Hits and Misses

I'm still cooking every Monday night. But I've been struggling lately to find easy, tasty meals. A couple case studies that were mostly misses:

Portobello mushroom parmigiana

Giant mushroom caps stuffed with marinara and cheeses. Cut the stems off, clean the black gills out and roast for a few minutes.

Then load each upturned cap with marinara, parmesan, mozzarella and set in the oven with lots of olive oil and garlic and cherry tomatoes.

Top with breadcrumbs. Serve with salad -- in this case marinated artichokes (from a jar) over lettuce.

Make sure the wine is red. Make sure it is good. This was. 

Check with your dining partner to make sure it's okay. He said it was. But I thought they were not worth the effort and the mushrooms weren't anything special.

Okay, another case:

Chicken and spinach cream lasagna

The cream sauce was too rich, the top lasagna noodles got crusty and it was a mess. Rich and tasty, and my dining partner finished his and had seconds, but it wasn't great. The wine was good, though.

I learned you shouldn't substitute gruyere cheese for mozzarella. Did you know that? Don't do it next time. It melts and browns , but it's not the same.

I had better success with a hearty corn and bacon chowder one night. You can't go far wrong with soup. 

And an old classic I used to make for my boys, chicken marengo, was great. It's just chicken breasts simmered for hours in whole tomatoes and tomato juice, with celery chunks and pearl onions. Served over rice. Don't skimp on the oregano. That was good.

Chicken enchiladas smothered in cheese and chiles were good. And penne ala vodka topped with breadcrumbs and served with an iceberg wedge and cherry tomatoes was eaten with delight by my dining partner.

But my forays into NY Times recipes and online cooking sites have not yielded great results. I pick recipes that are too complex and time consuming and too rich for our simple tastes. Cooking isn't hard, but picking a suitable recipe really is! 

I'll keep going Monday nights, but I need to select better (easier, simpler) recipes. It's harder than it seemed it would be.