Monday, May 31

Hot dogs, potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  It was Michael's night to cook and he decided to go with a traditional Memorial Day meal.  We were originally signed up to use the charcoal grill in our condo complex at 6 pm, but neither of us were hungry at that time.  So Michael decided to use the George Forman grill to cook the hot dogs instead.  Along with the hot dogs, he served potato salad (which I had made earlier in the day), and sweet corn.  The hot dogs were natural casing dogs, which were remarkably tasty.  The sweet corn was okay, not as good as the stuff we had a couple of weeks ago.  The watermelon was pretty good -- I managed to eat 3 slices.  Because there's only two of us, we purchased the seedless personal sized one and I managed to overcome my fear of eating the white seeds, which made enjoying the watermelon much easier.  All in all, a good meal.

Sunday, May 30

Greek Picnic Night.

This weekend was Rockville's Hometown Holidays celebration and Sunday night was the main concert -- Soul Asylum.  Michael and I decided to take a picnic dinner to eat while listening to the concert.  Since it was my night to cook, I made a psyedo-Greek gyro with hamburger rather than lamb.  Besides the hamburger, the pita also contained feta and a cucumber yogurt sauce, along with lettuce and tomato.  The burgers were remarkably tasty -- made with onion, garlic, mint, oregano, and pita bread mixed with the burger.  Very moisty and had a good flavor.  On the side, I served a tabouleh salad, made with bulgar, lots of parlsey, mint, green onions, and tomatoes and dressed with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing.  The salad was okay -- I put in a little too much parlsey, so that flavor was a bit overwhelming.  For dessert (not pictured), we had yellow cake with chocolate frosting (Michael's request for his birthday weekend) and ice cream.  Yummy.

Saturday, May 29

Chicken ala king on puff pastry

Originally it was Michael's night to cook, but I felt guilty about getting out of cooking on both Wednesday and Thursday, so I took over Michael's night. He was happy about it because he got his entire birthday weekend off from cooking. I made Chicken ala king on puff pastry. I started with a recipe from allrecipes and made a bunch of substitutions so that it was nothing like the original recipe. The dish was made with chicken, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, and celery in a cream base. (I substituted half and half for the milk 'cause we were out of milk). The puff pastry was frozen -- I just baked them in the oven.




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Friday, May 28

Michael's birthday and out to dinner night

Today was Michael's birthday and for his birthday dinner, he wanted sushi. So we decided to try Sushi Ko in Bethesda. Michael loves sushi, but I'm not really a fan, so I had resigned myself to going hungry or ordering something lame like the chicken teriyaki. Michael decided to order an assortment of rolls and other pieces and I asked him to order for me as well. I decided to go with a California roll (brave of me, huh?) and a crab, cream cheese, and avocado roll. The crab roll was surprisingly tasty and I ended up ordering a second one. Michael seemed to enjoy his birthday dinner and can't seem to stop talking about it. We stopped at Dairy Queen on our way home and split a peanut buster parfait for dessert. (Baxter got a small dish of vanilla ice cream).


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Thursday, May 27

So technically it was my night to cook, but I'm a lame-o. I was exhausted after work and totally didn't feel like cooking. Since Michael's birthday is tomorrow, he's been getting tons of coupons for free food from local restaurants. So we decided to go to Gordon Biersch for dinner. Michael had the fish tacos (as usual) and I had a cheeseburger with fries. Dinner was okay -- Michael liked his tacos and my burger was fine. Not a huge fan of the super garlicky fries, but the beer was pretty good.



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Wednesday, May 26

Notice the no pictures.  Yes, it was my night to cook.  Yes, we went to McDonalds instead.  We had tickets to the see the Philadelphia Orchestra at Strathmore and since the concert started at 7:30 and I don't get home from work until after 6, a cooked meal just wasn't really an option.  So we ran through (technically drove through) the drive-through at the local McDonalds on the way to the concert.  We shared a two cheeseburger meal and Michael added a extra double cheeseburger for himself since he hadn't had lunch.

Tuesday, May 25

Broiled chicken breast served with mashed potaotes and green beans.

Michael's night to cook.  And so that I don't feel so bad about the meals I've been "cooking" lately, I need to point out that the mashed potatoes were from a box, not from scratch.  The chicken, however, was excellent.  He made a jerk sauce and a mustard sauce to go along with it.  The mustard sauce was my favorite.  The green beans were sauteed in butter and were delicious!

Monday, May 24

                                                                                              

Crockpot beef stew with new potatoes, parships, and carrots, served with homemade rolls.

  

As you probably guessed, Michael's night to cook.  He's constantly trying to out-do me.  Not that I'm bitter or anything.  Not at all.  He made a delicious beef stew with potatoes, parships and carrots, simmered in a homemade beef stock/red wine base.  On the side, he served homemade rolls which absolutely made the meal.  I really have to step up my game.

Sunday, May 23

Sloppy joes with Cool Ranch Doritos and pickles.

My night to cook.  I know, not very original or exciting.  But let me explain.  Michael had a few friends over to play a "Star Wars role playing game" (think D&D with Star Wars characters) and so I wanted to make sure dinner was quick to make after they left.  So I browned hamburger, mixed it with Manwich and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  I know, I know, I'll do better next time.  I promise.

Saturday, May 22

Spaghetti with meatballs...with a twist

Michael's night to cook. He really outdid himself tonight. The linguine was homemade, using the pasta maker that goes with the Kitchen Aid mixer. The meatballs were a Cook's Illustrated recipe. He served the pasta with homemade garlic bread. De-licious!




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Friday, May 21

Out-to-dinner night. 

We went to 8407 kitchen bar in Silver Spring (http://www.8407kb.com/) and had an excellent dinner.  The place was really crowded so we had a couple of glasses of wine at the bar before heading upstairs to our table.  The upstairs of the restaurant is an open space which feels really airy (compared to the downstairs bar area which was very crowded).  We ordered an appetizer of two cow's milk cheeses (Cave Aged Chapelle from Maryland and Grayson from Virginia) along with some oven roasted olives.  The cheeses were semi-firm and tasted quite good, especially along with bottle of Chardonnay we also ordered.  Our waiter warned us that the Grayson was a pungent smelling cheese and he was indeed correct.  We referred to it as the "foot cheese" through the rest of dinner.  For our entrees, I had the Crab Cake and Michael had (of course), the scallops.  Both were very good.  The crab cake was mostly crab and very little filler and served with a tasty tarter sauce and spring salad.  Michael was happy with his scallops, although said it ranked second in terms of best scallops he has every had (the top being the scallops at Redwood in Bethesda).  We opted for the creme brulee for dessert, which was good, but had a little too much brulee and not enough creme.  No pictures of dinner because I was feel a little self-conscious about pulling out the camera and taking photos of our food.  I'll try to be a better blogger next time.

Thursday, May 20

Grilled cheese and tomato soup.

My night to cook. So it was supposed to be a steak stir-fry, but I wasn't feeling that daring. Or that hungry. So I decided to turn to an old stand-by instead -- grilled cheese and tomato soup. Since I don't like tomato soup, that was just for Michael. And from a can. I made some sandwiches with Jarlsberg cheese and some with good old fashion American. A simple, but tasty meal.

Wednesday, May 19

Oven "fried" fish with house made tartar sauce and fresh French fries

My night to cook. Normally I'm not a fan of fish that's not fried, but in this case, I made an exception. The fish was dipped in an egg and horseradish mixture and the breaded with breadcrumbs, parsley,and shallots and then baked. Quite tasty. I made the tarter sauce with a mayo, sweet pickle relish, capers, shallots, and Worcestershire sauce for sweet, salty, and smokey flavor. Both recipes are from Cook's Illustrated.

Tuesday, May 18

Green apple stuffed chicken breasts, served with asparagus on a bed of black rice, with a Caesar salad on the side.

Michael's night to cook and he decided to go all fancy on me. Michael loved the entire dinner (especially the sardines he put on the salad). I thought the chicken was good, but needed a little more of the apple sauce. The black rice we found at an Asian grocery store last weekend.







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Monday, May 17

Taco salad and fried queso fresco. Michael's night to cook. He had originally planned to serve meat, bean, and rice burritos, but after last night's rice fest (and today's leftovers) decided to go with a taco salad instead. Any kind of "salad" that includes chips as a base is fine by me! He also fried up some queso fresco cheese as an appetizer.

Sunday, May 16

Mushroom risotto.

My night to cook.  I made mushroom risotto at Michael's request.  It was quite a long process -- somewhere around 2 and half hours, which necessitated Michael having an appetizer course of chips before dinner.  (He may have also snuck a couple of Oreo cookies).  The risotto turned out pretty good -- it was just very heavy and took such a long time to prepare.

Saturday, May 15

Homemade white pizza. Michael's night to cook and he did a great job on the pizza. Homemade pizza crust, topped with mozzarella and feta cheeses, garlic, and tomatoes. Delicious...and pretty.



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Friday, May 14

Friday is Out to Dinner night

So we were supposed to go to Cesco Trattoria in Bethesda for dinner tonight, but when we got to the restaurant, it was closed because of a power outage.  Just our luck, I was kind of looking forward to some Italian food and Michael had already picked his entree from their menu on-line.

Since it was Bethesda, I was a little concerned about getting a table at another place at such late notice, so we decided to go home and try a different place.  We ended up going to Hollywood Diner instead.  Not exactly the same kind of place, but it ended up being really good.  First, they have a huge menu, so we were each able to choose something completely different.  Michael got the spaghetti and meatballs (above) and I got the Monte Cristo sandwich with onion rings.  Both were delicious, with very large portions.  We both took part of our dinner home (and Baxter was happy to have the leftover turkey and ham from my sandwich). Sorry for the quality of the pictures -- they were taken with my cell phone camera.

Thursday, May 13

Lobster rolls, homemade potato chips, corn on the cob

My night to cook and I was in the mood for some seafood.  I mixed up some lobster rolls using a receipe from Entertaining Magazine from Cook's Illustrated (http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=22043) and made some homemade potato chips.  I served the sandwich and chips with some sweet corn -- the first sweet corn we've had this season.  The corn was surprisingly sweet and very tender for this early in the season.  Delicious, if I do say so myself.

Wednesday, May 12

Cheat night -- it was supposed to my night to cook, but I forgot to get the buns for the hamburgers and Michael didn't want chicken two nights in a row.  I didn't feel like cooking anything else, so we ordered pizza from Papa Johns instead.  A ham for me and a pepperoni for Michael.

Tuesday, May 11

Roast chicken, potatoes, and green beans; homemade bread

Michael's night to cook and what a night it was!  He made the high temperature roasted chicken from Cook's Illustrated with a twist, using baking powder for the coating.  He also two loaves of homemade bread to go with dinner.  Since the portions were huge, we both had leftovers for lunch.  An excellent meal all around!

Monday, May 10

Tonight was Michael's night to cook! He broke out the deep fryer for the night and made deep fried zucchini with a horseradish dipping sauce for an appetizer. For dinner, we had cheese steaks and fresh, homemade fries. Michael made the cheese steaks with rare roast beef from the deli counter and provolone cheese on sandwich buns from Costco. The fries were made from potatoes cut into fry shapes and deep fried until crispy and brown.

Sunday, May 9

BBQ Ribs and Potato Salad

This is the second time I've made the BBQ ribs using this receipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Should-Be-Illegal-Oven-BBQ-Ribs-8701.  Last time I made them, it took a lot longer than the 1 hour cooking time in the receipe.  This time I cooked for 3 hours, which was too long.  (I got distracted by an old Law & Order episode).  Next time I think I'll either try 2 hours at 375 or 3 hours at 325.  The potato salad was a made up on the spot receipe using 3 russet potatoes, 3 eggs, 1/4 onion, mayo, yellow mustard, (apparently clarifying that it is yellow mustard is critical information, see Michael's later attempt) salt, and pepper.  I peeled and quartered the potatoes and cooked them in the same pot as the eggs.  By the time the potatoes were soft, the eggs were hard boiled. The salad is just butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cheese and croutons topped with ranch dressing and Penzey's Fox Point Seasoning (which I'm addicted to).