New Year's goal

So I haven't been very good about posting this last year like I was the first year.  And now that I've added a craft blog, it will be even harder. BUT my New Years goal for this blog is to post more. So I'm thinking about adding some weekly theme's. So any suggestions/desires/interests? Like a weekly dinner or desert post, maybe recipes? I feel like I'm floundering a bit and not enjoying the kitchen like I usually do! My first year blogging I had the Chocolate therapy posts with my Dallas friend. And after that I had my weekly cooking/baking with my Houston friends as well as our monthly iron chef dinners. Since we've moved here I haven't found anyone to cook with and have felt lonely and unmotivated. SO I finally joined the Daring bakers, so I'll have at least one challenge/goal every month.

Iron Chef- Bacon and Chocoalate

Tonight was another Iron Chef. The secret ingredient was Bacon (prosciutto or panchetta was also allowed) but since Bacon isn't a great dessert item they (last month winners) choose Chocolate as well. I made my Penne Rustica (it has smoked prosciutto in it).

It's been one of our family favorites for years now. I made one HUGE mistake. I made enough for the kids to have for their dinner as well. So I mixed it all up and served them just before we left, but then the pasta sat in the sauce for over half an hour before everyone else got some and most of the creamy sauce was absorbed. If I had only mixed a bit for the kids and waited to mix the rest until right before there would have been more sauce and I think it would have gone over better.

There was a bacon dip, a chicken stuffed with bacon, bacon wrapped asparagus, bacon rice (two different dishes), salad with bacon and then chocolate pie, mud pie, cream puffs, my BEST EVER chocolate Ice Cream as well as an eclair dish that I forgot to get a picture of!

The winner was a bacon pasta dish that was VERY similar to mine, but had a lot more sauce left... GRRRRR I think I might have had it but for that one mistake!

Since we're moving next month this was our last one to attend. I'm sad, and totally going to miss it. So wherever we end up moving I'm totally going to start one! I've LOVED it! Thanks everyone, I can't wait to get the cookbook at the end of the year!

Iron Chef- Risotto (or other specialty cheese)

Tonight was our 2nd Iron chef dinner party. Since I won last month I was in charge of picking the secret ingredient. I picked Ricotta cheese, but our leader was worried it would be too difficult for everyone so we added the option to choose any specialty cheeses (we were trying to avoid the normal cheddar, mozzarella, etc that people use all the time).
I lost my photoshop when I got my new computer and haven't been able to upgrade to the version that will work on my new vista 64 bit yet. So I apologize that the pictures don't look as nice and as appetizing as they should. I've been putting off posting hoping to get the upgrade, but finally I'm just going to start posting...
The winner was the Polla Rosa. Chicken stuffed with a cheese filling and topped with onions and mushrooms. I enjoyed it and will try it myself, but without the mushrooms (maybe on one for my husband, but I'm not a fungus fan). I also have a recipe I wanted to make, but ran out of time, for ricotta stuffed pork chops.

Here are the others that were there. Ricotta Ice Cream (mine), nuetutella with Raspberry chili sauce and crackers, spinach manicotti, key lime pie, feta dip with chips and 4 cheese calzone.
I also made a ricotta risotto. The picture is extremely unappetizing. But the flavor was great. I didn't have risotto rice and used my Japanese rice. It wasn't quite right, but worth buying the right rice to try it again. I wish it had been just a little bit... runnier? (not quite the right word, but juicier doesn't work either) I think the correct rice will fix that problem though. I'll let you know next time I try it.

Pineapple

A girlfriend of mine decided to start an iron chef dinner party. This was our first month, with the plan of doing one every month. A week before the dinner we were all emailed the secret ingredient, this month, Pineapple! There were 12 couples invited and we each brought 1-2 dishes. Then the winner gets to choose the next secret ingredient and host the next month.
This month was... Pineapple... I don't like pineapple, actually I can't stand pineapple. Not just the taste, but the texture, smell, etc... So this created a challenge for me. I called my sister for some advice and she told be about a pineapple coconut ice cream she'd made, and a pineapple chili she'd seen on a friends, sisters, blog. Since Ice Cream is something I love to make, but is also pretty simple I thought I'd make both. I thought the Ice cream turned out great, but coconut is one of my favorite foods! But the chili was too pineapple-y for me. My husband loved it though and said it was his favorite chili to date!

Here is the recipe, which I doubled. Next time I'll half the meat and add another kind of bean, white or black for another color, since my husband doesn't like a ton of meat.

Pineapple Chili

1 14 oz can crushed pineapple
1 lb Ground Pork
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 16 oz jar salsa
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder

Brown pork in sauce pan on stove. While browning meat, combine drained kidney beans, pineapple, salsa, tomato sauce, and chili powder, in crock pot. Add meat to crock pot once browned.Stir together and turn on low for 7-8 Hours.

The other foods we had were: Shrimp Avocado Salad, Calico Beans, Sweet n Sour Shrimp, Sweet n Sour chicken, Tropical Salad, Teriyaki Flank Steak with Grilled Pineapple, Salad with Pineapple dressing (?), Pineapple salsa, Pineapple Cream Cheese cookies, Pineapple bread, Moroccan Pineapple Pork in Lettuce Leaves, Bacon wrapped pineapple shrimp. It was all great! Every dish was a hit, and almost everything was gone by the end of the night. Good food, great conversation and company, the evening was a hit!

AND the winner was... My Pina Colada Ice Cream! I was shocked that something so simple won, but I have to say it WAS tasty. And homemade Ice cream is amazing, especially if you haven't had it before or often. I added an extra 1/2 tsp of coconut extract and thought it created a better balance.

Pina Colada Ice Cream

1 16 oz unsweetened pineapple chunks drained
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1 C unsweetened coconut milk
3 Lg egg yolks
1 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
Add 1/2 cup toasted sweetened coconut at the end
1/2 tsp coconut flavor (optional)

Place pineapple and salt in food processor, blend until smooth. Combine sugar and coconut milk over low heat; stir until just to a boil. Then slowing pour into the egg yolks while mixing. Pour back into pan and, stirring constantly, heat until slightly thick (don't boil. Pour through a strainer (if desired), cool, then stir in the pineapple, cream and vanilla and refrigerate until cool. Pour into an Ice cream maker and set to manufactures directions, adding coconut during the last 5 mins. Put in freezer for 3-4 hours then serve.
So I get to pick the ingredient for next month, I have an idea, but I can't say anything yet. So stay tuned! Of course any suggestions are welcome! The next dinner is May 9th! I'm SO excited about it. Too bad we're moving and I won't get to participate all year. Although we'll be in Dallas for awhile before the move to Japan so I'll try to come down as many months as I can to keep enjoying this great dinner group! At the end of the year we'll be making a cookbook of all the recipes. I'm really excited for this!