ATK Challenge: Pork Fried Rice w/ Pineapple

Last one for today...promise!

I've never made fried rice before, but this was pretty dang easy. I have to say I still prefer a good take-out fried rice to this one, but this recipe was good in a different way.

The rice was that Uncle Ben's ready rice that comes in a packet. I don't like the stuff on it's own, but when you're mixing it with other ingredients it isn't bad at all. I used the same stuff for the cajun stuffed peppers. It cuts down on time and mess too.

I decided to make it in my wok to get the full asian effect ;) I need to use it more often! The flavors of this were great. There is soy sauce, sesame oil and chili-garlic sauce to give it all the flavor. It was a meal in itself since it had good size chunks of pork.

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★
Easiness: ★★★★★
Time Spent: about 25 minutes
Repeat Dish? yeah-yeah

Hubby's Comments: "This is pretty good."

ATK Challenge: Garlic Rosemary Pork Chops

I finally cooked my giant zucchini to go with this recipe. I just sauteed the zucchini slices with some butter and garlic (salt and pepper to taste). It was yummy!

This was a really easy recipe. I basically cooked the pork for about 5 minutes per side then put them aside. The sauce was just garlic, chicken broth, fresh rosemary, red wine vinegar and butter. It was a light and thin sauce, but packed with flavor. The leftovers the next day were even better after sitting in the sauce to absorb all that flavor. It was a great way to bring flavor to a simple pork loin chop, and all the ingredients are typically on hand around here.

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★★
Easiness: ★★★★★
Time Spent: 25 minutes
Repeat Dish? Ya!

I didn't take a picture, but I made a peach cobbler to use up all the peaches we picked at the farm. I called my sister Donna for my mom's peach cobbler recipe, but she had just made one a few days prior that was so simple she remembered all the ingredients off the top of her head. I gave it a try and it turned out delicious! The hubby was so impressed he asked me to try making one but with blueberries.

Here is the cobbler recipe:

Melt 6 tbsp of butter in 2 qt casserole dish and set aside.

In another bowl, combine 2 cups of fruit (I used a bit more) and 1c sugar (I added cinnamon for the peach) and set aside

In another bowl mix: 3/4 cups of flour, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and whisk together.

Pour the batter on top of the butter in the casserole dish, but don't mix! Then spoon the fruit on top of that. Bake at 350º for about 45 minutes. 

SO EASY!

It was so good, the hubby declared the remainder of July as cobbler experimentation month. What else can you make into a cobbler? I think I've heard of apple and cherry, but anything more interesting?

ATK Challenge: Quick Indian Turkey Curry w/ Potatoes

I knew when picking this recipe, Atom would not be very excited. He does not like Indian food, however I am a fan. I figured that since I don't really like BBQ chicken pizza, and have made it twice since I know he loves it, it was only fair. Too bad this recipe was a serious disappointment :(

Everything went according to the recipe and it smelled great. However, the potatoes lacked any kind of flavor. The blandness of the potatoes brought down the flavor of the rest of the dish. At least we had yummy garlic naan to go with it. The recipe makes quite a bit, so I decided to save it and see if the flavor developed over night. It actually did have more flavor the next day. However, that defeats the purpose of a quick and easy dinner when you have to wait till the next day for it to taste good.

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★
Easiness: ★★★ (peeling potatoes)
Time Spent: 45 minutes
Repeat Dish? Nope

Hubby's Comments: "What are these potatoes supposed to taste like? They have no flavor. This sucked."

ATK Challenge: Steak Teriyaki (p. 108)

Fletch and I headed out to Hollin Farms today with some friends to do some fruit and veggie picking. I was excited because they had a lot of things for picking that I really like to eat. Fletch helped me pick a giant green zucchini.

Then he decided to throw it on the ground! Grrrrr, toddlers, I tell ya!

Good thing he's so dang cute. We came home with the one giant zucchini, a few summer squash, a pint of blackberries and raspberries, string beans and half a peck of peaches. I only paid $10 bucks! (Mental note: Next time bring bug spray!)

I decided on the Teriyaki Beef tonight. At the bottom is a small recipe suggestion for Sesame Snap Peas. I decided to use my string beans in place of snap peas and they turned out delish! They paired very well with the teriyaki beef.

The recipe was easy. You make your own teriyaki sauce with this recipe. It was the best teriyaki sauce I have ever had. I mean from a jar or a restaurant. It was that good. I am really loving all these sauce recipes in this cookbook.

The steaks were just cooked in a pan with a little oil for about 5 minutes per side. Then you cook the teriyaki sauce until it thickens and pour it on top of the steak. The steaks came out a true medium this way, so you'd probably want to cook it longer if you're not down with some reddish-pink in your steak.

The hubbster really liked the green beans. First I browned them in a little bit of oil for a few minutes, then threw in a third a cup of water and some salt and cooked them covered until they got bright green and tender. I took the lid off to let the water evaporate. Then I added the soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, oil and garlic mixture to the pan and then stirred it together after about 30 seconds. Then I tossed it with a couple of teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds and some sesame oil. (All according to the "Simple Side" recipe) These suckers were good! I really like sesame oil. I think you could use this recipe with thin asparagus as well.

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★★
Easiness: ★★★★
Time Spent: 30 minutes
Repeat Dish: DUH!

Hubby's Comments: "These green beans are awesome!" "You know I love sauce"

ATK Challenge: Grilled Spicy Lime Chicken w/ Black Bean Salad

This meal was perfect! The ingredients meshed well and it was very flavorful. The best part is that this was so healthy! I felt perfectly satiated instead of stuffed or still hungry after an hour or so. It must have been the beans :)

I did not feel like breaking out the charcoal grill, so I just used the Foreman on high heat and it worked perfectly. The chicken only took 15 minutes to marinate and it was very flavorful.

Part of the marinade mix was for the chicken, part was for the black bean salad and the last for drizzling on top of the cooked chicken. Here's what was in the marinade:

-1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
-1/2 c lime juice (fresh squeezed)
-1/4 c olive oil
-1 1/2 tbsp minced canned chipotle chilies
-1 tbsp honey
-3 cloves of garlic minced
-2 tsp cumin
-salt and pepper

I used chicken thighs (boneless). We always have breasts, but I prefer dark meat. I think it grills better too.  The black bean salad was just 2 cans of black beans, one thinly sliced red bell pepper, one avocado and some scallions.  This is a great summer meal!

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★★
Easiness: ★★★★
Time Spent: 35-40 minutes
Repeat Dish: Heck Yeah!

Hubby's Comments: Strangely not a big reaction but I got an "It was good."

Quick and Easy Personal Naan Pizzas

The hubbster plays poker once a week, and that means there is little time to get something on the table for dinner between the time he gets home and has to leave to go play. Sometimes I'm on my A-game and I have food defrosted and ready to cook, but most times I would rather just make something quick. Here is where this recipe has come in handy!

Our conveniently located grocery store (I'm talking right next door and walking distance) Wegman's makes their own Naan. If you are not familiar with Naan, it is a leavened Indian flat bread, and it is DELICIOUS! It is much tastier than pita bread in my opinion. I was buying it to dip in hummus, but then I had a stroke of genius. We can make flatbread pizzas! I'm sure other people have done this, but the idea was new to me. We like thin crust pizzas anyway and each naan will make a personal size pizza. Here is what you need:

(That is naan, mozzarella, pepperoni and smooth marinara - or any toppings your little heart desires)

I buy the garlic naan, because we like garlic and lots of flavor. You can add any toppings you like. The great part is that everyone gets their own personal pizza so you don't have to fight over what toppings you want!

First off, you want to add some marinara to the naan. Don't add too much or you will have a mushy crust. You just want a light coating, like so:

Since I only use about a third of the jar, I take two zip-lock freezer bags and divide the remaining sauce. Then I stick it in the freezer to use next time. I lay it flat while it freezes so it freezes flat and takes up less room in the freezer. So I get three sets of two naan pizzas from one jar of $1 marinara!

Next you add the cheese. I use mozzarella, but I saw that they also sell "pizza" cheese. I'll have to try that next. I usually add some shredded (not grated) parmesan at the very end.

After a good coating of cheese comes the toppings! For these I added a cut up slice of smoked ham and pepperoni. The beauty is that you can add ANYTHING you want :) You could even substitute some alfredo sauce for the marinara, add some spinach and chicken and have yourself a white pizza! The possibilities are endless.

Now they are ready to put in the oven. I preheat my oven to 400º and bake them for 8-10 minutes, or until all the cheese is melted. I cook them right on the oven racks.

They are a little flimsy, so it is best to place them on a flat cookie sheet or cutting board and then slide them onto the rack. When they are finished, just slide them back onto the flat surface you used to get them in there. This also helps you avoid spilling cheese and toppings all over the bottom of your oven (speaking from experience).

Don't these look yummy?

There you have it...a 15 minute meal! We cut them in fours and devour immediately :)

ATK Challenge: Seared Scallops w/ Lemon, Peas and Mint Orzo (p. 183)

This was my first time ever making scallops. We are big fans of the bacon-wrapped variety. When scallops are cooked correctly they are delicious, but they can become rubbery if over-cooked. I was a little nervous, but I knew my trusty cookbook would help me out!

The recipe tells you to make the orzo first because it only takes a few minutes to cook the scallops. I think that this recipe calls for too much of the orzo. In the end it did not have a very strong flavor. I could not taste the mint and barely tasted the lemon. It also had some white wine in there and we couldn't taste that either. I think that if you reduce the amount of orzo, even if just half a cup, it would have more flavor.

The scallops were simply seasoned with salt and pepper and then seared in some vegetable oil for about 2 minutes on each side. They were delicious! They had the perfect consistency. We may not have put a dent in all that orzo, but there was not one left over scallop. It does look delicious, right? It was kinda disappointing that it lacked flavor :(

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★ (the scallops are what saved this dish)
Easiness: ★★★★★
Time Spent: about 25 minutes
Repeat Dish: Probably not, but maybe

Hubby's Comment: "What is this orzo supposed to taste like? I don't taste anything. The scallops are great, but don't make this orzo stuff again."

ATK Challenge: Parmesan Pork Cutlets w/ Arugula Salad (p. 154)

I was being a total air head when I made this the other night. My first mistake was while making the vinaigrette for the arugula salad. The recipe ingredient list called for 3/4 of olive oil. I did not pay attention that only 1/4 of that was for the vinaigrette. After I mixed all the oil, balsamic and honey I thought it tasted way to oily. Well DUH! I had to throw it out and re-make it. There went 3/4 cup of olive oil down the drain! Grrrr. When made correctly the vinaigrette is very tasty.

Mistake number two was not slicing my pork cutlet in half to make it thinner. The recipe clearly states "thin-cut boneless pork cutlets" but my brain did not register until I put the first two cutlets in the oil to cook. The recipe said to cook about 3 minutes per side. I said to myself "3 minutes is not going to cook this through" and then had my DUH moment. Luckily I had two more cutlets that I hadn't dipped and battered yet, so I thinned those out.

Since I didn't realize my olive oil mistake until after I had started cooking the cutlets, I used vegetable oil to cook the first set of too-thick cutlets. So that was mistake number three. There was no vegetable oil on the recipe list, so I don't even know why I decided to use that.

On to mistake number four. The recipe tells you to cook the cutlets two at a time, then remove, wipe out the pan and start over with the next two. This is to avoid the buildup of burnt batter. Well I was on a roll, so why stop making dumb mistake at this point, right? After I took out the two thick cutlets, I added some olive oil and started cooking the first two thin cutlets. I should have removed the oil and crusties and started over with clean olive oil.

The first two thin cutlets came out much darker and over-fried. I decided maybe I should start following instructions, so I emptied the oil and crusties and started with fresh oil for the last two thin cutlets. Viola! They turned out perfect. It only took me three tries, woo!

The nicely cooked cutlets paired very will with the arugula salad. I really like the taste of arugula, and now I have a simple and tasty balsamic vinaigrette to turn to when I need it. There were three separate dishes for battering: one for flour, one for egg and the other for the panko/parmesan. That is a recipe for a messy kitchen!

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★
Easiness: ★★★ 
Time Spent: O Lord, I have no idea, it was an ordeal but completely my fault
Repeat Dish: Possibly

Hubby's comments: "Not a big fan of arugula, but it's good." (The man doesn't like any kind of lettuce except iceberg or romaine)

ATK Challenge: Seared Salmon with Balsamic Glaze (p.179)

Doesn't that just look delicious? It was! The hubby is not a big fan of fish. He loves other seafood, but not fishy-fish. The glaze on top is what sold him on the plate.

I am setting a goal for us to eat fish two times per week, beef (or red meat) once a week and poultry or pork the rest of the week. The hubby was none to thrilled when I mentioned this goal, but I'm the chef and the grocery shopper (mwah ah ah ah).

This dish was super-fast to cook. We're talking 20 minutes fast! I steamed the broccoli while I cooked the fish and everything was done at the same time. I LOVE when that happens! The glaze was a mix of balsamic vinegar, orange juice, honey, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Great combo.

RATINGS:

Flavor:    ★★★★★
Easiness: ★★★★★
Time Spent: 20 minutes
Repeat Dish? Yeppers

Hubby's Comment: "The glaze is great. It would even be good on chicken." (I think that was a hint)

ATK Challenge: Catch Up!

As I sit here thumbing through my cookbook, I did not realize how far I have gotten behind! I'm not sure I want to bombard the interwebz with a slew of recipe reviews. To show you what I am sparing you, here is the list of what I would need to post to be caught up:

Kung Pao Shrimp (★★★★★)
Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches with Slaw (★★★★★)
Chicken and Spinach Farfalle (★★★★) 
Spicy Pasta and Sausage Bake (★★★) 
Grilled Pork Cutlets with Lemon-Garlic Sauce (★★★)
Southwestern Salmon Cakes (★★★★)
Easy Stuffed Fillets of Sole (★★)
Black Bean and Chorizo Enfrijoladas (★★★★)
Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet Potato Hash (★★★★★)
Whiskey Sauce Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes (★★★)
Skillet Shepherd's Pie (★★★)
Cajun Stuffed Peppers (★★★★)
Quick Beef Empanadas (★★★★)

As you can see I have given each one an overall rating. The true outstanding recipes of this group were the Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches w/ Slaw, Kung Pao Shrimp, Southwest Salmon Cakes and the Cajun Stuffed Peppers.

-The Barbecue Chicken was amazing. I never knew I could make pulled chicken so quickly and without a crock-pot on all day. I was not a fan of coleslaw until I made this recipe. Now I'm willing to try it wherever it is offered. This will probably end up on the regular rotation.

-The Kung Pao Shrimp was better than any I've had from a take-out delivery! There were no left overs from this batch. The hubby didn't like the peanuts, but he'll just have to pick them out. It adds to the flavor and consistency too much to leave them out.

-The Southwest Salmon Cakes were made from fresh salmon, not canned. That was a first for me. I grew up watching my mom make them from salmon in a can. I continued to follow her recipe. That is until I tried this one. It has cilantro, green chiles, mayo, sour cream and uses Panko bread crumbs. Delicious! I could tell the difference in the taste of the salmon and I will never make salmon patties from canned salmon again.

-Another recipe the hubby and I grew up with was stuffed bell peppers. I liked them, the hubby not so much. The Cajun Stuffed Peppers redeemed stuffed peppers for the hubby. The red bell peppers were stuffed with rice mixed with some ground beef and finely chopped andouille sausage, pepper jack, onion and a little hot sauce. Then they are topped with the remaining pepper jack and put under the broiler for a few minutes. The peppers were not soggy or mushy and the stuffing was great.

The big losers out of this group were the Easy Stuffed Filets of Sol, Skillet Shepherd's Pie and Whiskey Sauce Pork Chops.

-The Stuffed Sol filets were actually haddock, since Wegman's did not have sol. That was not the problem. The stuffing was overly lemony. I think if we left out the stuffing and just cooked the fish and topped it with the sauce instead, it would have been better. This one may need some tweaking.

-The Skillet Shepherd's Pie recipe used shredded hash browns on top instead of mashed potatoes. I think that kind of defeats the purpose of Shepherd's Pie. The meat and veggie mixture had a great flavor, but the hash browns on top kinda ruined it. Next time I'll make the extra effort and make mashed potatoes to go on top. If you're trying to save time, you could always pick up a tub of pre-made mashed potatoes.

-The Whiskey Pork Chops were disappointing. I could not get my sauce to thicken, so when we ate the meal the sauce was watery and did not cling to the pork. I think I will try this one more time and see if maybe I had too much oil in the mix.

The remaining recipes were good and will probably be repeat dishes. Here are some pics of our dinners.

Glazed Pork Chops w/ Sweet Potato Hash

Black Bean and Chorizo Enfrijoladas

Chicken and Spinach Farfalle

Grilled Pork Cutlets with Lemon-Garlic Sauce

If you see anything that sounds interesting and may want the recipe for it, or a full fledged review, let me know!