Not Everything Turns Out Well

For the holiday weekend I decided to cook some dessert.  I looked in the Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook and found an interesting recipe for "flat" apple pie.  It is basically an apple pie, but instead of putting it in a pie pan, you wrap the crust over the top.  I even got to use my new toy... a pastry cutter!  I had to buy one (OK, Tina read ahead, realized that I needed one, went to the store, bought one, brought it back, and gave it to me).

The butter on the top makes sure that the crust turns nice and golden brown.  It worked, and the crust turns out very nice.  I pulled the pies out a little too early and only one survived.  Compare the two pies below.

If you look closely you will see that I did not wrap it tightly... DO NOT DO THAT!  This allows all the juices to run out of the pie, over the edges of the flat cookie sheet (I know, should have use one with edges) and right onto the bottom of the oven.

That alone is not the bad, except when the juices start burning and the entire kitchen fills with black smoke.  I had to open the windows and doors on the first floor and get out a box fan to clear out the smoke.

The burnt juices on the bottom added a unique "smoked" flavor to the pies.  Unfortunately, my apple pie lover son thought that they were disgusting.  And he was right... they tasted really bad.  I am sure normally that they would be good, but the smoke flavor was too much.  Both ended up in the trash and I will chalk this up as a learning experience.  I guess you can't make a few pies without breaking a few eggs... literally!

Next up is Chicken Spaghetti...

Looking forward to "eating" with you again!

Mark

Timing is everything...

If you know me, then you know that I am very organized and orderly.  I like to make sure that everything is in it's place and I am ready for everything.  Funny thing is that this is not translating well to my cooking efforts.  I was supposed to make Cowboy Calzones the other day using the fresh pizza crust recipe and Cowboy Calzone recipe from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" book.  I did not however, look to see how long these recipes take.  Little did I know that the pizza crust recipe needs to sit for 2+ hours to rise (stupid lazy yeast).  So instead we had Subway and I was forced to make the calzones the next day.

It may say "active" but it does not say "fast acting".  So made the dough (which was actually really easy).  I used the pizza dough part of this recipe (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/my-favorite-pizza/) and then made the calzone "guts" from the recipe in the book (it's not posted on the website, so you will have to get the book!).

The dough was easy to work with the next day.  I got out my rolling pin (ok, its Tina's, but now that I am cooking, it is MINE!).  I made eight calzones, although I modified two for my son who has a milk allergy and just put in peperoni in it.  This was a bit of a twist on any calzone I have ever had before.  There was no marinara in it and the taste was definitely on the hardy side.  I guess that's what cowboy's like.  It was mainly hamburger, sausage, onions, Rotel tomatoes and chilies, and three kinds of cheese (I like the way this pioneer lady thinks!).

 I forgot to brush them with olive oil before I baked them so they turned out kinda pale... whoops.  So far none of my mistakes have turned out too bad.  Let's hope my luck holds out on this project!  Here is what they looked like on the inside.

We enjoyed this rustic version of an Italian classic.  The recipe makes eight, but that is more than my family can put away in one sitting... so I wrapped them up and they can take them on the go.  Easy eating right out of the tinfoil.  Nice thing is that we can pop them in the toaster oven for about 7-8 minute to reheat and they turn out just fine.

I give this recipe 4 out of 5 notches in the belt.  It is easy to make and can be modified easily to suit everyone's preference for stuffings.  I am sure I will make this again and modify the "guts" to my taste.

Looking forward to "eating" with you again!

Mark

A New Twist on Breakfast

My son's favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs... I make it for him a couple times a week.  When I was looking in the cookbook, I stumbled across "egg in a hole".  This was an interesting recipe.  It is basically a piece of bread with a hole cut in it that is filled with an egg.  The recipe in the book uses an egg over easy.  I modified it slightly because my son likes scrambled eggs the best.  

This was pretty easy, but Brandon loved it!  Since he is somewhat of a picky eater this was a big win in my eyes.  Brandon gives it a 4 out of five "notches" on his belt.  I like it too... Tina loves eggs over easy and it is alot easier to make it this way then with just the egg by itself.

We have made this dish several times and it is fast becoming a family favorite.  If you want to see how it's made, check out the Pioneer Woman Cooks website (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/07/egg-in-a-hole-see-alternate-names-below/)

Next up is Cowboy Calzones!

Looking forward to eating with you soon!

Mark

Mark's Mexican Experience

Now I am starting to get concerned about this project.  I have never made any Mexican food from scratch before.  I have made spaghetti tacos (thanks iCarly for the idea) for the kids, but that really is not Mexican food. So the next item on my list of food to make was enchiladas.  They really didn't seem that difficult, so I was somewhat reassured.

I started making my grocery list and checking the pantry to see if I already had some of the ingredients.  One of the items was canola oil.  I figured we had it because we have a bottle of oil in the pantry.  But wait... that is vegetable oil.  Lets look around... I think there is another bottle of oil in here...yes here it is... EVOO (channeling Rachel Ray).  Nope not it either.  Whats the difference?  I don't know... so I got to Google.  Apparently it is the temperature in which it boil is the big difference!  My first new piece of knowledge!!! I was so excited, I now have learned something from this.  (I know those of you that already knew this are probably chuckling, but this is new to me.)

So I headed to the grocery store to get my supplies.  On my list I had black olive and green olives (that's odd, but its what the recipe said).  So as I was looking at the olives, there were two types... thrown and placed.  Not sure what the difference was I just grabbed one.  I would look that up when I got home.  Got all my supplies and headed back home.

Making the filling was not to bad.  I am getting the hang of chopping... I got a nice new knife for chopping.  The book listed out several "requirements" for tools that you need in the kitchen.  I also got a set of tongs.  I was going to need it to make the tortillas.

The tortillas were easy to make... fry them in some canola oil, drain, then dip in the enchilada sauce.  Put filling on the tortilla, roll, and place in baking dish.  Once you are all done... pour the rest of the sauce over, add some more cheese and bake.  And this is what you get...

As far as the olives go... "Thrown" olives are put in jars mechanically, so the arrangement of the olives in the jar tends to be somewhat random.  "Placed" olives on the on the other hand, are put in jars by hand.  Funning thing is my lovely wife pointed out to me that it was green ONIONS... not olives.  Oh well, our enchiladas ended up with white onions instead because I read it wrong.

Next up is "Egg in a hole"... something I am sure Brandon will love!

Looking forward to "eating" with you soon...

Mark

My First Attempt...

So how to get started... Tina and I looked through the Pioneer Woman Cooks book to decide how to proceed with my new hobby.  We could just cook every meal in order from front to back... but that would be the first several weeks would be nothing but appetizers.  While I am not one to walk away from finger food (or both hands food), the more realistic side of me (Tina) thought it would be better to pick and choose.  We just need to make sure that we keep track as we go through the book.

As we went through the book, we made a plan on how to proceed (no, you will have to wait to see how it turns out).  We decided that I would be best to get something easy under my belt before I get to creative... so meatloaf it is. 

The Pioneer Woman's Favorite Meatloaf (and mine too now!)
I know that if you were expecting some exotic dish for me to create and go on and on about here on my blog that you are sorely disappointed now.  Then again, if you are familiar with me at all, you will know that I am a fan of the loaf-type meat family (ham loaf, meat loaf, pimento loaf) so this should come as no surprise.  What I will say here is that this meat loaf is like no other. 

I have had plenty of the aforementioned loafs in the past, but this one has one unique twist that makes it rise to the top... it is wrapped in bacon! Why had I never thought of this in the past.  It has opened a whole new way of thinking for me... but I digress.  If you want the actual recipe, you can go to the Pioneer Woman's website (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/my-favorite-meatloaf/) and get it for yourself... you will not be disappointed.

The meatloaf is wonderful (did I mention that?)... but we also had Whiskey Glazed Carrots.  These were pretty easy to make.  I have to admit that this recipe was not in the cookbook, but on the website (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/whiskey-glazed-carrots-major-league-yum/).   It did make for a really good picture.  I am a stickler for following directions to the letter.  And when I told Tina that I wanted to make carrots, she cringed a little bit (a lot, but she hid it well).  She must have been thinking back to the time she told me to boil the carrots in the bag.  Being the rule follower that I am, I boiled the carrots IN THE BAG.  When Tina came does she asked me what that melted plastic smell was... and I proudly responded that it was the bag that she told me to boil the carrots in (now you see why this is a bigger challenge for me that most of you out there).  At least these turned out pretty nice.

...and Homemade Ranch Dressing... never knew what was in Ranch dressing... perhaps that was something best left unlearned (it is really bad).  So the whole meal turned out nice and we had the neighbors over to enjoy the goodness.  If you are lucky (or unlucky depending on your point of view), I may invite you over to enjoy my creations.

Next up is enchiladas.  I have never made any Mexican food from scratch before... (unless you count an Old El Paso taco kit), so this should be interesting. 

Looking forward to "eating" with you again soon...

Mark

Looking for a more "productive" hobby...

My wife Tina and I were talking about hobbies the other day.  She has many hobbies that she likes to do... scrap booking, knitting, reading, cleaning (no, she really enjoys it!), etc.  But my hobby list consisted of only one item... video games.  Now don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy blasting some unsuspecting noob with a well placed rocket, but the time that I have been spending playing games online with friends has me feeling a little bit guilty.  I needed to get a more productive hobby.  So the search for a more productive hobby was on.

I have always enjoyed eating (trust me, I do).  So I thought that maybe I could take some cooking lessons.  Finding the time to take lessons was problematic.  They are expensive and they teach you to cook the food they want you to eat.  So far the hobby hunt was not going well.  Tina and I decided to watch some movies and she rented "Julie and Julia".  Groan... another chick flick that I will have to grin and say how much I liked it.  So I watched it...

I loved it!  (Go ahead, laugh, I know)  It also inspired me... to find a cook book and cook every single recipe in it.  Now this is somewhat of a challenge because Most cookbooks that I know of have every conceivable meal in it.  I wanted to cook something that I thought I would eat.  Then it hit me... we had been cooking recipes from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" website for several years.  I ran to Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy of her cookbook.

So now I am going to cook every single recipe in this book and journal my adventures on this site.  I hope you enjoy the journey as I am sure that not all of them will go perfectly.  You also need to know that I have not been known as a good cook in the past.  This will definitely stretch my skills beyond where they have been before.

Looking forward to "eating" with you...

Mark