No Excuses

I have an odd way of choosing what I’m cooking for dinner. I start off with some normal logic – what is in my fridge and pantry and what is the most perishable. After that my OCD kicks in, and luckily the lesser quality results have not been fed to other people.

Based on what’s in the refrigerator I will flip through my 30+ cookbooks and find the next recipe that uses what I’ve got in stock. Well, the next recipe that I haven’t already made since I check off what I have already made. Tonight it was Apricot-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops and Roasted Vegetables courtesy of the BH&G 75th Anniversary Cookbook.

I admit to cheating on my formula sometimes. Who wants to have beef stew on a hot summer day? And sometimes there are some recipes that just seem like they were created on a dare. Although I love sweet breads and order chicken feet in Chinatown so what I consider a dare might be a little off the mark.

Comparing my pantry items with my cookbooks the next recipe on my list is Savory Ham and Eggs. Ingredients include ham and eggs of course (not green though). Some other ingredients seem normal if you are making deviled eggs, but then they add chicken broth, milk and cheese – which just seem like things a drunken frat boy would add together.

Normally I would find an excuse to move onto another recipe (that would be Scalloped Spinach, and I do prefer my vegetables cooked with butter and cheese). But I am taking myself up on the cooking dare tomorrow and just hoping that the amazing team at Downtown Cellars can find me a good wine pairing.