Salt and Pepper: Rebecca's Cooking Journal » yummy

Hawaiian Haystacks

Rebecca Reid — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:44:27 +0000

I was trying to think outside the box when I’ve planned my meals this month. Each week I gave myself a new recipe to try, but I didn’t want to be overwhelmed, so I went with ones that sounded easy.

First I tried Hawaiian Haystacks, and Raisin (my three-year-old) loved them! His favorite aspects was the ability to build it himself, but he also loved the pineapple and chow mein noodles, which made it fun.

If you don’t know, it’s a chicken mixture on a bed of rice, with what ever toppings you want.

Toppings we had: tomatoes, spring onions, pineapple, coconut, chow mein noodles, almonds, cheese.

I used a recipe I found online and the cannned Cream of Chicken soup made it far too salty. I’ll try it again sometime without using canned products, but I must admit, it made it nice and easy!

Get the recipe from Cooks.com >>>

Chicken Salad Croissants

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:39:43 +0000

I found a new fun site, thanks to some blog followers at my reading blog: Buttery Books, which gives book club menu ideas that go along with the books discussed!

I was hosting our club’s meeting for The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeld, so I followed their suggestion and made Chicken Salad Croissants. I also made some ghost-shaped sugar cookies (since it’s a ghost story of sorts), which needless to say, were also a hit.

The salad was good, although I didn’t measure the mayonnaise and I think I had too much. Two and a half cups seems like a lot, based on the other ingredients.

Get the recipe from Buttery Books >>>

Braised Chicken with Apples and Sage

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:28:13 +0000

I wanted a perfect braised chicken recipe for a chilly fall afternoon, so I turned to epicurious.com. The recipe I made seemed quite familiar, but I haven’t mentioned it on this site, so here it is.

I had to simmer it longer than 20 minutes — it was not cooked through yet at that point.Otherwise, I followed the recipe pretty closely. I normally use boneless/skinless, but I went with bone-in skin on thighs and it made it quite tender and moist. Altogether, an easy and taste meal but nothing spectacular.

Get the recipe from epicurious.com >>>

Apple Strudel Muffins

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:22:41 +0000

I’ve made this twice in the past two weeks, so I thought I”d better mention it for future reference! Since my son had a field trip at an Apple Orchard, we came away with a lot of apples! What a better use for them but some of these yummy “desert” muffins. I love cinnamon sugar and the apple chunks inside are just a wonderful surprise in every bite.

Get the recipe from All Recipes >>>

Buttercream Frosting

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:37:34 +0000

I made this buttercream recipe for my son’s pumpkin sugar cookie decorating party. The toddlers loved it. And oh my, it is so good. I’m never buying canned frosting again.

The person who emailed it to me said it was from Betty Crocker but I cannot find it online — the Betty Crocker recipe for buttercream I find online is completely different. (ETA: From Trish‘s 1970s Betty Crocker cookbook.) Since I refuse to purchase shortening, I plan on using this pure butter option in the future. Here it is for my future reference.

Buttercream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

Cream together powdered sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add in vanilla and milk and beat until smooth and of spreading consistency.

Fills and frosts two 8- or 9-inch cakes or one 13X9 cake. Frosts approximately 2-3 dozen average size sugar cookies (supposedly).

Lentil Sausage Soup

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:34:34 +0000

I liked Ina Garten’s Lentil Sausage Soup, and my husband loved it. I want to make sure I make it again, for his sake! The sausage was my favorite part of it.

I pretty much followed the recipe but I used brown lentils instead of the “French green” lentils, which I couldn’t find. I also used a bit less chicken stock, but I didn’t measure so I’m not sure how much I used.

Get the Recipe from the Barefoot Contessa >>>>>

Penne Ponza

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:17:40 +0000

Most delicious pasta ever. It’s perfect because it’s not a heavy creamy sauce, but the tomatoes and breadcrumbs mixture is absolutely delicious. My husband added red pepper flakes to his serving; he said it didn’t have quite enough flavor. But I loved it so much just as it was.

Get the Recipe from Giada >>>

Winnie-the-Pooh Chicken

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:35:50 +0000

It’s time to break my silence, simply because last night my husband made us the most delicious grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted. I don’t want to forget how he did it.

I called it “Winnie-the-Pooh Chicken” because I wanted my son to eat it so I told him it had honey in it, which Winnie-the-Pooh likes. As for myself, it seriously was the best (most moist and flavorful) chicken I’ve ever eaten before.

Rosemary and Honey Grilled Chicken

2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1/4 cup coarsely chopped rosemary
1/4 cup lemon juice, plus 1 lemon
1-2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper
boneless skinless chicken thighs
fresh branches of rosemary

Marinade the chicken with the mustard, chopped rosemary, lemon juice, honey, oil, garlic, and seasoning. Prep the grill with vegetable oil. Cook the chicken on the grill, being careful not to burn the marinade, with the fresh branches of rosemary. (The rosemary branches give it flavor.) After taking the chicken off the grill, cut the lemon in half and grill it face down until roasted. Squeeze grilled lemon juice on the chicken.

Potato and Leek Soup

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:41:15 +0000

It was so easy.

I cut up three leeks. I peeled and chopped three potatos. I simmered them in water for 20 minutes. I blended it with an immersion blender. I added some salt and pepper. And then we ate dinner.

Yum. My toddler son ate his all up and asked for seconds. We also had homemade bread (from the bread maker), which was yeasty and delicious.

I’ve always been afraid of Julia Child. I am not interested in mastering “French Cooking,” or at least I didn’t think I was. “Potage Parmentier” sounds very scary.

But Leek and Potato Soup I could make. Um. So maybe I’m going to trust Julia Child? I’ll try some more. Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom is right on my level and not overwhelming at all.

Onion Tart (Pizza) with Mustard and Fennel

Rebecca Reid — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:27:25 +0000

I am afraid of yeast.

For some reason, I have always avoided breads and doughs that are made with yeast. But this week I’ve been reading Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom and Julia Child makes everything sound so easy. So I’ve determined to try yeast breads this week.

Last night, I made a simple onion pizza. My husband had made it a few weeks ago, so I knew it was going to taste good.

As I started with the first step, I was all nervous about making sure the water was the right temperature, making sure the bubbles were forming, etc. As I stood over the cup of yeasty water, my husband said, “Look! It’s farting!” Ha ha.

At any rate, I was nervous as I mixed the flour into the yeasty water. I was nervous as I kneaded it. And then all the sudden I realized that was it! I prepped the onions (FYI, 3 pounds of onions was a bit too much) and an hour and a half later, I formed the now-risen dough into a few mini-pizzas, spread Dijon mustard on them, topped it with the onions and Parmesan, and there you had it! Onion Tarts!

We served it with an Arugula salad (I’ve been craving Arugula) with a mustard vinaigrette and bacon and apple slices.

“So Provencial!” my husband said.

“Pretty easy!” I said.

“Mmmmm!” toddler son said.

Get the recipe from epicurious >>>