June 2014 Cooking Challenge

Due to the aforementioned busy month, we didn't make a whole lot of new recipes in June, but we still managed a couple. We were actually without air conditioning for a couple weeks, so the goal was quick meals that could be cooked on the grill or with just a quick heat up of items on the stove.  By the end of the month, we were back in business, but then clearing out in preparation for vacation, so rather than making lots, we were trying to eat everything in our fridge! 

Whoops, I wrote out this whole post, then went to add the pictures and discovered that I missed a recipe! Early in the month, we made chicken from a recipe right off the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle - Jenna spied it when we were having salad one night and batter her eyes at daddy to request he make it for her.  It was a great recipe, and although I am not completely sure, I think it is this recipe from their site. I seem to think ours also had some cheese in it, but the rest of the recipe seems right. 

The first recipe for the month was Lemon Pepper Chicken - which I had pulled off the bottle of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire for Chicken (formerly known as White Wine Worcestershire).  This has become increasingly harder to find, but is a great sauce and I use it routinely on chicken.  This recipe was perfect - the chicken was still moist and was flavorful.  If it had required a whole lot more work, I don't know that I'd go to the effort, because you can get a very similar taste with just the sauce and some lemon pepper, but since Mike was cooking, the effort was fine by me ;-) I couldn't find the recipe on their site, but if you are interested in it, let me know and I will send you a copy.

Lemon pepper chicken with Naan bread

Next up was Mmm Meatballs, which are actually Chicken Parm Meatballs. They got the funny name because I had turned down the corner of the page when I copied it, so the only thing left in the title was "m meatballs." Let me tell you, they were every bit the Mmmmm. We all loved them and will definitely make them again.  Once again, I am very sad that this magazine is out of print (Everyday Food). 

The third recipe of the month came after a hot weekend of camping. We arrived home and just chilled out (literally). We had no interest in warming up anything or even eating anything warm, so it was a good night to have Lemony Shrimp and White Bean salad.  It was a perfect meal served over lettuce (from my garden, as was the dill!).  This is a recipe that is even better a few days later. I took it for lunch mid-week and enjoyed it more then.  

Next in the lineup was a recipe from one of my cookbooks, and it was Nut Crusted Fish. I used pistachios (thanks to my neighbor for supplying them) and cod.  The dish was easy to make and really tasty, but the fish itself wasn't that great. I think I'd try this one again with a fresh fish. 

The final recipe of the month was a dessert - "Sakes Alive" Chocolate Fudge Bars. These were made using the Martha White cookie packets, which I hadn't used before because I don't find it that hard to whip up a batch of cookies from scratch.  It was all going well in the preparation, but once the batter went into the oven, the chocolate layer started to cave in.  I wound up cooking the mix about 15 extra minutes, and even then, the interior was pretty gooey.  The outer edge was well cooked, so I decided to pull them out.  The verdict on these was that they were really too rich, and not any better than a traditional pan chocolate chip cookie. This is a recipe I won't be keeping to make again. 

Sakes Alive is right! These sure don't look like the picture online!

Hope you enjoyed reading about this month's adventures!