Be Still My Beating Heart

I was browsing Tastespotting, which I don't recommend you do if you are even the slightest bit hungry, and ran across this. Holy sweet mother of everything that is good and sacred. Macaroni & cheese, check. Pulled pork, check. Barbecue sauce, check. All grilled between two slices of bread and even more cheese. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

And to make it even better this glorious sandwich hails from the Grilled Cheese Truck. Are you kidding me, the Grilled Cheese Truck? Can it get any better? And in case you're wondering, it can. Check out their menu and drool.

Mozzarella Parmesan Chicken.

I'm participating in another session of the online cooking group, we only had six participants this time, so it'll be a short session. The first recipe was for Mozzarella Parmesan chicken courtesy of Tricia. Despite 52 people giving it a pretty high rating of 4 out of 5 stars, this recipe just wasn't what I was expecting or something I normally make. So while this particular recipe wasn't for me, lots of people obviously like it, if you think it sounds good I encourage you to make it!

Whoever posts the weekly recipe in the cooking group, comes up with a set of questions based on the recipe. Since I'd already answered these questions, I figured I'd just re-post the questions & my answers here.

Looking at the recipe, did you think you would like this? I'll be honest, when I looked at the recipe & read the ingredients I did not think I would like it. I'm not really a fan of creamed soup meals. But I try everything, even things I don't think I'll like!

Did you and your family like this dish? It was ok - the husband liked it and I thought it was better than I anticipated.

What sides did you serve with it? I served it over penne pasta. I had planned on serving it with roasted asparagus, but wasn't feeling it today.

Will you make it again? Probably not, it just took way too long to cook and this really isn't our style of cooking.

Did you change anything? If so, what? I only used two chicken breasts & used cream of chicken soup instead of the mushroom because that's what I had. I was also lazy and did not chop garlic or onion and instead used garlic & onion powder. Oh and my total cooking time was 85 minutes for two thick chicken breasts.

Would you change anything if you made it again? If so, what? Holy salt Batman! The combination of the soups & the salty cheeses were too much & I love me some salt! I didn't see the point of separating the two soups and think you could dump it all in at once. If I ever made it again, I would completely change things around - which I guess defeats the purpose of the original recipe! I would chop up the chicken & mix with the soup, add more seasoning (basil, oregano, lemon pepper, etc.) and probably add a bag of mixed vegetables. Maybe add pasta or rice to the dish, or just serve it over that and I would like if the sauce was a little thicker.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes & Cheese.

Last night for dinner I made this dish from Cooking Light. I'm still not sure about it, it's not that it was bad - there was just something about it I thought could be a lot better. Really my biggest complaint was the pasta was pretty dry, and looking over the online reviews it seems others had that problem too. Hopefully adding more tomatoes, or even tomato sauce to the leftovers would help. Because despite halving the recipe, we still had a ton of leftovers. I agree with some of the reviews that said it's a good recipe to build upon, but you know it's just baked pasta and I have other recipes that are fabulous as is. So while it wasn't even a bad recipe, I doubt I'll make it again.

Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan Sage Crust.

I printed this recipe off of Better Homes & Gardens website in 2005 and it's no longer on the website. Which posed a little bit of a problem, since the version I had was missing some of the measurements. Luckily, I found the exact same recipe for baked pork chops with Parmesan sage crust on Recipe Zaar. The husband LOVED these pork chops, me I'm not so sure. I thought they were ok, not sure why I wasn't into them as much as the husband - who ate not only his pork chop, but half of mine too! They were totally not healthy though, but pretty easy & quick to prepare.

I followed the suggestions for halving the bread crumb mixture and even then I threw a lot away. My lemon had seen some better days so I decided to not use any of it's peel, instead I added some juice to the egg mixture. I also added one teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning to the bread crumb mixture too. I browned the pork chops in a skillet, but decided to cook them in the oven a little differently. I made a makeshift roasting rack using a cooling rack, my theory being the pork would be crisp on both sides and not smushy on the bottom like it would be if you just cooked it in the skillet.

Sausage Flowers.

Tonight is the big game, Ohio State v. Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. Having had our asses handed to us by SEC schools the last few bowl games, we're due for a win - hopefully it's a big one! We're going to a friends house to watch the game and we needed to bring a dish with us.

I've made this recipe before and it's really fast & easy to make, not to mention delicious!

I decided to not top the wontons with sour cream since they'd be sitting out all night & not everyone at the party is a fan. Personally, I don't think you even really need it. You could also add some salsa, shredded cheese, chives or green onion to the tops to make them look prettier.


Sausage Flowers

1 lb. ground Italian sausage
1/2 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 c. Colby cheese, shredded
1 c. salsa
24 wonton wrappers (3 1/2" square)
12 oz. sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped


1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a miniature muffin pan.

2. Brown Italian sausage. Drain well. Stir Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses into sausage until cheeses melt. Stir in salsa. Cook until heated through.

3. Gently press wonton wrappers into prepared muffin pan, leaving edges extended. Place a heaping tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each wrapper. Bake 10 minutes, or until wonton edges begin to brown.

4. Transfer filled wontons to a serving platter. Top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and sprinkle with chopped green onions.


Yield: 24
Source: The Baum Opera House Community Cookbook: Generations of Good Cooks, Vol. II 2004.

My notes: This is a pretty forgiving appetizer recipe and you could add just about whatever you wanted to the wonton wrappers. We had some at a friends house on New Years Day, which were normal muffin sized and also included black olives.

Fresh Vegetable Quesadillas

Still trying to get randomly caught up on my posts, so tonight wasn't really tonight and I'm also sorry about the poor picture quality, but I was hungry.

Tonight for dinner I made Martha's fresh vegetable quesadillas with corn relish and it did not disappoint! This recipe was posted awhile back in the other cooking group - we have two, based on when you grocery shop, etc. Ever since it was posted I've wanted to try it and I am so happy I finally got the chance tonight, since it was delicious! I am a huge fan of quick & healthy dinners to make during the week and this recipe fit the bill perfectly.

I only made a few minor changes to the recipe. I added cilantro to both the corn relish & the quesadillas instead of scallions and I used pepper jack cheese instead of monterary jack. Oh and I did use a red pepper instead of an orange one, but that's not a big deal. The husband has a thing about eating cooked vegetables that are crunchy, so he put his squash & red pepper in foil packets and grilled them first. These were even good as leftovers the next day, though obviously not as crispy since they were cooked in the microwave.

Cheddar Cheese.....The Taste Test.

A couple times a month I get a newsletter from Cooks Illustrated, one of the best things about theses emails are the product tests, especially their taste tests. Recently they put together a blind testing of several commonly available Cheddar Cheese's to determine which ones were best straight out of the package and which were best in a grilled cheese. I have to agree with all of their favorites which are great standbys when you don't want to spend a lot for a good cheese.

In case you're wondering the above picture was taken from the website of the Nantwich International Cheese Show in Nantwich, Cheshire. Or what I like to call a little slice of heaven on earth.