Our Latest Culinary Experiments

[sarahmichelef]

I've been meaning to post about some of our culinary creations for a while, but haven't had time. And now I have time, so here goes.

This weekend's cookery:
We made a horesradish dill sauce from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest... It was your basic cream sauce (butter, milk, flour to thicken) with horseradish and dill added. We made the tactical error of attempting to make it as a dip - which was a colossal failure. It's only good hot, and the horseradish and dill flavors didn't come through enough (probably because of the high flour content - which could be solved by increasing their quantities pretty significantly). It might be good as a sauce for chicken or something, but not as a standalone.

We also made one of my favorite recipes, this weekend. It's basically sauteed onions and garlic, chopped fresh spinach, chickpeas, thyme, and brown rice. Top with crumbled feta and yum. (WW points values range from 6 to 8 points depending on how you sautee it and if/how much cheese you add.)

Sometime ages and ages ago someone posted to the Authentic_SCA list about a roll that they take to events with them... this is our adaptation. Make up a double-recipe of biscuit dough (a la Bisquick) with one modification - add 2 eggs. Then mix in whatever "stuffing" you want - we use "fake meat" sausage crumbles, sauteed garlic and onions, and cheese. In the past we've made them as rolled biscuits - this time we did them as drop biscuits and they worked just as well, with significantly less labor.

Previous weeks' cookery:

Baked Turkey & Jack Cheese Chimichangas (from the WWOnline Message Boards ages and ages ago)
8 servings @ 5 points each.

• 2 servings cooking spray
  
• 1/2 lb uncooked ground turkey breast
  
• 16 oz fat-free refried beans
  
• 8 oz salsa
  
• 4 1/2 oz green chili pappers, mild, drained & diced (I used fresh peppers)
  
• 1 t chili powder (did I remember to put this in? I don't think so...)
  
• 3 T scallions, thinly sliced
  
• 1 c shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack Cheese (I used "Mexican Blend" cheese)
  
• 8 large burrito-size wheat flour tortillas
  
• 1 c salsa
  
• 1/2 c fat-free sour cream
  

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a large skillet w/ cooking spray. Coat a 13x9x2 baking dish with cooking spray.
Add turkey to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, ~ 5 minutes.
Drain any excess liquid from pan and then add beans, 8 oz salsa, chili peppers, chili powder, & scallions.
Wrap tortillas in foil & warm in oven for 10 minutes.
Assemble chimichangas w/ 1/2 c filling per tortilla.
Bake uncovered until tortillas are crisp & brown, ~20 minutes.

My chimichangas were a bit bigger than these - I think I got 13 out of a double-recipe of filling. They freeze very well and TRex loves them (always a bonus).

And finally...

ej, this is the recipe I mentioned on Flickr a couple of weeks ago.
Spicy Black Bean & Yam Chili
from Wegman's Menu Magazine
Serves 6-10, 3 WWPoints per 1c serving

• 1 T oil
  
• 16oz sliced peppers & onions
  
• 1 dry chipotle pepper (I used fresh jalapenos)
  
• 2 c vegetable stock
  
• 3 cans black beans, undrained
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ roasted garlic & onion
  
• 1 medium yam, peeled, diced 1/2 inch
  
• 2 T red wine vinegar
  
• 1 T hot cocoa mix
  
• 2 T honey
  
• 1 1/2t chili powder
  
• 1/2 t cumin
  
• 1/8 t ground cinnamon
  
• salt & pepper
  

Heat oil in med. stockpot on high. Add peppers, onions, and hot peppers. Cook, stirring, 3-4 min until soft but not browned. Add everything else but salt & pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat & simmer on low, uncovered, 25-30 in. Season w/ salt & pepper.

So there you have it. Cookery fun in our kitchen. Oh, and M made a lasagna almost entirely unsupervised a couple of weeks ago. I told him what to do at each step, but he did all the cooking himself. It's all in the freezer, so we don't know yet how it came out.