Category: Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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This has been another long week, but I ended up making things that had lots of leftovers and we’ve pretty much eaten them all. Tomorrow is a rare Saturday morning that I don’t work until my staff meeting in the afternoon, so I’m hoping to get a head start on cooking things for the week. Maybe I will actually get around to making waffles for the freezer.

This week’s meals were pretty good. I don’t know if I’ll ever top the duck dish, but they were good.

Here they are:

1- Sunday Blue Plate Special at Rudy’s Beef Stroganoff from Retro Diner by Linda Everett. Section: Blue Plate Specials. 

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! It was a bit orange though. I may have added too much tomato paste. When I say I followed the recipe, I really mean I eye measured everything. The Husband had it with a salad and I had it with buttered green beans. I’ve decided I need interesting things in my salads, like different greens and veggies. The Husband has a little salad with his ranch dressing and likes mushrooms, green onions, and carrots.

2- The Case of the Smothered Pork Chops from The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene. Section: Time For Dinner. 

Modifications: I had set this up for the Husband to put in the oven. It called for the pork to be seared first and then cooked for an hour in either broth or mushroom soup. I was concerned that it might be too dry and it did turn out that way, he said, so if we make this again, I will either use thicker pork, or not brown it. It needed a little more water too. The rice on the edges was dry. I, of course, didn’t eat it, but the Husband liked it. It was a good one for him to make himself, just add the pork, soup, and water over rice and throw it in the oven. We’ll probably use it for my long days at work. No pictures, as I wasn’t here to eat it.

3- Savory Vegetable Chicken Strudel from The Market Fresh Cookbook. Carrot Section

Modifications: Added garlic powder, omitted the broccoli, used yellow peppers instead of red. I also made my own crescent roll dough because I could. Also, I don’t like the aftertaste from the kind from the can. I have not made it before and it was kind of a long process, but I ended up starting it on another day that I had trouble sleeping and had no appointments until the evening. So again, started in the morning, slept while dough was rising. I baked a chicken breast for it and it made an excellent second breakfast. It turned out very good and it reheated well. I would like to see how it freezes because I think it would be good to keep on hand for lunches.

4- Easy No Knead Crescent Rolls from Gather for Bread. Recipe found on Pinterest: http://gatherforbread.com/easy-no-knead-crescent-rolls/

Modifications: None, it was baking and a new recipe. It turned out delicious, nice and puffy, and buttery. It didn’t dry out when reheated either.

5- Pasta Carbonara from Bacon 24/7 by Theresa Gilliam. Section: Dusk

Modifications: Regular Parmesan instead of the fancier Parmigiana-Reggiani. I had just assumed they were the same and learned that the difference is where the cheese was made. Apparently the fancy kind can only be called that if it is from a specific region of Parma. Parmesan means different things, but is not always from the same region. You can substitute Parmesan for it and some day we will get the real stuff to see if there is a difference. Also, I had to re-cook the bacon as I went away for two seconds and came back to black, smoking bacon. I drained the grease off too before adding the sauce and noodles. It was making my stomach feel gross to even look at it. Very greasy bacon.

I’ve made this dish three times now with three recipes and this recipe was the easiest and worked the best. Before my eggs kept coming out scrambled it seemed. This one had you combine all the sauce ingredients first and then add them to the pan. It worked much better then adding them at different times. We had a salad and fruit as well. The Husband approved and it made good leftovers.

6- French Bread from Tasty Kitchen. I have the original recipe written down, so I don’t remember whose recipe it is. This recipe is my go to french bread recipe. The link is a very similar one, so it should work about the same. http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/no-knead-french-bread/

7- French Onion Soup by Kim (hi Kim!). I got this method from our friend Kim and it always works out perfectly. I used mostly shallots, as I have apparently used my huge onion. You caramelize  the onions the night before and then throw them in the crockpot with beef broth and spices. This time I added pepper, thyme, and a sliced garlic clove. It was very good.

Tomorrow we are having lamb chops, assuming I can find a good recipe. We may have fancy potatoes and some cooked carrots or a salad. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I also need to rotate out cookbooks again. I’ve used the same ones again. I marked a bunch of recipes in them, so that’s why, but I still have some that I haven’t even opened yet.

 

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSieh2 Comments

This week I made a few new recipes and one recipe based on a family friend’s recipe. I also couldn’t sleep past 5 AM on Wednesday morning, so I did what any slightly crazy person would do and started a batch of chocolate filled brioche at 6 AM. The Husband is luckily used to the way my brain works and didn’t really bat an eye.

1- Petits Pains au Chocolat from Complete Book of Small Breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr. Section: La Brioche

Modifications: I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking pieces instead of semi-sweet, since it was what I had. I followed the recipe and I had a nice nap with the dog while the dough raised and then it chilled while I was at work. It required at least a four hour chill, if not overnight.

It was an odd dough. I’ve not felt one like it before. It was a cross between bread dough and puff pastry. Very easy to work with though. They turned out delicious, although I needed more evenly distributed chocolate and a bigger board to roll them out on. The dough wasn’t as sweet as I expected. I would make them again. The Husband enjoyed his as an afternoon treat with his lunch and liked it. The author mentions that these are wonderful “slipped in the pocket of a ski jacket and enjoyed warm at the top of the mountain.” I just had them with tea and an egg, having misplaced my mountain that morning.

2- Thai Sweet-Hot Duck from Garlic by Janet Hazen. Section: Entrees

Modifications: Dried mint instead of fresh and not as much as called for, the Husband doesn’t like mint. 1 Serrano pepper instead of 4. My mouth almost spontaneously combusted when I tested the pepper and I do like spicy food. Also served it with stir fried noodles, instead of lettuce, and it was lovely.

The Husband said this was the “single best thing” that I’ve made so far. It was pretty delicious. I did have texture issues with the duck, but occasionally get weird about new meats, so I think it might wear off. The recipe called for 10 cloves of garlic sliced thinly which I thought might be overpowering, but turned out quite nice. The Husband said that the flavor combo tasted “familiar.” It is fairly close to some of the Asian dishes we’ve been making and has star anise in it, which is in Chinese five spice powder. I got all my ingredients ready ahead of time, which helped speed the recipe along. I think I may have overcooked the duck. It was only slighty pink in the middle. We’ll be making this again. The next time I will flip the duck after searing the skin. The recipe omitted this step, but the Husband thinks the crispy skin would be nice.

 

3- Noodles with Asparagus from 400 Thai and Chinese Delicious Recipes for Delicious and Healthy Living. Section: Noodles

Modifications: Sesame oil instead of canola oil, as I had used it up in the Mongolian Beef. I think we have the wrong noodles too. I think we bought actual ramen noodles, instead of egg noodles from the Chinese grocery, but it was what we had in the cupboard and worked just as well. This was an easy recipe and went well with the duck. I would make this again, but to go with something, not on their own. They would be a little bland.

4- Mongolia Beef- The Husband’s family recipe book. The Husband says I can’t share it. He says there will be “dishonor on our cow” if it gets out… (I’ll give you a cookie if you can tell me which movie that’s from. The comments should be working.) I guess you’ll all just have to come over for dinner one night to try it.

Modifications: I left out the tiger lilly buds, as I couldn’t find them, and added garlic powder and white pepper to the marinade. I know, nothing is sacred from me changing the recipe, not even super secret family recipes! We had it over puffy fried bean thread noodles, which is what the recipe called for. I’ve not fried them before and it was fun to see them puff up. The Husband says he hasn’t had them with it before, his Dad makes rice to go with it. It was really good. Next time I will break up the bean threads, the middle ones didn’t get hit with the oil right and weren’t puffy. I also didn’t have enough oil to begin with, so will need more.

5- Scotch Broth based on a recipe from Pauline Bradley, a good family friend and I think, my older brother’s godmother. This one is pretty simple. Chicken broth-2 boxes, ground lamb, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

The original version had barley, but the Husband is not a fan of the texture. I made it in the crockpot before work. Just brown the lamb, drain off the grease, and then throw it and everything else in the pot and let it cook. It’s delicious and even better on the second day. I had a turnip in the fridge and no recipe to use it for, so I chopped that up too and threw it in. No pictures, as I ate it too fast. It’s not terribly photogenic either, but makes up for it in taste.

I’ve got a bunch of recipes marked in some cookbooks for the future and to help with meal planning. A couple of the cookbooks only have a few more sections before they are complete!  I haven’t decided on the rules for what happens when I finish all the sections in a cookbook. They pretty much all have more than one recipe that I would like to try, but I want to make sure that the ones I haven’t touched yet get used too. Plus, there is a whole shoe box full of recipe cards and mini cookbooks to use as well. For now, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I actually get there.

Crafty · Recipe Roundup

Cooking and Crafting Musings

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Whew! I am glad last week is over. It was crazy busy and I worked late each night.  We didn’t have many recipes to talk bout because we had canned soup one night, pizza for 2 nights, and I had the Husband bake his own chicken another night. The only two things I actually made were a Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie and more of a method for the chicken. I did make new recipe last night and attempted to make something on Sunday after I came home from my trip, but the Husband convinced me to have rotisserie chicken, salad, and bread instead. It was probably a much better idea, I was so sleepy and loopy from driving.

I’ll start with the recipes first and then talk about the crafts.

1- Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie from Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies by Lauren Chattman. Section: Chocolate Dream Pies

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! We liked it, but it was very rich and we weren’t able to finish all of it ourselves. I think I would make it again for a party where there were more people to eat it.

2- Italian Marinated Chicken Drumsticks. Method by me: Throw chicken parts in a zip bag and add Italian Dressing, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Zip the bag and roll the chicken legs round in it. Bake at 375 for about an hour, depending on how frozen the chicken still is. Serve with a salad and bread. No pictures, I wasn’t home until after it was eaten.

3- Crossword Cipher Chicken from The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene. Section: Picnic and Patio Get-Togethers

Modifications: I used butter instead of margarine. One, I didn’t have any, and Two, I don’t believe in margarine generally. I have one recipe that I use it in and that’s about it. We used garlic butter Ritz crackers for the breading and it was pretty good. The breading didn’t stick on very well in spots, until I started pushing the crumbs more firmly into the meat. We had garlic bread, raspberries, and roasted carrots with it. I don’t have a picture of the finished project, but did take a picture of the chicken before it was baked.

I was working on my vending items all week, but did squeeze in one more project from my list. I made some Kanzashi-Style Hair Clips from the book Button and Stitch by Kristen Rask. I made them into pins as I have misplaced my hair clips. I’ve made something similar before, but this time I decided to sew a back on and sew the whole thing instead of hot glue. I think it looks neater and It was a good project to do while out of power.  Eventually they will go into  my vending stash, once I have worked out the kinks. I like doing the little projects like this, as it’s lots of fun to pick out the perfect buttons for it. It also helps me use up my already cut squares. My 2 inch square bag is currently overflowing. I want to try them with my bigger squares too for a different look.

Vending is a funny thing for me. I always get anxious about it, even though I have a lot of product. I’ve been trying to branch put from my preferred colors and patterns into more things that might appeal to others. I vend at bellydance events, mostly local, as I bellydance myself. Since I also have my Etsy store, it can be a good way to get my Twinflower Fancies brand to be more well-known. It can be disappointing though, when my table gets passed over or I don’t seem to be in the right genre. This weekend inspired me to work more on my Etsy store and see if I can develop better style and pictures online. Hopefully my next events will be a little less discouraging. I definitely came home from this weekend not understanding what was wrong and struggling with the motivation to make more items to sell.

I might take a break from making Etsy or vending items for a few weeks and make a few things just for me. I am reading a bunch of sewing blogs that are inspiring me to work on my clothes goals, including working with my serger. Hopefully I’ll have more clothes pictures to show you next week.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSieh1 Comment

Whew! I always forget how much I depend on electricity. We have a gas stove, but it has electric starters, so unless we wanted to light it with a match, we had no stove for a few days. We were out for about two days. Now we have power again and I have done some cooking. Here’s the recipes:

1- Slow Cooker Chinese BBQ Beef from Food Network v. 8, n. 10. 

Modifications: I used full strength soy sauce and just reduced it a little. We’ve not had good luck with finding a reduced sodium soy sauce that doesn’t taste horrible. Next time I would also reduce the Chinese 5 spice. It was a little too licorice flavored for me. I ate this on the second day since I had put it in the crockpot the night before while working. The Husband said he liked it and had it over rice. It was good, but I don’t know if we liked enough to make it again.

2- BLT Mac and Cheese from Bacon 24/7: Recipes for Curing, Smoking and Eating by Theresa Gilliam. I bought this book for the Husband for our first anniversary (paper) almost four years ago and haven’t used it at all! This is a perfect example of why I decided to write this blog. I kept looking at it and saying I needed to make things from it, but never did. We are planning on making our own bacon this summer, when it isn’t snowing outside. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures.

Modifications: I tried to half the recipe, but forgot halfway through and ended up making almost the whole sauce recipe. The sauce turned a little red, from too much tomato sauce, but it evened itself in the end. I used dry basil, no fresh to be found, and used the rest of the romano cheese as well, instead of just all Parmesan. I also had a freak out moment where I couldn’t figure out where the bacon went in the recipe. I made the noodles and the bacon ahead of time and saved part of the bacon grease in the fridge. The Husband kindly pointed put that I was supposed to make the bacon and then add the cheese sauce ingredients directly on top of it. It worked out in the end and tasted very good. It was less cheesy than most mac and cheese, but the sauce did thicken up. I would like to try it with fresh basil, so may make it again in the summer.

3- Grilled Chicken Over Spinach from Taste of Home: The Market Fresh Cookbook. This is another cookbook I’ve had for a long time, but haven’t tried a lot out of it. Mostly veggie recipes are included in it, which might be why. The Husband doesn’t like a lot of veggies and I tend not to cook extra recipes just for me. This book is where I get my pear bread recipe from and it is delicious.

Modifications: I broiled the chicken instead of grilling it, since it was way too cold. The seasoning was very nice, kind of Italian based spices and olive oil. I also added more garlic to the spinach and made a smaller amount. This was a really fast recipe after a long shift and I would make it again. I picked it because I had a bunch of spinach in the fridge and was tired of seeing it go to waste. It made good leftovers the next day too and I think the spices would make the chicken good for leftover recipes like potpie or chicken salad.

4- Roasted Turkey with Smoked Paprika from a Meijer recipe card.

Modifications: It’s only been a few years since I have been able to eat turkey again. I had some bad experiences with cafeteria style turkey and fake mashed potatoes and couldn’t stand it for about 6-7 years. I wouldn’t even eat my Mom’s apple cider and bacon turkey and she makes excellent turkey. I still bring a few slices of ham to my inlaw’s house for Thanksgiving to this day. We’ve discovered that the less it tastes like turkey, the more I will eat it, and I don’t like it if it’s been frozen. (I know, for a food blogger, I sound so picky.)

The Husband tried a sample of this in Meijer one day and said I had to taste it and he was right. The spice rub is extremely full flavored with smoked paprika, garlic, and Italian spices. I reduce the recipe for this one, since it’s originally for a whole turkey. We normally have it on turkey breasts or tenderloins. We’ve had this a couple of times and it’s been good each time and is on our “quick and easy” list. We had this with mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots and butternut squash in olive oil and spices. No pictures because we were both starving and the carrots took longer, so things were not ready at the same time.

I think you can find the recipe on Meijer’s website as well. Tomorrow for Pi Day (3.14) I am making a chocolate cherry icebox pie that would have been made last Thursday, had there been power. I work late again, so it will be eaten after my shift ends and should be delicious. I’ll be sure to take pictures before we eat it all.

 

 

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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Sometimes it’s hard to remember what I did yesterday, much less what recipes I used. Luckily, the Husband helped me remember, so I could share them with you. We ate a lot of leftovers, due to long work days and mismatched schedules this week.

We joke that we saw each other more when we were dating than after being married. I had taken a break during grad school to get married and then went right back to two jobs and school. Between the two, I was working 12 hour days. Lots of crockpot dinners and unexpected menu changes were had in those days.  Now after changing jobs to what is my dream job, I ended up taking a second job until my dream job starts paying my dream salary. So we’re back to mismatched schedules and long nights. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer until I am working more regular hours.

You didn’t come here to read sappy thoughts about missing my husband though, so back to the recipes.

We had spaghetti and lasagna leftovers a bunch this week to use them up.

1- Creamy Chicken Ravioli from Good Eating Pasta: Your Complete Guide to Cooking Perfect Pasta Every Time. Section: Filled and Baked.

Modifications: I used dried herbs. I’ve been having trouble finding fresh. Not surprising, since it’s winter. I also didn’t let them rest for as long as it said to let them rest. It didn’t seem to make a difference in the final product. They were delicious. I used the pasta dough recipe I’ve used before from Luca Manfe’s cookbook My Italian Kitchen. I like this pasta dough recipe because I can use my mixer for it.

I do need to keep working on my ravioli cutting skills. They were a bit uneven. None of them exploded in the pasta water though, so it was a success. These were delicious. The Husband would like this recipe to go on a regular rotation. I am getting more comfortable with making pasta, so it might happen.

2- Dumplings from a family recipe. I was going to make them from the same cookbook as the Scallion pancakes, but my recipe seemed more exciting. This is actually from my side of the family. The Husband’s side has one too, but they use pork. We have discovered that ground chicken instead of pork works well. Pork and I are not friends. I also don’t have a recipe. This is one that we got from my uncle’s wife and she just gave us ingredients on a list. Now we just make them by smell and look. It’s very hard to think about measurements. Someday maybe I will try to figure out actual measurements for it.

3- Scallion Pancakes from The Food of China by Deh-Ta Hsiung and Nina Simonds. Section: Appetizers 

Modifications: I didn’t let the first batch rest as long as they were supposed to and I think they didn’t stretch out as much as they should have.  The recipe calls for three rest periods of 20 minutes after each step, raising the dough, after coiling, and again after rolling the circles. I did not read the recipe all the way through and missed the second and third rest. Since both the Husband and I were considering eating the cookbook as it was 9 pm with no dinner yet, I decided to make the first few without it. I have been wanting to try this recipe for quite some time, but just never was brave enough to tackle it.

They were delicious and cooked quickly. If I was making this for a crowd, I would definitely be able to fit the rising in, but would have to start it really early.

4- Shrimp Parchment Packets from Food Network Magazine. Jan/Feb 2015, v. 8, N. 1. 

Modifications: I left out the clam juice. I forgot to write it down, so when we got to the store, I couldn’t remember if I needed it for this recipe or not. The look on the Husband’s face when I said I might need it was absolutely hysterical. I don’t know if he was trying to figure out how they got juice out of a clam or what, but it was funny.

I also used dried herbs instead of fresh. I would like to try this again when we have fresh from the garden herbs, as I think it would better. Also forgot salt and pepper. It was good. Too much lemon for the Husband. We had it over rice. I had olive oil asparagus as well.

While waiting in the ridiculously long line at the store to check out, we started looking at pasta attachments for the Kitchenaid and discovered that there is a pasta press that has shaped pastas, like macaroni and rotini.  I did get excited about it, but told the Husband that I didn’t think I was ready for that much pasta responsibility. His response? “Think of the pastabilities.” I may have snorted loudly enough in line that the people behind us went to a different register.

Food puns are just one of the reasons I love him. So with that thought, I’ve got to go plan my next meals and crafty things. Hopefully there will be more food puns in my future.

Recipe Roundup

Family Spaghetti Recipe and Lasagna fun

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I got an email from my Dad today that said I should call him to discuss the spaghetti recipe, since he was “alone in the North and menaced by snow.”

Did I mention my Dad is a writer?  He’s also alone and menaced by snow quite a bit, which is this winter’s code for “Call your father.” My Mom works primarily from the house, but is on call during the evenings, which means she gets called out to various places a lot and gives my Dad plenty of time to think up new codes. My favorite is still one from after a trip to the zoo when I told him I had a big enough purse to smuggle a penguin out in. That message was “Put down the penguin and call your father!”

Anyway, I was talking about spaghetti. According to my Dad, this is actually my Grandma’s spaghetti recipe, not his. The only thing he doesn’t do is to add the sugar. I never remembered that part, so I haven’t ever added it either. This is more like a method than a recipe too. We tend not to measure. And it needs to cook for at least 6-8 hours. I made it once in 4 and it wasn’t the same. (I make this in the crockpot a lot, but I don’t think Dad approves of that method.)

We are not Italian in any way, shape, or form.  My Dad’s side is Norwegian and my Mom’s side is Finnish. I think my Grandma got the recipe from her Italian neighbors at some point. I’ve listed what I generally use, but really it can be flexible.

So without further ado, my interpretation of the family spaghetti method!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef, 1 medium onion-chopped, 3-4 cloves garlic-sliced, 1 can mushrooms or fresh mushrooms, 2 stalks celery-sliced, 1 chopped red or yellow bell pepper, 3-4 cans diced tomatoes, 1 can whole tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar, basil, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Brown the ground beef halfway, drain if necessary, and add the garlic and onions. If using the slow cooker, add the ground beef mixture and the other ingredients and let cook for 6-8 hours. The slow cooker makes it a little more juicy than stovetop.

For the stove, pretty much the same thing applies. After you’ve drained the meat, add it back to the pan and add everything else and let cook on low for 6-8 hours. Keep it covered for a few hours and if it looks like it is too juicy towards the end, take the lid off and turn up the heat to medium.

In my family we always used the leftovers for lasagna the next day. I accidentally trained the Husband to expect it this way too, so now I’m not allowed to just make spaghetti without getting sad looks and heavy sighs. So since we had spaghetti yesterday, we had lasagna tonight and I got brave and made homemade pasta sheets. Although it sounds funny, I ended up making pasta sheets because I was too lazy to put on real pants (not pjs) and go to the store. It seemed easier to make them, since I have made pasta a few times before.

No pictures of tonight’s sheets, as it’s a bit impossible to take pictures while rolling pasta dough through the Kitchenaid Pasta attachment. I do have pics of another batch of pasta though so you can see what it looks like. It’s pretty fun and actually easy, just a little time consuming. I thought I had made it too thin, but it was delicious in the lasagna and cooked up perfectly with no par-boiling. I will definitely make this again and am already plotting what to do with the rest of the pasta dough.

No crafts this weekend. I need to get back to my sewing machine in the later part of the week. I hope you enjoy the spaghetti method and pasta pictures though and stick around for crafty pictures later.

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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It feels like I spent most of my last two days in the car, driving back and forth from various places. The Husband and I hosted a game night last night and both had to work on the morning, so it was a crazy weekend. I thought I should start this week off with a Recipe Roundup. Here’s the update:

1- Asian Style Pork Chops: Original recipe from me! I don’t use a recipe for these, or really measurements, but I can tell you what I put on them. I marinate the chops in soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and garlic powder or fresh garlic pieces. I used store- bought Char Sui BBQ sauce for the extra bit this time. It’s the sauce you get on BBQ pork or bao (steamed buns) in Chinese restaurants. It makes the pork turn a red color and is sweet and slightly spicy. After marinating, you just throw it in the oven at 375, for about 30-45 minutes. Typically the pork chops are still a little frozen because I forget to take them out early enough. The Husband likes them that way though, he says they don’t dry out as much. He usually has rice with this.

2- Dahl (Spicy lentils) over rice. This is a recipe I got from my Mom, who got it from my godmother. We have had it for as long as I can remember. I’ll post the full recipe for this one, since it’s not from a book. You’ll want to have all the spices ready and measured out before you heat the oil, s it goes really quick.

Dahl from Jeanne Foster

Ingredients:

1 C lentils, 3 C chicken broth, 4 T oil, 4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp. whole cumin seed, 1 tsp whole mustard seeds, 2 dried chilis or chili pepper flakes.

Cook 1 C lentils in 3 C chicken broth until soft, about one hour. Heat 4 Tablespoons oil until almost smoking. Add 4 whole cloves of garlic and fry until brown. Add 1 tsp. Whole cumin and 1 tsp whole mustard seeds and put a lid on the pan quickly. Sizzle for two seconds. Add two dried chilis let them swell and turn dark. Alternatively, use chili pepper flakes if you don’t have dried chilis. Pour the spices over the lentils and serve over rice.

This is a delicious dish that can be vegetarian if you use veggie broth or water to cook the lentils. The Husband doesn’t like lentils, so I get to eat this all myself, which is good, because I don’t really want to share it.

3- Baked Curry Chicken from CDK Kitchen: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/284/Baked_Chicken_Curry3562.shtml

Modifications: None. It turned out very good and gave us leftovers for the next recipe. We ate it with rice.

4- Curried Chicken Salad from Food Network Favorites. Dave Lieberman section. 

Modifications: I didn’t poach the chicken with the spices, because we had curry chicken leftovers from the night before. It worked out just fine. I left out the grapes, mainly because we didn’t have any. It was very good. Not too overwhelming with curry, just enough of a bite. I would make this again. The Husband has fairly recently discovered that he likes chicken salad, so it’s nice to find another recipe for it.

4- Chickpea Soup from Food Network Magazine Jan/Feb 2015, v. 8, Number 1. 

Modifications: I didn’t make the pita chips. I didn’t have time to make pitas and forgot to get them at the store. I also cut the recipe in half, but didn’t really cut the Rotel amount down, which made it sinus clearing spicy. I could only eat one bowl of it. It evened out after a day or two. I would make this again. It had cumin and coriander in it and came together quickly. I was on my own for dinner for a few nights, since the Husband was out if town. I tend to eat vegetarian when he isn’t here. It seems like a lot of trouble to thaw meat just for me.

4- Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Crispy Bacon from Food Network Favorites. Wolfgang Puck section. 

Modifications: I added some mushrooms because it sounded good. I also just let the dough raise while i was at work, so it didn’t raise in the balls like it was supposed to for the second rise. It didn’t seem to make a difference. We also couldn’t find farmer’s cheese and subbed ricotta like the book suggested.

Oh my gosh. It was amazing. It had a white sauce and was delicious. We’re adding it to our regular pizza recipes.

5- Blackwood Hall Muffins from The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking by Carolyn Keene. 

Modifications: Baking again, so not many. One thing I did do was to melt the butter. The ingredients call for butter or margarine, but then in the instructions it says “shortening.” It also doesn’t say to melt the butter, but doesn’t give directions for the creaming method, which you don’t use for muffins anyway. So I put on  my sleuthing hat and did what I thought would be best and it worked perfectly. These were blueberry muffins and they are the Husband’s favorite muffin. He gave them his stamp of approval. I would make these again and it was fun to use this cookbook. Some of the recipes are a little scary, but it was published in 1973, so it makes sense for the time.

Tonight I have spaghetti sauce in the crockpot which is my Dad’s recipe. I work my second job tonight, so will eat it when I’m done and the Husband will eat at a normal time.  I’m using the rest of the pizza dough to make breadsticks. I’ll check and see if I’m allowed to share the super secret spaghetti recipe for next time.

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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I had the Husband sit down and help me go through all the Food Network magazines to pick some recipes. We had a whole bunch and I used some of them this week. I think we might not be able to make something from every section, as there is always a fish section, but I thought we should at least find a recipe from every magazine.

I also used a Pinterest recipe for pretzel bread and buns yesterday which turned out well. I didn’t have a recipe for it in any of my cookbooks. We had two not new meals this week. We had canned soup and crackers on Saturday and bacon wrapped filets on Valentine’s Day.

Here are the recipes:

1- Hungarian Noodles with Sausage, Food Network, November 2015, Volume 8, Number 9. 

Modifications: I followed the recipe! The only thing I changed was to sub yellow pepper for the red. It was pretty good. I will keep this one in my file for a quick dinner. I got to char a pepper on the gas stove like all the fancy cooking shows! 

We had carrots and asparagus to go with it. The Husband had carrots. I had lemon asparagus, no recipe, I just threw on some lemon juice and garlic along with the butter.

2- Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings from Food Network, November 2016, Volume 9, Number 9. 

Modifications: The dumplings called for were actually pre-made mini cheese Pierogi. I didn’t have time to make or get them, so we subbed tortellini instead. It turned out pretty good. The Husband handled the last part of the cooking, adding the cream and cooked tortellini at the last bit of cooking time. Mondays are going to be late days for me, so we’ll either have a crockpot dinner, or something that the Husband can put in the oven when he gets home first. It needed a little more spice,  bit more salt and pepper and I might p,ay around with the spices later. We would eat this again. The chicken was really tender and it was very simple to put together. I don’t think I got a picture of it. It was eaten too fast!

3- Mushroom Burgers from Mooney’s from the Retro Diner by Linda Everett. Section: Fresh Off the Grill.

Modifications: Used 80/20 ground beef instead of sirloin. Everything else was followed. The recipe called for sherry in the meat which gave it a nice flavor. They turned out very good. (And yes, that was the dog in the lower right corner. She was extremely interested in this dinner.)

4- Onion Rings from The Book of Steak, Section: Sides

Modifications: None! I can follow recipes sometimes! Next time, I would add spices into the batter. Also, I want a deep fryer. The Husband has agreed to clean the oil for fried foods, so I’m okay with it. It might help the house not smell like frying when we go to bed, I think. They didn’t stay crispy in the oven. I think I needed to fry them more. They also looked nothing like the picture, which appeared to have panko on them as well.

5- Pretzel Bread from Joy Food Sunshine: http://joyfoodsunshine.com/pretzel-bread

Modifications: None. It was baking, so I followed the recipe. It turned out delicious. I made a small loaf of bread and four burger buns. Mmmm… this may be my favorite bread in a while.

Tonight the Husband is having pork chops and I am having lentils/vegetarian. Pork and I have not gotten along for the past 3 years or so. I can still eat bacon, ham, and Italian sausage, but not fresh pork. We’re not sure why, but think it may have something to do with how they are processed. So I’m off to find a recipe in one of my vegetable cookbooks!

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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This week I used a couple of the same cookbooks with different sections. It was fun to pull them out for multiple recipes. I’m realizing how often I pull out the same few. I have some that it may be challenging to use. I’m a little ashamed to say, I bought a few just for the name without really looking at what they actually included. I have a Scandinavian cookbook that is mostly fancy fish recipes, for example, and neither the Husband or I eat fish. So we’ll see how it goes with those cookbooks.

It’s surprisingly hard to think about different uses for ground beef too. A lot of the recipes call for something else, or are too similar and might feel like we’re just eating endless spaghetti variations. Sometimes I can be snotty about how many cans of cream of something soup I choose to eat (the answer is generally none,) which doesn’t help with the ground beef question.

I also need to get a whole lot better at planning meals. We used to be very good, but with this project, it doesn’t seem to be as streamlined. I’m finding myself easily overwhelmed when trying to pick out recipes. The Husband says he doesn’t think I can make anything that is bad, because almost all of the recipes have been working. Even the ones that weren’t something we would make again were fairly decent flavor-wise.

Here are the recipes for this week:

1- Lemon Blueberry Streusel muffins from Pillsbury Best Muffins and Quick Breads. Section: Sweet Muffins

Modifications: Lemon Yogurt instead of vanilla and blueberries instead of raspberries. The recipe is actually called “Lemon Raspberry” muffins in the book, but I had no raspberries and no desire to go into the brief snowstorm to get them. These were good muffins, a little denser than most. I had to add some milk to the batter as it seemed way too thick and I didn’t trust it. The lemon didn’t come through as much, but the streusel topping is divine.

2- Mexican Cornbread from the same cookbook as above. Section: Quick Breads.

Modifictions: Substituted finely diced seeded jalapeños for the canned green chilis. Again, it was what I had and I am trying to stick to using as much as I can to what is actually in the house. Also, made sour milk instead of buttermilk. I had used all the buttermilk in the next recipe!  It turned out good. Very dense though and moist. The Husband didn’t like it as much, so we’ll probably find a friend to share it with. It had canned creamed corn, so I was able to use up the leftovers from the corndogs.

3- Tangerine Beef with Snow Peas from Everyday Asian by Farina Wong Kingsley. Section: 20 Minutes from Start to Finish.

Modifications: I reduced the ginger drastically. The Husband is not a fan of ginger. It was delicious, despite spilling more sherry by accident. We had it over rice. I would make this again. It took a little longer than 20 minutes, but not much longer.

4- Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken from Better Homes nd Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Poultry

Modifications: I used chicken tenderloins instead of bone in pieces. I really don’t like frying things with bones and had forgotten to pull chicken out to defrost. I also misread the recipe, missed how much salt to actually add to the brine, and missed that there was supposed to be sugar in it. Other than that, no intentional mods. I did add a bunch of salt to the chicken as it was waiting to be breaded and salted it when it came out of the oil. It was good. I would probably make this again. The Husband has been requesting fried chicken for a while, so it worked well.

5- Herbed Creamy Pasta from the same cookbook as above. Section: Pasta

Modifications: I used Boursin cheese for the cottage cheese. Cottage cheese and I don’t get along. I used a little too much of the Boursin, I think, and the shaved parm didn’t want to melt. It was nice and melty until I added the cheese tortellini and then it got a bit gloppy. It tasted good, but it looked a little funny. I didn’t take pictures… I don’t think I would make this as a main dish again, or if I did, I might do something different with the cheese.

6- Turkey Thai Pad from September 2016 issue of Food Network. Kid’s Cookbook. 

Modifications: Used ground turkey instead cooked, cubed turkey and left out the bean sprouts and peanuts. It was good and came together quickly. I’m going to add it to the quick dinner file. We used Chinese egg noodle cakes for it instead of linguine.

It was a pretty successful recipe week. Next week I am going to try to pick books I haven’t used yet. Wish me luck!

 

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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Here are the latest recipes from my cookbooks. Mostly hits, not too many that I wouldn’t make again.

1- Baked Spring Rolls from 400 Thai and Chinese Delicious Recipes For Healthy Living. Section: Light Bites

Modifications: Substituted ground chicken for the ground pork, since I can’t eat pork. These didn’t crisp up as much as I wanted, but they tasted good. I might look for a fried spring roll recipe in the future. We had these for our Chinese New Year party.

2- Buttermilk Scones from Celtic Teas with Friends by Elizabeth Knight. Section: January Women’s Tea

No mods made. I followed the recipe. They came out a little bland. I might add a little spice next time. They didn’t rise as much as I thought they would. I think I kneaded them too much.

3- Baked Mac and Cheese from What Can I Bring? By Anne Byrn. Section: Sides

Modifications: I was skeptical when I put this in the oven. Normally I make a roux with butter, flour, and milk, but this recipe had you combine the milk, cheese, and flour and pour it over the hot cooked noodles and bake it. It looked like soup! I was afraid to put the cracker crumbs on top because I thought they would just get soggy.  I hate soggy things, so I waited until it was half done to add them. I also added garlic powder, and more salt and pepper. It was good. We haven’t had Baked mac and cheese for a while. I would make this again. We had sautéed bok choy with garlic as well.

4- Shortcut Bolognese from the February issue of Food Network.

Modifications: Used tomato sauce in place of part of the tomatoes, since I had it in the fridge. It turned out very well. We liked it and would have it again.

5- Pancake Men from The Little House Cookbook by Barbara Walker. Section: Foods from the Tilled Foods

Modifications: I followed the recipe! I even started over when I forgot to add the baking soda to the water and put it in the dry mix instead. They had no sugar at all, so they definitely needed syrup or jam. I felt like you could taste the baking soda more too, which was a little off putting. With the jam though, they were good. We had them with eggs for a nice weekend breakfast.

6- Homemade Corndogs from Food Network Favorites. Section: Alton Brown. 

These were fun to make. They tasted good. We used all beef franks and I cut the recipe in half, since it was just the two of us. We didn’t think the leftovers would hold well. I did end up with extra batter, so I used it to make  fritters, which were also good. The batter didn’t stick on the dogs as much as they should have. I maybe didn’t cornstarch them enough. Also, the pan was not quite deep enough to have the dogs go all the way into the oil, so some of the of the breading burst off and stuck to the bottom. We had them with a salad and berries.

7- Vanilla Fudge Marble Cake from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Cakes

I made my own chocolate syrup, as we didn’t have any. It tastes delicious. I left it with no frosting, since I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to use. We ate it with ice cream, so the frosting wasn’t missed.

Whew, this turned into a long post! I’m still trying to figure out which system is going to help me keep track of which cookbook sections I still need to look at. Now to find the recipes for this week.