Tag: recipes

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

LSiehLeave a comment

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.

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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Wow- time flies when you have guests! My Mom and brother were staying with us for a few days and I wasn’t able to write up my recipes. I’ll do my best to remember all of them. We have a chalkboard on our cupboard door where we write our menus for the week, so hopefully I can remember all of them.

1- Stuffed Meatballs/Polpettone Ripieni: Food Network Favorites, Section- Mario Batali. 

Modifictions: I mostly followed the recipe! I did use mozzarella and provolone instead of the fancy italian cheese, since I couldn’t find it in stores. I also left out the strips of carrots and spinach. The Husband doesn’t like spinach and I had run out of carrots the day before.  It called itself a meatball, but really it was rolled like a jellyroll. It was very delicious, with prosciutto and cheese. Very rich though. It said to eat it at room temp, but I don’t enjoy meat that way. I would make it again. We had it with salad and leftover herb biscuits.

2- Deep Dish Pizza from Food Network Magazine- It was delicious. I added ham and used the last of the provolone from the rolled meatballs. Not many mods, just those couple. It made two pizzas. We ate one of them over a few days and froze the rest in pieces for lunches. The crust was a bit tough, but the cornmeal gave it a nice crunch.

3- Slow Simmered Curried Chicken: Crockpot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes, Section: Winter Warm-ups. 

Modifications: I used yellow peppers instead of green, as I’m not a big fan. I used homemade salsa given to us by a friend and it made it even more delicious. The Husband added the last few spices, since he got home first and it turned out to be delicious. We ate it over rice. Nest time I might take the time to cook down the liquid to make a thicker sauce.

4- Popovers: Baking Unplugged by Nicole Rees, Section- Treats for the Beginning of the Day. 

Modifications: None. Baking is an area that I do follow recipes in, otherwise they don’t turn out. This was a good recipe, although it had you mix everything but the milk in at the same time, which caused lumpy batter. It worked out alright though. I had them with lemon curd and lingonberries. Mmmm…

5- Creamy Mushroom Soup: My Recipe Keeper, Section: Soups, Salad, and Pasta

Modifications: I think I added garlic powder. I wouldn’t make it again, although it was good. I apparently don’t like mushrooms in that form. I like them better in things, not being the complete taste of the meal. We had popovers dipped in olive oil and herbs and cooked veggies.

Now for a PSA: Don’t cut toward yourself! Especially when you’re cutting partially frozen chicken. Puncture wounds hurt for days! Here’s hoping  you learn from my mistake and avoid my experience.

 

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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There were lots of delicious sounding recipes that I wanted to use this week and it’s not done yet. This week we had a delicious roast chicken on Saturday that I used to make chicken soup later in the week. We’ve eaten most of the leftovers too, which is nice.

So here are the recipes:

1- The Ultimate Roast Chicken: Food Network Favorites, Tyler Florence section

Mods: Nothing, I actually followed the recipe! It was delicious. It included bacon strips over the chicken for the first 25 minutes.  Mmmmm…

2- Steak Fajitas: Retro Fiesta by Geraldine Duncann, Main Dish section

Mods: Made homemade tortillas from my go to recipe. I only had green peppers, not all three colors, which made it a little less pretty. I used flank steak and broiled it. If I was going to make this again, I would reduce the sugar by quite a bit, it had a total of 5 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. It was a bit too sweet for me. Everything else was good.

3- Neon Diner’s Chick’n Soup with Homemade Noodles: Retro Diner by Linda Everett

Mods: I added a few more veggies, green beans, and frozen corn. No other mods. It was delicious. The Husband said it was “What I always expect from a diner, but never get.” I was excited to use up some leftovers as well. The noodles were pretty easy to make and delicious.

4- Parmesan Herb biscuits: Pilsbury Best Muffins & Quick Breads, Biscuits, Scones, Popovers, and Doughnuts section

Mods: Dried parsley instead of fresh. I don’t think I will make these again. It seemed like they were under seasoned.

I had terrible luck taking pictures this week. We kept eating the food before pictures. It was too delicious to wait. I’ll work on it for next week.

 

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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I made up for not cooking much out of my cookbooks this week by using three new recipes just for today’s meals.

Earlier in the week I made one recipe:

1- Cheese and Basil Polenta from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Beans, Rice, and Grains

Modifications made were to use pre-cooked polenta, and pesto mozzarella, and fontina as the cheeses. I sautéed zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and red pepper in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper as a topping and it was delicious. The Husband didn’t eat it. He is not a fan of zucchini and was working late anyway. That was fine, it meant more yumminess for me to eat. I would make it again, but would definitely try making my own polenta.

Today started off with a new recipe, pancakes for breakfast!  I made them diner style with a diner recipe and they were almost as big as my plate. I also had bacon and eggs and wasn’t really hungry for lunch.

2- Willy’s Diner Pancakes from Retro Diner by Lind Everett. Section: Rise and Shine

Dinner featured homemade rye bread for diner style patty melts, oven fries, and a salad. The new recipes were the patty melts and the rye bread.  Details down below.

3- Carraway Rye Bread from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Breads

No modifications made. It seemed undercooked, so next time I’ll remember to set a timer. It was delicious without being too heavy. I halved the recipe to make one loaf.

I think my kitchen is too cold for bread to rise properly. This weekend I had trouble with it too. A trick I use when it’s too cold for bread is to turn on the oven to 350 and then leave the bread dough in there for about two minutes while it pre-heats and then turn the oven off and leave the door closed. It generally works pretty well to jumpstart the bread.

4- Blue Moon Diner’s Patty Melt from Retro Diner by Linda Everett. Section: Sandwiches From the Counter

Modifications: Changed the cheese for Muenster instead of Monterey Jack.  They were delicious! I would definitely make them again. The homemade rye bread made them taste even more like diner food. The Husband liked them too. We think that neither of us has had patty melt before, so it was fun to try.

I’m going to attempt to get a better handle on meal planning this weekend. I’ve been picking out recipes just a day or so in advance and it’s a bit stressful. I like to have at least a few to pick from for the week. So fr we’ve only really had the one miss recipe and one so so recipe, so I think we’re on a good streak.  Wish me luck that it continues!

 

 

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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I have a confession to make. I rarely follow recipes. Unless it’s baking, I can’t seem to help myself from tweaking the recipe, even if it’s the first time I’ve tried it. I blame my parents for this, they are excellent cooks and tend to cook more with smell and taste than a recipe. The family joke is when someone proudly announces that they made a new recipe and then has to admit that “well, I mostly followed the recipe…”

Baking is different, of course. There’s a lot more chemistry that needs to happen and so I do follow those recipes.

I’ll be listing the recipes and cookbooks I use each week, but due to space, I’ll only be listing the modifications and if they worked or not. I may feature a recipe if it turns out to be a favorite.

So here’s the recipes for this week so far:

1-Fried Rice with Mushrooms- 400 Thai & Chinese Delicious Recipes for Healthy Living, Rice section

Modifications-Substituted Chinese white pepper for regular pepper because it makes me feel fancy. Delicious! Fried rice is another one that I follow pretty closely, otherwise it turns out bland. Not the prettiest to take pictures of.

2-Tagliatelle with Creamy Shrimp- Good Eating Pasta: Your Complete Guide to Cooking Perfect Pasta Every Time, Fish and Seafood section 

Modifications- made homemade pasta using the recipe from My Italian Kitchen by Luca Manfe, substituted chicken broth for wine. It turned out delicious, even with messy homemade pasta.

3-House Favorite Vegetable Soup- What Can I Bring? Cookbook, Appetizer and Soups section

Modifications-I made a lot of mods to this recipe. I thought it would be bland without them. I used fresh carrots, frozen corn, and onions instead of leeks and all frozen veg. If I had mixed frozen veg on hand, I would have just used those. I used tomato paste instead of sauce, more beef broth instead of water, and added garlic powder and oregano. The only spices it had were a bay leaf, sliced garlic, salt and pepper. I like my soups to have big flavors. Also used 80/20 ground beef instead of ground sirloin, since I had it already. It turned out very good. I would make it again.

4-Petits Pains A La Pomme De Terre (Potato Rolls)- Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Small Breads, Rolls section. No modifications made. Lovely taste and texture and used up leftover mashed potatoes.

5-Chicken Risotto A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook, Main Dish section

About three years ago, the first time I made risotto I texted my husband and said “I’m making risotto and I keep expecting Gordon Ramsey to pop out of the cupboard and call me a muppet for doing it wrong.” So when I asked the Husband if I should try this risotto recipe for dinner, he said “Are you going to be a muppet?” So, of course, I had to make it. Sadly, it turned out to be a dud. I made a ton of mods to this too and it won’t be a recipe I will make again.

Modifications- The cook time is off. Traditional risotto takes about an hour or so and this recipe calls for maybe 30 minutes cook time. Added seasoning to the chicken as it was cooking, used both olive oil and butter to cook the mushrooms and toast the rice, and added garlic powder. It was still pretty bland and very dry, so I ended up adding an entire container of chicken broth during cooking, and 1/2 cup or so of cream, and shredded parmesan cheese at the end. It originally called for cheddar cheese, which would have been weird. It still doesn’t have the creaminess  that it should have, but it’s at least more edible.

I’m still working on figuring out exactly how to handle picking the recipes, so bear with me while I figure it all out. And hopefully my food photography will improve soonish too and I can post more pictures. I haven’t finished my craft list either, so that will be coming. This weekend is very busy, but I hope to squeeze in some crafting time.