Adventures in the Kitchen

Lately, Charlie and I have been on such messed up schedules that we both have been eating out way too much and I'm absolutely sick of it. Sunday I finally sat down and planned out meal menu for the week and used the opportunity to try out new recipes. The first one I tried was a Rachel Ray recipe, Black Cherry Lamp Chops with Sweet Pea Risotto. The risotto calls from some white wine so I had a glass of the same wine with dinner to compliment the flavors. I think I need to have a glass of wine with dinner more often. :)


I knew going into it that Charlie might not like this one too much, which he didn't, but I loved it. Unfortunately it will just have to be saved for when we have a dinner party or something.

The next one I tried out was Paula Dean's Baked Ham and Cheese Chicken. This is basically like a Southern Chicken Cordon Bleu and was absolutely delicious!!! This one is definitely a keeper! I'll just have to remember to cut the chicken breasts down a bit before cooking. I had some trouble getting the insides to cook all the way without burning the outside. I eventually had to cut open the breasts a bit and almost butterfly them just to get them cooked through. It worked out though. I only cut on one side so I laid the "pretty" (uncut) side down and covered the "unpretty" side with the ham and cheese so that my roomie would still get the flavor of the breading in every bite. I served it with green beans and corn bread.


Unfortunately I was too eager to start eating so I didn't get any pictures to share from when I ate it but I made Charlie's portion later that night after he got off work. He just had some mashed potatoes with his while I had green beans and corn bread (I left the biscuits in the oven just a bit too long :( ).

Next up is Paula's Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus. Also, I scored a couple awesome discount cookbooks from Borders the other day, Yummy Potatoes by Marlena Spieler (which has a potato and feta cheese omelet I'm dying to try!) and Classic Stars Desserts by Emily Luchetti. I finally set up my book club and, after a discussion with one of the other girls about how much we miss slumber parties, am toying with the idea of making the first meeting a potluck dinner/slumber party where I can try out one of the dessert recipes and the omelet recipe on them.