Which is the better looking pizza?

Pizza A, All Wolfgang Puck like

Pizza B, Lacking in Creativity

CHOOSE WISELY. Oh, and, just as an FYI: for two people, you do NOT need to make dough for two 12 inch crusts. You do need twice as much beer as you think you’ll need though, because THE PROCESS TAKES FOREVER. Which is why I prefer pizza from a restaurant.

I’ve not been cooking much as of late. Why cook when you can go out or eat fancy frozen foods from Trader Joe’s? Also, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I JUST HAD SURGERY (yep, still using that excuse). Anyway, yesterday I read a blog post from Martha Stewart’s Dinner Tonight that piqued my interest. I had time to kill last night while the boy was golfing and decided to throw this together. Twenty minutes! That’s all it was supposed to take!

I quickly put together the few ingredients the recipe called for and then put part of my soup mixture in my blender. I also grated some cheese for my Cheddar Scallion Panini and set that aside.

 Then, I lifted the pitcher from the blender to empty the puree into my bowl.

Exhibit A: The reason why I had 3 Amstel Lights for Dinner

The bottom of my blender fell out and now I have grean pea puree all over my kitchen. I’ve quit cooking until further notice. But, I will be replacing my blender for the sole purpose of frosty adult beverages. That doesn’t count as cooking.

Exhibit B: Don’t worry, I had some sandwich with my beer

*SIGH*

Disclaimer: The little bit of soup that I salvaged was really, quite good. I just wasn’t that excited to eat it after cleaning it off every surface of my kitchen. I do not hold my beloved Martha Stewart responsible for the demise of my blender. But, Hamilton Beach? YOU’RE ON MY LIST!

Well, hello there! It seems I joined this here cooking challenge, and in Classic Rhiannon Form (CRF), I made one meal and then forgot all about it. But, you see, I’ve been on an appetizer and alcohol diet only the past few weeks and it’s just not appetizer week yet on Whip It Up! (there will be an appetizer week, RIGHT?)

So, this week, I had some lovely black cod that I had taken out of the freezer to bring to a girlfriend’s house, and then said girlfriend DITCHED ME FOR A BOY, so I was left with one pound of fancy fish that had to be cooked ASAP.

What did I do? I turned to my trusty Google. Google never lets me down (except for when it does, but we’ll not talk about that).

I found a recipe for Lemon Baked Cod that I had every single ingredient for, and so I poured myself a glass of wine (CRF), and rolled my sleeves up. Except I was wearing a short sleeved shirt (with Barbie on it!) but whatever.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cod fish fillet
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• paprika (when I said I had all the ingredients, I lied, I did not have this)

1. If fish fillets are large, cut into serving pieces.
2. Mix butter and lemon juice.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, salt and white pepper.
4. Dip fish into butter mixture; coat fish with flour mixture.
5. Place fish in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.
6. Pour remaining butter mixture over fish; sprinkle with paprika.
7. Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with fork, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices if desired.

Okay. So. This recipe? FAIL WHALE. I was not a fan of this, the pouring the butter over the fish at the end made it taste, um, buttery. Which typically I am a fan of but was not in this instance. I am annoyed that I basically wasted a pound of really, yummy fish. I wish I would have gone with my typical, Lemon Juice and Beau Monde fish recipe. SIGH.

BUT! I did make Sugar Snap Peas and Mashed Fingerling Potatoes on the side, and so that is what I ate for dinner. Also, wine (CRF). But, that goes without saying. I will not be making the fish again. Ever. Ever. Ever.

I’m cooking again, as I’ve noticed that it is now summer, for reals, in Portland, and perhaps I’d maybe want to stop eating tortilla chips and start wearing a bathing suit in the near damn future. Also, the lovely Nic has Whipped Up (HEE!) a cooking challenge, and I hate to be left out.
This Week’s Theme? PASTA! (that was all dramatic, like on Iron Chef, RIGHT!?)

I’ve gone to my BFF Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food for my recipe, Fresh Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Peas

Ingredients:

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 slices bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 18 ounces fresh angel-hair pasta

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain (leave fat in skillet).
2. Add shallots to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add peas and half-and-half; season with salt and pepper. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta; toss to combine, adding some reserved pasta water a little at a time to coat. Sprinkle with bacon, and serve immediately.

Now: The first thing you should be alarmed by, as I was, is that this recipe does NOT contain any cheese. Blasphemous. So, you know I added a BUNCH of shredded parmesean cheeses. Also, I think I doubled the amount of bacon. I’ll be fitting into that bathing suit ANY minute now.

After I added all the necessary cheese and doubled the bacon, this was delicious. I brought the leftovers to work today and then totally forgot about them. I’m sure they’ll be delightful tomorrow.

Photos are here. Feel free to come on over at any time and teach me how to use the damn fancy camera that I”ve had for SIX MONTHS NOW AND STILL DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE. The photos are just too poor to use in this post. I’m so ashamed.

I’m actually quite enjoying my cooking for one adventure. So much so that, despite my icky news on Friday, I cooked for myself on both Saturday AND Sunday. We’ll not discuss the meal that I inhaled on Friday. But, it involved french fries, lots of them.

Saturday: Salmon Burger and Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes

salmon burger on giant bun!

Okay – for the salmon burger, I used a recipe from Bon Appetit as a guide but really didn’t stick to it very closely, well, because I didn’t want to. I’m the boss of this!

6 ounces fresh salmon

3 teaspoons tartar sauce

salt and pepper

Add ingredients to food processor, um, process until blended. Form into a patty. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side.

I spread each side of a toasted kaiser roll with some yummy dill mustard that is made at a Monastery here. I would have have put tomato on it, but slicing a tomato would have taken too much effort

Original recipe here

Potatoes:

I made these exactly as PW said too, except I only made 4, because it’s just me. But, I will say, I should have let them boil a bit longer, as they weren’t as flat as I wanted them to be.

Recipe here.

The Verdict: I loved this dinner. If I did it again, I’d make a bit of a meatier burger, and add some lettuce and tomato to the bun.

Sunday: Chicken Cordon Bleu and Smashed Red Potatoes

My teensy dinner

For the chicken – Go to Janssen’s Recipe and do everything she says. Except make twice as much because you’ll never want to stop eating this.

I only made ONE and to be honest, this is a bit too labor intensive to make only one. And, besides? How does one use half an egg?

For the potatoes – This is very hard, so I’m going to need you to pay very close attention.

6 red potatoes (they are small)

1/4 brick of cream cheese

a handful of green onions (optional)

1. Boil Potatoes

2. Drain

3. Mash with cream cheese

4. Eat

The Verdict: Yummy, yummy, yummy and very, very healthy dinner (again, I make the rules around here). I happily ate it for lunch again and for sure will make the chicken again.