Queso Blanco... There are certain foods that I crave and am completely unable to resist.    One of those foods is queso blanco.  This creamy cheese dip is finding its way on to the menus of  Tex-Mex restaurants next to the traditional orange chili con queso.  It is made with a variety of white cheeses and spices depending on where you buy it.      Of course, I decided to try making my own queso blanco, but most of the recipes...

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin Roast... I love pork products, and I love finding new ways to cook with this most versatile ingredient. I am not a big fan of pork roast, however.  Most of the pork roast I have had has been dry, tough, and flavorless.  Even with elaborate stuffing, injections, and coatings I have found most pork roast to be boring.   It is sad because most people I know love pork roast, including my husband. Ever the culinary adventurer,...

Five Spice Roasted Chicken Thighs with Peanut Rice... I don’t pretend to be an expert on Asian cooking.  Far from it. However, I know what I like, and I know what tastes good, and this chicken and noodle dish certainly does taste good!  The chicken and the noodles could stand alone as separate dishes, but I adore the spiced chicken with the peanut noodles. The noodles are important.  Certainly you could substitute whatever you have available, but the rice vermicelli...

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies...  It is a wonderful thing to have a good, trusty cookie recipe. It’s good because a trusty recipe can be changed, added to, and amended to create all kinds of different cookies.  I have a lot of recipes that are what I consider ‘base’ recipes.  They are fine on their own, but add a little of this and a little of that and you have a whole new dish that you can add to your rotation.    The ‘base’...

Cinnamon Roll Bread... Is there anything more comforting than the smell of warm cinnamon rolls?  If there is, I can’t think of it right now.       While I love the traditional cinnamon roll, and believe me I do, I thought it would be fun to take my cinnamon roll dough and make it into a swirled loaf.  I tried that very thing with my regular recipe and it was a disaster.  The buttery filling left the bread wet and the eggs and...

Chocolate Loaf Cake with White Chocolate Glaze... I don’t know about you but I love humble desserts, and of those desserts there is just something special about loaf cakes. They are not the prettiest desserts out there.  Often they are served unadorned or simply glazed.  Sitting next to a flaky croissant, a glistening napoleon, or a fluffy mousse they wouldn’t win the beauty prize, but looks can be deceiving.  Let’s be honest, because it is just...

Pot Stickers with Pork Filling – Daring Cook...  I decided, because I don’t have enough to do, that I would join The Daring Kitchen.  I know.  I know.   This month’s Daring Cooks Challenge is by Jen from Use Real Butter who challenged us all to make homemade pot sticker wrappers.    Overall, it was not terribly difficult, but it did take a little time to roll and fill the dumplings.  Of course, if you have friends and family willing to help, an...

Grilled Mushroom and Ricotta Pizza on Sourdough Wh... I have been on something of a pizza kick lately, and not those commercially prepared pies with flavorless cheese and mushy veggies. I can directly pin-point when this all started.  It began at the Mushroom Council lunch when Chef Kent Rathburn made us a grilled mushroom pizza.  I knew in that moment that I would be making a pizza with grilled mushrooms.  This is the result. I used mushrooms that were available at...

Baked Fish Tacos with Chipotle Dressing... I love warm weather food!  There is nothing like it, and when the temperature breaks the 95F mark I pull out my favorite Summer recipes. One such recipe is fish tacos.   Cool and crisp lettuce, creamy avocado, and crunchy fish wrapped in a corn tortilla is perfect for a light afternoon lunch, or a dinner on the patio with a cold beer.   There is just one problem with this dish, and that is deep frying the fish.   Of...

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting... Do you have some ripe bananas that aren’t good for anything other than baking?  Are you tired of the same old banana bread?  Then keep reading! I had some extra bananas that I had forgotten to eat with my breakfast cereal.  They were pretty black and really soft, and I knew that they were only good for baking.   I did not, however, want regular old banana bread.  Not that I have anything against banana...

Lunch at Abacus with the Mushroom Council... Today’s post is a departure from the norm.  Stay with me, there are a lot of good cooking tips to come. A few weeks ago, through the wonders of Twitter, I was offered the opportunity by The Mushroom Channel to attend a lunch hosted by the Mushroom Council.  I know what you are thinking.  There is a council for mushrooms?  Yes, indeed there is and they hosted a lovely lunch event for restaurant owners, food...

Soft Taco Stack... I’ll admit it.  I do not use my new slow-cooker enough.  I really don’t.   That is why I am going to try and make a habit of participating in Thoughtless Thursdays over at Pots and Plots.   For this edition of Thoughtless Thursday I made a Soft Taco Stack.  It is all the components of tacos, just arranged differently and cooked more slowly.  What you end up with is something like a Tex-Mex lasagna. ...