Pork Tacos with mango salsa and guacamole

The guac was the real winner. I pureed the onion and garlic with the immersion blender before stirring into the guac. the result was waaaay more flavor! 

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

Probably not the most authentic rendition thereof, but it tasted really good. 

Pork chop, sauteed mushrooms, miso-honey pan sauce. 

the chop was brined for an hour, it turned out really nice. The sauce was butter into the pan used for the chops, cider to deglaze, equal parts honey, miso and water added to taste. I might use a little less miso next time, and if this were a dinner I’d serve it with greens, but I am overall a fan of this.  

honey and avocado yogurt

a cup or so of plain yogurt, half an avocado, 2 tbsp honey whipped up with an immersion blender. 

fresh fruit with honey-whiskey creme anglaise and meringue

note to self: creme anglaise was a bit curdled, use a double-boiler next time! 

note #2: the immersion blender saved the creme anglaise! I reheated it, blended it, stirred in a tbsp of cornstarch slurry and it became pudding. 

Corned beef hash, poached eggs, cheese made by a friend. 

I’ve gotten some compliments on my poached eggs, so here is my methodology: 
- use a large pan, so you have a lot of surface area to work with and can cook more eggs at once. 
- use only about 2-2.5 inches of water - less water means that all parts of the water have a more consistent temperature.
- salt the water and bring it between a simmer and a boil - there should be bubbles in the water but no vigorous activity.
- don’t bother with vinegar, I don’t think that it helps much with coagulating the albumen/whites. if the eggs are fresh, things will work fine.
- cook 3-4 minutes, or until white is solid but tender and yolk is heated through but still liquid.
- remove/drain with slotted spoon.  

I won’t lie, added a bunch of sriracha after this pic was taken.  

Beet soup with yogurt

The beet soup was warm and wintery with some exotic notes - the spices I used were 5-spice powder, star anise pods, cinnamon and cayenne.

red flannel hash, poached eggs, beer bread.

This is the manliest, winteriest plate of food ever. 

I highly recommend making the beer bread. It’s super simple and tastes great.

last dinner home. ribs, skillet cornbread, spinach and banana bread. 

the ribs were from a Chris Schlesinger recipe. The cornbread and banana bread were from Cook’s Illustrated. The spinach was sauteed in garlic, butter and oil, topped with salt, pepper and parmesan.