June 25, 2010

Dinner tonight was Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders and Salad with Tangy Maple Barbecue Dressing. Wow, that's a mouthful. This one might get the award for longest title.

The chicken tenders were great. They tasted totally different than what I was expecting and had a really unusual flavor. We're discovering that EHH doesn't give out 5 stars very often, but likes most everything we make.

4 stars

July 20, 2010

So tonight we made the Sugared Stone Fruits with Cookies and Cream. It was pretty simple, but very delicious. The fresh peaches tasted incredible. Instead of Nilla wafers or ginger snaps, we used some really good square coconut cookies.

5 stars

June 13, 2010

DO NOT TRY THIS RECIPE!

OK, that's a bad way to begin an entry in a cooking blog.

To go along with our leftovers tonight, I made the Balsamic Glazed Vegetables. Believe me when I tell you that they tasted just fine. Really.

But there are a few things we just couldn't get over. While I normally love balsamic vinegar, the smell of it boiling with cauliflower just nauseated everyone.

And it turned all the veggies brown! A nasty, poopy brown.

Like I said, I did try them (nobody else would). And they did taste fine. But there's a lot to put up with for a mediocre recipe. Don't fix it.


1 star

June 12, 2010

Meet Michelle, our guest chef!

She and Natalie fixed Rachael Ray's Sausage Calzones for us recently. A great thing for two teenagers to try, don't you think?
And we were impressed! As is customary for this blog, there were glitches. I bought the wrong kind of sausage (think large links instead of bulk Jimmy Dean), so it took the girls a long time to chop and brown it. But the rest went swimmingly. However, they recommend baking the calzones for more than the specified 15 minutes. We all liked the three cheeses and the fresh parsley. Well done, Natalie and Michelle! Here's the recipe:

Sausage Calzones
1&1/3 lbs Italian bulk sweet sausage
a drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
2 c. ricotta cheese
handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
handful grated Parmiagiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 t. nutmeg, freshly grated or a couple pinches ground
few grinds freshly ground black pepper
2 T. chopped pimiento (didn't use this, couldn't find it at store)
2 tubes prepared, refrigerated pizza dough (10oz each)
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c. marinara sauce, warmed, for dipping
Preheat oven to 425. Brown sausage in a small skillet in a drizzle of olive oil. Transfer crumbles to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Combine sausage with ricotta, parsley, garlic, parmiagiano, nutmeg, pepper, and pimiento. Roll both tubes of pizza dough out on 2 separate nonstick cookie sheets and cut each dough in half across. Spread 1/2 cup mozzarella and up to 1/4 of filling on each rectangle. Work on just half of the surface of each rectangle of dough, then fold dough over top of filling and pinch edges firmly to seal. For a half-moon "pizza parlor" look to your calzones, mound filling into a half-moon shape, fold dough over top, and trim edges following the rounded shape, then seal by pinching with fingers. If your dough tears, remove a little of your filling and repair. Repeat process, spacing calzones evenly on baking sheet, and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dunking.

5 stars - YUM!!



For dessert, they made Orange Sherbet Freezes. The girls found that 2 1/4 cups soda made three glasses of the drink. They also used a lot more ice cream than the recipe called for, and 3-4 ice cubes per glass. It wasn't bad, but no one in the family was overwhelmed with it. Dad put it in the freezer and liked it a lot more when it was frozen. Hmmm.

3.5 stars (Michelle, you can come cook with us anytime!)



So, last night, we needed a vegetable to go with our Monte Cristo sandwiches. So, we pulled out Rachael's recipe for Corn on the Cob with Chili and Lime. Doesn't it look pretty? It was a very easy recipe. The verdict was mixed. All agreed that it needed more lime flavor.

4 stars



Happy Cooking!

June 5, 2010

We got a little behind in our posting. Sorry! But not really. We went to Hawaii.

BUT before we left, we had the missionaries over for dinner. We saw it as a great opportunity to cook a few new recipes. Mainly because missionaries will eat anything. So, what's the danger if it doesn't turn out? That sounds uncaring, but we really wanted to make a nice meal for them. So, here are this week's dishes:


Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Tomato

This was pretty tasty. We didn't cook the beans long enough, so they were a bit crunchy. But it was a nice combination, and we'll probably make it again.

4 stars

Ice Cream Sundae Sandwiches

We liked these! Big surprise, huh? They were easy to make and loved by all. 'Nuff said.

5 stars

Now, on to Eternally Hungry Husband's birthday dinner. This was an opportunity to make him something special. Here they are:
Tenderloin Steaks with Gorgonzola

So, EHH kept moaning over this steak. It was awesome. We all decided we don't like Gorgonzola cheese, but we do like it on this steak! Only, we wouldn't put so much of it on each steak. It's a pretty strong flavor.

5 stars

Oven Steak Fries

Not bad. Nothing fancy. Nothing to write home about.

3.5 stars

Broccoli Rabe with Lemon and Garlic

First of all, we had to look up what broccoli rabe is. Turns out it's a relative of the turnip. But remember folks, we live in a small town. No broccoli rabe here. We're lucky to get broccoli. Next in the list of substitutions was red pepper powder (cayenne) instead of crushed red pepper flakes. Sorry, but I can't see buying a whole jar of red pepper flakes when I know we won't use them again. Still, we liked the lemon and garlic in the broccoli and would probably make this again.

4 stars

See you next week!