"Hotdish" and Blackberry Chèvre Salad

Actually, I don't like the word hotdish. I prefer casserole. It's kind of like my inner struggle with "supper" versus dinner. I prefer dinner. I think I'm resistant to being completely Minnesotan. I have California roots!

Anyway..

I'm done with the Pioneer Woman. I still follow her blog and I bookmarked this recipe. I bought all the ingredients but didn't end up making it last week. My broccoli was on the verge of expiring so I pulled out the recipe for tonight's dinner. I read through the reviews and saw many people proclaim this casserole bland and fussy. I proceeded knowing I should add salt and love to make it right.

I say I'm done because I haven't had much luck with her recipes lately.

So this Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole was okay. Just okay. It happens. It was a lot of chopping and prep, so it's not worth a repeat performance.

 

There is a layer of wild rice, blanched broccoli, cooked chicken (my addition), and then a homemade cream of mushroom type sauce (with a pound of diced mushrooms, some carrots and celery). Oh, and then a layer of panko crumbs tossed with butter.

 

OMG. We have TONS left. I was going to half the recipe, I really was, but I had so much broccoli to use. I did add chicken so I did reduce the amount of rice and broccoli, just slightly. I worried about another ingredient soaking up the sauce so that was my adjustment.

 

Truly, the star of the meal was the Blackberry Chèvre Salad. I am in love with goat cheese. I couldn't find honey chèvre at my local grocery store so I used plain goat cheese drizzled with honey. I toasted the pecans in butter and spices, and I blended some fresh blackberries with red wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, and S&P.

 

F@$% yeah! I'm really glad I liked this because this is the start of our week of salads. Side salads and main dish salads. It just feels right.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Wild Rice Broccoli Casserole.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Blackberry Chèvre Salad.

 

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PW's Sunday Frittata and Buttermilk Pancake Balls

Breakfast for dinner!

 

PW says that frittatas are good for using up any veggies you have in the fridge. True! I had some leftover spinach, mushrooms, and (jarred) roasted bell peppers that I threw in. I also baked a potato the night before so I could chop it up easily for a quick dinner. It's all in the planning.

Cooking up veggies...

Gosh, I love potatoes.

 

And making pancake balls at the same time. It's a Tuesday tradition. I always have buttermilk in the fridge just for these.

 

After cooking up the veggies a bit I threw the eggs and cheese on top and transferred it to the oven. It took quite a bit longer than PW said it would. I give the woman some slack since she is NOT a professional cook.

 

It slid out of the pan, not so easily. But it turned out!

 

And it was delicious! Just a nice eggy treat. I realized afterward that it would have been nicer with hot sauce. Leftovers.

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Sunday Frittata.

Click here for my past post about the buttermilk pancake balls.

 

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BBQ Comfort Meatballs

This is comfort food to my family. I don't make these often because there is one fussy, messy step to these meatballs but when I do make them I always thinks I should make them more often. You just can't win in my own head.

 

Also, whenever I make this, I think that this BBQ sauce rocks. And I should use it always whenever a recipe calls for BBQ sauce. Why buy a bottle when you can whip together a few ingredients and make your own?

I'm very surprised I haven't posted about these before. They are GOOOOOD. Add some mashed potatoes and my husband is VERY happy!

Click here for the stolen recipe for BBQ Meatballs by Pioneer Woman.

 

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Repeat

I've also blogged about this dinner before. This one is seriously in our regular meal rotations. It feels like a very indulgent meal with the pan fried chicken, pasta, and heavy cream. It is. It doesn't appear on our plates too often but it's a good option!

The mushrooms reduce down a LOT.

Mmmm.... butter and olive oil... pan fried chicken...

Big Fat Bacon Sliders

Another PW recipe. This was GOOD. I think sliders are usually pretty tiny but I followed the recipe and we still ended up with 1/4 lb burgers. Each burger was wrapped in a slice of bacon and they were baked for 30 minutes. I could hear the bacon sizzling in the oven and of course my husband could smell the bacon.

He really enjoyed the burgers. I think to make the bacon crispier next time I would use thin sliced bacon. Our usual thick cut bacon was still a bit chewy on our plates but it's an awesome burger idea.

I didn't use a bottled BBQ sauce but instead used another PW favorite recipe.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Big Fat Bacon Sliders.

Thanksgiving

It's amazing how little time it takes to scarf down all that food, all that love, energy, and time spent cooking for two days. Was it worth it? Of course! I was very happy to try so many new recipes. I don't think a single one really disappointed. My cranberry walnut rolls weren't light and fluffy, but kind of dense but still good. It was one recipe I wouldn't repeat as is. I wonder if I kneaded too much? Anyway, lots of good food. And I made my own gravy! Very proud and happy :)


OH! And my husband made both desserts. I can't make any claims on those. He did a fabulous job!


Appetizer-

Stuffed Mushrooms

Meal-

Pioneer Style Herb Roasted Turkey with Sage Gravy

Unfortunately, I didn't get any "after" pictures of the turkey. This is the 20 pounder slathered in herb butter. James declared it "yucky" looking.

The turkey ended up with a fabulous brown crust. It was darn pretty. I am so regretful that I did not get one little picture. Oh well. I have something better- leftovers!

Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes- These were great because I made them ahead of time and just stuck them in the oven while the turkey rested.


Brussel Sprouts Gratin- This isn't a picture from tonight's gratin. I was flying around the kitchen at the very end and didn't take a picture of the gratin or the turkey. Bummer.



Sourdough Stuffing with Carmelized Onions and Apples

Framboise Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Walnut Rolls

Dessert-

Jim proudly serves up his creations.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chocolate Pecan Pie

We are all satisifed and full. Our guests all went home with plenty of leftovers. That 2o pound bird was more than enough for our meal and many others. Happy Thanksgiving!

Pico de Gallo & Mexican Flatbread Pizza

I've never really paid attention when my Mom makes her Pico de gallo. DUMB.

Here's my train of thought of why I needed to make it all of a sudden. We went to a restaurant the other night and on the menu I figured the safest thing to eat was a veggie flatbread pizza. I only ate half and I had a side salad. It was SO GOOD. I figured it wouldn't be hard to make one at home so I looked up "flatbread pizza" in my good ol' Google Reader. Pioneer Woman had the first search result. Good ol' PW! Her version was a Mexican pizza, with beans, her pico de gallo, seasoned meat, cheese, etc. The only icky thing was that she used canned biscuits for her flatbread. I have been trying NOT to use processed food like that. I used Flatout flatbreads (1 WW point each!)






I didn't print the recipe, I just figured I had the idea. Well, Jim wanted to make the pizzas so they'd be ready when I got home. I told him how to make the pizzas. They were just okay. He did everything as I asked. I later found out that we should have used refried beans with salsa mixed in for the bottom "sauce". Our versions of the pizzas were too dry. I liked all of the flavors but I think it needed something else. I'll definitely try these again. Jim wasn't a fan, so maybe I'll make them when he's not home :)


We baked the flatout breads with a little olive oil for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven, this helped it get crispy first. The toppings went on and back in the oven for a few more minutes. Easy.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Pico de gallo.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Mexican flatbread pizzas.

Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks

This will be added to our meal rotation :) Jim really liked this, as I knew he would because it's a PW recipe- cream, butter, a little wine, pasta, fancy bacon! This was one easy recipe too. Two things to chop- the leeks and the pancetta. And then saute, add ingredients, and then serve. It really did come together in 15 minutes like PW said.

And there is BACON. Yum.

We thought a grilled chicken breast would be good with this, making the pasta more of a side dish. A salad would have been good too. I really didn't make much besides this pasta, it seemed wrong and indulgent to just have it without a salad or a vegetable so next time I will be healthier!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks.

Grilled Chicken (and shrimp) with Lemon Basil Pasta

Dinner last weekend was a collaborative effort. My sister brought over some wonderful wine and an interesting shaved asparagus salad (I can post later if there is a request for the recipe- I think shaved asparagus, olive oil, shaved parmesan, pepper?) . I swear, I learn the best kitchen tips and ideas from my sister. I would never have thought of using asparagus this way but I'm going to have to try it soon!

We made a Pioneer Woman recipe because you just can't go wrong with that. I prepped the cheese and squeezed the lemon juice (4 lemons) early and that made it a lot easier. The sauce pulled together quickly and the chicken was great (salted and peppered only, not following the PW directions), and the Garlic Butter shrimp from the butcher was an impulse buy that worked out well! We don't deal with uncooked shrimp around here, and now I just don't know why we haven't. They are so much better than the precooked stuff I usually make!

The pasta was so lemony and fresh. The basil came from my basil plants. Everything was really good!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta.

Blackberry Cheesecake

Cub has blackberries, 2 for $1. ONE DOLLA! So I bought four packages and didn't have a plan. I figured ice cream or jam. The very next day Pioneer Woman posted a Blackberry Cheesecake recipe as if she read my freaking mind about blackberries.

I decided to go mini and freeze most of them. I also decided to make half a recipe since I also have banana bread and zucchini bread I can make (and freeze, give away probably too.)




Jim and I had a mid afternoon snack of one mini each. We are freezing the rest- probably for tomorrow! Ha.

The cheesecake is the easiest, basic (and very creamy) cheesecake recipe yet. I can see myself making this one again and drizzling hot fudge sauce on it. Or some other fruits. Endless possibilities- thanks PW!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Blackberry Cheesecake.

My modifications- mini cheesecakes at 375 for 15 minutes. I drizzled the sauce on each cheesecake and refrigerated for an hour before popping them out. I baked the second round of cheesecakes soon after.

Oh! And another use for my pancake pen- I put the cheesecake batter in the pancake pen and I was able to squirt out the batter so neatly and quickly. LOVE!

Chicken Scallopine

Chicken Scallopine is one of our favorite meals ever. Yum. You just can't go wrong with the Pioneer Woman. Or pan fried chicken in butter and olive oil. Or lemons and pasta. Oooh, and capers and mushrooms. (Dreamy sigh!)

Click here for the stolen recipe.