slacking in the kitchen

Remember that time when I said I would keep up-to-date with my posts?  Ha!  That so didn’t happen and I have a few meals to blog about before I will be all caught up.  This one is from about two weeks ago.

My boyfriend was not feeling very carnivorous that day (unusual) and wanted something other than a hunk of meat with side of veggies like I normally make, so I took the opportunity to try a recipe I thought looked delicious called ST. LOUIS TOASTED RAVIOLI.

Alright, so the picture actually turned out pretty good, but I chose the best looking pieces to use.  This recipe was a pain in the arse!  All was fine until the coating in breadcrumbs part because they refused to stick to the ravioli.  Granted, it could have been partly due to the fact that I used 1% milk rather than whole milk, but I wasn’t about to buy a whole quart (they didn’t have anything smaller) of whole milk just to use two teaspoons.  That combined with the fact that I could only fry a few at a time… I was not having fun in the kitchen.  And to top it all off, this recipe was the cause of this misfortune.  In the end, I thought it tasted alright and my boyfriend devoured it.  Too bad for him I will not be going through the trouble to make it again, though I think he mostly liked it because the store bought sauce we chose was excellent.

And then there was the side dish.  Even though the PAN-FRIED ASPARAGUS I make a lot is some of the best asparagus either of us have ever had, I decided to do something different with the same veggie and went with a recipe called ASPARAGUS WITH PECANS AND PARM.

However, I didn’t read the recipe close enough when I made this decision and didn’t realize it called for a basket-style steamer which I do not have yet.  Yes, I know there are other ways I could have gone about steaming the veggie, but I was lazy and just pan-fried it the same way I do for the other asparagus recipe but using the ingredients from this one.  It turned out alright, but I can’t really judge it fairly since I didn’t follow directions.

So what is the lesson here?  Follow the directions.  If it says whole milk, buy whole milk.  If it says to steam, then steam.  And most importantly, do not dip a fork in hot oil and then put it in your mouth, no matter how hungry you are.

Click the links below for recipes:

ST. LOUIS TOASTED RAVIOLI

ASPARAGUS WITH PECANS AND PARM