Lemon-Herb Roasted Salmon (dinner)

by Irene Lindvall

I went for an easy recipe for my first full day back in the kitchen. I've been waiting to make this recipe until the weather turned since it's done in the oven. I haven't been overly impressed with most of the salmon recipes that involve the oven so I didn't really have high hopes for this meal. I am happy to report I couldn't have been more wrong. The salmon was delicious, moist, and the herb mixture added on at the end was great. On top of all the that, it was extremely easy to make.

I served the salmon with rice, miso soup, and steamed green beans w/ginger. It was the perfect fall meal.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I chose to undercook the salmon by three minutes and it was perfect for our liking.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes

The recipe

Oven French Toast w/Orange Apple Syrup

by Irene Lindvall

I'm finally back. I had the flu for a solid week and then followed that up with zero motivation to cook anything. I feel awful about it, but I'm hoping to make November a great month. And while I served this for dinner instead of Sunday brunch, it was delicious nonetheless. I had a feeling Eric wasn't going to care for this recipe very much because of the fruit factor, but I was pleasantly surprised by his reaction. Since french toast is on his short list of things he can make, I figured he'd notice the difference in this one, but I don't think he did. This recipe used very little milk, and instead used orange juice, as well as equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg. I also thought Eric wouldn't care for the "syrup" but in the end it wasn't so much a syrup as delicious caramelized fruit. I think it cooked too long on the stove, but neither one of us were complaining. The online version of this recipe says to cook it for 20 minutes (my paper version says nothing). I guessed and baked them 10 minutes per side and didn't think it was quite golden brown after 20 minutes so I baked them for an additional four minutes. All-in-all, this was a great dish to get back into the swing of things.

Things I learned from this recipe:

My mom always said older bread was better for french toast. I used extremely fresh bread and the crusts came out great but the center could've been a little crispier for my liking.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes

The recipe

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

by Irene Lindvall

Although we got back from vacation on Monday and I should've starting making recipes again on the 21st, I've been sick with the flu since we got home. I have been miserable and today is the first day I felt remotely capable of cooking, or in this instance, baking something. I had all the ingredients except peanut butter and Eric picked it up for me. Like most baking recipes, all I had to do was combine the ingredients and pop it in the oven. I liked the way it look at 33:30 so I took it out and let it cool for 10 minutes. I was very excited about this dish because the batter tasted good, the smell from the oven was great, and we had vanilla ice cream to add on top. For me, it turned out gross. I'm pretty sure my tastebuds are still off and I had no business being in the kitchen. For Eric, he liked it, but there was no way he was going to be finishing a 10-inch skillet cooking by himself.

Sorry for the blurry photo!

Things I learned from this recipe:

I really wonder if I could make any cooking recipe this way? I love the way cast iron cooks cookies and I'm definitely interesting in trying this out again with a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Maybe

The recipe

Braised Chicken Thighs

by Irene Lindvall

My intention was to make this for dinner last night, but when I read the recipe at 4:30pm and it said it needed 1hr 15 in the oven I realized there was no way it was going to be ready in time for bowling. I ended up making it for lunch today before we left on our vacation. I thought over an hour to cook chicken seemed a little ridiculous, but these little thighs were worth the wait. The recipe is incredibly straight forward - probably because it's another one from Cooking for Two from the America's Test Kitchen. The flavors were all so amazing and we were both so impressed how the chicken turned out.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I really should've served them with something else, but I was too busy packing and cleaning so all we had was the chicken. 

Would I make this recipe again?:

Yes - I'm pondering making it for family for Christmas dinner.

The recipe - another great one from Cooking for Two 2012, America's Test Kitchen.

 

Blackberry Hazelnut Crisp

by Irene Lindvall

Eric and I became and Uncle & Aunt today for the first time so I baked a little something in celebration!

This is a really easy dish, and while the oven is preheating and then while the hazelnuts are baking the rest of the recipe can be completed. I will admit, I still hate peeling hazelnuts and will actively not make recipes that contain them in the future, but I sure do love the taste. The hazelnut crisp portion of the recipe was excellent and I could've just eaten the top. The rest of the dish...well, it didn't turn out so great. How hard could it be you ask? Well apparently really hard for me because the rest of the dish never hardened up and it was a big goopy mess. It was very sad and pretty much inedible, although in retrospect it probably could've been served over ice cream. O'well, chalking it up to another disastrous baking adventure.

Things I learned from this recipe:

It's very hard to measure berries. I bought two flats and it ended up being two pints too much.

Would I make this recipe again?:

No, although I'd love to just cook the hazelnut portion and eat it as a snack.

The recipe