Vegetable Chicken Cobbler

Turned out to be mostly broccoli cobbler. Smelly broccoli cobbler...The biscuits, however, were amazing. This made up recipe definitely has potential, it just needs different veggies. Already cooked chicken, homemade chicken gravy, potatoes I think, carrots, onions, mushrooms, maybe some zucchini, and then the biscuits on top. Like a potpie but with a biscuit topping instead of a pie dough topping. Great time-saving technique: prep the veggies a day ahead and it'll save a lot of time when you have to do everything else at the same time.

Potatoes au Gratin

I keep trying new au gratin recipes because I love the dish, but I grew up on the Betty Crocker kind, so I have to retrain my palate to like the homemade stuff. But the best kind have all sorts of cream and things I can't eat, so I tend to go with the simpler kinds with just milk and cheese. Only problem is, it all tastes the same. My sister didn't like the recipe, and I thought it was ok, but not fantastic. The cheese sauce would make an amazing macaroni and cheese, I think.

Cold, Catching up, Part Two

Last weekend I did some cooking and baking as well. We watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and I had a recipe for Treacle Tarts, just like the books. Only problem? It turned out to be Treacle Scones, and they were rock hard. It might be the 4 year old molasses I used, or maybe it was over-mixed, but either way, but either way, Hagrid would have been proud...Needless to say, it was not a keeper recipe.

The next night was a traditional roast chicken dinner, with the works. Minus the vegetables. Because I forgot to make them. I had them, I just didn't remember I did...Everything turned out great. We had enough for leftovers, and made chicken stock and froze some of the meat for later use. I still have gravy and mashed potatoes if I want them later on. All around, delicious dinner!

Cold, Catching up, Part One

So I've been dealing with a cold over the last couple weeks and haven't had much time and energy for cooking. I did manage a few things, however. First up was a quick chicken marsala. It was ok, I didn't have quite enough marsala, and it didn't have enough liquid to suit my taste, but it was easy to make. I have started using Foster Farms chicken which doesn't inject their poultry products with salt water which means that when you cook it, you dont end up with a watery mess that won't brown up. If you ever end up trying to saute chicken and end up mostly boiling it because it's so watery, you've been had...They charge more for the weight of the salt water they inject too. I'd rather pay more but get a better product.

Next up was homemade pork stew and whole wheat drop biscuits. I miss my mom's beef stew, and since I gave up red meat, I found that pork, while a very different meat, still makes a wonderful stew. It cooks much more quickly than beef as well. I use chicken broth as the liquid base and thicken it with cornstarch. Veggies I enjoy in it: mushrooms, fresh green beans, carrots, onions, Yukon Gold potatoes--with the skins still on.

The biscuits were easy to make and I think they turned out pretty well. If I make them again, I would take the extra time to roll them out properly, though, because of the whole wheat making it pretty crispy on the outside when you do a drop biscuit. There's a lot more rough surfaces when you make it that way.