Recipe #50 - Red Pepper Relish

I had to do something with 4 roasted red peppers, so Red Pepper Relish it was.  After roasting the peppers, it took about 5 minutes to convert it into the relish.

I chopped up the roasted peppers, then added some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic.  Next, some salt and pepper to taste.  That was about it.

The recipe didn't call for it, but I did heat it up before serving.  It was kind of an uncomfortable lukewarm temperature before that I didn't really like.  But it was solid on top of chicken once I heated it up.  I wouldn't really like it at room temperature, but I guess it could serve as sort of an antipasto.

Modifications: Heating up, maybe some more garlic.

Make again?: Yeah, but probably not a high priority.

Recipe #49 - Cranberry Relish with Orange and Ginger

The notes for the recipe called it "quite tart, the equal of traditional cranberry sauce."  It wasn't exactly as I expected, and serving it on chicken was probably not the best way to test this one out.

The recipe called for a large navel orange, and I might've overdone it by getting one approximately the size of Saturn.  I zested it, cut the orange into segments, and mixed with 4 cups of cranberries and some sugar.  I pulsed it in the food processor, then added some ginger and more sugar.  

The orange taste was a little too dominating, in my opinion.  It could've gotten by with a lot less zest.  In general, this is a really promising recipe and I think it can be improved by adjusting the quantities of the ingredient.

Modifications: Significantly less orange and orange zest

Make again?: Yes, with modifications.  Would be better with turkey than chicken.

Recipe #48 - Roasted Red Peppers

I've had roasted red peppers before, but I've never made them in the oven.  The few times I've done it involved a grill.  This time I did it in the broiler, to avoid those bitterly cold Florida winters.  

There's no rocket science to it, just turning on the broiler, waiting for it to get blackened, then turning.  It took about 20 minutes in total.  I then wrapped them in foil and let them cool off to make peeling easier.

It came out very good, no difference from the grilled version, and much easier to handle.  Putting them into a bag or piece of foil definitely helps peel them, and it's an important step.  I mainly used them as a component in another recipe, but I did try them out and they were solid.  They would've been great on salad as well.

Modifications: None

Make again?: Yep

Recipe #47 - Salsa Cruda

When I first read the title of the recipe, I assumed it was a mexican style salsa, but this was almost like a bruschetta.  The only real difference was that this didn't have red onion.  Otherwise, it had tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, just like bruschetta.

I served it on top of chicken, but it would be good in a bunch of ways.  It was extremely good.  The name kind of sucks, but other than that, it's definitely a keepr.

Modifications: None at all

Make again?: Yes

Recipe #46 - Cumin Spiced 5 Minute Drizzle Sauce

There are a bunch of variations on the drizzle sauce recipe, so I thought I'd try one.  This one was a very simple modification, simply a pinch of cumin along with the ingredients from the previous recipe.  I did a better job of preparing it this time, specifically not burning the vegetables beyond recognition.

As before, it was a nice way to mix up chicken and vegetables.  But like before I'm not sure it's worth the calories.  It was good, but if you're counting calories, you can get the same sort of flavor without all the oil.  I don't want to make it seem like it wasn't good, because it was, but there are definite alternatives.

Modifications: I could've probably used a little more cumin.  I was afraid of overdoing it.

Make again?: I would consider it.

Recipe #45 - Garlicky Tomato Sauce

Let's bring the lights down.  This one goes out to all the garlic lovers out there.

If you're making your wife dinner on valentine's, maybe it's not the best idea to start with a recipe that includes 10 (10!) cloves of garlic.  But that's not how Gwen and I roll.  We both love garlic, so the effects cancelled out.

This is a modification to the easy tomato sauce recipe I posted a while back.  It was ridiculously easy, again.  By far, most of my time was spent on crushing the garlic.  The rest is to put in a pot and heat for a while and that's it.  We used it as dipping sauce for the breadsticks, but it would've been just as good or better on top of a plate of pasta.

This was seriously awesome.  One of my favorite tomato sauces ever for sure.

Modifications: Do I dare add even more garlic?

Make again?: Yes, hopefully soon

Recipe #44 - Baked Macaroni and Cheese

It's a very little known fact, but apparently Baked Macaroni and Cheese is impossible to photograph.  At least it's impossible for me because I took 6 pictures and they were all trash.  Sorry about that.

Luckily, the food was a bit better.  I cooked some macaroni about 90% of the way done, then set aside and cooled off with some water.  Next, I mixed milk, cheddar and parmesan cheeses, and some spices together.  I combined those, set them in a baking dish then topped with breadcrumbs and more cheese.  The end result was pretty good, but not as crazy decadent as you might think.  I think if that's what you're going for, you would want whole milk or maybe even heavy cream and quite a bit more cheese.

That said, I liked it, Gwen liked it, and even my niece and nephew liked it.  And if you can please 3 and 4 year olds with macaroni and cheese, obviously you're on the right track.

Modifications: Different cheeses, more cheese, whole milk

Make again?: Yes, but maybe a bit more splurging on the ingredients next time.

Recipe #43 - Linguini with Olive Oil and Garlic

I love Top Chef, but I hate how all their recipes describe every single ingredient in the dish.  Somehow, I got over that hangup and made this for Gwen since I know she likes this sort of thing.

I usually lean towards pasta sitting in a bathtub level of tomato sauce, but occasionally I will compromise on something simple like this.  The recipe was pretty vague on the amount of the ingredients to use, but I guess that makes sense since this is very simple and easy to adjust to taste.  If you're not in the mood to make a sauce or even open a jar, this is definitely a good way to go.  I think the key is to have good olive oil, because that's really all you'll be tasting.  And don't use too much, because it goes a long way.

Modifications: Some parmesan on top might've been nice

Make again?: Sure

Recipe #42 - Parmesan Breadsticks

A modification of Recipe #41.  This time, I added a good amount of grated parmesan to the dough, then cooked it exactly the same way as before.

As I'm sure you will be shocked to hear, it tasted similar but had a slight parmesan taste.  I think I could've used some more cheese to make the taste a bit more noticeable.  I also used some crappy generic cheese, so a better cheese woud've been even better.

I attached a pointless additional shot of them since they were on the same plate as the other breadsticks.

Modifications: More and better cheese

Make again?: Yes

Recipe #41 - Breadsticks

I love breadsticks.  There, I said it.  Whenever I order from Papa Johns (which is extremely rare), I always order breadsticks to dip into the various sauces.  

I've tried making them at home before with just decent results.  Generally, whenever I make pizza (which is always an adventure), I throw some of the extra dough on there as breadsticks.  This was a different dough recipe, and it's the best one I've tried so far.

Nothing fancy again, just yeast, flour, water, oil, sugar, salt, etc.  The major difference here was that I used the food processor to make the dough, not my stand mixer.  And I am now converted.  The food processor was way better, way faster, way easier to clean.  Seriously, I am not going back.  I think my stand mixer is slightly underpowered, which is why I've had some trouble with it, so this is how I'm going in the future.

Modifications: Several available, about to post one in a second.

Make again?: Definitely yes

Recipe #40 - Homemade Bread Crumbs

I've used breadcrumbs out of a can a million times. Generally they seem tasteless and so tiny that it's hard to imagine they were ever bread.

Again, this is a simple component type recipe, but I'm glad I made it.  I used italian bread and pulsed it a few times in the food processor until it was small enough. 

There are three advantages of doing it yourself:

1. you can make the crumbs whatever size you like, which is useful for different recipes.

2. you can adjust the taste easily

3. it actually does taste better and fresher

Modifications: Add spices to the crumbs, depending on the recipe

Make again?: Yes

Recipe #39 - Simple Syrup

I struggled with this one, but in the end, Gwen pointed out that if it's a recipe in the book and I tried it out, I should put it in.

The name says it's simple and the recipe follows through.  Sugar.  Water.  Heat.  That's it. 

You can use this in a ton of ways.  I put it on top of the fruit salad, but it would be good to sweeten just about anything.  It would be much better for drizzling on things than pure sugar would.

Modifications: None

Make again?: Yes

Recipe #38 - Tropical Fruit Salad

A slight twist on a normal fruit salad.  I used the coconut milk that I made in the previous recipe, along with some simple syrup (which I'll post about next).  Besides that, it's not rocket science.  Bananas, pineapple, mango, papaya, banana, strawberries and oranges cut up and put in a bowl.

It was good, and a nice desert, although not a revolution in fruit salad.  Although I guess there's only so much you can do to chopped fruit before it becomes a totally unhealthy desert entirely.  

Modifications: Better coconut milk as described before

Make again?: Yeah, but won't go out of my way.

Recipe #37 - Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw

I am a fan of different types of coleslaw.  The typical one that comes to mind at first is the mayo based slaw that you probably ate from KFC a billion times growing up.  I am also partial to the vinegar type that is popular in North Carolina, especially on top of or served with pulled pork.

This was a different type entirely.  It used oil as the fat (despite the no mayo, I'm not sure it's any less caloric), some vinegar, but the main taste was spicyness.  I added red pepper flakes and cayenne, although another option was to use diced jalapenos.  In addition to the cabbage, there was red pepper, which I diced.  

For some reason, this just didn't seem like it came together.  On paper I would've thought that I would really like it, but it was just very forgettable.  I brought it to a party, people picked at it and said it was good, but there was a ton left.  I couldn't really get excited about eating the leftovers, and I ended up throwing a bunch away after it went bad.  It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't really good either.

Modifications: Adjust spice, use jalapenos

Make again?: No.  There are better bases to start from.

Recipe #36 - Cream Cheese Dip with Cranberries and Walnuts

Maybe it's time to get a dip thingy that is not Christmas related, but you will have to live with it for now.

This was pretty damn good, although it ages very badly.  It's a simple recipe with cream cheese, blue cheese, cranberries, walnuts and yogurt.  You can adjust the content of the ingredients to make it thicker or thinner, but I left it fairly thick.  The taste was very good.  I served it with crackers and got lots of good reviews.

BUT, this takes a massive dive downhill after a day or two.  The blue cheese goes from mild in the first serving to extremely overpowering after a day or two.  I would not make this recipe too far in advance, although the morning of should be totally fine.  Otherwise, it was really good, but I think that if you're the type of person who hates blue cheese, even the mild taste on the first day might be too much.

Modifications: Could try with other fruits and nuts

Make again?: Yes, within the appropriate time period of the event.

Recipe #35 - Chocolate Covered Peanut Brittle

An obvious takeoff on the previous peanut brittle recipe.  In this case, I covered the peanut brittle with some melted chocolate.  All the previous complaints about the brittle itself still applied, so it was hard to judge this independently.  Overall, I did think it was a nice thing to mix, if a little plain.  Maybe chocolate ganache instead of just regular chocolate would've been even better.

One thing the recipe did not suggest was putting it in the fridge after dipping in chocolate.  This was much better than trying to eat a piece of brittle with melted chocolate all over it.  Definitely needs to be refrigerated before serving.

I didn't get a good picture of this one, unfortunately.

Modifications: Try with ganache

Make again?: It's a maybe

Recipe #34 - Peanut Brittle

For the first time, I can confidently say that a recipe in How to Cook Everything seems wrong.  Peanut brittle isn't rocket science, it's just sugar, water and nuts.  Sugar is a crazy thing to cook with because of all the discrete phases it goes through at various temperatures.  

Now the problem here is that the recipe implied that I could keep the sugar on Low-Medium and it would eventually caramelize.  Maybe my stove sucks (very possible), but I could've left it there for days and it wouldn't have happened.  I compared with some recipes online and found out I had to crank up the heat, which I did.  

Now here's where I screwed up.  From what I read, I needed to pull the brittle at 290 degrees. I wasn't keeping close track, and I saw it at 300 so I pulled immediately.  When I took a second to think, I realized the sugar was still white and totally uncaramelized.  Unfortunately, it had already started forming into balls with the nuts.  I put the mix back in the pot and started cooking to get it caramelized, which I was able to do.  I think the cook-remove-cook steps ended up making a very hard brittle (oxymoron?).  Also, some of the caramel ended up burned.

Modifications: More sugar mix, less nuts.  The ratio was way off.  Cook until caramelized.

Make again?: Peanut brittle is very good, but this is not the recipe for it.

Recipe #33 - Coconut milk

A friend at work told me he had a bunch of coconuts that he didn't need and obviously, I asked him to give me some.  Now, for those of you logical humans who have not tried to open a coconut without a machete, it is RIDICULOUSLY HARD to open one.  I had to use multiple knives and some lawn shears and I finally got one open after tons of hacking.

Eventually, I got to the hard brown shell.  I cracked this open for Gwen, and it reminded us that coconut water is not the same as coconut milk.

To make coconut milk, I mixed some of the grated coconut meat with some very hot water, then blended for 30 seconds or so.  If you do this, make sure the cap is tight on your blender, unlike me who did not bother to check.  DOH.

Anyway, my question was whether this would be better than the canned version.  It wasn't, in my opinion.  It was much less "coconut-y" for lack of a better term.  I'm not sure if the coconut wasn't totally ready or what, but the taste was milder than I expected.  

Modifications: Buy a machete before trying this again.

Make again?: Nope, just buy the can.

Recipe #32 - Onion Yogurt Sauce

I made some yogurt sauces before and they've been pretty damn good at times.  This was yet another subtle variation on the others.  This one featured yogurt mixed with onion and garlic.

I used this on some mixed vegetables, but it would be equally good on chicken.

It was a milder taste than the previous yogurt sauces and could definitely go with the right types of food.  I made it with light yogurt and it would be even better with some higher fat versions.

Modifications:  More garlic?

Make again?: Yeah, but worth experimenting with further

Recipe #31 - Herbed Broiled Chicken

I know, I know, more chicken breast.  I promise I'm almost done.

This one was kind of forgettable.  The recipe is purposely vague, telling you to use 2-4Tbsp of whatever fresh herb is available.  I used oregano here, which I grow at my house.

At this point, the different chicken breasts sort of blend together.  The key for these recipes is getting the timing right so the chicken is juicy.  The spices are almost totally secondary.  That was the case again here.

Modifications: Can try a variety of different fresh herbs next time.

Make again?: Hard to say.  Probably, but only as a variation.