Gremo-what?? Gremolicious!

Even with all the cooking shows I watch on Food Network and the recipes I peruse online and in my magazines I don't remember much talk of gremolatas.  According to my friend Wikipedia it's a "chopped herb condiment typically made of garlic, parsley, and lemon zest" and used in veal and seafood dishes but tonight I tossed it with my farmer's market fresh summer squash and ended up with an amazing side dish to go with my tuna cakes.  

Roasted Summer Squashes with Caper Gremolata

I *have* however, heard of pattypan squash.  I watched a repeat this morning of Iron Chef America: Battle Butter and the challenger used it in one of her dishes.  Alton said pattypan so many times I just had to try it and was super excited to see someone offering it at the farmer's market this morning.  They are very cute and colorful little vegetables.  I got a mix of light green and bright yellow and even one that was half and half.  I also got little zucchinis which I used a few of in this dish but also hope to make some spicy pickles out of.  This dish was bright and citrusy and an easy new twist on summer squash.

Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• Accidentally bought regular parsley instead of flat parsley but I don't think that made much of a difference
• I did slice up my zucchini because I don't think they were as small as the recipe called for and I was afraid they wouldn't get soft and tender if I didn't chop them up into bite size pieces
• Cut the recipe in half...now I have to decide if I should make this recipe again to use up the rest of my pattypan or if I should venture out and try pattypan recipe #2!
  

Yumminess:

• The capers and lemon juice really make the veggies pop
• Pattypan has a pretty similar taste to other yellow summer squash, but the unique shape makes for a very pretty dish, and they're good for you too!
• Have I mentioned how super easy the whole dish is?  Just chop up the veggies and pop them in the oven and while they're roasting you can mix together the gremolata

Sadness:

• Nothing, really....this was a very sunshiny summery smiley side dish

Ssssssssspicy Shrimp Tacos

Last time I made a dish with salsa (the Avocado Salsa) I was very disappointed in the lack of heat. Most recipes tell you to remove the seeds and membranes from jalapenos because that's where most of the fire is and I've always followed that advice.  This time around I wanted the spice that the title of this recipe implies so I just sliced up the jalapeno before throwing the whole thing into the food pro (even though the recipe calls for a half of one with the seeds removed).

Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Tomatillo Salsa

And wow did it work!  The salsa was pretty amazing and maybe just a tad too hot for my taste buds (which are pretty wussy).  I wanted to devour all of it with chips before I even put it on my tacos.  Now my mistake with this dish came when I coated the shrimp with their spices.  I only used half a pound of shrimp but did the full amounts of hot pepper sauce, ancho chipotle chili powder, and ground cumin.  Yowzers were these some spicy tacos.  I could barely make it through two.  Luckily I listened to Cooking Light and served them with sliced cantaloupe which did help a little.  I would like to try making these again, cutting back on the spices and using fresher shrimp (the frozen shrimp ended up super rubbery).

Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• One whole jalapeno with seeds in the salsa, I think with only a half and no seeds there wouldn't have been much heat at all
• Cooked and frozen little shrimpies, this one was not a good change, can you say rubber bands?
• Halved the amount of shrimp but covered them in the full recipe of spices, they were HOT!
• Used chipotle chili powder instead of ancho because that's what I had on hand

Yumminess:

• The tomatillo salsa was really good, it was my first time using the little green tomato-like fruit (although they are related to the gooseberry and not tomatoes) and I will definitely be making more salsa verde in the future
• Cantaloupe is a good side for these spicy wraps
• Ground chipotle chili powder is still my favorite spice of the summer

Sadness:

• Too hot to eat although I (wo)manned up and finished it all off
• Didn't make enough salsa!  Finished off what was left after eating the leftover shrimp taco stuff with yellow corn tortilla chips, yum
• I wanted to smother these in sour cream because that really balanced out the spice but I also knew that would just be piling on the calories so I tried to be careful and just toughed it out

Cinnamon Applesauce + Chocolate Cake = Nummy

I was in the mood for a dense chocolate cake that I could really sink my teeth into and satisfy my sweet tooth without adding a lot more pudginess around the waist so I hit up All Recipes in search of the perfect thing.  I came across this, which didn't sound real appetizing at first (oil cake?) but got pretty good reviews and starts out with a pretty low calorie count at about 200 a piece which isn't bad for a delicious decadent dessert.

Chocolate Oil Applesauce Cake

Then I read through the reviews and found an interesting an idea - substitute the vegetable oil for a cup of applesauce!  Crunching the numbers as I like to do, adding a cup of oil is almost 2,000 calories whereas a cup of applesauce is around 100.  Which means if the cake is cut up into 24 servings this would save almost 80 calories a piece!  Well, I had some cinnamon applesauce in the fridge so I thought what the heck, let's give it a go.  And the results were fairly amazing...

Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• Obviously as mentioned above, substituted the cup of vegetable oil for cinnamon applesauce
• Since we saved all those calories...I didn't feel as guilty breaking up the cake on top of some vanilla ice cream and drizzling caramel sauce on top.  This is definitely the recommended way of eating this cake.

Yumminess:

• This cake is very dense and has an almost fudgy brownie-like consistency which personally I love
• I'm sure this recipe would make great cupcakes and the addition of a light frosting would probably elevate it to a whole other level 
• Another thing to note is the cake is egg-free in case anyone has allergies out there

Sadness:

• I was greedy and kept this cake all to myself instead of sharing and sadly I didn't make it through the whole thing before it went bad...I definitely learned my lesson there!  
• I tried making a homemade caramel sauce to drizzle on top but ended up burning it...guess it's not as easy as they make it look on TV

Mom's Stroganoff

What's more appropriate for Mother's Day than a recipe that was passed down from my grandma to my mom to me?  My grandma could whip this together from memory so my mom made her write it down.  My mom made her own changes and this is the version she gave me last time I asked for it.  I've made it a couple times now, so maybe it's my turn to put a twist or two on it!  Although it's already a five star dish just the way it is.  Thanks Mom!

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 lbs round steak

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups beef broth

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 small can sliced mushrooms

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

16 oz sour cream

3 tbsp cornstarch

Salt

Wide egg noodles

Brown steak and onion in vegetable oil

Once meat is browned add beef broth

Stir in mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce and dash of salt

Simmer for at least 2 hours

When meat is tender and ready to eat:

Cook and drain noodles

Stir in Cream of Mushroom soup and sour cream to beef mixture

Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water

When beef mixture starts to boil, add cornstarch water to thicken the liquid

Welcome Spring!

Say hello to spring with this easy grilled chicken recipe. The earthy green of the avocado and bright red tomato make a beautiful and delicious salsa and is definitely the star of the dish. Cooking Light suggested to serve this with saffron rice...well good luck finding such an exotic flavor in the minute-rice section! And I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to make my own that night so I just went with some easy Spanish Rice (one of those 5 minute Fiesta Sides) which was actually pretty tasty for how quick and easy it was.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

The first night I had this I made everything pretty close to what the recipe called for and felt that it needed a little kick. The salsa was kind of oniony instead of spicy. So when I had the leftovers I chopped up a whole jalapeno (membranes and seeds removed) and threw it in with the second half of the salsa. It still wasn't very hot so I was kind of disappointed. The other thing I did the second time around to kick up the flavors was serve the chicken and salsa over some salty yellow corn tortilla chips. I really liked this addition because it gave the dish a crunchy texture which really helped because the avocados were pretty mushy a few days later.

Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• For the chicken I used dried cilantro instead of dealing with fresh cilantro that I'd end up throwing away most of a few days later
• I pounded the chicken breasts a little so they'd cook faster on the grill
• I also used bottled lime juice because unfortunately my lime went bad really fast :(
• I tried adding some jalapeno to the salsa for a bit of a kick but I think I should've left some seeds in

Yumminess:

• The chicken came out pretty good, a bit of a crispy skin but moist on the inside
• Mixing the chicken, salsa, and some crunchy chips together in one bite was the best way to eat it
• Once in a while mix in a little spicy Spanish rice and it was a pretty good dish overall

Sadness:

• The salsa needed more flavor...and I wonder if you actually marinaded the chicken for longer than 3 minutes if it would have had more flavor as well
• I couldn't get my chicken to get real pretty grill marks like in their picture...I always just seem to brown the entire side and it makes it hard to eat
• I was kind of hoping this would compare to Applebee's Fiesta Lime Chicken because that is definitely a favorite of mine but it didn't even come close

Bugs Bunny's Dessert

What's up Doc? A carrot a day keeps the doctor away, you say? Well I don't think Bugs is the only one who'd like to eat this dish every day. I made this for a side dish to go along with the turkey rolls but it doubled as dessert as well. So easy...so delicious...how much more do I need to say?

Carrot Souffle

The color and texture will remind you of sweet potatoes but surprise surprise, it's carrots! There's so much sweetness added that there's not a lot of carrot taste left, so this is perfect for those picky eaters who insist they don't want to eat their veggies. It does take a while to bake in the oven so make sure to plan ahead so it comes out hot and ready when everything else is ready to go.

I'm pretty sure Bugs was talking about this dish when he said "Carrots are devine... You get a dozen for a dime, It's maaaa-gic!"

Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• I cut the recipe in half because I didn't think I needed 8 servings of it...but I probably could've made the whole thing because Cooking Light's definition of a serving is a little different than mine
• Used regular sour cream...another thing I'm not a fan of fat-free
• Next time I might try putting the servings into individual souffle dishes

Yumminess:

• Creamy
• Sweet
• Nutritious!

Sadness:

• That I didn't make the entire 8 servings because leftovers were just as delicious!
• Some people may think it's a little too sweet...especially as a side dish.  Personally I could eat this for the main course, side dish and dessert!

Turkey Dinner all rolled up!

The weekend before Easter I was craving a full turkey dinner for some reason. We normally have ham for Easter so I knew if I wanted to fulfill this craving I'd have whip it up myself. I've never made a whole turkey before...actually I've never done much with turkey myself other than some delicious sandwiches. I looked to see what I had marked for turkey recipes in my Cooking Light magazines and apparently this is the only one that had piqued my interest. It actually turned out to be the perfect thing for a whole turkey dinner for one. I think the only thing missing was the mashed potatoes!

Stuffed Turkey Rolls with Cranberry Glaze

Whenever anyone cooks with turkey on TV everyone is always worried about how dry it's going to be, so I didn't go into this one with real high expectations. I've also had back luck with "rolled up" or "stuffed" things in the past because I can usually only get a little bit of the stuff stuffed into the meat and that ends up being the best stuff...I mean part. I decided to give a shot anyway because it looked fairly easy and if it turned out to be pretty good it'd be a nice dish to add to the rotation because it'd be nice change from the usual pasta and chicken dishes. It took me forever to find anything resembling a "turkey cutlet" in my mega mart and I think I end up buying turkey tenderloins. Turns out these don't really pound to be really thin and then have something rolled up in them very well, but they worked. Wonder if I could find turky cutlets anywhere else in town. I've been settling with whatever ingredients I find at this store (it's literally just a couple blocks from my house and I've walked over there on numerous occassions) but I may have to venture farther in the grocery store world as I continue to further my food adventures!

The Quick & Dirty

Changes:

• Used turkey tenderloins instead of cutlets just because that's all I could find, cutlets probably would've worked better
• Didn't use any dried sage...pretty much just forgot to buy any, probably would've helped spice up the stuffing mixture
• Used regular chicken broth instead of the fat-free, less sodium stuff...this is one place where I don't think losing the few extra calories is worth the taste that's lost

Yumminess:

• The chicken actually came out pretty moist and not dry at all!  Some people suggested cooking the turkey in the chicken broth which probably wouldn't be a bad idea
• I kept the extra stuffing that wouldn't fit in the turkey and just served it on the side which turned out to be a great plan
• I made a few rolls and had the extras for dinner a few nights later and I think it was even better warmed up the second time around!  I kept the cranberry glaze in a separate dish and warmed that up again too and all the flavors seemed to be even stronger after sitting together in the fridge

Sadness:

• The stuffing tasted pretty strongly of onion and not a lot of apple, but that's probably my own fault in not cutting back on all the ingredients in equal proportions when halving the recipe
• I think the sage would've helped so next time I'll have to make sure and get some
• The stupid roll up concept really wasn't necessary and seemed to add extra stress to the prep.  Next time I might just try making everything separately and piling it up together at the end