Playing Catch Up....Hits and Misses

In the past month I've done a lot of cooking, more so than usual.  It's almost inevitable that you're going to have some hits and misses along the way. In the interest of playing catch up this post is going to be a mix of recipes, some that we enjoyed, others not so much.

See that Tres Leches Cake above?  I was curious about Tres Leches for a long time. The concept of a cake soaked in three milks and iced in whipped cream?  Hello!  Sign me up for that!  I used the recipe from Pioneer Woman's site and made this cake for our Mexican-Inspired Thanksgiving.  PW's recipe worked great and the cake went together just fine.  The end result was a big surprise to me.

The overall recipe was fine, but it was just a miss for us.  We ate it, but didn't love it.  We found the cake to be light, which was nice, but a little too on the mild side.  I'm sure this recipe would be great for some, just not us.  Tres Leches Cake has been a recipe on my to-do list for a long time now and I'm happy to say that I've made one.  It really doesn't hurt my feelings, or my thighs for that matter, that I didn't love it.  More room for other desserts, right?   

 

Another miss were these Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins from Everyday Food.  If you've read my blog for the past few months then you know that I love my Everyday Food magazine.  All of their recipes have been big hits in my house, but surprisingly these Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins just fell flat.  The muffins were lacking in pumpkin flavor and were surprisingly dry, even though they contained buttermilk, which almost always ensures a moist baked good.  I very rarely make things and toss them, but I tossed these.  They just weren't worth the calories.  I still love you Everyday Food!

It's about time for a hit, right?  Well, I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Ina Garten's How Easy Is That? for my birthday a few months ago.  The first recipe I chose to make was Jeffrey's Roast Chicken.  I chose this recipe because I knew it would be delicious.  I also chose it in good fun.  Ina Garten happens to be one of the only chefs on the Food Network that my husband will watch with me.  He loves to joke about how much she spoils Jeffrey, and he's right.  Ina sure does love her husband. Saying that, Ina can also make a mean roast chicken.  This chicken was delicious and made a wonderfully flavorful sauce, which went very well with this..................

Potato risotto!  Genius, right?  If you haven't been watching Chuck Hughes on the Cooking Channel, then you need to get started.  He has a winning personality, big passion for food, and he's extremely easy on the eyes!  I love, love, love his show.  This potato risotto was the first thing I ever saw him make on his show and I thought it was brilliant.  Cubes of potato are cooked down in a skillet, just like real risotto, then mixed with cheese, mushrooms, or anything else you want to add.  Chuck serves his with sausage on top (sounds fantastic), but I served mine with Ina's chicken. You can find the recipe here, on the Cooking Channel site. 

Yum - Jeffrey's Roast Chicken with that beautiful sauce and cheesy potato risotto!  Hit! Hit! Hit!

Now back to reality with Trisha Yearwood's Peanut Butter Bars.  I'm afraid they're another miss.  Yep, you heard me right. Yes, peanut butter and chocolate are two of my biggest loves.  Yes, I love my copy of Trisha's newest book.  Can I file this one under the word "strange".  It does sound strange to say that I didn't like these, right?  I can't put my finger on why.  What I can tell you is that I've never, ever disliked anything with peanut butter and chocolate until I had these.  Dare I say they were too peanut buttery?  I'm not sure if there is such a thing or not, but these just weren't good.

And now....I'm going to leave you with something crazy.  Taste of Home called them Gourmet Scrambled Eggs.  Wanna know the secret ingredient?  Mayonnaise.  It sounds crazy, right?  Well, I heard of mixing all kinds of things into eggs, but never mayo.  I had to try it.  The eggs were good, although not the best I've had.  No one could taste the mayo and it was a fun recipe to try.  The ratio is basically 8 eggs to 1/4 cup mayo.  If you're interested you can find the recipe here.  This one was really neither a hit or miss, just kinda crazy.

Some hits and some misses.   It may sound strange, but I do enjoy an occasional miss here and there.  It's never really a bad thing when you learn what you like, as well as what you don't like. 

Happy Cooking!