Friday, March 24, 2017

Food for Thought

I mentioned yesterday that I had no idea what day it was, let alone what I'd be making for dinner.  It's been that kind of week.  I missed my window for planning and shopping, so anything I've made this week has been on hand.


Fish on Fridays means Baked Lemon Herb Tilapia made an appearance (and our Archbishop wouldn't give us a dispensation to have meat on this St. Patrick's Friday.)  I like tilapia for it's ease of use and that it takes a variety of seasonings really well.  It's a great fish in tacos.  Tonight was about lemon and herbs.  It was okay.  There's a butter spread you make that holds all the seasonings - it was kind of a pain to make (I'd use a mixer and really soften the butter.)  While the butter kept the fish moist, it wasn't as herbalicious as I prefer, though it wasn't bad, it might have just been the combo of herbs.  I have other herb fish recipes, so I opted not to keep this one.


The Archbishop may have said no to Corned Beef, but being Irish I had to have something besides a beer.  I had this Crockpot Irish Soda Bread pinned and decided to give it a go.  It came together super fast.  Being in arid Colorado I needed more buttermilk than the recipe called for but it took two-ish hours in the slow cooker.  Now, I've never had Soda Bread, so I wasn't sure what to expect. . .but this recipe produced a soft loaf, that was just a touch sweet.  I really like it, and because it is a nice base, I'll try dried cranberries or cherries.
  

Browned Butter M&M Cookies sounded like a nice finish for the week.  The browned butter gave a little extra richness to the cookies, which I opted to cook a little less (a suggestion in the recipe) because I like a softer, lighter cookie.  I didn't add the optional chocolate chips or nuts, but I think next time I will and cut back on the M&M's.


We had our brisket on Monday - hubby smoked it.  I needed to come up with some sides with things I had on hand.  I had carrots - a lot, because I need to make chicken broth - and apples that were looking less happy daily.  So a quick search produced Moroccan Maple-Roasted Carrots and Apples.  I wasn't sure about the seasoning working well with the brisket, but threw caution to the wind and whipped up some Garam Masala and went to town.    I used granny smith apples, and opted to leave the skin on them.  It was good.  I liked the smokiness and warmth of the spice.


These Buttered Noodles were another side for the brisket.  I was short on the noodles, so the sauce was a bit saucier, but they were still good.  Next time I think I may let the butter brown, just for extra flavor and check the seasonings - salt especially.


I had two pounds of strawberries, and precious little else for making a dessert.  So when I saw this Strawberry Shortcake Skillet that's what went in the oven.  I chose to use half my strawberries and made up the difference with raspberries.  I like the crunch of the corn meal in the topping, but it got a little soggier than an all flour mix, so I may cut back on the corn meal the next time.  I'm not sure cooking it longer would have solved the issue, I think it's simply a corn meal deal.

I have no clue what will be on the menu tonight. . .so I'd best get digging.

Happy Friday,

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