Addicted to the Food Network!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Strike two, Big Daddy

In the spirit of watching approximately 300 hours of Thanksgiving recipes on Food Network these past two weeks, and since I made a very traditional Thanksgiving feast, I thought I'd try at least one of the recipes I saw on the day after. Of all the recipes I saw, only one really caught my attention. It was on one of the Dear Food Network, prepared by Aaron McCargo Jr.  His recipe was 2 in 1 Sausage Stuffed Stuffing. I thought I'd give Big Daddy another try, since the last time I tried a recipe of his it didn't work out so well for me. Well, Can't say this one was any better. The concept sounded delicious... stuffing wrapped around a ball of sausage sitting in a bowl of gravy. What could be bad about that?  Well, here's how it broke down:

First I browned up the sausage balls


Then, you use the same pan to make the gravy:
Easy pan gravy, but he called for oil, instead of butter to make the rue, so quite frankly it tasted, well, oily to me. Disappointment #1.
Then, I covered the sausage in (gasp!) box stuffing....still can't figure out why a 'chef' recipe calls for box stuffing, but anyways. Then, dip in flour and fry up.
This is where Disappointment #2 comes in. The stuffing balls proceeded to fall apart right there in the pan and it got worse from there.
Not only did they fall apart, but they tasted like oil. FAIL.
So I tried just browning them in a dry pan.
Those came out only slightly better. They looked better, but still fell apart the second you touched one.


So I tried to do it the way Big Daddy had showed it, floating in a bowl of the gravy. I figured there must have been a reason he did that instead of dipping in the gravy...

Only slightly better, I have to say. Still tasted like a bowl of oil.
 
Sorry, Big Daddy, but overall, today was a HUGE disappointment. How could something that sounded so good come out so wrong?! I guess next time I'll just stick with my girl Sunny Anderson and her Fried Stuffing with Cranberry Pesto I made last year.

 











Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I give thanks

There are many reasons I love Bobby Flay, but one of them is the fact that he and I both count Thanksgiving as our favorite day of the year. Food, family, and football....how does it get any better? I look forward to it all year! I have actually already cooked and devoured my Thanksgiving meal. Tomorrow is just the bonus round for being a good girl all year! ;)

I don't get why people stress about making the big meal each year though. Really, the turkey just sits in the oven for a few hours, when it comes out to rest, all the other sides go in. As long as you have a good sous chef and dishwasher, (thanks mom!) it's really an easy meal! My menu this year was standard, no fuss no flash. My sister made a bet that at least one dish would have chipotles in it, but (sorry Jan!) I went old school this year. Take a look at my line-up:

It may not be the prettiest bird I have ever made, but it was THE.JUICIEST.BIRD.EVER! Don't know why the skin didn't crisp up (ideas?) but lord have mercy was it moist!

Green Bean Casserole.
Yes, the kind from the can, no judging I HAVE to have it!

Sweet Potato Casserole.
Classic recipe, but what you can't see is the ration of potato to marshmallow. (I'd say it's 50/50!)

White Potatoes.
Notice I didn't say mashed, because I went a step further and used a ricer to make them light, fluffy and creamy.

Turkey Pan Gravy
I could drink this by itself, honestly.

 Add mamas stuffing and some rolls, and you get one perfect meal!


Oh, and of course there was pie! I always make two, even if I know it's just gonna be me tackling the leftovers. It's a tradition to have pumpkin pie for breakfast following Thanksgiving. My mama says pumpkin is a vegetable, so it's OK! :)



This picture right here says comfort to me. Isn't Thanksgiving GREAT?!

Well, I hope you all enjoy your day as much as I will! And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for following me and supporting my little blog. I love all of you and wish nothing but the best for you!

XOXO,
Heather













Monday, November 8, 2010

Great Balls of Fire!

So, this weekend I tried my first recipe by Aaron McCargo Jr, aka Big Daddy (Season 4 Winner of NFNS), from  his show Big Daddy's House. The recipe was Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls. The name alone sounds great, right?! Basically it's a Buffalo Chicken Wing rolled into a ball...how can that be bad? Well, the technique sounded easy enough, but I struggled BIG TIME with it. I think my problem may have been that I purchased the chicken the night before, so it was cold, and did not form into a ball well with the cheese, which, in turn made the breading process very difficult. They turned out to be more like chicken cheese ovals....


But it didn't affect the taste at all! They were ooey gooey and delicious inside...

Who cares what they looked like, because I could.not.stop eating them! The spice was perfect and the sauce was divine! It seems like a lot of sauce for not so many apps, but trust me you will want to eat the leftovers with a spoon!

Big Daddy has a new cookbook coming out soon, and if this is any indication of how delicious the recipes are, then sign me up!

Monday, November 1, 2010

SpookyVille

Yes, yesterday was Halloween. Leave it to me to post pictures of food instead of costumes! Check out these scary good treats!






Cute right?! What a fun day! Click on any of the above links for recipes.