Monday, February 8, 2010

(28) Triple Cheese Garlic Bread

I will say that I did not make this recipe as written, but even still, there was no cheese flavor AT ALL and no distinct garlic flavor. It was tasty and had a good texture though. I'm not sure I would make it again, but I did want to review it and maybe revisit it to tweak sometime in the near future. I was out of white flour (I know, for real?!) so I used 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour.

Also, recipes for bread machine breads always say to put ingredients in using the machine's instructions. My machine tells me to put in liquids, dry ingredients, then yeast last. The handbook also mentions that if you've got salt, don't put that near the yeast because salt can prematurely activate the yeast. Good to know!

Here's what the bread looked like when it came out of the bread machine. Hello!? What the heck happened to the top?!




Triple Cheese Garlic Bread


1 cup water
1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese
2 tablespoons margarine, softened
3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast

Place ingredients in bread pan in order listed for your machine. This makes a 1.5 lb loaf

Sunday, February 7, 2010

(27) Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry

The key to an easy stir-fry experience is having everything chopped and ready to go when you put the first ingredient in the pan. This required a little chopping, but wasn't too difficult (overall) to make. The lemon flavor is dominant, but not overwhelming. We both really liked this!!

I served this over brown rice and it was a nice hearty serving size. Add some eggrolls and you're in business!!



Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry


Spiked with lots of zesty lemon, this delectable chicken stir-fry has a colorful mix of snow peas, carrots and scallions. But feel free to substitute other thinly sliced vegetables, such as bell peppers or zucchini. Serve with: Rice noodles or brown rice.

Yield: 4 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each
Source: Eating Well Magazine, May/June 2009

1 lemon
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
10 ounces mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 cup diagonally sliced carrots , (1/4 inch thick)
2 cups snow peas , (6 ounces), stems and strings removed
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces, white and green parts divided
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1. Grate 1 teaspoon lemon zest and set aside. Juice the lemon and whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice with broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs. Add mushrooms and carrots to the pan and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add snow peas, scallion whites, garlic and the reserved lemon zest. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Whisk the broth mixture and add to the pan; cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add scallion greens and the chicken and any accumulated juices; cook, stirring, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Per serving:
225 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 63 mg Cholesterol; 14 g Carbohydrates; 27 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 448 mg Sodium; 796 mg Potassium

(24 - 26) 3 recipes not worth typing up

Boo. I hate that. I am not sure I'd call them stinkers, per se. But they are not worth posting the recipe for....

Cajun Shrimp Dip
- The flavor on this dip was GREAT, but the consistency was like clam chowder. WAAAY too runny. It would be great on fettucine or over rice, though! Love the idea, but it needs some tweaking.

Light & Easy Lasagna


- The homemade sauce for this was AWESOME, but the filling was 'eh'. The recipe just had you put the ricotta in without mixing an egg in. My head told me to just add one anyway, but I didn't and regretted it. We will certainly eat this, but it needs some tweaking before I share it.

Buttermilk Pralines

- Ok, the flavor on these are OFF THE HOOK. Insanely good.... But the consistency was kind of grainy. Maybe I ovecooked them on the stove? Or maybe they're just supposed to taste like that?! Someone? Anyone?!

You know that old saying?!

The saying is something along the lines of throw spaghetti to the wall and see what sticks!? Well that's the kind of day I'm having in the kitchen! So far we have:

- Queso dip prepped for tomorrow. This will be good. Love this stuff.

- Lemon Stirfry - this was really good (I ate a serving for lunch)

- The 3 Cheese Bread - first of all, I am out of flour?! WHAT?! So I decided to try wheat flour. Then I forgot to click the bread machine in place  so it just sat there spinning for like 20 minutes. DUH. It came out in a mighty weird shape, but it was tasty. But it wasn't cheesy AT ALL. What the heck!?!

- Cajun Shrimp Dip - the flavor on this is AWESOME but it's like soup :( Bummer.

- Lasagna is in the oven. Im holding out hope for this one. It's the most gigantic lasagna I've ever made. We'll see how it turns out. It's about a 70/30 shot on this one.

I can see how cooking is frustrating to people I love doing it and am not too worried about the whole trial-and-error aspect of it, but it still stinks to have things go wrong! Stay tuned for reviews...

2/7/10 - This week's menu

I have a busy week this week! We're gearing up for the opera I'm singing in, so I have rehearsal every night this week (except Friday). I'm planning on doing a ton of cooking today and then I'm taking the day off on Thursday, so I will do a little more then!

Today's Cooking:
The Superbowl Meal....
- Baked Cajun Shrimp Dip
- Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
- Green Beans w/Remoulade
- Buttermilk Pralines and maybe some homemade vanilla ice cream!!

The rest of today's work....
* The stir-fry meal from last week that I never made:
- Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry
- Brown Rice
- Egg rolls

* An Italian Meal:
- Light and Easy Lasagna (I'm adapting this from The Chicago Tribune's Good Eating cookbook)
- Salad
- Triple Cheese and Garlic Bread

* Some spicy cheese dip for a work function tomorrow
* Some homemade chocolate chip cookies for a work function tomorrow (and a few for us too!)

Thursday:
- I have a ham that Im going to cook
- The Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese
- Steamed Broccoli

Friday:
- Since it's my only night off (and it's payday!) I think we'll go out for a family dinner. Maybe some sushi or Thai! YUM!

What's cooking in your house this week?! Please share!!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Decisions, Decisions

Ok, I think I finally figured out what the heck our Cajun meal is going to look like. I REALLY want to make a King Cake, but realistically (1) I don't bake very often/well (2) we're trying to eat light and (3) I don't have a ton of extra time. So here's the lowdown on Sunday's menu...

Appetizer
- Baked Cajun Shrimp Dip

Main Meal
- Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
- Green Beans w/Remoulade

Dessert
- Buttermilk Pralines and maybe some homemade vanilla ice cream!!

Do I need bread with the main meal? Cornbread? French bread? Rolls? I'm open for suggestions...

So is anybody else making a special Superbowl meal in the works!? I'd love to know what you're cooking!!

Here's another one for your files...

Mirliton!!?

Lord, I cook A LOT, and I feel like I know a lot of random ingredients, but in my continued hunt for Cajun recipes, I came across a few calling for Mirlitons...

So it's off to google I go. Love google!!


"Mirlitons (pronounced MEL-lee-tawns or MER-lee-tawns) are a type of squash found growing wild and in backyards throughout southern Louisiana. They're pale green, with a delicate flavor and a large, dense central seed. In other parts of the country, they're called chayote squash."


And there you have it. A big green fist, I mean SQUASH.
Now back to recipe hunting....