Food What's For Dinner Tonight?

I'm too ashamed to say

 

Why?

 

Leftover mantu (spicy beef & onion dumplings with yogurt/tomato sauce) from Afghan restaurant last night.

 

Yay! Don't have to cook tonight! Ordering Chinese food. Yum.

 

Salad, 1/2 a baked potato, sliced onion and tomato and pinto beans.

New stove gets hooked up tomorrow so we had to be creative tonight.

 

Leftover brisket and rice from Mother's Day get together.

 

Last night was liver & onions.

Tonight might be pinto beans & tacos.

 

Last night:

Chicken breasts. Broiled, seasoned w/ fat free zesty Italian dressing. I overtenderized them, and managed to overcook them (a bit dry, but not too bad).
Carrots & cauliflower. Steamed. Frozen, not fresh. My wife got them just right.
Egg noodles. Just to stretch the meal so that there was enough left for a lunch.

 

Great googly-moogly...
I made this tonight over steamed broccoli: Sweet and Sour Chicken (Paleo, Gluten Free) | The Domestic Man
I want to eat myself stupid.

 

Caesar salad, herb roasted whole chicken and steamed asparagus and broccoli. It was great.

 

I really want to try this. On a scale of 1-10, what's the difficulty level?

Edit: and where to buy tamari and arrowroot powder? Does Kroger carry that sort of thing or is Whole Foods a better choice?

 

I'd avoid tamari (it's soy based, but if you're okay with soy, go for it). Kroger carries tamari and tapioca starch, which can be used in place of arrowroot starch.
Tamari, coconut aminos (replacement for tamari) and arrowroot starch can be found at WF, too. If you do WF, get the Bob's Red Mill... it was $4-something as opposed to WF's bulk at $6.99 for a little packet.

I'd say it's about a 1 for the sauce (seriously). The chicken takes awhile to get used to making. It's basically the same as the nugget recipe that makes me want to kill people for chicken... so for the first time, I'd say about a 5. But, I cook a lot. You just have to follow his instructions closely and make sure you cook the chicken long enough. I made the mistake this time of not cooking it long enough. You can also bake the chicken at 425* for 25 minutes, then brine and fry, if you're worried about undercooked chicken... mine was the coating that undercooked. From the time you get started until you serve is about 45 minutes to an hour, though. I'm not that experienced

 

Pork chops, pan fried in Smart Balance (hi, @Snowy!) with some herbs.
Potatoes au gratin. With plenty of chopped onion & lots of mustard powder in the cheease sausce.
Green beans.
Sour cream coffee cake with brown sugar (no pecans) streusel. The complicated recipe that takes a lot of effort. We made two, one at a time. By the end we were snapping at each other.

Here's how I rewrote the recipe.


Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar (Pecan) Streusel



Notes: This recipe is from the book Here In America’s Test Kitchen. We found how the recipe was written in the book to be confusing, even after following it twice. This is our first attempt to make the recipe easier to follow.

Ingredients are divided for the streusel, and for the cake. We’ve used * and [--] to indicate how the ingredients need to be further divided.



Streusel



¾ cup (3 ¾ ounces) of unbleached all purpose flour

¾ cup (5 ¼ ounces) of granulated sugar

*½ cup (3 ½ ounces) [¼ cup, ¼ cup] of dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons [cut into two pieces] of cold unsalted butter

1 cup of pecans (optional, we omit them)



Cake



*12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) [10 tablespoons, 2 tablespoons] of unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut 10 tablespoons into ½-inch cubes, plus two tablespoons softened butter for greasing pan

4 large eggs

*1 ½ cups (12 ounces) [1 cup, ½ cup] of sour cream

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups (11 ½ ounces) of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups (8 ¾ ounces) of granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

¾ teaspoon of baking soda

¾ teaspoon of salt





STREUSEL



--In food processor, process flour (3/4C), granulated sugar (3/4C), dark brown sugar (1/4C), and cinnamon (2T) until combined, about 15 seconds.



--Transfer 1¼ cups of the above mixture to a small bowl. Stir in remaining brown sugar (1/4C), and set aside to use for streusel filling.



--Add butter (2T in two pieces) and pecans to flour mixture in food processor; pulse until butter and nuts resemble small pebbly pieces, about ten one-second pulses.





CAKE



--Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

Note: The preheating can actually wait because mixing the rest of the cake takes a fair amount of time. Just don’t forget!



--Grease a 10-inch tube pan (10 cup capacity) with 2 tablespoons of softened butter.



--Whisk eggs (4), sour cream (1C), and vanilla (1T) in a medium bowl until combined.



--Combine flour (2 1/4C), sugar (1 1/4C), baking powder (1T), baking soda (3/4t), and salt (3/4t) in bowl of standing mixer. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add remaining butter (10T, ½ inch cubes) and sour cream (1/2C); mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened, and mixture resembles wet sand, with few large pieces of butter remaining, about 1 ½ minutes.

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until the butter comes together, about 10 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula.

Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add egg mixture in 3 additions, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

Increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat until batter is light, about 1 minute.



--Using a rubber spatula, spread 2 cups of batter (maybe a little less) in bottom of prepared pan, smoothing surface.

Sprinkle evenly with ¾ cup streusel filling without butter and nuts.



--Repeat with another 2 cups (maybe a little less) of batter, and remaining ¾ cup streusel filling without butter and nuts.



--Spread remaining batter over the top, then sprinkle with streusel topping with butter and nuts.



BAKE



--Bake cake until feels firm to the touch, and long toothpick or skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean (bits of sugar from the streusel might cling to the tester), 50-60 minutes.



--Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.



--Invert cake onto rimmed baking sheet (cake will be streusel side down). Remove tube pan, place wire rack on top of cake, and re-invert cake streusel side up. Cool to room temperature, about two hours.



Cake can be kept in foil and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.

 

Burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado. Nom.

 

Ribs with Stubbs Smokey Mesquite...Beer

xoxoxoo