Fried Ice Cream

From Cooking for 2 Summer 2008. (subscriber only recipe)



Ingredients:
vanilla ice cream
heavy whipping cream
vanilla
frosted flakes
cinnamon

Comments:
Interesting idea, frying ice cream. Kind of like a baked Alaska concept. It takes a while since the ice cream has to freeze for at least an hour between coating layers. Mine didn't turn out so well since the coating fell off in the deep fryer. It still tasted good... I've got the second half of the ice cream left so I might try this again. I may throw the cereal in the food processer to get them smaller. I might also try and sculpt the ice cream into smoother balls so the crumbs stick better. We'll see.

Zucchini Frittata

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2004.



Ingredients:
butter
onion
garlic
zucchini
eggs
ground mustard
bacon
salt & pepper
cheese
green onions

Comments:
This looked really good and not too horrible for our health. I did cook the bacon up and then use the fat to cook the onions instead of butter. But I figure you have to live a little, right? Pretty simple, mighty tasty. I swapped out the Swiss cheese for some cheddar but followed the recipe other than that.

Pizza Sticks

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000.



Ingredients:
refridgerated breadsticks
pepperoni
parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
garlic powder
marinara sauce

Comments:
These are so easy to make. They're in the snack category in the book but we had them as our dinner. I made half with pepperoni and half without since I didn't have a full package left. Worked fine for us. The topping is tasty. Kind of like Pizza Hut or Dominos. But cheaper.

Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones

From Everyday with Rachael Ray September 2008




Ingredients:
pizza dough
EVOO
ground beef
bacon
onion
cheese
salt
tomatoes (which I had but totally forgot to add)

Comments:
This is similar to the calzones and the cheeseburger buns I've made previously. These ones use pizza dough rather than bread dough so it's a slightly different texture. The recipe is a grill version but I just baked them in the oven instead. Worked fine, and they were very good. Might try them with bread dough instead next time since the pizza dough seemed drier.

Cheddar Bacon Beer Bread

From Rabbit Creek Products



Ingredients:
Cheddar bacon beer bread mix
beer
butter

Comments:
I had also mentioned this interesting sounding beer bread mix we picked up in Door County. I made it this past Tuesday when I was home for the day on vacation. It smelled heavenly as it baked and tastes just as good.

Gorgonzola Port Sauce (Melting Pot)

(EDIT 12/18/09: This is by far the most common keyword used to find my site so I figured I'd add the whole recipe so you don't have to click through.)

From WAFB.com



Ingredients:
1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cups sour cream
2 oz Gorgonzola Cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1/4 oz port wine
1/2 oz milk

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except the Gorgonzola in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly using a whisk. Add the Gorgonzola and blend well. Cover and refrigerate.

Comments:
I had mentioned the wonderful discovery of the gorgonzola port dipping sauce at The Melting Pot and my quest for a rip-off recipe. It took me a little while, but I did find one. I was pumped. And when I found out that port was a lot cheaper than I expected I was even more pumped. I mixed up a batch of this sauce, boiled some red potatoes we bought from the same local farmer's market as the huge cucumbers, and went to town. Yum. Adam tried in on some steak he grilled up and he liked it as well.

Cucumber Boats

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2001.



Ingredients:
Cucumbers
canned chicken
hard boiled eggs (left out - yuck)
cheese
celery
mayo
pickle relish (left out)
lemon juice
chopped onion (left out)
salt

Comments:
Altered this recipe a little since neither of us like tuna and that's what the original recipe called for. Also left out some stuff I find gross in chicken salad. The cucumber made the whole thing kind of juicy and runny. It was easier to eat in small sections than in one big piece. Tastes good and is pretty good for you to. Yay! I got some ginormous cucumbers at a farmer's market in Door County. Delicious!

Cheeseburger Loaf

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000.



Ingredients:
ground beef
onion
tomato soup
garlic salt
pepper
French bread
butter
cheese

Comments:
The recipe calls for both garlic salt and regular salt, which I found repetative, so left out the regular salt. Maybe it was a typo? Anyway, pretty easy recipe although I found the filling bent the bread over making it pretty messy to eat. Oh well.

Cajun Chicken Fingers

From Everyday with Rachael Ray September 2008.



Ingredients:
cornmeal
chili powder
oregano
salt & pepper
eggs
chicken tenders
vegetable oil

Comments:
I'm not quite sure what makes these "Cajun" since there's really not much going on in the breading. The cornmeal-based coating is hard to burn, which is good, but it's also really dry. I don't know that I'd try these again, but if I did I'd use a more traditional flour-based breading and hope it turned out more moist. Also might kick up the flavor with a few more spices. I made some easy oven fries to go with them. The potatoes had more spice than the chicken. These were bland even for a wimp like me.

Slider Caesar Salad

From Everyday with Rachael Ray September 2008. I don't see a link but I'll check back later.



Ingredients:
kaiser rolls
EVOO
salt & pepper
mayo
lemon juice
parmesan cheese
mustard
ground beef
romaine

Comments:
Or not. Didn't really follow this recipe either. I ran out of ground beef so I subbed the remaining grilled chicken from last week's party. I did make my own croutons, but I used bottled Caesar dressing. It was still tasty. We like us some chicken Caesar salad from time to time. Mmm. Romaine.

Gnocchi with Thyme Butter

From Taste of Home August/September 2008. It's a subscriber only recipe so I can't link.



Ingredients:
gnocchi
bacon
parmesan cheese

Comments:
Or in this household, gnocchi with bacon. Uhm, didn't follow this recipe. Obviously. I intended to - minus the whole making the gnocchi myself thing - but I got distracted by the bacon in the fridge. So I cooked some up and added that rather than butter. And it was good.

Mint Brownie Pie

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000



Ingredients:
butter
baking chocolate
sugar
eggs
vanilla
flour
cream cheese
peppermint extract
whipped topping
chocolate chips

Comments:
So, yeah, this is Adam's artistic interpretation of "drizzling chocolate over the top." *sigh* Regardless of its appearance (click on the link above for the professional version), it tasted great. Like a big Andes mint, according to the man. It's really simple to make although next time I might go and find chocolate that comes in a tube rather than let Adam show me how it's done with melted chocolate chips. :)

Slow-Cooked Lemon Chicken

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2001



Ingredients:
chicken breasts
oregano
seasoned salt
pepper
water
lemon juice
garlic
chicken bouillon
parsley

Comments:
I totally didn't follow this recipe so I'm not even sure why I'm linking to it. I used it more for inspiration I guess. I could probably go through all the changes I made but let's just say I went way lazy on the prep work and just kind of threw things into the crockpot



(my new 4-qt programmable that Adam got me for our anniversary!) and turned it on. I didn't even thaw the chicken and I used a whole bouillon cube, not smooshed or anything. Crockpots are amazing. It turned out great and even though Adam avoided the noodles and peas, he still liked it.

Chili Spaghetti

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000



Ingredients:
ground beef
onion
garlic
tomato juice
kidney beans
spaghetti
Worcestershire sauce
chili powder
salt & pepper

Comments:
This recipe really peaked my interest. I'm a big fan of pasta so I'm always on the lookout for a way to spice things up. Adam wasn't interested at all since he has this thing with beans, so I made it just for me. And it was yummy. I ate the leftovers with delight. I think I might scale back on the chili powder the next time though because it gave me some nasty heartburn and scary spicy burps. Was that TMI? Sorry...

Wontons (what a boring name. They're PORK wontons)

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2002



Ingredients:
ground pork
shredded cabbage
bean sprouts
onion
eggs
salt & pepper
wonton wrappers

Comments:
I actually followed this recipe. I even bought ground pork, where I would usually sub turkey. Ok, so I did omit the sauce and cooked them up in the deep fryer rather than an electric skillet (which I just realized I don't even own!) but they turned out just fine. I generally fall victim to the "overstuffing the wonton" curse, but this time they turned out pretty good even with a few bulging ones. As Adam declared, "a keeper."

Chicken Cordon Bleu Calzones

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2002



Ingredients:
chicken breasts
mushrooms (left out. I know, shocking.)
onion
butter
cornstarch
milk
basil
salt & pepper
puff pastry
ham
provolone cheese

Comments:
These looked interesting so I decided to give them a try. They turned out alright, but next time I think I'll roll the puff pastry out a bit so it, I don't know, covers the whole chicken breast? Duh. Also, I think I might let the chicken sit a bit after it's drained because the pastry got all water-logged. Tasted good, but I made some goofs in the execution.

Breaded Pork Chops

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2000



Ingredients:
egg
barbecue sauce
bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
oregano
lemon-pepper
onion salt
pork chops

Comments:
Adam spotted this one as I was paging through the cookbook, expressed interest, so I made it. The barbecue is so subtle you almost can't taste it, so that was good. It's a pretty easy recipe to make and it satisfied the man in this house, so it's a winner.

Sloppy Joes with Lentils

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2002



Ingredients:
ground beef
onion
garlic
water
tomato sauce
lentils
ketchup
cider vinegar
ground mustard
pepper
buns

Comments:
I had some lentils in the cupboard to use up and this sounded like a nice way to sneak them into a meal. When I originally bought the lentils Adam was all, "those better be for something you're making just for you." And they were, but I ended up with some left over. So into the sloppy joes they went. And he didn't even notice. Score! They turned out a little runny but I'm thinking if I'd let them go another 10 minutes or so perhaps they would have firmed up a bit. Who knows. Still tasted fine. Just a little sloppier than intended.

Crock-Pot Pizza

From Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2002



Ingredients:
egg noodles
ground beef
onion
spaghetti sauce
mushrooms (left out)
Italian seasoning
pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
cheddar cheese

Comments:
It seems a little weird, looking at the ingredient list, to think that this is "pizza." But it really does end up tasting like pizza. I think I went a little light on the cheese, but other than that it was pretty good. I'm not sure I'd make this again, and if I did I'd chop the recipe in half. It made a whole lotta leftovers. On that subject, I'm looking for a smaller crock-pot - around 4 quarts or so. My problem seems to be they don't make anything smaller than 5 quarts with a timer and warm setting dealy like the Smart Pot. *sigh*