Week 15 - Sauteed Asparagus

I feel like I cheated with this "recipe". However, to be fair, I have never attempted to saute asparagus.

• 3 TBSP butter
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• sale & pepper, to taste

Such a simple recipe, yet I managed to mess it up. Even with reading other users' reviews and/or warnings, I still burned the garlic. On the bright side, this asparagus was verdant green and had a perfect crispness to it.

All in all, I have had much tastier asparagus. I will continue to work on this technique. At this point, I don't know if it was the recipe or the preparer. Grading this recipe on the taste of the final product alone, I would give it 6 stars out of 10. However, I will continue to tweek it.

Week 14 - Breakfast Enchilada

So we had a brunch for Easter. I rarely make breakfast; this is definitely a problem... The only breakfast casserole that I have made and enjoy was the same casserole that my mother was intending to take. As a result, I turned to the trusty Allrecipes.com website.

The best that I could come up with was Breakfast Enchiladas. The egg mixture soaks into the rolled tortillas overnight. This gives the impression that the tortillas were rolled with egg in them.

• 2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Overall, I think it was a good breakfast meal. However, it's not something that I will likely crave. I don't really know why that is the case. I made this recipe once the week before Easter and on Easter Sunday itself. In the second attempt, I added onion, green pepper and red pepper. That certainly improved the flavor. In the end, I think my palate is becoming disenchanted with store-bought flour tortillas. At some point, I will need to attempt a homemade tortilla. Perhaps that would have improved the overall quality...

Anyway, I give this recipe 6 stars out of 10. It was good but just didn't have that magical culinary "oomph". I definitely would take my mother's farmers' casserole over this option any day.

Week 13 - Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna always sounds like a great meal option when one is actually craving tuna.  However, one rarely craves tuna 3-days in a row.  So tasty leftovers, tuna noodle casserole does not make. 

• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked medium egg noodles
• 2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• pinch of thyme
• pinch of red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

I added in the thyme and red pepper to the roux.  That spice combination was not in the original recipe.  Also, I was a bit of a laggard in regards to the bread crumbs.   I crushed up a few croutons.  I don't know if that made much of a difference. 

My biggest mistake in this recipe was overcooking the egg noodles.  They didn't seem overcooked at the time that I was mixing them in with the other ingredients prior to final baking, however, they were practically baby food during the subsequent meals. 

I think this was a good base recipe for a tuna casserole.  However, more seasoning is still required.  I am not Overall, it was a bit bland for my tastes.  I really had to force myself to eat the leftovers.  I am not suggesting that it needs more "hotness".  It could be rectified by just adding a bit more salt and pepper.  Anyway, I am going to give this recipe 5.5 stars out of 10.  I will likely give it another shot someday when I'm having that elusive taste for tuna. 

Week 12 - Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry

My attempts at making homemade stir-fry are vastly improving.   Each attempt has been better than the previous attempt.  There is only one small change that I need to make to my Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry recipe.  Aside from that, it's an excellent base to experiment with.  I should be able to use numerous different combinations of vegetables.  

So here are the ingredients:

<ul>
<li>2/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce</li>
<li>1/4 cup packed brown sugar</li>
<li>1 TBSP cornstarch</li>
<li>2 tsp peeled, finely chopped fresh gingerroot</li>
<li>2 garlic cloves, pressed</li>
<li>1 lb boneless pork loin chops, cut into 1/8-wide strips</li>
<li>2 cups rice</li>
<li>1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips</li>
<li>1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips</li>
<li>6 ounces fresh snow peas, trimmed</li>
<li>1 bunch green onions with tops, cut into 1-inch pieces (6-8)</li>
<li>1 tsp sesame seed oil, divided</li>
<li>1 can (8 oz) bamboo shoots</li>
</ul>

My one and only mistake with this recipe was not using reduced-sodium soy sauce.  As a result, it was a bit salty.  Had I followed the recipe, this would have easily been a 9 on my scale.  Very fresh.  The vegetables were crisp and tasty.  Gone are the days of using frozen vegetables.  That's just a recipe for sogginess. 

I really don't have much to say about this recipe other than it was darn good.  I will definitely make it again when I'm craving a stir-fry.  I give it an 8.5 out of 10.