Genetics

As I'm replacing this and adding trying to make it gluten free for our first new house dinner guests, and I'm realizing I don't have this so I'll just add that .... I suddenly realize that ISH's Mayo Pickle Sandwich must be genetic.

Rewind to two weeks ago:
ISH: Can we make ZaFrank's tea sandwiches?
Me: What do you need to make it
ISH: Cucumbers
Me: I don't have cucumbers.
ISH: ... thinking.... thinking... But we have pickles.
Me: Hmmmm
ISH: And we need cream cheese.
Me: I don't have cream cheese.
ISH:  ... thinking.... thinking... But we have mayonnaise
Me: Ummmmmmm
ISH: And we need crustless white bread
Me: I don't have crustless white bread.
ISH: ... thinking.... thinking... But we have wheat rolls, right?

And so we made ZaFrank's cucumber, cream cheese, white bread tea sandwiches without the cucumbers, cream cheese or white bread.

How to Cook What Your Family Doesn't Like

Sweet Vidalia Onion Casserole, page 47 
It's really unfortunate that Geo can read.  I thought that I could cook this and serve it and if ISH didn't know that it was made with onions he would eat it and be none-the-wiser.  The plan was going brilliantly until ... Geo comes into the kitchen, reads the recipe and announces to ISH that I'm serving onions for dinner. BUSTED!  At least the other three in this family liked it.  But then when you add butter, sour cream, cream cheese, swiss and monterey jack cheese and top it off with Parmesan - well, how could anyone not like it?  Unless that "anyone" didn't like onions of course.  The best part is that I didn't take into consideration that the Florida Keys Citrus Chicken (below) that I served with this involves cooked fruit (which Geo doesn't like) so I rooked over both kids in one meal.  Best. Mom. Ever.

Southwestern Pizza, page 120
Geo's been asking to make this for about a month now and I just hadn't gotten around to it.  But it was well worth the ... well ... I can't say "effort" because it was just too simple for "effort" to be anywhere involved in it's description!  I had all the pieces ready to go and then came home from church on Sunday and threw it all together and presto!  Yummy Mexicali pizza.  LK and I were pretty sure the leftovers wouldn't keep well  so we only made two (because the tortillas are pretty good size) and divided the slices among the four of us and then kept the other pieces ready to make for lunch later on this week.  I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned since we're in the summer and fresh are readily available and I omitted the green onions (only because you have to buy the whole bunch for just one green onion.  Then the rest of them end up just hanging out in the fridge, hopeful to be used-- and I really hate to disappoint produce).  But the Creole seasoning! I've never used it before, however, I'm thinking this might become like the Greek seasoning that we used on pork chops all the time growing up.  This is good stuff!

Florida Keys Citrus Chicken, page 123
So I'm pretty picky about chicken.  Knowing this about myself I should have used thinner chicken breasts.  They were a bit too thick for what I like.  I'm also thinking that this could have been fun with a bit of honey cooked in too.  (Really I think I like the sauce more than chicken-- I think I could be a vegetarian if it wasn't for the fact that if you don't get the nutrients meat provides your hair could fall out and I'm bad with balancing nutrients anyway and my hair is waaaay to much of who I am for it to fall out).  I did like the way the red peppers (not too hot for everyone with only it's 1/8 tsp), garlic, ginger, lime and oranges all played nice together.

And now.... now it's time to get down to the dessert this week.  Chunky Chocolate Cookies, page 184.  LK doesn't really like nuts (man! I did a poor job picking food that didn't stomp on my family's dislike button this week!  I mean really!  Onions! Cooked Fruit! Nuts!  And how do you tell your family you love them!).  But he did say he felt like they weren't too overwhelming in the cookies.  I wasn't sure if I was buying the right cake mix because Duncan Hines had two boxes- one said chocolate fudge cake and the other said dark chocolate cake, but the dark chocolate cake had a fudge recipe on the back so I figured it was right.  I used dark brown sugar instead of regular.  I had both on hand but was feeling the dark brown call to me when it was baking time- so it won.  I used chopped pecans (she gives the choice between pecans and walnuts).

She says to butter a cookie sheet but I didn't feel the need because I have Pampered Chef stones (she said in her snooty tone voice-- the same voice the Vanderbilt recruiter used when he told her they don't have journalism at Vanderbilt).  I was wrong though.  These cookies need to be put on a buttered cookie sheet because they bake pretty thin and so they either crumble all gooey like if you take them off the sheet while hot or stick if you wait to long.  But really- crumbly or not they are good.  In fact, it would be a good idea to make these when you have company coming over so you're not temped (as I now am) to eat the whole batch yourself.

And of course, it's always good to have some helpers on hand for clean up time.

Happy eating!

Photo Challenge: Food

Mandy's photo challenge this week is food.  And those of you who have been reading this blog longer than a week have probably been able to figure out that food is one of the things I photograph most.  But here's a photo of food that I'm pretty sure I've yet to post.  It was from when I made the Pampered Chef confetti recipe for our small group Bible study.  Dripping chocolate- kinda makes you want to reach in there, grab to spoon and start licking.

Foodie Friday: Mama-Slappin' Good Food

When LK and I lived in Memphis we loved to eat the local favorite- barbeque. One place we would go when we could wrangle up a sitter was the Germantown Commissary. Their slogan was just about as catching as their food: So good yu'll slap yo mama.

Well this week I'd have to say the food was so good you'd slap your mamasita (except since I'm the mamsita- please don't).

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, pg 115
This meal will leave you asking "Ted who?!"  It is just that good.  As Geo said "it's almost like a satisfying meal."  I think that was a good thing.  I used canola oil (she gives the choice of EVOO or canola) and I did (begin your backpatting now) move to unbleached flour.  I used chicken broth (she gives the option of broth or base + water), and cooked the chicken and chopped it as I did last week.  I only had 10 tortillas instead of 20 so my rolls were bigger than what I'm sure Tanya was anticipating in her description (if only there was some way to write down and keep track of exactly what I need to buy at the store).  Since I had less tortillas, I had some chicken and monterey jack left over.  With the little bit of left over chicken mixture I had, I just shoved it around the side of the baking pan and with the cheese, I just added it to the top of the enchiladas with the cheddar cheese.  I think worked out pretty well.  I meant to roll up some spinach inside the enchiladas because 1- I had the spinach and 2- I love spinach enchiladas, but I forgot while I was rolling so I just put some fresh, raw, spinach on top.  Super yummy.  Super yummy.

Chicken Pillow, pg 120
Anytime I see a recipe that mixes crescent rolls with cream cheese and fresh garlic, I'm immediately harkened back to my Pampered Chef sales days.  Yes, that's right, I use to sell Pampered Chef- and the best part was, I didn't even cook back in those days.  It was, to say the least, my gateway drug into sales.  I loved going into someone's house, throwing food around, making people laugh, trying not to leave something out or set something on fire (thank heavens for damage insurance!) and getting paid for the whole experience.  While I didn't get paid for this dinner, it was so tasty I should have!  Once again, I used my new-to-me food processor to chop up the chicken.  And it really does look like a pillow once it's all cooked-- well once it did. actually. bake.  See- somehow I only set the oven at 250 instead of 375 so it took way way way longer than 12 minutes to cook (see, it is like back when I sold PC!) - but is was very much worth wait.

One Step Pineapple Angel Cake, pg 148
I made this for our family game night dessert.  So simple - I gave each boy one ingredient, they dumped them in a bowl and I stirred.  Super easy.  Here's what I didn't know- did you know that if you mix crushed pineapple and the juice with angel food cake mix you can get one rocking fizzy, bubbly, science experiment in the making. Really, dye that puppy red and you've got yourself the inside of a volcano for your kid's science fair like that!  What I didn't know is that it would continue to grow and bubble while cooking (does it do that every time you make angel food cake or is it something about the pineapple?).  What a mess! A sticky, sweet, tasty mess.  Thankfully I had the foresight to put the baking dish on to a stone with a lip so it didn't make that sticky mess inside the oven.  We had 5 guests staying with us this week- three middle school girls and their parent sponsors here in the city for middle school mission trip- and one of the sponsors marveled at the cake, going on and on about how amazing I am that I "bake."  While I don't consider this baking (it was just too easy), who was I to correct her.

Creme Wafers, pg 184
I made these for little treats when Darin and Theresa came over to play a little Spades (boys-v-girls, tied 1 to 1) and for whatever reason I decided to dye the icing orange (in this house where we Boomer more than "Bleed orange" of all places I know! ).  The shape was a little funky thought too- she calls for circles but the flower cutter-- well it was calling to me.  I'm horrible at judging how thick/thin I've rolled something out but I'm going to guess each wafer is more than the 1/8 inch thickness called for in the recipe.  Just guessing here.  But they were still cooked through (not browned as specifically pointed out to not be in the recipe).  The whole process takes some time so it's not a last-minute-throw-a-treat-together kind of dessert but they are worth working towards.  And she's right, you'll have most of the ingredients on hand so in that regard it's easy.  I even had the whipping cream on hand, left over from another recipe.  A nice tasty way to use un-needed whipping cream (other than just beating it into whipped cream and eating it in it's sugary fluffy state).  One tip to note- the filling gets squishy as it comes to room temperature so either keep on a chilled platter, only get out what you'll be using at that moment, or eat fast.  I leave you to choose.


Next week I'm making Southwest Pizza at Geo's sweet request, come back to see how it turns out.

Food Friday: It was Bound to Happen

It's been a long time, and I mean long time since I've had a total blunder in the kitchen.  But, it was bound to happen, and this week it did!

Zucchini Soup, page 27
This was, dare I say, more soupy than I'd like.  I know, I know.  If the title alone didn't warn me, the fact that it's in the "soups and salad" section certainly should have.  But my nose smelled the curry powder and I think it expected something thicker.  Once I got my mind under control and in line for thinking soup, not curry, it went better.  This does have a nice summer feel to it.  Since you let it cool before blending (and really, you should do this lest you have a very big explosion in your kitchen.  I didn't learn that lesson this time, only because I'd learned it the hard way before), it isn't a hot soup like what I'd want in winter.  Instead, it's more of a cool soup with yogurt.  LK and I both agreed it would go well with the pita chips from Rachel Ray's tomato dinner (you know, #157, the one I didn't like any of but the pita- anise. yuck).

Pink House Chicken Salad, pg 36
When LK and I were first married and living in a guys dorm as house parents (what a first year that was!) I once breaded chicken breasts in lemon pepper.  Seriously.  I didn't know how powerful that stuff could be so I took chicken, poured out lemon pepper on a plate, and rolled the bird around in the pepper until it was nice and covered.  Let me just say that there were not enough mashed potatoes in the world to make that chicken anywhere near edible.  So when Tanya called for 2 TBSP of lemon pepper in this recipe, I for one was glad she noted

Sounds like a lot, but it's correct.

Thankfully, she was right.  While it is more than I might have been willing to put in on my own (following the first year experience, I don't voluntarily add lemon pepper to much), it was a perfect blend with the mayo, pecans (I used small ones so LK would eat it), and pineapple.  I didn't "chunk" my chicken, instead I poured 1 TBSP EVOO into a pan and got it hot.  Then I placed the chicken breasts in the pan and salted them with a little sea salt and just a dash of pepper.  Then I cooked the chicken until it had that nice brown crisp on each side.  Once the chicken cooled, I chopped it up in my food processor (yes! I got one- so need to blog about that vintage beauty).  I seriously ate this one by the spoonful.  It was so tasty.

Animal Crackers, pg 58
The boys and I made this before our family game night.  I didn't have buttermilk, so I made some with milk and lemon juice;  but I think that since I used 1% milk to make the "buttermilk" it made the dough sticky.  Or said another way, the dough was very sticky.  They were soft and tasty but it was a pretty doughy mess we made in the process of cutting out our animals.  Next time I think we'll be sticking with animal cracker snakes.  Or maybe rollie pollies.  If you like oatmeal cookies but you're not a fan of raisins, this will be right up your alley.  I'm personally a fan of the frosted animal crackers, so I snuck some icing on one or two of mine while LK was reading the junior books to the kids (shhh.... don't let them know I have icing in the fridge or they'll be asking for it on their waffles!).

And here it is, the moment you've been waiting for- the disaster that was me, in the kitchen, early on a kid-less Sunday morning.

Ham and Swiss Braided Bread Loaf, pg 90
I have a very strict rule- I never make something I've made before when entertaining.  That way, I don't know what it was suppose to be like should it not turn out.  And while I haven't made this recipe before, I did make one like it- the Rueben Loaf at the MOAB.  And that one was beautiful- it was art baby.  So I think I had my expectations up before I even started the HSBBL.  But it was our Brother's Keeper pot-luck and Tanya specifically states this is "fun to take to a potluck" so I had to try it. However ...
I didn't have Dijon mustard like I thought I did.  Thankfully I learned my lesson way back when I substituted ranch dressing for milk when making cheesy hamburger helper, and I knew that not everything that seems like it would work, will.  Thus, I stop short of adding horseradish sauce to French mustard in place of the Dijon.  Instead, I was a good girl and look up a recipe for Dijon. However...
It calls 2 cups of white wine and I only had 1/4 cup.  But! Again, being a super cook now, (or so I told myself) I divided the recipe down until I knew how much of each item to put with my 1/4 cup wine (and how exactly do you get 1/8 of 3 cloves garlic, yeah well it wasn't exact science).  However...
I did not reduce the cook time (doh!) so I cooked it down too much and from that point I just punted.  I added enough water to the "Dijon" mustard to make the 1/4 cups Tanya calls for - and while it had a tang that I'd expect of Dijon, it did not have the texture.  So when I added my 1/4 cup "Dijon" to the 1 c water she calls for- I got very sticky dough.  Dough that did not want to roll out pretty or braid well.  And then there is the fact that I forgot to buy pickles.  So I chopped up some Kalamata olives I had on hand.  LK and I agreed it wasn't a bad punt- but that the pickles would have been better.
I think it could have only felt worse if I could have lit a potholder on fire while pulling the cooked "meal" out of the oven.
And yet, with all that said, like the mangy pound puppy that becomes the quintessential family pet- the bread loaf was a hit! I only came home with a small piece.  It really was a Sunday miracle.

Here's to hoping wherever my head was this week, that it will be back in the kitchen with me where it belongs next.

Foodie Friday: Ich Bin Alleine

This week I was alone.  All alone.  Here are few important facts about what normally happens to me when I'm alone:

1. I decide to remodel something in my house
2. This project takes over my life
3. Thus I tend to not cook and instead eat only what is on hand.  (Now it's not that I don't like to cook for me.  I love to cook for me.  However, when no one else is here I loose track of time- no kids to feed and put to bed so no need stop what I'm doing.  It's the me equivalent of "5 more minutes mom" except my sandbox is a room of dust and paint.)

But this time, as LK was making his yearly pilgrimage to the Apple Developer's conference and the boys were away at Grannie Camp- I told myself I'd do it right and cook for me.  And I did.  Well.... I mean... I made one dessert and one entree for the 4 days I was alone, but baby steps right?  As for what I ate the rest of the week ... it's really best that we don't go into that.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad, pg 34

Don't let the word "salad" fool you.  No greens here.  It's more of a jello salad but with sweet cream cheese goodness added in for good measure.  I made this to take over to the house of Geo's friend, Sophie, when we went for a little swim. It was the perfect summer dish to go with their organic burgers and salad Sophie's mom grew in the garden.  Wonderful people.  I tried to find the smallest bag of pretzels I could which ended up being butter snaps which are not as salty real pretzels- I think saltier would have been even better.  And here's a question for you- it says "2 cups crushed pretzels."  This always confuses me.  Do they mean cups of crushed pretzels or two cups of pretzels then crushed?  See what I'm asking?  Is this just me or do you find yourself over-analyzing that kind of stuff too?  I used two cups and then crushed but that didn't seem like enough so I crushed up a few handfuls (no idea exactly how much) until the bottom of the 9x13 was at least lightly covered.  And yes, I did decide that strawberries made it a worthy breakfast food the next day.  After all there's eggs and milk in the chocolate cake, right Bill?

Fast Canadian Bacon Asparagus Fettucini, pg 91

Since I was cooking for me and only me, this one called out to me so I went with it.  I used thin spaghetti because I had it on hand and added some mushies I had that I needed to use.  I also went the fresh asparagus (she gives the option between fresh and frozen and fresh was totally spot on).  When I was in St Louis for Dr_EAM's match day I had some asparagus that was charbroiled a bit and it was very very yummy so I thought I'd try something like that with this.  So after the veggies were cooked and before adding the cream, I stuck everything under the broiler for a bit.  It got a little brown and didn't take away from the taste but it didn't really add anything either; and given that I didn't start cooking until 9pm the added time wasn't necessarily worth it.  She's right that the "fast" part is the cooking time if you have it all chopped up- which I didn't. So, while it's not fast like Lean Cuisine, man it sure tastes better.

And hey! Check out who's in town! Tanya!!! I've been linking to her ebay page before, but look- she has a website too: heylookicancook.com, what a great domain name.  And, if you're in my area and have been thinking about getting one of her cookbooks (and you should) let me know and while she's here we can work something out to help save on shipping.

Happy eating.

Foodie Friday: Geo's Birthday Dinner

Well I did it! Not only did I figure out a way to make a rainbow Star Wars cake not look like a shout out to June at Disney but I successfully made a cake (from scratch), icing (from scratch) and pizza lasagna (you guessed it, from scratch) all from the foreign kitchen of our condo in South Padre Island, Texas that was lacking in several of the necessities such as a mixer, a 9 x 13 pan, and a whisk.

 But it is indeed the mother of invention, for instance, did you know you can stiffen egg whites in a blender?  Well most of the way, then you have to use a fork to whip up the final bits- but not bad for having no mixer.

Pizza Lasagna, pg 74

This dinner was by request from Geo for his special birthday meal.  I didn't have a 12 x 8 glass baking dish so instead I used a longer roasting pan, balled up foil at the ends to make it not so long and used a 4th lasagna noodle on each layer to account for the width.  It still ended up kind of separating into 4 rows, but it tasted too good to care.  I used store-bought pizza sauce instead of making my own, but when I'm back trying this in my own kitchen, I'll be sure to go totally pioneer on this thing and make it all the way from scratch ... well minus the lasagna noodles I'm sure I see no need to make them from scratch.  And I was surprise to find a can of tomatoes that includes the green peppers and onions.  The recipe calls for it and I thought it would likely be something I would never find but by golly, Del Monte to the rescue!  For the mushies, Tanya only asks you to use three fresh ones, but I'm such a fan of mushies that I sliced a small container of the fresh ones.  I also heaped the parm cheese on top because I didn't think too much parm cheese would be a bad thing.  However, when cooked it got really (and I mean really) hard.  No one at the dinner seemed to mind, but next time I'll be heaping more of the mozzarella cheese on top and only sprinkling the required 2 TBSP of parmesan.  This one served all 10 of us (probably because of the extra row) and only 1 little piece of leftovers.

Laughably Simple White Cake, pg 155

I can see how in my kitchen this would be laughably simple.  In the foreign land of condo kitchen, I'm going to call it mild-little-chuckle white cake (mainly because I had no mixer- no fault of Tanya's).  Other than still not using the unbleached flour she calls for I followed this one to the letter.  And on my! It's easy and the almond extract is key.  I don't think I will be able to bring myself to buy a box mix after this one.  I didn't have the 9 x 13 that she called for and I needed to use part of the cake batter for the Tie-Fighter part of the cake, so what I made ended up flatter than I know a 9 x 13 with all the batter would have been.  But my BIL decided it made for a better cake to icing ratio.  Normally I'd agree because normally I'm a way bigger fan of icing than cake- but with this cake, I might have to opt for more cake in the ratio.

Cream Cheese Frosting, pg 156

Last year I spent hours trying to turn store-bought white frosting into red and not pink frosting.  The year before, when I was ignorant of the strong frosting dye you can buy at Hobby Lobby, I gave up that quest and Geo had a pink cake.  But this year- I cannot explain to you the vibrant color this frosting gives.  Red was R-E-D and the blue was SOOO blue. No baby boy or valentine's day colors here.  HELLO! This frosting kicks up the color wheel into a pinwheel party.  And the taste is excellent to boot.  I did omit the pecans from the recipe because I was using it to frost a cake, but I'm really looking forward to making it nuts and all to top some oatmeal cookies.  So very yummy.


And so... drum roll please ... I now present the final outcome of ... Geo's rainbow Star Wars birthday cake

ta-da!

Foodies Friday: Yummy Sweets

Happy Foodies Friday!

I've had fun cooking with Tanya this week and enjoying one of the major components Rachel Ray was missing in her 365 - yummy sweets! Here's what I've been cooking this week:

Roasted Vegetables, pg 47
Yummmmm! I served this with the home made corn dogs (see below). I used the veggies she calls for- sweet potatoes, purple onion, and yellow squash. I forgot the asparagus, which is sad because I love asparagus, and used red potatoes because I couldn't find the new potatoes. This was wonderful- ISH even ate it! And that says a lot because he doesn't like anything that's even remotely healthy and (previously) without exception will not knowingly eat an onion.

One Dish Cinnamon Swirl, pg 56
I'm going to change this to One Dish and a bowl Cinnamon Swirl. She says in her notes that she truly only uses one dish but you need a bowl to mix the yummy cinnamon goodness (and apparently one bigger than the one I used because I made a good size mess. Oops). I do like how you butter the dish and then put the flour and dry ingredients in to mix up so the dish is buttered and floured already! What a great trick. I had run out of canola oil so I had to use the veggie oil and haven't purchased the "unbleached" flour she calls for so I'm still using the bleached and thus less healthy flour I've always used. But I'm sure the unbleached part wouldn't make this too much healthier- I mean it does have 6 TBSP of melted butter in it. ISH loved this so much his comment was "I wish everything was made out of this cinnamon swirl, except Jesus ... but then He wouldn't be in heaven and then we could do bad things because it wouldn't make Him sad because he'd be made of cinnamon swirl." I think that means he liked it. I served this with scrambled eggs, bacon, and some fresh spinach (you know, to make me feel like it was at least somewhat of a healthy dinner).

Scrambled Eggs, pg 80
LK made this for me because I was trying to wrap up some work and thus it was made without the 1/2 tsp of hot sauce (wimp). He used butter instead of canola oil (she gives you the option). These were very fluffy- more like omelets, and I say that as positive because I don't normally like scrambled eggs but these were good. LK said the hard part is I don't think she expects you to cook enough for 4 at one time. But he did and I think it turned out well, so quadruple the recipe as needed.

Homemade Corn Dogs, pg 112
Tanya has tried her hardest to make corn dogs healthy. Unfortunately, ISH caught wind of what I was making for dinner and with all the cuteness he could muster begged for "cheesy wennie corn dogs." Saying no really wasn't an option. So I used the completely unhealthy cheese hot dogs- but ISH's petition was a good one. Those cheesy wennies were excellent as corn dogs. I don't think I did the whole "tall jar" thing right because once I'd covered the first few hot dogs I couldn't get the batter all over the remaining dogs (I think I need her to come and give me a tutorial on this method especially since I actually got one hot dog stuck in the tall container I was using. Yes, I am that talented). So I emptied the remaining batter into a shallow bowl and rolled the remaining dogs around in that. Her note about wiping off the water from the dogs before putting them in the batter is spot on. I didn't do it with some and while cooking the batter didn't really stick. We had these with the roasted veggies. It felt like great "Welcome" to summer meal- just add baseball!

Chicken and Rice, pg 114
I need to ask about this one. It calls for 9 TBSP of olive oil to cook the veggies in as well as topping with 1 stick butter. But when I was done cooking it there was a lot of olive oil at the bottom of the casserole dish. Now- it could be as a result of any of the following variations to the actual recipe that I made. She calls for 2 mushrooms but I had about 5 I need to use up and she calls for 1/4 c celery but I used probably about 3/4 to 1 cup because, like the mushies, I needed to use them. But I would think that would use up more of the oil than leave too much. Here is one that could have done it- I didn't use raw chicken. I had just about a whole chicken left over from the bacon roasted chicken I made last week for my girlfriends, so I cut that cut and used it (and the bacon) instead of the whole chicken cut up that she calls for. Since the chicken was already cooked I didn't cook the casserole for the full 3- 3 1/2 hours. I cooked it closer to 2. My guess is that had I had raw chicken and cooked it for 3 hours more of the oil would have been gone. I also didn't have 2 cups of milk (I need to go to the grocery store) so having long ago learned the valuable lesson that ranch dressing cannot work as a milk substitute when cooking a casserole, I used 1 cup of milk, 1/2 a cup of evaporated milk and 1/2 cup of water. I really tasted pretty good though. I served it with sauteed spinach (one of my favorite veggies)

Simply Basic Vanilla Pudding, pg 134
An elder at a church where LK and I use to attend once said he though the reasons more marriages end in divorce today compared to his generation was the invention of instant pudding. I don't know if he's right or not but I can see how serving your hubby this yummy treat could keep him happy. My first round with this I apparently misinterrupted the boil calls for. She warns not to let it boil too much or the cornstarch will breakdown and I think I errored on the side of too cautious (there's a first time for everything) because the pudding never set- like 5 hours later never set. But when I dumped the not-setting pudding back into the pan and really let the boil happen it set up almost immediately. I topped it with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles (both of which I had on hand). I can see this one becoming a staple around these parts.

Check back next week my foodie friends as I try my hand at using Tanya's recipes to make Geo's 7th!!! birthday cake (he wants a rainbow starwars cake. Really. Rainbow colored.)

Foodie Friday: The Joy of Bacon

I've decided to move my "what have been cooking" posts that I've done once a month (except for big/special occasions) to a weekly post called Foodie Friday.

As a reminder from my post on Wednesday (or in case you're just now tuning in) I'm currently working my way through Cartwheels in the Kitchen by Tanya Turner Leckie.

Mushroom Tomato Bisque, pg 20 (sort of)
I bought all the stuff for the mushie tomato soup but when I got into the kitchen to cook I forgot which one I was going to make and started on the Tomato Basil Soup, pg 26 which doesn't seem like it would be that different- but really it is. So my mushie soup ended up with 2 medium yellow onions and 5 cloves of garlic instead of the called for 1/2 cup of onions and 1 tsp minced garlic.  These were all sauteed together before the mushies were put in (unlike what the recipe says to do) because I forgot about the mushie until the onions were already soft.  But from adding the mushies and letting them sweat and forward I completely played by the rules and I used fresh tomatoes, not canned ones (she gives the option). I served this as a starter in little ramekins when my girlfriends came over but it could have been a meal in itself with a nice salad and some crunchy bread.



Butternut Squash Casserole, pg 41 (aka "the squash goodness")I served this to my girlfriends as well and can't put into words the reception it got.  I think I could have served seconds of it for dessert and they would have been tickled pink about it.  Some of the girls said this would now be replacing sweet potato casserole for their family at Thanksgiving and all of them I think would have fought to take the leftovers home.  I made this because one of my friends can't have gluten and this doesn't have flour so it was good to go for her.  But it really comes out with a bread pudding constancy because of the cornstarch and stiffened egg whites.  Seriously. Amazing.  Oh but- for real, butter the casserole dish before putting it all in there to cook.  Whoever washes your dishes will really appreciate you for doing so (sorry about that one LK- does it help to know I tried to save a dish to wash by mixing the casserole in the dish I baked it in?)




Bacon Roasted Chicken, pg 121

I've never bought nor roasted a whole chicken before.  I've always just grabbed the rotisserie ones they sell in the deli at the grocery store-- but not any more.  This was not only easy to do but so tasty.  She says this needs to be cooked in a roasting pan, but then is kind enough to give advice on what to do if you're like me and don't have one- lay forks together on the bottom of the pan and set the chicken to cook on top of the forks.  Brilliant! There was to be 7 of us at dinner when my friends came and I didn't really know how much one whole chicken would feed, so I got two.  On one I used McCormick's mesquite seasoning that I had on hand (thought about using the citrus one I love so much but didn't know how it would go with the other things on the table- another time perhaps) and then I just used salt and pepper on the other one because I wasn't sure about the gluten content of the seasoning (and I ran out).  I cooked it at 350 and it was pretty well done in 2 1/2 hours.  Again, very moist and yummy (and I'm picky about dry chicken so that says something for sure).





Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken with White BBQ Sauce, pg 123

This recipe calls for 2 TBSP BBQ seasoning so to kill two birds with one stone I used the Memphis Style Dry Rub For Ribs recipe that she has listed in the sauces/mixes section of the book (see notes below).  She calls for "Blue Plate" mayo but I used Helmans, and in fact, I didn't tell LK the main ingredient in the white sauce was mayo because I knew he wouldn't eat it if I did (he has the same adverse reaction to ranch dressing).  But even though the main part is mayo- I didn't walk way feeling like I'd sucked down a bottle of the stuff.  The key is moderation and that the cider vinegar and lemon juice thin out the mayo and give it some kick.  Plus if you coat the chicken in the rub like I did, you're gonna need something creamy and dairy based to cool off your tongue. Whew!  I also buy the big bag of boneless/skinless chicken breasts and their pieces are normally pretty big so I cut them in half.  The bonus of that is more pieces= more places for the rub and more bacon!  I also didn't buy panko bread crumbs like she calls for because I had some basic regular crumbs on hand.  The chicken came out so moist and so very yummy.

Memphis Style Dry Rub For Ribs, pg 200
Memphis dry rub.  mmmmmmmmmmmmm -- sorry I'm back now.  After our time in Memphis I can tell you that dry rub is one of those things that will get into your system and wake in a rageful craving that will give you crazy ideas like throwing the family in the car at 2am to drive to Memphis if only for a brief taste of Corky's or the Rendezvous.  And being back in Oklahoma, I've tried to describe why it is that dry rub is so amazing but had not been able to find a recipe that closely recreates the beauty that is.  Until now.  This is it!  I used it for the Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken with White BBQ Sauce and dipped the chicken right in so I didn't keep the small amount of leftover rub- but I won't make that mistake again.  In fact I found LK in the kitchen trying to locate where the rub mix was so he could put it on some leftovers we had-- this mix, I do believe, will be made by the jarful and treated like gold around these parts.  Bonus- it's super easy to mix up more once the supplies run low!



Chocolate Velvet, pg 137
Tanya says "You'll be a QUEEN when you serve this." and a queen I was was indeed.  I made this for my girlfriends (and had a little set aside for LK and the boys too) and remember- one girl can't have gluten which really limited dessert making, or so I thought.  You could modify this and have it on a graham cracker or chocolate graham cracker crust and LK said he's like it with coffee and a wafer cookie to cut the richness, but really it was quite nice all on it's own (well with coffee, of course).  Now here is where I have to admit that something dreadful has happened in the world of my kitchen appliances- I've lost one of the beaters to my mixer.  The mixer is old and was soon to be replaced so it's not too sad, but it did make the step of mixing all the ingredients together until "it forms stiff peaks" a bit difficult.  But I did the best I could (mixing on super power high for what seems like 10 times longer than I would have with two beaters) but I can't fault the recipe for that.  I did take her advice and chill everything really well before starting so I can't attest to what travesties will occur if you don't.  It's hard to not want seconds of this for sure!

Liquid Fudge (AKA Chocolate Gravy), pg 166
This was the first step in making the Chocolate Velvet and I don't think I will ever make it again.  Why? Was it hard? No.  Did it taste bad? No hardly!  I will never be able to make this again because after scooping out the 2 cups needed for the second step, I stored the remaining fudge in the refrigerator thinking I could use it sometime over ice cream or pancakes.  But then, like a siren of the kitchen, it kept calling to me.  Telling me I deserved another taste.  Reminding me how I had cleaned the windows, or typed a sentence of an email so I surely deserved a taste.  By golly I had to eat it just to make the thing stop calling to me like that. Dangerous stuff-- and don't say I didn't warn you (okay and Tanya warns you too and I quote "It's quite addictive!")