Baleada Tortillas I - loser!

http://cocinahondurasymas.blogspot.com/2010/03/baleadas-catrachas.html

This recipe sort of bombed. I put in 2.5 TBSPs of soda instead of tsps, and it tasted horribly bitter. The recipe needed more than twice the liquid called for as well (I did 1 cup plus a little bit of warm milk). I will try another recipe before I do this one again in tsps.

Ketchup

I made some homemade ketchup that is fermented, based in a 3/4 recipe of this: http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-ketchup/ .  I would have used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, but I didn't have fish sauce so went with the other.

I used maple syrup in the recipe. And I don't have raw apple cider vinegar, only regular, which is what I used.

I have used this twice. Once as a topping for meatloaf, which turned out very well. Meatloaf topping is nice when it is sweet, and I know some meatloaf toppings tell you to mix brown sugar with ketchup. I used straight homemade ketchup, and it was every bit as sweet.

The second time I used it was as regular dipping ketchup. And it was horrible! It is way too sweet. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but the maple syrup flavor made me sick due to how sweet it was. I definitely will not be using this for dipping, and probably won't make it again.

Pot Roast

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pot_roast/

This did not work well. I followed the directions and cooked it in the oven, at 200 degrees. The meat was cooked. I added potatoes and carrots an hour before I took it out of the oven. They were nearly raw. The recipe said to add carrots only 10 minutes before taking it out of the oven so I thought an hour would be plenty.  I had to dump out all the liquid into a pot and move the carrots/potatoes into it and boil it for a long time for it to be cooked.  Clearly the vegetables should have been put in much earlier. I'll have to look for a better recipe for an oven pot roast. The pressure cooker pot roast worked so well, so I might just do that again. I'd have to cut the meat into sections to make it fit though, if it is a larger roast.

Portobello Mushrooms and Polenta

This is a recipe from my San Francisco chronicle cookbook.

This was very different fare than we're used to, and I had strong aversion to one of the ingredients. David adored it though. I think it is my strong sense of smell that made me sensitive to the white truffle oil. I halved the recipe.

4 whole portobello mushroom, stemmed

1/4 cup olive oil

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1 T chopped garlic

2 t chopped fresh rosemary

1 t ground pepper

1 t salt

3.5 cups water

3/4 cup polenta

1/4 cup mascarpone at room temp

1 T white truffle oil

One day ahead: Rub both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil, thyme, garlic, rosemary, pepper, and salt. Cover the mushrooms and refrigerate overnight.

1.Bring the water to a boil in a heavy pot. Whisk in the polenta, reduce heat low and cook until thickened and cooked. Stir constantly.

2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3.Combine the mascarpone and truffle oil and set aside at room temperature.

4.Place the marinated mushrooms in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.

5.To serve, divide the polenta among serving plates. Top each serving with a mushroom and a tablespoon of mascarpone mixture.

Serves 4.

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I added some garlic to the polenta to give it more flavor. Next time I make this, I won't use any truffle oil. It is too strong for me.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spaghetti-and-Meatballs-AllAmatriciana-356791

This recipe was a disappointment for me. I halved the whole thing, except I forgot to halve the onions in the sauce. Also, I had to finish in a hurry so the onions weren't as soft as they should have been. I left the bacon out of the sauce also.

I couldn't find panko breadcrumbs so used regular. The meatballs were sort of falling apart, but were good. THe sauce, however, was not that great. At all. and the overwhelming presence of sometimes crunchy onion made me dislike this dish. Of course, if I'd cooked it to perfection it might have tasted better, but I think there are better meatball and sauce recipes out there.