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jakebeIt was R.'s birthday on Saturday! We celebrated with drinks at Haberdasher on Friday evening; then we had a pretty great D+D session on Saturday before we came home for his birthday dinner.
The rest of this post will be about cooking. :)
I made three ribeye steaks (for R., K., and myself), twice-baked potatoes, roasted broccoli, and key lime pie. The dinner as a whole wasn't too bad -- I'd give it three stars overall. Let's do the blow-by-blow, shall we?
Roasted broccoli. This is a simple dish that I'm trying to perfect as a reliable weeknight staple. R. *loves* them, and they're so easy to make. This time, I tried whisking the spices (salt, black and cayenne pepper) into the oil for a more even distribution and it worked pretty well! I hit the broccoli with some lemon juice once they were out of the oven (20 minutes at 425 degrees), then topped with some parmesan cheese.
The spiced oil worked pretty well; I was surprised by how much coverage there was, mostly because I've always thought the crowns just sponged up any oil they got. Next time I'll be a bit more judicious with the oil and spices -- and see if I can get crushed red pepper to get that pop of color. I'm thinking that tossing them with salt, pepper, cayenne, and olive oil before they go into the oven will give them that nice roasted flavor. Then, once they're out, toss them with a little bit of combined lemon juice and melted butter to brighten them up. Garnish with grated parmesan, if available, and that *should* do it. I'll see how it works next time I make it; maybe tossing them with a bit more butter at first is all I need.
The twice-baked potatoes were the recipe requiring the most prep, and the one that turned out the worst. The idea is that you bake the potatoes "naked" (sans oil) for an hour, cut them in half, scoop out the innards (leaving about 1/4-inch of flesh surrounding the skin to help it keep its structure. You mash the innards with cream, sour cream, crumbled bacon, chives (or green onions), and a good melty cheese (I chose Parmesan since I bought a wedge of it). Spoon the mixture *back* into the potato skins, top with more cheese and crumbled bacon, and then back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Relatively easy, right?
NOPE. The potatoes weren't baked through after an hour in the oven at 350 degrees, and I really should have checked them before trying to move on to step two of the plan. Instead I tried to scoop out half-raw potato with a paring knife and ended up ruining most of the eight potato halves I had. I managed to get four usable boats by doubling up a couple, but that was just one problem.
The undercooked potatoes didn't mash well, even after adding the cream. I brought out the hand mixer and that...helped, but what I ended up with was this kind of oatmeal-textured sludge packed with chunks of raw potato. It came out of the oven all right -- a shitload of cheese and bacon will cover up a lot -- but it's still a pretty bad failure. If I had put the potatoes back in the oven for another, say, 15 minutes, I would have had a much better time.
Still, the fact that they tasted THAT good despite the errors tells me that these are a winner. I think the mixture works best if it's "lighter", so next time I think I'll stick with butter, sour cream, chives, salt and pepper. Maybe a bit of paprika for a bit of smokiness. The cheese and crumbled bacon on top gives it that nice hit of rich porkfat, salt, and cream. I'll definitely bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for an hour, then again at 375 for 20 minutes. They'd make for pretty good party snacks if I could figure out how to do them with smaller potatoes.
I was least worried about the ribeye steaks. Each one was anywhere from .77 - .86 lbs., and I think the price came out to $17.99/lb, so I know they're pretty quality. I liberally salted and peppered them after I patted them dry, then let them sit for about an hour to get up to room temperature. Once the pan was hot enough, I cooked them individually for about seven minutes (four on one side, three on the other). It *would* have been nice to baste them in herbed butter or something, but at that point everything was coming together pretty fast.
And they turned out really well. Seasoning them early while they were coming up to temp allowed the salt to seep deep into the meat, so there was good flavor throughout. I think I could have used a pinch less salt per side to let the natural flavor of the beef shine through a bit more. Cooking them for seven minutes each made them closer to medium than medium-rare, and the char wasn't *quite* my best. But still, it was a competently cooked ribeye, which is always a B-plus dish.
Oh! I also made crab cakes as an appetizer, and those were just...OK. I'm thrilled to learn that there are actual packages of blue crab meat available at the local grocery, though you'll definitely pay for them at $17 for 1/2-lb. I mixed the meat after washing with some bread crumbs, an egg, dry mustard, garlic and herb seasoning, salt and pepper, then formed them into four equal balls (each about 2 oz. of crab meat), then pan-fried them in olive oil for about 4 minutes per side. They came out bland and overcooked, alas.
I saved it with a quick remoulade of mayo, mustard seeds, more garlic, some Worcestershire sauce, and parsley flakes. Next time I'll definitely make sure I have good seafood seasoning and add a bigger pinch of salt so the flavor comes through. Cooking them for three minutes per side is probably the sweet spot for a 2 oz. crab cake; I want that nice, golden-brown color with a moist inside carrying through the natural blue-crab flavor lifted with the seasoning and lemon. I'll definitely try this again, but I'll come correct.
Honestly it was a joy to be in the kitchen. I've learned a lot through the experience and I can't wait to cook something else. :) If I weren't so busy this week, I'd try to bake something for the Firstdawn game this Saturday.
But this week is going to be a little brutal. I'm going to try giving myself grace on all the things I want to do but may not have time for.
The rest of this post will be about cooking. :)
I made three ribeye steaks (for R., K., and myself), twice-baked potatoes, roasted broccoli, and key lime pie. The dinner as a whole wasn't too bad -- I'd give it three stars overall. Let's do the blow-by-blow, shall we?
Roasted broccoli. This is a simple dish that I'm trying to perfect as a reliable weeknight staple. R. *loves* them, and they're so easy to make. This time, I tried whisking the spices (salt, black and cayenne pepper) into the oil for a more even distribution and it worked pretty well! I hit the broccoli with some lemon juice once they were out of the oven (20 minutes at 425 degrees), then topped with some parmesan cheese.
The spiced oil worked pretty well; I was surprised by how much coverage there was, mostly because I've always thought the crowns just sponged up any oil they got. Next time I'll be a bit more judicious with the oil and spices -- and see if I can get crushed red pepper to get that pop of color. I'm thinking that tossing them with salt, pepper, cayenne, and olive oil before they go into the oven will give them that nice roasted flavor. Then, once they're out, toss them with a little bit of combined lemon juice and melted butter to brighten them up. Garnish with grated parmesan, if available, and that *should* do it. I'll see how it works next time I make it; maybe tossing them with a bit more butter at first is all I need.
The twice-baked potatoes were the recipe requiring the most prep, and the one that turned out the worst. The idea is that you bake the potatoes "naked" (sans oil) for an hour, cut them in half, scoop out the innards (leaving about 1/4-inch of flesh surrounding the skin to help it keep its structure. You mash the innards with cream, sour cream, crumbled bacon, chives (or green onions), and a good melty cheese (I chose Parmesan since I bought a wedge of it). Spoon the mixture *back* into the potato skins, top with more cheese and crumbled bacon, and then back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Relatively easy, right?
NOPE. The potatoes weren't baked through after an hour in the oven at 350 degrees, and I really should have checked them before trying to move on to step two of the plan. Instead I tried to scoop out half-raw potato with a paring knife and ended up ruining most of the eight potato halves I had. I managed to get four usable boats by doubling up a couple, but that was just one problem.
The undercooked potatoes didn't mash well, even after adding the cream. I brought out the hand mixer and that...helped, but what I ended up with was this kind of oatmeal-textured sludge packed with chunks of raw potato. It came out of the oven all right -- a shitload of cheese and bacon will cover up a lot -- but it's still a pretty bad failure. If I had put the potatoes back in the oven for another, say, 15 minutes, I would have had a much better time.
Still, the fact that they tasted THAT good despite the errors tells me that these are a winner. I think the mixture works best if it's "lighter", so next time I think I'll stick with butter, sour cream, chives, salt and pepper. Maybe a bit of paprika for a bit of smokiness. The cheese and crumbled bacon on top gives it that nice hit of rich porkfat, salt, and cream. I'll definitely bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for an hour, then again at 375 for 20 minutes. They'd make for pretty good party snacks if I could figure out how to do them with smaller potatoes.
I was least worried about the ribeye steaks. Each one was anywhere from .77 - .86 lbs., and I think the price came out to $17.99/lb, so I know they're pretty quality. I liberally salted and peppered them after I patted them dry, then let them sit for about an hour to get up to room temperature. Once the pan was hot enough, I cooked them individually for about seven minutes (four on one side, three on the other). It *would* have been nice to baste them in herbed butter or something, but at that point everything was coming together pretty fast.
And they turned out really well. Seasoning them early while they were coming up to temp allowed the salt to seep deep into the meat, so there was good flavor throughout. I think I could have used a pinch less salt per side to let the natural flavor of the beef shine through a bit more. Cooking them for seven minutes each made them closer to medium than medium-rare, and the char wasn't *quite* my best. But still, it was a competently cooked ribeye, which is always a B-plus dish.
Oh! I also made crab cakes as an appetizer, and those were just...OK. I'm thrilled to learn that there are actual packages of blue crab meat available at the local grocery, though you'll definitely pay for them at $17 for 1/2-lb. I mixed the meat after washing with some bread crumbs, an egg, dry mustard, garlic and herb seasoning, salt and pepper, then formed them into four equal balls (each about 2 oz. of crab meat), then pan-fried them in olive oil for about 4 minutes per side. They came out bland and overcooked, alas.
I saved it with a quick remoulade of mayo, mustard seeds, more garlic, some Worcestershire sauce, and parsley flakes. Next time I'll definitely make sure I have good seafood seasoning and add a bigger pinch of salt so the flavor comes through. Cooking them for three minutes per side is probably the sweet spot for a 2 oz. crab cake; I want that nice, golden-brown color with a moist inside carrying through the natural blue-crab flavor lifted with the seasoning and lemon. I'll definitely try this again, but I'll come correct.
Honestly it was a joy to be in the kitchen. I've learned a lot through the experience and I can't wait to cook something else. :) If I weren't so busy this week, I'd try to bake something for the Firstdawn game this Saturday.
But this week is going to be a little brutal. I'm going to try giving myself grace on all the things I want to do but may not have time for.
