Trying to use the cookbooks

[bbro]

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?

Last week - Southwest King Ranch Casserole.
I actually pasted it from online for you guys . 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 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

[Rhianne]

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

[Sundae]

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

[bbro]

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

[Urbane Guerrilla]

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?

[bbro]

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

[Sundae]

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.

[bbro]

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

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!

[sad_winslow]

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?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

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.?

I've got my new user title, thanks.

[casimendocina]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Not sure I could handle potato pizza.

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).

[bbro]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

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.

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. 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.

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

Got plans for something next yet?

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!

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Beef Stroganoff over whole wheat noodles?

[bbro]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Beef Stroganoff over whole wheat noodles?

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

[bbro]

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.