What I Made: June 12, 2012

I'm getting ready to make tonight's dinner and I can't stop thinking about what I made for dinner yesterday.  I'm worried I'm going to be disappointed.  Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here... we're talking about yesterday's meals, not about my fears for tonight's dinner.

Did that make any sense?  Yeah, it didn't on this end either.  I honestly don't know what day I'm supposed to be writing about.  I think I'm getting punchy.

Okay, let's talk about June 12th's yummies, starting with breakfast...

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chai Banana Bread

This is a Chai Banana Bread I got from Cooking Light's May 2012 issue.  It was moist, very "banana-y" and unlike the muffins I made the other day, had a great hint of chai.  I have half a loaf in the fridge and I'm really thinking about munching on a piece while I write this.

Side note: I got interrupted while writing this and when I came back, my last sentence read "...while I eat this."  I guess I really DO have that bread on my brain.

What I made: June 4, 2012

Monday's are Vegan days and all my recipes came from Vegan Diner, by Julie Hasson!

Since I was making a sandwich, I decided to tackle making my own hamburger buns.  Why?  Because any vegan bread I've ever bought was dry and icky.  The bread I've made (and I've only made non-yeast breads) has been delicious, so I gave it a try.

It wasn't as hard as I thought and the results... well look for yourself:

© You Want Me to Cook?
Old Fashioned Hamburger Buns

Bacon and Tomato Grilled Cheese

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 26, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Bacon and Tomato Grilled Cheese recipe originally published by Food Network: 50 Grilled Cheeses insert – April 2012.

I get a lot of recipes that are salad and/or sandwich-like and very tasty looking.  I have a couple of issues… not with the recipes, but with my cooking schedule.  First, I think they are more appropriate for lunch and I find it hard to cook for just myself – even if the recipe is for a single serving.  Second, my husband has been working a later shift that extends past dinner into the evening and sandwiches often don’t keep well.  Last, I don’t feel these are dinner recipes.

That’s not to say they aren’t, I just happen to look for certain qualities in my dinner meals and sandwiches don’t necessarily pass my muster.  Again, not the recipe’s fault… just my neurosis.

Then life took a slightly unfortunate turn in terms of husband’s employment.  A situation now rectified, but it gave me an opportunity to start making lunch for us.  This was one of the first recipes I stumbled upon after he was home for lunch during the week.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Bacon and Tomato Grilled Cheese

I didn’t have a picture to compare my grilled cheese to since this was an insert in Food Network’s April issue.  They have some pictures, including a classic sandwich (as shown below), but nothing for me to compare mine against.  That being said…

This is probably the best looking grilled cheese I’ve ever made.  The bread is perfectly toasted.  The cheese is completely melted.  And I give full credit to the recipe writers.  Without following their instructions, I probably would have ended up with burnt bread or un-melted cheese.

Thank you Food Network for teaching me the best way to make a grilled cheese sandwich.  I honestly mean that.

Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with a Soft Egg and Chive & Cheese Breadsticks

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 14, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of the Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with a Soft Egg recipe ONLY, please click here.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of the Chive and Cheese Breadsticks recipe ONLY, please click here.

Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with a Soft Egg recipe originally published by Cooking Light – January/February 2011

Chive and Cheese Breadsticks recipe originally published by Simple and Delicious – December/January 2011

I’m writing this post angry today.  I decided to make myself an omelet for breakfast this morning and it sucked.  It made me cranky.

Then I got a headache that will not disappear.  This made me surly.

Now I’m watching the Bears game and it isn’t making it any better.

Okay, focus… I’m going to focus… I promise I won’t be a Debbie Downer and I’ll just get to the recipes.

I love pasta and I enjoy finding recipes that don’t involve the traditional pasta sauce.  I remember the first time I took a chance on pesto and fell in love, so when I saw the recipe for the Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta in Cooking Light, I was ready to take a chance.  Also, I was intrigued by the soft boiled egg.  I’ve got the technique for hard boiled down and this presents a new challenge.

I decided that I wanted to have savory bread with this dish.  Regular bread and butter just didn’t seem like they would cut it.  Luckily I didn’t have to look too hard – the recipe for the Chive and Cheese Breadsticks was in the next magazine that I read.  My meal was complete.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Walnut-Breadcrumb Pasta with a Soft Egg
and Chive & Cheese Breadsticks

My pasta looks okay.  I’m a little disappointed in the pasta color though.  I used regular pasta in this case, so it shouldn’t be as brown as it is.  The goat cheese on top looks messy… like it doesn’t belong there.

As for the breadstick, this was one of the prettiest ones in the bunch.  Nicely browned and it held the twist.  However, if I’m being honest, I have to admit that not all of them looked like this.  In fact, not many of them looked like this.

Shrimp and Tomato Linguine Toss with Parmesan-Pepper Biscuits

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – February 24, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Shrimp and Tomato Linguine Toss recipe originally published in Simple & Delicious – December/January 2011.

Parmesan-Pepper Biscuits recipe originally published in Gourmet – October 2008.

So the question has now been answered… no, I haven’t actually fallen off the face of the Earth.  I really hate it when people disappear and when you finally catch up with them they say, “I’ve been really busy.”  Like the rest of us aren’t busy.  All I can say is this… when I started this blog; I was pretty much a housewife occasionally seeing clients out of our home.  I was “busy” but it was busy on my own time and it was much easier to write, cook and photograph food.  It was also a little hard to buy said food since there wasn’t much money coming in.

Then I got a job where I was SUPPOSED to be working 18 hours a week.  It became slightly harder to post every day, but I was managing several posts a week at least.  Suddenly, the 18 hours became 30 hours and I had to drop down to one post a week.  About a month ago, I was promoted and I’ve been working 65+ hours a week for at least the last 3 weeks.

So comparatively speaking, I’ve gotten much busier and that’s why posting has been nonexistent for several weeks now.

Now that I’m working so much, it is pretty hard to cook meals with seafood.  Fish simply tastes better when it’s freshly cooked and I’ve found it makes terrible leftovers.  Therefore, to get my seafood quota, I’ve been making a lot of shrimp.  The Shrimp and Tomato Linguine Toss seemed to hit the spot.  Of course, I wanted to make some bread and the Parmesan-Pepper Biscuits sounded delicious.

My finished meal:

© You Want Me to Cook?
Shrimp & Tomato Linguine Toss with Parmesan-Pepper Biscuits

I was really proud of the way the pasta turned out, although, I think the original picture looked yummier.  Still, it looked yummy enough that I couldn’t wait to eat it.  I was kind of disappointed in the “biscuits”.  I use parentheses because frankly, they weren’t biscuits at all.  They were more like crackers.  Still, expecting something else aside, they still looked and smelled great.





 

© Taste of Home

Obviously, I used different pasta – wheat.  Their picture just looks more fresh and light with a tad bit more color since they used the fresh basil on their dish.  There was no picture for the biscuits, which was a big reason why I didn’t realize they weren’t fluffy bread.  Of course, had I read the ingredient listing a little more closely, I still wouldn’t have made that mistake.

See, when I don’t follow my own rules, bad things happen.

Breakfast Biscuits

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 20, 2011.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in Good Housekeeping, February 2011.

I’m not one for spicy food.  I like a little kick, but too much seems flavorless to me.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t knock anyone who likes the spice, I’m just saying I don’t care for it.  The reason I bring this up now is that when I read through this recipe, I didn’t realize how much of a kick pepper Jack cheese had.  I had the biscuits in the oven when I sampled my cheese and started wondering if I was going to like this or not.

I made the entire recipe of biscuits (I’m not going to save a ½ container of refrigerated biscuits), but since I cook for only two of us, I cut the eggs in half.  I could have made the entire dish, but I don’t care for scrambled eggs as leftovers.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook? Breakfast Biscuits

Picture published with recipe: None

This is a quickie recipe from Good Housekeeping that didn’t post pictures – again.  I have a vision in my head of the chefs running around screaming, “the Breakfast Biscuits are done.  What is next?  No, throw it away; I’m in a hurry here!  It’s QUICKIE RECIPE TIME!”  At least my picture looks gorgeous.  Golden-browned biscuits with fluffy eggs is my idea of a breakfast.

Scalloped Shrimp and Potatoes with Onion Crescent Rolls

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 11, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Scalloped Shrimp and Potatoes recipe originally published in Simple and Delicious, December/January 2011.

Onion Crescent Rolls recipe originally published in Taste of Home, Holiday Collection 2008.

When I saw the picture of the Scalloped Shrimp and Potatoes it was being served with sesame seed breadsticks.  I immediately began to scan my recipes for something similar – which I eventually found – but I could not stop my brain from wanting to make these Onion Crescent Rolls.  I looked at the shrimp recipe a little closer and realized that they would work well since there wouldn’t be much competing spice in the cheesy shrimp and potatoes.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Scalloped Shrimp and Potatoes with Onion Crescent Rolls

My only regret is that it doesn't have a lot of color to the dish.  The crescent roll kind of blends into the shrimp and potatoes.  Of course, that has nothing to do with taste or texture.  I just like my food to be pretty as well.