Finally got back in the kitchen tonight. I made carrot cake pancakes with honey butter. They were easy to make. I decided to double the recipe. When I got to buttermilk, I realized that I didn't quite have enough so I filled in with soy milk. I also used wheat flour.
Called the kids to come and try them out. They looked at the plate and said they looked like cat yak patties. Well, we have plenty of experience with the looks of those. I told them to just eat. I thought they were good, especially with the honey butter on top. Breakfast for the week!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Competition
The last two nights my husband was in the kitchen starting supper before I got home from work. I'm not sure if this is some kind of protest to my latest adventures in cooking; neither of his meals included vegetables - unless you count pizza sauce. The first night it was out of necessity; he was leaving as I was walking in.
Last night he made pizza. He's made pizza three or four times in the past two weeks - on a quest to for the perfect pizza crust. A couple of weeks ago he found Wolfgang Puck's pizza recipe. It was very good, but not quite what he was looking for. One step is a keeper - coat the pizza crust with olive oil before adding the toppings. He's pretty sure he needs an oven that can get up to 700 degrees to make the crust he's envisioning. Side story: Last night we were watching Man vs Food on the Food channel and they were featuring the grossest hot dog I've ever seen (and they're pretty nasty to begin with). Anyway, they put the dogs in a steamer to melt the cheese without drying out the bun. So now along with the 700 degree oven he needs a steamer for his hoagies. I looked at him. "You have to have the right tools if you want to get the job done right!" Whatever, says the woman who has no qualms about pounding a nail to hang a picture with a screwdriver.
Maybe he's feeling a little competition now that I have an interest in being in the kitchen. That's ok. It's better than looking at each other asking, "What's for dinner?"
Last night he made pizza. He's made pizza three or four times in the past two weeks - on a quest to for the perfect pizza crust. A couple of weeks ago he found Wolfgang Puck's pizza recipe. It was very good, but not quite what he was looking for. One step is a keeper - coat the pizza crust with olive oil before adding the toppings. He's pretty sure he needs an oven that can get up to 700 degrees to make the crust he's envisioning. Side story: Last night we were watching Man vs Food on the Food channel and they were featuring the grossest hot dog I've ever seen (and they're pretty nasty to begin with). Anyway, they put the dogs in a steamer to melt the cheese without drying out the bun. So now along with the 700 degree oven he needs a steamer for his hoagies. I looked at him. "You have to have the right tools if you want to get the job done right!" Whatever, says the woman who has no qualms about pounding a nail to hang a picture with a screwdriver.
Maybe he's feeling a little competition now that I have an interest in being in the kitchen. That's ok. It's better than looking at each other asking, "What's for dinner?"
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Speedy Chicken Pot Pie
This was probably one of the easiest recipes so far, but still took me twice as long to prepare as the 20 minutes suggested in the magazine. What makes it so speedy is the recommendation to buy the potatoes already peeled and chopped. My husband wandered into the kitchen, remembered Saturday, and did a speedy about face. His constructive criticism was that I use too many dishes when I cook. I said I don't have enough time to think about that when I'm cooking; it's all too new to think about how I can use a pan in more than one way. For now, I'll just wash two, or three, or however many it takes. Anyway, in less than an hour we were eating a pretty tasty, healthy meal.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Back to the Past
Monday, January 25, 2010
I decided to go through the recipes in Cooking Light, but have a meeting tonight. So the chicken went in the crock pot this morning and I roasted broccoli/cauliflower/carrots when I got home. Last week, a check-out girl at Economart was talking about roasting vegetables with red pepper flakes. I thought that sounded really good. In a recent cupboard clean-out I had found some bacon bits. Mmmm... roasted vegetables with red pepper flakes and bacon bits. They were sooooo good if you like things on the spicy side. So tonight for dinner we had chicken and roasted vegetables - yum. The leftovers were the start for the first recipe in the Jan/Feb 2010 Cooking Light magazine - Quick Chicken Noodle Soup. We threw the soup together before I had to take off for a meeting. Now, I'm of the belief that cooking is an art rather than a science. The recipe is a suggestion of best practices rather than a list of "must do." That might be my first mistake.
So we "followed" the recipe in the magazine, but because of the meal prior, there were some spices included that weren't included in the recipe. The recipe calls for fusilli pasta. In my opinion, the pasta got a little mushy - but it was still good.
Wednesday, January 27
Mmmm. Today I made the Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy. It was a hit with everyone and pretty easy to to make. Served with asparagus.
Saturday, January 30
Let this day go on record. I made two meals in one day. Can't remember when the last time was that happened.
For lunch - Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon. FYI - you'll want to make sure you read the list of ingredients carefully. The recipe calls for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I don't know if this cheese can even be found in Spooner, I never even looked for it because all I saw was Parmesean. The other mistake I made was to not get all of the ingredients out before I started. You'll see later. I also didn't use the recommended cookware. Oops.
My husband is a good cook and was trying to offer helpful advise, which prompted me to send him out of the kitchen. I got the pasta cooked ok and the bacon. It was the sauce that gave me the trouble. I had cooked the bacon in a cast iron frying pan rather than the recommended non-stick pan. To make the sauce, I was supposed to roast the garlic in the bacon drippings. So I put the garlic in the pan and then proceded to go about getting the rest of the ingredients together for the sauce. By the time I turned around the garlic was burning and the kitchen was filling with smoke. So I started over with a non-stick pan and the bacon drippings from the George Foreman. Eventually it all worked out and tasted good.
For supper Salmon Croquettes. I learned from my mistakes this afternoon and got all of the ingredients out and chopped and sliced before cooking. I thought the ingredients were to make a breading to coat the salmon, but as I got into the recipe, I realized that I had the wrong kind of salmon. The salmon was supposed to already be in little chunks, like canned tuna, to be mixed with the other ingredients and formed into patties, like hamburgers. So I cooked the salmon chunks and pulled it apart and cut it into smaller pieces. Then I added it to the mixture and made the patties. They were quite good. Served with a salad for only Dan and I. The kids said they'd just eat at work. Cowards.
These recipes were under the heading "Super Fast Comfort Food." Not for me. I also have a cookbook Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals. They always take me more than 30 minutes to make too.
I decided to go through the recipes in Cooking Light, but have a meeting tonight. So the chicken went in the crock pot this morning and I roasted broccoli/cauliflower/carrots when I got home. Last week, a check-out girl at Economart was talking about roasting vegetables with red pepper flakes. I thought that sounded really good. In a recent cupboard clean-out I had found some bacon bits. Mmmm... roasted vegetables with red pepper flakes and bacon bits. They were sooooo good if you like things on the spicy side. So tonight for dinner we had chicken and roasted vegetables - yum. The leftovers were the start for the first recipe in the Jan/Feb 2010 Cooking Light magazine - Quick Chicken Noodle Soup. We threw the soup together before I had to take off for a meeting. Now, I'm of the belief that cooking is an art rather than a science. The recipe is a suggestion of best practices rather than a list of "must do." That might be my first mistake.
So we "followed" the recipe in the magazine, but because of the meal prior, there were some spices included that weren't included in the recipe. The recipe calls for fusilli pasta. In my opinion, the pasta got a little mushy - but it was still good.
Wednesday, January 27
Mmmm. Today I made the Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy. It was a hit with everyone and pretty easy to to make. Served with asparagus.
Saturday, January 30
Let this day go on record. I made two meals in one day. Can't remember when the last time was that happened.
For lunch - Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon. FYI - you'll want to make sure you read the list of ingredients carefully. The recipe calls for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I don't know if this cheese can even be found in Spooner, I never even looked for it because all I saw was Parmesean. The other mistake I made was to not get all of the ingredients out before I started. You'll see later. I also didn't use the recommended cookware. Oops.
My husband is a good cook and was trying to offer helpful advise, which prompted me to send him out of the kitchen. I got the pasta cooked ok and the bacon. It was the sauce that gave me the trouble. I had cooked the bacon in a cast iron frying pan rather than the recommended non-stick pan. To make the sauce, I was supposed to roast the garlic in the bacon drippings. So I put the garlic in the pan and then proceded to go about getting the rest of the ingredients together for the sauce. By the time I turned around the garlic was burning and the kitchen was filling with smoke. So I started over with a non-stick pan and the bacon drippings from the George Foreman. Eventually it all worked out and tasted good.
For supper Salmon Croquettes. I learned from my mistakes this afternoon and got all of the ingredients out and chopped and sliced before cooking. I thought the ingredients were to make a breading to coat the salmon, but as I got into the recipe, I realized that I had the wrong kind of salmon. The salmon was supposed to already be in little chunks, like canned tuna, to be mixed with the other ingredients and formed into patties, like hamburgers. So I cooked the salmon chunks and pulled it apart and cut it into smaller pieces. Then I added it to the mixture and made the patties. They were quite good. Served with a salad for only Dan and I. The kids said they'd just eat at work. Cowards.
These recipes were under the heading "Super Fast Comfort Food." Not for me. I also have a cookbook Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals. They always take me more than 30 minutes to make too.
Here We Go
In an effort to not clog my family's arteries or compromise their immune systems, I decided that the time had come for me to...cook. Cooking is not my forte, but I'm going to try to cook my way through the Cooking Light magazines. I have the magazines from someone's school fundraiser, and until now haven't done much with them. This week I started cooking recipes from the January/February 2010 issue.
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