September 2010 Menu

I have three general impressions of September's menu.  The first and most impressive is that it was a hit with the guys.  No moaning and complaining and several compliments.  Refreshing.  The second is that although I wouldn't necessarily label this menu "labor intensive" I felt like I used every dish, pot, pan and utensil I own.  Mr. #1 came in after two dishes were finished and declared a half time so he could clean the kitchen.  (He's nice like that).  Lastly, I have to start remembering to look at servings/portion sizes.  I am still in the "cook for a crowd" mode and there's always too much food!

I made the dessert first.  Discovered I'm not a fan of phyllo dough.  The menu clearly indicates "frozen phyllo dough."  But I'm here to tell you that phyllo dough is only meant to be used in a thawed state.  I managed to piece it together - but I was not using "sheets" - I was using "strips."  Skinny strips at that.  It is rather forgiving, however, and I used the butter as my glue to hold it together.  Once I had my "sheets" prepared, I looked at my filling and thought..."there's no way all that will fit."  I was right.  About 1/4 of the filling ended up as compost.  You will see from my photos that the front view looks picture perfect, but when you move around to the back - there is leakage.  :)  I did put the glaze and cinnamon on when it was out of the oven, but declined to add more powdered sugar.  It was definitely sweet enough. It has a nice autumn flavor and the phyllo dough has a texture I enjoy.  I don't know how the menfolk like it yet - they are too full from the other dishes.

Next I made the macaroni & cheese.  I didn't have quite enough gruyere and too much cheddar - but the ounces worked out.  I was skeptical about putting tomatoes on top, but that turned out to be my favorite flavor of the whole menu.  Son #1 was positive about the flavor, not too keen about the texture.  He likes "smooth and creamy."  Because I had baked it first and it sat for nearly 1/2 hour while everything else cooked, it may have cooled off too much.  Mr. #1 was definintely a big fan of this.  Note: Like many of Barefoot's recipes - I cut back on the salt.  This one calls for 1 tablespoon!  I used about 1 1/2 tsp.

Chicken wings w/ barbecue sauce.  Easy preparation!  Overlooked "turmeric" on the ingredient list, so would be interested to discover what that adds to the taste.  Also wasn't prepared to purchase "creamed honey" because of the expense, so I cut down the tablespoons to 2 and used regular honey.  Again, this was a hit with the guys...they would like to have it again.  And contrary to my earlier comment - there wasn't a whole lot of these left.  They went fast!

Son #1 made the potatoes.  They have good flavor and great aroma while baking.  The unanimous comment about this recipe is that with the macaroni and cheese - potatoes could have been given a miss.  I agreed with this comment - especially for the crowd we had (three!).  But I would keep the potatoes if serving a crowd or having a football party! 

Thanks for the tasty treats Mr. & Mrs. #2!  Touchdown!