Ok I made the mistake here of putting this in the fridge. I thought oh its pudding I can just make ahead of time and pop in the fridge to eat later. It was not that good cold. The bits that I scraped from the pot right after making and ate seemed pretty tasty though.
What I liked - Its dessert, enough said. I liked the spices added to the chocolate.
What I didn't like - I can not explain why it being cold made such a difference, maybe it was the texture. I didn't finish my portion and it is dessert so really to me that says something.
My modification - Refrigerating it (bad idea) and I wasn't sure when the milk/egg combo began to thicken so I may have added the rest of the ingredients too late as it did not take 5 minutes for the pudding to start bubbling.
Cold I give this one star (I didn't eat it and it was dessert), if it was warm maybe 3 stars as those few little bites did taste good. This was my 3rd attempt at dessert with plated so far I have only liked 1/3 (the one I liked was the coconut chai rice pudding). Overall I think they are a bit pricey for dessert.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Orecchiette with Sausage
This was a pretty simple recipe which was nice. It tasted ok, had a nice amount of spice (I don't like things really spicy, just enough to make my mouth a little warm), really nothing stood out for me with this recipe.
What I liked - Spice level was perfect for me. Easy preparation, if I had been home this week probably could have made this on one of my work days. I like pasta. This made enough that my husband got to eat leftovers the next day for lunch (not as good the next day but thats to be expected).
What I didn't like - Not enough brown butter flavor, maybe this was because it got overshadowed by the sausage. Maybe browing the butter afterward then drizzling over the topped would have help instead of browning the butter them cooking the sausage in it. The directions for adding the cooking water were a little strange as you have to do it twice. Lack of vegetables.
My modifications - I think I made this exactly as written.
Overall probably another 3 star recipe. You may notice I tend to give most things 3 stars, my husband often teases me that I say most things are ok.
What I liked - Spice level was perfect for me. Easy preparation, if I had been home this week probably could have made this on one of my work days. I like pasta. This made enough that my husband got to eat leftovers the next day for lunch (not as good the next day but thats to be expected).
What I didn't like - Not enough brown butter flavor, maybe this was because it got overshadowed by the sausage. Maybe browing the butter afterward then drizzling over the topped would have help instead of browning the butter them cooking the sausage in it. The directions for adding the cooking water were a little strange as you have to do it twice. Lack of vegetables.
My modifications - I think I made this exactly as written.
Overall probably another 3 star recipe. You may notice I tend to give most things 3 stars, my husband often teases me that I say most things are ok.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sicilian style cod
I got this one more for my husband then myself as he is a big olive and caper fan, but I quite liked it myself. I generally get the more exotic Asian or Indian dishes but it seems this week it's mostly Italian.
What I liked - sauce for the fish was really yummy (assuming you like olives, capers and sun dried tomatoes). Potatoes were simply but yummy, actually ended putting the sauce on them.
What I didn't like- One of the pieces of fish was much larger then the other so even though I tried to move the thinner piece to the side of the pan that was cooler I still ended up over cooking it a bit.
My modifications - I didn't add the remaining parsley to the potatoes after they came out of the oven mostly because I am not a big fan of parsley. 3 minutes per side was too short to cook the larger piece of fish.
I probably give this 3 stars.
What I liked - sauce for the fish was really yummy (assuming you like olives, capers and sun dried tomatoes). Potatoes were simply but yummy, actually ended putting the sauce on them.
What I didn't like- One of the pieces of fish was much larger then the other so even though I tried to move the thinner piece to the side of the pan that was cooler I still ended up over cooking it a bit.
My modifications - I didn't add the remaining parsley to the potatoes after they came out of the oven mostly because I am not a big fan of parsley. 3 minutes per side was too short to cook the larger piece of fish.
I probably give this 3 stars.
Plated meal week of 3/16 - Braised Chicken with Gnocci
I didn't think I would like this as much as I did but it was the best meal this week.
What I liked - the sauce was really smooth and velvety on the tongue. I am a fan of dark meat chicken mostly because I think it stays moist when a chicken breast will often dry out.
What I didn't like - Dill, really just my preference but I am not a big fan of dill. Pulling the skin off chicken, just kind of gross, couldn't they just have given us skinless chicken.
My modifications - I didn't realize there were 2packets of butter so when browning the chicken I only used one, later I added the second packet to the finished sauce. Instead of returning the chicken to the pan on the bone after cooking I cut it up into bite sized pieces, really just made it easier to eat. I reduced the sauce much longer after adding the crime fraiche as I thought it was too watery, I really think this helped to overall dish. I didn't add the dill to my dish as I said above I am not a fan but hubby had it on his and didn't really like it either.
Overall I give this 4 out of 5 stars.
What I liked - the sauce was really smooth and velvety on the tongue. I am a fan of dark meat chicken mostly because I think it stays moist when a chicken breast will often dry out.
What I didn't like - Dill, really just my preference but I am not a big fan of dill. Pulling the skin off chicken, just kind of gross, couldn't they just have given us skinless chicken.
My modifications - I didn't realize there were 2packets of butter so when browning the chicken I only used one, later I added the second packet to the finished sauce. Instead of returning the chicken to the pan on the bone after cooking I cut it up into bite sized pieces, really just made it easier to eat. I reduced the sauce much longer after adding the crime fraiche as I thought it was too watery, I really think this helped to overall dish. I didn't add the dill to my dish as I said above I am not a fan but hubby had it on his and didn't really like it either.
Overall I give this 4 out of 5 stars.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Plated meal the week of 3/16 - Sunchoke and Kale Hash
Generally I get my deliveries on Tuesday but as I knew I would be going away I opted for a later Friday delivery so that I could bring my Plated meals with me to my cabin in Vermont. Honestly if you are renting a house somewhere in driving distance and not planning on eating out a lot, Plated is an excellent choice to bring with you.
So the first thing I made in my my very small not incredibly well equipped kitchen was the Sunchoke and Kale Hash.
I have only had sunchokes one other time and that was in another plated meal, and I wasn't that fond of them, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't like this one, but I was wrong. Probably give this a 3 out of 5 stars.
What I liked - I liked the addition of the currents, I love a little bit of sweetness in savory dishes. The sunchokes were not overwhelming in this dish but were definitely a major component, maybe having the dressing and all the other flavors in together helped, or maybe I am warming up to sunchokes. Love getting my vegatables.
Could have been better - They say to drain the quinoa, I only had a standard colander that I thought the quinoa would just flow right through, so I just gently drained out the water trying to keep as much quinoa in the pot as possible, there was still a little water in there but figured it would be absorbed by the time I was done with the other ingedients. I felt there could have been more dressing, of course they are trying to keep calories low but at 590 I thought it could have the extra dressing and still be pretty low.
My modifications - They say to add as much onion as desired so I used half the onion, I felt it was plenty, my husband who is not an onion fan picked some out.
I promise to have more photos next time.
So the first thing I made in my my very small not incredibly well equipped kitchen was the Sunchoke and Kale Hash.
I have only had sunchokes one other time and that was in another plated meal, and I wasn't that fond of them, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't like this one, but I was wrong. Probably give this a 3 out of 5 stars.
What I liked - I liked the addition of the currents, I love a little bit of sweetness in savory dishes. The sunchokes were not overwhelming in this dish but were definitely a major component, maybe having the dressing and all the other flavors in together helped, or maybe I am warming up to sunchokes. Love getting my vegatables.
Could have been better - They say to drain the quinoa, I only had a standard colander that I thought the quinoa would just flow right through, so I just gently drained out the water trying to keep as much quinoa in the pot as possible, there was still a little water in there but figured it would be absorbed by the time I was done with the other ingedients. I felt there could have been more dressing, of course they are trying to keep calories low but at 590 I thought it could have the extra dressing and still be pretty low.
My modifications - They say to add as much onion as desired so I used half the onion, I felt it was plenty, my husband who is not an onion fan picked some out.
I promise to have more photos next time.
Introduction
I started ordering through Plated about 2 months ago and I love it! So I thought I would start blogging about it and how I feel about each recipe as most are good but I have had a couple that I didn't care for.
About me. I am married, work part time and watch my toddler son the other part. Prior to my sons arrival I used to love going out to eat and cooking new and exciting foods. With my sons arrival going out to eat went down hill as did my cooking and it went even more down when he became a toddler. I really love food and found myself in a rut of making the same things over and over again, and while I am a fan of homemade mac n cheese it can get to be too much.
Generally I find that I can make 3-4 plates a week depending if I have plans outside of eating at home. Unless the recipe is super easy and quick I do not make them on days I go to work, but this is more because my son generally needs more attention on the days that I go to work.
My son is a pretty picky eater so he doesn't really eat my Plated but I am really happy now to be cooking and making good new food every week.
About me. I am married, work part time and watch my toddler son the other part. Prior to my sons arrival I used to love going out to eat and cooking new and exciting foods. With my sons arrival going out to eat went down hill as did my cooking and it went even more down when he became a toddler. I really love food and found myself in a rut of making the same things over and over again, and while I am a fan of homemade mac n cheese it can get to be too much.
Generally I find that I can make 3-4 plates a week depending if I have plans outside of eating at home. Unless the recipe is super easy and quick I do not make them on days I go to work, but this is more because my son generally needs more attention on the days that I go to work.
My son is a pretty picky eater so he doesn't really eat my Plated but I am really happy now to be cooking and making good new food every week.
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