Crack pie

I was super excited for this recipe. I mean, read the name. Crack. Pie. But I didn't even take a picutre of it because I took one bite and threw it out. I know there's an entire stick of butter in the recipe, but that's all I tasted when it was done. I have no clue what went wrong. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd be happy to try again!

Crack pie-found on Savory Simple, original recipe from Christina Tosi at Momofuku Milk Bar
Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes, plus chilling time overnight
Serves 8
Crust

• 9 tablespoons butter, softened and divided
• 5 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup plus two tablespoons old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon nonfat milk powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted, slightly
• 6 1/2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter with 4 tablespoons brown sugar and sugar in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, mix until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add egg and mix until pale and fluffy. Add in oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt until well blended. Turn out into greased baking dish and bake for 18 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cookie is cooled, crumble into a medium bowl with the remaining brown sugar and butter until moist enough to stick together. Press into a 9-inch pie pan that has been greased with cooking spray. Be sure to press the cookie up the sides of the pie dish. Set aside.

For the filling, whisk the sugars, milk powder and salt until well blended. Add the butter and whisk until well blended. Add the cream, egg yolks and vanilla extract and whick until well blended. Pour into crust and place pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet before placing in the oven and baking at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes or until filling starts to brown and is set. Cool pie for 2 hours on wire rack. Chill overnight. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Queso Dip

I was so excited when I found this recipe on Pinterest as queso dip is one of my favorite things when I go out for Mexican food. However, this did not turn out very well. I don't know if I did something wrong, or didn't buy the right cheese or what. It never got to that smooth consistency and just didn't taste good. It pretty much looked like a garlic butter, which was very odd. Maybe one of you can figure it out?

Update 11/16/2013
I tried this again. And pretty much got the same result. See the picture below. It did not get smooth even after many many minutes of stirring. And it just looked like butter. I tasted it and it did taste okay, but it's not that appetizing to look at so I won't be making this again. So disappointed.

Queso Dip-adapted from The Royal Cook
Total Time: 10 Minutes
Serves 10

• 1 1/4 pound block white American cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup diced green chiles
• 2 pickled jalapenos, chopped
• 1 ounce pickled jalapeno juice
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup cold water
• pinch of cumin 

Put all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and cook in microwave on high for 5 minutes, stirring every 1 minute. Serve with chips.

Creamy Deviled Eggs

I never remember how to boil eggs and always have to look it up. This website helped a lot! I wouldn't say I love deviled eggs, but I definitely don't hate them. I decided to try it. The picture of these looked so good, but in the end, they were a little salty for me. I wouldn't make this recipe again (1.5/5), but will continue to search for one!

Creamy Deviled Eggs-adapted from the Taste of Home's Cooking School Magazine
Total Time: 30 Minutes
Makes 6 Servings

• 6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and havled
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 rounded teaspoon white pepper

Remove egg yolks; discard all but four halves. Place the reserved yolks in a food processor. Add cream cheese, yogurt, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon dill weed, celery salt, onion powder, and pepper. Process just until smooth; adjust seasonings if necessary.

Spoon 1-3/4 teaspoons filling into each egg white half. 

Chopped Taco Salad with Shrimp

I absolutely love love LOVE tacos! I've recently learned to try fish tacos as well. So this recipe was a perfect blend of an old favorite and a new try. I was really excited to try this recipe, and, unfortunately, it fell very short for me. The dressing just wasn't good whatsoever. I'm just glad I tried it before putting it on the salad, so we could salvage most of it. I thought I'd still post it even though its a 1.5/5 for you to see how it went, but let me know if you have any suggestions.

Chopped Taco Salad with Shrimp-adapted from health.com

Serves 4

Total Time: 30 Minutes

• 2 lemons, thinly sliced
• 2 limes, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces romaine lettuce, chopped
• 20 large shrimp, peeled and devined (about one pound)
• 4 (6-inch) tortillas
• 1 large ripe tomato, diced
• 1 peeled avocado, diced

Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat; coat lightly with cooking spray. Quickly grill the citrus slices in batches, just until browned (about 1 minute per side); transfer to a cutting board, and finely chop. Transfer citrus to a medium bowl with any collected juices. Add the oregano, olive oil, salt, and pepper; mash with the back of a spoon to combine. Divide dressing in half.

Arrange lettuce on a serving platter; lightly coat the grill again. Grill the shrimp, in batches, until opaque, brushing with half of the lemon-lime dressing (about 2 minutes per side); transfer to the platter. Warm the tortillas on the grill until slightly charred (about 1 minute per side), brushing lightly with some of the remaining dressing; transfer to the platter.

Stir diced tomato into remaining lemon-lime dressing. Arrange avocado on the platter. drizzle with remaining dressing.

Mango Loaf Cake

I was glad I came across this recipe while mangoes were so in season. However, in the end, the recipe didn't quite turn out. I didn't like the consistency or the taste too much. The pudding made the cake soggy. I actually threw most of it out. Don't think I'll ever really try it again. But if anyone else has better luck & wants to try it, let me know!

Mango Loaf Cake

Mango Loaf Cake-adapted from Taste of Home

• 1 1/4 cups cold half and half
• 1 package (1 ounce) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 medium mango, peeled and diced
• 1 loaf angel food cake
• 1 medium kiwi, peeled and sliced

In a large bowl, whisk half and half and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in mango.

Cut cake horizontally into three layers; spread pudding mixture between layers and over top of cake. Top with kiwi. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Swiss Steak Dinner--Never Again

I have never cooked with cube steak before. Truthfully, this recipe has kind of ruined that again. Another new tag I've added to the blog is the Never Again. Recipes that we have tried but don't even want to experiment with will be tagged with this. Hopefully there won't be too many, but we all know that cooking is a bunch of experiments!

This recipe is fromt he cheap and easy cookbook I got as a gift. Sorry I forgot to take a picture.

Swiss Steak Dinner

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds beef cube steaks
• 29 ounce can tomato sauce
• 14 3/4 ounce can beef gravy
• 28 ounce package frozen diced potatoes with green pepper and onion, thawed

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; brown steaks. Drain; place in large stockpot. Add tomato sauce, gravy and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

The Changes

I did add seasoning to the sauce: garlic, onion, seasoned salt, and pepper. It was too bland without it.

The Lessons

If a recipe seems as though it has too much of something, it probably does. We thought all 28 ounces of tomato sauce would bee too much, but put it all in anyway. The amount of tomato was part of what ruined this dish.

The Verdict

1.5/5. We gave this more than a one only because we were able to eat it. We did not enjoy it. As I said before, the tomato sauce was too much. If I made it again, I would double the gravy and halve the tomato sauce.