Category Archives: Stuff I cooked

Catfish Po Boys with Spicy Coleslaw

Posted by somegoodish on

May as well get this out of the way first… Yes, I’ve been super busy at work and haven’t felt like blogging. I have, however, been cooking a lot, so I have lots of delicious shit to blog about, starting with these catfish po boys and spicy coleslaw.

First, I chopped up half a head of red cabbage, shredded a carrot, and sliced a red onion up… And one of my dried thai chilies crushed up for some extra zing.

Red cabbage is 150% better than green cabbage. It’s also 150% the price… Coincidence?

Then I mixed a half cup of mayo, a 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard, half tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar.

If you mix mayo with other stuff, its called aioli. But its still mayo, like when Blackwater renamed themselves Xe after murdering a bunch of Afghani civilians, but is still the same company…

Mixed it all together, added (lots of) hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste… tossed in the fridge to chill.

The catfish filets looked disgusting, so no before pics, but I dredged them in milk and egg and then dipped them in flour, cayenne, salt, and pepper… And deep fried for 4 minutes.

Put the catfish and coleslaw on a warm buttered bun and add extra hot sauce (if you aren’t a sissy girl)… These were amazing…

I think I may fight my girlfriend for the leftovers….

Colcannon and Corned Beef

Posted by somegoodish on

Its St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m going to be way too inebriated to cook for myself, so I figured I would get an early start on celebrating the holiday a few days ago with the traditional Irish staple of colcannon and corned beef.

Now, just to get this out of the way, colcannon is Irish for cabbage and potatoes, and bubble and squeak is what the British call it when you add boiled meat to it, so I guess technically that is what I made but come on I wasn’t going to title this post “Bubble and Squeak,” that sounds like an awkward sex position or a really bad superhero duo.

First, I made a corned beef brisket. Its literally the easiest thing in the world to make because you just slowly boil the meat for 50 minutes a pound, and it should come with a spice packet…

Just add water! Cooking shouldn't be like breeding Sea Monkeys...

To prepare the cabbage, first I cut up a bunch of cabbage (duh) and an onion. Tossed it in a big pot with about 1/3 a cup of water, and let it simmer for 8 minutes.

In retrospect green cabbage would have been more appropriate for St. Patty's day, but I already had red cabbage so sue me

At the same time as I was making the cabbage, I boiled some potatoes until the were falling apart (about 20 minutes or so), and then smashed them up and added them to the cabbage. Added 1/4 cup of milk, 1/4 stick of butter, and salt and pepper to taste, and serve with the corned beef!

I refuse to call this bubble and squeek. I'm pretty sure whomever came up with that name was drunk.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted by somegoodish on

I apologize in advance for the lack of photographic evidence on this one, my photographer (aka girlfriend) was otherwise occupied (aka drinking and reading) and cake making is messy business and I didn’t want to mess up my camera (aka phone), but the end result was phenomenal so here we go…

Forgetting crucial groceries likes “dessert” is never fun, but luckily, I had … bread flour? WTF good is that for things that aren’t bread? Whatever, I have the internet. Google-fu at ready, I found a recipe for carrot cake that used it…

Using an electric mixer, I beat 2 eggs and a half cup of sugar together for a few minutes, and added 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil while still beating

Beating it... like a red-headed stepchild? Isn't the term "mixing", when was this recipe written the 1800s?

Mixed together a cup of bread flour (it has more gluten than regular flour – makes for a chewy cake) with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 a cup of sugar.

QUICKLY whisked half of the egg-sugar mixture into the flour mixture, then added the other half. Then about half a pound of shredded carrots, folded in with a spoon.

Cooked in the oven for 40 minutes at 350° F, and done!

Like I said, no pictures while baking... Drinking (or reading) hurts everyone.

…

Well, not entirely done, because I still had to make cream cheese frosting, which I was decided unhappy about having to make after a few beers myself…

4 oz of cream cheese (half of one of those little boxes) and a stick of butter, softened, blendedbeaten with my electric mixer together with 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract:

I may or may not have eaten the leftovers with a spoon...

Slathered it on the carrot cake, and it was served!

Oh goddamn this picture is making me hungry to look at...

Yup having another slice right now. Stupid delicious photos.

Chinese Brussels Sprouts and Fried Tofu with Peanut Sauce

Posted by somegoodish on

While prime rib and bacon-wrapped cheese-stuffed chicken breast are well and good, if I ate them every day I would probably have a coronary before the age of 35, so today I proudly present…

The Extra Special Some Good Ish No-Meat Extravaganza!

The first thing I did was make the peanut sauce, because it can just kind of hang out while everything else gets done… Sautee up some minced garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper for a few minutes, then add a cup of water, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 3/4 of a cup of chunky peanut butter (unsweetened if you have it, but who the hell has that?) and half a teaspoon of brown sugar, stir together, and let it reduce for about 5 minutes. This ended up being incredible, I’m going to make it all the time….

My dad said he would give me his peanut sauce recipe on his deathbed (seriously), so I made my own. Dick.

Tofu generally comes soaking in its own watery tofu liquid, and (because I have an aversion to grease fires) before I could deep fry it I had to dry it out…. I did this by wrapping the tofu in paper towels and putting a heavy book on top to squeeze out the water.

Then I sliced the tofu into tofu nuggets, deep fried it in the safest manner I could, and served with the peanut sauce…

For the record, a pot over an open flame is probably not a safe way to deep fry things...

Now, on to the Brussels sprouts…

The first thing I did was make Chinese 5-Spice, because I forgot to buy it and I have a big ass spice rack so I’m pretty sure I can find 5 spices and mix them together… Equal parts anise seed, fennel seed, cinnamon, ground cloves, and whole peppercorns in my handy dandy Magic Bullet ™ and I saved myself a trip to the store.

Laziness accomplished, I shredded a bunch of Brussels sprouts and a sprig of green onions and sauteed them for about 2 minutes.

Action Shot!

Added 1/2 a teaspoon of the 5-Spice, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and continued sauteing it for another 3 minutes or so, and served!

Not pictured - delicious meat :-( but seriously this was goddamn delicious...

Jerk Porkchops

Posted by somegoodish on

I love jerk pork and chicken and I think its a goddamn crime that they closed the Caribbean place near my house so this is an homage to them….

First I made a marinade with a pureed 1/4 cup of onion, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.

Why don't you just clear out my goddamn spice rack, recipe?

Then I rubbed it all over some pork chops and let it marinade for about an hour…

I don't know how a photograph of marination is supposed to appeal to anyone, but I only took 3 pictures so here we are

Then I broiled the pork chops for about 6 minutes a side and they were done. I made beans and rice to go along with it, but I’m not going to tell you how to make it because hobos make beans and rice over cookfires in their encampments and if you can’t make that on your own then I don’t know how you are going to follow any of the actual recpies…

Despite their name, the jerk porkchops were quite polite

Beef stew

Posted by somegoodish on

I don’t think I’ve ever stewed anything before but stew meat was cheap and I’m nothing if not stingy so here we are….

Step one is to salt, pepper, and season the beef… I used oregano, (because thyme, majoram, savory, and basil are spices of the devil, but you can use them if you have them).

I have to err on the side of the joy of cooking on this one because I’ll be damned if I understand how this helped make a bomb stew, but then I covered the beef in flour…

Beef McNuggets... I'm loving it.

Then brown the beef in bacon fat and remove from pan…

I cannot stress enough how important bacon fat is as a cooking ingredient...

Chopped up one carrot, one celery, one onion, and 4 cloves of garlic, sauteed them in the bacon fat as well…

This is called a "mirepoix" in cullinary terms. No, I cannot pronounce it.

Added the beef back in with 3 cups of beef broth, more oregano (or your devil spices) and some beer… Simmered for an hour and a half….

Beer is good for cooking, drinking while cooking, and drinking while eating what you cooked. Mmmmm Beer!

Added 3 carrots and 3 potatoes (peeled, because skin is for suckers) cut up into big pieces, cooked for 30 more minutes…

For the record, it is difficult to take a picture and stir a stew at the same time

Finally, to thicken the soup up a bit, whisk in 2 tablespoons butter and two tablespoons flour and … stew!

I mean... its a stew. Its not photogenic, its tasty.

Honey-lemon glazed salmon and lemon pepper sauce with roasted brussel sprouts

Posted by somegoodish on

Made a pretty good dinner last night, and now that I can blog from my phone I promise to get more of my recent stuff up (so stop hassling me to blog more, damn).

So first off made a marinade / glaze with 1 tablespoon each lemon juice and honey, and half a teaspoon of lemon zest… Then marinaded some salmon filets for an hour, and baked at 400° for 14 minutes.

I butchered this filet, what do I look like a sushi chef? Shit's hard.

Then I made a lemon pepper sauce with a cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice,  a teaspoon of lemon zest,  pinch of salt,  and a butt load of pepper….

Mixing things together still counts as cooking, I checked.

Then I cut a bunch of brussel sprouts in half and tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper,  and a teaspoon of water (the water is the secret to good roasted sprouts,  allegedly). Place face down on a baking tray and wrap in foil. Bake at 500° for 10 minutes and uncover and bake another 12 minutes. Then salt til they are good.

Kids are stupid for not liking these...

It came together pretty damn well if I don’t say so myself…

I shoulda made more salmon. REGRET.

Fish Tacos with Homemade Pickled Onions, Salsa Verde, and Tortillas

Posted by somegoodish on

Sorry it took so long to make another post, but I have a doozy to make up for it… I made everything in this meal from scratch (well, I mean, I didn’t grow or catch it or anything but you know what I mean)…

First off, I made pickled onions a couple of days ago, by covering a bunch of sliced onions in balsamic vinegar. I don’t remember where I first heard this recipe, but you can let them sit in the fridge for several weeks and they will only get tastier.

It's a scientific fact that pickling things makes them better

Then, I made salsa verde with a tomatillo, some garlic, onion, a dried chili, and a bunch of cilantro. Throw it in the Magic Bullet (because honestly who owns a food processor?), and then add water until its salsa verde-ey (I’m sure there is a cooking term for this, but I’ll be damned if I know it – the texture that salsa verde should be).

Tomatillo = unripe tomato?

This episode of Some Good Ish brought to you by the Magic Bullet (TM)

`

This is good on everything. Seriously.

Next, I marinated some tilapia filets in lime juice, 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro, a tablespoon of crushed, dried chili, and some salt and pepper for 3 hours:

I ate some of this raw, because I like ceviche. And tapeworms.

Tacos would just be fish and sauce without tortillas, but I didn’t have any and it was way too early to go to the store so I made my own… Allegedly tortilla dough is just flour, salt, baking powder, and lard. But since I didn’t have lard, I used bacon fat, which is what lard wishes it was:

I got a rolling pin for Christmas... and enjoyed it. I've become a 60 year old woman.

This griddle has no handles and is thus incredible hazardous to my hands.

My last tortillas sucked ass. The secret is a rolling pin. Who knew? (other than millions of Mexicans...)

If you throw this away when you are done making bacon, you are doing it wrong.

Now that everything else was ready (took forever, goddamn!), I broiled the fish for 5 minutes per side, and lunch was served:

Dramatic shadows, so you know its good.

Everyone ate all the good toppings so this taco has cheese and guacamole. It was still heavenly. Suck it Taco Bell.

Low and Slow Prime Rib

Posted by somegoodish on

A recent issue of Cooks Illustrated talked about some crazy ass method for cooking prime rib that entails 18 hours of roasting at 120° F (I know, 120 sounded crazy low to me too). There are enzymes in beef (calpains and cathepsins) that are extra active at that temperature, so they make the meat extremely tender (much in the same way aging the beef would).

But first, a simple kosher salt rub and 24 hours of drying in the fridge to allow for the best pan searing…

Nobody likes a wet steak

Salt + 24 hours + Fridge. Easy.

I was drinking while I did this, so I definitely forgot to take pictures of the next step, but if you can burn something then congratulations! you can pan sear meat too… Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil until its just smoking, and hit each side of the roast for 1-2 minutes, until it has a nice browned crust on it…

Now, I am not some crazy chef and I don’t have an oven that can go that low, but my oven could definitely go lower than the 200° / 4 hour “home chef” version that Cooks came up with, so 7 hours at 180° it was…

I collected the drippings but forgot to make pan sauce. It's my greatest regret.

Roast for 7 hours at 180° F

After 7 hours, pull the prime rib out, and let it rest for 30 minutes or so, then hit it with the broiler for 6-8 minutes to get it nice and crispy…

The results were… Spectacular, to say the least…

Suck it Cooks Illustrated! My pictures are in color!

Perfectly medium rare...

Chappy Chanukah!

With Latkes, Steamed Broccoli and a Homemade Aged Red Wine Vinaigrette

Welcome to Some Good Ish … Where I’ll cook Some Good Ish!

Posted by somegoodish on

Hello, welcome to my cooking blog!

I’m just a lay-chef who is a bit of a geek when it comes to cooking, so I’m always trying new foods and techniques… Here is some of the stuff I’ve made in the last month or so to give you an idea of what I like to make!

Most hazardous skill to my health - learning how to make sauce out of anything

Bottom Round Steak with Homemade Mushroom-Pan Sauce

Well, more like flatbread, but whatever I'm not a baker I don't own a rolling pin.

Fish Tacos with Pickeled Onions and Homemade Tortillas

I'm pretty sure a game hen is just a midget chicken

Cornish Game Hen with Tumeric Chicken Rice

What the hell was I thinking?!?

Bacon-wrapped, Cheese-stuffed Chicken Breasts with Bacon Gravy

Its bread. Its not impressive, but it looks good...

Never made bread before, it turned out pretty damn good though....