Cooking with Ryan: Creamy ham and potatoes

This is the second week in a row with some creamy potato action. This was cooked to make for a creamier, thicker sauce, and seemed more like a potato salad. The sauce had cream of celery and mustard, as well as some binders, and it was cooked on the stovetop, which allowed the potatoes to get soft and mushy, which is actually pretty good. I topped it with cheese, chives and cherry tomatoes to give it a little color. Of course, the best part, as with any meal in which they make an appearance, were the crescent rolls, which I can't wrap to save my life; They are always just big wads of dough. I just don't have that delicate touch. You know, the one to make pastry in a can.

Cooking with Ryan: potato and broccoli casserole

This was supposed to be potato and mushroom casserole with broccoli, but mushrooms are disgusting, so I opted against that. Thank goodness, because mushrooms would have completely ruined it. The binder, the creamy whatever was a mix of cream of broccoli soup and cottage cheese. As someone who was also wary of cottage cheese, I have to admit, it was creamy and delicious. (Cottage cheese looks absolutely foul and I still don't think I could eat it otherwise). It was a really simple little dish, and while it was a little bit runny in the end, I think that's not a huge deal. Nobody is making you drink the liquid at the end.

Cooking with Ryan: Eclairs

Yeah, OK, a couple of things. First, I decided not to fill them, because filled pastry grosses me the hell out. Second, the original recipe was for "mini" eclairs. As with everything, I don't have the delicate touch to make anything mini. Thirdly, everything else went wrong too.
First, my milk and butter combo boiled over. Then, my homemade pastry bag, since it didn't do a good job regulating flow out of said bag, made for messy, pretty much full sized eclairs, rather than the mini ones I was shooting for (and a hell of a mess). Next, despite doing nothing wrong according to the directions, the eclairs started to burn a full 10 minutes before they were supposed to be done. Last and not least, when I made the chocolate sauce on top, I opened the cocoa powder, only to have it explode all over me. All in all, a disaster.
They ended up looking terrible, so I didn't take a picture, however they tasted... all right. Croissantlike, but not really like pastry. Oh well, I'll eat them all.

Cooking with Ryan: "Genuine" cheeseburger

All right, so I've mentioned the snooty-ass cookbook I got for my birthday last year? Well, I cooked a crispy fish salad once, and have now taken on the "Genuine" cheeseburger from said cookbook. How does one make a snooty cheeseburger? Let me tell you. It requires ground chuck, mixed with ice water, which makes the burger juicier, because the moisture seeps into the meat as it steams. Then, you take the meat and lightly mold it into a ball. Not too tight, otherwise you get a tough burger! Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with canola oil, slap it on the grill and smoosh it with the spatula and cook.
Sounds simple, right? It was tremendously simple, but using the chuck was a revelation, and ensuring that I sued thick cut toppings made the whole thing a stacked, juicy delight. I didn't even get out of the kitchen because I ate the first one so ravenously. I made 4, and they are all gone already. Every homemade burger I've ever had has been tough and dry, until these. So make the same changes and stop going to McDonald's, because this was flat out better. Look! Precarious!

Cooking with Ryan: Salmon Chowder and Pineapple Bran Muffins

Wow, sounds disgusting, right? I am hear to tell you... it wasn't that bad. The real problem, if you ask me, was the fact that I drink skim milk. I will get to that in a minute.
This was my second soup in a row, the first a minestrone before my vacation. This chowder consisted of potatoes, zucchini, onions and the salmon, while the broth was a simple combination of milk, water, ranch dressing, relish, basil, garlic salt and pepper. As it cooked, it seeped into the vegetables and the fish.
But it didn't thicken. Hence the problem with the skim milk. It wasn't that rich chowdery consistency that I would have hoped for. But taken independently, the contents of the soup were flavorful.
Oh, and the muffins? You have to be a special kind of dense to screw up muffins. Thems were tasty muffins. Here is a peek at the finished product.

Cooking with Ryan: Mediterranean Potato Salad

I have to say, this isn't like the potato salad that I'm used to. There was no mayonnaise, there were no eggs and there were a lot of vegetables. The potatoes were cooked to be crispy, and broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini were warmed enough to absorb the spices and olive oil and red wine vinegar. Then, there were tomatoes, onions and artichoke hearts added. It was fine, good source of vegetables and some salami (I forgot to mention the salami). The biggest lesson with this particular dish? They don't know what potato salad is in the Mediterranean. That and I don't like artichoke hearts.

Cooking with Ryan: Picante Crostinis

I love Chopped, the competitive cooking show on the Food Network. I love the on the spot creativity that is required of competitors creating recipes and dishes with a few mystery ingredients. One of the things that I note about the show is how every single episode has someone make a crostini. What is a crostini? It's basically an open faced sandwich.
Well, Chopped, I made a damned crostini. It was chicken, tomatoes and onions cooked in Picante sauce on top of spinach, cheese and of course, the bread. If there was one issue with it, its that my bread didn't get enough of a crunch on it, and eventually got really soggy. And the topping had too much dill. It was pretty decent, otherwise though.
If I were on Chopped, I would still need to work on my plating:

Cooking with Ryan: Carnitas

Oh, you better believe I brought this home for Thanksgiving. Sure it's pork and sure it's actually Mexican, but dammit, it took me several hours to make, and it's GOOD. The recipe I used called for 3 pounds of pork shoulder. I used 5, and I kept the other measurements (except the chicken broth) the same, to cut down on the heat for my old, generally Scandinavian family, to much success. It still maintained flavor, and some heat, so it made them feel they were eating some Mexican food, but without the unpleasant side effects. So that was good.
I cooked the pork in a braising liquid that was filled with about 5 different chili powders or peppers and a good deal of citrus, and then finished it off in the oven to brown it up a bit more. I had some the night before as part of a taco. Here it is in its taco glory. Check out the flatware!

Cooking with Ryan; Naan with Raita

Be honest. You have no idea what I just said. Naan is an Indian flat bread, with a yogurt base. The idea is to bake it hot so the outside crisps up and the inside remains pliant and mushy (in a good way). Mission accomplished! It turned out like a flattened croissant, actually. Well, it did in flavor, anyways, if not entirely in texture. Before it baked, it seemed more like pizza dough, but really sticky. Also, I have a rolling pin, and was able to use it. You know, so that's cool.
The raita was basically cucumbers in yogurt, and is typically used as a palate cleanser with spicier food. I meant to get some curry or something, but forgot. Oh well. The raita, for me, was less successful. There was mint in it, and that got to be a little overpowering. Still, the naan was the real test of skill, and I pulled that off rather successfully.

Cooking with Ryan: bacon cups and sweet potato hash

This might be the most popular dish I have ever created, just because of the word "bacon". The bacon cups were just that. Cups made of bacon. I made them out of pancetta, actually, which is sort of a circle cut bacon, though with different overall spices. Still, it cooked the same. The cups were made by baking the slices in between two muffin trays, so they would hold that cup shape. Unfortunately, my muffin pans weren't bought at the same time, and as luck would have it, only a few of the cups actually turned into fully formed cups. Oops.
As for the hash, bacon played a huge role here as well. I first fried up a few strips of bacon, and cooked the hash, a simple blend of sweet potato, celery and onions, as well as a few bits of seasoning, like paprika, red pepper and garlic salt, in the bacon fat. It was so unhealthy, but so delicious. The most important thing I learned is how hard it is to cut through a sweet potato. That is some thick starch, brother. Also, it is nearly impossible to find pancetta. I ended up finding an Italian deli near my house and was mostly surprised that they have Italians in Minnesota. I thought Nick Punto was the last one, and now it was back to all Norwegians and Germans. Silly me.

Cooking with Ryan: Thai peanut chicken

Have you ever had Thai food? I have only had it a couple of times, and I was surprised at how subtle the flavors were. I think it takes a different level of cooking than I am used to, infusing those subtle but still evident flavors. I mean, it's pretty easy to get to "spicy" or "citrus-y", you know? But "peanut", like I find with my limited Thai experience, isn't a terribly aggressive flavor.
I had a salad with it and put together another vinaigrette, which was delightfully complex. Along with the olive oil (I used the stuff my parents bought me in Greece!), it had sesame oil, white wine vinegar, dried mustard and sugar. It was incredible that each of those ingredients were identifiable on their own.
The problem was, the vinaigrette was thin and I used too much of it. This overwhelmed the flavor from the TPC. Later, I had a second helping without the salad, and the subtle complexity really came through. It was amazing how just a little peanut butter could really stand out as a flavor.
There was also Catalina dressing involved early in the process. It didn't really show up as a flavor, but it did turn the chicken pink. Here is the meal as a whole. I need a food photographer.

Cooking with Ryan: Veggie skewers and Asian Salad

There wasn't much cooking, but there was some grilling, which is, of course, awesome. I fired up the charcoal grill and threw some peppers, onions, pineapple and zucchini on the skewers (de-skewered in the photo). In addition to just the veggies (and pineapple) there was a teriyaki-pineapple glaze that really turned out nicely where it was charred, but was lost elsewhere. The salad was a spinach salad with sprouts and snow peas, and was highlighted with a vinaigrette that I made myself, because I am an excellent chef and very good future husband material.

Cooking with Ryan: Strawberry and almond creme parfait

Don't worry, everyone, I had steak for dinner, ahead of making this, so I'm still manly. But this parfait was one of those things that, even if it didn't come together perfectly, it was still going to taste very good. It didn't come together quite perfectly, and I seriously can't fathom why. The almond creme didn't thicken as I would have hoped, and I feel like I did everything right. Still, with as much sugar as I put into it, as well as the whole vanilla bean and marzipan, it was bound to taste good.
But alas, like all parfaits, there was more too it than just the almond creme. The other elements were just magnificent, from the candied almonds (though I used confectioners sugar instead of the regular kind... stupid, stupid, stupid) to the sugar covered strawberries to the whip cream was spot on. And yes, I did do something with all of those. I whipped my own cream. It was all very good, despite kind of falling apart and mushing together when thrown in the glass. Also, yes, this is a Stella Artois glass.

Cooking with Ryan: Hashbrown Casserole

This is actually the second time I have made the hashbrown casserole, and despite how well it turned out, I'm not going to show a picture. There are two reasons: 1) I made a tweak that was, while delicious, not all that pleasing to the eye and 2) I forgot.
What was the change? I thought the casserole needed something crunchy on top, so I threw some Italian bread crumbs on top before I threw them in the oven. It didn't crunch up like I hoped, but it did add another dimension of flavor that I was pleased with.
Also, I had a vegetable medley that went a long with it... Broccoli, cauliflower and radishes. I steamed them (in the microwave) with Italian dressing, dill and pepper. They turned out really well. I have never had broccoli absorb flavor like that. It was pretty good. It was a successful mission, and by making my own changes, I think I moved one step closer to "someone who knows how to cook".

Cooking with Ryan: Breaded pork loin chops

Whenever I try to bread things, it doesn't get as breaded as I would like, and it's just generally a dry cut of of meat. This time it wasn't so bad. I don't generally like pork chops if they are too buried, because I just really like pork. But this time, the breading was light, there was some crisp to it, and it was actually a seasoned breading, with cumin and sage, and cornmeal which added some depth. The recipe I used suggested serving with baked beans and tomato, which I did. The beans acted almost as a sauce, which was certainly necessary, as pork is rarely juicy on its own.
As a side note, as I mentioned, I added cumin to the breading. If you have never used cumin, just know that it smells like BO. I would elaborate further, but you might never eat ethnic food again. At least there was sage in the dish, so there was one pleasant smelling spice.
Also, I have decided that I wanted to work on plating, so it looks better than what I usually throw up here. I still need some work.

Cooking with Ryan: Chicken Noodle Casserole

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE BELL PEPPERS?! Seriously, the last couple of times I have been to the grocery store, the bell pepper selection has looked downright ill. As in, unsafe for human consumption. I have had fellow bell pepper aficionados mention the same thing. Is it a bad time for bell peppers? I don't know?
I went to Cub, a reputable dealer of bell peppers. The green were terrible looking, so I just got red, vowing to go green later. Which I did, at Kowalski's a few days later. By the time I cooked last night, the red pepper looked like hell. I only used green pepper. Seriously, this bell pepper shortage is going to cripple America.
Also, I made chicken noodle casserole. It had mayonnaise and cheese.

Cooking with Ryan: Baked Pasta Romano

It seemed like this should have been cheesier, and I suppose it could have been, had I added more cheese, or used more of a shredded cheese, rather than a ground up version of the namesake Romano cheese. The sauce was thin, but that wasn't a problem, because it all baked into the noodles, making them very flavorful.
The sauce included some beans which were really the underrated star of the dish. There was no meat, so a bit of protein from the beans really helped. This is the second week in a row there was baked spinach, which was another pleasant surprise, because it was nice to have the products on hand.
Anyways, here is a picture of it. It wasn't, as I said, a typical baked pasta dish, but I think it was pretty good for anyone that would ever want to try it.

Cooking with Ryan: Spanish rice frittata

Frittata. Say it. I like saying it like I'm Doctor Evil. Fir-tta-ta. Excellent.
Basically it's a fancy omelet, but really, it's not. It has egg, milk and cheese, sure, but it also had bell peppers, onions, spinach, parsley, tomato, salsa and, of course, rice. It wasn't really a challenge to put together. Saute the peppers and onions and mix it all together before baking it. That's reallyall there was to it. I had it with ketchup.
So there was milk and cheese in the frittata, and I had it with a glass of milk. If you don't mind, I am going to go process some dairy.

Cooking with Ryan: Peanut Chipotle pork ribs with a tomatillo relish

These ribs were off to an auspicious start, that's for sure. I intended to marinate them in a soy/garlic/ginger marinade for 24 hours, but only after I had it in the marinade did I realize I was supposed to have boiled the marinade first. In essence, I marinated the ribs in soy sauce, not ginger and garlic. WEll, sort of marinated them, because in transport between the counter and the fridge, I dumped half of the marinade all over the kitchen. Oops.
It got better, though, so never fear. The actual barbecue sauce that I created, was a Bobby Flay recipe that, as you might be able to tell, incorporated peanut butter. This was a good sauce, I tell you. There were a ton of spices in it too. I am used to a dash of this and a pinch of that. Oh no. Spoon fulls of cayenne, paprika, ancho chile powder. It was a big red pile of seasoning, and I was terrified that my insides would melt. They did not, I am happy to say. The sauce really mellowed out after it was exposed to the flames.
Oh, yeah, about my grill. It's a little portable charcoal grill, that is decidedly NOT Bobby Flay approved. I was worried that the rack would even fit, and it DID. That was a miracle. But it worked, and it cooked just fine, maybe a little too well, but I won't complain, because as I said, the sauce was so flippin good. I ate half a rack in one sitting.
The tomatillo relish was... odd. It was alternately called a salsa, which I guess would work too. I had never had a tomatillos before, so I was surprised whent I cut them open. It almost reminded me of a kiwi, except you eat more the skin than the seeded flesh. The tomatillos took on flavor very well too. There was jalapeno in the relish too, and cutting that off set me off coughing, sneezing, everything. It was crazy. Pepper spray works, people.
Without further ado, here are my ribs, cooling in a dish. I am about to go finish them off.