Monday, June 1, 2015

"Productive" Weekend

I had a pretty productive weekend... If you count lounging on the couch with my three chiweenies, grocery shopping, cleaning and cooking new recipes as productive, then yes. It was productive. HAH!

The honey was out with the guys for a bachelor weekend so I was left to my own devices and the three pups. I decided I would try making one of his favorite dishes and desserts. I was pretty nervous because the two dishes sound a little intimidating.

So what were the recipes you ask? Lasagna and a fruit tart. SCARY! I have NEVER made lasagna before OR egg custard for a fruit tart. I was freaking out a little on the inside. But I took a deep breath and knew that The Pioneer Woman would not do me wrong.

What does The Pioneer Woman have anything to do with this? If you know me, you know that I am totally UHHHB-SESSED with Ree Drummond! I watch her show religiously and re-watch my recorded episodes again and again. To get to my point..... I used her Lasagna Rollups recipe. Her recipes are dummy proof and her website has step by step photos. I have never failed once when using her recipes (which is surprising! I'm not a "great" cook.) I was hoping the lasagna rollups would come out great as well.

The only thing I changed with my lasagna rollups is that I added mushrooms and I used low fat ricotta and wheat lasagna noodles. I probably would have used lean ground beef and low fat Italian sausage if it didn't cost so much money! Gah, why are "healthy" ingredients more expensive?! Anyhow, those were the only things I changed/added.
Before the deliciousness happened.

Sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms + ground beef + spicy Italian sausage

Low fat ricotta, two eggs, Parmesan cheese, basil, Italian parsley, salt + peppah

Sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms, meat + diced tomatoes + tomato paste

Pretty herbs

Simmering sauce... Smelled amazing

Smearing the ricotta mixture onto the lasagna noodle


Serving for two or one REALLY hungry person


Now for the fruit tart! One scary recipe done, one more to go! I used this recipe from food.com. It looked pretty dummy proof.... Until I started making the dough for the crust. I wish I had a flour cutter instead of trying to incorporate the flour and the butter by hand. I think it would have came out much better. I just had a feeling it wouldn't come out well. My fruit tart craving and making gut was right. It did NOT come out right!

Here's a photo of my fail.....
It just fell apart and would not form into the dough I was hoping for. :(
The only good thing about this fail was that I got to play with my food like Play-Doh! Hehe...

I ended up buying a pre-made frozen pie crust from Target.

The egg custard made me nervous while I was making it. I made sure to temper my egg yolks with the warm milk so that the egg yolks wouldn't curdle. All these years of watching the Food Network taught me some valuable kitchen skills. I was finally able to start using some of my knowledge!

The egg custard came out perfect. Now it's not the prettiest fruit tart, but it tasted darn delicious! If I had to compare it to a "store-bought" fruit tart, I would compare it to La Madaleine's fruit tarts.

Cooled egg custard and macerated berries

Lol.. The store bought crust looks awful, but at least it tasted good with the egg custard and fruit ;)

I got the honey's stamp of approval. I think he was actually really excited that I made these two dishes for him. I'm pretty proud of myself as well for venturing out and making dishes I have never made before.

Stay tune to see what I'll make next!!!

Happy eatings!! :)

2 comments:

  1. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes with making something delicious for yourself and those you love.

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    1. I highly agree! It just makes you feel good inside :)

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