Truffles

This week I was graciously given a nice budget of funds so that I could try out some recipes. The only requirement was that there had to be MEAT. It's not that I don't like meat, but I think when I read recipes that call for copious amounts of flavor they invariably turn out to be recipes for pastas, veggies, cheeses, desserts and drinks. I also make a lot of recipe decisions by looking at the pictures, and a picture of steak flavored one way looks just like a picture of steak flavored a different way. Unfortunately, meat recipes just have to work that much harder to get my attention.

While I was shopping, I happened to come across Black Truffle Butter. At $17 for 4 oz of the stuff, it's definitely expensive, but I just couldn't resist it. I think I'll have to cook up a steak or something and smother it in the butter. I found it, of all places, in the cheese section at Market Street.

Most of the recipes I find come from random internet searches and from watching a few shows on The Food Network (notably, Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee and Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis*)

Also, before anyone asks, no, I don't plan which side would go with which meat. From a chef's standpoint, I'm probably matching the worst combinations I could, but my brain just isn't wired that way. It would be nice if it could be, but so far I mostly match recipes that I think I can cook simultaneously without somehow getting overwhelmed. That's my criteria.

This week's meals were the following:
Easy Orange Chicken Stir-fry
and Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes

The orange chicken turned out well, but it was so very different in taste and consistency from any other orange chicken I've had. I'm hoping to try out a few more recipes for it so that I can find my happy gooey orange sauce that I like so much.

The tomatoes were awesome. I really liked them a lot. Also, the recipe called for balsamic vinaigrette, so I combined a couple recipes I found and made my first dressing. There's enough left over that I'm planning to go buy some makings for a few salads to have this week. I think it might go really well with a spinach salad as well.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
and Lemon and Cheese Risotto

I'm actually not sure if I've ever had Salisbury Steak before, but this turned out great. From what I've been told, the predominate feature is the onions added to the meat, but for disgruntledgrrl I made a couple patties without onion. There were plenty of other ingredients and flavors to make up for it though.

I know for a fact this is the first time I've had risotto. I was very surprised. This recipe will be great for summertime and could easily be adapted with orange instead of lemon. I also see a tomato and basil risotto recipe that might be really nice as well.

Future recipes to be tried:
Grilled Prosciutto, Soppressata, and Mozzarella Panini
Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes
Spinach Salad in a Parmesan Frico Cup
Creamy Artichoke Soup
Mango Peach Sangria
White Hot Chocolate
Chocolate Macchiato
Espresso Martini

*As a complete aside, if you can watch/tivo Everyday Italian's Dating Tips for the Bachelor episode, you'll get some great recipes AND there's eye candy for both boys and girls, as while Giada is cute as a button, her brother is equally hot.