Trying to use the cookbooks
 

I made a resolution to try more recipes this year - mainly 1-2 from every cookbook I have. I haven't been doing that well on them, but I have a hankering to cook! In the past week, I have made 2 new recipes and they were both very good!

Since I don't have all the recipes available, I didn't want to put this in the recipe thread. But I did want to share and I thought you guys would enjoy the foray into trying new things. Right? :blush:

Last week - Southwest King Ranch Casserole.
I actually pasted it from online for you guys :D. I think it would be better to mix everything up and put it in the tortillas like enchiladas and pour the salsa verde over top. I think I am going to do that next time.

(From Whole Foods Cookbook)

Filling:

3 Tablespoons canola oil (I used 1.5 TBSP)
½ cups diced yellow onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded cooked boneless chicken
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (I omit this)

Casserole:

2 cups grated monterey jack cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used reduced fat pepper jack cheese)
2 cups bottled tomatillo sauce (I used a simple salsa verde)
8 corn tortillas
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup chopped green chiles, drained

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook until translucent. Blend in spices. Add chicken and heat through. Remove from heat and add in cilantro.

On bottom of an 8x8 ½ inch pan spread 1 cup of tomatillo sauce. Top with 4 tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Spread half the sour cream over tortillas. Add ½ cup of remaining tomatillo sauce, 1 ½ cups of the chicken filling, 1 cup of cheese and one half of the green chilies. Top with 4 more tortillas and repeat.

Bake about 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

This week was Garlic Parmesan Orzo. It is fantastic. I made the whole recipe, but am only using half servings as a side dish. That leaves me with 16 :eek: servings of this dish! Luckily I think it will freeze well. And who doesn't like pasta, garlic and cheese?

From Taste of Home cookbook

Ingredients

* 2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
* 3 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1/2 cup butter, cubed
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup 2% milk (I used skim)
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I just threw some dried in)
* 1 teaspoon salt (I did this to taste)
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper (I think I forgot the pepper)

Directions

* Cook orzo according to package directions; drain. In a large skillet, saute garlic in butter until tender. Add the orzo, Parmesan cheese, milk, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Yield: 8 servings.

Up this weekend are:
- Potato Pizza from the New Vegetarian Cuisine
- Creamy Goat Cheese Risotto from the New Vegetarian Cuisine
- Chicken Paprika from the Joy of Cooking

Two, almost three veggie dishes - I don't think I've ever seen that on the internet before! The Potato Pizza sounds interesting.

Aha. Today I learned that orzo is another name for risoni.
Thanks!

SG - Never heard it called that before. Learn something new every day :)

Rhianne - There was a point that I was going to do vegetarian a couple days a month, so my sister in law and brother bought me a couple books for that. The other stuff is more of a side than anything. Plus I will usually eat orzo in any way or form :D

Bbro, either of these would be totally fine; please feel free. The driver behind that thread is whatever you find you quite like -- or even think you would.

Rizoni makes sense -- isn't orzo the Greek for it?

Free associating: Mildred honey, did you use dinosaur-shapes pasta for the pastitsio again?

I made the potato pizza last night. It was pretty good, but I didn't get to it until after it cooled. I just wasn't hungry and wanted to work out.

Some changes I made before tasting
- They didn't have the single serving pizza crust that I used, so I got a big one and used 1.5 of the ingredients.
- I left the tomato sauce the same - I don't like a lot of sauce
- I mixed the seasonings with the olive oil
- Sliced the onions thin instead of dicing
- Used spinach instead of arugula - thought it was spinach for some reason
- Use mozzarella instead of blue cheese - don't like blue
- Forgot about the tomatoes

Things I would change next time
- Remember the tomatoes
- Mix the oil, seasonings and sauce all together
- Try it with feta or goat cheese
- Put some salt on the potatoes and probably not cook them as long. They came out a bit over cooked

Arugula is what we call Rocket!
This thread just keeps giving...

Not sure I could handle potato pizza.
Put it in beaten egg and make it a Spanish Omlette and I'd be there.
It's great that you're experimenting though.
As soon as I have some money again I am definitely going to try the candied yams in the recipe thread. The Sweet Potato (Yam) Souffle went down very well.

I think I knew that about the arugula vs rocket. I think you could only eat it if you love potatoes....and I do :D

There was a place back home that made a pierogie pizza. Mashed potatoes and onions with butter and topped with cheddar cheese - to die for during lent!

An excellent idea to check the cookbooks and start cooking :) I know too many folks, myself definitely included, who buy cookbooks and look at the pretty pictures and dream of the tasty and then put them on a shelf to gather dust. Got plans for something next yet?

I've got my new user title, thanks.

Surprisingly, potato, sweet potato and pumpkin on a pizza with fetta are really good. (Thanks you've just reminded me about one of the gourmet pizzas from the cafe near where I used to live. Might have to make a trip up there and grab one).

That is totally me. But I love to cook, so it is fun for me. The only part that sucks is that I am cooking for myself. :rolleyes: It is also a challenge because I am doing weight watchers and need to make sure the new recipes can fit into a reasonable day.

Well, the list above says goat cheese risotto and paprika chicken. I still may stick to that, but I think I found another chicken recipe that will go much better with the risotto - Basil and Prosciutto stuffed chicken. Although if I go that route, I will have to figure out what to do with the sour cream in my fridge!:eek:

Beef Stroganoff over whole wheat noodles?

That's a good idea. Maybe I can find a recipe and use another cookbook! Thanks!

This weekend I made White Chocolate and Macadamia nut cookies from one of my cookie cookbooks. They were good, but I had way too many, so I brought some from work.

I am making the Risotto and chicken tonight. I will make sure to take pictures and post them.

Ok, so I must be stupid or something because I can't imbed a photo using a URL, can anyone help?

Risotto
 

Got it!

(From New Vegetarian Cuisine)

Ingredients:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/...df7eb7a398.jpg

Finished:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/...1509993c3b.jpg

Finished Zoom:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/...1e86b54a3b.jpg

Chicken!
 

(From Betty Crocker Quick and Easy)

Ingredients:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/...9006eef7f7.jpg

Finished:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/...f98de759ae.jpg

Dinner!!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/...a77878b5f7.jpg

I absolutely LOVED the chicken. I didn't use all the mustard called for though. My first risotto is ok. I had some crunchy rice, but I don't think the instructions were that good. I have another, traditional recipe I will try and see if it is better. Sorry the pictures aren't that great, but I am not that great of a photographer :blush: And apparently my shaking interferes with clear pictures. I think I am getting slightly better though.

go advanced and hit the paperclip http://cellar.org/images/editor/attach.gif above to attach an image on your comp OR
hit this lil picture box http://cellar.org/images/editor/insertimage.gif above and enter the URL.



NEVERMIND! :)

OK that looks freakin awesome! Where is the recipe? I am all in for makin' that this weekend.

Recipes - I didn't put these in my flickr public account because of the whole copyright thing, but I will put them here :D

cool - thanks

Welcome :)

Next up is going to be Happy Union from my Chinese cookbook. I just have to figure out what oil to use since all I have is olive oil which isn't good for high heat.

peanut oil is one option.

seconded - Peanut is the best unless you have an allergy... Use it exclusively in the deep fryer.

I'm not going to be deep frying anything. I was thinking of using Canola oil since it really doesn't have a flavor. There are A LOT of ingredients in this recipe and I don't want to add another flavor with the oil. What do you think?

I use peanut oil when making stir-fry. A lot of Asian recipes seem to call for it, but I never noticed it having a particular flavor.

But you should be able to use canola or vegetable oil for most kinds of frying. I think most oils work except olive oil.

It's all about the oil smoke points

olive oil works just fine for pan frying and sauteeing, but watch the temperature. and it's a bit of a shame to use a good extra virgin. the flavors that make EV unique will fade and it can end up tasting like one of the (perfectly fine) cheap grades recommended for frying, except it'll have a lower smoke point so you're slightly more likely to catch it on fire. plus it's sort of like frying money.

I will be posting the Happy Union stuff tomorrow as I am cooking it tonight.

I am also going to be making beef stroganoff this weekend. My question is this: it calls for Worcestershire sauce but only 1/4 tsp. Would it be bad if I leave it out? How about replacing it with balsamic vinegar. I don't want to change too much since I may already by leaving out the mushrooms - can't stand them.

Balsamic vinegar and some sort of hot spice (paprika, chilli) I'd say ...

Yup, am with Limey - if you really don't like the Worcs it's not worth the bottle.
But if you have to add a stock, make sure it's beef, because Worcs adds a splash of that too.

Oh and a little more salt. L&P is salty.

Our regular Sunday visitor is allergic to mushrooms.
Since we found out (when Mum had to make her an omlette instead of sharing our casserole!) I don't think we've suffered from their omission.
If you like mushrooms they're a tasty addition. If you don't, I can't see that they'll be missed. Unless you're making mushroom soup of course.

Ok, so I made the beef stroganoff. Had to add a decent amount of salt and pepper so that it wasn't an overwhelming sour taste. It was pretty good if I do say so myself! I ended up going with the balsalmic vinegar, but I really couldn't taste it. I will have a couple pics tomorrow.

Huge fail for me on the Happy Union. I put it off and put it off and the chicken and shrimp went bad before I used it! Argh, so frustrating. The only positive is that after I blanch and freeze the broccoli that I bought for it, the only thing I will need to buy is the chicken, shrimp, and ginger when I tackle it again.

I think next on the agenda is chicken a la king.

Ooh! Am making Chicken Enchiladas this week.
From a (mumble packet mumble). Forgive me!

Will be sure and take pics though.

Mum has just gone round to Grandad's with some of the leftover pork in a soft bap with applesauce. They're having the rest of it tonight (with the unused - uncooked - cabbage and carrots). I'm technically on my first day of a diet today (mumble enchiladas bought before diet started don't count mumble) so am settling for soup with a multigrain mix added, and a roll.

One I tried last week-end:



For 4 persons:

1 puff pastry (buy it at the mart, it's faster and won't make much difference compared to home made)
250 grams of clotted cream
50 grams of chive
400 grams of ham (either in small thin strips or small dice)
150 grams of grated Swiss cheese
1 egg yolk

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F)
2) In a bowl, mix the cream, chive and ham.
3) Cut the puff pastry into 4 pieces.
4) Put the mix into each pieces.
5) Close each piece of pastry.
6) Put some egg yolk over each piece with a brush.
7) Sprinkle with the cheese
8) Put in the oven for 20 minutes

Serve with a salad

I kept the measures in grams since I don't know how clotted cream or anything else is measured (ounce, liquid once, pound,... whatever...). Feel free to correct me if you see something that's not a culinary term. I'm always willing to better my knowledge of English.

And "Bon Appétit.."

You can measure clotted cream :mg:?

Yes... Usually with a table spoon...

You know... One spoon two spoons, three spoons, .... Ten spoons... OOOPS. Five too many... ;)

clotted cream + too many spoonfuls = does not compute!

You're wrong! It does compute:

clotted cream + too many spoonfuls = a nice life buoy around the belly

Stroganoff
 

(From Meta Givens Encyclopedia of Cooking Vol 2)

Recipe:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/...159a855186.jpg



Ingredients:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/...229e2bc195.jpg



Finished:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/...7fdba772ce.jpg


This ended up being really good. I had to add copious amounts of pepper, though and some salt to kind of cut the sour taste. I couldn't get a good picture of the plated meal. For some reason, my shaking was out of control and no matter what I did, I couldn't get a non-blurry picture. This is the best I could do:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/...13010001c5.jpg

Ok, so I know I have been slacking, but there is a sale on pork tenderloin this week, so I have decided to use this to try a new recipe. Coming up after the weekend....Mustard Orange Pork!

To make up for the procrastination in this thread, I will have pictures from last night's dinner - Mustard Orange Pork and Israeli Cous Cous. And from tonight's - marinated steak and Hot Crash Potatoes. And maybe Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownies - from a mix.

Only the pork and Potatoes have recipes, but I figured lots of food pictures would help you forgive me :D

I'm licking my chops at the prospect, of more pictures from you. :yum:

I don't have the steak and potatoes because I decided to get drunk last night, but here is the pork!

This:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/...1d6f99057b.jpg

Plus this:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/...ff2b90dd1c.jpg


Equals this:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/...da7eaf91ac.jpg

Sides? Yes, I have that, too.

Toasting:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/...bbae11fd6d.jpg

First broth addition with garlic (The cube like things) - it's a little blurry:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/...6dbdd9dda7.jpg

Finished:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/...63f406c731.jpg


And finally - dinner. With some Parmesan Garlic baguette on the side:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/...83441eb8a4.jpg


I took a few other pictures and put them on my Flickr page if you want a couple more. I am Gypsy1031.

Oops almost forgot the recipe!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/...3e54dbce07.jpg

As you can see, I didn't do the veggies and the sauce. Instead, I just added all the orange/mustard mix with the first glazing. I also used about twice the size pork loin. Basically because it was cheaper that way.

Bbro, for those of us who haven't Yahoo, might you copy the recipe off and post it? For it looks really tempting.

You mean the recipe in the picture? Is it not showing up?

I changed the privacy settings - does that work better?

Try this.

Ah, much mo' bettah. Thanks, Bruce.

Thanks Bruce :)

No problem. ;)

Pancakes!

Recipe:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1186/...20214f5932.jpg

Ingredients:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/...d2503968f0.jpg

Mixed up:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/...e60032342f.jpg

Cooking first batch:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/...528bf335a8.jpg

Breakfast!!:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/...2d143af217.jpg



A couple notes - I made a half a batch and may have added too much melted butter. If you notice, there is no extract in the batter. I added some Lemon, but I don't know how much. All I know is that I didn't really need the syrup.

Those look great. My mother sucked at pancakes, Bisquick I think. They were about 3/4" thick, and the only thing that saved them was real maple syrup... lots of it. And bacon. :D

I think that's what my mom did - but I don't remember them being bad.

The ones above were just ok, but I think much better with the right amount of butter. I have actually made these into waffles before so I know they are better. Plus my griddle couldn't keep the heat, so they sat way too long.

You may be seeing pictures of jambalaya tomorrow! With the possibility of rolls depending on how I feel :D

There is a fine line with how thick the batter gets over time. Some people like the thinner ones - others thicker.
Adding a little more liquid/flour to adjust at the end will set you up for just how you like 'em.
The lemon idea is interesting - gonna have to try that.

Holy cow! More recipes??? How will you handle the shock!?!

First up - Icebox rolls (I had the recipe, but realized I missed part of it and it was really too small to read. Tried other times, but shaking too bad :()

Ingredients:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1132/...0ec525d20f.jpg

Mixed up and ready to rise:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/...00ce317ee3.jpg

Enough Rising!!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/...ebc931c6d9.jpg


Baking (Excuse the mess in the bottom:eek:):
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/...5ba2bcbf6a.jpg

Done!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1199/...306a4f93b9.jpg

To go with the rolls - Jambalaya!!
(I don't have the recipe because I was shaking too much to get anything other than the ingredient list - sorry!)
Ingredients:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/...67d92a540e.jpg

Simmering away:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/...3e5aa1080e.jpg

Done!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/...ba43f29e0e.jpg


These were both SOOO good!

Man, that looks really good! I've got to try making jambalaya sometime.

Thanks! It was pretty easy, too. Just a bit of prep work. The original recipe called for shrimp, but I thought the chicken would be cheaper. It was also supposed to have ham, but I don't have any. I think it would've been too much though

The way you've been playing Betty Crocker lately, how would you find time to clean the oven? :haha: