Spaghettini with Garlic and Dried Chili (p101 Bon Appetit September 2012)
So I found dried ground chiles de árbol, but no whole ones. I had no idea how much should go in, and clearly I guessed wrong. Way to spicy. Oh well. It was simple enough. Perhaps I should've looked up to see how tiny the chilies were.
Chicken Sausage Lettuce Wraps (p40 Bon Appetit September 2012)
This is where I'm going to whine a bit about missing farm fresh lettuce. It makes me sad that I can't get something closer, but it is Iowa and in "winter". So unless I want local greenhouse greens, I don't have much choice.
This recipe reminded me I need to organize my cupboards again. As I was making the sauce for this, a bag of raw sugar fell out and flipped the bowl of dipping sauce on the counter. I was not pleased. It can be expected, though, when you have a couple of bags of brown sugar, raw sugar, some powdered sugar all precariously positioned inside the cupboard. I recovered as best I could, but had to remake the sauce.
Even with the splatter effect in the middle, the wraps turned out pretty well. Nice flavor the sauce was, even remade, pretty good too.
Skillet Chicken Fajitas (p9 Cook's Illustrated September & October 2012)
This was a long process, because of what it wanted to do to. I roasted some peppers in the oven with the broiler (note to self, when handling peppers, wash your hand before and after using the bathroom). All these steps were pretty simple and most could be done at the same time, and I have to say, was worth it. The chicken was excellent (I'm guessing it didn't hurt that I pulled out some of the Foxhollow chicken breasts out of the freezer to make it). It was a nice meal.
Bucatini all'Amatriciana (p115 Food & Wine September 2012)
After having the mistake of a pasta the night before, this was a nice recovery. Simple, and good. though I think it could be better. If you change the order of things, you can have crisp pancetta and use the pancetta fat in replacement of a good chunk of the olive oil. In fact I think I'm going to do so. I used Pecorino Riserva, instead of Romano.
Lamb Burgers with Green Harissa (p91 Food & Wine September 2012)
Made this with the additional guest of Joseph (over doing laundry). I was shocked (and I mean shocked) that I found naan at Hy-Vee. I guess I was lucky that I couldn't find pitas (they've been reorganizing) and found these in the organic freezer section. The green harissa was fantastic and the mixture of everything was also very good. Quite the good meal.
Non-Cow Milk Pizza try 2 (try 1 )
Ok, so I messed this up a middle. I don't know where my brain was. I got the dough all stretched out and started sprinkling cheese on it...before I put the sauce on there. Anyways, this is about the right combination. I topped it with some La Quercia prosciutto (last of the stuff from thanksgiving) and it was good. I think the mixture is good enough for the pizza for the Jerry and Renee & family pizza night.
