Recipe Review week of 10/13/08

Things were "cookin" up this week, thanks in part to the Husband! Two of the recipes made last week were made by him.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Salmon (Everyday Food issue ??) 4.0
Super simple recipe - salmon, brussel sprouts, olive oil, salt, pepper. The recipe called for prepping the sprouts and slicing in half. Then toss with olive oil and seasonings. Place on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and bake at 450* for 10-13 minutes. Remove, add prepared salmon, and finish baking.

In hindsight, the recipe must assume that the salmon fillet is very thin. Because our sprouts were done waaaayy before the fillet was. And the oven temp was much to high (450*) to be cooking salmon in. In retrospect, I would start the salmon first OR do sprouts and fillet at the same time. This was nice for its simplicity of flavors and ease of prep, and we would do this again.




Cider Braised Chicken and Cabbage (Irish Cookbook) 4.0
I'm not entirely certain what the prep was like for this as the Husband assembled it before I got home. From what I can deduce from the dishes though, I think the chicken breasts were lightly breaded and briefly seared before being placed in a sturdy baking dish on top of a bed of sliced carrots and onions. Sliced cabbage was placed over the top of the chicken and a combination of broth (vegetable in this case because I had some open) and apple cider (a substitution for hard cider) and everything is allowed to bake for about an hour.

Absolutely delicious! Tender onion, firm carrots, such flavorful cabbage, juicy chicken! This would be a great dish to serve to company. We'll be making this again.



Walnut Crusted Pork Chops with Autumn Wild Rice (Ckng Lght Oct 08, pg 177) 3.5
This was my Sunday dinner dish: a finely ground walnut crust flavors a lightly seared and steamed porkchop which is served alongside a wild rice pilaf of Swiss chard, onion, carrot and mushroom. I thought the flavors of this dish were really good, but it lost points in putzyness. And it really wasn't all that complicated - I think I was sidetracked by the fact I had just overcooked my banana cake for book group.

To review: a couple of thick cut porkchops are drizzled with Worcestershire sauce and a mixture of salt, pepper, dried sage and finely chopped walnuts are pressed into the surface and allowed to chill for 30 minutes. The wild rice is then put on to cook (mine only takes about 20 minutes). Onion, carrot, swiss chard, and mushrooms are lightly sauteed and mixed with the finished rice. While this is going on, the pork chops are seared then steamed in a bit of chicken broth.

So this wasn't by any means a complicated recipe, and it had good flavor. This would also be good for company (providing no nut allergies!). I served a broccoli cranberry salad on the side for some added veggies.