Recipe Reviews! Week 9

I feel like we tried a lot of new recipes this week as opposed to previous weeks. Maybe one of them will be new dish that you'd like to try! This week's recipes included...

Stroganoff Sandwiches

This recipe was invented by one of my brothers-in-law, James, and I actually recall hearing about it many, many moons ago. But, I have never
actually tried the recipe. So this week, it was put on the menu. I used ground antelope meat, and instead of French bread, I took the easy route and just used regular sliced bread.

The Honest Review: Jason said that it was "interesting," both before it was ready and after eating it.  I would venture to say that the flavor was a little on the bland side, and the ingredient combination was just different. I personally kind of missed the mushrooms that are an important ingredient in stroganoff for me. It wasn't bad, and we ate all the leftovers, but it just didn't impress us that much. Sorry Jamesy-poo! This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Deer Roast

My sister, Gail, is the queen of creatively using wild game meats, and coming up with new recipes. Since we are scraping the bottom of our meat freezer, and all we have left is wild game, her recipes are coming in very handy for trying something new! I have to be honest though, I wasn't too sure about messing with our traditional method for cooking wild game roasts. For this recipe, I used our last elk roast.

The Honest Review: It was rated at "pretty good." There were some chef errors which may have caused the end result to not be superb. The roast was a bit over-done, and dry, because I couldn't find my meat thermometer, so I was just going by sight and time for it to be done. I was actually surprised when Jason said that he would use this recipe again for a roast; I had thought that he would ask to stick to his traditional elk roasting methods. The flavor was not over-powering at all, and was just a nice, simple, tasty roast. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: Try cooking the roast in the crockpot.

Sugared Asparagus

I cut this recipe out of the Taste of Home magazine way back in the day, and have been carting it around for the past 15 years or more. I was very leery of this recipe because who puts sugar on their asparagus?! But, just in case we were missing something amazing, I thought we should try it.

(Pictured above with the Deer Roast.)

The Honest Review: I was surprised. It wasn't awful like I thought it might be. It actually tasted ok, and wasn't too sweet. Jason and Pumpkin both thought it was ok, and we discussed if we should keep the recipe or not. It was tasty, though it wasn't a "wow" recipe for us. Some people would probably really like it, especially if you are looking to change up how you fix asparagus. We decided that we like our asparagus to be more savory than sweet, and probably wouldn't use this recipe in the future. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Savory Dill & Caraway Scones

This is a recipe that I hurriedly wrote down from the internet one time. I think I was in Australia when I found this recipe, and I know I've made it at least once before. I obviously didn't write down all of the instructions, and it appears to be quite abbreviated. If you've never made scones before, then this recipe will make no sense to you. I'll try to briefly explain it:

Mix together all of the dry ingredients, and cut in the chilled butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk together the egg yolk, sour cream, and ricotta cheese; mix into the dry ingredients just until combined. Don't overwork the dough! Divide into two dough balls. On a floured surface, pat each dough ball into a 6" circle; cut into six pieces like a pie. Place onto baking sheet about 1" apart; brush tops with whipping cream. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 12 scones.

(Pictured above with Deer Roast and Sugared Asparagus.)

The Honest Review: They are delicious! We loved them! My usual scones are always sweet and more of a tea pastry, but these savory scones are a delicious deviation! The dill and caraway offer a different flavor than we normally use in bread-type foods. They make a good side to a meal, for sure! If you've never made scones, I would highly recommend you try them. I personally really like scones, and we all really liked these savory ones! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: Re-write the recipe so that it is more legible, and include the instructions!

Tuna Cheesies

When I saw this recipe, I thought I knew exactly what it was. My Grandma made a recipe called "Tuna Cheesies" for my birthday dinner one year, and every year after when it was my birthday, we always decided to make Tuna Cheesies. It was the only time we ever made them, even though we both liked them. As it turned out, this recipe was not the same recipe that my Grandma used. One thing I did differently was to use sharp cheddar cheese instead of processed American cheese. (I'm a bit of a cheese snob and do not like American cheese.) Also, I'm not sure what the deal is with spreading butter on the bread before putting the tuna on; it seems kind of pointless to me and more calories. The Stroganoff Sandwiches recipe also said to spread butter on the bread first. Am I missing something here?

The Honest Review: I mis-read the instructions and didn't realize that the sandwiches should be wrapped in the foil. Since they were baked openly, the buns got pretty dry and tough. Lesson learned. Jason said the Tuna Cheesies were "interesting," and only ate one. He has a thing against mayonnaise, and anything that contains mayonnaise. He said he'd rather the tuna be used in Tuna Noodle Casserole. Little Pumpkin and I got to eat all of these leftovers! At first, I wasn't too impressed with the sandwiches, but it kind of grew on me. I like tuna salad anyways, and that's basically what it was. Since I don't have an actual tuna salad recipe, I'm going to hang on to this one until I come across one I like best. This recipe will stay in our collection at this time.

Alterations: Wrap the sandwiches in foil before baking to keep them from drying out. Don't spread the bread with butter prior to putting on the tuna mixture. Use cheddar cheese.

Salt-Free Taco Seasoning Mix

After last week's revelation about tacos, I found this recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook. I mixed it up using the "Smoky" variation, cooked up a whole chicken one day, and left for work. Jason kindly picked the chicken off the bones and shredded the meat. The next day, I used this seasoning, some salt, and chicken broth, to make shredded chicken tacos.

(I never got a photo of the chicken tacos. Sorry!)

The Honest Review: Jason and I both thought this seasoning mix was better than my previous taco seasoning method. Jason and Pumpkin primarily ate all of the chicken tacos, as it was handy for him to fix for their suppers while I was working. I'm not sure that it's a "wow" seasoning mix yet, but it's a definite improvement! This recipe is staying in our collection at this time.
Alterations: Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to the mix.
My sister, Rachel, is supposed to be sending me her Taco Seasoning recipe that I'm sure will upstage all of my taco seasoning trials!

Pineapple Bake

This recipe comes from a long-time friend of my parents, Marie A. I'm sure it has been made during my lifetime, but I do not remember ever eating it. And, after looking at the recipe, I was really skeptical as I had no clue what it was supposed to be. When I was mixing it up, Jason came by and asked what I was making, and I said I had no idea. He looked at the recipe and stated, "Oh, it's like a bread pudding." I don't know why I didn't realize that myself!

The Honest Review: It was tasty, but different. Jason said it was ok; he's not a huge fan of pineapple in things. He said he'd rather have the butterscotch caramel bread pudding that we had at the Keeter Center while on vacation. At first, I wasn't sure I liked it that well but, after eating all the leftovers (since Jason didn't eat any more) it kind of grew on me. I may have liked it better after it cooled, actually. If you're looking for something different from the norm, this pineapple recipe would do the trick. Since not everyone loved this recipe, I don't think we will be making it again, even though it was a pleasant dish to eat. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

I think that completes all of the recipes that I made this week. All but one of the recipes were brand new for us, and provided something different than we usually make. Which of these recipes are a dish that you would try?