What in the world...

I subscribe to a lot of magazines.  Maybe too many, but it is kind of an addiction of mine.  In a quest to get rid of clutter, I'm going through old magazines and ripping out recipes and little tricks and hints to pass along to all of you.

So I'm flipping through the March 2010 copy of Every Day with Rachael Ray and read this in the Mess of the Month:

"Every morning I make hard-boiled eggs, and one time I cooked them the night before.  While we were sleeping, the smoke alarm went off: The eggs were burning in a pot with no water.  The entire house smelled!"

Before I continue with my point, I'd like to point out the magazine's response to this particular letter was "Watch us make hard-boiled eggs at rachaelraymag.com/march."  Seriously?  That's what you came up with?  There are so many things wrong with that individual's "mess" that it makes my head spin and yet they used it as a jumping off point to promote their teaching on the website.  By the way, some of their recipes and teaching is a huge point of mockery in their forums. (If you follow the link, make sure you scroll down to read the comments.  You'll get a good chuckle)

My response would have been something more like, "WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!  ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!"  

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – May 5, 2011

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

Recipe originally published by Cooking Light via e-mail on May 3, 2011.

So we continue with the trend of cooking a lot of the same things with another one of my favorites – Mexican chicken casseroles.  I know what attracted me to this dish other than my love of Mexican food.  It is supposed to be a “healthier” version of a creamy chicken casserole.  The ingredient listing had all the right things and the picture looked fantastic, so why not?

© You Want Me to Cook?
Mexican Chicken Casserole

Okay, it looks tasty, but it isn’t what the recipe’s picture looked like.  I can’t figure out why it is so orange looking.  Okay, I can (enchilada sauce), but I used the same amount as specified in the recipe and the same type of cheese.

 

Daily Recipe Round-up for October 19, 2011

If anyone makes one of these recipes, I’d love for you to let me know, give me your thoughts and even take a picture or two.  I’d LOVE to start posting updates from other cooks, such as myself.  Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.  That’s the point of this blog.

Cooking Light

Skeletal Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies

Yield: Serves 40 (serving size: 1 cookie)
Hands On: 39 Minutes

Total: 1 Hour, 51 Minutes

Daily Recipe Round-up for October 18, 2011

If anyone makes one of these recipes, I’d love for you to let me know, give me your thoughts and even take a picture or two.  I’d LOVE to start posting updates from other cooks, such as myself.  Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.  That’s the point of this blog.

Pillsbury

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Prep Time: 25 Min

Total Time: 6 Hr 35 Min

Makes: 8 servings

Thai Noodle Bowl with Shrimp

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

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

Recipe originally published in Every Day with Rachael Ray – May 2011

After yesterday’s post, I realized that I have another continuing theme in the dishes I select – curry.  I’m cutting myself a little slack on this one since it is a soup.   

I love a good soup on chilly days and this one intrigued me because of the rice noodles.  I’ve not been able to find them (or bought the wrong ones which is most often the case) so I was on a mission to find them.  I found them in the most surprising of places – tucked away in a grocery store that has one of the tiniest Asian sections ever.  The rest seemed like a perfect dish for me: the sweetness of coconut, saltiness of soy sauce (even if I used a reduced sodium blend), spice of curry, and tasty shrimp.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Thai Noodle Bowl with Shrimp

On one of the first cold days of fall in the Chicago-area, I’m staring at this picture wishing I had a bowl.  It is a spicy and creamy (yet not heavy) soup with color and texture.  It looked perfect and smelled fantastic.

Daily Recipe Round-up for October 17, 2011

If anyone makes one of these recipes, I’d love for you to let me know, give me your thoughts and even take a picture or two.  I’d LOVE to start posting updates from other cooks, such as myself.  Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.  That’s the point of this blog.

Every Day with Rachael Ray

Double Mushroom and Marsala Cream Fettuccine

4 servings

30-minute Meals

Slow Cooker Mushroom Swiss Steak and Gravy

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 28, 2011

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

Recipe originally published by Betty Crocker via e-mail on Sunday, April 24, 2011.

Maybe it’s time I tell everyone how I come up with blog posts and dishes. 

I have literally thousands of recipes to choose from.  I try to pick recipes from the most current magazines I have and then will dig through my recipe archives if I can’t find anything that tickles my fancy.  Honestly, I go a lot by what sounds good to me at the moment I’m creating my menu for the week.  I’ve tried to keep track of everything I’ve made recently, but that just adds a lot of time to the process… time I’d rather spend writing and cooking.

When I cook, I follow my rules: clean my cabinets, empty the sink, pull out the ingredients and equipment.  Then I take pictures of everything (and now take pictures of all the nutritional information labels as well) and write down any changes to ingredients and any supplemental equipment I need (or feel I need) for the recipe.  Finally, I break down the recipe on a marker board so I can take notes and pictures while I’m cooking.  When I’m all done, I take pictures of the finished product, write down all of the notes from the marker board and make detailed notes about the mess I’ve created, taste of the dish and what I would change, if anything.

The reason I felt the need to point this out to all of you is because I realized I’ve made this particular dish, I don’t know, probably 5 or 6 times this year.  It is from different sources and the recipes all have their own little tweak, but the Swiss steak / beef stew / creamy beef and noodles seems to be ever present in my cooking rotation.  I sat down and really thought about why and it is probably for the following reasons:

• Slow cooking rules… minimal cooking and perfectly cooked beef.
• Tomatoes and mushrooms are abundant in these recipes and this girl LOVES her tomatoes and mushrooms.
• I can serve it with noodles or potatoes to mix up the leftovers.

I guess it just looks tasty and I get drawn to the stewed beef like a bug to a light.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Slow Cooker Mushroom Swiss Steak and Gravy

I’m torn by my finished product.  On one hand, it is so gravy-licious and you can tell the meat is perfectly cooked (meaning falling apart) but is also looks very messy and like it is missing something.  Of course it is – egg noodles.  One day I will learn to compare the picture with the recipe to the ingredient listing.