chicken enchilada casserole

Since it was my birthday yesterday, Ash made me one of my favorite dishes, one that got selected as his entry in the family cookbook. Chicken Enchilada Casserole was one of the first meals that he made me, one that solidified his place in my heart, and arteries. It's also what he used to impress my mom, along with his delicious banana nut bread, but that's a story for another time. It's a fairly simple meal, but it's also quite tasty and comfort foody, and never fails to impress. This batch was no exception to that rule, and I'm sure it'll taste even better as leftovers.

Ash's take: Every place I've served this dish, it's always been a hit. I haven't made it for awhile, but it was still as good as I remembered.

Toffee Bars

A simple yet delicious cookie recipe, Toffee Bars were a nice recipe break between all the main dishes we've been doing lately. After mixing all the other ingredients and cooking them in a casserole pan, because we don't have a "jelly roll pan", whatever that is, Ash then put chocolate chips on top, spread them, and then froze the whole mixture until solid. I'd recommend anyone add this recipe to their cookie repertoire.

Ash: They're delicious!!! I will totally make these again.

Breast of chicken with rice

An alternately suggestive and grammatically odd titled recipe, breast of chicken with rice was Ash's next challenge. The recipe called for using canned mushrooms, but I thought that just sounded nasty, so he chopped up fresh ones instead, and when the recipe called for using the canned mushroom liquid, he added an extra cup of milk. It was a fairly simple looking dish, but still took a fair amount of work to put together. When done, the dish tasted like something made in a kitchen with lots of linoleum and kitschy owl-related decor. It was probably the onion soup mix and the rice.

Ash's take: This dish was super simple, it was my first attempt at cooking rice on the stove, came out a bit too soggy so next time I'm going to use less liquid.

Kirk's Rosemary Pork Chops

Pork Chops are a regular part of Ash's repertoire, usually served with some sort of vegetable and applesauce. Kirk's porkchops, however, differ in quite a few ways compared to how Ash usually makes them. Ash usually mixes breadcrumbs, various spices,parmesan and ranch dressing to create his coating, but this recipe involves olive oil, rosemary and thyme instead, creating a subtler, more savory dish.

Ash's comments: It was a new twist on an old classic. The original recipe called for all the ingredients to be mixed together, but I mixed the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients separately at first. I used a little bit more mustard than called for, and added some Paula Deen Seasoning as well. the rosemary and thyme definitely complimented one another, and the mustard gave it a certain tang. Although I still like the ranch, I like the different tastes offered by both pork chops.

Swedish Meatballs

After some consultation with my mom, Ash proceeded to make the meatballs. She told us to use lots of allspice, and also to make sure to use ground pork instead of pork sausage, so they don't taste italian. The older recipe, which comes from my grandmother Marian, uses veal instead of ground pork, but veal is harder to come by these days. Baby cows got sick of living in boxes, apparently. In another variation, Ash made rice with the meatballs instead of mashed potatoes, which is the usual starchy base that goes with it. After mixing the meat, onions, and bread, and chilling the mixture, ash then proceeded to brown them, before finally putting them in a casserole dish in the oven with a mix of drippings, allspice, flour etc, and cook until done. The results: really tasty and nourishing, though also really rich.

Ash's take: It was my first attempt at making swedish meatballs, so at first I wasn't sure I was doing everything right. I was really worried about the consistency of the meat, but after the browning of it, it all came together. Next time I'm definitely going to use a little more allspice in the meat, and a little more salt as well. Definitely a meal I look forward to adding into my repertoire.

swedish meatballs! but first, cocktails!

Our first recipe will be Swedish Meatballs, a beloved family favorite that I never really tasted that much as a child. I was a vegetarian for many years, so therefore missed out on many meals. Before we get too deeply into that though, it is cocktail time! From an idea by Ash, I mixed 5 shots of coconut rum and a whole ed hardy wine glass full of Dole Pineapple Orange Banana juice in a cocktail shaker, then added it to two large ed hardy wine glasses with chunks of pineapple and ice in the bottom. The result: delicious!

introduction

During the holidays, my aunt Susan sent all of the members of our family a cookbook containing family recipes. Some of them are treasured childhood memories for me, while others are obscure cocktails and new dishes that I've never had before. Me and Ash, well, mostly Ash, plan to cook all of the recipes in the cookbook and see how they end up, in a Julie and Juliaesque project.