Cool Dads Reunited!

This weekend something pretty special happened; the Wisconsin and Arkansas Test Kitchens reunited in Wisconsin for an afternoon filled with conversation, delicious food and all things Cool Dads related. While the Test Kitchens still communicate via text, phone and Facebook on an almost daily basis; it was still nice to get to see everyone in person. 

Of course we were too busy cooking and catching up on everything we've missed in the past year to remember to take any pictures; so you'll have to use your imaginations. I'm sure the question on everyone's mind; is what exactly do Cool Dads Cook when they get together? We thought we'd pull back the curtain and let you know!

When it comes to having company over for meals in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen; one very simple rule applies: more food is always better than not enough food. This was absolutely the case this weekend! We grilled pork steaks and chops; made a Southwest vegetable salad, a quinoa (which the Cool Dads insisted on pronouncing Queen-oh all afternoon) salad, macaroni and cheese; and chocolate chip cookie bars and Dump Cake for dessert. Yeah. We were all stuffed! 

Here are the recipes for the salads we made:

http://www.closetcooking.com/2014/01/mediterranean-quinoa-salad.html

In the Wisconsin Test Kitchen, we're big quinoa fans. In summer we'll make a huge salad and enjoy it for dinner, and lunch the next day. We've also discovered toasting the quinoa after cooking it releases a nutty flavor and keeps the salad from getting soggy the next day.

http://www.andwhatiate.com/2013/06/summer-salad-corn-avocado-tomato-feta.html

This is the first time we've made this salad, and it was delicious. We did make it easier by buying a bag of frozen, fire roasted corn and using that instead of roasting corn ears. Corn isn't in season yet; and this was a quality substitute.

Here are the desserts we made:

http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/2014/04/how-to-make-a-cherry-pineapple-dump-cake.html

Dump Cake is one of those nostalgic recipes that Rebecca in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen has fond memories of... Her family used to make it every summer on camping trips, and nothing tastes or smells like summer quite like Dump Cake. It's perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a little Cool Whip on top. 

http://lilluna.com/cookie-bars-recipe/

Our friend Melissa shared this recipe with us; and we've made these cookie bars at least three times. They're ridiculously easy to throw together and you can customize them as you see fit. We had half a bag of white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips left over from our Monster Cookie Bars a few weeks ago- and used these instead of milk chocolate chips. They were delicious. Our small sous chef managed to polish off three of them before we noticed. 

When it came to the main event (meat); we marinated pork steaks in half a cup olive oil and half a cup soy sauce and let them sit and marinate at room temperature for about an hour. Once they were done, we put them on the grill and let them cook for about ten minutes over medium-low heat. Pork steaks are thin, and you don't want them to be over-cooked; otherwise they'll have the texture of a rubber band when they're done. Ours turned out nice and juicy.

We glazed pork chops in a jalapeno pecan jelly and also cooked them for about ten minutes over medium-low heat. They disappeared off the table pretty quickly!

At Cool Dads Cook, we believe food is love; and it was a great afternoon filled with delicious food and good conversation. We're already excited about our next reunion.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew