What have I made so far?
First, I made my very first crock pot creation. This was delicious and SO super easy. It was also great to come home to a yummy smelling house. This gave me an opportunity to try out my biscuit recipe ( number 13 on THE List) – it’s getting there but not perfect yet. Anyway, the most difficult thing about this recipe was chopping the veggies. Seriously, TRY IT. You’ll love it. Oh, one note: if you are a single gal like me, either invite a friend over (like I did) or halve the receipe. It is so much food – even with my friend over, I was eating this for days. Not that I’m complaining, but just a heads up.
Next, I made honey soy arctic char. Honey and soy is one of my favorite flavor combinations and I love arctic char. For those who aren’t familiar with the fish, arctic char is similar to both salmon and trout and tastes like a blend between the two. It’s a delicious fish and I pick it up whenever I see it. This was also a very easy preparation. I deviated a bit from the original recipe and grilled the fish (on my new Cuisinart Griddler!) instead of pan-frying it. It was so, so tasty. If you like fish, I highly recommend it. The picture below is of the fish marinating prior to me grilling it. While it was grilling, I boiled some of the marinade on the stove and then glazed the fish with it after it was cooked. Yum!
The following week, I kept the honey soy flavors coming and made honey soy pork chops. I basically used the same recipe and substituted pork chops for the arctic char. It was good, but not great. I’m not sure what it was, but I didn’t LOVE it. I did however love the roasted red potatoes and brussel sprouts I served with the pork. 🙂
Finally, on Monday night I made a recipe from my new cookbook. My friend absolutely loves mussels and since my dog was a bit under the weather, we’d decided to watch the National Championship game from home (sidenote: ROLL TIDE!) and make this recipe. This was by far the most complicated recipe I’ve made since starting my blog. It wasn’t very difficult, just a little more involved than “mix together honey and soy sauce.” I also found that I had to do without a couple of the ingredients. Saffron is very expensive (think $20 a bottle) so I decided to skip it since the recipe only called for a tiny amount. I also did without the Pernod and while I had the heavy cream ready, I tasted the broth and decided it was already delicious enough without the added calories. This went fast. My friend went to town – it was absolutely my favorite mussels preparation that I’ve tried and I will definitely make it again. YUM!
Yum, Yum, Yum!! 🙂 Master Chef over here! 😀
For future reference, we have saffron (threads and powder – yes we cook a lot) and you don’t live that far from us now!
Um, that is SO good to know! Awesome – that’ll be a good excuse to meet the babe 🙂