Experiment 1402

Date: 7 February 2009, Saturday
Venue: Home!
Occasion: Experiment 1402 - an experiment to test out my recipes for V-Day 2009! *blushes* My lovely family were my special guests....hahaha...my sister labels herself the "guinea pig/lab rat"...ish...

The end result - I was totally busy in the kitchen from 2+pm all the way 'til 9pm...wergh...yes, I took a LONG time to prepare everything MYSELF *bah* I can be quite slow in preparing food cos I want them to be precise & pretty! Bummer.

I targeted for a 4-course dinner, but in the end, only 3 appeared cos there was just toooo much food! Bad estimation. Furthermore, I didn't really follow any recipes...left it in the car & I didn't have my house keys to get out of the house!!! Super dangerous, I know, but what to do :S Thank God I'm fine...

Anyways, here are the dishes:

Appetizers:
Stuffed Mushrooms
Baked Herbed Potatoes

Main Course:
Spaghetti in Tomato Cream Sauce
- has oyster mushrooms, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, yellow onions, & prawns (in their shell)

Dessert:
Apply Betty (something like apple crumble) with Vanilla Ice Cream

Note: All recipes are based on estimation, so go ahead & experiment, cos that's what I did :P Oh yeah, I didn't have an oven when I did the experiment, so I used the oven toaster to bake...estimate the time yourself accordingly ;)

Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

I think this was the best...delicious, juicy, fresh mushrooms...I just lack the right sorta cheese *bummer*

Ingredients:
Swiss brown mushrooms (more 'crunchy')/Swiss white mushrooms (softer)
Parmesan cheese

Stuffings:
Chopped ham
Chopped red peppers
Finely chopped garlic
Ground black pepper
Mixed Italian Herbs
Salt
Cornflour (just a little to make the stuffing stick together)

Directions:

1. Wash mushrooms carefully, avoid causing the mushrooms to tear/split.
2. Remove stems from the mushrooms.
3. Mix all the stuffings' ingredients in a bowl.
4. Using a teaspoon, fill the mushrooms with the stuffings.
5. Sprinkle parmasen cheese on top of each mushroom.
6. Grease baking dish & place mushrooms onto the dish.
7. Bake mushrooms in oven at 350 degrees for around 15minutes.
8. Remove mushrooms from oven & serve hot :)

Baked Herbed Potatoes

This didn't turn out looking very delicious, but oooo....lovely taste...the potatoes are fragrant & it melts in your mouth!! Red potatoes are a must!

Ingredients:
Red Potatoes (highly recommended to get this type of potatoes)
Extra Virgin olive oil
Mixed Italian Herbs
Finely chopped garlic
Salt
Crushed Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash the potatoes clean. Cut potatoes in their skins into 6-8 pieces/potato & place the potatoes into a bowl.
3. Cover potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle some herbs, salt, & crushed black pepper to taste, & add the garlic into the potatoes as well.
   
4. Toss well to ensure all potato cubes are well-coated with the oil mixture.
5. Bake potatoes for about 45minutes, after which, turn the potatoes over & bake for another 15-20minutes.
6. Remove potatoes from oven & serve hot :)
   

Spaghetti in Tomato Cream Sauce
- no recipe to share as this is a real experiment & it didn't turn out as nice as I hoped & wish it to be -

Somehow no 'umph' la...sigh...looks nice though... :D *self-praise*

Apple Betty
by cooks.com

A lil burnt :( that's the difference with using an oven & an oven toaster *wergh*

Ingredients:
2 c. chopped apples
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. oatmeal
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar

Directions:

1. Mix apples, sugar and cinnamon and place in a greased casserole dish.
   
2. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar and butter; crumble over apples.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Serve hot with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream :)

*****

That's all for my experiment. I feel it's a lot of work...I was SO tempted to give up...but I made myself go through it for V-Day again :S Things people could do for love...

Happy experimenting & Happy Valentine's Day in advance!! :D

- Ruth