Ben's Day Wednesday

Something Old, Something New, Plus a Vote Needed from You

Posted on by Liz

With the wedding behind us and Phil returning to teaching in the fall, Ben and I are excited to start up our Ben’s Day Wednesday activities again. I had in mind starting with something new, but when I asked Ben what we should cook this week, he suggested chicken parm, the dish we have been cooking together the longest. I obliged. 

As usual, Ben wanted Caesar salad, but I suggested something new – sliced fresh peaches with ricotta, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. He sighed like an old man, but grudgingly agreed we could try it. I thought it was delicious. Ben did not. He ate the peaches, but the ricotta was a bridge too far.

First Ben made bread crumbs with bread from the freezer that we had leftover from the wedding reception. Does that make it wedding breading?
Next, he got the dredging stations ready and beat the chicken thighs into submission.
Ben puts the chicken through the paces.
Hipster Ben and his meat mallet claim victory over the meal.
Ben poses with his chicken parm.
The offending salad.

Some of you are probably wondering why I would push this “salad” over Caesar salad. Well, sometimes I just get tired of Caesar. We had ricotta, a lemon, and a ripe peach on hand. It is in the same vein as a delicious Caprese salad that I recently had at DiSalvos (below) but it didn’t involve selecting a disappointing grocery store tomato. The peach salad was, to 67% of meal participants, delicious. The defense rests.

Now we need your help for a new cooking challenge! Phil has stepped down from his post as Director Of Grocery Eclecticism, and we need to restore some order to our freezer and pantry. Not since the pandemic has our system seen such disorganization, and we’re ready for a cooking challenge to eliminate some freezer and pantry holdings. Phil and I will be sharing cooking duties equally from here on out (something we haven’t done for about 30 years) and we have each contributed 10 items to the list below that we need to use or lose. Please pick four items below that you think Ben and I should use in our next cooking adventure by commenting on the blog or on facebook by midnight Saturday. Ben and I will create a meal using the top four items and, in the waste not, want not spirit, anything else we already have on hand.

Something Old Challenge

  1. Assorted chocolate candy
  2. Bean thread noodles
  3. Corn chips (three open bags)
  4. Dates (dried)
  5. Golden raisins
  6. Ham loaf (frozen)
  7. Ham (cubed and frozen)
  8. Mangoes (frozen)
  9. Meatballs (frozen)
  10. Pierogis (frozen) 
  11. Pork tenderloin (frozen)
  12. Puff pastry (frozen)
  13. Rice and pigeon pea kit
  14. Saltines (stale)
  15. Shrimp (frozen)
  16. Stir-fry veggies (frozen)
  17. Strawberries (frozen)
  18. Sun-dried tomatoes
  19. Sunflower seeds
  20. Tostada shells

7 thoughts on “Something Old, Something New, Plus a Vote Needed from You”

  1. What a challenge! Pork loin and puff pastry could make a new dish. I’ll be over for the assorted chocolate candy! Really want to get together to talk about the wedding.

  2. 1, 9, 12, 17. Chocolate, puff pastry, meatballs, and strawberries. Threw in the protein so your meal might be more than dessert.

  3. I will vote for shrimp, stir fried veggies, sun-dried tomatoes and puff pastry.
    I know this was not a choice….but 😆
    Dessert: assorted chocolates, strawberries

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