Journal

Week 30 Cooking Results

As always, the Eden Farms Hot Dogs were quite good. I think this is their finalized recipe, but over all, I've liked each version that they have produced.

Fusilli with Green Beans, Pancetta, and Parmigiano (p44 Fine Cooking June/July 2009)

So after the la Quercia pancetta cooked in the pan, the recipe told me to drain out all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan...and I thought, why would I want to do that? Though when the leftovers were cooled down, it did lead to have some fatty deposits on the noodles and etc, but after heating it back up, it mixed in well.

Juan O'Sullivan's Enchiladas (pdf)

Recommended by Sean and Becky down at the farmers market. I did add quite a bit more cilantro then asked, in both the meat and on top...cause that is just how I roll. But this was so easy I had wondered why I had never made enchiladas before...or at least in this style. I may come back to this and fancy it up a bit (shredded chicken or pork, maybe put some bacon in it). Nice, simple...though with $9+ of their products in/on it, maybe the recommendation is a bit in their self interest, but no matter, friendly people, great products.

Mexican Black Bean Burgers

Even though this told me to refrigerate this for a few hours before cooking, I really didn't have the time to do that...I wonder if it would've helped them stay together better...but I think every time I've made something resembling a veggie burger, it just doesn't stay together that well. I did add more spice then the recipe called for, but it was quite good.

Almond-Crusted Chicken and Nectarine Salad with Buttermilk-Chive Dressing (p76 Fine Cooking June/July 2009)

The debate on if I was going to modify this recipe or not... I was thinking that perhaps Shannon wouldn't appreciate the nectarines, but it turned out that she was ok with that. It's always a fun when you get to pound out a piece of chicken and let a little aggression out. This was tasty, though it did take a while to make.

Pork Chops with Sweet-and-Sour Onions (p86 Fine Cooking June/July 2009)

I should learn my lesson and stop making flavored onions. Seems like no matter how they are altered, they're not that popular with the wife. But the Eden Farms pork chops were nice and I liked it...and ended up eating pretty much the entire onion.