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Showing posts from May, 2020

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Pasta with Oil & Spices

So rather than go to the store yesterday after work for some fancy-pants ingredients needed for a new dish, I went for a run instead.  There will be no running today in this rain, so new dish will be tonight.  Last night I made Rhys's favorite pasta, which I've shared here before but it's worth revisiting. And, there's a picture this time!  Cook 1 lb of mostaccioli (this will feed an army, so cut in half if you're not feeding, well, an army). Once the pasta is cooked and drained, return it to the pot and add 1/4 cup of EVOO. Add a little more if all the pasta isn't nicely covered with oil.  Add a lot of oregano, about 2 tbsp but adjust to taste. Add black pepper, about 1 tbsp.  Top with crushed red pepper to taste, depending how spicy you like it. And that's it!

Grilled corn on the cob

Personally, I'm really worried this country is going to go insane over Memorial Day weekend and have parties that lead to a spike in infections, but if you happen to have a safe social distancing BBQ, try this: For 4 ears of corn: Melt 4 tbsp of butter (1/2 stick), I use a saucepan over low heat because when I try to do this in the microwave it explodes. Mix in a couple teaspoons of black pepper and salt in the melted butter. Remove husks and rinse the corn cobs, then lay out pieces of foil, about 12"x12". You'll want to do this assembly-line style so have the foil laid in a pile. Take each clean cob, lay it on a piece of foil, and brush with the butter/salt/pepper mix all over until it's covered. Wrap each one in the foil, making sure they're completely wrapped up so the butter doesn't drip out while cooking. Grill for about 20 minutes, turning repeatedly. Bryce always starts the corn before the rest of the meat or meat substitutes being gr

Miso soup

This is a serving size for 2: Heat 2 cups of vegetable stock (you could do chicken if you want). Stock comes in cartons, or you can use a bouillon cube, or you can make your own but that's another recipe for another day. Dice up 1 cup of vegetables; aim for hearty ones that won't fall apart in the soup: cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, and I think mushrooms would work (I don't like them but I could see them being good in this if you do like them). When the stock is boiling add about 1 tbsp of liquid miso...this is a tannish color and comes in a bottle. It's not the dark brown solid chunks of miso. Stir, add your veggies and let them simmer for about 5 minutes, top with some green onions, and you're done!

Peanut Noodles & Miso Soup

To keep this from being a mile long, I'll save the soup recipe for next week. Without further ado...  This was a lot of prep work, fyi.  Start by cutting green cabbage into strips, carrots peeled and cut into long narrow sticks, and I would include broccoli (we didn't but both agreed it would have been good). Also chop a green onion or two, and rinse bean sprouts. Set aside.  To make the sauce: use a food processor. I've tried to mix peanut butter with other ingredients to make a sauce and it's a fool's errand. In the food processor:  1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 tbsp sriracha (don't worry, it's not spicy in the end) about 2 tbsp lime juice 2 tbsp honey 1-1/2 tbsp minced ginger about 2 cloves of minced garlic 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tbsp rice vinegar.  Begin blending those in the food processor, and add and 1/2 cup of warm water as you're blending. Taste it to make sure it's not too peanut-buttery. Add more soy sauce if it is.

We ordered sandwiches because the grocery store breaks me

Going to the store has become truly anxiety-inducing! Last night it wasn't as bad as usual, since now everyone is wearing masks and Fresh Market was practically empty. Jewel was mildly manageable.  But, you guys...it takes so much food.  So. Much. Food.  To feed these people!  It's hard to express the volume I purchased to get us through a week. Now that there's no school cafeteria or stopping to pick up something on the way home from baseball, it's gotten truly insane. So after spending nearly TWO HOURS reverting to my hunter-gatherer roots, I returned home to a sandwich waiting for me which I consumed, exhausted.

Cinco de Mayo Taco Tuesday

Would I have made anything other than tacos yesterday? No. No I would not have. This is a repeat I've posted before but it was way back when this all started, so recirculating to the top of your Covid recipes... Cook up Spanish rice and black beans (separately) Brown 1 lb of ground sirloin, then add a little less than a cup of water and simmer with a packet of "Original Taco" spice (I think it's McCormick brand, it's at the Jewel) Slice 1-1/2 bell peppers and 1/2 an onion, sautee in evoo and cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder & chili powder (to taste, sorry, I don't measure a lot) Serve! Everyone can take what they want, and I just skip the meat and have rice/beans/veggies. Make this gluten-free by using corn tortillas instead of flour

Pan-Seared Salmon, a Bryce * Original

Can't take credit for this one! Although I can add some pointers based on what I observed:  Start with about 2 lbs. of salmon fillets, skin on.  Use a nonstick pan.  We used our cast iron which normally is great, but even with EVOO in the pan, the skin got stuck a bit too much. So go with a nonstick for this one.  In the pan, heat EVOO and about a clove of minced garlic. Put the fillets in, skin side up and sear for about 3-4 minutes. Add a splash of lemon juice.  Turn the fillets over to be skin side down, cook for another 3-4 minutes, and season with black pepper. He said this was a total cooking time of about 8 minutes.  And that's it! The searing should look like gray on the pink of the salmon. Add another splash of lemon juice when serving.  We had a side of wild rice, but any quinoa, potato or salad would work too. Fyi, this will leave a lingering smell in your house so do it when you can open windows.  

Pineapple Paella

I'm back! I assumed that making this would be insanely complicated, but it turns out it was easier than like half the stuff I make. No more paella intimidation!  Prepare a meat or meat substitute--chorizo sausage is popular in this I think, but I used one of my go-to fake sausages, Beyond Meat spicy "Italian Sausage" (we grilled over the weekend so I had some in the house).  Whether you're using a sausage or chicken, dice it up and sautee it in EVOO till cooked, set aside.  Doesn't have to be a huge amount. I used two "sausages" so that's probably 1-1/2 cups.  Preheat the oven to 400, and find an oven-safe skillet (cast iron is your friend if you have it). In the skillet, you'll sautee diced vegetables. I'm guessing you could do nearly anything, but here's what I used: Bell pepper tomato onion peas (not frozen) pineapple (yes, pineapple) Probably about 2-3 cups of veggies in total.  Season the veggies with a litt