cook's profile


Courtney
 
Home Town: Arlington, Texas, USA
Living In: Atlantic Beach, Florida, USA
Member Since: Mar. 2007
Cooking Level: Expert
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Southern, Mediterranean, Healthy, Dessert, Kids, Quick & Easy
Hobbies: Scrapbooking, Music, Wine Tasting
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London Broil Sauce
Chicken with Vegetable ribbons in papillote
Lemon white wine shallot sauce
Chicken with Vegetable ribbons in papillote
Turkey Ziti
About this Cook
My mom is a great chef from main courses to baked goods-(the woman's never bought a cake mix)so I learned alot from her and have always been interested in cooking and recipe development...my first job was at a bagel shop and I have been working with food ever since. My Hubby comes from a long line of chefs/restauranteurs/hoteliers and his father owns restaurants and we run one of them. We have 2 kids, Madison (2) and Jackson (5 months)and I can't wait to teach them to cook too!
My favorite things to cook
Because I have 2 young kids, I like to cook things that are quick and easy-my crock-pot gets a TON of use, but I also like to take on more challenging recipes as well when I have the time...I love to BBQ, Bake, and I like to cook mexican food...I make some killer enchiladas. We tend to try and go for the light healthy dishes though, like a stir-fry with lots of veggies, lean meats,fish, rotissire baked chicken, etc...I am always looking for something new to try, which is why I am SO glad I found this site!!
My favorite family cooking traditions
My mom used to make some amazing stuff, but by far my favorite was the birthday cakes...as a kid, I had THE most elaborate cakes...my friends (and their parents) were always wowed by how great my mom's cakes looked and tasted...I want to do the same for my kids- I just did a castle cake for my daughters 2nd birthday...used the wilton kit...turned out great! People kept asking me where we bought it!! My husband's family has some great traditions as well...they are Lebonese, but have always lived in the south, and his grandmother makes some killer middle eastern dishes with a southern twist...Awesome!! I really want to start some traditions of my own with my kids and hubby...like build your own belgian waffles on Christmas morning ( I thought of that one recently, but my kids are a bit young still), or making Valentines day treats to give to loved ones. Basically, I just can't wait to teach my kids to cook!
My cooking triumphs
Well, I have to say the castle cake was probably the biggest baking undertaking that I have attempted...but the first thing that I remember really cooking by myself was a cheese souffle when I was 9. It was perfect, and it made me want to learn to cook challenging items. I also developed an awesome enchilada verde lasanga with homemade tomatillo salsa, roasted garlic and poblanos, as well as my own healthier twist on baked ziti (I use fat free ground turkey, skim or fat free ricotta, and lots of veggies)Yum Yum!!
My cooking tragedies
The first time I made a pot roast it was a total disaster...I did'nt use my crock-pot.It was one of the worst meals my hubby and I had ever had! The only good thing that came out of that meal was that I was determined to make a good pot roast, so I googled it and I found this website!
Recipe Reviews 60 reviews
Black Bean Cigars
I made these for a party I had at my house, I used burrito sized tortillas and i cut them into pieces. They were a huge hit, everyone loved them, espically my VEG friends. I made 12 big ones, and there were none left. I will definately be making these again!!

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jun. 21, 2009
Home Style Macaroni and Cheese
I am looking for a good homestyle mac and cheese recipe, and I thought that with some tweaking, this was pretty good. I used only half of the cream cheese as others did, and I put some sour cream as one reviewer suggested. I wouldn't do that again. The cream cheese is a good addition, but it does make this really bland. So I added nutmeg (which I add to all my bechemel sauces, which is basically what this is)garlic, white and black pepper, onion powder and salt and almost doubled the cheese. My husband and I both agreed that while the flavor was fine, I could have doubled the amount of noodles that I used. There was way too much sauce in my opinion. While this recipe turned out fine after my changes, I think I'll keep looking for the perfect mac and cheese recipe!

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jan. 22, 2009
Super Easy Slow Cooker Chicken
This is one of those recipes that my husband looks at me like I am crazy while I am throwing it all together, then while he is eating all he can say is "MMMM! This is awesome!" I use my crock pot alot, and this is one of the easiest, best dishes that I have done in a while-it always amazes me how just 4 ingredients thrown in a pot can make such a yummy dinner! I did make a few changes, as usual. I used 2 cans of soup because when I put the cream of chicken& herbs it just didn't look like alot, so I also threw in a cream of chicken & mushroom as well; but to be honest you would probably be fine with just the one can. I would have also seasoned and browned the chicken breasts first but I was pressed for time to get it in the crock pot, but next time I will definately do that. I used bone in chicken breasts,white onion and fresh sliced baby portabella mushrooms;and I also threw in some garlic and additional herbs. My 3 year old is a huge mushroom fan (the kid won't eat a piece of pizza without mushrooms!), so she loved this but everyone else did too! I am always looking for recipes that I can add to my slow cooker meal rotation and this is definately a keeper!!Thanks for the recipe!!

2 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jan. 7, 2009
 
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