2021 Project June/July :: several recipes

If you’re new here, I am currently working on a project where I make one meal per month from that month’s issue of Bon Appetit. I started this in January, if you want to go back to the beginning, here you go!

You thought I forgot to make the June/July Bon Appetit meal, didn’t you? Well, I did make several things from the issue, but I didn’t really document it. They had one issue for the two months. Here’s what I made:

Corn and Sausage Pasta

Corn and Sausage Pasta page 74

This was delicious. I was pretty free and easy with measurements. I let my heart choose. I used two ears of fresh corn that I cut from the cob. It was delicious! Greg said he liked it but I know he doesn’t really like corn IN things. He ate it all though and even my leftovers. I didn’t use enough basil. Use a TON, that would make it even better.

I would make this again in a heartbeat. In fact, I have some sausage in the freezer.

Sesame Lemon Pickles in a small bowl

Sesame-Lemon Pickled Cucumbers page 14

These were really good! At first, they were too vinegary, but then later after sitting they were a  little too sweet. But I love the ginger and pepper flavors. I liked the pickled jalapeno.

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi page 45

I’ve made this twice. The second time I threw a Gilbert’s Chicken sausage in there to roast with the vegetables. Also, I didn’t have arugula the second time, so I used spinach. Really good!

Drink made with Berry Shrub

Any-Berry Shrubs page 12

I also made the berry shrubs on page 12 but I only took one photo. I made Blueberry, Raspberry and Strawberry. They were a bit too vinegary for me. But I only had them with club soda, no booze.

2021 Project May :: Chana Masala

You thought I forgot to make the May Bon Appetit meal, didn’t you?

If you’re new here, I am currently working on a project where I make one meal per month from that month’s issue of Bon Appetit. I started this in January, if you want to go back to the beginning, here you go!

This month I chose the Chana Masala. I love Indian food, but I’m never really great at making it. It turns out good, but it’s never as good as restaurants’ Indian food. So I wanted to try this.

Chana Masala Ingredients

I made this May 27, 2021 for lunch. It was super easy, and tasty. However, I might have used too much cayenne. It was really hot! I halved the recipe since I only had one can of chickpeas and I knew I didn’t need 4 servings. I’m the only one who likes vegetarian dishes in this household.

Chana Masala

I didn’t have the coriander and cumin in seed form, just ground, so I skipped the step where you toast the seeds and then grind them. I hope the spices were toasted before ground and packaged. But even if they weren’t, it had great flavor.

Chana Masala
This was just before I started simmering it.

So other than that, I followed the recipe except I added spinach at the end for some color and vitamins. Here’s where I went rouge and added spinach.

Chana Masala almost done
This was after about 40 minutes of simmering. Just before adding cornstarch slurry.

I don’t know why it’s not as dark as the photo. It started out pretty dark but by the time it was done it was pretty yellow.

Chana Masala finished

Different lighting. Still not as dark as the photo.

Chana Masala finished

The garlic, onion, tomatoes, ginger, and maybe the rice (I’m not sure) were all from Imperfect Foods. Use my link and get $10 off your first box. Full disclosure, I get $10 too.

No more email?

Hi there,

Google announced that once again, they are discontinuing a valuable resource. Thanks, Google.

If you normally get an email from this site alerting you of a new post, it’s because you signed up through my RSS Feed, via Google. As of July, this will stop. So you will no longer receive these emails.

The alternative is for me to create my own mailing list, set up an account with Mailchimp, and then manually send you all emails when I update the site. Again, thanks, Google.

So if you would like to be alerted when I post a new blog post (I hope you do!), please fill out this form and you will be on the list! Don’t worry, you can unsub at any time.



Review :: Hello Fresh Crispy Cajun Sandwiches

This is the last meal I did with my most recent Hello Fresh delivery.  And my least favorite. But I think part of it is my fault. 

Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce

All was going along well until the instructions said to use half of the Cajun seasoning for one step and half for another.

Prep for Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce
Prep for Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce

I used it in the first step, in the flour and cornstarch mix. Then I just happily moved on to the rest of the dish.

stove with pans on it
Prepping for the dip and dredge

I got to almost the end, and realized that I still had the other pouch of Cajun seasoning too. I searched the recipe and couldn’t find where I was supposed to add it, it was already in the chicken dredge. So I improvised and added it to the mayo mixture which was just going to go on the buns.

Secret Seuce
Secret Sauce, or at least my version of it.

Then I realized, far too late, that I was supposed to sprinkle it (just the dry Cajun spice) on the chicken before dipping and dredging.

So I improvised once again and just spread some of the mayo mixture onto the raw chicken. I’ve done other recipes like this where you put a spread on the meat before cooking it, so I thought it would be OK.

I proceeded onto the rest of the recipe and everything seemed to go well.

Finished Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce
Finished Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce

Once I took a bite, I realized the error of my ways. The breading just slid right off the chicken and I ended up with a gluppy NO flavor mess. I can’t really explain the lack of flavor as the Cajun and sauce was on there and everything else was there. I ended up removing the bun, scraping off all the breading and eating the chicken by itself with the peppers.

Finished Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce
Finished Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce

That breading and process was just not good. It tasted like flour and that’s all.

I have done this process before, but used baking powder instead of cornstarch and it turned out great (see yesterday’s post on the Fried Tofu) I just didn’t like the cornstarch and I didn’t care for the way the recipe was written.  The ingredients are not listed in the order used, and My ADHD brain needs it really spelled out. Each piece at a time. In order.

The good:

  • The potatoes were super good (but simple, not really a recipe).
  • The pickle they gave me was excellent! I’ll have to look into that company.
  • The buns were really good, but I couldn’t eat more than a bite of them since they were all messed up with the hideous breading.

So I would personally not order this again. If I wanted to make a Cajun Chicken sandwich again I don’t need a meal kit to do it.

Finished Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwiches with Crispy Potatoes & Secret Sauce

I will continue to keep Hello Fresh in the meal kit rotation as the other two meals were super good.

Don’t do Social?

Hi there!

social media logos

Did you watch “The Social Dilemma”? Are you over social media? I get it. I doubt I ever will be, but I understand those who are. 

I do post a lot of extra stuff on Social Media. Things that are not really “big” enough to warrant a full blog post.


So if you are one who is social media averse, I made a page for you. 


Just click here  and you can see all the social media posts I create without having to use Facebook & Instagram. Note, you’ll see some doubles because I usually post the same things on those two platforms.


See, I’m looking out for you 🙂
xo Amy

That said, here are my links if you ARE using social media.

Instagram

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