March 2018 Hits & Misses (1,043 views)

I actually have a big miss to post on this thread this month!

3/31 Hot Cross Buns, KAF www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-hot-cross-buns-recipe

Ugh, these were TERRIBLE. I consider myself an accomplished bread baker, and I have no idea where these went wrong. They looked fabulous, but omg, they were SO incredibly dry. So dry. It was like biting into a pile of sawdust.

On the flip side, we had a spectacular recipe in March as well. I had to come back and edit and add that one.

Excellent:

Linguini with Shrimp Scampi from the Barefoot Contessa. I left out the lemon slices at the end because I did not have enough lemons, and I went light on the pepper flake. But gosh, this was maximum flavor for very little effort. So good.

Oh my mrswaz....I also saw your picture and they looked perfect. That is always so disappointing. Especially from such a reliable (usually) source. 

I had a busy month but a lot of it was baking....for Passover and filling my freezer as I was out of breakfast muffins. so here goes:

Excellent:

-Hummingbird Muffins
-Chocolate Chip Almond Flour Biscotti
-Chocolate chip Almond Flour cookies
-Italian Haroseth
-Turkey Meatballs with homemade marinara-Giada. This may be my new favorite turkey meatball recipe. I swapped the bread crumbs with matzo meal for Passover, but they were light and flavorful
-Mushroom Miso sorghum pilaf-C.L.

Very Good:

-Bran Muffins-C.L. This was a surprise as they felt kind of heavy but were actually very moist, light and flavorful and i even accidentally left out some of the butter/oil
-Chocolate Sorghum crunch-me. What you do when experimenting with a new grain and you pop it. It was tasty popped (like tiny popcorn) but then have a lot left over. Mix it with some dried fruits and nuts, toss it all with melted chocolate and plop it onto waxed paper covered pan to chill. Then eat!
-Matzo lasagna with zucchini and red peppers
-Parmesan Tilapia-C.L.
-Artichoke and roasted red pepper skillet chicken-I liked a lot more than DH which is unusual given I do not eat meat much but it was good (at least IMHO!)
-Oatmeal gingerbread flax muffins
-Tuscan Sorghum bean squash and cabbage soup-M.R. Schulman and my changes (swapped farro with sorghum)
 
Good:

-Passover Manicotti-filling was excellent which I made up (spinach, ricotta, a bit of cheese mixed in (mozz. and Parm), egg, basil, and lemon zest) and folded in a Passover crepe. Crepe was good for a Passover item but it would not be my pick every day. They were made from potato starch and a bit delicate but it worked!
-Herbed passover Rolls-C.L. I have nightmares of the rolls that my mother made growing up, if you could call them that. More like hockey pucks that tasted like sawdust. These were not that. Much lighter and dare I say, almost tasty!!!
-Breakfast Muffins-Pioneer w. Not bad but just not my favorite muffin recipe and I have so many so likely won't repeat

Tried and Trues:
-Banana Graham Muffins
-La brea bran Muffins
-Not your Average Bran Muffins
-Puddle cookies
-Peanut Butter Meringues-Alice Medrich
-Chocolate chip walnut meringues
-Turkey sausage and arugula stuffed potatoes-Giada-got to cut back on salt next time
-Roasted Brussel sprouts with Balsamic browned butter
-Toffee Bars
-Lasagna Soup

And my freezer is full but not bursting at the seams with muffins and cookies cause all of the Passover almond flour cookies and meringues as well as the muffins were half batches!!  That and I gave DD a lot of the passover cookies in a care package as she headed back to school on Sunday afternoon.

Karen

I'm glad you posted this review. I had planned to make that recipe for Easter but didn't get around to it. Now I'll know not to waste time and ingredients on it.

I'm sure there's a good recipe for Hot Cross Buns out there somewhere - we just need to find it!

Happy Spring Everyone. I felt like I didn’t cook a lot this month. But I did… but most of it was freezer foods as I am getting ready for softball season away from the kitchen. Plus I bought a journal for keeping track of my cooking a la Dinner a Love Story so I think that helps me not to forget what I made and what I LOVED!

FAVORITES
Greek Tacos (used the leftover meat and filling for greek salad later in the week) www.melskitchencafe.com/big-fat-greek-tacos/

Honey lime fruit salad (didn’t add the honey but added the lime zest… I will never make a fruit salad any other way) www.melskitchencafe.com/honey-lime-fruit-salad/

Roast pork with sweet Balsamic glaze www.melskitchencafe.com/sweet-balsamic-glazed-pork-loin-slow-cooker/

Brisket tacos www.homesicktexan.com/2011/01/brisket-tacos-recipe-dallas.html

15 Bean vegetarian soup www.budgetbytes.com/2018/02/vegetarian-15-bean-soup/

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Carrots (WE LOVED THIS. Sauces is amazing and the roasted carrots… will now be my go-to way to roast them.) www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/corned-beef-with-roasted-cabbage-carrots-potatoes.html

Sunshine salad dressing (this is a really good dressing… my littles ate it all month on salads, nuggets and veggies) cookieandkate.com/2018/healthy-honey-mustard-dressing-recipe/

curried cauliflower and potatoes (we eat this all the time… I usually cut the butter in half… also don’t put both cauliflower and potato in the pan at the same time other wise you will end up with partially cooked potato and mushy cauliflower) www.favfamilyrecipes.com/curried-cauliflower-and-potatoes/

Chewy, gooey golden crispy treats (One Word… AWESOME) www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/golden-rice-krispies-treats.html


GOOD
Shepards Pie Baked Potatoes www.melskitchencafe.com/shepherds-pie-baked-potatoes/

easy orange chicken (I used breasts… also cooked a thousand of these and flash froze them and put them in a zip bag for easy dinners… thought I could make other Chinese sauces to go with them, i.e. sweet and sour, sesame) www.budgetbytes.com/2017/02/easy-orange-chicken/

SO SO
Pork chops with Cider Dill horseradish www.dinneralovestory.com/tag/pork-chops-with-dill-horseradish/


NOT FOR ME
Eggplant Parmesan (don’t judge to harshly as I can’t seem to convince myself to like eggplant. I did love the sauce she linked in this recipe though) www.browneyedbaker.com/eggplant-parmesan/