Recipe Reviews! Week 21

I'm not sure how to introduce my weekly recipe posts anymore. I do think I'm might start posting them on Monday's instead of Wednesday's, and change up the blog schedule a little bit. For this week, though, it's still Wednesday.

This week's recipes did pretty good, overall, and included...

Sweet Muffins

I grew up with this recipe as "Blueberry Muffins." I remember them being quite a treat with dinner and loving them. While perusing my cookbook, I discovered that this recipe is the base for most of my sister Miriam's fruit muffins. As you can see, the directions say you can use most any fruit in them. I didn't have blueberries, but I did have some frozen blackberries from last year's picking. So I made blackberry muffins!

The Honest Review: My muffins almost never turn out looking like Mom and Rachel's did at home; I'm not sure why. (Can I blame my oven?) However, these still tasted delicious! Jason and Little Pumpkin fully approved, which isn't surprising as blackberries are Jason's favorite fruit. I personally don't think the muffin is too sweet, and the berries add nice bursts of fruit flavor. One thing I always have to remember is that the fruit pockets are piping hot when the muffins are fresh out of the oven, and can burn the roof of your mouth. (I know from experience.) This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: I really want to make these with fresh peaches sometime. That just sounds yummy!

Chicken Marsala

This recipe was on Jason's list of recipes to try from my Betty Crocker cookbook. I believe we have both seen this on the menu at restaurants, but have never tried it. We have never used Marsala wine, but I was pretty sure it was a cooking wine. Jason was surprised when I found it alongside the vinegar in the grocery store- he thought I'd have to go to the liquor store to get it. This recipe was slightly involved with a few different steps and processes, and Little Pumpkin was not being super cooperative that morning. I did discover that we do not own a meat mallet; I subbed in my rubber mallet from the garage - it worked like a charm! I did mange to get it all finished and put together in time for lunch, though!

The Honest Review: I believe I failed somewhere along the recipe, as I think there should have been a bit of a sauce to pour over the chicken and pasta. But, there wasn't so it was a bit dry. The flavor was unique; it wasn't bad, but it was different. We ate it, but we aren't quite sure that marsala flavor is one we completely enjoy. It was fun to try something different, though! This recipe is not staying in our collection.

Oh! I also tried making brussels sprouts for the first time! Some of my sisters LOVE them, and I have wanted to try them. They weren't terrible, but I don't think I prepared them perfectly. I'll have to try that one again.

Cheesy Garlic Bread & Garlic Bread

These two recipes come from my sisters, and the Cheesy Garlic Bread base is the regular Garlic Bread recipe. There are just a few variations between the two, and I wanted to try them both to see which one we liked best. I believe I made a quarter batch of the Cheesy and a half batch of the Regular. I spread the mixtures onto sourdough bread slices, broiled the Cheesy version, and wrapped the Regular version in foil, loaf-style. If you notice on the Regular recipe instructions, it says you can make it Monkey Bread style - I kind of wanted to try that!

The Honest Review: This is the Cheesy Garlic Bread. As you can see, it got a little bit too toasted under the broiler. (I served these with the Chicken Marsala, so there may have been a lot going on...or it was the oven's fault.) It was extra crispy and Little Pumpkin wasn't a big fan of that. Jason tried this recipe first and said, "This is really good!" Even with it being toasty.

This is the regular Garlic Bread. As you can see, being wrapped in foil kept it from getting toasted, and nicely melted the garlic spread into the bread. Pumpkin liked the softer bread much better. Jason tried this bread second, and his reaction was pretty much, "WOW! I really like this one!" And, my personal preference was this recipe, too. We couldn't really pin-point what it was about the Cheesy version, but Jason said the flavor in the regular was just superb. One of the differences in the recipes that I thought of was the lemon juice; the Cheesy didn't take lemon juice. So maybe that makes the difference. Since these recipes are so similar, I'm going to make note of the Cheesy additions onto the regular recipe. This recipe is staying in our collection.

And, if you want a WOW garlic bread some day, make this recipe! (You can thank Rachel and Gail for it.)

Orange Glazed Chicken Stirfry

I have had this recipe for years. In fact, I had it written down on about three different scraps of paper in my manila folder! I don't know where I found it, but I believe I discovered it about 12 years ago while I was living with Jul and Linden. I have made it a few times over the years, but had not made it in the last 6 or so years. I decided to give it a try and see what Jason thought.

The Honest Review: Somehow, this wasn't as good as I remembered it. The flavor seemed to be lacking something. Jason thought it was ok, but agreed that something was missing. He actually mentioned that it seemed similar to a chicken stir-fry dish that is at Chinese restaurants, although their chicken is usually breaded. He suggested trying it with breaded chicken sometime and see if that makes a difference. The flavor wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. This recipe might be tossed from the collection.

Possible alterations to try: Use breaded chicken.

Chili

We inherited a lot of dark kidney beans, in the can, so I've been trying to find recipes that use them. Usually when we make chili, there's no real recipe involved. If Jason makes it, he just adds stuff, puts in some spices, and it always turns out well. In his cookbook, there were two chili recipes, and this one came from his Mom. I did have to buy the Williams Chili Seasoning packet, as we don't typically have chili seasoning packets on hand. I may be wrong, but I don't think I had ever heard of the Williams brand of seasoning packets before moving here to Kansas.

The Honest Review: It was good, but a little bland. We looked at the chili seasoning packet and it recommends 2 tablespoons per pound of beef, and the recipe only calls for 2 teaspoons. Jason did mention that he had never followed a recipe before, but that this recipe was nice - maybe just spice it up a bit more. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Corn Bread

You can't have chili without Corn Bread! Or, if you're from a specific high-school in Wyoming, it's Chili and Cinnamon Rolls - I never quite understood that. Anyways, I discovered this recipe a few years ago. It is from my Betty Crocker cookbook, but is made similar to what I believe was my Grandma's favorite corn bread recipe: baked in a hot skillet with butter to get a nice, golden crust. Jason tends to prefer corn bread that comes in a box mix for about .75 cents because it is sweeter than most home-made recipes. I'm kind of a "make it from scratch most of the time" person. Because Jason prefers his corn bread to be sweeter, I did put in the 3 tablespoons of sugar that it suggests. 

The Honest Review: It really looks pretty when it comes out of the oven, I think. I personally really like this recipe and think it is quick and easy to make. When asked his opinion of the corn bread this time, Jason said that it could be sweeter, but that it is pretty good. I don't think I grew up eating sweet corn bread, and I like my corn bread with butter and honey, so I never thought about it needing to be sweet. I will have to try and improve that factor. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Alterations: Increase the amount of sugar to 1/4 cup maybe?

Jason's Marsala and White Wine Reduction Meal

I have no recipe for this, and I'm not even 100% sure what all is in it. Jason made himself supper one evening with a turkey and cheese (I think) wrap, grilled glazed tomatoes, and mushrooms. He did something in the skillet with the mushrooms and tomatoes that turned out AMAZING!! It smelled and looked so good that I asked him if he could make it for me to eat. I do know that he used some of the Marsala wine, some white wine, and butter in his cooking that he also drizzled over the entire plate at the end. It tasted so good! If you ever come to visit, I'll make sure he cooks a meal for you!

Orange Creamsicle Popsicles

This was another one of my attempts at making Jason's childhood favorite store-bought popsicles. I had found a recipe at 100 Day of Real Food's blog and thought I knew what all I needed to try and make them. But.....I failed to re-read the recipe when actually making them! I used the basic ingredients- plain yogurt and orange juice, but forgot about the maple syrup and vanilla. Fail!!! It was a pretty big failure. They didn't taste bad, but the plain yogurt and orange juice flavors definitely did not mix well together by themselves. Jason asked if couldn't I just buy Orange Creamsicle pops the next time I want to try making them. 😂 Poor guy- he really is a good sport when it comes to my cooking and trying to make new recipes. I'll have to look for his childhood favorite in the store sometime.

Well, that concludes my recipe trials for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got some new recipe ideas!

Here's a question for you: How do you eat your chili? With Corn Bread, Cinnamon Rolls, or something else?