What Have You Cooked Recently?

The aforementioned Chinese friend gifted us with beef shanks to cook at a later date, so tonight I made osso buco, the white wine variety because boeuf bourguignon is one of my family's most requested meals and I didn't want it to be too reminiscent of that.

My husband decided it might be a good idea to bribe one of our kids into going to bed nicely with the promise that they would choose tomorrow's meal, and the answer was fries. I thought it was funny even though bribery isn't my preferred parenting tactic, so I'll make oven-baked crispy seasoned potato wedges with some of the million russet potatoes we have, and since it'll be a meal, I'll probably goyslop it up with cheese, green onion, and some of the bacon I buy in bulk and stash in the freezer. I'll make steamed broccoli on the side because it's my kids' favorite vegetable and I have to go with the big guns if there can be any hope of them not filling up on carbs.
 
I made bacon, eggs, and a couple of small pancakes in my cast iron yesterday. My pancakes came out a little dense, but I acknowledge that's because of my bad habit of over mixing the batter. Didn't use butter because the pan was still lightly greased with bacon fat, but I did add a little bit of syrup. All in all, pretty tasty. My cast iron pans have become my favorite cooking utensils lately.

Also, I used the low sodium bacon, and I feel like it tastes way better than regular bacon. Maybe I've just gotten used to the taste, but I can't do regular bacon no more.
 
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Steelhead trout sprinkled with basil after coating it in a mixture of olive oil, lemon, and lime juice. I bake it skin up so that I can peel the skin off in one piece. The salad is a kale mix with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and freshly grated ginger root. Potatoes are rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with potassium chloride and pepper, baked before the fish. The basil on the fish and the ginger in the salad compliment each other well.
 

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Steelhead trout sprinkled with basil after coating it in a mixture of olive oil, lemon, and lime juice. I bake it skin up so that I can peel the skin off in one piece. The salad is a kale mix with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and freshly grated ginger root. Potatoes are rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with potassium chloride and pepper, baked before the fish. The basil on the fish and the ginger in the salad compliment each other well.

I Iove steelhead trout , where I live it's way way cheaper than salmon. I also find it tastier and healthier than salmon,. I bake it in aluminum foil with garlic and lemon.

Yesterday I made czakhokbili. It's a Georgian stew with chicken, onion, tomatoes, spices and herbs. Hearty and healthy and great served with fresh baquette.

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Those Dutch ovens, if you take care of them well, are almost bulletproof to boot. I think my parents have one that's 50 years old and still going strong.
I still have one made before I was born, it's my childhoods huge cast iron pot with lid! It's great. Problem is that is too big for the oven so I had to buy a "new" smaller one. They gain and retain and radiate heat so wonderfully.
I recommend everyone to try one out, even those that just wants to make some french fries once in a while should look around their local goodwill or second hand store for a small one.

I made whitefish with broccoli briefly boiled in vegetable stock, boiled potatoes and tomatoes cooked in my dutch oven until they started to melt. I didn't have white pepper and butter for the fish so I tried heavy cream and curry along with other spices to make that part more exotic. Pretty nice, have had way worse fish dishes in indian restaurants. Not as nice as if the fish was just swirled in melted butter and white pepper though.
 
Attempted a lasagne. Didnt make enough bechamel sauce, the ragu was a bit bland (forgot the Worcestershire sauce) and didnt have enough cheese to fully top it. Still decent though, on par with a good microwave lasagne, next attempt will be better as I've learned from my mistakes. Won't be for a while though as I've now got a fuckton of lasagne for my lunches.
 
I made Japchae Saturday, with double spinach (parboiled, chopped, then mixed with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and soy sauce) because it's the best part and I still could have done with more spinach.

Pan-fried rainbow trout yesterday, made sure the skin was crispy to ensure the kids would eat it. I served it with a lemon butter sauce and roasted vegetables.

I was asked to make white wine osso buco again today by my husband, so I guess that was a success!
 
Last thing I really cooked at all was tonkatsu flavored Ramen with a poached egg and diced ham, onion, and green bell pepper. I wish my apartment had a gas range so I could use cast iron. I'm stuck with glass top electric
 
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Every year my husband and I both get $100 gift cards to a local grocery store for Christmas. We use one card for pantry staples and one for a decedent meal.
This year:
-Lobster with garlic butter
-Hokkaido scallops in shell done 2 ways (citrus glaze and browned butter miso)
-creamy pureed potatoes and parsnips.
Blurry picture because I couldn't wait to dig in.
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That Le Creuset from a few weeks ago finally came in and I’m considering making just a basic tomato/arrabiatta sauce to break it in. Full mirepoux or just onion and garlic as the base?
 
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