Couscous Cakes

Couscous Cakes

adapted from here

Instructions
1 cup cooked couscous
2 eggs
about 3 T panko bread crumbs
parsley, basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder
3 T olive oil

Equipment
saucepan, saute pan, stove

Instructions
Lightly beat the eggs. Mix the cooked couscous in with the eggs until incorporated. If it seems too thin, add the panko crumbs a little at a time, mixing thoroughly to see if you need more. Add the seasonings and mix thoroughly. Heat the oil in a pan. Form the couscous mixture into cakes with damp hands and drop carefully into the pan. Cook until browned on each side (about 5-7 minutes per side for me).

Yields
I got five out of this much mixture

Total time
Including cooking the couscous, about 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 3/10
Not including the pot you cooked the couscous in, all you have is a bowl that you mixed in and the pan of oil.

Difficulty rating 4/10
The trickiest skill required is knowing how much of the panko you need to mix in. It's not even hard to flip the cakes, if you wait until they're done on the first side.

Flavor rating 5/10
This is the simple, basic version. The original recommended including chopped pistachios, which I didn't have and I didn't think would go too well with the seared tuna and sauteed green beans, so I left them out. I would definitely recommend putting SOMETHING in them, and if you don't, go a little heavy on the salt, or serve them with some kind of sauce on them.

Adjustability: high
You can put all sorts of things in these, as long as they're small (or chopped fine) enough to not break up the structural integrity of the cakes. Pistachios or other chopped nuts, peas or chopped pieces of broccoli, asparagus, carrot, or other veggies, small pieces of meat like chicken, bacon, or ground beef... the possibilities are endless. You can also change the seasonings to whatever you want, and serve it with any kind of sauce (to match whatever you put inside them or serve it with).

Make it with...
I started off thinking I'd just make some sushi rice to go with our tuna, then I thought I'd try making rice pilaf, and then Birk suggested couscous or quinoa. So anything you'd make a grain with, you can make these with.

Maple Bacon Walnut Green Beans, and Candied Walnuts

Yes, vegetables are inherently good for you. But sometimes you feel like making them as bad for you as possible. Adding bacon, maple syrup, and candied nuts to them is a good way to accomplish that goal. Here's how:

Maple Bacon Walnut Green Beans

adapted from here

Ingredients
about a pound of green beans
3 T maple syrup
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 t Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1/4 cup chopped candied walnuts

Equipment
whisk; pot; colander; large bowl; stove

Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the green beans for 3-5 minutes (they should still be crisp). While the beans boil, whisk the syrup, oil, vinegar, mustard, and garlic together. Drain the green beans immediately and put them in a large bowl with ice water. After three minutes, drain the green beans again. Pat them with a paper towel, then toss them in the dressing. Top with bacon and walnuts. Salt and pepper if preferred.

Yields
4 servings

Total time
15 minutes

Cleanup rating 3/10
If you do this correctly, you should only have one bowl that needs good cleaning. Other than that, you have the pot you boiled the green beans in, and the colander. (And a whisk.)

Flavor rating 8/10
How can you go wrong? It's salty and sweet, bacon-y and maple-y, and still a crisp green vegetable.

Difficulty rating 6/10
For a side dish, there's a bit of work that goes into this, but it pays off. Don't forget that there are steps not technically included here (like cooking the bacon, and if you're making the candied nuts yourself, you need to get that done before you start, too).

Adjustability: low
There aren't many things you could do differently here. I suppose you could use prosciutto instead of bacon if you're the fancy type. The original recipe used pecans, but I had walnuts, and sliced almonds would be good too.

Make it with...
As you can see in the photo, I made it with a potato-onion-sausage saute (also delicious) but this could go with anything you'd pair with green beans. Beef, chicken, pork, turkey, something vegetarian (although these are decidedly non-vegetarian, what with the bacon and all).

---

If you can't find candied nuts to your liking or at all, or you have some plain nuts on standby that you want to use up, this is how I made mine. They weren't perfect, and I would adjust the recipe or find a different one (or just make the nuts earlier and let them dry some more before making the green beans) but it works!

Candied Walnuts
adapted from here

Ingredients
2 cups of nuts (walnuts, in my case)
4 T butter
4 T brown sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Equipment
microwave; bowl; parchment or wax paper

Instructions
Melt the butter in a bowl. Add the nuts and toss to coat evenly. Add the sugar and cinnamon (optional) and stir until incorporated. Spread on paper and allow to cool.

Yields
2 cups of nuts (plenty more than enough for the green beans recipe)

Total time
5 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/10
Only one bowl (and disposable paper) but it's a sticky mess of a bowl.

Difficulty rating 2/10
Stupid easy, just don't burn your fingers on the bowl.

Flavor rating 6/10
They're pretty good, but if I were going to eat them by themselves, I'd change something... I just don't know what.

Adjustability: low
You could add other spices, but there isn't much to this recipe, so there isn't much you can change.

Make it with...
Obviously, with the green bean recipe above. But you could put these on salads or eat them as a snack.

Egg Sandwich and Toasted Edamame

It's time for a two-fer!

Egg Sandwich

Ingredients

bread (we used the same everything French bread from last night's grilled cheeses)

eggs (about two per sandwich)

salt and pepper

cheese (I had white cheddar)

butter

Equipment

skillet, pan, stove

Instructions

Mix up eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper like you're making scrambled eggs (because you totally are). Butter a skillet and start the bread toasting. Cut your cheese into tiny cubes. Butter a pan and heat it up. Add the eggs. When they just start to cook, add the cheese. Keep stirring it and chopping it with the spoon until you have scrambled eggs. Keep an eye on your toast (flip it over when one side is toasted). Once everything's done, make sandwiches.

Yields

I made three sandwiches out of four eggs.

Total time

About 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/5

All you have to deal with is a buttery skillet, an eggy pan, and a raw eggy bowl.

Flavor rating 8/10

Yum! Simple but delicious. Hard to go wrong with butter, bread, eggs, and cheese.

Difficulty rating 2/10

Super easy. Unless you're terrible at cracking eggs. Then it's like a 3. Or like 5 if you're really, really bad at it.

Adjustability: high

It's a sandwich... add whatever you want! Use different cheeses, mix in vegetables or meats, add stuff like lettuce or tomato or whatever you want. That's what I love about sandwiches.

Make it with...

I made it with the recipe below, toasted edamame. But again... it's a sandwich. Chips, pretzels, veggies, whatever floats your boat.

Cost

Half a dozen eggs: about $2

Everything French bread from Walmart: $1

Butter from kitchenventory

Brick of white cheddar cheese from Target: about $3

Cost for all ingredients: $6

Toasted Edamame

Ingredients

bag of frozen edamame

vegetable oil

a few Tbsp Parmesan cheese

about 1 tsp minced garlic

salt and pepper

Equipment

baking sheet, oven

Instructions

Rinse/thaw your edamame. Toss it in vegetable oil. Add minced garlic and toss again. Spread it on the baking sheet and sprinkle with Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes.

Yields

a bag's worth of edamame

Total time

about 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 1/5

You have an oily bowl (or colander if you're like me and get tired of being told there's too much oil in your vegetables, so you added oil while the vegetables were still in the colander) and, if you line your baking sheet with foil, a piece of foil to throw away.

Flavor rating 7/10

I think this is an excellent vegetable side dish, personally. Our edamame had been sitting in the freezer for about a year, so it was a tiny bit tough, but it was still tasty.

Difficulty rating 1/10

The hardest part was opening the jar of minced garlic.

Adjustability: medium

You could use other spices or herbs or something, but that's about it.

Make it with...

Anything! It's a side dish. Goes with any meat, any non-meat, any sandwich, whatever.

Cost

Bag of edamame: about $2

Parmesan cheese from the kitchenventory

Minced garlic from the kitchenventory

Cost for all ingredients: $2

Cost for this recipe: $2

Grilled Cheese

No, I'm not going to just tell you how to turn loaf bread and American cheese into grilled cheese. I hope you know how to do that. This is a grown-up grilled cheese, and it's delicious.

Grilled Cheese (Grown-Up)

Ingredients

half a loaf of French bread (ours is "everything" pre-sliced from Walmart)

brick of Monterey jack cheese

butter

half an onion

Equipment

skillet, stove

Instructions

Slice the onion into half-rings and saute in butter. I added a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Melt butter in skillet and place four pieces of bread on skillet. Cover each piece in slices of cheese, then layer onions on top, covered with more slices of cheese, then topped with bread. Wait until bottom piece browns and cheese is starting to get melty, and flip sandwiches over. (I used this time to work on making guacamole so the sandwiches wouldn't get underdone thanks to my impatience. Also Birk took over the sandwiches at this point.) Once the cheese is all melted and the bread is toasted on each side, boom, done.

Yields

four little sandwiches (2 servings)

Total time

about 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/5

You have a greasy buttery pan and an oniony cutting board to deal with, but that's pretty great. And your plates don't get messy either. They're sandwiches.

Flavor rating 9/10

Mmmmm yummy. Caramelized onions are totally the way to go with grilled cheese.

Difficulty rating 2/10

Children could make this. This used to be a thing I asked Birk to make for me. Now I can do it myself. So easy.

Adjustability: high

I couldn't decide what to put on these... onion? peppers? bacon? green apple? Expect to see more grilled cheeses for grown-ups here in the future. There will definitely be experiments.

Make it with...

As you can see in the second picture above, I made guacamole (smoosh up an avocado, squeeze a lime into it, sprinkle it with kosher salt) and threw on some tortilla chips. But it's a sandwich... have whatever side you like with sandwiches. Chips, pretzels, veggies, whatever.

Cost

The recipe (sandwiches only):

Bread for $1 at Walmart and still have half a loaf.

Cheese for $2.50 at Walmart and we used the whole brick.

Onion for $0.61 at Walmart and still have half left.

Butter is part of the kitchenventory.

Total cost to buy ingredients: $4.11. Total cost used: $3.31.

The meal:

Avocados: 2 for $2.78 at Farm Fresh.

Limes: free because my friend Missi brought a bag to the New Year's party.

Salt: part of the kitchenventory.

Total cost to buy ingredients for guacamole: $2.78. Total cost used: $2.78.

Total cost to buy ingredients for whole meal minus drinks: $6.89.

Total cost used for whole meal minus drinks: $6.09.

Just Two Cookies

Last night, I was poking around the kitchen looking for a snack. I found nothing that interested me, but I opened the cabinet and realized that I could make a snack, because I had all the makings of basic baked goods (because of all the cookies and cakes and such I've been making lately). So I switched to poking around on the internet to look for "small batch cookie recipes" and I was not disappointed.

(No, those aren't on the usual big plates; it's on the little tiny plate.)

Just Two Cookies

Ingredients 

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp (packed) brown sugar

1 Tbsp sugar

pinch of sea salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp (heaped) chocolate chips

1 Tbsp (heaped) butterscotch chips

Equipment
small baking sheet, oven

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. If you want a softer cookie, line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the pan if you prefer crisper cookies. In a microwave-safe bowl, soften your butter. Add sugars, salt, and vanilla to butter and mix by hand. Add egg yolk and stir until combined. Add baking soda and flour and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Split into two and set on baking sheet a few inches apart. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before enjoying.

Yields
2 cookies

Total time
15 minutes (preheating while mixing, then baking)

Cleanup rating 2/5
It's great to not have a mixer and mixing bowl and spatula and all that to clean... just a small bowl (like a salad bowl) and the fork I used to mix.

Difficulty rating 3/10
Sure, you have to be able to separate a yolk out of the egg, and mix thoroughly, and whatnot.

Flavor rating 4/10
I've got to stop using those damn butterscotch chips. They're just too ridiculously sweet. I would recommend going back to what the original recipe said: 2 Tbsp chocolate chips, no butterscotch.

Adjustability: medium
You could add different things: nuts, other chips, caramel bits, etc.

Make it with...
Nothing, it's just a cookie. I guess if you're into milk, you'd probably like that with them.

BBQ Pizza

I was planning a really epic dinner of dumplings with dipping sauce and a soy-honey pork, but the store was missing a few key ingredients. So I had to improvise. And I made pizza!

No, the color isn't off on your monitor (well... it could be, but if it weren't, this still might look a little odd) and I didn't burn it. It's bbq pizza!

BBQ Pizza

Ingredients
Boboli pizza crust
Jack Daniel's honey barbecue sauce
pepperoni
black olives
four-cheese blend (the same one I used on the avocado chicken parm last night)

Equipment
cookie sheet or pizza stone, oven, pizza cutter

Instructions
The instructions are actually on the Boboli crust package. Preheat the oven to 450F, put sauce, cheese, and toppings on the crust, bake for 8-10 minutes. I put the cheese on top of my toppings in the hopes that it would keep the pepperoni from sliding around when I tried to cut the pizza (like they've done in the past) but it didn't help.

Yields
an 8" pizza (which I cut into 6ths)

Total time
15 minutes (waiting for the oven to heat up takes half the time; baking the pizza takes the other half)

Cleanup rating 1/5
It hardly gets easier. No dishes involved, except the pan (which, unless you're just the worst at spreading sauce, will be almost clean anyway) and the plate I ate off of.

Difficulty rating 2/10
I had to fight with the olive can because I had a mishap with the can opener, but that isn't really the recipe's fault. There's a reason people use "make your own pizza night" as a family event... kids can do this.

Flavor rating 5/10
Not bad. I used a little bit too much sauce.

Adjustability: high
You can put ANYTHING on your pizza. Any sauce, any cheese, any toppings... whatever you want.

Make it with...
I made a big huge salad to go with mine, because I usually associate pizza and salad with Italian dressing. Probably from going to the Pizza Hut lunch buffet so much as a kid, I guess.

Mushrooms, Part Two

Remember how I got my mushrooms drunk last night? Well, tonight I made them breakfast.

Mushroomelette

Ingredients
Eggs (I used 3)
Mushrooms (I used 3 button mushrooms)
Butter (about 1 Tbsp)
Cheese, shredded (I used Jack)
Seasonings (I used shallot-pepper)*

Equipment
Stove, pan, cheese grater

Instructions
Dice your mushrooms. (Just like last night, they don't have to be perfect, just evenly-sized.) Put your butter in a pan over medium heat. Once it's melted, add the mushrooms and stir them around to get them all buttery. Leave them alone for the most part (stir around occasionally) and go grate your cheese if you haven't already, and beat your eggs in a bowl. Once the mushrooms are tender, add the eggs and stir around until they look approximately like this:

Add the cheese and keep stirring around until the cheese is melted and the eggs are done.

*You can season at several different points: while the mushrooms are sauteeing, while the eggs aren't yet done, after you add the cheese, all three... whatever.

Yields
This was enough for two, because I used three eggs. This one, like last night's, is easily scalable.

Total time
Darn my lack of accountability on this front. I would guess about 15 minutes again, because I baked biscuits at the same time and they took a little over 15 minutes.

Cleanup rating 2/5
Eggs are pretty easy to clean up because they don't really stick to the pan. There are still a handful of dishes that need to be cleaned up, though (cutting board, knife, pan, bowl from the eggs, spoon).

Difficulty rating 3/10
You do have to pay attention when making this, but it's not terribly hard.

Flavor rating 5/10
Pretty good. Not great. I could have used more seasoning probably, but generally pretty good.

My Mushrooms Are Drunker Than I Am

(Well, I'm not at all drunk, so that's not really a fair comparison.)

I've never cooked mushrooms before. In fact, only in the past year or so have I even started eating mushrooms. Melting Pot stuffed mushroom caps, then Bonefish Grill's chicken marsala, then Madame Georgescu made the best little mushroom caps with some kind of Italian cheese in them, and Noodles & Company has great mushrooms in their Japanese pan noodles. So it turns out I quite like them. Tonight, I cooked them. And got them drunk.

This is one of those times where I used logic and experience and my own tastes to figure out how to make dinner, so the recipe is less-than-conventionally written.

Drunk Mushrooms

Ingredients
Mushrooms (I used three or four mid-sized button mushrooms)
Butter (I used about a Tbsp)
Garlic (I used somewhere between 1 and 2 tsp of the pre-minced stuff)
Wine (I used the cheap tiny carton of Pinot Noir from Target, probably 1/4 cup?)

Equipment
Pan, stove, stirring spoon

Instructions
Chop up your mushrooms. Don't worry if you have no idea how to cut mushrooms; I didn't. Just try to make even-sized pieces and you'll be fine.

Put your butter in your pan on medium heat. When the butter is melting, add the garlic and stir everything around to make things even.

When the butter is all melted, add the mushrooms. Stir them around to make them buttery.

Leave it alone for a while (I was cooking another recipe so I didn't mess with them much) and inhale the delicious odor emanating from your pan. I mean, yum, right?

Once the mushrooms are getting tenderer (poke them with a fork... I probably waited about 5-7 minutes?) add the wine.

Wait for about half of it to evaporate (stir occasionally) and then put your mushrooms on whatever you want (I used garlic mashed potatoes). Devour.

Yields
Well, that's up to you, isn't it? I'm categorizing this one as "scalable" since it's easier to make more or less. I made it for one person; you could easily make it for eight.

Total time
This one's tough, as I made about four different things in the kitchen tonight and didn't really watch the clock as much as I watched the food. I would estimate fifteen minutes.

Cleanup rating 2/5
The only reason this isn't a 1 is because you have to clean a pan. Also, you're working with red wine, so if you spill any, that will be difficult to clean, and there are little bits of mushroom and garlic that can get all over the place if you're reckless.

Difficulty rating 6/10
Cutting button mushrooms? Not super easy. They're round and have a weird texture and getting even pieces was a little difficult. Then again, this is the first time I've ever cut mushrooms. Also, you can get them pre-sliced if you're so inclined. You have to kind of know what you're doing here, though. Mushrooms feel almost tender when they're raw, so you have to pay attention to get your timing right. And don't burn the garlic. And don't add too much wine. And don't crowd the mushrooms. (Seriously, let them breathe in the pan. If you have too many mushrooms, use a bigger pan.)

Flavor rating 8/10
I think I can improve on this. I didn't really know how they'd turn out, so I was hesitant to season them, so maybe I'll experiment with some of that. But if you can manage to make these, you can probably guess at some kind of seasoning you might like with them. I've seen similar recipes mention rosemary, so that might be a good jumping-off point. But I loved these as they were, with my mashed potatoes and peas. Delicious.

Lemon Cookies

You know those Pinterest fail blogs? Where people post their attempts at making some Martha-Stewart-looking creation they found on Pinterest and it's this horrible disaster? I thought I had one of those on my hands on Sunday when I was making cookies to take to Audrey's Super Bowl party... but they actually turned out really good. Just not the way they were supposed to. Which is fine.

This is one of those recipes that some people will scoff at, because it involves a pre-packaged cake mix. If you're that kind of person, just move on to the next post; this one will clearly not be for you.

And I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. Which just means I'll have to make them again sometime, darn...

Prebaking... the closest I have to a finished photo, sorry.

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients
1 box of lemon cake mix (I believe mine was Lemon Supreme)
2 eggs
2 cups Cool Whip (one 8-oz tub), thawed (mine was in the fridge for a few days, not the freezer)
about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Equipment
baking sheet, foil, mixing bowl, oven

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Stir together your cake mix, one of the eggs, and the Cool Whip in a large bowl. Mine turned out really cake-y so I added the second egg. (The original recipe I found only used one egg.) The original recipe also said to roll tablespoonfuls of the batter in powdered sugar. Well, that wasn't happening. See below. It was a total mess. So I finally gave up and instead I put spoonfuls of batter on the greased cookie sheet and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown. Let them cool on the sheet for a minute or two, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack for a few minutes. They will firm up, I promise.

Yields
I made about two dozen cookies, but I also used heaping spoonfuls. You could make more if you made them smaller.

Total time
15 minutes if you don't bother "rolling" and use my method instead: 5 minutes to make the batter, 10 minutes to bake.

Cleanup rating 3/5
There will be powdered sugar everywhere if you try the rolling method. It'll also fall through the grid of your cooling racks, so be ready to wipe up the counter. The original recipe said to use parchment paper but I find that stuff annoying so I used foil, which released the cookies pretty well and kept my baking sheet clean.

Difficulty rating 5/10
You have to actually have some knowledge about baking to judge whether you need that second egg. Stirring the batter was pretty difficult, so you have to put some muscle into it to get it where it needs to be.

Flavor rating 10/10
They're very lemony, so it's not like a "lemon" cookie that is really a sugar cookie with a hint of lemon. These are LEMON cookies. And they made me pretty popular at a party where I didn't know anyone other than the hostess, so that's a good sign, I bet.

Pictured below: The mess of trying to "roll" the batter in powdered sugar.

If you try this and have more success rolling it, send me photos! Especially of the outcome... I'd love to see them turn out "right"!

Sauteed Green Beans

Whereas the baked potato that went with these is something I've made a billion times, this was a new one for me. I've been wanting to make sauteed green beans for months, ever since I started being really disappointed in the ones from Outback Steakhouse.

I adapted a few recipes from around the internet to suit my purposes.

Sauteed Green Beans

Ingredients:
fresh green beans (I settled for a bag from Target, but just not frozen)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2T olive oil
salt, pepper, seasoning of your choice

Equipment:
pot
colander
pan
stove

Instructions:
Boil a pot of water. Wash your green beans and break off the ends. When your water is boiling, add your green beans and boil them for about 4 minutes. Drain them and rinse them in cold water. (I had one that discolored and got a little mushy so I threw that one out. You want them to be pretty and green like in the picture above.) Heat the oil in the pan for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and let it stand for about a minute. Add the green beans (well drained!) and stir them around to coat them in the oil and garlic. Sprinkle with your seasonings (I used Penzey's shallot-pepper and some salt) and stir around again. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring to keep them coated and keep them from burning. When the garlic starts to turn golden-brown, they're done.

Yields:
2 servings if you make as much as I did in the photo

Total time:
about 15 minutes

Cleanup rating: 2/5
One pan to clean, a pot and a colander to rinse.

Difficulty rating: 2/10
Really easy, but you have to keep an eye on it. I could have done better on the timing portion (these were done long before the potatoes were done, but I wanted to leave myself enough time to make a new vegetable if these didn't turn out well).

Flavor rating: 8/10
Yum! I could probably improve a little bit, and I didn't use fresh green beans (hey, they're out of season... I think) but they were still really good.

And here they are with the baked potato and cheese sauce:

Chicken

There's really nothing else to call this... it's just chicken.

I'm not writing an official recipe for this, because... it's just chicken. But it turned out pretty and it's what we ate for dinner so I wanted to show you the pictures. We used the Northwoods seasoning from Penzey's (pictured... blurry) and had Stove Top stuffing with the chicken. I know, I skipped the veggies, but wait until you see tomorrow night's dinner and you'll see plenty of veg.

In progress picture:

For the beginners in the audience, this is what you do:

- Wash your chicken breasts and pat them dry.

- Put a little oil (I use vegetable oil... and there's too much in the photo, if you can tell) in a pan. Put it on medium heat.

- When it's starting to get hot, add the chicken (carefully... water + hot oil = ouch).

- Season the top of it and wait. Keep waiting. This is thick chicken... wait a little longer.

- Turn them over, season again. Wait some more.

- Turn them over a couple times. Eventually, cut into the thickest part of one of them to see if it's done. If it's not, keep waiting and turning. If it is, take them out and eat them.

Ta-da! Chicken.

For tagging purposes...

Total time: 15 minutes

Cleanup rating: 2/5 (If you clean the pan after you eat, you won't have to scrub hard or soak the pan, so don't forget!)

Difficulty rating: 1/10 (I didn't even bother writing a real recipe, so it must be easy!)

Flavor rating: 7/10 (I'm not crazy about the Northwoods seasoning, but it's pretty good. Also, the thick chicken breasts stay juicy, whereas smaller pieces cook faster but dry out a little more.)