I "The Other White Meat"-ed Out

So... my mother-in-law got me a meat thermometer for Christmas. I asked for it... I've gone through three expensive Polder meat thermometers over the years, each one suffering the same death - a bath in duck fat. I don't know how or why each one always ended up falling into the fat every time I was cooking a duck... but it is somehow how it went.

I also needed a meat thermometer since I am pretty much hopeless at roasting meat. Never turns out right.

I used it for the first time on Sunday... roasted a rather large chicken (the 6-pound roasters were not just cheaper by the pound than the 4-pound birds, they were "whole unit" cheaper - and I am cheap). Worked fine.

Figured I'd have another go with it sometime this week and try to roast a pork loin. Since that always goes soooooo well for me.

Well, I chickened out. Or, rather, "Other White Meat"-ed out.

Went for an old favorite but always a goodie.... Pork Chops with Country gravy.



And I have become a total convert to America's Test Kitchen mashed potatoes... for me, it's about a cup of milk and some butter, then about four or five large yukon gold potatoes, simmer it all together for 25-30 minutes and mash away....



Also whipped up some soup tonight... got the Ad Hoc At Home cookbook for myself after Christmas, and the cream of cauliflower soup was one of the first things I wanted to try.

But you'd think by now I'd learn to REALLY read a recipe before I go to the store.

I forgot to buy leeks. (Actually, not knowing they were in the recipe I was going to buy some anyway just to have on hand, but they looked really, really sad)

Oh well.

I did buy the two heads of cauliflower... so leeks or no leeks, I was making the soup.

I also switched up the recipe... used chicken stock rather than water, and used 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of cream rather than the 2 cups of cream and 2 cups of milk, and just said "pppfffbt" to that whole "sautee some cauliflower at the end to add". So, um, really didn't follow the recipe too much, I guess.

But still got some good results....




A bit chunky, but still pretty darned tasty.


And yeah, totally not doing the beet chips. But it should still be tasty anyway.