Week ???: Strawberry Chicken Salad

The rest of life got in the way for a bit...c'est la vie. So I quit counting the week numbers. It is what it is.

So I came back to this project, aiming for lighter, healthier than what I've done so far. This was a good option!

Tomato-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
2 large Roma tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 minced shallots
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and puree until smooth (hey look - it calls for a blender this time instead of a food processor!).with the motor running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream to make and emulsion. Add the salt and pepper and taste for seasoning. The vinaigrette can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Salad ingredients
6 ounces baby spinach
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 small red onion, julienned
4 grilled chicken breasts, cooled and thinly sliced (or meat from 1 roasted chicken pulled into bit-size pieces)
1 cup thinly sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup candied walnuts

Place the spinach in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the spinach among 4 chilled plates. Arrange the onion, chicken, and strawberries on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with the feta and walnuts. Drizzle a little of the vinaigrette over the chicken and serve at once.

How to make the candied walnuts
Preheat the over to 350. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray. Place a perforated steaming basket in a large saucepan over 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Place 1 pound walnut halves in the basket and steam for 1 minute to heat up. Combine 1/4 cup honey and 3 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl. Add the walnuts and toss well. Spread the nuts on 1 of the prepared baking sheets and bake, stirring once or twice, for 10 minutes, until caramelized. Immediately remove from the oven and pour onto the other prepared baking sheet. Allow to cool completely. The nuts may be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

My notes:
I started by making the candied walnuts so they'd have time to cool before I needed them. And I don't have a steamer thing, so I boiled water, then held a collander over it to steam the walnuts. Seemed to work out just fine!
Then I made the vinaigrette. This makes over 2 cups of dressing, which is WAY more than enough for this. But it is really good dressing. I chilled it in the fridge while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.
Another easy one that the kids liked. Woo-hoo!

Week 11: Frango Chocolate Cheesecake

While this was easy to make, it took most of a day to do. That's because of the time you need to let the layers cool before moving on to the next layer. But when all is said and done, this one is really good. The recipe says it serves 8. This is really rich, so I ended up with 12 servings that were just right. This is a long one, so I'll do the layers at a time.

Crust
1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 20 cookies)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar
Combine the cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a food processor and process until well blended. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch-round, 2-inch-deep springform pan and press evenly and firmly into the bottom of the pan.
Pretty easy, except I couldn't find just the chocolate cookies anywhere. So I ended up buying Oreos and scraping the middle stuff off the cookie. The girls loved helping with that! It was a little scary how easily that 'stuff' came apart from the cookie! And, as noted before, I don't own a food processor, so I used the blender. Same results...all's well.

Filling
15 Frango mint chocolates (about 5.5 ounces), coarsely chopped
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a pot of water until it is steaming but not simmering. Place the chocolates in a stainless steel bowl and place over, but not touching, the hot water. Heat, dtirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes, until melted and smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat and allow to cool until tepid.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides fo the bowl and the beaters. Add the chocolate, cream, and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Pour into the crust.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the sides of the cake rise and the top jiggles slightly when shaken. (The cake will appear underbaked, but will firm upon chilling.) Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to release the cake from the sides. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the pan.
Did it again...reading the recipe now, found a spot where I goofed. I did not chop the chocolate mints. I used a double boiler and simply melted them in that. No big deal there. I did this part, then mixed the cream cheese, and the chocolate was cooled to just the right temperature by the time I was ready for it.

Topping
1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
3 Frango mint chocolates, finely chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
Heat a pot of water until it is steaming but not simmering. Combine the gelatin and water in a stanless steel bowl until the gelatin is softened. Place the bowl over, but not touching, the hot water and stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, until melted. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and allow to cool until tepid. Whisk the sour cream into the chocolate mixture until blended. Evenly spread the topping on top of the cheesecake and refrigerat for 4 hours, until completely chilled.
No changes or errors that I know of to this layer!

Glaze
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
whipped cream, for garnish
Frango Mint Little O's candies, for garnish
Mint sprigs, for garnish
Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted. Add the butter and whisk until melted. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, until set. The cake can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

To serve, slice the cake and garnish each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, a few Little O's candies, and a mint sprig.
For the semisweet chocolate, I just used chocolate chips and didn't bother chopping. I also didn't have everything for the garnish..whipped cream, yes, but not the other items. I made this as our dessert for Easter dinner. I said no chocolate bunny this year, chocolate cheesecake instead. Best choice I've made in awhile!

Week 10: Lamb Stew a la Marshall Field's

Plan about 3.5 hours to make this, but it is incredibly easy and very tasty. Another dish with company over...and the company has survived to tell the tale! However, no photos this week. While I was getting the meat ready, a child of mine decided that was the perfect time to clean the fish tank...and spilled some of the yucky fish tank water all over the counter. Fortunately none of it got on the meat...but it prompted a mommy-meltdown, which is best remedied with wine. And Amen this recipe calls for wine so I had an open bottle and kept cooking!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 pounds cubed lamb meat for stewing
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups beef broth, plus more if needed.
1/2 cup dry red wine (three cheers for this ingredient!)
6 carrots, sliced into coins
2 cups pearl onions, or 8 small onions, peeled and halved
2 cups frozen peas

In a shallow bowl, stir together the salt, pepper, and flour. Add the lamb cubes and toss well. Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the lamb cubes in batches and cook, turning, for 10 to 12 minutes, until browned on all sides. Add the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, broth, and wine. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, until the meat is very tender, adding more broth if needed.

Add the carrots and onions, season with a littel salt and pepper, if needed, and continue cooking, covered for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve in individual crocks.

My notes:

1. The lamb meat I got from the butcher was not in cubes, but rather in squares about 1-inch square, and only 1/4-inch thick. Coating all of that with the flour took some time (aside from the fish tank incident). I had 3 1-lb packages, so I'd coat a pound, then brown it while I coated the next pound. It sort of worked, but I ended up needing more oil for the browning.
2. I used more like one and a half bay leaves. It seemed like a more appropriate amount.
3. I used a syrah for the wine...drank the rest between me and the company. maybe THAT's why it tasted good?!
4. The broth...one small can was just the right amount. It measured to be more like 1 3/4 cups, but I ended up needing it.
5. Pearl onions...found them in the freezer section. I let them thaw during the two hours the meat was cooking.
6. I used 7 carrots instead of 6 just because it seemed like a lot of meat.

This would be an easy one to modify the vegetables, etc. But cooked as is, it was superb!

Week 9: Sour Cream-Cranberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt (not kosher salt)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 scant cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-cup, fluted, nonstick Bundt pan with nonstick spray.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in the flour, wheat germ, salt and baking powder and mix until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the cranberries.

In a separate bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon and toss to mix well.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on teh nut mixture. Cover with the remaining batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until firm and golden brown on top. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate to unmold.

My notes:
I chose this with the intention of taking it to a Sunday noon potluck. It didn't make it with me, and it wasn't worthy of any pictures. That aside, the taste was wonderful!

• I only had salted butter, so I used that and simply cut out the salt the recipe calls for.
• I know it's not cranberry season so I used dried cranberries instead. I found a source that said you can use 3/4 dried cranberries to 1 cup fresh cranberries. It is best to let the dried cranberries soak in warm water for 1/2 hour before using them, so that's what I did.

Really, I followed the recipe. The problem came when I turned it upside down. It didn't come out in this lovely Bundt pan shape. It fell out in about 3 huge pieces, and 15 smaller pieces. Your guess is as good as mine as to why - maybe I didn't spray enough non-stick spray, maybe the dried cranberries really weren't an acceptable substitute, anything. But it didn't matter. The girls loved this, especially warm from the oven. So I'd make it again, but maybe I'll wait until cranberry season to see if that was the problem.

Week 8: Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Basil Sauce

This is another quick and easy recipe. The girls liked the flavor, but didn't like the chunks of tomato in the sauce. Someday they'll expand their horizons!

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground balck pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup chicken broth

16 grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Preparation

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour and shake off any excess.

Combine the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan and cook, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the shallot and garlic to the hot pan. Saute for 1 minute, then add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat. Stirring constantly, add the basil, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the butter is incorporated into the sauce.

Place a chicken breast on each plate and pour the sauce over. Serve at once.

I made one substitute to this...I couldn't find a shallot at the grocery store (user error on my part...I didn't know what it was until I got home and looked it up). So I used 1/8 of a red onion minced instead. It took me about 20 minutes to prepare this and serve it with a salad and mashed potatoes, as recommended by the chef in the cookbook.

Week 7: Canadian Cheese Soup

It's March and somehow I'm only in week 7 with this. Oh well! Some of these have had more than one recipe with it, so I'll consider it all good.

I'm not sure why we chose soup to do this week. Maybe it was the Canada vs. USA hockey game at the Olympics that made this one stand out. And sometimes, soup is just the right thing for dinner. Plus, this looked easy. I was ready for an easier recipe this time. I forgot to take pictures. But it is just soup...nothing fancy to see about it :)

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unslated butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
3 cups chicken broth
2 pounds aged sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook, sitrring for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle the flour and paprika over the vegetables and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer, whisking occasionally, for 10 minutes, until thickened. Decrease the heat to low and whisk in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the cheese is completely melted and incorporated. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve hot.

This was good and easy. The one mistake I made was going a little cheap on the cheese, I think. The end result was a little chunky. Had I been willing to spend the $30 for the really good sharp cheddar cheese, I think this would have been avoided. But we bought cheaper bricks and my daughter had a good time shredding while I did the rest of the work.

Week 6: Roasted Pork with Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I had no clue what I was getting into with this one, but it turns out to be one of my favorites so far...ranks up there with the meatloaf! But you have to make all of this together. The flavors are wonderful! I even had company over to help eat this (had to...look at the size of the roast!) and got the same rating. Actually, the company's note on this is that it is good fall flavors, almost an alternative Thanksgiving meal. Served with a malbec wine, we were happy campers with this one!

Pork Preparation
1 gallon water
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup ground black pepper
1 (8-rib) pork loin rack, bones frenched
1/4 cup garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

In a very large bowl or cooler, combine the water, sugar, salt, and pepper and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Completely submerge the pork in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 36 hours.
I used a cooler I have that fit the pork loin perfectly. And since it is February, I just left in the garage. I prepped this Friday night, and cooked it Saturday night.

Preheat the over to 275 degrees F. Combine the garlic, rosemary, parsley, and olive oil in a food processor and blend to a paste. Remove the pork from the brine and gently pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and rub the garlic-herb past all over the pork. Place the pork, bone side up, on a rack fitted over a roasting pan. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and roast an additional 20 minutes, until the pork reaches 145 degrees F. Remove from teh oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving into individual chops.
I don't own a food processor, so the best I could do was use my blender to make the 'paste'. So mine was a chunky paste, but it still covered the pork and worked out okay. I also don't have a roasting pan big enough for this, so the butcher told me to take a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and put the cooling rack in there, and put the pork loin on that, bone side down. It worked for me :)

Apple-Cranberry Chutney
1/2 red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 cup apple cinder vinegar
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
2 Braeburn applies, peeled and diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup thinly sliced dried apricots

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil then decrease the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occassionally for 30 minutes, until thick. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Serve the chutney warm or allow to cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
This was a little work, but was well worth it. The taste with this and a little of the pork in the same bite...nummy!

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan of well-salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the pan. Add the butter, syrup, salt, and pepper and mash ith a potatoe masher or heavy wire whisk until smooth. Taste adn adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.
The easiest part of the meal and very, very tasty! I'll admit...I've never purchased sweet potatoes in my life, so I had no idea how to pick or what to pick. I finally asked the little old lady who seemed to know what she was picking. She directed me to use yams instead of the sweet potatoes. She said they have better color and better flavor. So I used 3 yams with this recipe. No leftovers of this part!

Place a pork chop on each plate and serve with the chutney and sweet potatoes.

Week 5: Individual Apple Strudels

Sorry for the delay...the rest of life took over for week or so there!

Anyone who knows me knows I have a sweet tooth, so I just couldn't stay away from the dessert recipes any longer. I learned a bit on this one...I'll say that! There are pieces to this, so I'll put the ingredients, then the directions for each of the pieces. Read through the whole thing before you do this and you'll see how it comes together.



Streusel Topping
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix together with a fork until crumbly.

Ironic...the part that goes on last is the first thing in the recipe!


The Fruity Part
3 1/2 cups peeled sliced Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Combine the apples, cranberries, sugar, butter, cinnamon stick, water, and nutmeg in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the apples are softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts. Allow to cool to room temperature or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.


I did it again...typed this out and just realized I missed putting in the walnuts. Really, I have them in the cupboard ready to go, JUST for this recipe! Oh well. I used Craisins for the cranberries and opted for the cooking followed by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight. That part was just fine.


Other Ingredients
2 sheets frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 egg
1 tablespoon water



Preparation
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut each of the puff pastry sheets into 4 equal squares (reserve 2 squares for other use). Using your hands, stretch the squares about 1/2 inch larger in each direction. Whisk together the egg and water in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush the pastry squares with the egg wash. Place 1/2 cup of the apple filling in the middle of each square. Fold the corners over partway to make a hexagonal pastry, covering part of the filling but leaving most of it exposed. Press down lightly. Brush the folded0over corners with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Springle 1 tablespoon of the topping over the filling.


Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a wide spatula, carefully transfer the pastries to the prepared baking sheets, leaving space between them. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden. Serve warm.


Look Kirsten! A picture! So this is how mine looked before I put them in the oven. I thought I was clever and started with the pastry sheets right on the parchment paper. Then, when I was done, I just slid the baking sheet under the parchment paper and was ready to go!


I folded the corners WAY over and found out they unfold on their own while baking, so fold away!

• There is plenty of topping to put more than 1 tablespoon on each strudel. You'll see.


• I should have cleaned any extras off the parchment paper. They burned and stole some of the better aroma from the room.


• Those 2 extra squares...do something separate with them. I thought I'd fill them with a little sugar and cinnamon, fold them over, all that good stuff...um...no. Don't do it. I'm lucky I didn't set off the smoke detector again with that experiment!

When all was said and done, this is what the better of mine looked like: The 30 minutes was a hair too long for my oven, but with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, it didn't matter much.

Week 4: Marinated Salmon

This was a really easy one, especially when you do it my way and leave a few things out :) This is meant to be an Indian dish when prepared according to the recipe. I went without the tandoor spice, but still feel like it was a good meal - a little different, but in a good way. This is better than the roasted garlic chicken, I'm sure of that!

Marinade Ingredients
2 cups yougurt
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons tandoori spice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
4 (6-ounce) salmon filets

Preparation
Combine the yogurt, honey, lemon juice, tandoori spice, and ginger in a bowl and mix well. Place the salmon in a shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over, turning to coat evenly. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Preheat a gas grill to high or prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill Remove the salmon from the marinade and dry with paper towels. Spray the grill rack with nonstick spray. Place the salmon on the grill rack and cook, turning once, for about 4 minutes on each side, to desired doneness.

My Notes:
I learned just how much I really am in Central Minnesota on this one. Tandoori spice is an Indian spice, not to be found in any major grocery store in my town. So I skipped it! I was able to find Tandoori paste, but I couldn't figure out how much of that to use whent he recipe called for the spice. Oh well.

Instead of 4 filets (which we would never eat all at once) I made the marinade and only had one larger filet in it. Still worked!

Also, it's winter here and my grill is under about a foot of snow. I broiled this instead. The marinade made this incredibly moist, even after broiling. I'm sure it would have been absolutely awesome if I had grilled it!

The cookbook recommends serving this salmon with an eggplant mash and drizzled with a pomegranate vinaigrette. The eggplant mash I managed to make (see below), but not the vinaigrette. It calls for pomegranate molasses, another item I could NOT find in a store in this town. I skipped this part completely, and instead experimented. I had some raspberry vinaigrette dressing, so I drizzled that on the salmon and eggplant mash instead. I thought it was pretty darned good!

The eggplant mash is easy to make and has a nicely different taste to it. The girls each took one bite and said no thanks. But I liked it. To each his own! So here's that part:

Eggplant Mash
3 small Italian eggplants
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the eggplant in a baking dish and roast for 45 minutes, until soft on the inside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Scoop out the pulp onto a cutting board and chop well. Place a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Whent eh oil is hot, add the onion and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft. Add the eggplant and cook until the mixture is a chunky mash. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

My Notes:
Okay, I'll admit it...I had NO idea how to roast an eggplant, so I did a little research. Turns out the eggplant is actually a very large berry. Who knew! I cut the top off (like that of a strawberry), then cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. I put some foil on a cookie sheet and sprayed it with no-stick spray, then put the eggplant halves meat side down onto the foil. They could have been done at closer to 35 minutes instead of 45, but they weren't over done at that point.

Once I let it cool, it was easy to scoop out the meat and chop. I took my Pampered Chef chopper to it just a couple times then put it in the pan. I cooked the mash while the salmon was broiling. It worked out pretty well!

Week 3: Roasted Garlic Chicken

This was Emily's choice after last week's meatloaf (BEFORE she tasted the meatloaf, that is). I have to say, though, this was my least favorite recipe so far. Nice and easy to prepare, but I think I messed up along the way. Feel free to set me straight and tell me what I was supposed to do here!

I was smart enough, at least, to read through the whole recipe and figure out how to do this. So I'm deviating from how it was published. I'll reprint here in a chronological order of what you need to do first.

Roasting Garlic: Preheat the over to 400 degrees F. Place 1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves in the center of a piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil over the cloves and fold the foil over to form a loose packet. Place the packet on a baking sheet and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the garlic is very soft and light brown. Allow to cool before using.

Roasted Garlic-Lemon Brine Ingredients
1/2 cup roasted garlic cloves
2 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
2 bay leaves, crushed
1 3-4-pound whole roasting chicken

To prepare the brine, combine the garlic, water, salt, pepper, and olive oil in blender and puree until smooth. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon wedges, reserving the rinds, and blend to combine. Stir in the bay leaves.

Place the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag or bowl. Pour the brine over the chicken and toss to coat. Add the lemon rinds and press the air out of the bag and seal tightly or cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the brine. Season liberally on all sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan. Roast for about 1 hour, until the juices run clear from the thigh when pierced with a fork.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then cut into portions and serve hot.

My notes:

• I was fortunate enough to have home-grown garlic from a coworker. Roasting the garlic made the house smell just wonderful! But I think I had too many little cloves and too many of varying sizes. I needed more than 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil to lightly coat as many as I had. And some got a bit more brown than others.
• I only have olive oil, not the extra virgin kind (is that me at this point in life...older, wiser, and extra virgin again?!). So that's what I used. I have no idea if there is a significant difference.
• My day of preparation got away from me. I roasted the garlic, then put it in the fridge until I got home later that night. Maybe I should have just let it stay out on the counter?
• The brine and the chicken fit into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag. I put it all in that and put that in the bottom drawer in the refrigerator. I think I ended up with the chicken in the brine for about 17 hours.
• Here's where I'm challenged: I have a roasting pan, but I do not have a rack for it. I tried shopping for one, but I must have the smallest roasting pan God ever invented. I can't find rack that is small enough to fit this roasting pan anywhere! So I just plopped the chicken into the pan. Then I worried that it would stick like crazy to the bottom, so I poured a little bit of the brine into the bottom. The chicken didn't stick!
• But I also didn't know if I was supposed to leave the cover of the roasting pan on or off. So I cooked it for about 45 minutes with the cover on, then removed the cover for the remainder of the time. The chicken was very tender, but it seemed like I might have missed something.

Overall, a very easy recipe. Not bad, but not great either. Not sure what next week will bring...

Week 2: Oven-baked Meatloaf

I know...meatloaf...you're wondering just how bad must I be at this kitchen stuff if I'm turning to meatloaf as something new and exciting to try. But trust me, this one really is awesome. It was easy to make and even the girls cleared their plates of this one - even before they finished their mashed potatoes!

Ingredients
4 ounces store-bought or homemade garlic croutons, crushed
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons prepared pesto
2 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground round steak
1 1/2 cups julienned fresh spinach

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the croutons and broth in a small bowl and set aside to sak for 10 minutes. Place a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add teh onion and saute for 7 to 8 minutes, until translucent.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the pesto, pine nuts, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and mix well. Add teh crouton misture, onion, ground steak, and spinach. Mix with your hands until just combined. Pat the misture into a standard loaf pan (about 4 1/2 by 9 inches). Place on a bakeing sheet and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until cooked through. Let stand for 20 minutes before clicing and serving with a generous drizzle of gravy atop each slice.

Toasting Pine Nuts Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and bake, shaking the pan occasionally, for 4 to 7 minutes, until golden brown. Set a kitchen timer and keep a constant eye on the pine nuts as they toast because they burn easily.

Red Pepper Gravy In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sauce or gravy and 2 tablespoons finely diced roasted red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

My notes:

1. I didn't realize until I was typing this now that I was supposed to crush the croutons. I used them whole and it was good!
2. I had a hard time finding pine nuts here, and when I did, they were $15 for a bag. I'm a cheap mom and this was one of those times. But I had asiago cheese leftover from last week, so I shred some of that up and added it instead. I probably used 1/4 cup shredded cheese...it was tasty!
3. Ground steak...I'm not sure how different that is from ground beef, but I had a 2-lb container of ground beef so I used that instead.

This one was quick and easy to put together. I served it with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. We did not make the gravy simply because I know the girls aren't red pepper fans. I was stretching it putting meatloaf in front of them! But they loved it. I hope you do, too!

Week 1: Asiago-Crusted Chicken

These first few recipes are from The Marshall Field's Cookbook. Copyright is 2006 by Federated Retail Holdings, Inc.

I chose this recipe this week simply because I already had most of the ingredients in my kitchen. That alone was amazing! While I'm all for trying new things here, I'm not in favor of going broke. I'm looking for repeatable recipes (almost like a Lean project for the kitchen!) :)

In this case, the page has recipes for cooked carrots, the chicken, and a tasty mustard sauce you can serve on both. I liked the sauce when all was said and done; the girls did not. Serve in your own home accordingly. I'll add notes where I deviated from the recipe...thus the bad cook name to this :)

Mustard-Glazed Carrots
1 pound baby carrots
1 cup water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Pommery Mustard Sauce
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspooon freshly ground black pepper

Chicken
3/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

TO PREPARE THE CARROTS: In a large saute pan (I used a frying pan), combine the carrots, water, butter, olive oil, sugar and mustard over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 8 to 12 minutes, until the water has evaporated and the carrots are coated with glaze. Check the carrots for doneness; if they are not tender, add a little more water and cook for a few minutes more. Season with teh salt and pepper and sprinkle with the chives.
I should have started the carrots sooner than I did. I prepped the parts for the rest of this, then got the carrots going. I should have started the carrots, then prepped the sauce and the chicken. The carrots would have been more done and had more of a glaze. They still had the flavor, but the water had not evaporated like the recipe says it should. I also skipped the chives - no good reason there!

TO PREPARE THE SAUCE: pour the cream into a small saucepan over medium heat adn bring to a boil. Stir in the mustard, salt, and pepper and decrease the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until reduced by half. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
I made no adjustments to this part and followed it exactly. I'll never know if it turned out how it is supposed to, but I really liked it. I don't know where to look for whole grain mustard, so I used whole mustard seed instead. It seemed to work out just fine.

TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN: place the cheese and breadcrumbs in a food processor and pulse to combine. Transfer to a shallow bowl and stir in the parsley. Pour the flour on to a plate. Whisk the egg and water together in a separate shallow bowl.

Liberally season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour and shake off any excess. Dip in the egg wash, then coat on all sides with the Asiago breadcrumbs.

Place a large, nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. When the oil shimmers, add the chicken and cook, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown on the outside and no longer pink on the inside.

Serve immediately with carrots and mustard sauce.

I used 2 very large chicken breasts and just cut those in half. I also couldn't find Japanese breadcrumbs. I am in Central Minnesota...German breadcrumbs I'm certain I could have found in the store! So instead, I took the heal of my whole wheat bread, folded that over a couple times, and shred that to get bread crumbs. I also don't own a food processor, so I simply stirred the breadcrumbs and the cheese together. I suppose I could have put them in the blender, but that would have made more dishes to clean and I was more worried about having everything done at the same time to serve warm. I bought a chunk of the Asiago cheese at the deli counter. More than I needed, but you'll see...it came in handy for the next recipe.

Enjoy!

Getting Started...

Okay, I'm giving in and blogging my trials throughout the year. Kate may be the only one to read this, and there may be others. Cool either way!

So here's the background...I'm not a real good cook. I have two teen-aged daughters and they'd rather have cereal or spaghetti for dinner 9 times out of 10. After seeing the movie "Julie & Julia" I was inspired. Well, not enough to cook 550+ recipes or whatever she did in a year. But being a single mom, I figured I could tackle one new recipe a week. I ran this by the girls, and they are on board with it. We all figured it can't hurt my limited culinary skillset I have...it could only enhance.

I'm also out to find recipes that have common ingredients and won't break my bank account. I'm an average person with an average income...can't do lobster every night! Not that I'm keeping track of the cost of each recipe and each meal, but I will share my comments where I make changes or substitutions along the way and you can decide for yourself if you do the same or alter yet another way.

Here's to a year of trials, good, bad and otherwise. And here's to a few beer tours along the way, Kate!