cooking summary - november

A discovery early this month that's been helpful - crisping the meat separately (eg without onions) before adding it to the sauce for pasta. I'd tried it previously with tacos, this time it was with pasta.

Of course Thanksgiving is the major food holiday of the year. It was quiet this year, so I didn't make as much as normal. The turkey turned out amazing, the sides (from a restaurant) were great, and I made pony pie. Which as I write this some time later, I could really really go for.

Boulder in front of blue skies

Overall I made 55 things in November.

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Kid's Lunch	Dinner	Other
1					1 Reverse Seared Steak	1 Caramelized Onions	1 Smoky Confit'd Beans with Olives
2					1 Roasted Vegetables
3				1 Dinner: Crispy Tofu with Cashews and Blistered Snap Peas	1 Dry Sauteed String Beans
4				1 Dinner: Pasta & Pomarola	1 Roasted Squash
5	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs				1 Oatmeal
6
7
8					1 Brussels Sprouts
9	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs				1 One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Ginger
10				1 Dinner: Reverse Seared Steak	1 Caramelized Onions	1 Roasted Cauliflower
11	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs				1 Roasted Squash
12	1 Breakfast: Oatmeal				1 Christmas sugar cookies, roll-out dough with simple glaze icing
13	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs			1 Dinner: Greek-Style Chicken Kebabs with Lemon and Oregano	1 Zov's Hummus
14					1 Asparagus
15					1 Sauteed Mushrooms	1 Baked Polenta
16				1 Dinner: Pasta	1 Brussels Sprouts
17
18
19	1 Breakfast: Fried Eggs
20	1 Breakfast: Oatmeal				1 Zov's Hummus	1 Pasta & Pomarola	1 Scrambled Eggs
21					1 Brussels Sprouts	1 Dry Sauteed String Beans
22					1 Galbi	1 Scrambled Eggs	1 Bread
23
24	1 Breakfast: Oatmeal	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs	1 Breakfast: Bacon				1 Pony Pie	1 Spatchcocked Turkey
25				1 Dinner: Roasted Turkey Ramen	1 Ramen Egg
26	1 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs	1 Lunch: Roasted Turkey Ramen			1 Ramen Egg
27		1 Lunch: Cheese Toast			1 Roasted Cauliflower	1 Panko Pork Chops
28					1 Asparagus
29					1 Beans	1 Pasta e Fagioli
30					1 Sauteed Mushrooms

November 1

Reverse Seared Steak

So good.

I've cooked this 12 times before

Steak searing

Caramelized Onions

I've cooked this 2 times before

Onions caramelizing

Smoky Confit'd Beans with Olives

These were good, super easy with the beans. Maybe a bit less oil next time.

November 2

Roasted Vegetables

Brocolli, but too much salt.

I've cooked this 23 times before

November 3

Crispy Tofu with Cashews and Blistered Snap Peas (Dinner)

Probably the best I made, even though (or because?) I was rushing like crazy.

I've cooked this 17 times before

Dry Sauteed String Beans

I've cooked this 10 times before

November 4

Roasted Squash

Butternut squash, 350 with convection

My cubes were a little bigger, and it took a long time.

I've cooked this 11 times before

Pasta & Pomarola (Dinner)

I cooked the meat separately. Made things go faster and the meat got crisp (even over medium heat, with some patience). I'd do it this way again.

I've cooked this 10 times before

Sauce and meat cooking

November 5

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 42 times before

Oatmeal

I've cooked this 14 times before

November 8

Brussels Sprouts

Roasted at 350 with convection for about 15 minutes.

Update from later: Did I mean 450? The recipe calls for 500.

I've cooked this 2 times before

November 9

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 43 times before

One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Ginger

Sunday night since I was going to be out on Monday

I've cooked this just once before

October

November 10

Reverse Seared Steak (Dinner)

I've cooked this 13 times before

Caramelized Onions

I've cooked this 3 times before

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted with the steak (so lower than normal), cranked the temperature up afterwards. still turned out great!

I've cooked this 7 times before

November 11

Roasted Squash

Delicata squash, 350 with convection, took a while, kind of ok. maybe 400 next time?

Not the first time I've made these, but looks like the first time in quite a while.

I've cooked this 12 times before

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 44 times before

November 12

Oatmeal (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 15 times before

Christmas sugar cookies, roll-out dough with simple glaze icing

No icing who has time?

I've cooked this 3 times before

November 13

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

These turned out great. Fluffy and cooked. I was maybe more vigorous with the stirring, and let them cook off the heat for a bit before serving.

I've cooked this 45 times before

Zov's Hummus

I've cooked this 43 times before

Greek-Style Chicken Kebabs with Lemon and Oregano (Dinner)

I've cooked this 20 times before

November 14

Asparagus

I've cooked this 10 times before

November 15

Sauteed Mushrooms

I've cooked this 4 times before

Baked Polenta

From MV Pasta Co. Not a hit tonight with the kids.

November 16

Brussels Sprouts

450 with convection, maybe 12 minutes. So good.

I've cooked this 3 times before

Pasta (Dinner)

Simple, just with buttter.

I've cooked this 2 times before

June
June

November 19

Fried Eggs (Breakfast)

In a small pan, over pretty high heat although I turned it down once the eggs went in. I covered them for a few minutes, and managed to get the bottom crisp.

I've cooked this 12 times before

November 20

Zov's Hummus

For the week - my lunch, kids lunch, etc.

I've cooked this 44 times before

Pasta & Pomarola

With my pomarola. I crisped the meat separately.

It was great tomorrow as leftovers. Maybe the best pasta I've done. I'm not sure what the secret was - crisping the meat separately (and putting it on top of the sauce so it didn't soak over night) helped, and I remembered to save some pasta water to thin it as the pasta cooked, but it just turned out great.

I've cooked this 11 times before

Pasta, sauce and brussels sprouts on a stovetop

Scrambled Eggs

I've cooked this 46 times before

Oatmeal (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 16 times before

November 21

Brussels Sprouts

I've cooked this 4 times before

Dry Sauteed String Beans

Dry sauteed as usual. I've been adding oil and salt at the end, and it really worked this time - the oil helps the beans crisp a little bit faster and helps the salt stick, but also the pan is super super hot by the time I add them so it burns on. Not sure what to do about that.

I've cooked this 11 times before

Pasta with string beans

November 22

Galbi

The good recipe from Serious Eats. I didn't put all the honey in (just got tired of squeezing the bottle) and it was still good.

Reduced the marinade for ~15 minutes (at a simmer) as a sauce.

I've cooked this 3 times before

Scrambled Eggs

I've cooked this 47 times before

Bread

I've cooked this 20 times before

Bread cooling on a wire rack

1st (square) loaf split

2nd (circled) loaf split

November 24

Oatmeal (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 17 times before

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 48 times before

Bacon (Breakfast)

I've cooked this 5 times before

Pony Pie

I've cooked this 2 times before

Slice of pony pie with bourbon

Spatchcocked Turkey

Just like last year - sides from a restaurant (the same restaurant): brussel sprouts, bacon & leek stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, parker rolls. I messed up the mashed potatoes and they broke, but it was still plenty of food.

The turkey was wonderful. Not sure what they did (also from the same restaurant) but it was delicious. I don't even usually like turkey.

I've cooked this just once before