Dinners to Date

Week One: Lasagna



It's true. I'd never actually cooked (or eaten) lasagna before a few weeks ago. I figured it combined all of my favorite things, so I couldn't go wrong. I bought the no-cook Barilla lasagna noodles and followed the recipe on the box. My lasagna was strictly sauce, noodles, and lots of cheese. And it actually turned out! It helped that my first attempt at a Sunday dinner worked out. On top of that, this was a meal that was even better as a left-over!


A lasagna tip that I found out after the fact comes from the Barilla website:

I did not alternate the direction of my noodle layers the way they show to do here. Apparently, that helps to hold it all together better.


Week 2: Beef Stew

Chilly fall days bring out the craving for some nice, hot comfort food. My mom used to make us beef stew, but I did not have her recipe. I once again resorted to using the recipe from the back of the box of Swanson Beef broth.

Hearty Beef Stew
Prep: 10 in, Cook: 2 hr, 15 min, Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:
-1 lb beef for stew, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 and 3/4 cup Swanson Beef Broth
-1 Bay Leaf
-1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
-1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
-2 medium potatoes, quartered
- 1/2 bag frozen peas
- 2 TBs all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water

1. Brown beef on all sides over medium high heat. When browned, discard excess oil.
2. Stir broth, bay leaf, thyme, and black pepper and beef cubes into saucepot. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cover and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
3. Add carrots and potatoes, cover and cook 30 minutes more or until vegetables are tender.
4. Stir flour and water in cup and stir into saucepot. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens. Discard bay leaf.

I changed a few things in this recipe. The recipe actually calls for the use of the fat that is derived when you brown the beef. I tried this recipe twice, and it's way too fatty if you do it that way. I would also recommend using a bit more beef broth. Otherwise, most of the liquid boils off and you're left with hardly any. Otherwise...really good for a cold fall day. The leftovers also worked perfectly as lunch the next day.

Week 3: Crab Cakes, Twice Baked Potatoes, and Onion Rings

Thanks to a sale at Giant Eagle, I found myself with a 16 oz. can of genuine Crab meat. This is one of Jason's favorites, so I really didn't want to goof it up. Since following the recipe on the box had been working for me up to this point, I decided to do it again. Now, I no longer have the can with me so I can't write the recipe out at the moment. All I know is something went wrong somewhere along the way. It was a recipe that did not call for any sort of "filler." After I mixed up all of the ingredients, it was too soupy to actually form into cakes. I ended up putting the entire mixture in a pie pan and baking it that way. I suppose it still tasted ok, but any ideas on why it turned out like that?

I found the recipe for the twice baked potatoes here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ultimate-twice-baked-potatoes/detail.aspx. I think next time I'll do just a bit less sour cream. As for the onion rings...I cheated with the frozen kind.

Week 4: Chicken Pot Pie (Soup)

No, it really wasn't supposed to be a soup, but that's kind of how it turned out. Here is a picture of what it's supposed to look like:


* This recipe is courtesy Robbie Rice from All Recipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• Poultry Seasoning
• Garlic Powder
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, celery, poultry seasoning, and garlic powder. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heats, drain, and set aside.

3. In saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Place chicken mixture in bottom of pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over it. Cover with top pie crust, sealing edges and removing excess dough. Vent the top pie crust to allow steam to escape.

5. Bake fro 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and flaky.

Jason described this one as a chicken stew. He said it wasn't "bad" however this is a dish that never found a second calling as left overs (as it continues to sit in the fridge as I type.) I don't know what went wrong...

OK...so we're officially up to date. This weekend, I was ambitious and decided to try 2 new dishes, one for last night and one for tonight. I'll post those both after I've finished today's attempt. Wish me luck!