Black Beans in Instant Pot

114 g of beans
2 cups of water 

45 minutes + 30 min release (forgot about it) - see how it is with less time on the release

Roasted Garlic and Lemon Cashew Pasta

Recipe taken from ourbalancedbowl.com and plantedinthekitchen.com

I started out with the former, but definitely needed to add other ingredients. I didn't measure either. I feel I made a basic recipe, and Eric said it needed more "oomph." He added basil and roasted pine nuts that he said made it much better.

I think cashew sauce would make a good substitute for anything that says heavy cream.

The sauce blended made a little over 2 cups of sauce, so probably could use less cashew.

Served with onions, mushrooms, broccoli, bell pepper. I cooked the onion and mushrooms separately.  Added the broccoli and bell pepper last to pan and then added the cashew sauce to the pan.

Ingredients:

-1.5 cups of cashews (maybe a little less)

-1.5 cups of water (I used 1 cup and would consider using bone broth for more flavor or reserved pasta water)

-1 head of garlic (used 1, but needed 2) - roasted in oven / maybe try raw garlic?

-1 TBSP olive oil

-1 tsp salt (probably used more)

-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I used 1 small habanero cooked on stove and was perfect amount of heat)

-1 TBSP nutritional yeast (I used less because I was afraid Eric wouldn't like it, but it was pretty neutral flavor)

-2 TBSP lemon juice (I used half a lemon for the sauce and half lemon to marinate chicken with lemon zest and it was perfect amount of lemon)

-1/2 cup of oat milk (didn't use)

Directions:

1. Soak cashews in water for 2-4 hrs (or 30 min with boiling water)

2. Roast garlic in oven - with olive oil in foil for 50 minutes at 400 F

3. Heat up habanero in pan until char

3. Blend cashews, garlic, half lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, habanero - set aside

Chickpeas in Instant Pot

113 g chickpeas
2 cups of water

1 hour perfect

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Recipe taken from Chili Pepper Madness

Grew some poblanos in the garden. They were really good peppers! They were small, so just the filling on top, so next time, just cut it in large chunks as part of the meal. You do need to roast for 15 min in oven before hand. I didn't do it this time, but would roast the zucchini and bell pepper in there, too, with the poblanos.

Ingredients:

-poblano peppers

-1 small yellow onion, chopped

-1 jalapeno peppers, chopped

-5 cloves garlic, chopped --> I used whole bulb

-1/2 lb ground beef --> I used 2 lbs ground turkey

-black beans - cooked 1/4 bag

-corn - used like half a bag of frozen corn

-14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes --> I used fresh tomatoes from garden

-1 TBSP chili powder

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1/2 tsp ground cumin

-salt

-pepper

-VEGGIES: cooked 1 green BP, 1 zucchini, + fresh 1 small white onion

Directions

1. Cut and scoop out poblano peppers + cut zucchini and bell pepper

2. Bake veggies in oven 425 for 15 min

3. Cook hot peppers and onions --> garlic

4. Add ground meat

5. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, seasonings (left out rice because cooked Spanish rice in cooker)

6. Served with Spanish rice, chopped white onion, cilantro, avocado, grated mozzarella 

Korean Beef Bulgogi

Recipe taken from Damndelicious.net

I cooked this 2-3 weeks ago, so don't remember all the details.

I used 1 thing of boneless rib eye steak (don't remember the poundage) and chicken.  

Didn't use the prime rib as it was very expensive and since marinating the meat....

Doubled the recipe (except for the brown sugar) for the extra meat, since also using the chicken for my lunches.

Marinated steak and chicken together so was a bit of a pain to separate to cook steak separate.

Ingredients:

-1.5 lbs boneless rib eye steak (+1.5 lbs chicken)

-1 small pear - peeled and coarsely grated (cuinsarted)

-1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce (probably could have used a little less)

-2 TBSP brown sugar (orig was 4)

-4 TBSP sesame oil (probably used less)

-6 cloves garlic, minced

-2 TBSP freshly grated ginger

-2 TBSP gochujang, Korean red pepper paste (just used the spice)

Veggies: broccoli, yellow onion, bell pepper, and zucchini

Garnish: green onions, toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Freeze steak for 30 min. Slice across the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices

2. Combine pear, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and gochujang --> marinate meat

3. Grill steak 2 min per side

4. Cook chicken and set aside

5. Cook veggies in pan briefly and add the juice from the chicken into pan to cook with veg

6. Garnish green onions and toasted sesame seeds

Steak

I am trying to get good at making steak. 

I got these tips from reddit post and modified a little.

Directions:

1. Heat pan to med-high heat

2. Dry steak with paper towel and salt

3. Sear one side for about 3 min (depending on how thick the steak is - I've done 2 min)

4. Halfway through second side, turn down heat and add some butter, thyme sprig, and bay leaf to pan / add black pepper, garlic, other seasons (pepper and garlic burn at high heats)

5. Baste steak with melted butter for a couple more minutes on each side.

6. Pull it off and rest it for 10 min

Moroccan Roasted Vegetables

Used with the already pre-made Moroccan spices for chicken and the other recipe for Moroccan rice.

Eric wanted more crunch and cold - we had a white onion that was sweet and good. Eric suggested fresh tomatoes.

Modified from the greedybelly.com

Eric cooked them for me using his veggie oven rules.

Also served with wheat pita and avocado

Vegetables:

-1 red onion (used half here and half in the rice)

-1 green bell pepper

-1 red bell pepper

-1 zucchini

-chickpeas (used 1/4 bag dry)

NEXT TIME:

-grape tomatoes (fresh) 

-white onion (fresh, diced)

Other veggies to consider:

-sweet potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms

Spices:

-garlic powder (recipe called for fresh)

-1 Tbsp cumin

-1 Tbsp coriander (used less)

-1 Tbsp black pepper (used less)

-2 tsp paprika

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp turmeric

-1-2 Tbsp harissa (didn't use)

-salt to taste

Directions (per Eric)

1. Bake veggies dry 10 min 375 degrees

2. Take out and mix with olive oil and spices and salt

3. Bake another 10 min

Moroccan Rice

Bought some Moroccan spice from the store to use on chicken and looking for side dishes to accompany. 

Modified this recipe from feastingathome.com and used the rice cooker

Served with the chicken marinated in the Moroccan spice and Moroccan roasted veggies.

Ingredients:

-2 cups of basmati rice (the "small" cup)

-olive oil

-1 onion, thinly sliced (used half of a regular red onion)

-1/2-3/4 cup raisins (used the golden ones)

-2 cinnamon sticks (or sub 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)

-1/2 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp coriander

-1/4 tsp turmeric

-1/4 tsp cardamom (or nutmeg)

-1 tsp salt

-3 1/2 cups water/broth - 1 bottle

Garnishes

-1 orange (juice and zest)

-1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (didn't use since was using serranos with chicken)

-2 cups Italian parsley or 1 cup fresh mint (didn't use)

-1/2-1 cu pomegranate seeds (didn't use since using the raisins)

-1/2-1 cup slivered almonds (toasted)

Directions:

1. Prep and soak rice

2. Sauté onion until tender

3. Add raisins, cinnamon sticks, spices, and salt - toast 1 min

4. Removed from pan and toasted the almonds in same pan - would add a little oil next time to get the spices on the nuts

5. Add everything (minus nuts) to rice cooker and cook on mixed

6. After done, add orange zest, orange juice, ground pepper, ground cinnamon, salt, cayenne to taste

7. I didn't add the nuts since reheating and wanted to keep them crunchy

Sourdough French Toast with Kefir

Made this a while ago, so don't remember exactly all of the modifications I did.

Didn't have milk, but we had some kefir and it worked out!

Modified recipe from marcellinaincucina.com

I halved the recipe because sourdough slices were thin, and it was still too much sauce - maybe half it again?

Ingredients:

-4 slices sourdough bread

-2 eggs 

-1/2 cup whole milk (I used kefir)

-1/8 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (used a shake)

-pinch salt

-1/2 TBSP unsalted butter (used ghee)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 195 degrees (I think it did more)

2. Heat up pan

3. Whisk ingredients and put in shallow pan

4. Add bread both sides

5. Add butter to pan (almost brown - didn't do that)

6. Add bread to pan and cook for about 3 min

7. Flip bread - may have to decrease heat

8. Transfer French toast to baking sheet and keep in oven to warm while do the other slices

Crispy potatoes

Trying different potato recipes with baking soda. 

Used this one from seriouseats.com and a guy on instagram

Reheated in the oven to maintain crispiness.

Make sure you don't use the strainer when boiling as there isn't enough room for all the potatoes and don't want to boil over. I forgot how many potatoes I used, but could have used more for 6 servings because they shrink down.  

Ingredients:

-4 lbs of russet or Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-5 Tbsp olive oil

-Small handful of rosemary, finely chopped

-Small handful of parsley leaves, minced - DIDN'T USE

-3 cloves of garlic, minced (used more)

-salt

-black pepper

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven 450 or 400 F if convection

2. Boil 2 quarts of water. 

3. Add 2 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and potatoes, and stir

4. Return to boil, reduce to simmer, and cook until knife meets resistance, about 10 min after returning to boil

5. DIDN'T DO - Cook separately olive oil, rosemary, garlic, black pepper. Strain and set aside both.

6. Drain potatoes and let rest in pot for 30 sec to allow excess moisture to evaporate

7. Shake potatoes.

8. I added the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary to potatoes here

9. Roast for 20 min

10. Unstuck potatoes with spatula and shake around. Cook 30 to 40 min longer

Cilantro Chimichurri

Forgot to post this I made a month ago, and I served with steak, potatoes, and asparagus. Eric said it was the best thing I ever cooked.

Recipe taken from braziliankitchenabroad.com

Ingredients:

-2 cups of fresh cilantro - stems and leaves (I used 1 large bunch)

-3 cloves of garlic peeled (I didn't do more cuz not cooked and using raw)

-1/4 small red onion, peeled and cut into chunks

-2 tsp red pepper flakes

-2 tsp dried oregano

-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

-1 cup olive oil (I used like 2/3 I think)

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor, add cilantro, garlic, onion, pepper, oregano, vinegar, and half the olive oil

2. Pulse the ingredients

3. Add remaining olive oil and gently stir to combine

4. Transfer sauce to a mason jar and let sit 20 min at room temp before serving

Chicken Tinga

I wanted a new recipe to use all of the tomatoes we have in the garden. 

Adapted from tastesbetterfromscratch.com

This was pretty good, although I am writing it down off of memory because I did this over a month ago.

Recipe called for shredded chicken, but I cooked cubed chicken and seasoned with Mexican spices and used the sauce from the recipe. Could consider doing the shredded next time with tacos.

Served with Mexican rice

EDIT: marinated chicken in lime, had cilantro-lime rice, and also made a pico with lime in it and it was TOO ACIDIC with the tomatoes

Tinga Sauce:

-4 roma tomatoes 

-1 onion, cut into chunks

-1 tsp chicken bouillon

-2 garlic cloves (used whole bulb)

-1 tsp adobo sauce (used the whole small can)

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1/2 tsp ground cumin

-1/2 cup chicken broth/bone broth (if not boiling chicken and taking from the pot)

Directions:

1. Marinate cubed chicken in Mexican spices (garlic, cumin, salt, oregano, paprika, chili powder etc.

2. Cook chicken and set aside

3. Cook tomatoes and garlic cloves ~2 min

4. Add onion chunks and cook ~2 min

5. Blend tomatoes, onions, 1/2 cup broth, cooked garlic cloves, 2 raw garlic cloves, can of adobo sauce, oregano, cumin

6. Pour mixture back into pot over medium heat and cook 5 min

7. Add chicken to sauce and coat

Gingersnap Apple Crisp

Recipe taken from NewEngland.com
We had an old box of ginger cookies from Trader Joe's given to me by pain rep way back when, and they were getting stale, so I searched recipes that used ginger cookies and found this one. Just had to buy some butter and apples.

Recipe a bit modified because I didn't want to make as much, so used the 9x9 pan. So lower heat in oven and not as long. I used 50 min from recipe and burnt it.

Eric really liked it! I added ginger candy, and he said that having the ginger kicked it up a notch.

Ingredients:

-apples (used about 5 pink ladies), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (1/8 apple slices)

-gingersnap cookies (they were the small thin ones from trader joe's like 50 cookies)

-1/2 cup firm-packed light brown sugar

-1 tsp ground cinnamon

-1/2 tsp kosher salt

-butter (I used one whole stick) cut into small pieces

-3/4 cup rolled oats

-1/2 cup pecan or walnut halves (I used half/half)

-vanilla ice cream (ESSENTIAL)

-ginger candy - I added it outside the recipe

Directions

1. Arrange apples in an even layer in baking dish

2. Sprinkle in chopped ginger candy with the apples

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees (365 was too hot)

4. In food processor, pulse cookies, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until mixture has sandy texture

5. Add butter, oats, and nuts and pulse until nuts are size of small peas and mixture looks like wet sant

6. Spread mixture over apples and bake until topping golden brown and juices are bubbling (50 min too much --> try 40 min next time)

7. Let cool 20 min. Serve warm with ice cream.

Pan con tomate

Originally recipes have you rubbing garlic on the bread, but I just roasted everything and mashed it together. Eric said he liked it better with fresh basil on top. He also said needed more salt.

Ingredients:

-tomatoes

-garlic

-olive oil

-basil

-salt

-sourdough toast

-OPTIONAL: The Mediterranean Dish mentions a splash of lime juice

Directions:

1. Roast tomatoes and garlic in oven - I think I did 350 degrees

2. Put in blender/bear chopper w/ olive oil

3. Spread on toast

4. add basil, salt

Date Balls

Because I had leftover Medjool dates from the Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe, tried making these. 
Got recipe from unicornsinthekitchen.com

Ingredients (recipe halved):

-6 Medjool dates

-1/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal, or quick oats

-1/4 cup walnuts

-1/4 cup nut butter (peanut)

To roll the balls (didn't do because of time)

-ground pistachios

-desiccated coconut

-sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Discard Medjool date seeds if not already pitted

2. I ground the oatmeal first in food processor before the other ingredients. Then added rest of ingredients. Mix until looks dry.  

3. Add 1-2 TBSP hot water and mix again as needed

4. Rub olive oil on hands and scoop out mixture and roll into balls

5. Roll balls into other stuff above (optional)

May try rolling into other things next time. Pretty good.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Took recipe from tastesbetterfromscratch.com

Lately, Eric and I have been inspired by things we ate from abroad. He has been making really good sikil pak that we ate in Mexico. Decided to give this one a go. We ate it at a nice British restaurant called Upstairs at the Grill in in Chester.  Weirdly enough, it was American-themed.

Ingredients:

-8 oz pitted medjool dates (225 g) - used a little more because it gets stuck in the blender

-1 cup boiling water (240 ml)

-1/3 cup butter, room temperature (75 g)

-2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed (145 g)

-2 tsp vanilla extract (10 ml)

-2 large eggs, room temperature

-2 TBSP molasses (30 ml)

-1 + 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (200 g)

-1.5 tsp baking powder (6 g)

-1 tsp baking soda (5 g)

-1/4 tsp salt (1.5 g) - accidentally bought salted butter, so omitted

Toffee sauce:

-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (120 ml)

-1/2 cup butter (115 g)

-3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (160 g)

-1 pinch salt (omitted due to the salted butter)

-2 tsp vanilla extract (10 ml)

-chopped walnuts (also used pecans)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Lightly grease 12 cup muffin tin or ramekins

3. Pour boiling water on top of dates. Set aside 5 min. (was a lot longer)

4. Prepare batter: cream butter + brown sugar. Then add one egg at a time, beating after each addition. Then add molasses and vanilla and mix.

5. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir into batter (used fine strainer)

6. Pulse date mixture in a food processor, then stir in baking soda. Pour date mixture into batter and gently fold to combine (don't over-mix)

7. Pour batter in pan. Bake for 18-20 min or until toothpick clean. Don't overbake or cake will be dry.

Notes:

Batter was enough for 12 muffins + a ramekin (equivalent to 2 muffins per Eric).

There was too much toffee sauce leftover.  May want to try to halve the recipe next time

I liked it a lot, but Eric was tired of eating it too many days in a row. Again, maybe try to halve the recipe?

Thai Basil Pesto

Our Thai basil plant is pretty big, even though it's the small leaves plant, not the good big leaves plant. Although, a rogue Thai basil plant with the good leaves has been growing in the raised planter box on the porch, which is crazy.  I harvested from both.
Anyways, I took this recipe from combination of 3 different websites, although there are even more with variants with added soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar.

Main thing is that Eric really liked it! Said one of his fave in a long time.

Ingredients:

-4 cups Thai basil - did about 4 cups (not packed), but could have used more

-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - roughly estimated about a half of a wedge?

-1/2 cup roasted peanuts - did an extra 1/8 cup probably

-2 tsp brown sugar 

-1/2 TBSP salt - didn't need because the Parmesan was salty

-4 cloves garlic

-1 inch ginger

-4 "chilis" - I used Serranos from the garden that were a bit mild

-2 TBSP sesame oil

-1 TBSP lime juice (used 1 lime)

-1 TBSP oyster sauce

-1 tsp fish sauce - used less because of Eric

-1/3 cup olive oil - could have used less

Served with:

-Chicken (marinated in garlic powder, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, splash of fish sauce, lime or rice wine vinegar) 

--Cooked chicken with shallot, garlic, serranos, pequins, chili de arbols

-Veggies: 1 yellow onion, 2 zucchini, 1 green BP, 1 red BP

-Pasta

Directions:

1. Chop veggies - set aside

2. Chop pesto ingredients: garlic, ginger, chilis

3. Roast peanuts: 325 degrees: 8-10 min

4. Pick Thai basil

5. Make pesto in Cuisinart and set aside: Parmesan cheese --> peanuts + brown sugar --> wet ingredients --> olive oil 

6. Cook chicken on stove + veggies in oven

Suya Chicken

Recipe adapted from African Bites

It was good. I think it could be spicier. Next time cook with garlic and serranos in pan before adding chicken like I normally do.

Ate with the Jollof Rice

Ingredients:

-1 TBSP garlic powder

-1 TBSP onion powder

-1 TBSP smoked paprika

-1 TBSP white pepper (added a little less because Eric doesn't like a lot)

-1/2-1 TBSP cayenne

-4 TBSP (64 g) of peanut butter (accidentally did like 80 g or so)

-1 TBSP bouillon (I used 1 cube)

-3 pounds skinless chicken thighs (I used breast)

-1 tsp salt

-oil

Directions:

1. Mix spices together

2. Add peanut butter to chicken and spices to marinate

2. Cook in pan

Jollof Rice

Recipe taken from Chef John with Allrecipes.

Made this yesterday from Eric's suggestion with inspiration from our time in Windsor after we saw the castle and got some street food while it was raining so we ate it in the car.

I served with suya chicken recipe and oven-roasted broccoli.

Ingredients:

TOMATO SAUCE

-1 large ripe tomato, cored and quartered (used 2 romas)

-1 large red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

-1 whole habanero

-1 whole Fresno chili or jalapeno (did jalapeño)

-4 cloves garlic (used whole bulb)

-1 tablespoon minced ginger

-2 cups of water (do a little less since using less rice)

RICE

-olive oil

-1 red onion, diced

-extra hot peppers, i.e. pequins, serranos

-1 tsp salt

-1/4 cup tomato paste (I used majority of tube, but recommend using less esp using less rice)

-2 1/4 cups of basmati rice (I used 2 cups of rice cooker cup)

-1 bay leaf

-1 TBSP chicken bouillon paste (used 1 cube)

SPICES:

-2 TBSP smoked paprika (recommend less maybe 1 TBSP)

-1 tsp curry powder

-1 tsp cumin

-1 tsp dried thyme

-1/2 freshly ground back pepper

-1/4 tsp turmeric

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine tomato, red bell pepper, habanero pepper, jalapeno pepper, garlic, ginger, water in a blender. Blend on high until smooth and set aside.

2. Combine spices - smoked paprika, curry, cumin, thyme, pepper, turmeric and set aside

3. Heat oil in pan on medium heat.  Add onion (+extra peppers - added 6 pequins) and salt and sauté until soften, about 4-5 min.

4. Clear space in middle of pan, add tomato paste, and sauté 2-3 min. 

5. Add spices and continue to cook 1-2 min

6. Turn off heat and stir in rice.  

7. Add bay leaf + chicken bouillon

8. Turn heat to high and stir in tomato sauce. Bring to a vigorous simmer. Cover with tight fitting lid, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 2 min.  Do not remove lid or stir rice

9. Turn off heat and set timer for 12 minutes.  Allow rice to sit and do not remove lid.

10. Fluff rice with fork and garnish with chopped cilantro

Baked Greek Meatballs and Potatoes with Garlic and Lemon

Taken from the MediterraneanDish.com with modifications.

I liked it more than Eric.

Eric said needed less balsamic and fresh tomatoes. Balsamic wasn't in the recipe, but I had just cooked the extra veggies in it. Maybe bc it was a special aged Balsamic that was sweeter.

I also forgot the grated onion in the meatballs, but I thought they tasted good. Eric thought they were dry. Could do less potato if adding in a 2nd onion.

Ingredients:

-1 slice of sandwich bread, day-old or toasted (I used the sourdough we already had)

-1.5 pounds lean ground beef (I used 1 full 99% turkey + 1/2 93% turkey)

-1 yellow onion, grated (I MISSED THIS INGREDIENT)

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 large egg

-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley and/or mint (DIDN'T USE)

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1 TBSP ground coriander

-1 tsp ground cumin

-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

-salt

-pepper

-4 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into small chunks or cubes

-1 red onion,  halved and thinly sliced

-1 batch Ladolemono Sauce

-VEGGIES: 2 bell peppers and 2 zucchini + fresh tomatoes on top

Ladolemono Sauce Ingredients

-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, juice of 2 large lemons

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1 large garlic clove minced

-3/4 tsp kosher salt

-3/4 tsp black pepper

-3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ---> drizzle olive oil while whisking

Directions:

1. Soak bread in water for a few minutes until bread tender and fully soaked/falls apart.  Use hands to wring out excess water, then crumble into a medium mixing bowl

2. MEATBALLS: oregano, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, beef, bread, onion, garlic, egg, parsley

3. Put potato and onion in 9 x 13 baking dish and season with salt and pepper.  

4. Add meatballs and Ladolemono sauce

5. Bake 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes with foil covering. Then cooked uncovered another 10 minutes. I removed the meatballs after this and let cook another 15 minutes because potatoes still hard

6. Bake veggies at same time - I used salt, pepper, garlic, and balsamic, but too much of the latter