Armadillo Cheesey Garlic Bread

It’s Halloween (almost) and we’re going to an (outdoor) chili cook-off! I’m not a chili maker so I’ve decided to contribute with an armadillo cheesy garlic bread from Chrissy Teigan. I’ve saved this recipe for years and it’s about time I gave it a try. I cheated it a little and started off with a loaf of Tuscan garlic bread from Wegmans which is my favorite type of bread so I’m not complaining.

Upon looking at this recipe (which Chrissy posted to her social media from her own cookbook) I realized just how cheesy this thing is. it’s a super easy dish to make though so I was feeling pretty good. As you can see you mix all the cheeses together with butter and mayo and stuff it into the bread. The tricky part was cutting the bread deep enough for the filling but not to cut all the way. Turns out I could’ve cut deeper but it’s not a big deal and I still managed to smother the whole loaf with all the cheese and filling.

Let me just say, this little ball of dough and cheese smelled AMAZING. It was so easy to make and was super rewarding. The toughest part was making sure everything was melted but not burned. I think cutting deeper the next time will be beneficial but it came out great.

Caleb did think it was too cheesy and I can’t argue with that. This is a super rich dish and needs to be eaten on the side with something that is acidic that will cut the fat without also being too filling.

Unfortunately, because we had to have the chili cook-off outside and it’s Halloween in central New York the bread and cheese got too cold and solidified itself. This is something that definitely has to be eaten fresh and warm out of the oven while the cheese is still soft and warm. We tried to wrap it up and throw it on the fire but that just resulted in charring the bottom before the cheese re-melted and most of it had to be thrown away but it was delicious while it lasted in my warm kitchen. I would totally make this again, though maybe for an indoor event next time, whenever that can be.

Ombré Potato and Root Vegetable Gratin

Of course I love a potato gratin and since it’s fall it’s the perfect time to try this ombré potato and root vegetable root gratin because all the root vegetables are in their prime! This original recipe is from Food and Wine which can get a little fancy at times but this was actually quite simple.

This recipe calls for Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, and parsnips but unfortunately I got a little too excited and forgot to buy the parsnips. Not a huge deal; of the four parsnips are my least favorite but it would’ve added another nice stark white top layer to the dish so I’ll have to remember for next time.

As per a regular gratin, I thinly sliced all the veggies, then mixed them individually in a cream, garlic, and shallot, and cheese mixture. I stacked the veggies in a baking dish one type at a time starting with the beets and working up to sweet potatoes, then regular potatoes. I baked it according to the recipe and let it cool before we ate it.

I wish I had a better photo but this was sooooo pretty. The colors came out so good and stacked really really nicely on top of each other. It tasted creamy and cheesy but still sweet and starchy from all the root veggies. I feel that parsnips would’ve brightened up the flavor just a little and Caleb agreed it would’ve been nice to have them but we were pretty satisfied with this outcome on its own.

Super nice dish, would make it again for a special meal or if I had extra time to prep everything one day. It does take a little but it can be made ahead of time then baked the next day so that could be worth remembering as well.

Mashed Potato Croquettes

I’ve decided to work on my pouch of recipes to try and had some leftover mashed potatoes so I made these mashed potato croquettes from Bon Appetite. Simply put, this is mashed potatoes balled, breaded, and fried. Simple concept but I wasn’t sure how it would work. Bon appetite tends not to let me down when I try a recipe.

As I mentioned, I had leftover mashed potatoes I wanted to use up and the recipe just says to mix the mash with 2 egg yolks, some parm, chives, and flour. I balled them and chilled them for 2 hours, breaded them, and pan-fried them for 3-4mins.

They turned out pretty well though of course, they aren’t super ball-y and got flat frying in a pan but this doesn’t really affect the flavor so it’s all good.

While the recipe worked out well, in the end it wasn’t really worth the work of pan frying. I like mashed potatoes as they are and this added too much breading and a grainy texture. Fun experiment but I think in the end, I’ll stick to just plain old (chunky) smashed potatoes.

CORT - Yori House pt. 4

LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045

Today I ordered myself the Seafood Paella for dinner while Caleb got his classic Kimchi fried rice. The seafood paella is described as a creamy rice dish with a spicy kick topped with sautéed shrimp and mussels. To me, this feels more like a risotto and less like a paella because there’s no crisp rice edge or smokiness and instead is just creamy. Naming aside, this may be my favorite dish from Yori House thus far. The shrimp pancake feels authentic but this is all flavor. It’s quite heavy because of all the cream and I don’t see any sort of noticeable spice but it’s so good and this portion is actually not huge so I did manage to finish it all in one go.

Unsurprisingly this doesn’t seem like it’s made with fresh mussels but these still taste fine and the shrimp is also a nice way to mix it up. This dish is super filling but very satisfying and if I’m looking for risotto, this is a close substitute.

Edit - I also decided to order the angry gnocchi because while there aren’t clearly designated appetizers this felt like it was a nod to tteokbokki which is more like a snack and I wanted to give it a shot. I will say that after eating the ‘seafood paella’ I was stuffed so I actually heated this up the next day so my thoughts are on day old angry gnocci. The description of it is “gnocchi tossed in sweet and spicy, Korean chili sauce topped with mozzarella cheese.” As can be clearly seen, they also added bell peppers which is unusual for tteokbokki but according to their social media, many people requested a veggie be added to this dish. I’m disappointed I didn’t try it before the addition because I’m not a fan of bell peppers and Yori House has a way of slicing bell peppers into quite large pieces so I feel like they take up so much filler space that I don’t appreciate, not that this was an expensive dish to purchase.

Anyways, bell peppers aside, I didn’t particularly enjoy this dish. After heating it up my gnocchi was a little too mushy so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that this was due to my reheating. The sauce, while it tasted good, was a little grainy and again, tasted too strongly of bell peppers. The cheese was an odd addition and I get it for the gnocchi but this just feels like one of those fusion dishes that theoretically should work but just don’t. I was totally missing the chewiness of a rice cake and was annoyed with all the bell peppers in the dish. The sauce was too sweet and grainy and overall, would not get again or recommend to people. It’s hard to see who this dish is made for after all the fusion.

CORT - Yori House pt. 3

We’re back at Yori House for part 3. I’ve dedicated myself to trying more items on the menu and I’m low key into supporting local restaurants, especially Asian owned; not very hard to believe.

LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045

I’ve decided to order Bibim Bop today which they describe as marinated ground beef with assorted vegetables and fried egg served over a bed of rice all topped with Go-Chu-Jang (Korean Traditional spicy sauce made with red chili paste).

So far, this feels like a more authentic dish compared to a couple I’ve tried. (Note: I’m not Korean so these ideas of authenticity are skewed based on my experience of Korean food from other Korean restaurants and what I’ve seen watching Korean-based TV shows etc.) The egg was a little over so I was sad that there wasn’t a really soft runny yolk when I mixed everything together.

This bowl is huge though so take note this is totally two meals for me for sure. Worth the money since it wasn’t a particularly expensive dish on the menu and was quite filling.

Overall, I’m not generally a huge fan of bibimbop but this was a good take and was super easy to eat as it was very tasty. I would order this again if I was in the mood for it though it didn’t blow me away.

CORT - Yori House pt. 2

It’s day two of Yori House food aka leftovers because I ordered too much and was too ambitious with what my stomach is ready for in my old age. Check out my previous post for more info and my initial impressions on Yori House.

LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045

On the menu today is the Tan Tan Noodles from Yori House described as chicken broth with flavors of peanuts, chili oil, and black bean sauce for a savory, spicy kick served with noodles. When ordering I had the choice of ground pork or Shiitake mushrooms. Typically I would order pork but I love mushrooms and decided to go with a lighter protein since I also ordered the Shrimp pancake to balance that out. Pork is the more traditional choice with this Chinese plate but it’s not uncommon to use mushrooms when eating vegetarian.

The broth smelled amazing but I won’t lie, it was disappointing to have regular spaghetti noodles versus a rice noodle or an egg noodle. While Cortland might have a very small Asian population, I know there are Asian marts in nearby Syracuse and Ithaca so ingredients are not terribly difficult to find. Changing the noodles pushes the dish over too far into the American realm and takes away from a more authentic dish that could be achieved. Carrots and kale already take me out of it a little but there’s very little that makes this dish feel Asian to me. I’d buy just the broth if I could and leave the rest.

CORT - Yori House pt. 1

It’s finally arrived! Matt and Holly noticed that a Korean restaurant was going to open in Cortland soon and since it’s a small town it’s been a buzz with all our friends. Their grand opening was September 3rd but I noticed on their social media that the completely sold out the first day or two of opening and I figured most places get slammed their first week so it was a better idea to wait a little for things to settle so they’re not so crazy and have a chance to work out all the kinks in the operation. Then over this recent weekend one of our friends went and got a couple dishes and LOVED it so we were convinced that now is the time to go.

LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045

Yori House is a Korean restaurant thats a little more fusion with dishes like Chicken Tacos (Marinated chicken with pickled red cabbage and fresh lettuce drizzled in house dressing -Yum Yum sauce) and Kimchi Pork Fried Rice (both dishes that Caleb decided to order). I think it’s a smart choice to do a fusion to bring Korean flavors to Caucasian Cortland to expose people to the culture with ease. Adding familiar things like tacos and pasta but with Kimchi is much more modern and really great. I hope this gets them continued lines of customers so they can stay open for a long time.

As I said Caleb ordered the Kimchi Pork Fried Rice and the Chicken Tacos. While Yori house has interesting combinations of food, their menu is pretty limited clocking in at 21 dishes total. Salads, rice, noodles, tacos, rice bowls, and of course pancakes. I love Korean Seafood Pancakes which are total staples and Yori house has a Veggie Pancake or a Shrimp Pancake. In a farmland town like Cortland it’s not surprising that Yori house didn’t want to invest in a full seafood pancake. I think shrimp is a great choice for them and good enough for me so that was my first pick. At $10, it wasn’t a bad choice. The Shrimp Pancake is described as a Korean style pancake with shredded vegetables and shrimp. Simple and straight forward. I noticed on their menu that they don’t use too many unfamiliar Korean words or dishes. Very smart marketing for this town.

I was super excited about this Shrimp Pancake. It smelled so good upon opening the container and I could tell the edges were nice and crispy and the middle was still soft and chewy. This is one thick pancake per order and it came with two sauces. One i’m taking to be their house ‘Yum Yum sauce’ and the other being a green chili mayo sauce. Both tasted pretty good but I’m not a fan of green chili so I held off and went with the sweeter Yum yum sauce which was also a mayo consistency. I cut it with a pizza cutter (tips and tricks for ya out there, pizza cutters are great at cutting more than just pizza) and ate a little crumb off the cutter and my mouth exploded with flavor. This thing was perfect and tasted exactly like it’s supposed to taste. Authentic, hands down. As I said before, the consistency was perfect, crisp on the outside edge and warm and chewy and almost creamy in the middle. The onions and other vegges inside gave it a great crunch and was so satisfying. I ate half and was already filled up inside. I was so happy.

Caleb agreed after one bite if his Kimchi Pork Fried Rice he was in. He told his friends to order for Yori House after a couple mouthfuls. This place is at the top of ur list to revisit. Prices were reasonable and the service was great. The inside was super clean and they had a whole line of take out orders on their counter when I came to pick up mine and they were cranking them out super fast. I also ordered some Tan Tan Noodles which is chicken broth with flavors of peanuts, chili oil, and black bean sauce for a savory, spicy kick served with noodles. I love noodle soup and Tan Tan noodles or rather DanDan noodles are actually Chinese so it’s no wonder I would want this in craving home cooked authentic Asian foods. After the shrimp pancake I was too full to tackle a whole bowl of noodle soup so I saved it for tomorrow and I’m super excited to try it. Stay tuned for a review to come.

Gochujang-and-Sesame-Roasted Acorn Squash

Today we tackled the acorn squash and I’ve cooked it before but Caleb’s never had it so he wanted to try a Bon Appetit Gochujang and sesame roasted winter squash recipe. The recipe is designed for butternut squash specifically but they also list acorn or delicata squash as great substitutes so we decided to give it a shot.

All we had to do was slice the squash and toss it on some gochujang, sesame, oil, and soy sauce. I baked it for 30 or 40mins and it was soft and ready to eat! Easy.

I did top it with some scallions this time which added a nice brightness to the squash and overall it was great. The squash was soft and sweet and the gochujang added a nice little kick to finish. It was such a great balanced flavor and so easy which I love. I love squash season.

Sweet Corn Salad with Pancetta and Mushrooms

As I mentioned before, we have a ton of veggies included two more ears of sweet corn on the cob so I looked through my recipes and found this one from Food and Wine for a sweet corn salad with pancetta and mushrooms.

Of course, salad is a great way to use veggies and along with the corn I also had mushrooms that desperately needed to get used so I thought now would be a great time to try this recipe out.

I went to the store and had some difficulty finding pancetta so I decided to try salt pork which I’ve never used before. The recipe also calls for crimini mushrooms but I had baby bellas so that substitute would have to do as well. I bought a salad blend because that’s what I like a little more than frisée and went with a goat cheese instead of the recommended gruyére cheese. Clearly, this recipe was taken more as a guide but with cooking, I have no problem substituting ingredients. I’m the one eating the dish and it’s all fine with me.

I cooked the corn and cut the kernels off the cob, cooked the salt pork (which turns out, is just saltier bacon), and cooked the mushroom in the leftover pork fat. The mushrooms got this great earthy, meaty flavor which I loved and I ended up wishing I had just a little more mushrooms to add. I whisked lemon juice, honey, vinegar, and olive oil together and seasoned a little with some pepper since I knew the salt pork was already quite salty. I tossed everything in the dressing and called it a salad.

Overall, it was a really good salad that was super well balanced. The lemon juice was a little strong and I should’ve balanced the dressing a little more before tossing everything together but I like tart lemon juice so it wasn’t terrible or too overpowering. With the earthiness of the mushroom and the creamy goat cheese I was soo happy. The corn added such a nice sweet crunch when everything else got a little soggy and it was just a really great, filling salad. A great use of the veggies that I was super happy with.

Crispy Salt and Vinegar Potatoes

I am a lover of salt and vinegar chips and while I was sifting through my recipe cards I found this one for crispy salt and vinegar potatoes from Bon Appetite and decided to give it a shot. I was a little skeptical about the vinegar before I started and Caleb easily declined this side dish today so it was all for me and I was pretty excited about it.

The recipe was pretty simple, cut the potatoes in half or quarters, boil them in water and distilled white vinegar until tender then crisp them up in butter. I topped them with a little salt and pepper and a splash more of vinegar and served. Of course, I didn’t have chives because I’m always lacking in herbs but that was totally fine with me. Chives would’ve added a nice touch but I still enjoyed the flavor of the salt and vinegar potatoes alone. At first bite I was a little worried I didn’t have enough of the sour tart vinegar taste but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself initially so I did top it sparingly but once I really ate the potatoes and got into them the flavor of the vinegar-soaked into the potatoes while boiling really came out and it was really really delicious.

I’ve never considered a salt and vinegar potato before but I do love the chips on occasion and this was a really inventive way for me to mix up the potatoes a little bit. I’ve already recommended it to friends and I hope they enjoy it. It seems everyone has extra potatoes that need to be eaten but this is something new to that old classic favorite.

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion

It’s sushi time again. I had some errands to run in Ithaca and we usually get take out from somewhere around there since there are more options than in Cortland. Caleb went for a sub but I was feeling sushi and my list for Wild Ginger is coming to an end so I figured I’d finish it off and try the last roll I’ve been eyeing.

LOCATION: 45 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY 13045

Today’s order is the Vegetarian Dragon Roll which has fried sweet potato inside topped with avocado. Of course, I’ve decided on my staples, Ebi and Ika sushi and I was not disappointed. The Vegetarian dragon roll was a great choice. I didn’t know about sweet potato rolls before but a few years ago my cousins introduced them to me and I thought it they would be a little too dense or weird to have a potato inside a sushi roll but I actually love the mixture and welcome it in contrast to lighter fish flavors. This dragon roll wasn’t too heavy but it was a good filler that didn’t leave me hungry afterward. There was a nice warm crispy inside texture and of course a creamy avocado exterior. There was a salty sauce drizzled on top already so this didn’t really need any extra soy and stood well on its own. I like this combination together and I’m happy with the meal overall. I'm still in newlywed bliss with my Ika discovery so I was happy with that texture and flavor alongside the veggie dragon roll and the ebi. A successful dinner indeed.

Avocado Corn Salad

We have received the gift of vegetables from our friend Erik and by vegetables I mean a huge produce box of assorted veggies. I’m gonna be spending the foreseeable future cooking a lot of different veggies so buckle up kids because we’re in for an adventure. Erik’s a teacher in a nearby school and his school was doing some sort of vegetable/food drive and he managed to have a lot of boxes to give to his friends. I’m not exactly sure what happened but I’m not mad about it. The box came with fresh corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, acorn squash, zucchini, lettuce, a bell pepper, and potatoes. We don’t tend to go through veggies too quickly so this is gonna be a trick and I’m gonna guess I’ll be eating the bulk of it because Caleb is pretty indifferent to veggies.

This was the perfect time to get a recipe via Instagram from Jenna Fisher from The Office. I’ve been following her lately because of her podcast with Angela Kinsey about their time on the show but Jenna also posts other things going on in her life and different things that she’s currently promoting. She’s currently doing a partnership with King’s Hawaiian bread and flashed a recipe on her story for this Avocado Corn Salad. I managed to get a screen shot of the recipe because I’m not sure where her physical copy is from exactly but she loves it and the ingredients looked like something I could tackle so I gave it a shot.

This was a great use of some of the veggies we got and all I had to do was buy some avocados and we were ready to roll. I followed the recipe which was pretty simple and made my own salad. Caleb also picked some orange cherry tomatoes at work in their garden so I used these which was a cute softer touch to the salad. I didn’t make a full batch because I was going to be the only one eating it and I tend to get bored of dishes and I’m not a fan of eating them every day for the whole week. I also cut back on tomatoes a little because I’m not a huge fan of them but in the end they added such a nice fresh acidic brightness. The cucumbers were a great crunch and the corn was a little sweet which worked so well with the creamy buttery avocado. Everything was balanced and really good. I would recommend this to anyone who likes these ingredients and wants a quick fresh salad. I’m getting a little avocado fatigue so I would hold off on making this again but it’s really my kind of salad.

Oven Baked Potatoes Hasselback

Sifting through my saved recipes to see what I can feasibly make and today I landed on the Potato Hasselback from Food and Wine Magazine. I love potatoes and the Hasselback is in the end just a really pretty version of a simple baked potato.

The recipe calls for small Yukon gold potatoes peeled but I only had russet potatoes on hand and thought I’d give it a shot with these instead and it worked out just fine. I didn’t see the need to peel these guys and while it may have been a prettier presentation there’s nothing wrong with the skins and I’m sure they’re packed with nutrients so why not try with it on.

The hardest part of a potato Hasselback is not cutting all the way through when making the slices. I had a couple of hiccups but it didn’t ruin the taste or function at all so it’s not a big deal. These guys get baked and basted with butter throughout the whole process for about 40mins. Once they got soft and opened up a little more I topped them with breadcrumbs (I like panko) and roasted it all for another 10 mins and seasoned with some salt and pepper to taste.

Visually really pretty but it wasn’t a complicated dish and tastes pretty much like a regular baked potato so this may be one of those “cook to impress” kinda things. I like simple recipes, they boost my confidence with cooking and with potatoes, I’d never say no to some leftovers!

Zucchini Pie

Sometimes, Facebook comes through with a nugget of gold. Today is one of those days.

I was recently scrolling through Facebook and spotted a recipe someone reposted for a zucchini pie. It’s the season for zucchini and we’ve gotten them from Caleb’s job and friends growing them in the garden so it’s no surprise a recipe would pop up using them.

Turns out the recipe is from The Seasoned Mom. A food blog online. It’s pretty simple as well. Slice or dice 3 cups of zucchini and mix it with Bisquick batter and onions, cheese, a little oil, eggs, and salt and pepper. Bake it in a pie pan at 350F for 35-40 mins and its ready to go.

I attempted this in a cupcake tin instead to try and make it more portable and sharable. This turned out to be a mistake. While this recipe is super easy and satisfying, the batter stuck to the muffin liners and I lost most of it while trying to eat it. While it still tastes and smells really really great warmed up, it’s not as good as it would’ve been had I followed the instructions and made it in a pie pan. Some experiments don’t work out. I’m saving the recipe and I’m ready to try it again (maybe after I finish eating all these first!)

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion

I think Wild Ginger is just part of my routine now. Moving is hard and sushi is the perfect treat for getting things done.

LOCATION: 45 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY 13045

I’ve been wanting to get sushi again since the last time I bought it so now I’m just finding any time to treat myself and today is that day. I’ve successfully moved all of my stuff to the apartment and this week we’re working on moving Calebs things after work so it’s gonna be a long week. Which means sushi.

Today I decided to forego my favorite Ebi and ordered two different pieces instead. I went with the Ika (squid) and the Tomago (egg) which is my friend Christel’s favorite. Every time I order it I think of her and her love for eggs. My roll this time was the shrimp tempura roll which is where I snuck in some shrimp for myself. Not that I wouldn’t eat an ebi on top of this.

The shrimp tempura roll was pretty standard. Very good but nothing surprising in terms of flavor. It didn’t wow me but it also didn’t disappoint. This shrimp tempura comes with avocado and cucumber so it had a nice crunch and the textures were all there for it. I’ve been playing around with the sushi pieces trying to nail down my favorites (aside from the ebi) and today’s choices didn’t disappoint at all. I was a little worried about the Ika that it might be a little tough but the way it was scored and the cut was amazing. This just melted in my mouth and had so much good, fresh flavor without being too chewy. Much better than the surf clam and I may add it to my favorite with the ebi from now on. The tomago was also really good. My egg to rice ratio was quite comical and I wish i had taken a photo but I had about a 1:2 ratio of rice to egg and it would’ve been much more satisfying to just get a little more sushi rice in there. I love rice and the balance helps sometimes. The tomago was also a great texture that just melts in your mouth. Sweet and easy to eat for sure. I know why Christal likes it and while it’s hasn’t made it to my top list of sushi choices, I’d never turn it down.

Thus ends another delicious order of sushi from Wild Ginger. I’m already looking forward to eating here again.

Best Bolognese Sauce

In all honesty, thinking of what to make every day for dinner is becoming very difficult. I’m finding I have less mental energy to prepare what I’d like to make every single day and it’s adding to this burnt out feeling I’ve been having. I’m trying to get over this hump and cooking new dishes and trying out this stack of recipes is helping to motivate me and give me ideas on what to make. It gets a little difficult because Caleb can be picky at times but the world is my oyster and there has to be a mountain of dishes I can try to make.

This weekend I decided to tackle a bolognese sauce. As traditional and iconic as this sauce is, I’ve actually never made it and felt down to the task of trying my hand at it. I looked to BA and of course, Andy Baraghani has a recipe and a video for it. Honestly, I personally don’t enjoy Andy’s personality so I’m not a fan of his recipe videos. I can still appreciate his skill as a cook and trust in his recipes though so I went all-in on the website recipe and skipped around the video before I started just to get a feel for the cooking.

Of course, I tweaked the recipe a little as needed so my meat this time around was half ground beef, and the other half was Italian sausage just because Caleb bought quite a bit of it when quarantine was kicking in and all the other meat was sold out. Since we don’t typically eat much Italian sausage, most of it ended up sitting in the freezer and we still have a ton but I figured this would be my time to use it. Caleb isn’t a huge fan of beef either but he’ll eat it in a meat sauce with all the flavors melding together since he can’t really taste the beef specifically. Perfect time to use both.

So, I browned the meat in the pan, took it out, then added the sofrito type mixture that Andy makes. I decided to skip the pancetta since I already had more going on with the Italian sausage. I think it’s a good substitute for now. My attempts to clear out the freezer will prevail. I added the meat back, and used some canned tomato juice as a substitute for the wine and kept moving on. I don’t have wine here and didn’t want to buy a bottle just for this since we tend not to go through wine at all. Andy mentions the acidity in the wine helping break down the meat so I’m hoping the acidity in the tomato water will work similarly. I added chicken stock (the last of the boxed stock sitting in the fridge!) and let the whole thing cook for 2 hours.

Once that two-hour mark hit I started the pasta. The Italian sausage was still a little tough and I figured it could still go for longer and be great so I let the meat sauce keep cooking and waited a little longer. Once the pasta was 3 mins out, I moved it to the sauce with about 1 cup of pasta water and let it finish cooking. I was a little worried about the sauce not sticking well and being too watery from the pasta water but then I realized I forgot to add the parmesan and once I did that, it thickened up more and hit a better consistency.

All in all, this was a pretty successful run at bolognese (with modifications). Caleb wanted more of a kick to it so the addition of pepper flakes or something along those lines would’ve appeased him a little more. I think it was a little salty for me with all the additions but it was a solid sauce. I’m not sure that I’d do another 3 hours to make something so average but it was a good dish and it wasn’t terribly difficult to make.

Creamy Pasta with Mushrooms and Prosciutto

I’ve been on my roll and I’d like to try and make at least one saved recipe a week to try and test out while I’m here working from home since I have a little extra time while I’m waiting for pages to come in. This week I decided to try Claire’s Pasta with Mushrooms and Prosciutto except I went for pancetta instead, just because pancetta works better for me when I’m cooking.

This is a pretty simple dish which I appreciate. I cooked my pancetta, removed it from the pan and then cooked down my mushrooms. Claire uses nice wild mushrooms but I haven’t made a trip to Wegmans in a hot minute so I just went with baby bellas. Minor alterations but the spirit of the dish lives on. Once the mushrooms cooked down, I added shallots, chicken stock (store-bought since we still have some in the fridge waiting to be used) and then eventually I added my pasta water and spaghetti. Claire uses a really beautiful pappardelle but we have two boxes of spaghetti in the pantry and as I said, small alterations. I added the cream, finished with some butter, and topped with some reserved pancetta! Finito.

This was a really nice creaminess but I worried that it was a little too loose and might’ve done better reheated when the sauce had time to cool and solidify a little more. I was still happy with the consistency and the flavor though. The pancetta was a little gamey which I suppose I should remind myself of because in this case, it would’ve probably been nicer with the prosciutto. This hit the spot for something creamy though and I’m happy with the choice to try it. I’m not sure that it was outstanding enough to add to my recipe book but It was a solid cook for sure.

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion

It’s time for a ‘Treat Yo Self’ lunch of sushi. I’ve been craving it so much but haven’t had the opportunity get get some, but today is the day! I’m in the midst of looking for a new apartment and moving and finding a storage unit as backup and stress levels are high. Who knew that covid would be the time that everyone is moving to a new apartment. I sure didn’t. All things considered, I felt I needed to give myself something to look forward to and treat myself to sushi at Wild Ginger Asian Fusion once again.

LOCATION: 45 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY 13045

This time around I decided to mix it up a little and try the Tiffany Roll. This is a specialty fried roll with crab, avocado, cucumber, and a special sauce they drizzle on top. I, of course, added my Ebi sushi, and decided to try a Hokkigai sushi order today which is just surf clam. Last time I tried the scallop sushi and while it was fresh and a good texture, it wasn’t very flavorful so I thought I’d keep trying new ones out until I found something I love as much as ebi.

This was a solid order of food. As I mentioned last time, an order like this comes to around $20 which is a little pricey to me for sushi but seeing as I’m in the middle of farmland Cortland, it’s worth it every once in a while. I started off with the Tiffany roll and this thing was AMAZING. It was still warm from being fried and it was crisp but still light and fresh from all the ingredients inside. It had a little bit of a kick from the sauce which I enjoyed thoroughly and it might’ve been my favorite bite this time around.

Per usual, the Ebi doesn’t let me down and I tend to order it just for comfort. Nothing wrong with a simple classic. The surf clam was similar to the scallop last time. It tasted fresh and clean but didn’t provide much flavor and had that overly chewy texture that I wasn’t super fond of. I don’t like having to fight my food and with the surf clam, it can be tough to cut through. Not bad, but I wouldn’t order again. Then again, I’m pretty sure I’ve had surf clam before and I couldn’t remember how I felt about it and ordered it again so apparently, there are some things I don’t learn. I’m already looking forward to the next time I get to treat myself to this lunch and the Tiffany roll is definitely up for re-order.

Chicken Stock/Chicken Noodle Soup

I’m currently in the process of moving, exciting! (Not really) and while I’m still apartment hunting with the impending doom of my lease running out at the end of this month, I also have so much stuff in my freezer that needs to get eaten so I don’t have to carry it with me to another place. Cue the chicken stock.

A while back Caleb and I decided to tackle some fried chicken at home but I bought some drumsticks that were not a cut that Caleb enjoyed so along with a rotisserie chicken carcass in my freezer, it was time for my first run at homemade chicken stock.

I did some googling to get some basics and came up with a whole onion and 2-3 stalks of carrot and celery each to go into the stock. I cut everything up and dumped it on a large pot with all the chicken and about 3 quarts of water (my pot fit about 2.5 quarts and I added the last half quart partway through the cook once some of the water evaporated.) 3 hours later my stock was born!

Im so happy I did this because with all of the stress of apartment hunting in the age of Coronavirus, I needed the kitchen to smell like home. The smell of chicken stock made me feel like I was back in Rochester with my parents making some homemade soup with chicken stock starting early in the morning. Even on a hot summer day, I welcomed the warmth of this smell and I could just feel myself let things go just for a little while.

I ended up with 1.5 quarts of stock once i strained out all the solids and cleared out some of the excess fat on top, which I packed up and partially froze. I kept out the half quart and refrigerated it and 2 days later I made some noodle soup for myself. Ironically I didn’t have any chicken for my soup but I had tons of veggies and a box of little noodle rings that I purchased just for this occasion.

I followed Molly Baz’s recipe and it all came together very quickly in just one pot.

The stock could’ve used more salt and I topped it with some black pepper and was super happy with the result. I’m so excited to reheat the rest of this stock later when I need another warm bowl of soup. It felt so easy and satisfying to make my own stock at home and it was simple beyond belief. No wonder different soups were made this way growing up. I’m so happy they were. I needed home right about now and I’m happy I found a way to do it. Of course my parents would’ve have meat galore and home grown asian veggies like lotus root and winter melon but this was close enough.

Lentil Burgers

I’ve been trying to get a little adventurous with my recipes and figured I’d get through some more of my BA video recipes that I’ve saved. This week was Chris Morroco’s Lentil Burgers from the Healthyish line of recipes. It’s summer and it’s hot and I’m not a huge Burger person all the time anyway so I like trying out these lentil/veggie burgers and this one has mushrooms which I’ve totally been into lately. Our friends Matt and Holly have been making a lot of veggie burgers both store-bought and homemade lately and I’ve been drooling at them. Caleb isn’t into veggie burgers really so this was all for me. Lunch prep for the week so fingers are always crossed it comes out tasting good because I have to eat it all until it’s gone.

Chris’s recipe is super easy with just lentils and mushrooms and of course some seasoning. Like before, lentils were a trick to find but now that I know what grocery store there in, I made a beeline and was ready to go. Cook the lentils, mix everything together, mash a little, and cook it in a pan.

I didn’t have a ring mold but I did have an egg mold which is just a ring mold with a handle and it’s the perfect burger size so that worked out great! I didn’t mash the mixture super well to combine so it did fall apart a little while I was cooking it and later when I was reheating and assembling it didn’t keep the patty shape but it didn’t fall apart completely so that was alright.

Chris also makes a yogurt sauce to go on top which I love because its so fresh and garlicy but also tart from the plain greek yogurt.

This was super easy to keep eating all week and held up well. I did it open face with some lettuce and I was so happy with the miso and mushroom flavor it in the whole time. I would totally make it again and recommend it.