Recipe Review from 3/3/08

It was a busy weekend with a run to the Cities and I feel I've been trying to catch up ever since. Haven't had any free computer time this week so I'm a bit behind on my posts. Hmm, I thought I had pictures for some of these but I may have inadvertently deleted them again. I will add pictures later if they are still on my computer. (3/14/08 - Editing to add, found one picture!)

Roasted Root Vegetables with Maple Glaze (Ckng Lght March 08, pg 114) 3.5
This was good, but where the recipe lost points was it was pretty basic. I’ve done roasted squash and various root veggies, I’ve just never added maple syrup to the dish. The upside of this recipe is this very versatile dish - I think the recipe called for carrots, parsnips and turnips. I used sweet potato (had one in the drawer), parsnips and turnips. What I did do differently this time was I bought my parsnip and turnip (yes, one of each) from the co-op. What a difference! They weren’t covered in that nasty wax and were bright and crisp. I would recommend this recipe, because it’s one of those that you can do what you want with whatever you have on hand.

Oven Roasted Salmon (Cooks Illustrated, Mar/Apr 08, pg 11) 4
This is a "technique" recipe by Cooks Illustrated, not so much a flavor recipe. And I have to say this technique worked great. Preheat the oven to 500* and put a roasting pan (covered with aluminum foil to aid clean up) inside . Prep salmon by removing belly fat and slicing the skin, but not breaking the flesh. Season with oil, salt, and pepper and place on heated roasting pan. Turn temp down to 275* and cook 9-11 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. Turned out moist, flaky and delicious.

Sourdough Oatmeal Bread (New Complete Book of Bread by Bernard Clayton, pg 248) 4
I like to have a couple loaves of bread in the freezer for those weekends (or week days in the Husbands case) for when we don’t have time to bake. Plus it is nice to have a couple varieties to choose from. This was the case with this recipe, plus it made two loaves. One for now and one to freeze. The Husband made the started the night before and the next morning I did assembly and baking. We both noted it was a simpler sourdough recipe than previous ones we’ve made. Add flour, sugar, honey, salt, oatmeal and yeast to the sponge and mix. Kneed. Rest. Shape and let rise right in the pan. Bake for 40 minutes. I cut back the baking time as I knew one hour was way too much.

This is a slightly dense, white loaf. The oatmeal disappears completely, which was neat and odd at the same time. It had a nice thick flavor to it, but not like an artisian bread. I would make this again because I like the simplicity of the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Tofu (Ckng Lght Annual 08, pg 168) 3.5
It’s been a while since I made anything with tofu and when I made the roasted Red Pepper Hummus I found this one. Tofu is cubed , lightly fried and set aside. Thinly sliced red peppers and ginger are sauteed, a slurry of cornstarch and pineapple juice added and then the rest of the pineapple juice is added and everything cooked till thickened. When I added the tofu back I also added some pineapple tidbits. This was served over brown rice.

I liked this dish for its ease - came together in moments - and for its serving size (2 dinners and one lunch). But I felt it was lacking something in the ingredient department. Perhaps some green peppers or other veggie.