Week 35 Emeril LaGasse Buttermilk Onion Rings and Shrimp Remoulade

David

We loved the onion rings. Of course! Whenever you deep fry something it usually tastes good. Our next door neighbor said they were the best onion rings she had ever had. That's a compliment. We ended up using a half gallon of oil. I'm feeling it tonight! Carl did a great job of making the onion rings. He is a natural cook.

Also, we had large shrimp with a sauce thas was like a cocktail sauce. I love shrimp. Linda does not like shrimp, but she tried it. She said that was the hardest thing to eat of anything we have done yet. Her face was priceless.

Carl

Well it was a good meal I never feel so good when I eat deep fried period but I enjoy it very much! They were good in like ketchup or spicy ranch in my case (my new fav condiment). The shrimp were OK I don't like shrimp but my dad and sister do.... My mom hates them. We also had squash cause the onion rings and shrimp wasn't a solid meal plus the dessert fell threw. It was a chocolate torte but it needed overnight chillen and we didn't have that time.

Week 34 Emeril Chicken Delmonico Caesar Salad and Caramelized Onion and Bacon Mushrooms

I liked the chicken it was like 1 big chicken nugget but had creole seasoning to give it a little kick depending on your level of heat. But I hated the mushroom sauce that went along with it the mushrooms gave of a poop smell which turned me off right away. The Caesar salad was good the dressing needed more Parmesan it was a little to acidic and earthy but that's cause we had half the amount of cheese in it so I now why I didn't taste as good. Lastly the bacon mushrooms were delicious they were earthy sweet and Bacon!!! Loved it.

Wow, What a difference a week makes. We went from an all time high to an all time low. This meal did not go too well. We had trouble with the recipe's. We had trouble with the ingredients. I know I was not on my A game.

The mushrooms turned out to not work too well. We took mushrooms that were dried and tried to wet them and then use them in the sauce. It didn't work. Carl thought they smelled like poop.

I did enjoy making the artichokes. That was fun to eat the meat of the leaves.

The chicken turned out to be ok. It was one of those things that was not too flavorful, but it wasn't terrible. It had and egg batter and then corn flakes on the outside. Lastly, we tried some Caesar salad, but we didn't buy enough of the Parmesan cheese. That didn't have enough flavor. I did learn that Caesar salad has anchovies in the dressing. Who would of thought.

Week 33 Emeril LeGasse Beef Fillet, Garlic Potatoes and a Salad

We are back. We have taken a summer break from our cooking. We have been on a few vacations. Carl and I were actually gone a lot this summer and not always together. We did do a mexican taco dinner that was just free styling (no recipe).


This meal





Fine dining at it's best. This was a great meal. Maybe one of our top 3.


Here is the breakdown.


We had Delmonico House Salad, and Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes, and Steak Diane.


I loved the potatoes and they were easy. Here is the recipe:


Cook 2 pounds of red potatoes for 16-20 minutes.


Roast 1 head of garlic in the oven. Smash up the roasted garlic and add to the potatoes and then smash that all up. Don't get rid of the chunks.


Add 6 TBLS of melted butter and 1 cup of cream.


Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.





We really enjoyed this one. It was fast, and it was good. Carl did a great job with the Steak Diane. He made the sauce to perfection. The meat was tender and tasty.

This was my favorite meal I loved the steak it was soft delicious and the sauce was fantastic it was a brandy sauce which we did go to the liquor store to buy! Very new experience for the both of us. The potatoes were very good except they made are house stench of garlic. The salad had a fantastic dressing it had mustard tartness plus a suttle sweetness.

Week 32 Neely's Barbecued Beef Ribs Grandmas Potato Salad and Gina's Perfect Rice

Carl

Ribs we OK really expected more but we didn't have the exact ribs they called for we had back ribs and the called for beef spare ribs but that OK. The potato salad was good there was alot of relish but I loved the rice....oh it was so simple but had an incredible flavor like no other. The time was the most part...wait noooo the thyme! haha.

David




Ribs. Wow they were good. We enjoyed the beef spare ribs. We had about 10 pounds of ribs. We put 2 cups of Neely's BBQ seasoning on it overnight. We also then cooked them for about 3 hours on indirect heat. They were tasty. I loved the potato salad. I always like potato salad.



The best was the rice. Here is the recipe. Sorry we didn't get a picture.




Gina's Perfect Rice




Melt 2 TBLSP of butter in a pan with a cut up onion.




Add 1.5 cups of long grain rice.




Add .5 teaspoon of salt and pepper.




Add 2.5 cups of chicken stock.




Add 2 sprigs of fresh thyme and 2 bay leaves.




Add 1 garlic clove smashed.




Cook to boiling and then cover and simmer for 16 minutes.




Add 1 TBLSP of chopped parsley to finish.









I love rice and this recipe was excellent. Give it a try.

Week 31 The Neely's Memphis Blues Burgers with Mustard Sauce

Carl

Cooking at the cottage was an experience. We were clean the pots and pans before we cooked because of the bees that were all over the place (died of course). The burgers were good they had a mustard sauce that was just Dijon mustard and mayo with a pinch of Cayenne peppa (thats how the Neely's say it). Lastly we had nachos with a little green Chile queso and BBQ pico degalo. We had butterscoth Sundays planned but we had them later on in the week.

David

I really liked the burgers. We put a little chopped onion in the burger as well as a little grilled red onion on top. Carl made a great mustard sauce for the burger. We enjoyed a big plateful of Nachos too. It was just Linda, Carl and I eating the dinner at the cottage. We had some left over nachos and I decided that I wanted them for later. Both Linda and Carl have given me grief for doing this. However, I really liked the leftovers a couple of days later.

Week 30: The NEELY'S PULLED PORK

THE WHOLE PLATE

LIME-LEMONADE

PULLED PORK YUM!

BAKED BEANS

COLE SLAW

Carl

The best meal we have had yet the juicy pig butt was amazing. Actual it is called butt but it is actually a shoulder, Carl's little fun fact of the day. But we cooked it for about an hour and then we lathered it up with the sauce i made for hours.....it was defiantly summer BBQ time. Me and Jamie made 2 gallons of BBQ sauce.....yeah 2 GALLONS! We brought up Kelly's college mini fridge to store it. We also made cole slaw that was a topping for the pulled pork. Also we made lime-lemonade. And lastly we made baked beans that were good but not stellar.

David

There is no doubt that this was the best meal of the year so far. It was delish. It cooked a long time on the grill and everybody seemed to enjoy the meal. I loved the BBQ Sauce. Great job Carl and Jamie. The cole-slaw was terrific ON THE pulled pork sandwich.

I could have skipped the lemonade. Here is the recipe for the pulled pork:

10 pounds of pork butt.

Neely's BBQ Seasoning

1.5 cups of paprika

.75 cups of sugar

3.75 TBLSP onion powder

Mix 3 TBLSP Neely's BBQ Seasoning with 3TBLSP of pepper and 2 TBLSP salt and massage the meat and then cover for a day.

Cook on indirect heat for 6 hours. Soak some wood chips and have them smoldering in the background.

Pull the pork. Add BBQ sauce to it if you wish.

MMMMMMMMM

Week 29 Bobby Flay Tuna Burgers and

GRILLED GERMAN POTATO SALAD

TUNA BURGERS

STUFFED MUSHROOMS CAPS

Carl

Well I was in charge of forming the burgers the tuna was no great but it was being cooked so it wasn't a problem. We let them sit which helped them firm up. The mushrooms were good the had sheep's/goat cheese that had a slight tang to it which was topped with a spinch salad. Lastly the potato salad was good but im not much of a germa potato salad person. Although aunt liby injoyed the left over tuna burgers with ther green onion mayo on top she was about to eat it cold before I made her heat it up for better flava

David

We bought fresh frozen tuna for this meal. Carl chopeed it up and it really was not holding together that we. However, after Carl cooked it, it really firmed up on the grill. We got some sheep cheese for the portabella mushrooms and they were really good. Lastly, we made hot sweet German Potato Salad.

Week 28 Bobby Flay Chipotle Chicken Tenders and Grilled Figs

David

Tonight's dinner was good. We enjoyed having Taryn over. She is back from school and she "said" she liked everything. Even the figs.

The idea Bobby Flay has is that he wanted to recreate a chicken wing that was a little more healthy for you. The sauce was yogurt based. It helped to tame the heat from the chipotle. The vegetables were simply broccoli and sweet potato grilled. The dessert was grilled figs with a special sauce on it. Carl will tell you more about the specifics on that.

Carl

Well since I'm given the "specifics" here we go. It was a recreation of a hot sauce so there was chipotle and vinegar definitely not a spoon licker. The other was a blue cheese yogurt sauce which had Greek yogurt (a thicker better yogurt). I thought the hot sauce was brilliant but the blue cheese was kinda oniony but i always love blue cheese. Also i really thick that chipotle in adobo should really be a staple in peoples houses it is smokey and hot it is a very favorite of mine. When i use it i usually add it to mayo and it makes a spicy zip to my samich or add it to sauces to kick it up a notch or if you puree it it would be good as a hot sauce kinda. Well on again the figs were supposed to be fresh but we could only find dried so we had to settle and they had a bit to much natural sugar to go on the grill and burnt easily which was not great so fresh is always better on the grill. Also the Creme Fraiche (crem-fresh) the easy way to say always gets pronounced (crem-free-achie) by my dad and that is not right. Well it is a cream cheese texture with a mellow sour cream flavor making a terrific base sauce. There was also orange and vanilla which were great. in all was not a total success nothing special.

Week 27 Bobby Flay Espresso Ribs, with Zucchini Succotash

Carl

This week was my kind of week it was out there but not enough to be to out there. The ribs were a rub rib so there not lathered with sauce they are in crusted with spice and other delicious morsel (in are case coffee). They also have a Mustard Basting sauce which is very traditional to have (maybe not always mustard vinegar) because the meat retains juices but just to make it that much juicer. We didn't have espresso on are ribs though we had to have decaffeinated coffee cause some people in my family (mom, jamie, and dad) get crazy when even just a little bit of caffeine gets in there blood so imagine espresso....yeah. Secondly we had a nice grilled Succotash that was a little bit hot and defiantly very fresh.

David

This was unique for me. I have never made ribs myself before. And, the ribs that I make, I have never had before. These were ribs that did not have a sweet sauce on them, but a rub. It was very interesting. I did like the juiciness of the ribs with the rub on it. It had a little kick to it. The vegetables were excellent. We ended up forgetting the cheese on them, but they were really good. Bobby Flay has been interesting. His recipes take a little longer to make than Rachel Ray's.

Grilled Zucchini Succotash

3 zucchini halved lengthwise

2T. olive oil

salt

pepper

1 red onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1 c. lima beans (frozen and thawed)

2 ears of corn kernel removed

1 c. veggie or chicken stock

1 plum tomato chopped

1 poblano grilled peeled seeded chopped

1 jalapeno done same as poblano

Brush zucchini with oil grill 3-4 min per side flip after grilled dice.

In saucepan heat remaining T. oil cook onion 3-4 min add garlic cook 1 min add Lima beans, corn, and stock and simmer for 5 min. add tomato, chiles, and zucchini cook for 2 min then serve.

With the peppers what we do is over an open flame (stove top or grill turned on high) we char the outside of the pepper and that looses it up plus cooking it a little there adding flavor and removing the skin. When done charring just us a knife or fork to rake the charred skin away.

-Carl

Week 26 Rachel Ray Sweet N Sour Sirloin Stir Fry with Ranch Mashed Potatoes and Sesame Slaw

Dave,

Carl and I are really beginning to click. We are just working together very well putting the whole meal together. We both start picking things that need to be done first, and then we gravitate towards finishing an item. He is really fun to work with.

This meal turned out to be very good. The Slaw was a little boring, but the potatoes and stir fry were very good. Rachel Ray suggests putting the stir fry on the potatoes, which I did, and loved it. It would be good on rice as well. That is why I'm putting the recipe here:

1.5 pounds of sirloin put in the freezer before you cut it into thin strips against the grain. Maybe 1 to 3 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Put 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil in a pan and then stir fry the meat until browned. Add a sliced red and green bell pepper and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the bunch of cut up scallions and the soybeans (Edamame) and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the sauce which is 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of ketchup, and 1/4 cup of mustard. Cook for another 2 minutes. Serve. It was easy and GOOD.

Carl

I loved this meal the beef was good the potatoes were great and the slaw was OK. The beef had edamame (soy beans) that was great and peppers that had that little crunch. The potatoes were great with a hint of hot sauce and herbs (dill, parsley, chive). The slaw wasn't great it was a sesame slaw that had a little flavor but not enough kick. Can't wait till next week.

Week 25 Rachel Ray Bacon-Wrapped Chicken with Red Wine Rice with Grapes and Swiss Chard

Dave

We have a story for you. Carl and I went to the grocery store on a Wednesday night. We got our chicken and many other supplies. The next day we go and look for the groceries. They are no where to be found. They ended up being right where we left them. In the trunk of the car! That car had been in the sun all day and the food was beginning to smell. UCK. Linda rescued us and went out and bought the food all over again. Woops. Another learning lesson for the Sladkey-Sladkey team.

The Red Wine Rice with Grapes was my favorite. I loved the grapes put in later after the rice was cooked. It really made a cool texture. I will put that recipe here.

Bring 1 and 3/4 cups of dry red wine to a boil with a bayleaf in it with some 1 tablespooon of Olive Oil. Stir in 1 cup of white rice and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup halved red seedless grapes and a little fresh parsely and let sit for 5 for minutes.

UMMMM. That was good.

Carl

The rice was OK I didn't love it it was kinda burnt on the bottom so not so appealing yo me. Also the Swiss card was bitter and not so great. Th chicken was my fav because it had a blue cheese and pecan filling and a bacon wrapping and a mustard gravy that mended well. not great my favorite.

Week 24 Rachel Ray Corn and Salsa Soup, Skirt Steak, and Deconstructed Guacamole

3 poblano peppers

tortilla chips

3 TBL of oil

frozen corrn 20 ounces

1 medium red onion

4 garlic cloves

15 ounce can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

4 cups chicken broth

1 avacodo

1 lime

4 TBL sour cream

Carl

Good and better the Skirt steak had a good flavor but it was a bit dry for my liking. The soup was the fav and everybody wanted more it was sweet, salty, spicy, umami... You get the picture. Lastly we had deconstructed guacamole that everybody was unsure of but I loved it. To let you in on the DL deconstruction of food it take the recipe apart and putting it back together again in a new form that is more creative ands ingredient or a new way of eatin it.

David

This recipe was awesome. Mix the oil and corn in a pan and allow to brown on the edges. Stir every so often. Blacken the poplano peppers and skin them and then chop them. Add the chopped onion and garlic and allow to soften. Add the broth, poblano peppers and tomatoes. Head to boil. Serve over tortilla chips and avocado pieces and then add a glob of sour cream on the top of the soup. I will want this soup again soon.

We had Kelly and Sam over for this meal. It was a very fun night. Carl was very funny regarding the deconstructed Guacamole. He insisted you eat it together with all the pieces in each bite. It was fun to see him look at you funny when you weren't eating it right.

This meal also was very fast. We started cooking about 4:30 and started eating about 5:50. Pretty good for a 30 minute meal.

Week 23 Rachel Ray BBQ Spiced Chicken, Salsa Salad, and Pumpkin-Chipotle Polenta

Carl

Yeah yeah we didn't do it in 30 minutes but we easily could have but we didn't do it in 75 like it is stated bellow by papa sladkey. But anyway the chicken was delicious had a sweet but suttle kick to it. Also we had a amazing polenta that had a chipotle pumpkin that I loved so creamy and a riveting kick that Perseid me to keep eating. Lastly the flop was the salad just to salsa to be salad and to salad to be salsa. Cant wait till next week!

David,

This was a hot meal. That meant that Carl and I were happy and Linda and Jamie were not so happy. Here is the problem. I thought the recipe for the polenta said 2 tablespoons of chipotle hot sauce and it said 2 teaspoons full. That made it hot.

The chicken had a little extra kick as well. All in all it was a good start to Rachel Ray.

Here are some facts about the night:

Daniel was out of town.

Jamie made the Guacamole

The meal was our fastest yet. We did Rachel Ray's 30 minute meal in about 75 minutes.

BBQ spiced Chicken

1 TBL Steak Seasoning

2 TBL Chilli powder

1/2 TBL ground cumin

1 TBL ground coriander

3 TBL dark brown sugar

Combine these with 1 TBL of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a plastic bag.

Let marinade set in for 10 minutes.

Grill for 20 minutes.

Week 22 Chive Risotto Cakes, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Parmesan Roasted Broccoli and Fresh Lemon Mousse

Chive Risotto Cakes

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Carl

Ohhhhhhhh sooo gooood was one of our best meals Delicious savory, sweet, tart! We had risotto cakes which were good cheesy and crunchy. Also we had mushroom risotto which was Omani (earthy 5 flavor other than bitter, sweet, salty, and I think sour I don't know fo sho). Next we had Parmesan roasted broccoli many liked it, i thought it had a scruppcious taste. Lastly we had lemon mousse that was tart and delicious! cant wait till next week RACHEL RAY...were putting on a 30 minute timer to test.

David

Tonight was good. Each item turned out really well. We had four items because it was spring break and we had a little extra time. We had a couple of guests over. Kelly has only been at one other dinner. I don't know if Daniel is really a guest anymore because he is a regular. We also had Nikki Fondell over. Be sure to check out her blog. It is good stuff. My favorite was the wild mushroom risotto. I loved the shitake mushroom mix. It was too much work to make so we did not include it in the blog this week. Another favorite was the chive risotto cakes. The recipe is included below. The broccoli was especially easy. I would definitely recommend that.

Liz gave us a comment saying we need to put the actual recipe's in the blog. Here you go Liz.

Parmesan Broccoli Cut 2 pounds of broccoli and place on a greased tray. Put 2 T of Olive Oil over the top with 2 garlic cloves finely sliced with a little pepper and salt on top. Cook for 30 minutes at 425. After it comes out put 1 T of Olive oil and 1 tsp of lemon zest with 1.5 T of pine nuts, 1 T of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Mix and serve

Risotto Cakes: Cook 1 cup of Arborio rice in 4 Qrts of water for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add 1.5 cups of shredded Fontina cheese 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and 3 T of minced chives. Let it chill for 2 hours. Then make 7-9 round cakes and put them in corn flake crumbs. Then fry them in olive oil for 4-5 minutes on each side. They are tasty. Nikki tried putting lemon juice on the top of them and she thought it really tasted good.

Click to play this video

Click to play this video

Week 21 Potato Soup, Oven Roasted Veggies, and a Raspberry Dessert

Oven Roasted Veggies

Potato Soup

Carl

White Wine........ A lot of white wine in almost every meal in the potato soup with was all that great in the raspberry gratins that look amazing but I messed up the sauce that was supposed to be like a whipped cream but was a soup made from yolks, sugar, and white wine of coarse. the best was the vegetables that were fennel, fingerling potatoes, green beans, asparagus. the best thing on the menu. Next week is our last week of Ina Garten. Cant wait Nikki and Kelly and Dan are all comin!

David

SALTY. Wow. I put the required amount of salt in the potato soup and it was so salty that I we used it as a dip instead of a soup. Most everyone did not finish their soup. It also turned out the color of pea soup. I was very disappointed. However, I did learn that I should put the required amount of salt in "to taste" meaning, put the salt in until it tastes good. Don't put the whole required amount of salt in at once. Live and Learn.

The veggies were good. I even liked the fennel. I think I could eat veggies all day long.

The raspberry dessert tasted good. It just didn't have the consistency that we would have liked. Carl said he didn't cook it right. But I saw him follow the instructions to a T. Sometimes those things happen.

A special thanks goes out to LINDA who got all the food for us. We just didn't have time to go to the store this week. We are preparing to go on Spring Break.