Cooking Challenge

Last year my sister and I challenged each other to make recipes from our many cookbooks sitting on the shelf collecting dust.  We made a few recipes, but it quickly went by the wayside.  This year I decided I wanted to try again, but make it a little more interesting.  I am challenging myself to cook 1 recipe from my cookbooks, 1 from Pinterest, and 1 from anywhere that either uses an ingredient or technique I've never tried, or is just very different from anything I've cooked before - something to broaden my horizons.  So, for the month of January - here are the 3 recipes I tried.

1.  This fell into my something new category.  I have never made any kind of homemade chip before.  My son was still home for the holidays and all 3 of us were craving chips of some kind.  We were getting kind of desperate because he had eaten just about everything I had in the house.  So, I went on Google in search of tortilla chips recipes since all I had in the house were corn tortillas and seasonings.  It actually wasn't quite that bad, but it felt like it to me.  When he went off to college in the fall, I quickly got used to buying food and still finding in the cabinet or refrigerator when I went to get it.  This is what I found through Google - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-tortilla-chips/  They are amazing, both my kids loved them, and they disappeared very quickly - no leftovers.  They aren't from scratch (I started with tortilla shells not cornmeal or cornflour), so you may not agree with me calling them homemade - but I felt adventurous cooking them!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 3 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Cut each tortilla into 8 chip sized wedges and arrange the wedges in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
3.	In a mister, combine the oil and lime juice. Mix well and spray each tortilla wedge until slightly moist.
4.	Combine the cumin, chili powder and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle on the chips.
5.	Bake for about 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 8 minutes or until the chips are crisp, but not too brown. Serve with salsas, garnishes or guacamole.

2.  This recipe is in my cookbook category.  I got this book for Christmas in 2011.  Last week, I flipped through it and found a lot of great recipes.  I didn't notice any really weird ingredients.  Most recipes substitute sorghum flour for wheat flour.  I did purchase some sorghum flour, but I haven't tried it yet.  If you are interested in cooking gluten free, I recommend this book.  It does have some recipes that call for gluten free breads or rolls to be purchased, but most recipes are things you can make yourself.  Here is a link if you wish to buy the book: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Gluten-Free-Deliciously/Jennifer-Cinquepalmi/9780977847419.

The recipe I chose is Tomato Ricotta Pie.  It was very easy and I thought it was incredible.  My daughter did not like all the fresh basil in it, but she did a whole piece of it - I cut it in eighths.  I would like to make this again, but I think I might chop the basil a little finer for her sake.  She ate the smaller pieces of basil and picked out the larger.  The recipe called for mint also, but that sounded weird to me, so I didn't use any.  I used the Romano cheese and grated it with the fine grater blade in my Pampered Chef hand held grater - a tool that I can't live without.  If you want one of these you can purchase it at this link: http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=157&categoryCode=CE

Crustless Tomato-Ricotta Pie

1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 medium ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly coat the inside of a 10-inch cast iron skillet with olive oil.

In a large bowl, whisk ricotta, eggs, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until blended.

In a measuring cup, stir milk and cornstarch until smooth; whisk into cheese mixture.  Stir in basil and mint.

Pour mixture into the prepared skillet.  Arrange tomatoes on top, overlapping slices if necessary.  Bake pie 35 minutes or until lightly browned and set around the edge.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

PS - I'm not getting paid to advertise nor will I be compensated if you decide to buy these products - I'm just sharing about things I am glad I own!

3.  My last recipe is from my Pinterest category.  I have it repinned onto my board "Pinterest things I've tried" but the original post was from this blog:  http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/09/football-kickoff-buffalo-chicken-dip.html.  This was very quick and easy.  I omitted the blue cheese crumbles (since I didn't have any).  If I make it again, I might try with blue cheese dressing instead of the ranch.  It was pretty good - but very rich.  My daughter didn't like it much, saying it was too cheesy.  What?!!  This from the girl who gobbles cheese - including chunks of extra sharp cheddar?  I'm thinking it was the cream cheese that disturbed her, the dip was very thick and rich.  She did eat some, but not tons.  I wasn't able to eat as much as I usually do of other dips because I got full quickly.  (Good thing?)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked and shredded chicken or 1 (12 ounce) can chunk chicken, drained

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup Ranch dressing

1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce (such as Frank’s Red Hot, not to be confused with their pepper sauce. Start with less if you want and add more to your desired hotness.)

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

blue cheese crumbles (optional)

Instructions:

Heat chicken and Buffalo sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Make sure to break up the chicken so there are no big chunks. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in shredded cheese.  Pour into a shallow dish or pie pan and sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and microwave it until the cheese melts. We usually only sprinkle blue cheese on half of it for those who aren't blue cheese fans. Serve with chips for dipping.

Okay Donna!  The gauntlet is thrown down - what are you cooking?