Showing 8 posts tagged dinner

Jack and I attempted our first homemade pizza tonight. We bought the dough at Whole Foods, used Rao’s Marinara Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese and mushrooms. I made a spinach and heirloom tomato salad and served it all with a side of avocado garnished with salt and lime juice. It turned out amazing and I think it will definitely become a ritual. I may have to invest in a pizza stone, though, because our way turned out to be a little bit too messy for my liking.

Now it’s watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2) and getting goosebumps all over again. What an awesome Sunday night.

jessicasutton:

I came home this afternoon to deliciously scented apartment—smokey, sweet pork that had been cooking for hours. I’ve posted this recipe before, but this morning, I decided to put it all in a crock pot, so it could cook while I was at work. I followed the same steps, just using a crock pot liner (seriously, buy these if you at all use a crock pot), and a smaller cut (2.5lbs) of meat so it would fit. When I took the pork out, it fell apart perfectly. 

Tonight, I made pulled pork tacos. YUM. Original recipe is below.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole Large Onion
  • 1 whole Pork Shoulder (“pork Butt”) - 5 To 7 Pounds
  •  Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
  • 2 cans Dr. Pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.

Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.

Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.

Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.

Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.

Reblogging for future dinners! Yum!

Creative Cooking

I decided on a whim to make meatloaf for dinner tonight and I have a trusted recipe from my grandmother that is my go-to recipe. I thought that I had it memorized, but I realized when I went to prepare it that I had forgotten an ingredient: Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix.

I hate it when I do that. So, unwilling to abandon my meatloaf plan, I am experimenting instead. I’ve thrown in a few new ingredients in the hope that it will balance out the lack of onion soup mix. I guess I’ll know in about an hour if my gamble paid off. Here’s hoping.

My new recipe:

  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 4 saltine crackers
  • 1/3 c ketchup
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 t garlic salt
  • 1 t ground pepper
  • 2.5 T onion flakes
  • 1 can diced tomatoes

Mix all ingredients except tomatoes. Shape into a mound in a greased loaf pan. Top with canned tomatoes (drain a little of the liquid out before you top it). Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Editor’s Note: This turned out a bit soupy, but it was delicious. I would probably use 2-3 more saltines to help soak up the liquid.

Dinner Verdict

Jack and I both thought the beef stew a bit disappointing. I felt that it lacked flavor and would have been better if I had used regular beef broth rather than low sodium. It needed something more. Jack felt the wine flavor was overpowering. It wasn’t inedible, but just not as delicious as expected. Oh well! There’s always next weekend!

Thank you Reena and Melissa for allowing Jack and I to accompany you to Monkey Town. It was an amazing experience. The room has low lighting, couches close to the floor with small coffee tables for up four people, a six course meal and beautiful music. We had a mexican themed menu, which was delicious. We then got to hear Hello Lovers play a set, which was incredible. They are a band that Reena knows from Austin and the lead singer has a hauntingly lovely voice. The band was accompanied by a great visual screen projection on all four walls making the whole experience very sensory. Awesome Saturday night in Brooklyn.