Weekly Recipes Reviewed

I was afraid I wasn't going to have anything to post in my weekly recipe recap but alas, I had a few gems that shone through at the end of the week. In no particular order, here's what made the cut.

Chili Pie - this one came by way of All You magazine. I subscribed to this magazine last year in order to get Sky Miles so mine wouldn't expire. Ah, the things I do to get something free! The magazine has been decent but thankfully the subscription was only $10. I recently discovered that it must be published by the same parent company of Southern Living, Cooking Light, etc because I saw a recipe from All You listed on MyRecipes.com. That's definitely a plus as far as I'm concerned. I still couldn't find this recipe so I'll post it at the bottom. This is a good quick and easy weekday meal. I served it with fresh green beans on the side.
Maple and Mustard Glazed Chicken - by Kevin a.k.a Closet Cooking. I rarely get excited about chicken because it's just not one of my favorite foods. That was until I tasted this chicken! Seriously, it's sweet yet savory, crunchy yet smooth, and full of flavor! I followed his recipe pretty much as written except 1) I had to double the sauce and 2) I discovered that I did not have any bread crumbs and used Panko crumbs instead. I'm not sure what kind Kevin used but the Panko were fantastic. That's what gave it the little texture and they really helped the sauce soak into all the lovely crevices in between the crumbs. Wes was so shocked that I took one bite and said, "Yum!" "You liking chicken - what?" Heck, I might even make this one again!

Mashed Cauliflower - if you haven't already stopped reading, don't. I know it might not sound like the most appealing dish but it really was good. Now it's not your traditional mashed potatoes but it's definitely more than edible and provided a good balance to the sweetness of the chicken. A head of cauliflower is cheap so you have little to lose. You may find you love it and then you have an inexpensive and easy side dish. Now if you hate cauliflower this one is probably not going to change your opinion of the vegetable. I did add some butter (about 1 tablespoon) and I substituted milk for the water. Another addition that I didn't think of until just now would have been garlic, roasted or otherwise.

And finally, this is not so much a recipe, rather a product review. I am not a fan of bagged, boxed, or other pre-packaged stuffing mixes. My hatred goes back to my childhood and the days of StoveTop Stuffing. I was a very picky eater and couldn't stand to find the hard pieces - celery - amongst the soft pieces of bread. My texture phobia has since changed but I still don't really care for the processed stuff. I love the cornbread stuffing balls my mom makes but the love ended there. Until I tried Whole Foods 365 brand with dried cranberries. I'm not sure if it's the addition of the sweet berries or the extra add-ins I used but it was delightful. Considering this is out of a bag, I'd probably give it a 4 - 4.5 out of a possible 5.


Recipe for Chili Pie:

1 T. oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 ½ T. chili powder

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

1 15oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 8oz box cornbread mix

1 large egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup grated sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 400. Warm oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add ground beef and cook, stirring to break up meat, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, tomatoes and ½ tsp salt; cook mixture, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost evaporated, another 5 minutes. Stir in beans and season to taste.

While chili is cooking, combine corn bread mix, egg, milk and cheese. Scrape chili into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Spread batter over chili. Bake until golden, 15-20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.