Weekly Recipe Roundup 5

I have several good ones to share with you this week, so let's get right to it:

Butterscotch Pie - Dear Southern Living, I just want to thank you for consistently putting out good, solid recipes. And thank you for somehow managing your star rating system to produce valid, believable results. Years ago, this was the first meringue-topped pie I ever made. At that time the meringue part of this recipe seemed a bit labor intensive and complicated, so I opted for a simpler version. This time I decided to give this more advanced (really just more ingredients) recipe a try. I'm not a meringue lover so I'm probably not the best person to ask, but I will tell you it held it's shape much better and seemed a little more substantial (cornstarch) than most meringues. It really doesn't matter which you choose because the butterscotch filling will steal the show. This is a 5-star in my book.

Waldorf Salad - I don't usually post salad recipes because they're so easy to just throw together whatever you have on hand. But sometimes we all need a little inspiration. And when I need food inspiration, I look at restaurant menus. I often find myself reading menus of restaurants that I'll probably never visit. I'll pick out what I'd order if I were there and what Wes would probably order. I know, I'm crazy! Some of those menus have legitimately good ideas and inspiration on them. One of these said menus had a Grilled Waldorf Salad. The description read grapes, celery, Granny Smith apples, candied pecans, bleu cheese, and grilled chicken atop a bed of greens. Most of the Waldorf's I've seen are more of a mayo-based chicken salad but this one really stuck my fancy. Because I wanted to make it a side dish, I omitted the chicken and served it with my entree. As it turned out, thank goodness this salad was pretty substantial because the entree left a lot to be desired. Here's a picture of my, well some restaurant's, creation.

Our other savior that night were these Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls. As I've said in the past, yeast is one pantry item that intimidates me. However, I'm determined to overcome my fear and these rolls were a great start. They need some fine tuning but they certainly came out pretty.

Cottage Cheese Cornbread - Since I sang Southern Living's praises, I must also sing the praises of my blog chef crush, Kevin, aka, Closet Cooking. Kevin, I 'heart' you! Your recipes never let me down and they always look so yummy. Seriously though, my folders are getting too full trying to bookmark every one of your recipes. This cornbread was superb. Now if you're not a huge cottage cheese fan, don't discount this one just yet. Yes, you can still see the white flecks throughout, but I promise you don't taste it. It provides such wonderful moisture and texture. Ah, my mouth is watering just remembering it! I didn't take it to quite the extreme as he did by adding syrup but I can see why he did.

(Kevin's picture was much better than mine, so feel free to go look at his pretty picture so you'll know what its actually supposed to look like!)

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema - Yum, yum, and yum! I've always loved the concept of fish tacos but have never really found a recipe that met my expectations. That is until now. These were light, flavorful, and creamy all wrapped up in one little shell. The crema is not to be missed, as it adds quite a pop of flavor. I subbed in tilapia for the snapper and used small whole wheat tortilla shells in place of the corn tortillas. I was able to make the crema the night before, the fish only takes 8 minutes, and you've got a healthy dinner on the table in under 15 minutes! Now you just can't beat that.

Totally not my picture but we were too busy scarfing ours down to be bothered with a camera!