Spicy Stir-Fried Sesame Chicken with Green Beans

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2004)

This is very, very good. The sauce was spicy but not too hot and very flavorful. The recipe uses the technique of velveting the chicken which makes it extra good. It almost tastes like like it was fried, but is not greasy, because of the cornstarch mixture. And it keeps the chicken very moist.

I skipped the mushrooms, and used extra green beans and some scallions instead. I will definitely be making this again soon, since it is easy and I get great beans at the farmers market.

Roasted Sesame Green Beans

Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (November 2005)

I didn't love these as much as I loved the Maple Mustard version, but they were still good and I will make them again probably. I might like just a bit more honey on them.

One thing I need to remember is that the garlic mixture started to overcook after a few minutes, so I didn't need to continue roasting for the recommended 10-12 minutes. I was using pretty fresh beans, and not winter grocery store beans, and they didn't need all that roasting anyway. If I was doing this with tougher beans, I would wait to put the garlic mixture on later.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Assemble: 15 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (July 2003)

Although there are multiple steps, these are quite easy to make. I do think they could be even easier, by making one huge sandwich and then cutting after freezing some. I think Everyday Food has another recipe that does that, so I will try those next before I make these again.

I served these to my extended family on the 4th of July and they were liked by the kids and adults.

Chicken Mole

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Finish Time: 5 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe (And Best International Recipe)

I've never had Chicken Mole before, but have always wanted to try it. I realized today that I had all the ingredients at home to make it (including the dried Anchos), so decided to try it. (Actually, I just remembered, I didn't have raisins, so skipped them.) I'm not sure what it supposed to taste like, but I liked it. The sauce was spicy, smoky and nutty at all once. Very good.

I know that CI recipes with sauces like this are often too saucy for me, so I saved half the sauce to freeze for later. That way I can cook the chicken in it another time without the work! It worked out perfectly, so that is a nice bonus to this recipe. I also only used 1 T of oil instead of 3, and it was fine.

For some reason, I find shredding chicken to be a pain, so I just cut it up with a knife. I tried to be messy about it though and tear through the pieces, so there were scraggly edges for picking up the sauce. I served this over rice and it was a very nice dinner.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 17-19 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (December 2006)

These are pretty good, although maybe a bit rich. The reason they take 25 to prep is that you need to brown the butter, but otherwise this is a simple bar recipe cookie. But it is not simpler than the "light" oatmeal cookies from Best Light Recipe which I is an excellent cookie, so I'm not sure how much I would make these.

Strawberry Pretzel Bars

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Assemble: 1 hour (with chilling of gelatin)
Chill Time: 4 hours

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (June 2005)

Some of the times above can be overlapped. This is kind of similar to a jello recipe that uses crushed pretzels. I liked it, but my crust was too crumbly. Maybe I measured the butter wrong or didn't cook enough. I have never used plain gelatin before and like it. I like the idea of making my own with my own flavors. For the grape juice, I used extra juice from Trader Joe's peaches, which worked well. I used a little more water and less juice than called for because the juice seems a bit reduced to me. It worked out OK.

Strawberry Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (June 2005)

These were good and tasty, however, getting the strawberries into the dough didn't work great for me. They got a little mushy. I really prefer the "Best Blueberry Scone" recipes, which is wonderful (but I have not added here yet.)

Grilled German Potato Salad

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Prep/Cook Time: 35 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: ??

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (July 2001)

This was OK, but ends up being more work than I think it should. I think I will probably stick to the poblano version which is a little more exciting. Also, for a nice potato salad with red potatoes, the French Potato salad is really good and fairly light.

Chicken with Asparagus and Parmesan

Total Time: 35 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe

This is an alternative to the Spinach and Feta version that I tried last week and just thought was OK. Well, I realized I had made a few mistakes with that one, and that I could use less lemon in this version.

So, I tried this version and liked it more. I remembered to toast the orzo first, used Penzey's Chicken Base (a new ingredient for me that I like, as an alternative to Chicken Broth which is expensive.) I also used just about 1/2 T of lemon juice in the recipe and no zest, which was a lot less, but just right for me. I think it added a tiny note, but didn't overpower the flavor of the parmesan and asparagus.

I also remembered to prep most of the ingredients before starting, so this recipe took less time than the Spinach version. I have a habit of trying to prep while things are cooking. Sometimes that saves time, but sometimes it makes things worse and stresses me out. Plus I make mistakes, like forgetting to toast the orzo!

I cut up the chicken and stirred the pieces into the orzo. I prefered this, because it allowed the chicken to get more flavor. I skipped the oil drizzle at the end. It didn't need it.

Tandoori Chicken

Prep Time: 15minutes
Marinade Time: 4+ hours
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: maybe

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe
Recipe: America's Test Kitchen TV Show  (Season 10)

This was not bad, but since I am squeamish about eating chicken on the bone, and skin, I probably missed out on a lot of the flavor. I later used some of the marinade on a boneless chicken breast and grilled the chicken using the method from the magazine, which worked well. But still the flavor didn't wow me. It was good, just not exciting. I remember loving the way the Tikka Masala chicken breast tasted without the sauce, so I think I would used that recipe instead of this one when I want a yogurt based marinade with Indian flavors.