Foodie Friday

Chef of the Month:

I tried out a few recipes from Carla Hall's Cooking With Love this week and am pretty sure she's my new best friend.  We had the Basil Bacon Bread one night and it was amazing.  I think when I make them again I'll use loaf pans instead of free forming them but they'll definitely be made again.  The flavor was amazing so bacon-y but deliciously yeast-y as well.  

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Since the bread went so well I tried her Buttermilk Biscuits for breakfast for dinner one night.  These were by far the best biscuits I've ever made.  She gives good instructions and they came together just like she said.  They were light and fluffy and just oh so good.

Last night we had Cuban Pork Loin with Marinated Red Onions and Queso Fresco on Grilled Tortillas.  These are kind of a hassle.  The pork needs to be brined, then rubbed and let to sit in that for awhile, then browned and then baked.  However, I think if I had planned a little better it wouldn't have felt so complicated.  You can do pretty much all of it except the baking ahead of time and the actual cooking takes maybe 30 minutes.  I had my doubts about the marinated red onions but they were really good and provided a nice little crunch.  The pork is very spicy but the sharp almost pickled onions balanced that nicely. The only thing I didn't like was the Queso Fresco but that actually makes it easier to make next time because I won't have to buy a cheese I don't normally have on hand.  

From The Chew Cookbook I made Big Mike's Burger.  This was the only recipe of Michael Symon's I've made that wasn't really great.  It was okay but I've made better burgers.  

However, Symons' redeemed himself with 2 recipes from his 5 in 5 Cookbook.  His No Bake Macaroni and Cheese was really really good.  To be honest I didn't have much faith in it but the taste was super creamy and cheesey.  It was also pretty quick to make so that always helps.  Also, from this book came Chicken Milanese.  This was really good and came out beautifully breaded and crisp on the outside while being nice and tender on the inside. 

Pinterest:

I've been limiting my sugar intake to only 2 days a week lately so I haven't done nearly as much baking as I've wanted too.  I did manage to make these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Iowa Girl Eats.  This is one of my favorite food blogs and this recipe didn't disappoint.  The result was nice crispy chocolatey oatmeal cookies.