Jenn Boo-lari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Current mood:

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Chicken Fried Steak.

My cream gravy never looks as white as I'd like. But it all tastes like heaven. ::swoon:: I got the crust to stick to the steaks better this time. Instead of frying at 325, I fried at 350, and one at a time, instead of two.

# Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

The Austin Cookbook
6.0 servings

1.0 whole egg
1.0 cup buttermilk
1.0 tbsp salt
1.0 tbsp black pepper
1.0 cup flour (steak)
0.25 cup flour (gravy)
1.0 cup saltines (crushed)
18.0 oz cube steaks
2.0 cups whole milk
vegetable oil

1 - Whisk egg, buttermilk, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
2 - Combine the steak flour and cracker meal in a shallow bowl.
3 - Once at a time, double bread the steaks: dip each steak in the flour mixturep atting it onto the sides, then submerge the steak in the egg mixture, then dip it into the flour again.
4 - Pour 1/2 inch (12 mm) oil into a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.
5 - Fry the steaks; you may have to work in batches so as not to crowd the pan.
6 - Cook the steaks until the batter is golden, about 3 minutes per side.
7 - Set the steaks on paper towels to drain and rest for about 5 minutes.
8 - While the steaks rest, make the gravy: Pour all but about 1/4 cup (60 ml) oil out of the frying pan.
9 - Reduce the heat to medium and add the gravy flour to the skillet, using a whisk to combine it with any leftover grease and drippings from the steaks.
10 - Addthe milk and cook, stirring, until the mixture is smooth and thickens to a gravy consistency.
11 - Season with salt and pepper and serve over the steaks.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Bread: "School Cafeteria" Yeast Rolls.

Again, dryer than I like. I'm beginning to think that yeast rolls simply don't scale down well.

I might try again next weekend, and just make a full batch of yeast rolls to see if they come out right, but at the same time, while they make 24 rolls, that's FIFTY ONE Jenn-sized rolls if I want to keep my blood sugar under control. That's NINE WEEKS of bread to freeze.

I've always told myself that I'm not going to deny myself food I like, just cut it down to a portion I can have that keeps my sugar under control. I'm going to tryu scaling them down to 37g of carbs instead of 15g whic will result in larger rolls, but is at the top limit of what I can safely have.

Or I may just simply need to shelve the idea of home made Jenn-safe yeast rolls as something I can make, and just buy them and cut them down to size.

The following recipe makes 24 regular sized rolls.

# School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls

Plain Chicken

2.5 Tbsp yeast
0.75 cup warm water
6.5 cups bread flour
11.0 Tbsp instant non-fat dry milk powder
6.5 Tbsp sugar
1.0 Tbsp salt
6.5 Tbsp vegetable oil
1.25 cups water

1 - In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Set aside.
2 - In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, and dry milk powder.
3 - Add vegetable oil and water. Mix on low for 3 minutes.
4 - Add yeast mixture and knead on medium speed for 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
5 - Loosely cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 45 minutes.
6 - Punch dough down.
7 - Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
8 - Divide the dough into balls and place in the prepared baking dish.
9 - Loosely cover the dish and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 30 minutes.
10 - Preheat oven to 400ºF.
11 - Bake rolls for 18 to 20 minutes.
12 - Brush baked rolls with melted butter.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking #baking

Wierd Non Sequitur Star Trek Image of the Week

Two years into using Linux Mint, and I hardly ever touch Windows anymore. I've had to use it for some Multimedia stuff, but beyond that, nothing. I'm looking at relegating Windows 11 down to a Virtual Machine, at this point.

Meet my Windows 11 VM: Mineru. If you get it, you get it.

Playing around with how I want to do the Superman comparison pages. I really don't like the ST:TMP page, but I can't think of any other way to deliver the information.

Also: I don't have a copy of the theatrical version of Superman! How did that happen?

This Week's Treat: Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream.

So, something that's wierd about me is that when I'm on estrogen, I hate chocolate "flavored" stuff (things like chocolate cereals, chocolate ice creams). When I'm off hormones, I love it. I figured if I made the chocolate myself, I'd be able to control that wierd taste problem. This tastes just like those chocolates I hate...which means it probably tastes pretty good to everyone else. :)

Note to self: Heshey's Cocoa is NOT Dutch Processed Cocoa, nor is it Dark Chocolate, do that next time.

# Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Sweet Fix Baker

2.0 cups heavy whipping cream (chilled)
14.0 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2.0 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
0.5 cup dark chocolate chunks

1 - Freeze your whisk and a metal bowl for at least ten minutes.
2 - Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
3 - Add condensed milk, vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder and mix until well incorporated.
4 - Fold the chopped chocolate with a rubber spatula until evenly spread throughout the ice cream.
5 - Place the mixture in an airtight container or a pan, sprinkle with more chopped chocolate, cover and freeze for 8 hours or overnight.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

That's looking to be about a full set of scripts there....

Heat pulse coming. THAT MEANS ICE CREAM!

Okay, that made me laugh:

Comparing the first and second drafts of the Mario Puzo versions of Superman:

Mario Puzo really had it in for Pope John Paul I, didn't he.

THAT'S who Puzo's Clark Kent is: Data.

Okay, I laughed:

I can totally see Margot Kidder delivering this line exactly as described:

Luthor Lux, not Lex Luthor? Also, funny seeing the idea of Dustin Hoffman or Paul Newman playing Lex Luthor instead of Gene Hackman.

Mario Puzo's Superman, no!

Well, now. Ask, and apparently ye shall recieve....

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Babi Kecap

Oh, this is good. THIS IS GOOD. But it's Indonesian, so I knew it was going to be good. Brasied Pork in a sweet soy sauce. It calls for kecap mani, but since we dont' get that round here, I made some homemade kecap mani by using soy sauce and brown sugar and boiling it into a syrup. Tastes a lot like the Taiwanese Braised Pork, but a little sweeter. It works with the salty pork. :9

# Babi Kecap

Asia: The Beautiful Cookbook

2.0 pounds boneless pork
1.0 tsp salt
1.0 tsp black pepper
0.25 cup vegetable oil
1.0 whole onion
2.0 tsp garlic (crushed)
2.0 tsp ginger (minced)
1.0 tsp red chili (minced)
1.0 cup thin coconut milk
0.25 cup soy sauce
0.25 cup brown sugar
0.125 cup brown sugar

1 - In small pot, add brown sugar and soy sauce.
2 - Boil the sauce over low to medium flame until thickens resembling maple syrup. If the mixture starts to boil vigorously and looks like it is going to overboil, move the pot away from the flame until the boiling has calm down and continue to boil over low heat. As the mixture cools down, it will further thicken.
3 - Cut the pork into 1/4-in (4-cm) cubes and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
4 - Heat the oil in a large pan until very hot and fry the pork until evenly colored; do not overcrowd the pan or the pork will begin to stew instead of browning.
5 - Transfer to a heavy saucepan or baking dish.
6 - Peel and finely chop the onion.
7 - Sauté the onion in the remaining oil with the garlic and ginger until softened
8 - Add the chili and sauté again briefly.
9 - Add to the pork with the remaining ingredients.
10 - Bring to a boil, then simmer gently over low heat or in a 350°F (180°C) oven for about 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is completely tender and the sauce is well reduced.
11 - Add a little more coconut milk during cooking, if needed. Skim the fat from the surface before serving.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Smoke...