Norm Matthews

I thought I posted yesterdays dinner but I don't see it. It was ribs in the smoker. They turned out really salty. I was so upset I probably forgot. I dumped out the rib rub I had made a few months ago and started over from scratch. So i did another rack today and they turned really well. I have a few theories about what went wrong but they are just guesses. Whatever went wrong that one time, at least it was only one time.(fingers crossed) The recipes are all on my blog but the potato salad recipe calls for 5 pounds and I made it with one potato so even though I used all the same ingredients I estimated the proportions. The BBQ bean recipe came form Gates BBQ restaurant and used 110 ounces of canned baked beans. I mixed all the the additional ingredients in a separate bowl, poured them into a bottle and refrigerated it so I can add just the right amount no matter what size the can of beans I use and still have more in the refrigerator for next time.

You use it for stroganoff,,, what a great idea. One or our local stores started carrying Bucatini. I hear is hasn't been available since before the pandemic. Its Charlie's favorite pasta.

Dinner last night was Pappardelle with Creamy Chicken Sauce. The recipe called for 7 chicken thighs but I used 4 and made up the remaining volume with mushroom caps. While I had seen this pasta on the shelf before I never paid much attention to it. Until now I didn't know there were Italian egg noodles. The side is shellie beans

Charlie asked if I would make rice cake soup. I had not made it before but it didn't look complicated like some Korean food can be. I already had some ox bone soup in the freezer but this recipe just used water so that is how I did it. Mine was not as pretty as the picture but Charlie said his mom never added the garnishes.

Charlie ordered New York style pizza and I made blueberry buckle.

I made a Cajun style shrimp and rice meal. It was green bell pepper, onion and celery in a broth with shrimp, tomatoes and chicken stock, served over rice.

I didn't want to spend time cooking so I just made steak on the grill and mashed potato cakes. I cooked one potato in the microwave and it made 4 cakes, just enough for the two of us. Charlie asked for his steak to be cut up like for skewers. He had it like at a Japanese Steak House, with rice and Yum Yum sauce and dipped the potato cakes in soy sauce. He said it reminded him of Korean cakes that way.

Yesterday we went to a doctors appointment near our favorite Korean grocery and got some pre marinated spicy bulgogi. That was dinner but I didn't take pictures. Today's meal was Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff. The green beans were leftover from a couple days ago and the strawberries were with angel food cake.

Looking back since St. Patrick's day, it looks like we have been eating a lot of chicken. Both of these two were requested by Charlie. The first one is Cornish Hens baked in the oven and served with a honey, orange teriyaki style sauce. The other one is Chicken Breast Martini style... or at least it was when I started making it a couple of decades ago but I have changed it enough that a purist would probably object to my still calling it that. I coat it with grated Romano cheese and add in some panko breadcrumbs and serve it with pasta and Alfredo sauce. The original recipe is posted on my blog.

This recipe with the silly name (Spicy Marry Me Chicken) was in the Kansas City Star a few days ago and I decided to try it today. It tastes like Italian and I served it with pasta Charlie said how much he liked this recipe three of four times during and after the meal. It had two ingredients that I could not find at the store and had to substitute. One was sun-dried tomatoes. This store had them before but not today. Another was canned-in-oil calabrian chiles. I substituted tomato paste and canned chopped jalapeño chilies. I also substituted fresh mozzarella cheese for the goat cheese. There are several goat cheeses I don't care for but I don't remember which ones and preferred not to take a chance.

Charlie asked me if we could have our annual corned beef brisket a day early or late this year because his car club is having its monthly meeting on Sunday. He tried to tell the president that finding a quiet corner for 15 guys in a bar on St. Patricks day was unlikely but they are going ahead with the plan. I decided this morning to make it today. Along with the corned beef, I made Irish soda scones because I have a rotten record of making Irish soda bread. Also roasted cabbage wedges which looked fine in the oven until I took them out and found they were burnt on the bottom. Everything else came out well. It was Irish roast potatoes,Parsnips, carrots and rutabaga cooked in the strained beef broth after it was cooked. It may seem strange that we had Scotch eggs too but the recipe came out of an Irish Bar Food cookbook and is the best one I have ever made.

Hen House market sometimes has some steaks on sale and so far they have always been very good. I was going to grill these yesterday but it rained all day and today it was too cold so they got cooked inside today. We had Pioneer Woman stuffed baked potatoes, a cut way down version of Ollie Gates BBQ beans and Southern Style green beans

These are the ingredients in the recipe I used. 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch, divided 1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 1 large egg 3/4 cup vegetable oil, for frying 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour For the sauce 3 tablespoons ketchup 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons water 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon chili oil 1/4 teaspoon fine salt Cooked white or brown rice, for serving (optional) Sliced scallions, for serving (optional)

I didn't know there was a green borscht. I suppose it isn't made with beets.

I found a couple of small pork chops in the refrigerator that I got a couple days ago and forgot about them, so when I saw them I knew I'd cook them now before I forgot they were there again. I used a recipe titled Peking Pork Chops. They were marinated then breaded in flour and corn starch ,fried and coated in a spicy sauce. We had it with rice.