Another cooking post!
Nov. 16th, 2015 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalLook at me go!
Rosemary Olive Oil Crock Pot Bread - YOU GUYS I BAKED BREAD IN A CROCK POT. I don't know why I am so excited about this achievement in particular, considering I've done a fair amount of cooking and this was ridiculously easy, but something about the novelty of baking bread in the crock pot makes me want to brag to everyone I know. The bread is delicious, btw. I have eaten it every day since I made it, and I have some epic plans for grilled cheese if I can stop myself from just eating it slathered in olive oil (definitely try it with the olive oil herb dip included at the same link). There will be more soon enough, though, because my mother has already demanded that I make it again when I come home for Thanksgiving.
French Onion Beef Stroganoff - This is another recipe from the same blogger, and it's another winner, so I'm thinking I need to just work my way through the entire site. I am not usually big on beef stroganoff, since I don't really like mushrooms - I actually left them out when I made this one - but I loooooove french onion soup, so adding beef and noodles couldn't really go wrong. I also didn't bother with the red wine, since I don't drink it; I wasn't about to open a whole bottle just for 1/4 cup to cook with. I added extra broth instead, though I probably didn't need to, as the sauce was very liquidy and needed longer to reduce than the recipe said. But hey - I've got delicious bread to sop it up!
Butternut Squash Casserole - So this is the casserole recipe I was going to make last time, except I forgot to buy squash. On a related shopping note, I happened to do my grocery shopping on Saturday withangearia and gryfndor_godess and they must be good luck charms or something, because all my recipes turned out awesome this week! (And I managed to get all the correct ingredients, lol.)
Anyway, this recipe kind of ticked me off - or rather, the lack thereof ticked me off. I don't remember how I stumbled upon this link - I get daily emails from recipe.com, but I also may have been searching for something - but reading through the post, I was super excited about the goat cheese + parmesan combo, and then I clicked on the link for the recipe, and it turned out it was the ORIGINAL recipe, pre-modifications, which is completely not what the post's author described. My parents may be of the "exact measurements are for losers" school of cooking, but I prefer specific instructions. So, if you are like me, and you're all, "Okay, but HOW MUCH goat cheese did you use? What is the ratio of goat cheese to parmesan? And goat cheese is a totally different consistency than cheddar! Will it melt the same?" I went with 2 cloves of garlic tossed with the squash and olive oil before roasting (which took more like 40 minutes to get to tender). I used 1 cup of goat cheese and 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan to make the cheese sauce, and then another 1/2 cup of parmesan sprinkled on top. I also added 1 tsp each of fresh rosemary and thyme, since I had it left over from the bread and stroganoff recipes. I do like the combo of sage and butternut squash, so I might try that if I made this again, but you definitely have to add something, as without any herbs or spices at all, it'd be pretty bland.
Rosemary Olive Oil Crock Pot Bread - YOU GUYS I BAKED BREAD IN A CROCK POT. I don't know why I am so excited about this achievement in particular, considering I've done a fair amount of cooking and this was ridiculously easy, but something about the novelty of baking bread in the crock pot makes me want to brag to everyone I know. The bread is delicious, btw. I have eaten it every day since I made it, and I have some epic plans for grilled cheese if I can stop myself from just eating it slathered in olive oil (definitely try it with the olive oil herb dip included at the same link). There will be more soon enough, though, because my mother has already demanded that I make it again when I come home for Thanksgiving.
French Onion Beef Stroganoff - This is another recipe from the same blogger, and it's another winner, so I'm thinking I need to just work my way through the entire site. I am not usually big on beef stroganoff, since I don't really like mushrooms - I actually left them out when I made this one - but I loooooove french onion soup, so adding beef and noodles couldn't really go wrong. I also didn't bother with the red wine, since I don't drink it; I wasn't about to open a whole bottle just for 1/4 cup to cook with. I added extra broth instead, though I probably didn't need to, as the sauce was very liquidy and needed longer to reduce than the recipe said. But hey - I've got delicious bread to sop it up!
Butternut Squash Casserole - So this is the casserole recipe I was going to make last time, except I forgot to buy squash. On a related shopping note, I happened to do my grocery shopping on Saturday with
angearia and gryfndor_godess and they must be good luck charms or something, because all my recipes turned out awesome this week! (And I managed to get all the correct ingredients, lol.)Anyway, this recipe kind of ticked me off - or rather, the lack thereof ticked me off. I don't remember how I stumbled upon this link - I get daily emails from recipe.com, but I also may have been searching for something - but reading through the post, I was super excited about the goat cheese + parmesan combo, and then I clicked on the link for the recipe, and it turned out it was the ORIGINAL recipe, pre-modifications, which is completely not what the post's author described. My parents may be of the "exact measurements are for losers" school of cooking, but I prefer specific instructions. So, if you are like me, and you're all, "Okay, but HOW MUCH goat cheese did you use? What is the ratio of goat cheese to parmesan? And goat cheese is a totally different consistency than cheddar! Will it melt the same?" I went with 2 cloves of garlic tossed with the squash and olive oil before roasting (which took more like 40 minutes to get to tender). I used 1 cup of goat cheese and 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan to make the cheese sauce, and then another 1/2 cup of parmesan sprinkled on top. I also added 1 tsp each of fresh rosemary and thyme, since I had it left over from the bread and stroganoff recipes. I do like the combo of sage and butternut squash, so I might try that if I made this again, but you definitely have to add something, as without any herbs or spices at all, it'd be pretty bland.
