In the Kitchen #6

As promised, here is our first Rachel Ray meal WITHOUT pasta!

A one-up on the "twice baked potato"...it's the Shepherd's Pie Stuffed Potato. You can find the recipe HERE

What we eliminated:
- mushrooms. I don't eat fungus.
- we used ground beef instead of ground sirloin
- we chose Dijon mustard over spicy brown mustard

What we would do differently next time:
- select larger potatoes so that you can stuff more in to the shell. We had leftover potato (and beef) which wasn't so bad: Jason ate it as leftovers the next day
- have a salad on the side

What is new to us...and what we learned:
If you spoke with me shortly after I made this delicious meal, you would have heard me gushing about mixing equal parts of soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. I am familiar with these ingredients as stand-alone flavouring (except for maybe combing Dijon and Worcestershire)...we only ever use soy sauce in stir fry.

I also got to try out my recently learned lesson on cutting peppers: note from the picture above there aren't seeds all over the cutting board! Slice off the top and bottom, slice down the pepper to open it up, and then run your knife around the joint between the "guts" and the pepper flesh. So easy!

Our rating:

Up next: FISH

In the Kitchen #5

How about a little Summer Corn Fettuccine...it tastes like corn chowder! You can grab the recipe HERE

I know, it's not summer. And canned corn isn't the same as local corn, fresh off the cob. However, Jason and I both love corn, and the picture in the Rachael Ray book looked good enough to eat. And, if you haven't noticed, we seem to love any dish that involves pasta.

What we eliminated:
- once again, we substituted veggie broth for chicken broth, because that is what we had access to
- we used can corn instead of corn on the cob (Rachel recommends that when corn is in season, scrape it off the cob and freeze it so that you can enjoy it in the off season. I recommend that if you have corn on the cob - EAT IT!)

What we would do differently next time:
- Jason thought that he made a mistake part way through, when following the instructions...but we can't remember what it was

One of us was the head chef - can you guess by the outfit?

New to us in this recipe:

- using three different fresh herbs: thyme leaves, parsley and basil leaves (instead of tarragon leaves). *

*the version of the recipe that I linked to at the beginning of this post only calls for two fresh herbs, thyme and basil (or tarragon)

- shallots - what is the difference between a shallot and a regular onion?

I found the meal to be sweet - maybe a bit too sweet.  The recipe also yields 4-6 servings - and it sure did!

Our rating:

Next up...something without pasta! Stay tuned!

In the Kitchen #4

I am not a fan of soup. Number one reason is that it's on my "foods to avoid because of mixed consistency" list given to me by the speech pathologist who helps me with my MS related swallowing challenges. Number two reason is that it warms my insides: my internal thermostat is already screwed up, I don't need help from soup. But when flipping though the Rachel Ray cookbook, Jason and I both agreed that we just had to try this one: Three Bean Pasta e Fagioli.

So here we go! If you would like to try this recipe out, you can find it HERE.

What we eliminated:
- we weren't able to find cannellini beans, so we selected Navy Beans
- we used mini shell pasta because we couldn't find mini penne or ditalini
- we substituted vegetable broth for chicken broth because we were sharing with vegetarians

Things to do better next time:
- we would add the green beans a bit sooner than called for in the recipe

 We all agreed that the citrus flavour (courtesy of the lemon zest and lemon juice) added an unexpected zip to the bean medley. We accompanied the soup with homemade whole wheat bread - YUM!

Our rating:

In the Kitchen #3

It's another Rachel Ray recipe! Once again, even though we were attracted by the product photo, we were excited to try some new ingredients.

Pancetta, the dry looking meat in the deli case that I usually wrinkle my nose at, is bacon's Italian cousin! How can you NOT like that? And Marsala - it's wine! I'm familiar with Chicken Marsala, Veal Marsala...I thought that it was type of tomato sauce. And with my leftover wine, I've been advised that it marries quite well with dark chocolate.

The last mystery ingredient for Jason and I was a can of San Marzano Tomatoes. I didn't bother to check it on the internet before I went grocery shopping - certain that I would find it in the tomato aisle of the grocery store. NOT. It turns out that San Marzano tomatoes are a variety of plum tomato (fewer seeds and stronger taste than a roma tomato), and are known for making the best sauces. Also, if you are eating (or making) a true Neapolitan Pizza, it must contain San Marzano tomatoes.

If you would like to try out this recipe, you can find it HERE

What we eliminated:
-there is nothing in this recipe that we intentionally eliminated
-we used Italian flavoured diced tomatoes because we couldn't find canned San Marzano tomatoes
-we used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs

Things to do better next time:
-have the pancetta sliced in to thicker pieces
-put the bay leaf in at the right time - not too late

I also put in less rosemary than was called for - and I'm glad that I did.

Our rating:

In the Kitchen

Romaine Lettuce? Nope.
Spinach? You don't like spinach. Nope.
It's escarole.

Shortly before Christmas, Jason and I picked up a Rachel Ray recipe book. It was on clearance, but could it be that bad? The pictures look fabulous!

Since we brought home the book, I have been itching to make the Caesar Spaghetti. Without all of the ingredients, but prepared to omit or substitute, Jason and I tackled it!

To try the recipe yourself, here is a quick link for you: Caesar Spaghetti Recipe

What we eliminated:
anchovy fillets
Pecorino romano cheese - we substituted with Parmesan because that is what we had
coarse black pepper - I'm assuming that the pepper we used was not coarse


Things to do better next time:
don't "cook" the escarole for as long
when adjusting the recipe to serve 2 instead of 4, don't forget to cut back on the noodles

What is escarole? This leafy green is a variety of endive - but with broader, paler leaves, and a less bitter flavour. It's high in fiber, folic acid, and vitamins A and K.

Our rating: