November party post 2: Waldorf salad (p. 169), Carrot and raisin salad (p. 166), Texas caviar (p. 73), and Rosemary pecan butter (p. 179)

This is the second post in a series so make sure to read Post 1 (especially if you like whipped fish [and who doesn't]!).

I hate Waldorf salad (p. 169). I always have. In fact, I hate it so much that it amazes me that anyone likes it. But people must like it because it's everywhere.

Like all Waldorf salads, I mixed celery, apples, walnuts, and grapes with mayonnaise. *Gag*

Why would anyone voluntarily eat fruit covered in mayonnaise? Look, I like mayonnaise, but that's just going too far. TJOC recommended that you can include marshmallows too--that's horrifying. It tasted just like it looks--crunchy things covered in mayo. If you like Waldorf salad, I would love for you to explain why in the comments. Please.

Texas caviar (p. 73) is one of those items that I had seen on menus before but never ordered. To be honest, I had no idea what was actually in it. It turns out that I don't like real caviar and I don't really like Texas caviar either.

I combined black eyed peas, pimientos, jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic, bell pepper, scallions, parsley, oregano, cilantro, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and some vinaigrette:

This recipe makes a TON of food so make sure you have a crowd. I don't really like bean salads but it was a pretty solid salad if you're into that. The vinaigrette really soaked into everything and it was nicely flavored. This is one of those dishes that gets better the longer it sits so if you are going to make it for a party, make it a day or two early.

Carrot and raisin salad (p. 166) is a strange recipe. I combined grated carrots, raisins, pecans, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and tossed that with sour cream and mayonnaise:

It was certainly a simple recipe but, again, I don't understand all the mayonnaise love in the salad chapter of TJOC. I don't really like raisins in savory dishes but that's a personal thing. It was a sweet salad and it would be a good choice if you were going to a potluck and wanted to bring something a little different.

Rosemary pecan butter (p. 179) sounded interesting. I kind of like the idea of savory nut butters (yeah, yeah ::insert innuendo here::) as a spread that's a little different than the norm and I really like rosemary.

I combined toasted pecan pieces, cold butter, rosemary, and brown sugar in my food processor:

Certainly easy. It was good. The rosemary went really well with the pecans. It was particularly tasty on my bagel the next day. I always have trouble with spreads because I can never tell exactly what you are supposed to spread them on--crackers? Bread? Veggies? I think I overthink these things.

There are many more posts coming up about this party so keep checking!

Shandy (p. 53) and English muffin pizza (p. 182)

Oh, the Shandy (p. 53). Something about the shandy just doesn't sound delicious to me. I mixed lager (I choose delicious Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers) with ginger beer:



Josh had to drink several of these, since it seemed like a waste to throw the extra ginger beer and MHL away. He actually rather liked the shandy. He thought the MHL leveled out the odd flavor of the ginger beer. I thought it was awful, which is likely due to my hatred of ginger beer. Apparently you can also use Sprite in a Shandy which sounds even more awful to me.

While Josh was enjoying his shandy, I made him an English muffin pizza (p. 182).

I took an English muffin, toasted it in the broiler, spread it with chili sauce (you can use catsup--CATSUP!), sprinkled oregano on it, topped it with grated cheddar, poured olive oil over it, and popped it back in the broiler:



Until it turned out like this:



Believe it or not, Josh said it was good and he'd happily eat it again. He thought it needed a little extra "punch" like a couple of pieces of pepperoni or bacon but he thought it was overall rather tasty. I will say it was certainly easy and made out of stuff we already had on hand, which was nice.

Random facts:

• Apparently, shandies can be made with lemonade or cider too (Wikipedia). I love cider, so maybe I would like a cider shandy more.
• Various versions of the shandy seem to be popular all over the world, especially in Germany (seriously paraphrasing Wikipedia)

So, readers, have you had a shandy before? What was the mixture?


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Cream cheese spreads (p. 179)

I've meant to make Cream cheese spreads (p. 179) for a while, to the point in which I've roasted garlic for the recipe and just never finished it (roasted garlic is good in just about everything and I tend to use it up quickly).

I combined cream cheese, heavy cream, roasted garlic, scallions, and chopped black olives:



Mix, mix, mix, mix:



This was a delicious dip! It was just as good as the expensive dips that you may buy at the bagel shop and it was really easy to make at home. You could make countless permutations of this spread, both sweet and savory--a great canvas to express some flavor creativity. I think I might keep a savory option, like this one, and a sweet option (probably honey walnut) on hand, for when I want a quick bagel or toast snack.

Random facts:

• A bagel should be made with white wheat high-gluten flour, boiled in water, and baked. The boiling gives the bagel a hard crust and shine (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p. 32)
• "The proximity of Jewish immigrants on New York City's Lower East Side and the Catskills' dairy farmers led to the creation of two very American takes on Old World foods: New York-style cheesecake and bagels "with a schmeer" (a thick slathering of cream cheese)" (The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, p.176)
• Even though cream cheese was invented in New York, it was called "Philadelphia Cream cheese" because Philadelphia was considered to produce the highest quality food at the time (Wikipedia)

Black bean tacos (p. 189)

I decided that Josh and I needed a taco night so I whipped up some TJOC taco meat (delicious and as easy as a spice packet [no exaggeration, super easy]). I thought it would be the perfect time to make Black bean tacos (p. 189) since I love TJOC's refried beans recipe.

I made the refried beans, spread them on a tortilla, sprinkled Monterey Jack cheese on the top, and was finished!:



Super, super easy. You could use canned refried beans if you wanted to speed things up but homemade beans are so, so, so much better. My favorite part of this recipe? I didn't use black beans and, yet, TJOC calls them black bean tacos--the refried beans recipe says pinto or black beans and I like pinto beans much better.

Not much to blog about--the recipe was good but not very excited.

Random facts:

• Wikipedia says that the term "pinto bean"comes from the Spanish frijol pinto which is literally "painted bean". So that means pinto horses are painted horses. Neat!
• Pinto beans are usually used for refried beans in American Tex-Mex food and Northern Mexican food, while black or red beans are common in other parts of Mexico (Wikipedia). Anyone have any experience with this?
• The term "refried beans" is based on a mistranslation. It does not refer to being fried twice (Wikipedia)

Sausage and pepper sub (p. 184), Twin sandwich (p. 180), and Club sandwich (p. 180)

Mom, Josh, and I are all dedicated Amazing Race watchers and I decided to whip something up for us to eat while watching it. I'm actually quite pleased with this season of TAR because it's one of the first seasons in which I like the majority of the teams.

As many regular readers know, I like to make my mom dishes that Josh and I don't want to eat. And Sausage and pepper sub (p. 184) fit the bill. I don't like peppers or onions, Josh doesn't like peppers, and mom loves both. Plus, mom is an expert on peppers and onions because she eats them frequently (horrifying to me as a child).

I cooked Italian sausages until they were done (there is no picture of this, use your imagination). I then cooked an onion, garlic, and bell peppers (all red because I didn't have any green) in a little olive oil and sausage grease with some oregano and salt and pepper:

I added the sausage back to the pan to heat through:

And popped it in a hero roll:

Mom said it was delicious! The perfect combination of peppers and onions. Because the peppers and onions are cooked for a long time at a low heat, they caramelize and sweeten, which is a nice complement to the hot Italian sausage.

I decided to make Josh a Twin sandwich (p. 180) using mom's delicious homemade bread.

I wrapped some cheese in ham, which seemed extremely strange (but who am I to question TJOC, right?):

I popped the cheese/meat in a skillet and cooked it for a minute on each side:

When the ham was sizzling, I popped it on toast and topped it with tomato:

Finished sandwich:



Josh said it was tasty! I have a strange aversion to heated sandwiches, so it wouldn't' be up my alley but it seemed like a nice ham and cheese sandwich. It was definitely improved by the homemade bread.

I made myself a Club sandwich (p. 180). I spread mayonnaise on toast, piled on lettuce and turkey, topped it with more toast, than lettuce, tomato, and bacon.

Delicious! I only wished I had some of those little toothpicks with colorful plastic ends. I have always liked club sandwiches, even though they are too big for my mouth and the toast scratches the roof of my mouth. All club sandwiches are essentially the same but I thought this one was particularly good--it's essentially a turkey sandwich layered with a BLT and who wouldn't like that?

I'm quite proud of my progress on the Sandwiches chapter! It's definitely in the running for first chapter finished.

White pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese (p. 191) and Calzone (p. 193)

Mom drove me back from Iowa to Colorado and stayed for a week. We had a 1:1 dog to people ratio which was about perfect for mom and I but a little high for Josh. I decided that a pizza night would be fun.

I made myself a pepperoni pizza, which I have previously blogged about. Mom chose a White pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese (p. 191). The pizza was made similarly to the pizzas in the post I linked to in the previous sentence. It had no sauce because it was a white pizza, instead smeared with olive oil, thinly sliced tomatoes, and basil (this picture was taken pre-basil application):

It baked for about ten minutes and was done:

Homemade pizza takes almost no time at all, especially if you buy the dough at Whole Foods like I do. I like their dough, so there seems to be minimal point in making it myself. The pizza was very tasty! In fact, my mom makes a dish that includes sliced tomatoes topped with basil, pepper, and feta cheese, and then drenched with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We typically eat it on crusty bread, which is exactly what this pizza reminded me of. I recommend it if you like feta cheese!

Josh wasn't very interested in any of the pizza choices so I decided to make a Calzone (p. 193). I don't typically like calzones. In fact, Josh has to go with his friends to the calzone shop because I'm that bored with calzones. They tend to be way too big, soggy, and greasy.

I spread the pizza dough exactly like I do when I make a pizza. I cooked Italian sausage, drained it, and added it to the dough. I layered some mushrooms and cheese on top:

I closed the calzone and crimped the edges closed:

It was baked for about 25 minutes. I could actually knock on it when it was done:

Josh was surprised by the lack of sauce in the calzone:

Fortunately we had a big pot of mom's sauce for dipping:

AMAZING! This calzone would have the potential to convert me. Because the meat was cooked before being put in the calzone, it wasn't greasy. Because there was no sauce on the inside, it was not soggy. It was delicious pizza crust with great filling. Apparently, that's what a calzone should taste like.

Josh ate the calzone with a smile on his face--I'm not kidding, that's how great it was. He begs for calzones now, which is fine, because they are really easy to make. They are also huge--they could be halved easily and served for a casual movie or game night (plus they are self-contained and less messy than pizza).

I feel like I could now start my own calzone stand. Of course, I would need about a half hour for each calzone :) They are totally customizable because they can be filled with just about anything. What do you like calzones filled with?

Cheese toast (p. 182)

I was hungry and I wondered if there were any quick recipes left in TJOC. I found Cheese toast (p. 182)



This is such a short post! So I will answer a short quiz (and would love you to answer it too!).

Favorite:

Breakfast item: Hash browns--but the little squares, not the shreds. I LOVE the TJOC recipe. Incorporating the cream just makes the even more delicious. Granted, I don't regularly eat breakfast so I usually make hash browns for lunch or dinner.

Soup: Tortilla soup (no chicken). I make it all the time. IMO, it's vital to make your own tortilla chips (it only takes a few minutes!) and your own chicken stock (so that you can control the salt content). I really love soup. I REALLY love soup.

Dessert: I like old-fashioned desserts. I make a great rice pudding and an amazing bread pudding. My blueberry buckle is amazing. And I love pineapple upside-down cake but I can only eat it if it's made with canned pineapple (I'm allergic to fresh--the canning process inactivates the enzyme I'm allergic to).

Spice: I must be bland, because I think my favorite spices are vanilla and pepper (although rarely together). I don't like cinnamon, making me a real anomaly (or so it seems).

Ice cream flavor: Butter pecan or pralines and cream, hands down. Josh makes Earl Grey ice cream all the time and it tastes too much like flowers to me.

Beer: Lindeman's lambic in cassis. LOVE IT.

Ask me more favorites! Tell me yours!

Shredded chicken tacos (p. 189) with Chile-garlic spice paste (p. 589)

I usually have no particular reason why I pick one recipe over another on a given night. I usually have a list of TJOC recipes for which I have the ingredients on hand but beyond that, it's pretty random.

On this particular day, I had a pile of chicken thighs I needed to use before they went bad (I always imagine the chicken wearing a little leather jacket and smoking a cigarette--it "went bad") and I had eyed Shredded chicken tacos (p. 189) many times. I like garlic, so any recipe with garlic in the title is probably going to be a winner in my book.

This recipe is a throwback to the TJOC editions of old. Old TJOCs tended to read like a "Choose-your-own adventure" novel. You would start a recipe, have to leaf through the book for the sauce, turn to another page for the meat, leaf through for another technique. It could get annoying, especially for complex recipes. It's particularly annoying when you think a recipe is short because it doesn't take many lines and then realize that it refers to four other recipes, making it a much more complex procedure. Recent TJOC editions have really cut down on the referrals to other recipes but they still show up occasionally. This recipe is one of those. The recipe requires Chile-garlic spice paste (p. 589).

I mixed jalapeno peppers (I used jarred, I didn't feel like dealing with fresh), garlic (a TON of garlic), olive oil, lemon zest, black peppercorns, salt, and chili powder in my tiny food processor:




Yum!



I tasted it--a great mix of jalapeno and garlic. Because jalapeno peppers are not that hot (in relation to other peppers), it wasn't overwhelming, but the paste did have a nice heat.

I smeared (yes, that is the technical term) all over the chicken:



It was at this point of the recipe that I realized that the tacos only call for a half-cup of the spice paste and I used a whole recipe of it. I used TWO CUPS of spice paste when I was only supposed to use a half-cup. I was pretty sure I ruined the chicken--I mean, I quadrupled it. It was going to be way too spicy, right? They smelled extremely spicy (and yes, I think you can smell spicy). I added an extra chicken thigh just in case, thinking it could cut the heat if needed.



I shredded the chicken, added a little sour cream, and rolled it all up in a corn tortilla. They were delicious! Definately spicy but not too spicy. In fact, I think that if I had used the amount called for they would have been slightly bland. The jalapeno and garlic really complemented each other and the sour cream cut the heat. The chicken got even tastier after sitting in the fridge overnight--the flavors melded deliciously. I think this would be the perfect chicken taco dish to add to a "Tex-Mex Fiesta" or something--a chicken taco for people who don't think they like chicken tacos.

The biggest win of the night? I managed not to touch my eyes, nose, or mouth after working with the peppers!

Have you made a huge error in a recipe and had it work out for the best?

Pimiento cheese (p. 179) and Sweet-and-sour pork (p. 504)

Pimiento cheese (p. 179) spread is something that I've seen at the grocery counter a thousand times but never actually eaten, likely because I don't like pimientos. Every grocery store from Kroger to Whole Foods has a version of it. So what interested me in making it today? Two things. First, my mom likes spreads and I was pretty sure she would like this one. Second, I had been reading the Jane Jameson (Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men, and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever) books by Molly Harper and Jane encounters a lot of pimiento spread, which intrigued me. I read a lot and Harper's books are the only really good chick-lit I've ever read--I can't recommend them enough. They were laugh out loud funny and I kept dog-earring pages to read to Josh later.

I thought TJOC would be likely to have a pretty solid pimiento cheese spread and I wanted to know what it tasted like.

I mixed chopped pimientos, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, dry mustard (which I must have bought for my mom before because she actually had it), Worcestershire sauce, and ground red pepper:



I then mixed in finely grated cheddar and colby cheese:



It was really simple and good! I still don't like pimientos, so I doubt I would whip this up for myself, but both Josh and mom liked it and said it was good on crackers or bread. It was nice and creamy with just the right amount of cheese. I think this would make a perfect dish for a potluck. It's funny that I find so many potluck recipes in TJOC when I never go to potlucks...

I don't like green peppers and I'm allergic to pineapple, so I had been holding off on Sweet-and-sour pork (p. 504). My mom always used to tell me that she used to make a really good sweet and sour pork, so I thought she'd be the perfect test subject for the TJOC version.

I mixed pineapple juice, chicken stock, cider vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. I thought the recipe called for an awful lot of salty ingredients so I looked it over again--I mistook teaspoons for tablespoons and had used way too much Worcestershire sauce. I threw it out and started again. It was a good thing that I had plenty of everything!




I added browned pork and simmered it for an hour:



I then added pineapple chunks, green pepper, and sliced onion:



And cooked it for a little longer. Mom said it was really good, although she would like the pepper cut more into chunks than slices. I wanted it to be that horrible red color it is at Panda Express but it was a boring brown. It didn't have much sugar in it, though, and the pork wasn't deep fried, so I'm guessing it's considerably healthier than the sweet-and-sour pork in most Chinese restaurants.

Chicken or ham salad spread (p. 180), Chicken noodle soup (p. 125), and Cream of watercress or purslane soup (p. 145)

TJOC has about ten different versions of chicken salad sprinkled throughout various chapters in the book. I've made most of them because I constantly have a lot of leftover poached chicken from making chicken stock. I noticed that I hadn't made Chicken or ham salad spread (p. 180) yet. It was an easy recipe--I mixed chicken, mayonnaise, pecans, bread-and-butter pickles, celery, and a little tiny bit of red pepper.

It was really good! The pickles lent a little bit of sweet and crunchy (along with the celery), the pecans were crunchy, and the flavors were really well balanced. Josh hates bread-and-butter pickles (although they are my very favorites) and even he liked this chicken salad. It was really good with crackers too. As much as I adore ham, I don't think it would be as good as it was with chicken.

I had a bunch of chicken stock and noticed that I hadn't made Chicken noodle soup (p. 125) even though it was an amazingly simple recipe. I boiled some chicken stock, stirred in some egg noodles, and cooked until tender. I also added some chicken (although the recipe doesn't call for it, which seems really odd to me).

I know the picture just looks like chicken stock but it was one of those recipes that doesn't take an impressive picture. The chicken soup was good, but boring, and needed a lot of salt. I don't think I would bother to make this again and I don't think a recipe is really needed--how difficult is it to heat up stock, throw in noodles, and then add chicken? Do you really need a recipe?

The real problem was that as I was moving the pot from the stove to the counter, boiling soup splashed out of the pot and onto my hand, scalding it. Through some miracle, I managed not to drop the pot on the floor (which would have burned my feet) and I managed not to pour it down myself. Luckily, the dog wasn't in the kitchen (for once) and didn't get burned. Even so, my hand hurt really bad and I managed to scald both the top of my hand and my palm. And since I had already started to make Cream of watercress or purslane soup (p. 145), I had to finish with an aching hand (thankfully I had a Hello Kitty! gel pack to wrap around it).

I happened to have watercress on hand because I keep meaning to make inroads in the "Salads" chapter (and I never do). Josh told me that he was excited because he liked watercress, which blew my mind. I mean, I've never even had watercress and he's had it often enough to like it? Then I realized he was talking about water chestnuts. He was a watercress novice too. If you wonder what watercress tastes like, I think it has a nice, peppery flavor.

I combined poultry stock and rice and simmered it until the rice is tender. I then added some chopped watercress (which I should have pureed rather than chopped--and I chopped them none to well), heavy cream, and a little parsley.

I then added two eggs (in the way that TJOC always recommends--I added some hot soup to the beaten eggs, mixed it together, and then added it all back to the pot.

This was really good! The watercress was novel (to me) and I really like cream soups. The eggs definitely thickened the soup and made it more filling. I would make this recipe again but I would puree the watercress instead of chopping it. And don't try to immersion blend this soup--it will just clog it up (...not that I would know from experience...).

You might notice that my posts are late again. I am desperately trying to finish my dissertation so that I can graduate! I have inverted my schedule so that I work about midnight-7 am at the office, which is working really well because nobody is around to distract me! The biggest problem is that it is nearly impossible to get to the bank, the mall, or any errands done! How do people who work at night do it??

Croque monsieur (p. 181)

I needed something fast for dinner and Croque monsieur (p. 181) was one of the only things that I could find quickly and had all (four) of the ingredients on hand.

I buttered some white bread (TJOC specifies home style white, I used WonderBread, which I think is pretty homey but I don't think is probably what the cookbook meant) and added a thin slice of ham:



I then added the Gruyere cheese:



At this point I actually managed to read the recipe--the cheese doesn't go IN the sandwich but rather ON it, so I knocked it all off and stuck the sandwiches in the broiler for a couple minutes:



The cheese was added to the sandwich for the second time and into the broiler it went:



The sandwich was good and easy although a little boring. I like my cheese in the sandwich rather than on it, less messy that way. The ham was delicious though!