I grew up with turkey meatloaf. You probably grew up with some version of a loaf of meat. 9-28: Stuffed Meatloaf doesn’t stray too far from the traditional mold.
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be too thrilled if the planned dinner for a party was a meatloaf. Don’t get me wrong, I’d appreciate the gesture. However, it’s tough to get excited about…meatloaf.
Here’s one I’ve made in the past–there’s even my Sharpie notations to prove it. I remember making 6-40: Peppercorn Chicken Breasts for my mom, since she’s not a red meat eater and I was making another recipe from this book for everyone else that was heavy on meat. I’ll cover that one eventually, and update this to reflect that. 😉
My notations claim that it’s easy. It is, when you use the right ingredients. If you don’t, it gets a bit tougher…
3-2: New England Clam Chowder is one of two recipes that I cooked and photographed before I took an extended break from cooking for this project. Therefore, my memories of the process of this dish may be a little fuzzy, but I think I’ll make some sense of it.
Clam chowder is something that I’ve loved since I was a kid. My husband is from New England and when we go back to visit, it’s always an anticipated treat. We made a pretty decent clam chowder in the restaurant I worked at, too, and this recipe comes pretty close.
Of course, it’s mandatory that it be referred to as chowdah–say it right!
This one…was challenging. And it seemed so simple! 4-30: Cheese-Stuffed Potato Croquettes are essentially mozzarella sticks with a mashed potato/panko coating. These turned from a quick snack into a multi-day attempt.
Now, before I scare you off this recipe: it was 100% my fault it went south. I tried to improvise in several places, and it proved to be my downfall each time. Sometimes you can take liberties, and sometimes you can’t.
Here’s how you learn those lessons.
It’s feeling a bit unbalanced around here–we need more from the back of the book. Here’s one from a brand new group: Pies & Cakes. Just in time for the cooler weather, we have 16-47: Orange-Almond Pie.
This came out really well: it tasted great, and you can make it in a toaster oven!
First of all, ANY mention of 3-8: Gazpacho must immediately be followed with a reference to this episode of the Simpsons.
“It’s tomato soup served ICE cold!”
Yes, Lisa. Yes it is. 🍅
It was the end of summer and we had a ton of tomatoes. It’s a winning combination. 🏆
There’s not a lot of NEW options when it comes to ground meat. Tacos, stroganoff, lasagna, burgers, meatloaf, etc. This one isn’t exactly new either, but hey–we can always use another ground meat recipe.
Even Simply Delicious knows they aren’t treading on new ground here. However, here’s the one warning about working with a wok: have a HOT stove. If you don’t–woks don’t work so well.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t had lasagna before. It’s not very difficult to make, but often very time-consuming. The first entry in the Pasta & Rice section is the old standby: 12-1: Lasagna.
This version is different than what I’m used to making: it uses a cheese sauce (similar to a béchamel) in place of a ricotta/egg mixture. It was good, but I think I’d choose the ricotta/egg mixture in terms of what I think of when I think of “lasagna”.
Back from the dead, or so it would seem.
I took a break from cooking for the internet to cook in real life–I’ve gotten a job cooking at a craft brewery/restaurant 3-5 days a week. Cooking at home isn’t always the most exciting thing when you do it for a living, but it IS good practice, so I vow to carry on.
I’ve still been doing a few recipes here and there during my hiatus. Let’s get back into it. I can’t promise consistency, but I’ll do my best.
One of the last recipes I made in our interim/summer kitchen was 8-40: Lemony Beef. It was both lemony and beefy. 🍋
This one was pretty quick and easy, and elicited remarks from hungry passerby in the house who were not partaking in the meal. It sounds strange, but it works pretty well.
This recipe was cooked in tandem with an earlier recipe, 9-31: Savory Turkey Patties. We had some different dietary preferences in our dining group that evening, so I used the opportunity to knock out two recipes at once. 🍔
I think it’s interesting that they refer to the burgers as “meat patties” and not “pork” patties or burgers. Just a thought.