New recipe experiences?

16 years ago

I debated whether to post this on WFD, but it's all over the board. I had a chance to do a lot of cooking this past weekend and got to try a LOT of new recipes I've been posting about and collecting. I'll share mine but I would love to hear yours!! So here goes my experiences:

Pear Walnut muffins - just OK. I forgot to add the walnuts (had them sitting on the counter and everything) but that wasn't really the biggest issues. I have concluded that I don't like pears in baked goods, their taste and texture is too delicate and I think it doesn't hold up well. The exception for me is pear upside down cake, where the pears are in a yummy layer, and of course pear crisp, same deal.

Bread crumb crust apple torta, ala Lidia Bastianich, with thanks to Dishesdone/Carol for passing on the recipe - Well, it was declared "sexy" by one of my dinner party guests, but as per my usual dough dyslexia, it didn't look quite the way the recipe described. I tried rolling it out, that worked fine, but it stuck to the rolling board, so when I went to put it in the pie pan, it came out in clumps. So I ended up pressing it in. I couldn't find my tart pan, and I think I have gotten rid of it since I never used it. So I made the torta in a pie pan. This type of crust is very similar to a grahmn cracker crumb crust actually. Mine suffered from less than stellar bread crumbs (a mix of white, multi grain and pumpernickle isn't quite right for dessert). I'm going to try the recipe again, with the bottom crust pressed in and the top crust crumbled on top. This torta is similar to what we Americans call "Apple Brown Betty" which is without the bottom crust. The FANTASTIC part was parboiling the apples in wine and sugar, and then reducing the boiling syrup to serve over the torta with real whipped cream made with vanilla sugar. Next time I may just go with apple-wine compote, lol! Me and pie just don't jibe, sigh . . . I love eating it though.

Squash, parsnip and sweet potato gratin - my first recipe out of my "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" cookbook by Mark Bitterman, and I have to say it wasn't the best experience. He gives a basic recipe and then variations, which is a great idea, but the execution in the book made it hard for me to follow the recipe, seeing as how the original recipe was for spinach gratin. So it reads something like . . "substitute squash for spinach, romano cheese for the parmesean, leave out the nutmeg and add 3 Tsp. sage and add two eggs." Well that's hard for me because I had to move back and forth between the original recipe and the variation, which was actually nothing like the original recipe, and calculate stuff in my head. The gratin was not creamy, it was watery, but it tasted good. I found a recipe in my "Cook's Illustrated Cover and Bake" cookbook that I'm going to try next time. They suggest making a rich cheese sauce to pour over the veggies for the gratin. I haven't given up on the Bitterman book yet, it is very comprehensive with many exciting dishes I want to try.

Fennel-orange-olive salad - I have always wanted to try that, and I had a ton of oranges I had saved left over from a college function. I saw Lidia make this on Sat. in her "Lidia's Italy" PBS show, so I bought some fennel. The salad was very good, and also described as "sexy" by my dinner guests. But the fennel had almost no taste. This is the second time I have gotten tasteless fennel in the grocery store. I may have to grow some in the garden this year!

Mushroom tarts - These were fantastic. I think the secret to good mushrooms is cooking them long enough so they loose their raw taste, which I realized I haven't done before. Grilling would be great also, but I'm not a griller.

Cinncinati style chili - I served this for lunch and it was the biggest hit of all! I made it "five ways" with kidney beans, onions, spaghetti, cheddar cheese and my own improvisation of tortilla chips on top. Traditional is oyster crackers but I had the tortilla chips. The wonderful thing about that chili is it was a snap to make in the crockpot and we had it after a morning of hiking adventures. I loved all the spices (including the cinnamon!). If I make it again for company I may add chopped jalepenos and sour cream as additional condiments, making for a "seven way" option! This is going to become one of my favorite recipes!

So how about you, what new recipes have you been trying and how did the results end up?

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Comments (3)

angelaid
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
We loved this. I used fresh mushrooms.

MrsMos Crockpot Italian Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope good seasons Italian dressing
mix 1/2 c. water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms pieces and stems, drained

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Combine salad dressing mix and water. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 3 hours. Mix soup and cream cheese and mushrooms. Pour over chicken and cook one more hour or until chicken is done. Serve over rice or pasta. Several people responded that they had used fat free products with good results.

This was another keeper:

Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

1 pound ground pork sausage, your preference
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
2 (8oz) packages refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, cook sausage and drain. While sausage is hot, stir in the cream cheese until melted and the mixture is creamy.

Open one can of crescent rolls and form the dough into the shape of a rectangle, closing the seams to make one big sheet of dough. Place in a lightly greased baking dish. Spread cream cheese and sausage mixture on top of dough, leaving a 1/2" area around the edges. Repeat steps with the other can of crescent rolls and lay the dough on top of the cream cheese and sausage mixture. Pinch the upper and lower dough edges together.
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triciae
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I loved reading about your new recipes, pink...

I've been working on a recipe for a contest. I've made the darn thing now half a dozen times & it's just not working exactly the way I envision. Somewhere, my ratios are off. I'm getting frustrated. It's quickly ceasing to be a 'fun' adventure & becoming 'work' which I don't need nor want. (sigh)

It's a quick bread. A zucchini bread, for heaven's sake. Should be simple. I 'think' I'm overcomplicating & obsessing. I've named it 'Sweet 'n Sassy Zucchini Bread'. It's the "sassy" part that's giving me fits. Either there's no spunk or it's the Devil In Diguise! I can't seem to hit a happy medium. (big sigh)

DH is getting sick of eating my failures. He said the last one gave him dragon breathe. :0)

Other than that...meals are just chugging along waiting for grilling weather. DH is taking a 3-day weekend & it's supposed to be in the mid-60s so we'll grill one of those days.

Saturday night, I'm having a b-day party & making cioppino. I went to the fishmonger last Saturday & placed my order so everything should be ready for an early pick-up. I'm looking forward to the party.

/tricia
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steelmagnolia2007
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This is sort of a cross between soup and gumbo. I hope it's the last cold weather dish I have to make for awhile, but it's definitely going into my keeper file for next winter because everybody liked it a lot. We added hot sauce at the table, and I made a note to increase the creole seasoning a good bit next time. But we all like things really spicy. As written, it's very mild for a Cajun dish, but also very flavorful.

CHICKEN GUMBO SOUP

1-1/3 c. raw white rice
1 (3-4 lb.) chicken (I used a whole one, but cut up is ok)
7 c. chicken broth
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped ham (cooked)
3 T. hot sauce
1 tsp. creole seasoning
3/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. a-p flour
4 c. milk
3/4 c. white wine

Put chicken in a large pot; add broth. Bring liquid to a boil over high heat; then reduce heat and allow to simmer for approximately 40 minutes, until chicken is tender and thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken to a plate, reserving the stock. When cool enough to handle, chop chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Meanwhile, begin cooking rice according to package directions, but remove from heat 15 minutes before the recommended cooking time has expired. Drain off any remaining liquid, and set rice aside.

In large pot over moderate heat, saute celery and onion in 1 tablespoon of butter for 5 minutes. Add chopped ham; cover. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until all ingredients are tender.

Add all the reserved broth and the partially-cooked rice to the pot. Stir in hot sauce, creole seasoning and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, melt remaining 7 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Gradually add flour, whisking constantly, until all flour is incorporated and mixture is smooth. Continue cooking and stirring an additional minute. Gradually add milk, continuing to whisk constantly, until mixture is thick and bubbly.

Add some of the stock mixture to the milk mixture, continuing to stir. (This part was very fuzzy. It didn't give any reason, but I assume some sort of tempering process was needed. With no clear instructions, I added about 1/2 cup stock and stirred for a couple of minutes.) Then add milk mixture to stock mixture. Stir in chopped chicken and wine, simmering about 15 additional minutes.

A bit time-consuming and a bunch of dirty pots, but we liked it a lot more than plain chicken soup. Wonderful with fresh, hot bread and a salad!

sm
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New recipe experiences?

Comments (3)

angelaid

triciae

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steelmagnolia2007

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