Pot Roast : remodel dinner #19

This one was a big hit. After having less than zero energy or motivation to cook the previous night, yesterday I decided to take a leap of faith and make a pot roast in the electric skillet. I had read myriad rave reviews about the process on line but remained skeptical. I also remained hungry for a good dinner, so I decided to give it a go.

This was a somewhat simplified version of my usual pot roast recipe. I bought about a 3 1/2 boneless chuck roast. Heated up the skillet to 350 and browned the roast on all sides after sprinkling liberally with salt and pepper all over.

I removed the roast back to the paper it came in (It's going to cook for at least 3 hours, any buggies it picks back up will be killed!) And sauteed one large diced onion for about 5 minutes. Then I added one can of beef broth and one can of diced tomatoes, with their juice, and a few shakes of Worcestershire Sauce.
Brought this up to a boil and returned to roast right in the center. I put on the lid and let it cook for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Some quartered red potatoes and one-inch pieces of carrots went in, the lid went back on, and the whole thing cooked for about another hour. It turned out great! We really enjoyed it. I served it with fresh French Bread and roasted broccoli.

Takeout Burritos : remodel dinner #18

Yesterday was another one of those days where I couldn't quite muster up the energy or will to cook. To solve this problem, I called my sweetie on his way home and asked him to pick up some burritos. It was a great solution as the burritos were infinitely tastier then anything I would have come up with last night. Tonight, back to the electric skillet!

Braised Kielbasa with Veggies : remodel dinner #17

This is yet another one pot wonder I whipped up in the electric skillet. Again, not amazing, but it was relatively healthy and cleanup was easy peasy. My sweetie made some delicious garlic bread as an accompaniment.

I started by sauteing a large leek and some green garlic. Then I added the sliced Kielbasa and browned it. Once it was browned I added in some chicken broth (a cup or so?) and some diced potatoes and sliced carrots. After about 8 minutes I added one bunch of chopped collard greens, put the lid on it, and let it all simmer until the veg was appropriately soft.

Pasta with Meat Sauce : remodel dinner #16

For dinner last night I continued with the pasta theme, and made this pasta with meat sauce in the electric skillet (where else?) It was yummy and we both enjoyed having a familiar meal for a change. (I am posting this old photo because the photos I took last night are way too blurry)

Farfalle with Summer Squash : remodel dinner #15

The veggies are beginning to pile up. I'm finding it's really hard to use them all when I am not cooking lunch. And it's really hard to cook lunch with a houseful of construction workers. Oh well, the remodel is moving along swimmingly. Anyway, in an effort to use up some veg, I made this pasta with summer squash.

Just cooked up some pasta on the burner on the side of the grill.

I also sauteed some onions and garlic in the electric skillet, when they were soft I added in a big summer squash that I had quartered lengthwise then sliced. Then I added a few pinches of crushed red pepper. When the pasta was done, I drained it and added it straight to the skillet along with a few splashed of chicken broth (veggie broth would make this a vegan dish). I let the broth cook off and sprinkled on a few handfuls of grated parmesan cheese and some fresh basil.

My sweetie made some garlic "bread" (English Muffin)


Voila! Dinner.

Leg of Lamb, Fried Potatoes and Grilled Squash : remodel dinner #14

Father's Day was yesterday. My sweetie really likes lamb, but doesn't have it at home very often because I am not a big fan. For father's day he decided to make himself some leg of lamb. So I let him! ; ) He seared the lamb first in a cast iron skillet in the grill, then finished it off in the grill. Before cooking, he coated the lamb with 'The Paste', which is basically garlic, salt, thyme and olive oil. The potatoes were par cooked in the microwave, and finished up in a cast iron skillet. The squash was simply grilled, and very delicious! He had fun making and eating the meal, and I had fun hanging out with him while he did. (I did eat, too, of course, just not very much lamb.)

Steak and Potatoes : remodel dinner #13

My big showcase was tonight, so sweetie-mine was on his own for dinner. He grilled a New York steak and made a potato pack (which apparently burned) and sadly has no photos because I had the camera with me in my purse. Oh well. Tomorrow the Father's Day Feast.....

Remodel Dinner # 12

Last night was the dress rehearsal for the student showcase of the studio where I take tap lessons. Because it was also a work day, no cooking occurred here last night. My sweetie and DS went out to dinner while I was at rehearsal, and I picked up a burrito on the way home. I will not be eating with the family again tonight, but my sweetie is planning to make dinner for himself. I will ask him to take some photos.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Potatoes : remodel dinner #11

Yesterday the workers were only here until 6. Which is much better than 7:45. I wanted to make a special dinner for my sweetie (no particular reason) and took my inspiration from this Chicken with White Wine Sauce recipe.

There were three lonely pieces of bacon in the fridge, so I started with those. Fried up until they were pretty crispy, then took them out and browned the chicken thighs that I had sprinkled with kosher salt.



Once they were browned, I removed them along with most of the grease in the pan (soaked it up with paper towels because it was easy), then added a diced onion and a few tablespoons of chopped green garlic. After a little while, I added 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms and a few teaspoons or so of dried basil and continued cooking until the mushrooms were brown.

Next I added about 1/2 cup of white wine and maybe a cup or so of chicken broth. I put the chicken thighs back in the pan, covered it with the lid and let it cook for maybe 15 minutes (I wasn't really keeping track of the time). I wanted to minimize the amount of dishes, so rather than make rice I just added some red creamer potatoes to the pan with the chicken and let it cook until they were done, maybe 15 minutes longer. A few Tbsp of wine with a little corn starch stirred in thickened it up just a touch. Then I chopped up the bacon and sprinkled it on top with some fresh flat leaf parsley.


I served this delicious concoction with a tasty green salad with ranch dressing. Yum yum yum! (Too bad the Celtics couldn't have been as successful as this dish!)

Pizza! : remodel dinner #10

Yesterday was by far the hardest day yet of this remodel business. The electricians started at 7:45 am and the sheet rockers were here until 7:45 pm. G had volunteer work at our neighborhood elementary school from 10 until 2, then a doctor's appointment at 3:30. In between we went out to lunch and to the car wash, but we were still home around 4:45, for 3 hours of pounding and sawing. Not to mention dust, and not being able to access the deck. Sooooo....this is a long way of saying we ordered pizza for dinner. Many thanks to my sweetie for being so understanding!

The good news is that the sheetrockers worked so late because their schedule was pushed up 2 days because the cabinets are arriving early : today! The cabinet installation will begin tomorrow!

Veggie Chili : remodel dinner #9

Here's another simple one. Chili, in the electric skillet (of course!). I chopped up about 3 or 4 spring onions, a stalk of green garlic and one each red and green bell pepper. Sauteed in olive oil until starting to soften, then stirred in about 2 Tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp cumin and 1-2 tsp dried oregano. After that i added a can of diced tomatoes ( I got basil, garlic and oregano by mistake, but it worked out fine) and a big can of kidney beans. Normally I would drain and rinse the beans, but my lack of a sink caused me to be lazy and dump the whole shebang in the pan. Because of this, it took a little while for all of the liquid to boil away, but the chili was pretty good.



We had it with flour tortillas while watching the Celtics get badly beaten by the Lakers. Game 7 should be good!

Veggie Stir Fry : remodel dinner #8

The electric skillet we bought sure is getting a workout! Last night I used it to make a veggie stir fry. I used the sauce from the spicy pork stir fry to season the veggies : broccoli, carrots, onions and oyster mushrooms. I also used a bit of my favorite chili garlic sauce to spice it up a bit.

Grilled Sausage Sandwiches and Summer Squash : remodel dinner #7

Another super simple but tasty dinner. My camera ran out of room, so I don't have photos of the sandwiches, but I think you'll get the idea. My sweetie grilled some hot Italian sausages to perfection.
In the meantime, I sliced up one red bell pepper and one onion and cooked them in a bit of olive oil in the electric skillet.


My sweetie also grilled summer squash that we had halved.







Enter a couple of Francesi Rolls from Beckmann's Old World Bakery, and you've got yourself dinner!

Smoked Tri-tip : remodel dinner # 6

My sweetie made this delicious tri-tip. I don't know exactly what he did, but it looked like a wet rub of garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and thyme. Into the smoker it went, then was finished on the grill. Yummo!

Casa Rosita's : remodel dinner #5

Casa Rosita's. If you're not familiar with the name, get used to it. You are likely to see it on this blog at least a few more times before this remodel is over. Casa Rosita's is our neighborhood Mexican restaurant and our standby when we need a quick meal. During the school year G and I generally eat lunch there every Friday.

I had rehearsal tonight until 7, and rather than deal with cooking and trying to clean up in the dark, we got Mexican takeout instead. I forgot to take photos, but I am certain there will be another chance!

Tortellini Salad and Roasted Beets : remodel dinner #4

Tonight's dinner was pretty simple, while still using up a fair amount of CSA veggies. While looking through the fridge and freezer for inspiration, I spied a pack of tortellini from Costco in the freezer, and this is where that led.

I put a 'steamer ' pot to boil on the extra grill burner, then chopped up about 1/2 a summer squash, one carrot, a spring onion, and roughly 1 cup or so broccoli florets. When the tortellini were done cooking (I cooked about 2 1/2 cups) , I drained them then put them back in the pot with the vegetables and about 2 Tbsp of Italian dressing and a small handful of shredded Parmesan cheese. I also added about 1 1/2 Tbsp of fresh basil from the garden, then tossed it all together and set it aside.

For the beets: I cut 3 smallish beets into roughly 1 inch chunks. Then put them on foil and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. I added a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden and roasted them in the toaster oven at 450 for about 30 minutes. So aromatic! My sweetie kept saying "It smells like rosemary". : )

Pan Seared Breaded Tenderloin : remodel dinner #3 aka DENIAL

Pan Seared Breaded Tenderloin : remodel dinner # 3 aka DENIAL

My sweetie worked from home yesterday and so decided to cook dinner. He decided to bread and pan fry the pork tenderloin we had in the fridge. After brining it.


Then coating it with mustard.





And making a breadcrumb coating. Then coating the tenderloin... And oh, yeah, we don't have a kitchen sink. Or a stove. Most of our cooking implements are in boxes in the garage. But no matter, he wanted his breaded tenderloin and nothing was going to stop him. Not even my merciless teasing about making such a complicated dish when we were kitchenless.

Have grill will cook.



Needless to say, dinner was late. And as we have no power to the back side of the house it was not only very cold, but dark out by the time we were done. I am, however, happy that he endured because the tenderloin was extremely delicious! I made some garlicky kale and plain rice as sides.

Bon Appetit!

Chili Verde : remodel dinner #2

Chili Verde : simplified and in the electric skillet

Since I had purchased tortillas for the quesadillas, I wanted to prepare something to use them up. Thus this simplified chili verde. It turned out surprisingly good, albeit a bit too salty. And it's about as simple as it gets

I cut one pork tenderloin into cubes (maybe 1/2 inch), sprinkled it with garlic and onion powders and salt, then browned it in the electric skillet. Once it was browned, I poured in a jar of salsa verde and a little bit (1/2 cup maybe) of chicken broth. Then I "simmered" it for what ended up being about 90 minutes, but it was probably ready to go after 45. I put the "simmered" in quotes because I discovered the electric skillet stays on for about 15 seconds, then goes off for about 45 seconds. So it's not the most even of heats, but I just turned it as low as it would go and all was yummy!

Fideos in the rice cooker : remodel dinner #1

Well, last night was the first night without the kitchen. I made fideos using the electric frying pan and the rice cooker. Rather than puree the tomatoes, etc, I simply added about 1/3 cup of salsa and some onion and garlic powders to the noodles and broth (this dish is vegan if you use veggie broth) in the rice cooker (after browning the noodles in the electric frying pan) and pressed the button. The noodles were a little dry initially, so I added some more broth and cooked them for just a little longer.





I also made mushroom and onion quesadillas in the electric frying pan. Cut up and sauteed some onions and mushrooms. Then made quesadillas with the veg and some pre-shredded cheese and flour tortillas.

Far from gourmet, but definitely servicable.

T minus four days and counting....

In four short days our kitchen is scheduled to be completely ripped out. And then rebuilt (yes, we have the technology). While I don't have an exact completion date for this project, I am guessing it will take (at least) 3 months. Yes, I said three months! Three months without a range. No oven. No dishwasher. Heck, not even a kitchen sink.

To prepare for the event, I have been a crazy packing fool over the past 2 weeks. And I have many boxes to donate as well. It's really amazing how much stuff can accumulate in a small kitchen over the course of ten years or so.

Since this blog was started to share recipes with friends and family who might be interested in them, I am going to try and document my cooking experiences during the remodel. Last weekend we purchased a small countertop microwave and and electric frying pan. I will also have both the charcoal and gas grill (which has a regular burner), and a toaster oven. These appliances, except the grills, will likely be set up on a table in the garage. I'm sure the neighbors will love viewing my culinary prowess, er experimentation!

In the meantime, we will be baking cookies and making macaroni and cheese and maybe pizza one more time before the oven goes to it's new home.

Look for pictures and recipes in the coming months!