Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Must Make List

This is a collection of recipes I have and links to recipes on other sites that I simply must cook. I'm sure it will grow faster than I can cook the items.

Chicken Pot Pies - The picture on this blog is just gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can't just buy puff pastry here. So, I'll have to make the crust from scratch. I'm pretty sure I've got a recipe here somewhere that'll do.

Savory Potato Biscuits - Wow, who can say no to potatoes and cheese with some sour cream? I can't! My problem with this recipe is that it calls for making them in the microwave. I'll have to figure out how to cook them in the oven.

Potatoes Baked with Parmigiano - Potatoes, cream, Parmigiano Reggiano. Sounds like a dish from Heaven. Only one issue here: Parmigiano Reggiano. Just a little hard to find here. OK, no a little, impossible. I'll use the shredded and bagged variety. Can't skip this one.

Cinnamon Rolls - These look so good. And the recipe looks so easy. No excuse not to make them. I think I'll leave out the coffee. Not a fan.

Mini Stuffed Pizzas - This is a must. I'm going to have to work up to these. Good ingredients here? Rare. Going to have to learn how to make good pepperoni and good Italian sausage. For that, I'll need fennel seed ... again, not available here. More importing.

Pepperoni - We can't even buy the packaged stuff here. This recipe looks pretty good. I like that they slow-bake the meat and not cure it over 6-8 weeks. I'd rather not have to build a smokehouse just to have pepperoni.

Italian Sausage - More required food for pizzas. And, especially required for me. My favorite pizza is Canadian Bacon and Italian Sausage. Simple, flavorful.

Apple Crumble - I haven't had this in years. Yet, I can still remember just how good it is. Getting good apples here isn't too hard, just a matter of finding them at the mercado ... catching a vendor when they first come in. The more difficult part will be adjusting the recipe for local sugars. We don't have American-style brown sugar here. There is normal granulated sugar, turbinado sugar, and some other darker sugar. I'm sure I can figure it out. Just a matter of making and eating a few batches. Oh, the horror! Hehe.

Herb-Baked Eggs - I love eggs. I love good herbs. Toss in some cheese and I cannot resist. This calls for heavy cream. Wait a sec, can't type, laughing too hard. OK, back. Yeah, heavy cream isn't happening here. I'll have to figure something out with evaporated milk or one of the other less-than-high-quality dairy products we do have here.

Macaroni-and-Cheese - If pressed, I'll admit that I like the Kraft boxed mac-and-cheese. I even like it with extra cheese powder. Industrial? Oh yeah. Yummy, more so. Still, there is better. This recipe looks really good. I've tried Alton Brown's mac-and-cheese (he's my favorite food personality, love the science he throws in) and wasn't too thrilled with it. Normally, I love his stuff, just not this time. I'll probably make this without the ham as I don't have a source for good ham here.

Soft Pretzels - What else is there to say?

Crispy Yogurt Chicken - Wow, that looks good. I just started making yogurt here, too. This will be perfect. I love panko, too!

Roast Pork Loin with Potatoes - roasted meat and potatoes? It's definitely one of the World's Most Perfect Meals.

Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza - Wow, this guy makes it and makes it look amazing. I can only hope that mine would be close. Need to dig out some cast iron for this!

More to come as I sort through my bookmarks ...

4 comments:

Lore said...

Hi James! I've found your blog thanks to your link to my post. Your new adventure sounds challenging and I can't wait to read more!
As for my savoury biscuits you can try baking them in a preheated oven for about 13-15 minutes at 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). My oven doesn't work so I'm stuck with my microwave since quite a while now. Still, I think this time and temperature should work just fine or will at least give you an overall idea. Please let me know how it goes ok?

James said...

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely let you know how it goes.

Min said...

Hi James, ditto Lore about finding your blog...FYI, my America's Test Kitchen cookbook lists evaporated milk as a substitute for heavy cream, but not for whipping or baked goods...However I think it should be fine in the Herb-Baked Eggs. Will you let me know?

Thanks for stopping by my blog! And good luck!

James said...

Min, thanks for dropping by! I ended up making little mini quiches using some crust and a simple recipe.

I'm going to post what I did once I make it again and take pictures (for some reason, I forgot to the first time ... shame on me!).

James