New Recipes Week

New Recipes Week

You know how sometimes something seems like it’s going to be really good and then it turns out to be, well, less than you thought it would? This entire week seems like that for me. See, I have this great piece of software called CookWare Deluxe (available here and is available for Macs and PCs). It cost me $20 and is fantastic! Besides keeping and organizing all my recipes in one place and letting me search for them by any word within the recipe, it also helps me build my shopping lists, plan my meals, and know which aisle in the grocery store I can find items in. Like I said, fan-freakin’-tastic. My favorite thing about CookWare Deluxe, however, is that I can create different “cookbooks” and attach my various recipes to those cookbooks. One that I created was an Untried cookbook, so I would have a handy list of all the recipes I have on hand that haven’t been tried yet. That was especially helpful in the beginning, as the program came with several hundred recipes of its own.
Well, last week I got it into my head that I was going to try several of these untried recipes, so I checked my Publix flyer, found what was on sale, and choose some new recipes based on that. To avoid a ridiculously long post, I will just post each recipe and give a short review on it.

Lemon Broccoli With Garlic
6 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 20 min.

Ingredients
1 large bunch broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
 Directions
Place broccoli in a steamer basket; place in a large saucepan over 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil; cover and steam for 6-8 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Immediately place broccoli in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Place in a large bowl. Pour oil mixture over broccoli; toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 6 servings.

I was really not a big fan of this one. The broccoli was really lemony, and half a cup of oil, even olive oil, is a lot for veggies to just sit in. It was just too tart and too oily.

Roasted Chicken With Forty Cloves of Garlic
8 to 10 Servings
Prep/Total Time: Longer Than I Cared to Count

Ingredients

2 3 1/2 lb chickens
1/2 stick butter, room temp.
4 tsp dried basil, crumbled
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup fresh basil leaves
40 lg garlic cloves (unpeeled)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup fresh basil leaves, julienned

Directions
Preheat oven to 400° f. Remove fat from chicken cavities. Pat chickens dry. Run fingers between breast skin and meat to loosen skin. Mix butter, basil, salt and pepper in small bowl. Rub half of butter mixture under loosened skins. Tuck 1/2 cup whole basil leaves under loosened skin of each chicken. Rub remaining butter mixture over chickens. Season with salt and pepper. Place chickens breast side up in large roasting pan. Roast chickens 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° f. Turn chickens on sides. Add garlic to pan and roast 15 minutes. Turn chickens to other sides and brush with pan juices. Roast 15 minutes. Turn chicken breast side up. Pour wine over. Roast chickens until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced, basting occasionally, about 30 minutes more. Transfer chickens to platter. Tent with foil to keep warm.

Pour pan juices with garlic cloves into processor. Add 1 cup chicken stock and puree (garlic skins will remain whole). Strain puree through sieve into saucepan, pressing on garlic skins with back of spoon. Boil until reduced to sauce consistency, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in basil julienne. Carve chickens. Serve sauce separately.

This is one that came with CookWare Deluxe. I had seen other chicken and forty clove recipes before and had always wanted to try one, so I was pretty excited about this. It turned out really well too! The chicken was falling off the bone, it was moist and juicy, quite lovely. The only downside was that I spent a lot of money on fresh herbs, and the result wasn’t different enough from other (cheaper) recipes I already have to make it worth it. That being the case, this one comes out of the program.

Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup
6 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients

3 Tbsp butter
1 lg onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 md carrots, chopped
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cup beef broth
2 md potatoes, peeled, cubed
12 oz bottle of dark beer
1 cup whipping cream
Dash grated nutmeg to taste
1/8 tsp cayenne or to taste
Dash salt to taste
3 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup additional shredded cheese to garnish

Directions
Melt butter in a large pot. Add onion, celery and carrots; cook until soft, about five minutes. Stir in flour; cook 1 min, stirring often. Stir in broth. Add potatoes and beer. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 min or until potatoes are soft.
Transfer vegetables to a food processor or blender. Process until pureed. Return to pan; add cream, nutmeg, cayenne and salt to taste. Reheat to a simmer. Add cheese, 1/2 cup at a time and stir until melted. DO NOT BOIL.

Serve hot, garnish with addition shredded cheese.

This also came from CookWare Deluxe, and it was delicious! The thing is, though, a cheese soup? I’m not so much a fan of that idea, but it makes an awesome fondue! We had some leftover steak from a grill-out a few nights before, so I warmed those up, cut them into pieces, and dipped them into my soup. Delectable! I will be changing the word “Soup” in the title to “Fondue”.

Beef Paprika
2 to 4 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 5 Hours, 15 Minutes

Ingredients

2 lb boned round, cut in 1" cubes
2 slices bacon, minced
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 med clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup sour cream

Directions
In a medium skillet, over medium low heat, sauté the veal cubes and the bacon until the meat is brown on all sides. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat; add the salt and pepper, 1 tab paprika and the flour and toss thoroughly. Pour in the stock; stir until the sauce is smooth, then scrape into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until the meat is tender

Before serving: lift the meat into a warm serving bowl. If the sauce seems thin, simmer in a same skillet until thickened. Then remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream. Reheat just enough to warm the cream; don't boil. Pour over the meat and garnish with a dash of paprika.

I just think that this recipe was somewhat incomplete. The meat and sauce were very lovely, but that couldn’t be all there was, so we boiled up some pasta with it (egg noodles would be best) and it was perfect.

Okay, so this post still ended up being ridiculously long, but I’m glad I tried all these new recipes. It allowed me to clear a few out and to improve some. Thanks for reading.

Cheers!
~Dana~

It Seemed Like Such a Good Idea At the Time...

Saturday, May 29, 2010

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