Green Onion Sausage Pizza

A return to form, fitting for the particular day that it was on.  I didn't roll the dough up enough to prevent the sauce from spilling off, so one corner of the pizza was a bit soggy, while the others had the nice crisp crust that one expects.  I'm glad I have more of the green onion sausage, that reminds me.  I need to find a time to do the Jerry and Nay & kids pizza party.

Black-Eyed Peas with Greens (p11 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

Ok, so there are a lot of things that I avoid, because I think, hey, I probably won't like that.  Collard greens has been one of those, but seeing pictures of Ben cook down the greens and rave about the taste, I figure it was worth a shot, especially since the grocery store I go to had cartons of fresh greens already chopped up and ready to go (which, well makes it much less of a time investment).  So a cooking we go.  As a label reader I was surprised at how nutrient rich the greens were.  I admit, when it told me to dump out the bacon fat...  I didn't, but even so, it was still pretty good for you I imagine   It had a very nice flavor, the peas blunted the expected bitterness, and there wasn't enough to even trigger Shannon's sensitiveness to bitterness.  I had mine with a dash or two of hot sauce, Shannon's was plain.  So this makes me more curious, and I'm looking forward to further experimenting into this area of southern cooking.

Connecticut Steamed Cheeseburgers (p13 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

I was expecting this to be not so good.  And I actually thought about skipping it and just making burgers, but I made this and it actually turned out surprisingly good.  It didn't hurt that I used a very nice Gruyere to top it off.  But even so it came out tender, juicy and delicious.  Maybe this would be something that you could modify and start off with a quick high heat sear, then steam them complete.  Or put some cheese in side, or something of the like.  I'll have to play and figure out what I want to do here.

Green Rice Casserole (p20 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

Delayed to next week.  Lots of leftovers in the fridge, figured it's best to get through those before adding more.

Chicken and Rice Soup (p17 Cook's Country February & March 2013)

So it's always a good idea to dress up the generally bland stock/broth that you can buy with more flavor and this was a prime example of it.  The process added a lot of flavor to the stock and made a better soup over all.  The problem here is the time.  I was either napping or got home a bit later then I expected.  I also would've liked more rice in the dish.  I admit, I didn't find the short grained white rice that the recipe wanted (that I was willing to buy), and that even added more time., but even so, it would've been nice to have a bit more.  Tasted good though.

Ham & Eggs in some preparation

So I thought hey, I could do a ham and scrambled eggs thing, or ham and egg sandwiches or etc.  I ended up pulling out a package of the La Quercia Pancetta to top it off.  It was pretty good, and why wouldn't it be?  It ways it was the quickest meal of the week.

Chorizo and White Bean Stew (p40 Bon Appétit February 2013)

Ok so I had remembered seeing fresh chorizo out at Whole Foods, and this is what the recipe called for, so I made a special trip out there.  The dish came together relatively quickly and tasted pretty good.  The chorizo itself was just kinda...well ok.  Not under spiced, but not that good either.  Not like the magic that the Spanish chorizo that I have purchased before.  Even so, it turned out to be quite a nice meal.