Lisa Cooks

2009-11-07T20:14:00.001-06:00

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Chicken and Dumplings

2009-11-04T10:42:00.004-06:00

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Assemble Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (Jan 2005)

Yes, this takes awhile to make. And actually, I used chicken breasts (not recommended by CI, but recommended by me!) so it was quicker. The hardest part for me is pulling the skin off the chicken (after browning) and then pulling the chicken off the bone after cooking. However, it is necessary to do this steps to get the non-greasy, yet full-flavored broth. And I think it is worth it (every once in a while) for such a yummy recipe.

I made a little bit lighter, by using half the fats call for in the recipe (less oil for the chicken, less butter in the stew, less fat in the dumplings.) Using breasts makes is lighter also. But the dish was still very rich and delicious.

I have made this once before and froze the leftovers, and I remember they were still good. I will do that again, which is nice allowing for a quick delicious meal another evening without any work.

Spaghetti Pie

2009-10-30T19:33:00.006-05:00

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (February 2006)

This one is really easy to put together. The prep isn't quick because you have to make the "crust" first after boiling the pasta, and then make the filling, but there is plenty of downtime and not much cutting going on with this one.

I did skip the ricotta layer, because I didn't have any on hand, and just used more ground beef in the sauce. It was really good, and a nice change of pace from regular pasta with sauce. An easy recipe for something a little different that still gives you traditional Italian flavors.

White Chicken Chili

2009-10-28T16:43:00.004-05:00

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: America's Test Kitchen (TV Show)

I like this, but the overwhelming flavor in the dish is the peppers, and I didn't even use as much as called for. It feels more like a "Green" chili than a white chili. (And looks that way too.) The chilies used are all mostly mild, with jalapeno being the hottest, so there is very little spice to this chili.

The cooking time can overlap the prep time some, but I find it less stressful to prep before I start, so I did that. It isn't hard to make, but does mess up a few dishes. I think for something that uses whole chicken breasts (as opposed to boneless skinless), I want the final dish to be a little richer with more chicken flavor. So I probably will stick to regular chili in the future, but could possibly make again someday.

Gingered Oatmeal Muffins

2009-10-27T14:28:00.005-05:00

Prep Time: 18 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Probably not

Recipe Source:Whole Grain Baking

Wow, it's been a very long time! My life has been turned upside-down this past year, and it left me with less time for cooking, and I've been sticking to my old standby favorite recipes, so there wasn't anything to try. I finally got the desire to bake again recently, so tried these muffins.

They taste very good, but they are very squat, which I don't like. The batter was very soupy. Also, they take a little longer because of chopping the crystallized ginger and making some oat flour (just by using my food processor.) For these reasons, I probably won't make again, but I do like how they taste. There are just too many good muffin recipes, so I stick to my absolute favorites when I reuse a recipe.

Empanadas

2009-04-20T15:50:00.003-05:00

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Rest Time: 20 minutes
Assemble Time:15 minutes
Bake Time: 30-45 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (April 2004)

I often make these with ground turkey so I add some more spice to it - usually some cumin. These are very good. A little time consuming to make, but since you can freeze them for later, it is worth it.

I usually make the dough a little thinner, so I can get more out of the recipe. This requires more care when you are forming them so the dough doesn't stretch, but it usually works ok. I want a slightly higher meat to dough ratio, so this works for me.

Fudge Brownies

2009-03-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40-45 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baker's Banter (King Arthur Flour)

I've already reviewed many brownie recipes (that I love) but I'm always willing to try a new one! This one is very good. There is a little bit more work than some because you heat the butter and dissolve the sugar in it, but still fairly easy. I like a fudgy brownie, so this is a recipe I will definitely use again.

Baked Pasta with Spinach Ricotta and Prosciutto

2009-03-02T16:57:00.000-06:00

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (2004)

This isn't my favorite baked pasta dish, and it can get a little dry if you aren't careful. However, I do make it occasionally for two reasons. 1) It uses up milk, which I often have too much of, and 2) it is very, very simple to make. The only real prep needed is to cook the pasta, grate the parm and dice the proscuitto. Other than that it is just mixing everything up and putting in the pan to bake.

The most important ingredient is the proscuitto. It is what flavors the dish, so if you like that, you may like this too.

Apple Cake

2009-02-17T16:54:00.003-06:00

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 60-70 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe with changes

Recipe Source: The Italian Country Table

Oh boy, I had a lot of trouble with this one. I was really intrigued by this recipe, because it cuts butter into some flour and sugar, then makes a very thin crust in springform pan with some of it. Then you take the rest of that mixture and mix in eggs, milk, etc, and then the apples. So you end up with a buttery crust for the cake.

The trouble began when the crumbs didn't really stick together well, but I did my best to press them into the pan. I made the cake and put it in. However, about 30 minutes into the bake, I noticed a smell. I looked in the oven and noticed pools of butter in the bottom of my oven. It was leaking out of the spring form pan. :-( I worried that it might catch on fire, so I decided to sop it up with a paper towel and tongs. Which, unfortunately, touched the electric coil, and proceeded to catch on fire! I turned the water on in my sink, and was able to get it under control, thankfully.

I turned the oven off, and let it cool a bit, then tried again. So, there was about 10 minutes where the cake was out of the oven. I turned it back on and tried to finish it. I think it mostly baked through OK.

In the end, it wasn't bad, but not exactly my favorite. I love spicy apple cakes, and this doesn't really have any spice, so I guess it disappointed me a little. I did like the crusty part though. So I might have to try it again with some spices and possibly a more tart apple. It is a unique idea, and I'm not ready to give up on it yet.

I should mention, you are supposed to add a meringue topping, but I decided to skip that part.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

2009-02-06T14:43:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (Month 2004)

At first bite, the carrots in these distract just a little. It wasn't the sloppy joe texture I was expecting. But really, once you get past that, they taste very good. And it is nice to get your veggies in with a sandwich, because the recipe calls for 4 shredded carrots and a large can on crushed tomatoes.

Christmas Menu

2009-01-30T09:56:00.003-06:00

Roasted Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers

Grilled Polenta

Herbed Goat Cheese and Smoked Mozzarella

Ciabatta Rolls (par-baked from Trader Joe's)

Salad

Lasagna Carnivale

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

I've wanted to post this menu ever since Christmas, since it worked out so well. It was by far the most stress-free meal I've ever served a group of people. That was because most of it was done the day before.

Schedule:

2 Days Before:
~ Shopping
~ Prep lasagna ingredients (Sauce, Shred Cheese, meatballs)

1 Day Before:
~ Roast Tomatoes
~ Make Polenta (can be done at same time as tomatoes.)
~ Bake meatballs
~ Assemble lasagna
~ Bake Cake

Day of:
~ Glaze Cake
~ Cut and grill/broil polenta
~ Assemble appetizer tray (tomatoes, cheeses, bread slices, polenta)
~ Bake Lasagna
~ Prepare salad
~ Bake par-baked bread, while lasagna is sitting

Serve and enjoy!

Oven-Roasted Canned Tomatoes

2009-01-29T09:50:00.003-06:00

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2+ hours

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Italian Country Table

This is another great simple recipe from The Italian Country Table. It makes a delicious spread or something nice to put on pasta. It takes a long time to cook, but there is very little hands on time here.

Polenta

2009-01-28T09:44:00.001-06:00

Total Time: 90-120 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Italian Country Table

This recipe is very simple, but takes a while to make. You make the polenta in a double broiler, so it cooks slowly and doesn't need as much attention. You just have to stir it every 20 minutes (although more often the first 20 minutes).

It is good soft, but I love to put it into a pan and let it solidify first (you can use a sheet pan or a loaf pan - both work). Then I cut it into pieces, brush with a little oil and either grill or broil. It gets crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.

I love to have this with roasted peppers or tomatoes and it makes a nice appetizer for an italian meal.

The Italian Country Table

2009-01-27T09:20:00.001-06:00

I don't have a lot of cookbooks, and 80% of those that I own come from America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated). But Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table is one that I have kept. Part of the reason is that it is a fun read, talking about different country areas of Italy. There are a few recipes in here that are really great and simple and this will remain a keeper for me.

Whole-Wheat Pasta with Kale and Fontina

2009-01-26T20:54:00.003-06:00

Total Time: 28 minutes
Cook Time: minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (October 2003)

If you like kale, then this is a good recipe. I love that it is so quick, and the ingredients in here really do taste well with the whole-wheat pasta (although, technically, my pasta is not 100% whole-wheat - Ronzoni.) I had some extra fontina left from the Baked Pasta dish last week, and this was perfect way to use up the extra, because it just calls for a little bit.

This calls for just a little bit of bacon which really adds to the flavor. I always freeze my bacon that I buy on sale in one and two piece portions so I always have some on hand. (A bonus: it is really easy to cut frozen bacon.)

Melting Mint Brownies

2009-01-24T21:50:00.006-06:00

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Icing Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: King Arthur's Flour Baker's Banter Blog

These are pretty good, but I give them a "-" because the brownie itself is nothing great. The icing is what makes these good, I think. It is an all-cocoa brownie, and I usually like recipes that use melted chocolate, and those that are a little fudgier. But the icing/glaze has some butter in it, and is really rich and with the mint adds more flavor. They are pretty too, without much effort, so I liked that aspect of these.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

2009-01-22T21:42:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 38 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food

This may not look that appetizing, but it is a very delicious baked pasta dish. The recipe makes two casseroles, one for eating tonight, and one for freezing, which is nice. It does use a little cream, which adds a nice richness, but overall, this is not a very heavy dish, considering it is a baked pasta dish.

I like that is included spinach, but I would probably chop it up a little first, because it got a little bit stringy. Otherwise, this works great as is.

Vanilla Biscotti

2009-01-20T19:07:00.002-06:00

Total Time: 90 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: King Arthur's Flour Baker's Banter

This is a nice simple recipe that only takes a while because you are baking twice (as you would with any Biscotti recipe.) It is very good. The recipe is very flexible and you can add other flavors or add-ins to the dough.

30-Minute Meatloaves

2009-01-09T10:06:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 27 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (Septebmer 2006)

I didn't exactly make these in 30 minutes. Not sure why I was slow. But they are quick and fairly easy. I did like these more as leftovers than originally. I think when I first ate it, it was too hot. But they did taste good and I may make these again, but first I will be trying the other ATK meatloaf recipes, and there are quite a few.

7 Layer Bars

2009-01-02T16:09:00.003-06:00

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe w/ changes

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (February 2007)

These are a little bit different than the easy recipe from on the can of the sweetened condensed milk. The recipe adds toffee bits to the crust (good change), toasts the nuts and coconut (good), adds milk chocolate and rice krispies (fine, but couldn't tell the diff) and also used twice as much condensed milk (maybe not such a good change). I felt like these were just a little bit too gooey. And while I didn't mind the extra chocolate, I'm not sure it added much, so I might skip that step along with the cereal. Of course they tasted good, but just not sure all the updates are necessary.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

2009-01-02T10:14:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 45-60 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Glaze Time: 10 minutes
Rest Time: 1 hour

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (December 2004)

I made this for desert on Christmas Eve, and it went over very well. Even my 3 year old neice said "this is very good!" The mint is only in the frosting, so it could be skipped. The cake is very moist and dense, almost like a brownie. I didn't do a good job with the glaze, I don't think I really got the boiled cream to the chocolate fast enough, and it wasn't super smooth. Then I went back and tried to even out a part, which made it look even less smooth. It can be very pretty and shiny when done correctly.

English Muffin Bread

2008-12-30T21:26:00.003-06:00

Prep Time: 13 minutes
Rise Time: 45-60 minutes
Bake Time: 22 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baker's Banter Blog

I've been wanting to try real English Muffins for a while now, but haven't done it yet. Then I saw this recipe and had to try it since it seemed to be so quick and easy. It was quick and easy. No kneading, and a fast rise. The only remotely hard part was getting the dough level in the pan.

I do really like this, but I will try regular english muffins before I do this again. The bread is very good toasted with butter or peanut butter. I don't think it is great untoasted (just like an english muffin wouldn't be great.) This is nice recipe to have on hand.

Lasagna Carnivale

2008-12-27T19:56:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 65 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Rest Time: 5 minutes
Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Best International Recipe

This recipe calls for making tiny meatballs (with a scant teaspoon of meat.) The first time I made this, I made the meatballs a little too big, which made the structure of the lasagna a little bit of a problem. I also felt like there wasn't enough tomato sauce. Overall, though, I loved it, so I decided to make this again for Christmas Eve dinner with my family.

I made one with beef and one with Turkey. I also made more sauce (50% more.) I made the meatballs a little smaller, althouth probably still a tiny bit bigger than a teaspoon. No doubt, it is tedious to roll the meatballs, but this is a great dish to make ahead, so it was done the day before the dinner, when I was less stressed. (I had some help with this, thankfully.)

The beef version was better than the turkey. The first time I did this, I used turkey and liked it, but this time I used Trader Joe's Turkey, instead of Jenni-O. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't love the flavor of the TJ turkey in this. I had added some oregano and red pepper to the turkey the first time, and forgot that this time, so maybe that was my problem.

In the end, this is a keeper recipe for me, since lasagna can be made ahead of time, and makes great leftovers.

Chocolate Snowcaps

2008-12-21T14:13:00.002-06:00

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 45 minutes
Roll Time:10-15 minutes
Bake Time: 12-14 minutes per sheet

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (December 2003)

I like these cookies, but they are messy to eat sometimes. There is a strong chocolate flavor with both cocoa and melted chocolate. These are supposed to be Espresso Snowcaps, but I cut the espresso powder by 75% so I use just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor, but not taste like it.

Beer Batter Cheese Bread

2008-12-16T10:14:00.003-06:00

Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (December 2007)

Quick breads are supposed to be quick, and this one is super-quick. The only effort you have to put in is dicing and shredding the cheese and melting the butter. I only used 2 T of butter (instead of 4) and I think that was fine, since you just pour it on top. It still tasted buttery.

I had two minor problems. 1) The crust was hard to cut and 2) it was hard to get out of the pan, because there was a bit of cheese on the bottom, and it ripped a little. Also, sometimes I feel like quick breads baked in my larger 9x5 pans don't cook perfectly through the middle of the pan. For that reason, I think that I might prefer to stick with muffins. The Savory Cheese Muffins I tried last year might be a better option in the future. (I did enjoy just pouring in an old bottle of beer in here though, since I had some to use up.)