Eating Dinner With My Family

Ok, I am going to be merciless on this recipe.  I discovered, after I bought the ingredients for it, that it was from Rachael Ray.  I can't stand her, and if you would like to read why, you can check out the post Tilapia With Balsamic Browned Butter And Creamy Farfalle With Bacon, Tomato to hear me rant about her:).  Well, I decide to make it work.  It looks pretty plain, so I decide to make a Parmesan, garlic and sage cream sauce to go with it.  I had some fresh sage on hand, and I remember loving a pork saltimbocca I had as a seasonal special at Stonewood that  had a similar cream sauce on it.  So while the devil lady's chicken tenders are cooking, I decide to improvise a sauce.  The chicken was ok, we guess, we were too busy slathering it with the uber tasty sauce I made.  (I know it's a bit immodest, but that wasn't my summation, it was my husbands;)  I have an additional dig to make at Ms. Ray, the recipe, which I copied exactly ca...

Update:   I had the eggplant, hummus, pickle and tomato/cucumber salad on a pita the next day for lunch and I loved it.  Maybe it was that it was all cold, or the sit over night melded the flavors of the salad,, but I thought it was a million times better the next day. I had such high hopes for this dish.  So may of my favorite things are in it, and it wasn't bad, but the consensus around the table was that it was a 3.  I even went out and bought these Mediterranean pickles I had at a local Mediterranean restaurant to try and make it how it should be.  My issues, since it is my blog and I was the one poised to love it, were that it was a bit soggy, and therefore sloppy, and I thought the potato was useless.  I wouldn't bother with it next time.  I didn't make my own pita and I got the only "sturdiness" available, so that may be part of the issue.  There was flavor, but it didn't deliver like I had hoped.  That aside, we are spoiled ...

The family consensus is that this is a 4 or a 5 depending on who you ask.  For me personally it is a 4.5 that could be bumped up to a five because of it ease of preparation and economical price tag.  This dish and a salad would cost about $10.  It would depend on where you are and how inexpensively you could get the ingredients.  For  example, I got the Publix goat cheese that was exactly a 1/4 lb and it was $3.99 and the most pricey ingredient in the whole thing.  I got sliced salami because I didn't really read the recipe ahead a time, but it worked fine. I do think cubes would be better texturally.  This recipe was one of those delicious yet easy ones that made my son ask to have a college cookbook file created on the computer.  DONE!  I also think it would be a great thing to give friends that are setting off to college.  The only deviation was that I had an open carton of beef stock and I used that.  I also used half ...

Bear with me, the recipe is worth it!  A while back, I found this great site called Foodbuzz.  It was like facebook for food bloggers.  It helped us connect with each other, trade recipes and help promote others doing what we do.  Then Foodbuzz decided to take a perfectly great thing and ruin it.  It is now kind of a newsletter of what's hot right now. :/  Why am I ranting about this now, many months later?  Well, this recipe was from a fellow blogger and I noted the web address through Foodbuzz.  That page no longer exists and I can't find the recipe with a Google search.  I really tried and went through pages and pages of the search.  So, I can't give credit where credit is due and provide a link for the source of the recipe.  If through some quirk of fate, the person who posted this or someone who knows the person who posted this, reads this, PLEASE let me know so I can use a link to your recipe.  OK!  Blogger stuf...

Well this one I had to change up a bit.  My husband picked this weeks dinners;  I had been avoiding this one only because I was worried that I couldn't find the pickled plums.  I did find some at a local speciality food store, but they were stuffed with cheese.  Not sure they were very pickled, despite being called that.  They looked like they were in oil.  Searching on the internet only tuned up umeboshi plums.  And a further look at those turned up that they are really apricots and seasoned a bit.  As umeboshi weren't specified, I can only assume that they were not the ones that should have been used, but they were the only I could find to buy and if I made them myself, just how should I season the pickles.  (I eventually found several recipes for pickled plums)  I also don't do veal, so I used 1 cup beef and 1 cup pork.  So, all those changes most likely contributing to this dish being a 3 for all of us.  It was odd at first...

While I happened to love this dish, there were some issues to note and some of the family weren't as enthusiastic.  This was a quick and tasty meal if you keep one thing in mind, the last ingredient line is the only sauce/ seasoning that this dish really has.  Without it, there is just a little bit of soy sauce and sesame oil.  I had a fermented pepper paste. (see picture below) that I had gotten for my friend's Korean Pork BBQ.  I seem to remember looking up 'spicy Korean red bean paste' when I first got this recipe and my stuff came up as an image, so I used that and it made it wonderful.  My husband thought with out the sauce it was a 2 and with it a 3.  I thought with the sauce a 4.  My blog, so I call it a 4:D.  The most amazing thing about tonight's dinner, MY BOY LIKES SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS!!!  This from the kid who gags at the thought of mushrooms.  He has enjoyed their flavor when they are ground up in something, but has always sai...

My MIL is here tonight, so my darling 11 year old son is cooking again tonight.  He did most of this, but he was getting spattered a lot during the sauteing of the chicken, so my very tall husband, with his face much further from the 'spitting cauldron of burning oil', took over for some of that.  But, other than that, my son made this by himself.  I offered him the post, but I figured I would do some, and if he wanted to add to it, he could.  This was a very tasty dish.  If I were to nit pick anything, and it was in no way related to flavor, it was that there is no mention of provolone in the ingredients, but at the end of the recipe it said put the cheese over it and let melt.  The cheese wasn't necessary, as the sauce was so very good, but we put it on anyways.  The chicken was tender and yummy, but the sauce stole the show for me.  The boys couldn't decide which they liked better and my MIL asked for the recipe so she could make it f...

Well first of all, I know what you are thinking.  It is meatless Monday yet you can see, clear as day, the word 'ham' in the title of the recipe.  It's true, I have relented on keeping this Monday meatless.  I have a good reason.  My husband is on vacation starting today and I asked him to pick out 7 recipes from the to try file since he will be here for dinner all week.  Only after he chose did I realize that there were no meatless recipes.  Rather than have him look again, I figured vacation week we could splurge.  I picked this one for today since it has very little meat.  On to the dinner... Tonight's dinner was truly a family meal.  My son chopped parsley (among other things) under the supervision and tutelage of my husband, while I let the 2 yr old drop ears of corn into the pot of boiling water using some very long tongs and me directing.  She was actually really good at it.  She even did a few by herself....

This was another meal from Ten Dollar Dinners .  I don't know if my veggies were particularly large, but we had lots of veggies, and that made me very happy.  I really liked the dish and it was easy to make as long as you have a mandoline or a v slicer to make short work of the julienne.  It was ready in a little over a half an hour start to eating.  I didn't think it needed anything to go with it, but I put my son's portion over some rice.  There was a lot of liquid in the parchment and it is a shame to waste so some sort of starch would be a good thing.  I would have liked more of a sauce, but I am not complaining.  My husband, who insisted he wasn't hungry, ate the whole thing;).  I thought this dish a winner for so many reasons.  It is inexpensive, healthy,easy, fast and most important, tasty.  If you don't have a mandoline or a v slicer, it is a great addition to your kitchen.  It makes paper thin cuts that are necessary f...

Yum, yum and more yum!  As I was making this,, I was thinking that it was more work than the average family would want to put into dinner.  I am thinking specifically of the time to quickly boil the tomatoes to peel them easily,the confit of tomatoes and the fairly long time of stirring the pasta to make it like risotto.  I was also convinced that the effort would not pay off in enough tasty dividends to be worth making it if you weren't obsessed with cooking like me.  WRONG!  I loved it.  It is going into the "mom's favorites' file.  The boy enjoyed it but is isn't going in his all time favorites file.  The baby girl like it too.  My husband is working, so he will have to try it reheated.  If you prep the tomatoes ahead of time, it would help at dinner time rush.  I also started the confit the tomatoes first, but they cooked as I was making the pasta and had the boy chop them right before I was ready for them....

I had bought some baby potatoes that were bogo, and I had some cucumbers from my Front Porch Pickings basket.  This seemed like a tasty recipe that would fit the bill nicely.  It also is a perfect summer recipe in that so much of it is on the grill.  The only aspect of the recipe that was any real work was making a paste of the garlic and mincing the anchovy fine enough to dissolve into the vinaigrette.  I loved this dish; a recipe of the week for sure.  The boys loved it too.  The daughter decided to eat early and did not partake in the dinner but I think she would have loved it too.  I sit here too full of fabulous food to want to rave about it:).  I followed the recipe exactly; for the herbs for the salad I used 3/4 chives and 1/4 parsley. YUM!   Oh and I did double the time I boiled the potatoes because they were really raw after 5 minutes.  I loved that this dish was full of color.  (always good for you as long is it isn'...

I made this dish for me.  It if full of things that one or more of my family members don't care for.  However, I had the eggplant and the zucchini from my Front Porch Pickings basket and I had this in the to try file, and I really wanted to try it.  It was pretty easy to make.  The only things that may be difficult for one when making it really depends on the individual.  Are you uncomfortable with a knife?  Well there is a good bit of easy chopping.  The grill can also be a pain if you have charcoal, since that adds to the time involved.  (or if like us, the gas ran out half way through the cooking time:)  The good news, was it was wonderful!  Everyone liked it.  My son, who usually gags when eating eggplant loved it.  (he didn't realize that there was eggplant in it until near the end of the meal;)  It is a really nice, loaded with veggies, dish that pleased everyone.  I did alter the recipe only a tiny bit....

I decided to make something up for the chicken legs I got for my boy.  (he loves drumsticks)  Since I was planning to make the Thai Bok Choy recipe tonight, I opted to make it similar to the chicken and 40 cloves but seasoned with five spice and end it with a quick broil with hoisin sauce to make a glaze.  I am not a fan of meat on a bone and I thought it was pretty good.  The boys loved it!  It was very easy but it does take some time.  It is inactive time and you could leave it unattended for a bit. (like to pick up a child;)  If you aren't familiar with five spice powder, it does take some getting used to.  The cinnamon particularly makes me think of desserts and it can be odd the first time you try it. (or first few times)  Once you are prepared for it, it makes for an amazing dish. The hoisin, one of my favorite Asian sauces, is perfect for glazes.  It is thick and a little sweet. If you are making the bok choy only,...

My son got to pick a recipe from the 'to try' file, and I was very excited to try this one.  It is from Top Chef winner Ilan Hall and I saw it on 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate'.  I had a hard time finding the recipe online.  I think I finally got it off a youtube video. (that's why no link)  I, personally think that bacon wrapped things (I'm thinking scallops in particular) never have the bacon done enough to my liking.  So I changed the recipe a bit, but wish I hadn't.  We decided to lightly cook the bacon first.  My husband thought we should leave them in longer than I did, and as I hate floppy bacon I thought he was right.  We should have wrapped them raw.  I think the cooking time would have made them crispy enough.  As for the schmaltz, I didn't have any so I used 1 tbsp bacon fat and 1 tbsp olive oil.  They were yummy.  I think all bacon fat would have been too much.  Next time, I would like to make them bite ...

My daughter requested Mac and Cheese today.  Now, while I love how cheap and easy a box of mac is, it is a salty chemical cocktail I would rather avoid.  Problem two is I don't like baked mac and cheese.  (maybe with Velveeta but again chemicals)  I turn to Alton Brown.  I remembered seeing him make a mac and cheese version for those kids who like the boxed stuff.  This is that recipe.  Now it is better than baked as far as I am concerned, and very tasty.  It isn't harder than making the box stuff.  (really, maybe only a bit more because you beat eggs, and maybe a couple minutes more)  It cost more than  the box, but then again you get what you pay for.  My only complaint was that it was a bit too runny at first, and reheated it was too thick.  The runny may have been caused by not draining the pasta well enough.  I thought I did, but I was also rushing.  My kids loved it and so did my husband. Stove Top Mac-...

Tonight my husband picked a recipe I have been wanting to try but was concerned that, not only will the mushrooms be a huge issue for my son, but that I would ruin a perfectly delicious fillet by dicing it up.  While we all liked it a lot, both of my predictions were somewhat true.  My son did realize there were mushrooms and was annoyed but thank goodness for surly (pre)teen syndrome because he ate them without a fuss just to prove me wrong.  The welzones were tasty, but I had a second small fillet that I didn't need for the welzones and I decided to broil that to a lovely rare-medium rare and once we tasted that, it made the medium well to well meat in the welzone pale in comparison.  Before we had the beef at the rarer temp, we all loved the welzones.  The recipe is from the Food Network show.  What Would Brian Boitano Make .  We had made one one other of his recipes, Missed Putt Pizza, and it was very good. And I have to love him for...

It isn't a 'pretty' sauce;) This recipe we first made years ago.  Like ten years ago!  It was originally from Eating Well or Cooking Light or one of the healthy food magazines.  We liked it quite a lot back then and it was one of the only ways we enjoyed salmon.  Needless to say, it was when we weren't as interested in food and didn't have a diverse range of foods we enjoyed.  I think the last time we made this was almost 7 years ago.  Why it seemed to fall out of vogue with us then is a mystery.  I decided to drag it out and try it again. (Now that we have learned more about food)  Sadly, it is not a wow recipe.  It was good, but not great.  That being said, if you want an easy, and fairly fast recipe for salmon this one will fit that bill nicely. Also, since we weren't fans of salmon then, if you aren't a fan now, it may work for you.  Kids do look askance at its vivid green color.   I knew 20 minutes were going to be too...

Tonight we have a guest blogger, my son.(he is 11)  He had a reading project that included a creative aspect.  I'm happy and proud that he chose the culinary one.  He made the entire diner himself.  I assisted only with advice and the occasional sous chef duty.  He chose the meal, chopped, put things in and out of the oven and got the occasional grease spatter that happens when you prepare a meal.  I loved watching him work and am so amazed (but not surprised) at how well he did.  I am giving him the post tonight; I am only writing this intro and typing in the ingredients for the  recipe. Casserole Sauteed Pork Chops with Mustard, Cream and Tomato Sauce [Cotes de porc Sauce Nenette] Ingredients 6 Pork Chops 1" thick (we made only 4) 3-4 Tbsp Rendered Pork Fat, Lard or Cooking Oil (we used bacon fat) 2 Tbsp Butter 2 Cloves Garlic, halved Salt, Pepper and Thyme 1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream 1/4 salt pinch pepp...

In round two of my clean out the pantry ala "Chopped" I decided to hit a freezer and 3 pantry items.  I know I have said this before but I really need to stop shopping like I am stocking for Armageddon.  I like fresh food.  I have had 2 of the pantry items since before I started this blog, and they weren't going to get used unless I made a concerted effort to use up all that garbage that I, in a fit of insanity, bought.  Well I was prepared to skip posting a recipe tonight, as I was totally throwing things together like some mad potion maker and praying for the best.  I was sure I was skipping the post when I forgot the order of operations I had planned out.  Well, what's that saying from Star Trek TNG?  "Luck... protects fools, small children and ships named Enterprise"  As I am not a small child, I am hoping that the universe mistook me for a ship because I think the end dish was wonderful and I feel really lucky considering.  I h...

The whole is greater that the sum of it's parts.  That is so true of this dish that was miles better than the original dishes.  So I had all these leftover cornbread muffins that were quickly going stale.  I love dressing/stuffing (or savoury bread puddings) but not cornbread dressing,  but it is the only thing I can think of to do with them and I don't want them to go to waste.  So I look around my fridge trying to use up things that are just taking up space.  I was keeping the clutter under control there for a while but they are winning this round. (for now!)  In addition to the muffins, I have collard greens that need to be used, the pot liquor from cooking the greens and like two bags of celery.  I have my husband pick up some raw sausage patties since I know the little bit of bacon in the muffins won't be enough meat for the boys.  This is one of those dishes that you just can't get enough of.  My husband said, and I quote, "that wa...