Got leftover spicy cornbread? We did, thus the evolution of this meal. We’re eating thick cut pork chops stuffed with crumbled leftover spicy cornbread, sharp cheddar, and sauteed apples. Roasted yellow cauliflower and broccoli accompanied the chops to complete the meal.

A: welp… nobody’s perfect. this meal sure doesn’t stand up next to that lamb shank… or a lot of what we’ve been eating really.
T: the stuffing in the pork chop was really tasty. The pork chop itself had issues… but I think it was just that particular piece of meat.
A: yeah… it wasn’t overcooked or dried out or anything… i think if i had it to do over again, i would brine the chops then drain them off before stuffing them. instill the meat with flavor through and through. the stuffing definitely helped the meat, that’s for sure.
T: yeah. totally. The veggies were delish too, as simple as they were.
A: i don’t know what it is about roasted veggies, but i can really get into just simply seasoned (salt and pepper) roasted pretty much anything…roasted t, anyone?
T: i don’t particularly want to be roasted. but i can always go for roasted piggies and lambs etc. So, do you have a rating for this meal?
A: yeah. i’ve been thinking about it and really, if this meal hadn’t come after so many really top notch meals it really would have gotten a higher score. as it is… eh, not so great. i rate this meal a 3.23/5. not quite boo-able but still, not great. the veggies were good as always but the pork chop was a real let down, even with the tasty stuffing.
T: yeah, it wasn’t quite booable, but was not up to your normal level. I give it a 3.7/5. The stuffing was good. The veggies were good. It was almost a good all-around meal. Perhaps if the pig had gotten a little less exercise. Pigs these days.
A: i know! what’s a girl gotsta do to get a good pig up in here?
T: i wish i knew… i wish i knew.

Recipes in this post:

• Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli

Related posts:

1. Nothin’ Beats Manda’s Meats
2. Bacon Wrapped Fig & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
3. Brined Pork Roast w/ Curried Cranberry Apple Sauce

Tonight we’re eating grilled turkey burgers stuffed with caraway havarti, applewood smoked bacon, and chopped parsley. The burger was served on a grilled onion bun and dressed with mache, sauteed cabbage deglazed with red wine vinegar, and a dijon vinaigrette. For a healthy alternative to the standard french fry we had grilled broccoli tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.

A: mmm. burgers are my weakness. man, i’m so american.
T: Carnitas are my weakness. I’m so mexican.
A: heheh i share a weakness for carnitas, but i’m just never around them. burgers, on the other hand, i can find everywhere! and make easily!
T: If all burgers were more like the stuffed burgers you make, I’d be much more passionate about them. I love getting a couple of bites into a patty and having cheese and other goodies burst out. Mmm. These burgers tonight were a great example of that. Melted cheese and bacon is a good thing to find in the middle of a burger patty. Especially when it’s a turkey burger, which I’m afraid might get a little dry without the goods in the middle.
A: true dat. in my demented mind, i think that turkey burgers are great to fill with all the heavy things like cheese and bacon. you’re saving yourself some cholesterol by using turkey so you can add the other goods without feeling too bad…. plus, when their stuffed and properly seasoned, i really don’t think there’s much flavor difference between it and beef.
T: no, not too much of a difference. Beef burgers are more moist (aka greasy), and to a certain extent they taste better because of that. But a good stuffed turkey burger is hard to beat.
A: so what did you think of the sauteed red cabbage as a topping? weird or good?
T: I thought it was great. It went really well with the rest of the burger… and the bun. Not to mention it was gorgeous and refreshingly different.
A: agreed. but not so different that it made me want the burger dressed differently. you know, i still shudder at the thought of pickled beets on burgers! i know i shouldn’t make the assumption that it’s nasty without trying it, but i just don’t know. beets are so…. sweet!
T: I have not come to term with beets yet. I’ve only had em a couple of times, though… maybe there’s still a chance of liking em. Well, what do you rate the meal tonight?
A: i’m gonna give it a 4.25/5. it was quite tasty. I particularly like the grilled broccoli. it was crisp and smokey. not something i’ve eaten a lot of, but i dug it. you?
T: I give it a 4.4/5. It was good, although not up to the level of some of your other stuffed burgers. The cabbage was nice and tangy… very tasty. The broccoli… good but not my fave. I really like the taste of roasted broccoli… but the grilled broccoli tasted a little too grilly for me.
A: yeah, it was definitely grilly… but i tend to like grilly. just add a smokey flavor to damn near anything and i’m happy. hmmmm… except maybe ice cream… or cake. especially if it’s that nasty liquid smoke flavoring. that would be pretty nasty.
T: ya think, crackhead?

Recipes in this post:

• Stuffed Turkey Burgers
• Tangy Sauteed Red Cabbage
• Dijon Vinaigrette
• Marinated Grilled Broccoli

Related posts:

1. Turkey Cooking Basics
2. Chipotle Brined Grilled Butterflied Turkey
3. Baked Rigatoni with Turkey Bolognese

What do you do with all that leftover corned beef and cabbage from your St. Patrick’s Day celebration? Do what we did! Make reuben-esque chicken roulades. The roulades were made with pounded boneless skinless chicken breasts stuffed with cubed, leftover corned beef, swiss cheese, caraway seeds, and shredded leftover braised cabbage. The roulades were dipped in bread crumbs and baked to the point of cheese ooze-ation. To accompany the chicken, we served penne pasta tossed with roasted broccoli, sauteed cabbage, and a creamy mustard sauce.

A: mmm squared. this was so right up my alley… meat… inside meat! always a good thing.
T: yes, it was meat inside meat… and without being overly rich. don’t get me wrong, it was rich as hell. but not overboard. Let me just say, that cheese and cabbage and corned beef went reeeally well with that juicy piece of chicken.
A: hell yeah. and seriously, what else were we supposed to do with all that leftover corned beef and cabbage from saint patty’s day? sandwiches? booooring.
T: for real. sandwiches are so late february.
A: uh. gonna have to disagree now! i eat a damn sandwich every. single. day. for lunch. and i still love ‘em.
T: well YOU are so late february. snap snap snap snap snap… snap.
A: whaaaat. ever! lets refocus…. and quite your snapping, foo. so did you dig the creamy mustardy penne with sauteed red cabbage and roasted broccoli? or was it all about the chicken for you?
T: without the chicken, it still would have been a good meal. I would say the chicken was on another level though. it was badass.
A: i totally feel what your saying. i could have eaten several of these breasts if my stomach would have allowed. the pasta, eh, take it or leave it. it was good, but no where close to the roulade.
T: I loved the broccoli, too… it was nice and crisp and yummy. The pasta sauce might have been a little heavy for me… but the taste was great.
A: yeah, i guess what i meant when i dissed the pasta, was really the sauce. you hit it on the head. just too creamy. when i write the recipe i will alter it (gasp) and substitute a 1/4 cup of chicken broth for 1/4 cup of cream and then just throw in a tbsp or two of cream at the end. i think that will help correct some of the heaviness issues.
T: we talked about this already, but what if you ditch the pasta, just serve the veggies and chicken, and serve a side of bread?
A: yeah, that would definitely be an acceptable alternative. (much healthier and probably tastier, too.) i would most likely add some caraway and mustard seeds to the broccoli when roasting it to make up for some of the lost flavors that the sauce added.
T: I like the sound of that. oh yeah. well, what do you rate the chicken by itself, and the meal as a whole?
A: hmm, man i was really digging the chicken… so moist… so juicy… so cheesy-meaty. i give it a 4.7/5. it rocked. now the meal as a whole i have to rate a bit lower due to the creamy mustard sauce. I give the meal as a whole a 4.46/5. still freaking good. just not as good as the chicken by itself.
T: Yeah. I give the chicken a 4.8/5. It was seriously awesome. It would be a major hassle to cook all at once… you really need the leftovers… eh?
A: for sure. you could always get some store-bought corned beef and cube it up. the same with the cabbage… you could just substitute sauerkraut. but to make it exactly as i made it, you pretty much have to have eaten corned beef and cabbage the night before. otherwise it’s just not worth it.
T: yeah. that would be out of control. I give the meal as a whole a 4.5/5. One thing I enjoyed was the color of the broccoli and red cabbage. They dazzled my eyeballs.
A: hmmm.. well they dazzled my tastebuds! you only get that deep vibrant green from broccoli when you roast it (or dry cook it). when you boil your veggies all the nutrients, along with the pigments, get sucked out into the water. i don’t really like to boil veggies if i don’t have to…. potatoes aside. they aren’t really nutritious one way or another.
T: Roasting veggies definitely rocks.
A: hmm what do you guys think? boiled or roasted veggies? (yeah, i’m talking to you!)

Recipes in this post:

• Reuben-esque Chicken Roulades

Related posts:

1. Sweet & Spicy Asian Bourbon Chicken
2. Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Whipped Sweet Potatoes
3. Super Easy Sriracha-Peach Chicken Wings

Chicken roulade stuffed with spicy Italian sausage, fresh mozzarella, julienned sun-dried tomatoes, and sauteed fennel and crimini mushrooms deglazed with merlot. The roulade was served with buttery fresh herb and garlic polenta and roasted brussels sprouts.

Despite popular believe, brussels sprouts kick assT: This meal rocked. It was all very tasty… equally tasty, really. The brussels sprouts were the most photogenic, but it was all ridiculously tasty.
A: i agree for the most part. i think the chicken wasn’t the most tasty stuffed chicken i’ve ever made… but at the same time, it was damn tasty!
T: the chicken reminded me of the kind of thing you would find at a butcher in Lafayette. Sausage inside of another meat with lots o’ seasoning. LOVE it!
A: sweet! i dig the Lafayette butcher style. they really do have good meat in Lafayette. you know, what could really be better than meat… inside of meat?!? i mean a mushroom inside of a mushroom just doesn’t get me going like meat inside of meat.T: the chicken reminded me of the kind of thing you would find at a butcher in Lafayette. Sausage inside of another meat with lots o’ seasoning. LOVE it!
T: yeah, i agree. And it’s even better when you have a mushroom and a meat inside of another meat… inside of a giant mushroom.T: the chicken reminded me of the kind of thing you would find at a butcher in Lafayette. Sausage inside of another meat with lots o’ seasoning. LOVE it!
Chicken stuffed with goodnessA: uh, dude. i’m kind of scared of mushrooms that big…
T: forget the last mushroom. But mushrooms and meat inside of meat.!
A: don’t forget the fresh mozzarella and sauteed fennel too!
T: mmmm yeah!
A: oooo, and i forgot the julienned sun-dried tomatoes!
T: ok so this wasn’t exactly what you would find at a butcher in Lafayette… mmm mmm, Mandy.
A: you best be taking back that forsaken name you just called me.
T: Mandy is a glorious name.
A: hmm well, maybe we should start calling you mandy then, because i, for one, don’t like it!
T: Please don’t call me Mandy. That’s not my name!
A: okay, Pepita Brittle.
T: Thank you, Bobby.
A: yes, indeed! thanks, bobby! so did you enjoy the polenta? i think that might have been my favorite part of the whole meal.
T: the grits? yeah they were awesome! You make the best grits, seriously. Grits are often almost flavorless. These grits did not have that problem. They were loaded with awesomeness.
A: i definitely feel you there. for like the first twentysome years of my life i was just being served flavorless, grody grits. and let me tell you, it’s only been the last few years that i’ve truly become a big polenta/grits fan.
T: I’ve rarely had grits that I would call grody but… I do enjoy the word grody.
A: hehehe yeah. you know how all kids have a few things they don’t like? even the un-picky ones? well i was an unpicky child who just happened to have a big problem with grits!
T: that’s crazy. I think most kids like grits… am I wrong?
A: yeah. you’re totally wrong on this on! (imho)
T: Ok, yeah, I’m right.
A: no, you’re not! but you know what was totally right? those brussels sprouts! normally the produce market has these gigantic sprouts, but this time they had these delightful baby sprouts that we soooo tender and absolutely perfect!
T: they were awesome. As was everything else. I give the meal overall a 4.65/5. It was absolutely delicious, and I think you could get people liking both grits and brussels sprouts… bring over some dark-siders, you know?
A: hell yeah! it’s always good to bring people over to the… light-side? or the side of tasty! i give this meal a 4.35/5. it was really quite good. it just wasn’t the best chicken roulade i’ve ever made, therefore it doesn’t score higher with me.
T: that’s what held down my score a little, too. The grits and brussels sprouts were out of this world. The chicken was awesome, but not your best ever.
A: precisely. that just means i need to make another….better… version soon!
T: aaaahhhhh yeeeahhhhh.

Recipes in this post:

• Chicken Roulade with Italian Sausage, Fennel, Crimini Mushrooms, and Mozzarella

Related posts:

1. Sweet & Spicy Asian Bourbon Chicken
2. Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Whipped Sweet Potatoes
3. Super Easy Sriracha-Peach Chicken Wings

For dinner we picnicked at the Cove in La Jolla. We ate a spread consisting of a duo of stuffed breads, a fruit salad, and a summery veggie salad. The first bread was stuffed with mozzarella, rendered pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sundried tomatoes, and avacado. The second bread was stuffed with habanero jack, salsa turkey, chipotle puree, and crumbled bacon. The summery veggie salad accompaning the meal was made of roasted asparagus and zucchini, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta, and a very lemony vinegarette.

Summery Veggie SaladT: your breads are one of my favorite things that you make. Definately one of your specialties.
A: well thank you mister T. i just love carbs….screw the whole low carb diet things. i did that for like two weeks and i was a total bitch without my dear sweet lovely carbs.
T: yeah that sucked. I remember you getting so angry at a bag of clothes because it didn’t respond the way you wanted it to when you tried to pick it up. Whew that was rough. If you’re considering going on a low-carb atkins type diet, think first about your loved ones. Consider this choice very carefully, because you will become very mean.
A: heheh definately. even if the thought ever crossed my mind to do it again, as soon as i let my plan out you would probably be force feeding me sugars and breads and pastas.
T: what was funny was that you never really cared for sweet things until you starved yourself of carbs for a few weeks. You haven’t been the same since.
A: i know, now i actually kind of like sweets. i went twenty some odd years without really liking sweets. Thanks Dr. Atkins, you’ve now given me diabetes!
T: oh goodness, I sure hope not. That would suck. True, though that it’s a crazy diet that is not a good idea for anyone to go on ever.
A: hehehe i know a lot of people would disagree. I just believe that we should be eating good wholesome, not overly processed foods and grains. I definately try to cook with grains and such. Although if this (and the past couple posts) are the first time you’re seeing this site, you might not believe it – considering this was made with bread flour and we ate pasta for the two previous posts.
T: true. I also believe that we should eat wholesome foods which is why I had a california burrito earlier this week. For those of you who don’t know, that’s carne asada, sour cream, cheese, and french fries, wrapped in a flour tortilla. Definately wholesome.
A: wholesomely heart clogging.
T: heart-cloggingly delicious. Unlike the bread that you made which was delicious but not too heart-clogging. I think I actually liked the one not pictured here best. What all was in that one?
A: that one consisted of salsa turkey, chipotle in adobo puree, habanero jack, and a few bits of crumbled bacon. it was supposed to have the avacado that went in to the other bread and some tomatoes, but i rolled it up and forgot about the healthy part of the bread! ooops.
T: i think you got the key ingredients in there though. I really like the adobo puree being in there. It made it nice and spicy.
A: that habanero jack is definately not too shabby in the heat department either. it’s one of the hotter cheeses i’ve found.

Our picnic spot, La Jolla Cove, CaliforniaT: These breads were awesome. We haven’t talked at all about the salad. It was tasty too. Any comments?
A: i must have loved it, i ate the rest of it for lunch the next day…and there was quite a bit left over. it was just good fresh veggies (plus roasted asparagus), a very lemony vinegarette, and feta. how can you go wrong with those ingredients?
T: I can answer that question- just let me attempt to make it.
A: if it wasn’t your Birthday soon!!! you would definately be forced to make dinner and prove yourself wrong on all these comments about screwing things up. I have no doubt that if you actually tried, you would be making some great stuff.
T: lol. What I can make are chinese dumplings. I’ll stick to that for now. Until you guide me through a meal some time, like we’ve talked about.
A: very soon T, very soon. So do you wanna give this here bread a rating?
T: I give it a 4.7/5. Usually when I rate something I compare it to all of the similar food items that I’ve had in recent history, but I’ve never had any other stuffed bread to compare this to. One thing that I like so much about your stuffed bread is the ratio of bread to ingredients. It’s bread. It’s not a meat/cheese pocket. It’s not closed up sandwich. It’s bread with some goodies in it. A good amount of goodies. A good amount of really good goodies.
A: sweet!!! I give the meal a 4.55/5. It was definately tasty. I used to make bread pretty damn frequently but then… i guess since we moved to california really…i just stopped making them. I’ve gotten rusty at the technique i used to have perfected. I nearly ruined the photoed bread with my shady technique this time. fortunately, bread is pretty forgiving, and very tasty and it all worked out in the end.
T: yeah, making bread is like raising children (not that I’ve ever raised children). You can screw it up almost completely and then it still turns into a person in the end.
A: hehehheh uh… um….. i’m nearly speechless. uh… no. not really like a child, t.
T: You don’t see the parallel?
A: uh… i’m trying not to look for the parallels. you should run this idea past laurie, she believes both bread and children should be consumed.
T: Yeah, she does. Although I don’t go nearly that far. It’s just that they’re both forgiving. And they’re both crusty.
A: mmmm… crusty children.
T: have you been talking to Laurie lately?

Kwaherini mabibi na mabwana.

Recipes in this post:

• Summery Veggie Salad

Related posts:

1. Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
2. Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie
3. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

T: man, Amanda, you always hook up awesome stuffed bread. Tonight was no exception.
A: you are too kind mista tyler. the loaves were tasty tonight although one of them looked quite mangled after I fought with the dough while stuffing it.
T: I didn’t notice while I was eating it, although I did note your frustration while making the bread. Anywho, it was awesome. Let me see… what did Barbara say.. “it’s just wrong how good this is.”
A: hehehe i do believe that’ s what she said. Breads are just so damned good, its really hard to make a bad one. people just think they are too complicated to try. not really.
T: They seem pretty involved to me. The air temperature has to be a certain way, the yeast has to do this that and the other thing, if you mess up at any point you will end up with something resembling a stone. That’s a bit much for me. I think I’d be buying a bread maker.
Loaves of stuffed bread
A: hehehe i have rarely seen bread end up looking like a stone (except the second time i made biscuits from scratch and added like two tablespoons of both baking powder and soda, cause I had lost the recipe and thought i would just try it out. – those were bad).
T: Yeah, heheh, we couldn’t even bring ourselves to feed them to the ducks. Oh, well, you’ve made nothing but killer biscuits since then.
A: hehehe thank goodness I started using whitelilly self-rising flour. the baking powder and soda are already added…they make it pretty much fool proof.
T: cool. is whitelily available at most grocery stores?
A: definatley in the south it is, but i’m not sure if i’ve seen it around here. it really is the secret to making good biscuits because it’s got a lower level of protein than other all-purpose flours do. thus the biscuits are less dense and more fluffy. wooo hooo.. fluffy biscuits. Maybe they have whitelily at specialty stores here in san diego.
T: that’s crazy. yeah, fluffy biscuits are the bomb diggity, yo. … back to tonight’s bread. I give it a 4.4/5. It may seem like a low score compared to a lot of the scores I give out, but I’m leaving room for other breads to conquer it. As good as this bread was some of your other breads have had more enchanting ingredient combos.
A: true dat. I give the breads a 4.236/5, they were good. i could have eaten both loaves (except i wasn’t that hungry) but it’s hard to give bread a high rating unless it is really the ultimate, and like you said, there is definately room for improvement.
T: does that mean we will be eating more bread in the not-to-distant future?
A: perhaps it does, my dear, perhaps it does.
T: oh, cakes and pies, cakes and pies
A: hehehe silly. until next time…

Kwaherini mabibi na mabwana

Recipes in this post:

• Stuffed Bread

Related posts:

1. Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
2. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing