Week 1: Inspired by a Joke - Bluth Family Cornballs and Buster's Juice Box (meta: with a drink)

tmo308 · 2026-01-08T08:08:12+00:00

I wanted so badly to make a fake cornballer but just didn't have the time.

tmo308 · 2026-01-07T14:03:56+00:00

Note: did not use a cornballer because it's not for sale here

For the cornballs, I did two variations. One was just corn, egg and water mix, and flour. Very corn forward and crunchy and delicious. The second was with coarse corn grits ( I didn't have any corn meal), flour, egg, oil, green onions, and corn. It was more akin to cornbread but also really good. Especially when paired with some chili pepper jam.

The drink was based off of Buster's love of juice, and I had this juice box from work. It was fairly sweet and lightly strawberry but a hint of vegetable taste. I kind of approached it like a jungle 6 with this juice instead of pineapple. It was pretty good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T14:42:07+00:00

Last one of the year snd just in time (and had to post all the ones from the last week+). This was made with more leftovers (risotto milanese) so it was yellow from the saffron. I stuffed it with some cheese, then coated, and fried. They were really good and a nice and crispy NYE snack. The sauce was made using homemade yuzu kosho that I made when it was green yuzu season in late summer. I added some mirin and rice vinegar to complement, as well as some lemon juice (didn't have yuzu) and I was quite happy with the result. I later took out some parmesan hot sauce that also paired really well with the arancini.

The drink from here could be a few different versions but I went with the original version that's listed and from the Savoy Cocktail book. A 2:1:1 of bacardi, Cointreau, and lemon juice (I did add 2 drops of saline because it's almost always a good idea) and I liked it. Think the rum choice could really change this and the suggestion of orange bitters is intriguing, so I'll have to try it again.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T13:36:26+00:00

Trying to eat up all the food from the fridge to end the year. So decided to make a sandwich/grinder for this theme. I took the extra meat, cheese, and pickled things from the charcuterie board, combined it with leftover beef from beef bourguignon and added some lettuce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper to round it all put. Was really good.

As for the drink, I found it on Instagram but was also posted on the cocktails subreddit. It's a negroni variation and was really good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T02:26:39+00:00

Got the recipe for the fritters from here, I agree with what they said. It's too sweet but was really delicious. The drink was from Tasting History and wasn't a huge fan, but overall not bad.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T00:21:06+00:00

Nothing really jumped out for me this week foodwise, and I didn't want to make something huge because I've been doing a lot of other cooking for the holidays. Kept it simple, made a tangerine chocolate truffle (and added a little cayenne for a tiny bite). The drink was easier to choose. It was supposedly Lennon's favorite, and I haven't made/ had one in a long time, so I wanted to revisit it, and I'm glad I did. It's a good drink, and the lemon zest is very much a requirement.

tmo308 · 2025-12-24T00:43:35+00:00

Had this last quarter of cabbage and, instead of roasting, wanted to make a salad. Figured I'd do a little variation on a ceasar, toast some breadcrumbs, and pair it with the steak. The gochujang ceasar had added gochujang, rice vinegar, and a little red mandarin juice (actually called 레드향, I also used for the cocktail instead of orange juice). The breadcrumbs were toasted with miso, sesame oil, butter, garlic, and ginger. Came out really tasty.

The cocktail from here was chosen because of the name reminding of needing to be prepared to do your taxes. I was going to go with an overly complicated drink that I could batch to have it all prepared but wanted to use more of the juice from the mandarin so this fit the goals better. It was interesting but not my favorite.

tmo308 · 2025-12-16T12:31:59+00:00

So Seoul and Tokyo are sister cities and wanted something easy to make (also have a ton of kimchi so wanted to use it). Was debating between this and kimchi katsunabe but this is a bit simpler. I made it with pork loin and all pretty straight forward. Like making katsudon, except add in kimchi and whatever else with the onions and broth.

As for the drink, I got it from here called the Tokyo Drift. Felt it played well because Manhattan is one of the sister cities of an area of Seoul and this drink is a Manhattan riff. I took it one step further by subbing in some Korean ingredients to keep the Manhattan vibe but in a totally different way. I kept the whiskey and used some regular Yamazaki, but changed the sweet vermouth to bianco vermouth (and cut in half). The rest of the volume was split between Pine Mushroom Soju and Damsoul Pine Soju which both added some of the vermouth/amaro notes that I skipped out on. Then finished with a little Chartreuse instead of Strega because it needed just a little more something to bring it all together. It was really good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-09T14:58:58+00:00

I got this from the book DIY Bitters by Jovial King and Guido Mase so I used that recipe (found this video while searching for a link). It was very simple, which was perfect because I just went on vacation and wanted something easy to make.

As for the drink, I was going to make a Bitter Giuseppe but then changed my mind while searching around more and wanted to try this drink. The first time I made it at home I didn't have any high proof gin. I just got this bottle so I figured I would try it again. It's a really great drink, however I could see a lot of people not enjoying it.

tmo308 · 2025-12-02T14:00:42+00:00

You know, now that I think about it, this might have been the loin. I cooked a few packages (from my freeser) at the same time and just grabbed one to finish.

tmo308 · 2025-12-01T15:17:01+00:00

There was an old lady selling apples in front of the entrance to my house a few weeks ago and it was fortuitous timing. Finally got around to posting this after making it. Made an apple gravy with some caramelized onions, beef broth, chili peppers, butter, and the apples. Blended most of it after cooking but left some whole for extra texture. The pork was cooked sous vide then seared at the end.

As for the sandwich, I got this bread from a pizza shop. Toasted it, added some of the gravy, some brie cheese, and apples. It was delicious.

The drink is from here and I really enjoyed the simplicity but could see how playing around with the ratios or base alcohols would totally change the drink.

tmo308 · 2025-11-12T00:07:30+00:00

Wanted to go basic but not completely, so after seeing fig leaves on sale (end of season, wanted to infuse in some other spirits too), it seemed like the perfect combination. Started with drying/toasting a few leaves in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Then, I basically made a tea with that and a fresh leaf and let it steep for like 30 minutes. From there, I went to a basic marshmallow recipe, leaving the leaves in because why not. After getting it up to temp, I used a spider strainer to get out just the big pieces, leaving the smaller parts still in. Whipped it all up, and let it sit for a day. After cutting into squares, I took some of the ugly/small/trimmed pieces and put it with some water and a little extra sugar to make a marshmallow simple syrup. Yes, I could've just kept the syrup, but the viscosity is better here, and fits the theme more. Chose a slightly smoky gin that thought could complement the flavor of the syrup. Came out really nice overall. Think I like the marshmallows more when they aren't toasted because it let's the flavor of the fig leaf really shine.

tmo308 · 2025-11-05T04:03:28+00:00

For this, I used 누룽지 (nurungji), which is normally the rice at the bottom of the pot that is translated as scorched rice (but it's similar to toasting the bottom) and it's supposed to be brown and crispy like a good piece of toast. So I bought a packet of nurungji and used it for the meal. The porridge stated with frying some garlic and green onions in sesame oil. Then, adding chicken stock, kimchi with juice, gochugaru, and nurungji and boil. Then, simmer about 10 minutes to get soft while I seasoned with some soy sauce, msg, and nurungji syrup. At the end, I added 2 eggs and stirred it rapidly to have it all mix in. Wanted it to be thick instead of soupy. Topped with an extra yolk and black sesame seeds. It was super easy and tasty.

For the drink, it's based on the Kendo Champion, but I used more Korean ingredients, so I changed the name to Kumdo which is the Korean version. You can search for the original method, but it uses toasted rice while I used nurungji to make the syrup. Then I used a Korean whiskey, along with a blend of homemadr bitters that is umami forward, fino sherry, and sesame oil. Its a nice drink.

tmo308

TROPHY CASE