The Food Thread

On Saturday, I made pork braised in milk. It really is a very ugly dish. Not as mind-blowing as I'd hoped, but still very good. I made a 5 pound shoulder, so I'll be eating pork for the next week and a half.

(Worst Jew ever.)

I was leaning towards some roasted root veggies (I just remembered I have parsnips and carrots already), but ooh, I like the idea of a gratin.  I just need some protein and I'm all set.  I'm out of cheese (our freezer wasn't working very well and all the cheese I kept stashed in the freezer died from being thawed and refrozen about a dozen times before I defrosted the fridge), but I can just pick some up on the way home

Yeah You can always drizzle a little olive oil, salt, pepper and either rosemary or cumin over sliced root vegetable/potatoes and stick them in the oven @400-450 for 30-40 min for a simple meal.

For something with leftover potential soups are the way to go. Pasta Fagioli's a good one, especially with the colder weather.

Superb Owl 🦉 and Albert Fish Taco have really good suggestions. I like root veggies at this time of year. Maybe mix sliced sweet potato, carrots, and parsnips with some olive oil and red pepper and onions and a pinch of salt? Now I want some of that.

Well, I suggest couscous, but I always suggest couscous for food.

I'm kind of that way about pasta.

Yea, I'm pumped to start busting out my crock pot recipes again.  I've got a good sage pork loin with balsamic glaze that I think I'll make next week.

Pasta is kind of my default option when I can't think of anything else, so I try to actively steer away from it, to keep myself from falling into a rut.  (But more to the point, I already eked out last week's leftovers with pasta, and I need a change.)

Last week I made a slow cooker pulled pork recipe that I got off someone in a  TI thread (forget who, but it was back in February), and this weekend I'll be making slow cooker pot pie.

However, two slow cooker dishes I made this weekend weren't so good. Made a Bourbon Pumpkin Bread Pudding, which sounds awesome, but taste foul (I blame the ginger even though it was just half a teaspoon). Also made Beans and Brown Rice, which was made bland by it being brown rice and in too high a ratio to the beans. 

Pasta is the very best choice for "I have no idea what to make for dinner tonight".  Although I might just be saying that because that's what I'm making tonight, for that very reason.

If you're gonna get pasta sauce, you really might as well just get a can of San Marzano tomatoes, a small white onion or shallot, garlic and basil.  It doesn't take long at all to make a thoroughly decent pasta sauce, for roughly the same - or less - money as one of the better brands.  Basically start when you put water on to boil, and it should be done when your pasta's cooked.

This is a recipe for a basic marinara:

olive oil
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
finely minced garlic, as much or as little as you like
1 can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
basil, fresh or dry
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper (optional)

In a saucepan, bring oil up to medium heat.  Add the onion, and cook until they start to become translucent.  Add the garlic and crushed red pepper.  After a minute or two, taking care to ensure that the garlic doesn't burn or crisp, hand crush the tomatoes into the saucepan and pour in the sauce, or insert a pair of kitchen shears into the opened can, cutting the contents around 24 times, then pour the contents into the saucepan.  Add salt and basil to taste.  Let simmer, stirring occasionally, as your pasta water comes to a boil.  Adjust as necessary, add pepper and fresh basil as your taste desires.

Enjoy!

So last night, I sauteed mushrooms, a little bit of onion and garlic, and spinach and served that over penne with olive oil and feta cheese. It was Belle's idea

I made potato leek soup last night.  It was utterly satisfying, super simple, and there are plenty of leftovers.

I saw that peanut butter pop tarts are now a thing, you may want to buy some of those.