Today's Special: Beef Bourguignon, Autumn Chicken Stew, Fish Sticks, Squash Gnocchi, Cheesy Chicken & Rice, and Cinnamon Bread

Beef Bourguignon- New Recipe. After making this recipe I can now claim I've flambéed something. Check that off my list of things to do before I die! I have to admit it was a little scary, but all turned out well and I didn't burn any of my hair off. This tasted like a fancy beef stew. Actually Seth and I called this "Alcoholic Beef Stew" because of all the liquor involved... a full bottle of wine and 1/2 c. cognac. Wow. I think next time I'll try making Julia Child's recipe so I can compare. Anyway, two thumbs way up for this one.

Autumn Chicken Stew- New Recipe. I love making seasonal recipes for obvious reasons.... ingredients that are not only cheaper than usual, but tastier as well. It's a win-win situation. The only reason I was skeptical of this recipe was the addition of not one, but two granny smith apples. I thought the resulting flavor would be too sweet for a "stew." Nay nay. This was some good eatin'. Seth thought the apples were potatoes. And he  raved about how much he loved the parsnips (a close cousin to the carrot) and I agreed. Why are parsnips not a common cooking component? Ok ok I know I'm getting carried away with the alliterations. Let's just cut to the chase. This was awesome. You should make it.

EatingWell Fish Sticks- New Recipe. Ok I could not make fish sticks without referencing this episode of South Park. With that out of the way, these were incredibly easy to make and tasted really good. Seth especially really liked these. This was also my first time using Panko bread crumbs which are supposed to be crunchier than regular bread crumbs. I think it worked! I couldn't find the whole wheat Panko bread crumbs, so I just used 1 cup of the regular ones. Oh and don't forget the tartar sauce!

Chickpea, Spinach, & Squash Gnocchi- New Recipe. Doesn't this look so beautiful with all those fun colors? Sadly, the beauty of this dish was only skin deep. It was heart breakingly bland and there wasn't much depth to it. Oh well, guess I don't have to chop up all that squash again.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice- Repeat. This isn't a gourmet meal by any means, but it requires very little prep and it tastes pretty good! Spend five minutes putting it all into a pan, throw it in the oven and do something else for an hour while you wait for it to cook. Oh, and don't forget to cover this with tin foil, otherwise your rice will be crunchy. (Yes I've made that mistake before...)

 

Bonus: Cinnamon Bread

I'll admit I'm a rookie when it comes to making bread. I honestly just guess my way through it. But I love homemade bread. I'm usually just too damn lazy to make it because let's be honest... it's very time consuming. I decided to try this recipe because it looked awesome and because there were step by step instructions on the Pioneer Woman's blog complete with pictures. How could I screw it up if there were pictures? I couldn't!

So I made this bread one Saturday morning when I woke up at the butt crack of dawn because my body is now used to my early to bed early to rise dork schedule and I can't sleep in past 7am even if I want to. The one thing I really hate about bread recipes is I always have to add a ton more flour than it says to get the right texture and it sort of freaks me out. This recipe said to add 1/4 c. extra flour after kneading for a few minutes if it was too sticky. I ended up adding probably a cup or more.

So I finally got the bread all made and it turned out ok. However, I don't think I rolled it tight enough so it was kind of floppy after slicing. Also, I overcooked it a tad, so after it cooled it was dry. I was a little disappointed. BUT... I sliced it all up and froze it and I plant to unthaw it this weekend and make it into cinnamon french toast! That should save it! At any rate, it looks beautiful. Kinda makes me want to bake bread more often.