FRENCH CREPES WITH BECHAMEL

This recipe comes from MC^2 Creative Living. I'm reviewing the crepes and bechamel only, not the filling. I used one large boneless skinless chicken breast, baked, shredded and chopped, mixed with cooked and chopped broccoli florets, about one teaspoon cooked onion, dash of garlic powder, salt and pepper. I filled each crepe (this mixture was enough for 4) with filling, topped it with a little Monterey Jack cheese and sauce, then rolled it up, covered the top in more sauce and cheese then baked them for 12 minutes. 

The crepes turned out great. I used 1/4 c. batter in a pan with a 7" bottom and each one took 2 minutes to cook over medium-high heat. It made 8. The sauce is basic and easy to make. I didn't use nearly as much salt as called for and it was thinner than I wanted it so next time I'll use less milk, at least a couple tablespoons worth.

I give the crepes 5 stars but the bechamel 4.5 stars because it's a little too thin.

CHEESY AU GRATIN POTATOES from Betty Crocker

These come from Betty Crocker. The recipe is simple. The sauce was a little too thick and too cheesy and should have been thinner. I did bake this covered, as I always do for potatoes, and that took about 70 minutes, then another 15 uncovered. I didn't put cheese and breadcrumbs on top. I always have a problem with my cheese curdling so it did in this recipe, which is not a big deal.

I give this 4 stars because of the sauce being too thick.

HAMBURGER POTATO CASSEROLE from South Your Mouth

This comes from South Your Mouth. I made an alternate version of this. I used a 10.25"/2.5 qt. pan. I omitted ground beef completely. I used two large russet potatoes that weighed less than two pounds total. I mixed up the sauce recipe but only needed 1/3 of it, which was one cup, and froze the rest. I omitted salt because the condensed cheddar soup was very salty. I layered 1/2 c. sauce between each of the two layers of potatoes, which was just enough sauce to cover the top. I sprinkled a light layer of pre-shredded cheddar cheese between each layer. This baked in 75 minutes. It's very easy to make but I don't like the flavor of the condensed soup so I wouldn't make this again. I do make a pretty similar version that uses condensed cream of mushroom soup, milk, shredded cheddar, paprika, salt, pepper.

CORNMEAL JOHNNYCAKES from The Spruce Eats

This recipe is from The Spruce Eats. My batter was runny, worse than pancake batter and I did nothing wrong. I even added an 1/4 c. flour to thicken it but it didn't help much. I left out the sugar and added 1/4 t. chili powder, 1/8 t. cumin, 1/8 t. each onion and garlic powder, and about 1 t. dried parsley. I used 1/4 t. fine salt, not 1 t. kosher salt, but it needed a little more. I made a cheese sauce to drizzle on top using Monterey Jack cheese. I got ten. These taste great but I'm highly irritated that these turned out thin and so unlike the ones in the photo on the site an in the demonstration video. My batter was too runny yet someone left a comment on that recipe that they needed MORE milk, implying that there's was too thick. 

I can't rate these accurately, I don't think. I will make these again using just half the amount of milk, more salt and I'll add shredded cheddar cheese to the batter.

CORN CAKES from Kitchen Trial and Error

These come from Kitchen Trial and Error and they're awful. Very very very dry and taste like nothing more than tortilla chips. I made half the recipe, left out the cheese because I used a Parmesan cheese sauce on them, and added 1/2 c. finely chopped chicken breast and I can't even taste it.

I grade these an F.

BEST CHICKEN TAMALE PIE from Delish

This recipe comes from Delish. I've made it about four times now, twice with ground beef and twice with shredded chicken. I don't add cooked onion because you've got all the flavor you need in the taco seasoning and enchilada sauce. I used milk in the cornbread mix instead of sour cream and I leave out the corn from the mix and add it to the chicken mixture instead. I used a 9" x 1.5" cake pan. The cornbread layer is a little too thick to suit me so I need to leave a little bit out next time, about 1/3 c., which I forgot to do this time. This is always very good and very easy to make.

I grade this an A.

 

MASHED POTATO CAKES from Cook's Country

This recipe is from Cook's Country. These taste exactly like what they are...mashed potatoes seasoned with cheese, salt, pepper, and chives ( I used white onion). They were an awful lot of work and I wouldn't make them again despite them tasting good. The full recipe, which I made, makes a lot so you may want to make half.

I grade these an A in flavor.

ALFREDO SAUCE from Cooking Classy

This recipe is from Cooking Classy. It turned out great. I used store brand parmesan cheese and it was good. I did use a little garlic powder instead of fresh garlic because I'm not too fond of garlic in any form. I used a little onion powder too, and fresh cracked black pepper and a small pinch of salt. I do think the one tablespoon of flour was unnecessary because the cheese thickens up the sauce a lot. To the finished sauce I added broccoli florets that I cooked in the pasta water along with linguine, half a pound, and I used the breast meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

I grade this an A.

PAN FRIED CHICKEN CROQUETTES from AllRecipes

This recipe is from All Recipes. I've made them four times. The last two times I made half and got three large patties. I use one large boneless, skinless chicken breast, baked then shredded and chopped finely. I use unseasoned bread crumbs, not seasoned, and I use onion powder, not minced onion. I don't use cayenne powder. I use slightly less bread crumbs in the mixture than called for. I form the patties before I chill the mixture, not after, then chill until I'm ready to fry them. These are fully cooked except for the egg. I think they take about seven minutes per side to fry. I use a mixture of vegetable/canola oil and Blue Bonnet. I make gravy for them using one tablespoon butter, one and a half tablespoons flour added after butter has melted, and 3/4 cup canned chicken broth, salt, pepper. It makes just enough for three.

I grade this an A+

THE BEST HOMEMADE ENCHILADA SAUCE RECIPE from Skinny Taste

This comes from Skinny Taste and is far from the best. I made half the recipe. It uses Mexican spices added to tomato sauce and chicken broth. I used regular chili powder, not Mexican hot and a lot less chipotle than called for, only a little more than 1/2 teaspoon of pured chipotle in adobe sauce, and that was pretty spicy. I made enchiladas with it using half of this crepe recipe in place of flour or corn tortillas. I made the crepes 7". I made the same filling as the one I used in the recipe on this post called Chicken Enchiladas Verdes.

I grade this an C because of the high amount of heat the recipe called for and it's salty. I don't know how anyone could handle that much heat.

CHEESY GROUND BEEF QUESADILLAS from Girl Heart Food

This recipe comes from Girl Heart Food. The filling is typical mexican spices, including chili powder and cumin and is very good. I omitted chipotle powder since I didn't have it, omitted the small amount of beef broth and used half the amount of garlic powder. I did dissolve the dry ingredients and tomato paste in 1/3 cup hot water and added that to the cooked mixture.

I grade it an A.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM CRÊPES from Entertaining With Beth

I'm reviewing the crêpe and bechamel sauce recipes only from Entertaining With Beth, not the filling. Instead of using leeks and mushrooms as called for, I used onion and spinach and added 1/4 c. Swiss cheese to the sauce. The crêpes couldn't have been any easier to make, and I made them the night before in a 9 1/2" skillet. The recipe made nine, way more than I needed, and I froze the rest.

My filling was half of a sweet onion cooked fully, twenty minutes, then I added two shredded and chopped cooked boneless and skinless chicken breasts, frozen, thawed, drained chopped spinach, and a dash of garlic powder. I used equal parts heavy cream and milk (called half and half) for the sauce instead of whole milk. I spread the top of the rolled up crêpes with sauce and sprinkled with cheese and dried parsley before baking. This tasted great and each step was very simple though time consuming overall.

I grade this an A.