Crispy Green Beans

Crispy Green Beans

It is getting closer to Thanksgiving and I'm starting to experiment with recipes again.  Green beans are not one of my favorite foods, but Guinea Pig likes them.  Last year's attempt was successful.  This year I went a different route and played with texture.  I liked the outcome a lot.  It was probably even better than last year, and that one had bacon in it.  This one is definitely a keeper.

Mini Philly Cheesesteak Meat Loaf

Mini Philly Cheesesteak Meat Loaf

The Guinea Pig has been on a Philly cheesesteak kick lately.  He's even talked about a possible road trip.  This inspired me to make tonight's meal.

I took the usual cheesesteak toppings (minus the cheese), chopped them up and mixed them with beef and egg.  I placed the mixture into silicone muffin forms and baked.  Once done, I topped each one with a slice of provolone and let that melt.

The mini meat loaves turned out pretty good.  They were also very filling.

Chicken Thigh Stew

Chicken Thigh Stew

After braising a fair number of chicken thighs, I decided to make a one-pot-meal with some.  Best way I could do that would be to turn it into a delicious stew.  Obvious additions were onions and potatoes.  Then I went a bit further and went for a little bit of color with carrots, snow peas, and a red bell pepper.  The shiitake mushrooms were a flavor addition.  Red bell pepper pretty much disintegrated while cooking, but it added plenty of flavor.

Braised Chicken Thighs

Braised Chicken Thighs

Weekends are great for meals that take longer to cook.  What's better than smelling a meal simmering on the stove for hours?  Eating it!  Lemon and soy sauce marinade worked wonders on the chicken thighs.  I only added black pepper for more seasoning.  I served the meat with a side of quinoa and spooned the onion and garlic mix on top.  The thighs were literally falling off the bones, but I don't mind.  I'm pretty sure that my Guinea Pig enjoyed.

Baked Scotch Eggs

Baked Scotch Eggs

Once in a while I do something totally stupid.  I attempt making a dish that I've never eaten, simply because I would like to taste it.  This time around the focus was a scotch egg.

Having never eaten one, I didn't realize that it was supposed to be deep fried.  I looked at a few recipes for ingredients, but never bothered to look at the directions.  When the realization hit, I started looking for alternatives.  None were too pleasing.  Pretty much every source I came upon told me that my experiment would not turn out so good and the meat would split away from the egg.  I decided I had to try anyway.

I strayed pretty far from most recipes I saw.  Instead of the pork sausage, I used regular ground pork and spiced it up with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and lots of garlic.  Instead of coating the meat wrapped eggs in raw egg and bread crumbs, I added it to the meat mixture as well.  That was my secret weapon.

I thought that maybe the reason why the meat was splitting away was it's lack of a binder.  Once the fat got cooked off, there was nothing left holding it together.  I was hoping my instinct was right and would pay off.

I watched the eggs bake cautiously, like a hawk watches its prey.  Expecting the meat to split away from the egg inside every time I turned the oven light on, but it never happened.  When I took the cooked eggs out of the oven, not one was affected.  All came out perfectly wrapped in a meat blanket.

As to the taste of the dish, it was great!  The Guinea Pig is already coming up with other uses for the pork mixture, such as pork burgers.

Kale Soba Noodles

Kale Soba Noodles

Today I decided to serve a vegetarian meal.   This was one of the quickest meals I've ever made and super simple as well.  Take half a bunch of kale, saute it with garlic, add soba noodles, season, and top with fried egg.  I added a bit of spices to mine while leaving The Guinea Pig's plain.  I've already been informed I'm going to be making this dish again.

Beef with Bell Pepper

Beef with Bell Pepper

For dinner tonight I made us some beef with red bell peppers that was served over basmati rice.  I started off by getting ingredients for a recipe and then changing it drastically.  It was seasoned with dry mustard, cayenne pepper, chili powder, black pepper, and salt.  I was a bit worried that it might turn out spicy, but in the end it had a nice little bite and was well within the Guinea Pig's tolerance levels.