Sage and Prosciutto Saltimbocca with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

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Every once in a while, I’ll be flipping through my food magazines and think “this is going to taste good!”  These recipes from Taste of Home practically screamed that when I turned to the page.

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Sage & Prosciutto Saltimbocca with
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus

I love a good sautéed chicken and there’s nothing better than a butter sauce with a wine reduction.  I also love prosciutto and when it is sautéed to a crisp, it is even better.  I’m drooling just thinking about it.  The potatoes and asparagus with rosemary and garlic are a bonus.  I don’t think there are two vegetables I like more than that.

Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites

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I confess.  I love bite-size breakfast.  The funny thing is that I never eat on the run.  I just like bite sized food.

I’m sure there is a therapist somewhere that read that and said, “She needs help.”

I do not deny that fact.

One difficult thing about bite size breakfast foods is that they can kind of be a pain to make.  Like a GIGANTIC PAIN.  I’ve done recipes like these Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites from Pillsbury before and sworn that I would never make anything like that ever again.  Yet as I am flipping through April’s issue of Bake Off winners, I immediately gravitated to this recipe.

© Pillsbury

As I look at this picture, I remember why.  I get to eat bacon and tater tots… for breakfast.  Of course, there is no guarantee that my breakfast bites are going to turn out the same way.

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Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites

But they did!  Well at least they were very close.  Mine don’t seem to have the same lovely golden color of the ones Pillsbury produced.

They did make me reaffirm that I don’t want to make anything like this again, though.

What I'm Making/Made this Week - June 25 through July 1, 2012

I have been cooking.  It's just that I'm doing it a little at a time.  One thing for sure is that our mourning process for one of our pug clean-up crew requires a lot of comfort food and sweets.

Here's what I've made so far:

Monday is Vegan Day and I found another recipe out of Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson that I wanted to make.  Then I added it to one of my favorites from the book that I already made.  I present to you Home-Style Loaf with Garlic Mashers...

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Home-Style Loaf with Garlic Mashers

What I Made: June 16 & 17, 2012

Ah, the weekend.  I often try to take it a little easy on the weekends since I cook a lot during the week.  For some reason this weekend, I was incredibly motivated to cook and bake.

Okay, well I wasn't motivated ALL weekend.  Saturday morning was spent running errands and I wasn't in the mood to make lunch, so we picked something up.  I kicked it into high gear for dinner.

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Portobello Mushroom Burgers

I got the recipe for Portobello Mushroom Burgers from All You.  Initially, I was looking for a Mushroom-Quinoa Burger I found in January's issue, but for some reason it was nowhere to be found on their website.  Since I recycle my magazines as soon as I've read them, the recipe has been lost (to me at least) forever.

What I Made: June 8, 2012

I was a cooking fool on Friday.  

I'd like to stress the "fool" part.

I slightly overdid it and then was out of commission for the weekend.  The good news is that I was back to cooking on Monday and I have a lot of delicious pictures for your consideration.

For breakfast, I went with Pistachio-Chai Muffins from Cooking Light.

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Pistachio-Chai Muffins

I have to admit, I'm more of a sweet breakfast muffin kind of gal, but my opinion isn't the only one that counts.  My husband took well over half a batch to work.  He returned with empty containers and said they got a big thumbs up.

Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets with Garlic Mashers

Recipe made/modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 23, 2011

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Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets, Italian “Sausage” Cutlets and Garlic Mashers recipes published in Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson.

So a while back, my husband and I decided we were going to try to eat more vegetables.

*Pffft… yeah right.

I began looking for more green and colored vegetables in side dishes, but never seemed to find things that went together.  Then I had a flash of brilliance – I should start looking for vegetarian entrees.  It worked and now my husband looks forward to our veggie nights.  I think it’s because I have to be creative and you rely on herbs and spices to bring out the flavor in your food… not fat from meat.

Now don’t think I’m going to stop eating meat.  I love my burgers WAAAAAY too much to do that, but we did decide to bump up the vegetarian meals to two nights a week.  Good for us and I was doing a lot of patting myself on the back for trying to get us eating healthier even if it is only one night a week.

Then I had my eyes opened.

I have a couple of relatives that are vegans.  Vegans are individuals that eat nothing animal based, including milk, butter and eggs.  Some don’t even eat honey.  Let that information sink in and give it some thought.  Those are the staples to MANY dishes and I couldn’t comprehend how to bake without eggs.  Listening to them talk about the types of meals they prepare intrigued me and then I stumbled upon a book called Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson.  She turned many comfort foods (mac & cheese, pancakes, grilled cheese) into vegan meals.

I had to have that book.

It’s been sitting on my shelf for a while now, but I’ve decided to really push this blog ahead full time, so I decided it was time.

A couple of things before we start…

First, just because a meal is vegan doesn’t mean it is (a) healthy or (b) diet friendly.  There are plenty of ways to make foods calorie and fat heavy that don’t include animal based ingredients.  Also, you’d be surprised at the sodium levels of many dishes.

Second, you’ll notice that one of the recipes in the top line is called Italian “Sausage” Cutlets.  I put those quotes around sausage, not the author.  I fully respect people who believe in the vegan way of life, but I’m slightly put off by people calling vegan faux-meats, well… meats.  Don’t get the impression that you’re going to chomp into the cutlet and scream, “OH MY WORD!  IT’S LIKE I’M EATING A SAUSAGE PATTY FROM THE BUTCHER!”

Nope, not gonna happen.

The cutlet you make for this dish is tasty substitute to meat and I didn’t eat it thinking, “Man I wish I had some sausage right now”.  It was quite the opposite.  I was thinking, “Yeah, I’m enjoying this dish and not wishing it was something else.”  However, it certainly doesn’t have the taste or consistency of a meat sausage patty.  My husband only read the title of the main meal “Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets” and said he appreciated that I wasn’t trying to make him think he was eating meat.  He’s a grown up and has an open mind to try different things.

And that’s all I really ask.

Finally, a vegan dish is not something you can make on the fly if you’ve never made vegan dishes before and especially if you haven’t made mock meats.  You’re going to need some special ingredients, so do a little research and plan on making it a couple weeks out.  Give yourself plenty of time and most of all, keep an open mind.

Let’s get to the food, shall we?

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Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets with Garlic Mashers

Take a good look at this picture and try to forget about the fact that it is a faux meat under the delicately breaded and browned panko, delicious looking sauce and oozing mozzarella veggie shreds.  Doesn’t it look delicious?  And it is delicious!

The book does have a picture, but they don’t have any images available on-line to link to (I hate copying pictures and putting them on my blog without linking to the individual/book/blog/website for the credit), so you’ll have to take my word on this… it looks very similar.

Bacon Potato Omelet

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – September 4, 2011

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Bacon Potato Omelet recipe originally published in Taste of Home Holiday Collection 2008.

My husband rarely cooks, but he makes a MEAN breakfast.  His eggs come out perfect sunnyside-up.  The bacon is oh-so-crisp.  There are hash browns that make my mouth water.  Of course, this is the exact menu we have each time… not that I mind at all.  On occasion, I do enjoy mixing things up a little and that’s when I take over.

So when I look at the ingredients of this recipe, it mimics very closely my husband’s "Breakfast of Success."  I love omelets!  I LOVE me some bacon!  And everything is better with cheese.  I decided to give my loving husband a break and made this yummy looking Bacon Potato Omelet.

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Bacon Potato Omelet

I was ridiculously proud of the way it looked when I was done.  Usually my omelets are broken, oozing messes.  They’re in one piece, but they’re never what I’d call “pretty”.  Yeah, I know it all looks like mush in our stomach, but I do enjoy looking at nice looking food before I eat it.

It looked perfectly cooked and was almost identical to the picture published with the recipe.

Reunion Casserole with Asiago Tater Tots

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 11, 2011

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Reunion Casserole recipe originally published by Simple and Delicious – December/January 2011

Asiago Tater Tots recipe originally published by Every Day with Rachael Ray – February 2011

At some point, I realized that I need to make more meals instead of single dishes.  Part of the issue is that I have a couple of stand-by side dishes that I always go back to.  Not that they are bad, just unimaginative.  The other is that I’m making a lot of casseroles.  Casseroles have everything in one dish which is sort of the appeal.

Then I came upon this recipe for the Asiago Tater Tots.  I love a good tot (who doesn’t), but it isn’t like you can make a meal out of them.  Well I actually had a boyfriend who would make entire bags of them and eat them out of a bowl with an oversized spoon… but he was an idiot, so that doesn’t count.

So I had to find a recipe that would work with the tots.  I could have gone the hamburger/hot dog route but when I read this recipe, it reminded me of a fancy sloppy joe, with pasta for the carbs instead of bread.  I knew it would be a hit.

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Reunion Casserole with Asiago Tater Tots

Visually, I’m disappointed with the meal.  It is so brown.  Separately, I can’t complain.  The casserole looks hearty and yummy.  It could have a little more color, but it still smelled fantastic.  The tater tots turned out even better than I thought they ever would.  Golden brown and crisp, I couldn’t wait to eat them.

Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis with Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? - February 23, 2011

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Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis Recipe originally published in Cooking Light, January/February 2011.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes originally published in Taste of Home Holiday Collection 2008, but found at the Mrs. Dash web site.

Meatloaf, as boring as it is, is one of my go-to recipes when I’m in a pinch.  I always have ingredients on hand and have a favorite recipe (Better Homes and Gardens).  On occasion, I’ll stuff it with vegetables and cheese, but for the most part, it’s a standard recipe that, while tasty, doesn’t have much pizzazz.  The Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis definitely had a more interesting ingredient list than my usual meatloaf.  Horseradish, Dijon mustard, onion and garlic made it almost impossible for me to pass up.

Since meatloaf isn’t really difficult to make, I decided this was a dish I needed to prepare with a side.  Now, I have a list of about 9000 recipes (yes, you read that right) of every kind of dish you can imagine.  I couldn’t find ANYTHING I wanted to serve with my mini-loaves.  I stumbled across this recipe that was attributed to a magazine, yet was so old that I found it on a completely different web site than the original.

I don’t know if that made any sense.  I think I need to tweak my medication.

On to the pictures!!!!!

My finished meal:

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Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis with Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Admit it.  You want to eat the mini-meatloaf.  Okay, my vegetarian friends/followers don’t, but the carnivores, like me, do.  My loaves didn’t look as pretty as those of Cooking Light, but they aren’t ugly either.

The smell was FANTASTIC, but upon reflection of this dish, I should have gone with my initial instincts and made garlic mashed potatoes.  Still it tasted good with the meatloaf and overall I was happy with the way it looked.

Chili-Apricot Pork Chops with Truffled Mash

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

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Chili-Apricot Pork Chops recipe originally published in Taste of Home, December/January 2011.

Truffled Mash recipe originally published in Food Network Magazine, January/February 2011.

I was going through my refrigerator, cleaning stuff out, and I found a jar of partially used sugar-free apricot preserves.  It reminded me of some delicious chicken wings I made for a party.  I can’t honestly say that I went searching for a recipe that used the preserves, but it certainly influenced my decision to select this one when I came across it.  Pork chops aren’t one of those things that you can eat alone or with a salad… at least in my mind.  Granted, my mind is kind of simple, but something about them cries out for potatoes – preferably mashed.

Now, every time I watch Iron Chef America, they’re using truffles, truffle oil, truffle salt – everything truffle – so when I found this recipe in Food Network’s magazine (coincidentally the next one I read after Taste of Home with the pork chops), I was excited to try it and see how they tasted.  Apparently they’re all magical or something.  According to Alton Brown on Iron Chef America, "Those white truffles are better than 97% of the sex you will have during your lifetime." (Thanks to Eater for this little nugget of delight!)

My finished product:

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Chili-Apricot Pork Chops with Truffled Mash

Chili-Apricot Pork Chops Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

Truffled Mash Picture published with recipe: © Food Network Magazine

Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – January 27, 2011

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Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops recipe originally published in Cooking Light, January/February 2011.

Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes recipe originally published by allRecipes on Saturday, October 25, 2008.

Simple sauces and spice rubs are an easy way to dress up chicken, beef or pork.  Very similar to yesterday’s post, chicken cutlets in a creamy Dijon sauce, the pork in today’s post is dressed up with a spice rub and then grilled on the stovetop. 

My Pork Chops: © You Want Me to Cook?

Pork Chops by Cooking Light: © Cooking Light

Not bad, right?  So I’m sure you noticed that Cooking Light had some side-suggestions for their pork chops.  I decided I needed to find something similar to make a complete meal.  But what dish to make?

When I read my magazines, I type all the recipes I want to try into a spreadsheet.  Then I verify I can find them all on-line at a later date.  That way, I don’t have piles of magazines lying around my house – which I do anyway because I can never keep up, but that’s a story for another blog. 

Anyway…

If I see a recipe that is something similar to what I already have (and not a slimmed down version or something special) I’ll pass it up.  I’m not sure why I didn’t write down what this side was, but I’m going to guess it was probably that reason.  I have close to a hundred potato recipes.

Now, I enjoy Cooking Light, but one of my pet peeves is that when they pair dishes together, they don’t link them on their website.  You have to search through recipes for that issue, which could be over a hundred, not including the articles.  So I decided to go through my pile of potato recipes instead of trying to find which potatoes they made.  It was then I stumbled upon allRecipes version of Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes.

My Potatoes: © You Want Me to Cook?

Potatoes by allRecipes: © allRecipes.com

 

Little did I know, Cooking Light had selected a similar recipe to pair with their pork chop as well.  Of course, I only knew this because I was going through the comments looking for tips on keeping my pork chops juicy.  NOT because they made it easy to find that information.  I guess great minds think alike.

And by the way, my picture has been uploaded to allRecipes as well.  Yay me!  When all the cooking was finished, this is what I ended up with…

My finished product: ©You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Cooking Light

Pretty nice, right?  I decided to make the purchase of a grill pan since I wanted it to look pretty as well as taste good.  Of course, the pan affects the cook time too, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  My husband doesn’t like broccoli, so I decided to pass on this side dish, but we did enjoy a salad with it.