Recipes of the week(s)

I didn’t share any last week.  Just when I’d gone and gotten myself all caught up, too.   I’ll keep it simple because I have a lot to share.

First, do you remember my green bean concoction from a few weeks ago? 

I sautéed a chopped shallot in a splash of olive oil. I then added green beans and a splash of chicken broth and cooked it until it was warmed through. I added a handful of toasted pecan pieces to the finished product. It was really tasty. I will say my green beans were a little soggy - but I would expect that since I was using some of my frozen garden stash. With fresh beans, I'd cook them to crisp tender. I also had a thought yesterday that adding a small handful of chopped prosciutto before serving would be another good variation to this. YUMMY!

I used almond slivers this time.  I can’t wait to have our fresh garden stash as opposed to the ones I have frozen from last summer!   There are endless variations you can make of this.

Chicken, Mushroom and Radicchio Lasagna was pretty good.  It’s the first time we have radicchio and I’ll admit we were both nervous when we tasted it after it was wilted/mixed into the mushrooms.  It was really bitter, but that bitterness baked off.  It was really time consuming to put together, though.  I’m still up in the air as to if I want to save it or not because it was so labor intensive.

Barbecued Chicken Pizza was really easy and really yummy.  It was a spur of the moment dinner so I didn’t have any zucchini but I put mushrooms instead.  Delicious.

Baked Pasta e Fagioli was alright.  Monkey wasn’t crazy about it, but T and I liked it well enough.  I’m not sure if I’m going to save this one either, though.  “Well enough” doesn’t mean an automatic spot in my recipe box.

I was very “meh” about Chicken Pot Pizza.  T enjoyed it and Monkey picked out what she wanted (the chicken and crust).  I found the sauce needed something.  I’m going to try it again and maybe add some thyme or wine to the sauce to give it something extra. 

Broccoli Calzones were pretty tasty.  T didn’t like the Pastry Crust dough the recipe called for so I’ll probably use my own pizza dough when I try the other filling recipe we were interested in in that article.

Image from Fresh Magazine

Beer-Braised Kielbasa with Cabbage and Mustard Sauce was really good.  I think I’ll make it again on St. Patrick’s day because it just feels like a good Irish dish. 

Okinawan Gyoza was shared with me by one of LTRLT’s fans on facebook.

• 4-5 leaves chinese cabbage, minced
• 1 bunch nira, minced (I used chives)
• 2 large green onions, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small piece of ginger, grated
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• Dash of Japanese soy sauce
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs peanut oil
• 1 pound ground pork
• 4-5 minced shitake mushrooms
• Gyoza skins (wonton wrappers)

Pour boiling water over cabbage and allow to sit for 30 seconds, then drain and rinse with cold water.  Combine with remaining ingredients and mix coarsely with fingers.  Place a tablespoon of filling in gyoza skins and crimp edges.  Place a small amount of oil in frying pan and heat.  Place gyoza in pan and fry over medium heat until lightly browned on one side.  Add 3 tbs of water to pan and cover.  Allow gyoza to steam a couple of minutes.  Serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and sesame oil.

My wrappers only took a teaspoon of filling.  I ended up cooking up the remaining filling at the end because Monkey didn’t like the skins but loved the filling.  We also found it salty, but I may have put more than the recipe called for (not sure – it was a hectic evening).  I also over browned them – like I said, it was a hectic evening.  This is an absolute keeper.

Last but not least is Pork Roast with Sherry-Plum Sauce.  This is a slow cooker dinner.  I had no plum sauce on hand and didn’t want to go to the store and a friend suggested I try blueberry jam instead.  T RAVED over dinner.  I got lots of “This is REALLY good.” as opposed to the usual “It’s fine.” comments.  Monkey loved it, too.  This is also an absolute keeper.

Also, don’t forget about the kitchen challenge!  Make your soufflés this week and we’ll check in on Monday to see how they turned out!

Enjoy your kitchens!