Too soon to improvise?

My two recipes this week were Pan-Fried Onion Dip and Hummus. I made the dip for a small soiree. It was eaten, but not devoured. I thought it was alright. I'm not a huge onion dip eater, but it wasn't too bad.

Here's my unhappy assistant. She spotted her new favorite "toy" on the counter while I was trying to take this picture. You can see her hands signing, "Please" to ask for it.

Ahhh--so happy. Our old digital camera is her new favorite toy. She agreed to document my progress on the onion dip.

The true sign of a delicious concoction? A sizzling pan of butter!

SUCCESS! Poppy eats it and doesn't gag!

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Oh well. As I said, it was just alright.

The Hummus.

First off, let me say that I have yet to learn to check to ensure I have ALL the ingredients for the task at hand. After I had added EVERYTHING to the mixer I realized we didn't have any lemons! I contemplated mixing everything together and adding the lemons later. I then thought to myself, "Hmmm, I wonder if lime juice would work? What the heck! I'll try it with some lime juice." Oh--let me mention that the recipe said, "Barefoot Contessa likes really lemony hummus."

Umm, yeah. Here's how that worked out. It was heinous! Ugh...I couldn't stand it!

So I got up uber early on Friday to re-make the hummus for a work event. The second batch was better, but still just alright. The recipe suggests using 6 TBSP of lemon juice (2 lemons). Seems like a lot, right? That's what I thought. Well, I added only the juice from one lemon and nearly gagged on the taste test. Lemony hummus blows! So since my improvisation worked so well with the first batch, I decided to give it another go. I added about 1/4 c more chick peas and 2 TBSP of tahini. It was a little better now. I decided a little fire would help it out as well. I tossed in a pinch of Cayenne Pepper. A pinch and man or man did it add some heat! I really liked it. Apparently, so did all my coworkers because the hummus was all gone by the end of the day! Hooray!

Notes to Sonya & Barefoot Contessa;

The onion dip was good, if you like onion dip. I think that cream cheese, mayo, sour cream trio throws off my mojo. The hummus was alright. I don't think I'd make it for myself again--at least not that recipe. Too many culinary decisions to be made. I didn't get into cooking because I wanted to think more!

Kelly

Some cooking on a rainy Friday afternoon.

Today my assistant and I whipped up some lamb sausage in puff pastry and grilled lemon chicken with satay sauce. In preparation for the new adventure I had to make room for the numerous new ingredients I would need by throwing out some of my VERY expired spices and such. I am sure I have more lurking in my cabinets but that is a project for different day. So we made our list and headed to the grocery store, we managed to find everything except the sausage. I decided not to use lamb sausage and try some other variety (lamb sausage is not so easy to find and probably not quite our taste) with our additional stop I decided to try turkey sausage Italian style. Off to the kitchen for some cooking. My assistant was excited at first but like a typical three year old lost interest after a period of time. We had fun but I did feel like I spent the majority of my afternoon cooking or cleaning.

The finished products:

Lemon grilled chicken with satay dip

Sausage in puff pastry

Thumbs up for the lemon grilled chicken

Kelly and Barefoot Contessa - I really enjoyed trying something new. The lemon chicken was great and the kids enjoyed it. I did not grill the chicken and just cooked it in the oven which seemed to work fine. I will for sure make the chicken again probably for dinners. The satay sauce I liked but the kids did not, kind of surprising since it tasted a lot like peanut butter, a big favorite in our house. The sauce was a little thick, maybe next time not so much peanut butter. The sausage thing pretty much a bust. Italian sausage is NOT the kind of sausage to use, the flavor was not right and the sausage was a little dry. I might try this again with different sausage. MAYBE.

More of a procrastinator.. .

I am very impressed with Kelly's get right started attitude. I took the week end off, but plan on getting some cooking done this week so stay tuned. . .

And so it begins...Kelly

Today is d-day (not even sure what that means, but it's appropro). I'm taking on a roasted eggplant spread and lobster salad with endive. So many words here I'd never thought would be a part of my vocabulary. Enidve, really?

Before I get to what's on the menu let me first say that weeks ago and managed a true not-a-cook fete! Not only did I make crab cakes, but: husband went out in boat and caught the crabs, neighbor came over to teach how to deshell? take apart? whatever take the meat out of the crabs, and then I made 'em FROM SCRATCH! Here are the pics from that endeavor. More than enough crab cakes for 6 adults and one onry little bean. Notice the beautiful mango salsa that accompanied the crab cakes. While the dinner was wonderful, I did question the satisfaction of a fantastic meal with a 2-hour prep and making. I'm still not sure it's worth it other than once in a blue moon.

Look! Smiling faces, not swollen glands, not gasping guests! A success, indeed. Note to self: Do I tell the readers this was taken before anyone ate? Naaahhh!


Onto the task at hand:

My new Santoku knife. I guess these things are sharp and good for cooking.

My secret for not actually mincing garlic. Love this stuff!

Nerts! My first mistake. I wasn't supposed to chop up the onion. It was supposed to be in 1 inch cubes so it could be roasted with the eggplant & red peppers. Oh well!

Can't you see these veggies trembling with the Cuisanart looming in the background? Prepare to meet your makers, veggies.

Finished product. Note to self: the pitas are better toasted. How do you like the Habañero accent. Nice touch, huh?

This is the finished Lobster salad in endive. Meh, it was alright. Look at that chopping job I did on the fresh dill. All thanks to my new, super-sharp knife!

Dear Sonya & Barefoot Contessa-

This was fun. However, neither of these dished will be making a repeat performance. They weren't terrible, but not good enough to want to have it again. Oh, by the way, I substituted crab meat for the lobster (as the Contessa suggested) because I'm not made of money.

Kelly