Reviews: Jamie Oliver-Fajitas, Pioneer Woman-Potato Soup & Food.com-Fish

Now that the holidays are over and our schedules are getting back to normal I want to remind you to bring back dinner.  Slow down and settle in over dinner.  Maybe you could invite some friends over and spend the whole evening just enjoying each other, learning about each other and having great food.  Or try being intentional with your family, set the table and call them to dinner and talk.  It will be a great way to decompress and get back in touch with each other. This week’s dishes are simple and quick which should allow you plenty of time to connect. Enjoy!

This week’s Reviews:

Pecan Crusted Flounder- Food.com

Perfect Potato Soup – Pioneer Woman

Fajitas – Jamie Oliver

Spaghetti – When Honey makes Dinner

Anniversary Dinner Out – Green Valley Grill

The Process: For a full explanation visit this page

1. Sit down, relax and plan 4-5 meals (or pick some meals from here, that’s what this is here for.  I’ll pick so you don’t have to)

2. Make a grocery list and stick to it!!!! This saves time and money

3. Do the shopping-aim for one trip (My British friends will need to make several trips)

4. Bring Back Dinner and enjoy.  Remember that there is such an opportunity to build friendships and family when gathered around a meal.  Even if you mess it all up.  So, just relax, experiment, and have fun.  Don’t forget to include your friends.

The Meals:

Pecan Crusted Flounder- Food.com

Time: 30-45 minutes.

Ease: simple

Review: We used flounder for this recipe and found it to be easy, but be careful!  It is easy to overwhelm the taste of the fish with the taste of the pecans.  The idea is to complement the fish, not overpower it.  Otherwise, the fish cooked well in about 15 minutes.

Perfect Potato Soup – Pioneer Woman

Time: 30 minutes

Ease: Simple

Review: I am in love with Ree Drummand a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, I have yet to try any dish that wasn’t superb and this dish was no different.  It was simple to make, hearty, warm, and yummy.  We didn’t have bacon on hand and the soup was still great.  I have one eater who likes chunks in the soup and one that insists on smooth soup, this soup was a great compromise.

Tip:  Add the bacon, I mean really it is BACON!  To make this vegetarian use vegetable broth and sadly, omit the bacon.

Fajitas – Jamie Oliver

Time: About 30 minutes

Ease: Simple

Review: I really like Jamie Oliver’s recipes, but we all found this to be a little bland.  We punched up the flavor with a little tequila and a few extra seasonings.  In the end my husband was making yummy noises, which as you know I do live for.

Spaghetti – When Honey makes Dinner

Time: 30-45 minutes

Ease: Simple (all I had to do was sit on the couch)

I was not feeling well this week and one night my wonderful husband made spaghetti!  Yumm.  He cooked ground sweet Italian sausage with ground beef, added a jar of spaghetti sauce and cooked two kinds of noodles and it was great!  Just because you open a jar doesn’t mean it can’t be a great dinner.  Look for brands with lower sugar and all natural ingredients.  We still gathered around the dinner table and talked about the week and upcoming changes.  It was a nice night!  So sometimes, let someone else do the cooking.

Green Valley Grill Review

This week was our second anniversary!  It is the second marriage for both of us and we have learned to appreciate every tiny little moment and treasure it and to let the little things go-It is great!.

We had dinner at the Green Valley Grill in Greensboro, NC and it is one of my favorite restaurants.  GVG is one of three restaurants owned by Quaintance-Weaver, each with it’s own unique style and all using local foods.  GVG is in the style of Old World European, with bold flavors and a seasonal menu.

Our server was very knowledgeable and helpful, the atmosphere is always pleasurable fine dining.  My husband had  the Porcini Filled Pasta Purses with Giacomo’s Italian sausage & sautéed mushrooms.  He completely enjoyed this dish.  Some of the pasta was a little too soft, but overall the entire dish had great flavors.  I had the Pan Seared Scallops over a butternut squash-Vintage Gouda gratin and sautéed spinach, topped with blood orange-sage beurre blanc.  The scallops were perfectly seared and tender and the bits of blood orange added a nice sweet & zesty zap to the rich sauce.  Very good.  Many of the recipes may be found online the the link above.

Photos may be used, but please link back to this blog and credit Lisa Burbach, recipes are links to existing recipes and I have no ownership of recipes other than the ones I Have created.  Thank you.

Reviews: Momofuku, America’s Test Kitchen, Pressure Cooking for Dummies

This week my Aunt Shirley, better known as Sher Sher, passed away.  It was a sad time, but at the same time she was not well and we were glad to not see future suffering.  She will be missed and our time of sadness will continue a while, but her time of joy has come.

One of the ways we comfort each other in times of sadness, sickness, and new birth is food, lots of food.  Being from the south means you are guaranteed fried chicken, biscuits, sweet tea, and usually deviled eggs. Not to mention lots of pie. This week was no different.  Lots of “down home” goodness, cooked and brought with love.  Thank you to everyone who took such good care of our family!

This week’s Reviews:

Momofuku’s (David Chang) Ginger Scallion Noodles

Pressure Cooker Braised Chicken in Marinara

Pressure Cooking for Dummies Minestrone

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

The Process: For a full explanation visit this page

1. Sit down, relax and plan 4-5 meals (or pick some meals from here, that’s what this is here for.  I’ll pick so you don’t have to)

2. Make a grocery list and stick to it!!!! This saves time and money

3. Do the shopping-aim for one trip (My British friends will need to make several trips)

4. Bring Back Dinner and enjoy.  Remember that there is such an opportunity to build friendships and family when gathered around a meal.  Even if you mess it all up.  So, just relax, experiment, and have fun.  Don’t forget to include your friends.

The Meals:

Momofuku’s (David Chang) Ginger Scallion Noodles

Time: 30-45 minutes.  Time varies based on what you choose to add to these awesome noodles.

Ease: simple

Review: For Christmas I got a gift card to a book store and bought the Momofuku book. I have wanted that book for so long! This is the first thing I tried and I love this recipe.  I will keep the ginger scallion sauce on hand.  It was easy to make and very tasty. I used Udon noodles because it is what I had on hand and we also topped ours with cauliflower, cabbage and mushrooms.  

Tips: Don’t let Asian food intimidate you.  This is a great starter recipe. Remember to have fun and be flexible.  You start with the sauce add noodles and from there it is up to you.  David Chang gives some suggestions for toppings, but this is truly up to you.  Customizable.  PS-read the book, it is very interesting.

Pressure Cooker Braised Chicken in Marinara

Time: 30 minutes

Ease: Simple, once I overcame my fear over using the pressure cooker!

Review: For Christmas I received an electric pressure cooker!  It was a little scary at first, but I found a great book by America’s Test Kitchen that I highly recommend.  The charts and tips are worth the cost alone.  One thing they do is tell you why it works, I find this to be very helpful and allows me to feel more confident in my attempt.

The link is to a blog by America’s Test Kitchen, but it is basically a jar of marinara over chicken.  This could be done in the oven as well, but I found the sauce to be richer after cooking in the pressure cooker.  If you have one you should definitely pull it out and give it a try.

Pressure Cooking for Dummies Minestrone

Time: 20 minutes in pressure cooker, allow more time if on stovetop.

Ease: Simple

Review: mehh.  This is the first review I’ve done where I just thought it was “ok”.   I felt from reading the recipe that it might not develop enough flavor, but since I’m new to pressure cooking I decided to give it a try.  I was right.  I thought that the soup was a little bland.  That said, it wasn’t unpleasant and the vegetables cooked nicely.  I will probably play around with the leftovers though.  If you make this try adding some tomato paste, extra seasonings etc. to your own personal tastes.

BBQ Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Time: 6-8 Hours in slowcooker or cook in oven until chicken reaches temp.

Ease: Simple

This can’t get any simpler if you are in a hurry.  You have a couple options: 1. a bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce, hey no one is judging or 2. your own favorite homemade BBQ recipe.  I like Emeril’s if I’m going to make it.   So, just toss in chicken breasts, BBQ sauce and turn on the crockpot and forgot about it.  You may need to add water if you BBQ sauce is too thick.  When you get home, just chop it all up and serve on a rolls-easy peasy!

I hope you have a wonderful week and remember to enjoy time at the dinner table.  It can be easy to fall into a pattern of just slapping something down and filling the bellies.  I encourage you to remember to connect with each other and don’t forget to set the table!

Enjoy!

Photos may be used, but please link back to this blog and credit Lisa Burbach, recipes are links to existing recipes and I have no ownership of recipes other than the ones I Have created.  Thank you.