Why does mine look different than the cookbook pictures???

While my lovely wife Tegan does most of the everyday cooking, I like to hunt for new and exciting recipes, make them, and see how badly I screw them up. Tegan says I’m too hard on myself and that my cooking always turns out pretty well, but she has to say that because she’s my wife and if she doesn’t I might stop feeding her. (Just kidding, sweetie! Please don’t wash your pink socks with my white shirts!)

Tonight I volunteered to cook a couple of dishes I found in the latest addition to our cooking library: Gregg R. Gillespie’s 4-Ingredient Recipes. See, I have the culinary equivalent of Attention Deficit Disorder, so I usually pass on a recipe if it’s over a hundred words and has more than four or five ingredients. This book is perfect for me because every recipe fits on a tiny page and even comes with a full-color picture.

Today, two pretty pictures caught my attention and I managed to read the recipes long enough to realize we had the ingredients to make these dishes! So without further ado, I present the stuff that happened when I threw food around the kitchen…

Chicken Kiev

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
5 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 stick butter or margarine

Lightly grease a baking sheet and put it in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F.

Beat the egg in a bowl. Beat it good. Cut the butter stick up into small chunks. Place half the chunks on each of the chicken breasts. Roll each breast up and pin them closed with a toothpick. Roll each breast in the bread crumbs, dip them in the egg, and then roll in the bread crumbs again.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the breasts in the oven for 10 minutes or until they’re all brown and yummy looking.

Put the breasts on the baking sheet and bake them in the oven for 5 more minutes or until even yummier looking.

Serves two for about $4.00.

Carrot and Apple Casserole

2 c. baby carrots
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sliced apples (I like to leave the peels on, but you don’t have to)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 T. butter or margarine
2 T. honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking dish (and make sure you have a cover for this dish unlike stupid me who didn’t read the recipe in full first).

Combine the carrots and water in a saucepan and cook on low heat for about 12 minutes. Drain the carrots and then combine them in the baking dish with the apples and honey. Slice up the butter and throw it on top. Cover the dish and bake for 30-35 minutes. Take it out of the oven and sprinkle the nutmeg on top.

Serves three for about $2.50.

Yeah, the book cheats a little bit and doesn’t really count things like butter or water as “ingredients.”

I’ll share some more great recipes from this and other places as I work up the courage to try them, but you can always get this book and check it out for yourself.