Eating Dinner With My Family

It was like eating the fires of hell!  And, I only used half the amount of sriracha (that would be 3 tablespoons!) called for here.  I halved the recipe because it just made good sense and because some of the reviews said it was spicy.  One reviewer said she thought it was a typo, but BON APPÉTIT responded it was correct.  I can't see how.  I like spice, we all like spice, but we all were unhappy with the heat level.  I think the reviewer's suggestion to switch the amounts (or at least the proportions) would result in a superior dish.  I didn't have head on shrimp, but unless those shrimp heads had the magical ability to remove capsasin from the dish, I don't see how that significantly altered the dish.  At least it was easy :/.  So this is "fixable" but I doubt I will try. Sriracha-Buttered Shrimp 2 Tbl butter 6 Tbl Sriracha 3 Cloves minced garlic 1 Lb head-on shrimp 1 Tbl lemon zest 2 Tbl minced fresh mint 2 Tbl minced fresh ba...

I forgot to put the basil in the filling, so we put it on top. Meh!  I didn't read the reviews of this dish because it was from Giada De Laurentiis  and her recipes almost never disappoint, this one wasn't so great for me.  I did add some garlic to the Béchamel and I think the sauce was ok, but there was a ton of it for the amount of pasta and the cannelloni was just alright.  I didn't pop for the really expensive crab that I would have had to shell myself because we are covering it with at ton of sauce and that would have been a waste, but I didn't by the cheapest crab either.  It was an expensive plate of blah.  I wouldn't mind playing around with the dish,  so I deem it fixable.  I think loosing the seafood and replacing with veggies would make me like it more.  So we will see if I ever get around to playing with the fixable recipes;). I did forget to put the basil inside the filling, so we put it on top.  The basil was needed!...

I saw an eggplant burger on 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate' and thought it sounded like a great idea. They gave you an idea if what was in it, but not the recipe. I decided for meatless Monday, I would take a stab at it. The result?  Tasty and fixable, but the "patty" was more like a paste and didn't stay together.  Even the boy, who is not a fan if eggplant, thought it tasty. His recommendation, which I think is brilliant, was to add some smokiness.  I think next time, I would mix in a drop or two if liquid smoke, but this time he added some smoked salt. I would also add garlic next time. What I'm not sure of is how to get it to retain its shape: more bread crumbs in the patty, breading the patty, more cheese in the patty (maybe even a cheese coating?) or possibly deep frying:)?  So while this tasted good, it is still a "fixable" recipe. Eggplant Veggie Burger 2 good size eggplants diced about 6 cups 2 scallion slice 1 tablespoon of olive oil ...

I don't know what to say about this dish.  Ok I do, it was way too salty to start with!  I feared it would be when I saw that there was a Lipton onion soup mix and stock reduced a bit to make the sauce. Now I adore French onion soup, so I was super excited to try it and I do like salty so I tried to not dislike it, and while I didn't love it, I liked it way better than the boys did.  I am deeming it fixable, but as is. it's a 2.5-3.  To begin with I would either use water instead of stock or add a lot more cream to tame the salt monster. I used Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella as Swiss is what goes on French onion soup.  I also didn't measure the cheese, i just put a liberal amount of cheese over the top. I think it's a cool idea that needs a tweak. (Apologies to its creator!)  I would love to try this again because I think it could be outstanding.  I hate to say anything uncomplimentary, and it was still pretty yummy despite my soaring blood pr...

The war with my kitchen continues apace.  Tonight, I kill off one of the worst offences I have committed by getting rid of the frozen meatballs I bought.  To do so, I pick this recipe.  I wanted to try this recipe, but I knew we were going to be unhappy.  We adore our chimichuri sauce and have never tasted it's equal.  But, I want to try every recipe, and in all fairness, we haven't looked too far beyond our chimichuri recipe.  Were we disappointed?  Yes, but not horribly so.  It wasn't the magical sauce we know and love, but it wasn't bad.  I personally found it too much oil and vinegar to herbs, and I pureed it rather than just mix the ingredients as originally called for.  I think I would like try this with my personal recipe, perhaps making it with all parsley versus the half parsley, half cilantro I normally do.  The boys liked them well enough too.  They liked them better than I did.  They would be happy to hav...

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...

I decided to make this one tonight because I had leftover feta from the gyros.  My family weren't the happiest since I am the only one who like artichokes and olives, but they managed.  On the plus side, the chicken was really juicy.  On the down side, the sauce was odd.  I would have liked the sauce to be less chunky.  It was like eating a artichoke salad on your chicken. I would also have liked more olives. The flavors were nice, but I think a finer texture would be better. I'm not sure how a puree would work, but minced should.  It makes for a lot more work, but I wouldn't make this again unless I did some "fixing," so I put it in the fixable file.  The whole dinner cost about $12.  Not too bad. Chicken Breasts With Artichoke-Olive Sauce 1/4 c  plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 3 T  fresh lemon juice 2 t  finely grated lemon zest 3    garlic cloves,minced 1 T  choppe...

Well this dish was one enormous pain in the butt from start to finish.  It was pretty tasty at the end but not pretty and not really worth all the effort.  I put it in the fixable file.  It is from a top chef winner so I'm sure with a professionals skill it would we easier and perfect but in my less adept hands it was just a hot mess.  This was supposed to be yesterday's dish, but when I looked over the recipe at three, (normally plenty of time to prep and make the dish) I realized that there were a good 5 hours of prep before I could even start the final dish, so I make the stock and refrigerate it and make tonight's scheduled dish yesterday.  Of the 9 "cakes" I made, only 2 resembled a cake and not a bowl of pasta.  I know this means I made them a bit too big. (there was to be 12) However, I could not get them to hold any sort of cake shape and the only solution was to use an egg ring I had and press the cake mixture into it and lift the ring.  ...

Pretty? Yes.  Labor intensive? Yes. Fattening? Yes. Delicious? Maybe.  I am pretty annoyed that I popped for the expensive crab from the seafood department from Publix, ($26) and the crab tasted weird.  I did get it in a container as opposed to the legs in the case, but I didn't want to have to crack crabs as part of making the dinner and I figured this would taste better than the canned stuff.  I think the canned would have been better.  I think this combination of butter, eggs and crab would have been a stellar meal, but the crab here really killed it. I think I will put this in to the fixable file, but I don't know when I will make it again. Maybe one day? Buttery Crab Bread Pudding 10    ounces lump crabmeat,picked over 1 T  finely chopped parsley 1 T  finely chopped chives 2 t  fresh lemon juice Pinch of cayenne pepper Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1    unsalted butter,softened, plus more ...

Well this one is going in to the fixable file.  The peanut crusted fish was quite good and the rice vinegar was really nice with it.  We enjoyed the ginger and scallion topping, but not enough to make it worth the massive labor involved in making the matchsticks. It was tasty, and it does need a sauce or vegetable garnish, but fine matchsticks are a pain in the butt and take a lot of time. We want to play with it but most likely will not make it in this form again. I think next time cashews;) We served it with an Asian inspired vegetable and noodle soup. Peanut-Crusted Tilapia With Frizzled Ginger And Scallions 1/3 c  vegetable oil 3    medium scallions,cut lengthwise into fine matchsticks 1    2x1-1/4-inch knob of fresh ginger,peeled and cut into fine matchsticks Kosher salt 2    Tbs. all-purpose flour 1    large egg 1/2 c  salted peanuts,finely chopped 2    skinless tilapia fille...

This is a dish from Food & Wine that didn't wow us.  I think the flavors were ok. (really spicy!) However there was something missing.  I swear, based on the picture of it on line that the recipe really calls for crushed tomatoes.  The gravy was more of a soup too.  I will file it under fixable, but probably won't work on it.  I enjoyed it more as I ate it but still eh. :/ Chickpeas In Spicy Tomato Gravy 8    garlic cloves,chopped 2    jalapeños,chopped 1 two-inch piece of fresh ginger,peeled and chopped 1/4 c  vegetable oil 3    onions,cut into 1/4-inch dice 2 T  ground cumin 1 T  ground coriander 3/4 t  cayenne pepper 1 1/2 c  canned diced tomatoes 2 fifteen-ounce cans chickpeas drained and rinsed 2 c  water Salt 2 T  cilantro leaves 1. In a mini food processor, combine the garlic, jalapeos and ginger and process to a paste. In a large nonstick skillet, heat t...

I made many more adjustments to this recipe than I normally do, (or like to do) to a first time I make a recipe.  First of all, I want to try it the way the recipe states because there is a reason the creator made it that way.  Also, even if it is something I think I wouldn't prefer, I want to see what works and doesn't for me. Well I don't do veal, so it was 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork. I am not a big fan of radicchio, and at $6 for a small head, I will just do double of my hydroponic butter lettuce.  The mint had died in the herb garden so none to garnish with, so I used cilantro. Since I wasn't following the recipe anyways, I made a quick dipping sauce similar to a Thai peanut sauce, but I used tahini.  The sauce needs work, but I think it will be a nice addition to the dish.  I also added some sliced cucumbers and onions so it would have a bit more veggies so I wouldn't have to make some to go with it.  I served it with plain white jasmine rice. I think it wa...

I was looking for a recipe to use up the leftover Gorgonzola from yesterday.  I thought this looked interesting and it is from a chef I like. I enjoyed it, but I tend to pick apart new recipes and this one could have used work imo.  I thought the bites that had a bit of everything were great, but the way the squash was in chunks on top, made that intermittent.  I think it would be great with a small adjustment. Next time, I would mash the squash and make that paste the "sauce" on the pizza.   I also didn't cook it the way she said to in the recipe.  I did my usual pizza cooking by heating the stone in the oven at 500.  Then putting the rolled out dough on the hot stone and then putting the toppings on it and baking at the bottom of oven at 500 for 5-10 minutes.  (tonight it was for 8) It is still an interesting dish worth making. Roasted Acorn Squash And Gorgonzola Pizza 1    (1- pound) acorn squash 2 T...

Tonight I force my son to reevaluate his stance on Brussels sprouts.  I have already converted my husband when I sliced them thin, sauteed them in a little bit of bacon fat and olive oil, and added some sauteed garlic, chopped tomatoes and a splash of balsamic.  Tonight's dinner is something that I think could be great, but the dish we ate tonight tasted of one thing only: Gorgonzola.  If there were double the Brussels sprouts and half the cheese, I think it would be outstanding.  Also I wouldn't sprinkle any cheese over the top.  We thought some hot sauce would help. It didn't; it made it worse. My son, who entered the house when I was roasting the Brussels sprouts and asked "What STINKS?", did declare at dinner that while it stunk while cooking, it was much better than he thought.  I will count it as a success in my mission despite the fact he really couldn't taste much of the sprouts.  The mental battle is half the food battle so next time we have t...