Yes, the fries really were that color.  It is possible I overcooked them just a smidgen.

I recently decided to take Kristen’s advice and stop trying to be so ambitious with my weekly menus. I sometimes forget the simple staples that we know and love in the pursuit of the next! best! recipe! One thing we love is hearty sandwiches for dinner. I figure if there is at least one meal per week on the menu as brainless as a sandwich, I might actually be able to accomplish our goal of not eating out sticking to the budget.

And so I offer you the second longest blog post ever written by me:

Reubens

• 8 slices dark rye bread (actually I like pumpernickel, don’t tell)
• 1 lb corned beef, thinly sliced-almost shaved-in the deli
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained
• 4-8 slices provolone or Swiss
• 1000 island or Russian dressing (see below) or some type of deli mustard you like
• butter

1. Decide whether you want to bake or pan fry your sandwich. Pan frying takes less time and has better flavor but requires more work and may require you to cook the sandwiches in batches. If you need to make a bunch of sandwiches, all at the same time, and want them done at the same time you are better off baking them.
2. If baking pre heat oven to 425°F, or heat a pan with a lid over medium heat.
3. Construct your sandwiches: spread bottom bread slice with dressing or mustard, pile corned beef evenly over, top with a layer of sauerkraut then cover with cheese and top slice of bread.
4. If baking sandwiches, wrap tightly in foil (and label with a marker because everyone’s sandwich is they way they like it-more sauerkraut, no dressing, extra cheese) and place on a baking sheet. Bake sandwiches for 15 min.
5. If pan frying sandwiches, proceed as for a grilled cheese: melt some butter in a pan (decide if you want to babysit all the sandwiches at once or work in smaller batches, also depends on the size of your pan), then fry sandwiches, covered, about 3-5 minutes per side until warm through and cheese and dressing are melty and gooey.

I served this with Garlic Parmesan Fries (also seen here, properly cooked) which we then ramped up with some truffle salt.

Truffle Scented Garlic Parmesan Fries, mwahaha

• 1 16 oz bag frozen matchstick cut french fries
• oil for deep frying
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Parmesan grated
• truffle salt or a drizzle of truffle oil (optional, but then they aren’t Truffle Fries)

1. Fry french fries for three minutes at 325°F then heat oil to 370°F and fry for 3-5 more minutes or until golden.
2. Toss hot fries with garlic, parsley, Parmesan, and sprinkle with truffle salt. Do this while they are still shiny so it will all stick (hopefully).

I have mentioned mrChaos doesn’t like sweet food? Of course dessert is all well and good, but otherwise he’ll take his food sans sweet. Thousand Island dressing (the key element to a great Reuben if you ask me) was on the list of foods too sweet. So I whipped up a spicy homemade version to see if I could sway him. The result, “I would actually eat Thousand Island dressing if it tasted like this!” Well, um, apparently it does…

So I mistakenly thought all chili sauces were the same, and I used Indonesian Sambal Oelek, which was delicious! But also melt-your-face-off HOT. Like, even the boys were all sweat, pant, soak truffle fries in ketchup, anything to soothe the hotness… I actually thought I might have poisoned myself. So take it from me and start with a couple of teaspoons and work your way up.

Homemade Thousand Island

• 3/4  cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Sambal Oelek up to 1 tbsp which might kill you, you have been warned (2 tsp is medium spicy for me)
• 1 tbsp jarred roasted red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tsp dill pickles, finely chopped
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp capers, finely chopped
• 1-2 tsp sweet relish

1. Combine all ingredients. Chill.

Ok, so I sort of failed this one.  The wings were all delicious, but I was busy prepping the sauces and I didn’t set a timer.  So I think I baked them for about an hour at 450°F but it may have been a little more or less.  And I forgot to sprinkle kosher salt over the Parmesan Wings-Colicchio would be unimpressed.

My daughter has been asking for chicken wings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner lately.  For some reason she is on a chicken wing jag and since she never requests specific food or eats with any sort of enthusiasm I have been more than eager to accommodate her.  Since the New Year I have been trying to eat and cook at home as much as possible and I have also been trying to be more mindful of how caloric our meals are.  Luckily those goals correspond since the homemade version of any restaurant meal is generally healthier.  So chicken wings for dinner was the challenge.  Normally I would have fried the wings but I felt like I had been frying something or another all week and I want to try baking them instead.

We all like a different sort of sauce so I decided to go ahead and make three different types since the prep is essentially the same.  For the sticky wings I sauced them with my standard Asian sauce and then baked them.  For the hot wings and the garlic-Parmesan wings I cooked them first and then tossed in the topping before serving.  You could bake or fry these, I just had everything baking at the same time.  When the sticky wings were done, I turned the broiler on the plain wings to crisp the skin up a little.  Then tossed with the sauces I had prepped and served.

And so I offer you the longest blog post ever written by me:

Blue Cheese Ranch Dressing or Dip

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or 1/4 cup buttermilk for thinner dressing)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (can use dried)
• 2-3 tbsp parsley, minced (can use 1 tsp dried)
• 1 green onion, green and white parts, minced
• 1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar (use lesser amount if using buttermilk)
• 2 tbsp blue cheese, more if desired-this is very lightly flavored
• salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients, except blue cheese.  Stir well.
2. Spoon a small amount of mayo mixture onto a plate and use a fork to mash blue cheese until well combined with dressing.  Or if using blue cheese crumbles just stir them in.
3. Stir cheese mixture into remaining dressing.
4. Salt and pepper to taste, chill.
5. Thin with a small amount of milk, buttermilk or water before serving if too thick.

Make your dipping sauce first so it has time to chill and the flavors can develop.  We are still sort of weenie-ish when it comes to blue cheese so this is very lightly flavored, as in it is basically ranch dressing.  Add in additional blue cheese until it is a pungent as you like it.  This dressing is really delicious by the way on a fresh, green salad.

Sticky Asian Style Wings

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp ground garlic
• sriracha chili sauce to taste
• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.  By the way, I have a crap oven so it is possible this will be too hot for your super awesome oven.  You can lower the heat to 425°F if you think this will be a problem.  It will affect the cooking time slightly but since I am not sure how long I cooked them for exactly you have to guess anyway.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, tossing to cover. I did not add any sriracha because I wanted the kids to be able to have some of these, but for grown-ups I would have added a couple of tablespoons.
3. Line a deep baking sheet with foil-trust me you do not want to have to clean this up.
4. Lightly oil the foil then pour wings and sauce onto sheet.
5. Bake about 20 min then remove sheet and use a spoon to re-coat wings with thickened pan sauces.
6. Bake about 20-30 minutes longer, remove sheet when sauce begins to stick. Shake wings around in pan and toss for a final coating then remove to a platter.

Garlic Parmesan Wings

• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp parsley, minced
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

1. Cook wings.  Fry at 370°F for about 20 minutes or bake at 425°F to 450°F for 30-50 minutes.  You can also broil wings (although I would remove sticky wings from the oven if cooking both).
2. While wings are cooking combine melted butter, garlic and parsley in a bowl.  Set aside.
3. Toss cooked wings in butter while hot.
4. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper.

Hot Wings

• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints, tips removed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
• 1-2 tsp Tabasco sauce, to taste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Cook wings.  Fry at 370°F for about 20 minutes or bake at 425°F to 450°F for 30-50 minutes.  You can also broil wings (although I would remove sticky wings from the oven if cooking both).
2. While wings are cooking, melt butter in a small sauce pan.
3. Add Hot sauce, Tabasco and Worcestershire.
4. Whisk to combine well then add cooked wings and toss to coat. Serve with Blue Cheese Dressing.

While this may seem like a lot of work, you will notice the prep times for all of these add up to only about 20 minutes total of actual work.  Also, feel free to use pre-cut wings or drummettes or whatever but if you cut the wings yourself, be sure to keep the wingtips in a bag in your freezer.  They will be a great addition to stock later on.

I love coffee. I love to have coffee throughout the day starting with a steamy, hot espresso in the morning. My favorite method of making iced coffee is to blend sweetened condensed milk with a pot of brewed coffee. You can keep this mixture in the fridge and pour over fresh ice as desired. The only problem is I can’t quite drink that much iced coffee. I like it more in single servings. Our local Vietnamese restaurant serves not only fantastic Pho but also sells these little Vietnamese coffee presses for about $5.

The method is the same, pour about 2 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk in a glass, add two to three spoonfuls of coffee with chickory to the press and pour boiling water to the top. Once the coffee has brewed, top it off a second time with boiling water and watch it brew again. Stir to combine the milk and coffee, then pour over a tall glass of ice. The coffee is smooth and strong, sweet and chocolatey. The perfect iced coffee for a hot afternoon in Houston in January.

Tenderloin is one of my favorite cuts of beef. I know it often gets a bad wrap from foodies for being dry or flavorless but cooked properly, it can be moist and delicious. It is also a great low-calorie main dish. Tenderloin roasts are much more economical than steaks and can be purchased fairly inexpensively a few times a year as grocery store loss-leaders.

Roast Tenderloin

• 3 lb tenderloin roast, trimmed
• 1 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp kosher salt

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Combine the spices and rub the roast all over.
3. Heat an oven-poof frying pan (that fits the roast) to high heat and quickly sear the roast all over to get some good color (my pan is non-stick but you could use some oil or cooking spray).
4. Place roast in the oven and bake until a meat thermometer read 130-135ºF. Medium rare is 140ºF but I always find that my meat is overdone at that point (almost medium well).
5. Allow roast to rest, covered in foil, about 15 min.

I also made the red wine sauce from the recipe but I prefer our standard red wine sauce. For this recipe, I reduced beef broth and red wine then added in the pan juices from the roast and continued reducing. It was good, but the roast was great without it. It is also very good leftover, cold in a salad or sandwich.