Biscuits and Gravy

I tried to make biscuits and gravy today. It didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped. First, I put in way too much buttermilk in the biscuits. The recipe said to add enough buttermilk to make the dough "very moist", so my biscuit dough was "very moist". Luckily, I have a husband who knows how to make biscuits. He informed me that in the biscuit world, "very moist" means "slightly sticky". So I had to add a lot more flour, and probably added too much, because the biscuits were very dry and slightly flavorless. The gravy turned out pretty good, it just could have used a little more flavor. I meant to buy bullion cubes, but instead bought just bullion not in cube form, so I had to guess at how much to use. It could have used a little more. Hopefully I'll get it right next time.

I lost track of the days: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turned out very well. I knocked out 5 recipes in one day: Roasted Turkey, Green Bean Casserole, Coconut Cream Pie (the graham cracker crust was a recipe by itself), and Strawberry Chocolate Meringue (another pie).

The turkey was pretty easy, I just didn't like having to baste every half hour. The green bean casserole is also very simple. Honestly, I don't like it that much. The only reason I made it was because it was so simple, and it is a Thanksgiving classic. The coconut cream pie is another easy one, but I'm not so good at graham cracker crusts. It turned out more like coconut cream dip with graham cracker crumbles.

The strawberry chocolate meringue was a different story. It is a pie, but the crust is meringue. The filling is a chocolate mousse that is topped with strawberries and then a chocolate drizzle. The meringue was quite an adventure. The first attempt at meringue failed due to three possible factors: #1-I dropped a small amount of yolk into the egg whites. I wanted to just throw it away and start over at this point, but Adam wanted to "experiment", so we proceeded, even though I thought it was doomed from the beginning. #2-the eggs were not at room temperature. I'm not sure how much this would actually affect the meringue, but after we started, I found a hint in the cookbook that suggests using room temperature eggs for meringue. #3- I don't think we added the sugar gradually enough. We beat that meringue for quite a while and it never would hold a peak. I think it the combination of all three factors caused the failure of the first meringue.

The second attempt at meringue worked out very well because there was no yolk in the egg whites, the eggs were room temperature by this point, and we added the sugar very gradually. But after we had a perfect meringue, we then had to somehow form it into a pie crust shape, which was not an easy task. I left that one up to Adam, and he did very well. The filling wasn't too hard, but when I put it all together, I didn't think it looked very pretty, mostly because I was inexperienced with the drizzling of the chocolate glaze. It ended up looking like I just dumped it on top. Despite it's appearance, it was delicious.

Day 12 and 13: Taco Salad and Corn Dogs

So I really didn't cook at all while I had jury duty. I got home around the same time as usual, but we ate leftovers and went out a few times. Last night we had Taco Salad. Once again, simple and delicious. Adam really enjoyed the onion and garlic to season the meat, rather than the taco seasoning he is accustomed to.

Tonight I attempted Corn Dogs. It was an interesting experience. We bought a deep fryer, and assembling it was half the battle. I'm not sure if we got the oil to the right temperature, and it took us about 6 corn dogs before we realized that the batter was not the right consistency. We ended up with 3 that actually resembled corn dogs, but the batter was very dry and crumbly. We also bought skewers that were way too long, so they looked pretty rediculous. They tasted pretty good, but they were messy. This is definitely a recipe I will have to play with to get right.

Day 6: Sloppy Joes and Baked Beans

Sorry I didn't make anything yesterday. We ate leftover goulash, a frozen lasagne, and salad with Adam's sisters.

Tonight I made sloppy joes and baked beans, both of which were wonderful. Adam had never had real home made sloppy joes before, so he especially enjoyed them. I was a little nervous because I didn't really measure anything this time...it was getting late and I was feeling lazy. I think the ketchup to barbecue sauce ratio was a little off on the sloppy joes, but everything still turned out pretty good!

Day 4: Goulash

Adam asked me the other day if it would ruin my project if he made a recipe every once in a while. I said "of course not," so today, he made Goulash. I was talking with my mom today about Goulash and it turns out that I have never had Goulash before tonight because my mom doesn't like it, so she never made it.

Adam likes to tamper with recipes, so he added a cup of salsa and cheese to the Goulash he made. It was very good. I'm sure even my mom would have liked it. My only complaint was that the salsa was almost too hot. Other than that, it was wonderful! I am grateful for a husband who likes to cook!

Day 3: Flaming Wok

Sorry I didn't cook anything. We went to the mall to see a movie and we ate mediochre mall asian food.

Day 2: Porcupine Balls and Garlic Cheese Biscuits

For those of you who don't know, (like me before I made this recipe) Porcupine balls are basically just meatballs made with rice and simmered in cream of mushroom soup. This recipe was really simple, but it got an "MMMM, MMMMMMMMM, MMMMMMMMM!" reaction from Adam/guinea pig. The garlic cheese biscuits got the same reaction. They were very simple also. They were slightly flat because I think I mixed them a little too well, but they were fabulous! Thank you Grandma for such a simple and delicious dinner, resulting in a very happy husband!

P.S: I discovered while making the Porcupine balls, that sucking on an ice cube greatly reduces tears when dicing an onion!

Day 1: Taco Ring

I decided to start with something that I thought would be simple. My Grandma's Taco Ring Recipe sounds simple enough: Ground beef, taco seasoning, and cheese rolled into croissants and arranged in a ring. I made 2 mistakes while attempting this recipe. Mistake#1: Buying cheap store brand croissants. The Kroger brand croissants I used were the most mis-shapen croissants I've ever seen. The dough was much closer to rectangular than triangular, and at the end of the roll, I was left with a very long, thin strip of dough. Somehow I managed to mold it into a shape that I could fill with meat, but this Taco Ring was quite possibly the ugliest Taco Ring my family has yet seen. The recipe also said to garnish the Taco Ring with diced tomatoes and olives, but when I went grocery shopping, I could not locate any olives. You would think that they would be with the rest of the canned vegetables, but not at Fry's. They are in some hidden location which I have not yet discovered. Mistake#2: Not reading the directions on my pizza stone before using it. I have used my mom's Pampered Chef pizza stone several times and I've never used anything to keep food from sticking to it, and I never had a problem. After I chiseled the Taco Ring off the pizza stone, I read the directions. It turns out, I was supposed to sprinkle corn meal on the stone before putting any dough on it.

Despite the problems I faced in removing the Ring from the stone, and the naked un-garnished ugliness of the Ring, it still tasted really good. My Grandma's cookbook says that this is my cousin ,JR's , favorite. I can see why. The battery in my camera is dead. We took a picture of it with Adam's phone, but have not yet figured out how to retrieve the picture from the phone. Maybe someday you will get to see my ugly, naked, but delicious Taco Ring.

A Taste of Tradition: From Norma's Kitchen

My Grandmother is the best cook I know. She loves feeding people and trying new recipes. Last year, she compiled a cookbook of all her favorite recipes, some her own and some from her family and friends. My Mother blames herself for the fact that none of her children have ever really learned to cook, other than frozen dinners, ramen, and maybe the occasional vegetable. I think we just didn't try hard enough to learn. Now that I am married and will be having children within the next few years, I have developed the desire to learn to cook. I want my grandchildren to enjoy my cooking as much as I enjoy my Grandma's cooking.

And so I am starting a project: The Erin/Norma Project. Yes, I stole the idea from the movie "Jule and Julia", which tells the story of Julie Powell cooking and blogging her way through Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie Powell's blog is called "The Julie/Julia Project." I considered attempting the same feat by making all 524 recipes in Julia Child's cookbook in 365 days, but I came up with a better idea. My grandma's cookbook, A Taste of Tradition: From Norma's Kitchen" contains recipes for: 7 appetizers, 6 dips, 5 beverages, 8 soups, 11 salads, 2 salad dressings, 19 side dishes, 21 vegetables, 93 main dishes, 3 crusts, 35 breads and rolls, 18 pancake/waffle/french toast recipes, 20 desserts, 31 cakes, 3 ice cream recipes, 20 pies, 4 pie crusts, 3 frostings, 6 candies, 11 cookies, 11 rubs, 4 syrups, 13 sauces, 4 salsas, and 2 pickle/relish recipes. That is a total of 359 recipes, which I will make in 365 days. Obviously, by making one recipe per day, I should accomplish my goal in just less than a year, but some days will require more than one recipe per day, and considering that I only have to feed my husband and I, some days will be devoted to the consuming of leftovers rather than making a new recipe.

So "The Erin/Norma Project" begins today and ends November 11, 2010.

Stay tuned and Bon Apetit!

-Erin