but the broth was just enough to cover. Some oregano, basil, garlic, a lot of parsley, some salt and pepper, simmered for about 40 minutes. Tastes good with some dashes of Frank's and plain crackers.

Also, I guess I forgot to take a picture.

Addendum: This picture is from a recent pot I whipped up, probably March 2011. I used a cup of merlot, and it was pretty good.

Irish Beef Stew.

From Elise. Finally got around to trying this since I had some Guinness Extra stouts on hand. Used Boss Monster (zin blend) for the wine. Forgot to salt the beef before cooking so it came out a little bland. First bowls were too watery, I think, so I spent some time a few days later reducing the stock. Smelled good. Leftovers in the freezer.

Cabbage, Carrot, Potato Muffins.

From Chaya, who seems to specialize in gluten-free food. It is basically a potato pancake with that other stuff and then baked in a muffin tin instead of fried in the pan. It's a convenient way to use up some vegetables, but it'll need some serious spicing up to suit me. I ate them for breakfast so it's pretty versatile.

Krautburger.

I actually came across this lurking some imageboards, as someone else was trying to recover the name of a dish from his youth. It's also apparently the origin of Runzas, which, I suppose, are the origin of Ronzas. ...

I used some dough for pizza I had previously frozen. I think it actually came out easier to work with. Browned ground beef, sauteed cabbage, onions, and carrots, salt and pepper. The parcels are sealed as a pyramid, baked seams down at 350 for some time...25 minutes or so. Came out pretty awesome.

Italian Sausage, Lentil, and Swiss Chard Soup.

Sourced from Closet. Coincidentally, Elise also had a sausage and lentil dish at the same time. Originally called for kale, I subbed Swiss chard which is pretty good, kinda like spinach but more buttery in texture, and added a nice combination of colors. Turned out pretty awesome and hearty. Pretty minimal in ingredients, didn't require a million spices, not even salt and pepper, just a couple bay leaves. I think the simmered sausage brings all the spice necessary. I'd make it again.

Carrot Cake.

Finally got around to using the carrots that had been sitting in my fridge for about a month. Referenced a few sources, but mainly Elise. Buttercream frosting. Was a hit with everybody and got a marriage proposal. Not the healthiest thing, but...carrots?

ADDENDUM: Freezes just fine.

Chicken and Dumplings.

Oops.

Well, here's finally something non-alcoholic. There should be a lot more like this since I'm not allowed to spend anymore money on booze for a couple months.

Source from Elise. Flour is such a useful, random thing. It makes everything. I'm putting the ingredients for the dumplings here because I haven't figured out a good system for knowing when to use baking soda and when to use baking powder. All I know at the moment is that baking soda goes with chocolate and buttermilk.

• 2 cups cake flour (can sub all-purpose flour)


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 3/4 teaspoon salt


• 2 Tbsp butter, melted


• 3/4 cup milk


• 1/4 cup minced fresh herb leaves such as parsley, chives, and tarragon (optional)

Everything is pretty simple and obvious save for making a roux to start the stew base which is foreign to me since I don't make gravy.

The dumplings turned out a little dense but fixable next time. Also, I didn't add salt when making the stock, which I should have done because the chicken ended up a bit bland. In general, I should just start using a little more salt. Chicken and dumplings are also apparently freezable, so we'll see how that turns out.

Harvest Moon.

First off, doesn't pumpkin have a really mild flavor? I can't taste anything. Whatevs.

Cottage Pie.

A redo on my previous make. This time with baby carrots, corn, onion, and some leftover mushrooms. I only had 3/4 lb. of ground beef for the 9x13 pan which turned out to be a bit skimpy but everything else was in good proportion. Nothing particular interesting about this one other than the fact that it reminded me of those KFC bowls but much healthier.

Chicken Pot Pie. Sort of.

Um. Iw as trying this recipe and did all sorts of weird stuff. Long story short, it turned out pretty runny and tasteless. Probably will not try it again for a long time. The biscuits, on the other hand, were awesome.

What? I like pepper.

Pot Roast and such.

This picture is actually the last bits of pot roast. I kept forgetting to take a picture. (Listen, I've been busy.) Rump roast, baker potatoes, baby carrots, onions. This was the first thing I made in my crock pot my sister got me for my birthday. I suspect it will get a lot of use, especially come winter when I will stockpile food for hibernation. This batch, filled to the brim (about 5 quarts), lasted me nearly two weeks.

Of course, man cannot live on pot roast alone so I mixed it up now and then. Pot roast sandwiches, pot roast and noodles, pot roast and rice. Pot roast and pot roast. Delicious.

Shepherd's Pie. Cottage Pie, actually.

Real shepherd's pie is made with lamb, and cottage pie is made with beef, right? In any case, this is a bit involved as far as casseroles go, but makes a hearty meal. Followed diagram from Cooking for Engineers. Boil chopped potatoes for crust. While that's going, cook some chopped onion and carrot in a pan (didn't see a small bunch of celery at the grocery so I didn't bother) until the onion starts to clear up. I tossed in a pound of ground beef for this and broke it up as it cooked. While that's cooking, finish up the potatoes (mash and season). By then you should be ready to drain the fat off the pan; add some flour (a tbsp or two) to help thicken the gravy later. Then add a can of beef broth. CfE calls for only a cup to their tbsp of flour so adjust accordingly. Let that all simmer down and thicken. I actually went and worked out during this time. When you're ready, pour the pan mixture into a casserole dish. An 8x8 worked perfectly for me. Layer on the mashed potatoes and either fluff or smooth and then use a fork or something to make some cool designs. The peaks will brown and crust in the oven. I also forgot to put in the pats of butter CfE asks for. I think it's fine without and I used butter making the mashed potatoes anyway. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

It turned out just fine, I thought. Used salt and pepper to taste afterwards, but I'd rather season afterwards than season too much during cooking. I also laid on the potatoes pretty thick so the potatoes not on top but not right on top of the gravy got a weird consistency. Tasted just fine and will get me to eat carrots.