Chicken Barley Soup

Several years ago, Nate bought a Low-Glycemic cookbook from Deseret Industries (a local thrift store).  I  have been so impressed with the flavors in this book and how full everyone is.  Not everything is a success (I'm looking at you, Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Ginger Soup), but this book has definitely added some fun recipes to my files.  And here's another one.

So, this isn't a new recipe per say because I've cooked it before, but none of my family remembers me serving it in the past, so I'm going to count it.  This is a great recipe for a Sunday because it takes a while to poach the chicken and cook regular barley.  However, I "cheated" this time on a Tuesday with left-over shredded chicken from another meal and "quick barley" which was all I could find at the store.  The chicken was a little dry versus previous time when I've poached and cubed it myself, but it wasn't horrible.

I took a knife cutting class a couple of years ago, so I got to practice my knife skills with the carrots, celery, and onions.  Yay for vegetables.  I left out the mushrooms (eww, gross), but hesitantly added the spinach.  Glad I did.  It was fun to watch it shrivel up and it actually tasted pretty good in the soup.  Even the kids didn't complain, so that's a win.

In the end, this recipe gets 3 stars from us and will remain in my Winter menu rotation.  If you want a copy of the recipe, email me.

Milk Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake

Last week was a main course, today is dessert.  Last week was a brand new recipe, today is recipe that I've had in my file for almost 10 years.  Milk Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake also is a Better Homes and Garden's recipe from November 2011.  This recipe was chosen by my 5-year old as we were getting ready to go food shopping last Saturday.  She said it looked yummy and that we should try it.  So, we did.

I didn't make the Citrus Compote that it recommends, because I thought that might stretch what my family was willing to accept.  (Husband is not a big fan of fruit on most desserts.). I had bought some strawberries to slice and put on top, but I ran out of time.

Prep time for this recipe was a lot longer than I thought.  First the eggs needed to be room temperature.  Okay, guess I'll wash dishes for 30 minutes.  Then I totally messed up melting milk chocolate chips in the microwave.  (Forgot to wash my measuring cup between ingredients.  The milk, eggs, and butter kind of cooked with the chocolate chips into a muddy mess.)  The recipe said whisk instead of blend, so I used whisked by hand instead of my hand mixer.  The final cake was rather flat and I think this is part of the reason.  The other is that it didn't say to let the melted butter cool.  I think I may have cooked part of the eggs when I added the hot butter.

I did line the pan with parchment paper in addition to buttering and flouring the sides of the pan.  That made for easy extraction at the end.  The cake needed to a serrated knife to slice it.  I don't know if this was because of the crust or the fact that after 45 minutes, the cake still wasn't cool.

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If you couldn't tell already, this recipe did not go well.  The marbling effect worked, but the milk chocolate flavor wasn't prominent like the recipe tag-line said.  (I would probably use dark or semi-sweet chocolate next time.). My cake loaf didn't rise much because of how dense it was.  However, it was fully cooked.  The cake takes 45+ minutes to cool, which irritated the whole family because they had to wait.  The flavor reminded me of Amish Friendship Bread but without the sugary top layer.

The family thought it was "fine" but nothing special.  So, it earns 2 starts from the Call Family because it wasn't worth the effort for the mediocre results.  Good-bye to this one.

Herb Skillet Pastitsio

 I enjoying finding and trying new recipes from my Better Homes & Garden magazine.  Looking through a new issue is one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday before going food shopping.  This recipe for Herb Skillet Pastitsio comes from the January 2021 edition.  I'm always looking for a new way to jazz up hamburger, so I thought I'd try this one.

Anyone who knows me from my childhood knows that I am a picky eater.  While my tastes have broaden slightly as an adult, I'm still cautious when trying a new recipe.  So, the ingredients in this recipe seemed pretty safe: hamburger, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, oregano, ziti pasta, and Laredo sauce.  The only ingredient I questioned was the cinnamon.  In my mind, cinnamon is a great dessert spice, but doesn't belong in a savory dish.  I am intrigued that the recipe uses both a red tomato sauce and a white Alfredo sauce at the same time.  But I'm trying new things this year, so here we go.

The process of making this recipe was pretty easy.  It was a little more work than making Hamburger Helper, but over all not too bad.  I think it took me 45 minutes to complete (the recipe states 40 minutes.).  I liked putting the whole skillet into the oven under the broiler was a pretty ingenious way to brown the Alfredo sauce.  (It also tricked my husband and kids into thinking it was just melted mozzarella cheese.)

I didn't have fresh oregano, but other than that, my picture looks pretty similar to what was in the magazine.

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So, how did it turn out?

Fine.  Like I wrote earlier, this recipe reminded me a lot of Hamburger Helper.  The cinnamon made you think "this is different" with each bite.  I wonder if using ground lamb would make a difference and worked better with the cinnamon.  The recipe suggests lamb as an alternative protein.  (I've only had lamb as a child with mint jelly sauce.)  I really liked the combined tastes from both red and white sauces.

How did the family like it?

Nate didn't like it at all.  While he ate it, I did get a "don't ever make that again" look from him.  Message received.  He doesn't like either excessive cinnamon or Alfredo sauce.  Oops.

Two of four kids liked it, but the other two were on the verge of throwing a tantrum.  

Overall, this recipe receives 2 stars from the Calls and will be purged from my recipe file.  The unique flavors that I didn't mind, weren't worth the dirty looks from half my family.

New Year, New Project

I'm really good at starting resolutions in January.  Finishing them is another thing.  So, I can not promise to blog every week.  But I will try.

While preparing for food shopping last Saturday, I noticed how large my folder of recipes to try someday had become.  Well, someday has arrived.  

One of my 2021 resolutions is to try one of these recipes that I have collected over the last 13+ years of marriage.  The recipe will be prepared and then analysed on ease of making, taste, and how the adults and kids like it.  (Because we all know kids and grown-ups have different taste buds.)

I'm not looking for new recipes.  Trust me, I have more than enough for this year and more.  If you'd like a copy of a recipe, let me know.

Thank you to my dear friend Lisa for this cute apron for Christmas!