May 21 NO RECIPE NIGHT!

May 21
NO RECIPE NIGHT!

So, insane week of work, no time, no chance to even think about what to prepare... I just pretty much winged it.

Wedge salad w/ buttermilk, citrus dressing, egg and bacon. Simple as it sounds, was delicious!


Main course was rolled, stuff chicken breast with glazed carrot side.
I attempted to make bread TWICE, but it was just not meant to be... both times the bread failed to rise, im certain the issue was my yeast and I WILL try again. (was really looking fwd to serving fresh bread with the meal - ended up settling for Albertsons Fresh)

The chicken was your standard grocery store breast filet's pounded flat and stuffed with a mixture of fresh broccoli, garlic, onions and fontina, I rolled these and seasoned them, baked them in the oven and served with a variation of Maggies famous cheese sauce (took two tries... i didnt listen)

As a veg side i served glazed carrots that i cooked in a reduction of maple syrup, orange juice, allspice and cinnamon (these were IMHO just AMAZINGLY GOOD)

The chicken came out a bit dry (again, no recipe's) as i think i overcooked it a bit trying to make sure the inside was hot, melty and delicious... ended up being just "MEAH". As a whole, if you were to get a good mix of the chicken and the stuffing and the sauce, it made for a great bite, but the chicken by its lonesome was well... overcooked chicken...

For desert, i served vanilla yogurt over fresh fruit, topped with granola.
It was again "meah"

The whole meal was sub-par for me and not one of my better efforts.

The cooking with no recipe's thing is harder than it seems, I mean - you get an idea and think "wow that will be awesome" then somewhere between the idea and putting it on the table, things change.

Anyway, we've decided to bump chef night back to bi-monthly instead of every week for the summer/near future as we all have lots of engagements and "other" things.

Heres to hoping i hit it out of the park next time!

Keeping it simple

Really not in the mood for spending the entire day in the kitchen this week. Decided to go with a simple steak and veg. Skipped the appetizer altogether and went with broccoli soup as a starter.

First off was the broccoli soup. Simple recipe (courtesy of Gordon Ramsay) using boiled broccoli. The broccoli was then puree'd in a blender, adding a little bit of salt and pepper and then topped with goat cheese, roasted almonds, and a bit more pepper. I forgot to drizzle it with olive oil.

Steak was ribeye stuffed with cremini mushrooms, garlic, shallots, and blue cheese. I had initially intended to do this on the grill, but with the wind I opted to prepare it on the stove. Veg was fennel. The fennel was first pan seared and then placed in the oven along with garlic, celery, tarragon, parsley, and white wine. The fennel was also a Ramsay recipe.

Lastly, served baked apple. I used Granny Smith apples. These were cored and then stuffed with a mixture of dried cranberries, gold raisins, Cointreau, sugar, and butter. After cooking, I drizzled the apples with heavy cream.

Slider...Slider...Slider

For dinner this week I made 3 different types of sliders with recipes I found at Foodnetwork.com. The first was a simple ground chuck seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I added cheddar cheese, red onions, pickles, and chipolte sauce.

Next, I made a pulled chicken slider topped with cabbage.


Finally, a seafood slider made from chopped sea scallops and seasoning and bread crumbs. I made homemade bread with a very simple recipe and served the sliders with a simple green salad with oil and vinegar.


The sliders turned out ok. The chipolte sauce made the ground chuck way too hot. The seafood slider was my least favorite. It just did not have the flavor I was hoping for. The chicken was my favorite. I liked it a lot with the cabbage. Both were seasoned just right.

For an appetizer I made potato bites with sour cream and bacon. What a pain. The were good just not worth the trouble.

And finally dessert was blueberry turnovers sprinkled with sugar. I deep fried them and that was tricky. They did turn out very good though.

Another ok meal. I still haven't created a masterpiece yet.