Crostini, Green Chile Salsa, Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie, Ricotta Won Tons

Today was day 22 of cooking from THE BEST OF COOKING LIGHT. It was Super Bowl Sunday tonight (Go Packers!) and I decided to make a few of the appetizer recipes from the cookbook, and one of the dessert recipes. I cooked 4 recipes, and decided to feature them each in their own blog post, so I'll just post their titles, pictures, and a short synopsis here, and you can click on he links to find out more about each of them...

ROASTED TOMATO and GREEN CHILE SALSA; SALSA de MOLCAJETE
Very good fresh salsa recipe, check it out by clicking on the title above.

HERBED RICOTTA WON TONS with SPICY TOMATO SAUCE
Won Tons weren't very good, but the spicy tomato sauce was, probably won't make it again, click on the title above to find out more about this dish.

CROSTINI with GORGONZOLA, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, and FIG JAM

Very good, loved the flavor combinations; click on the title above for more about this dish.

BLACK BOTTOM BANANA CREAM PIE

Pretty good, most liked it a lot; click on the link for more about this dish.

So, we whittled down a few more recipes tonight while enjoying the big game (commercials and half time show for me). It's been a busy day for me, I've been cooking all day, starting with breakfast for our Bed and Breakfast guests, then making these 4 dishes, and 2 others that my hubby specifically wanted for game day (sweet potato fries and buffalo wings). I'm pooped and ready for bed, but will back tomorrow with more reviews of tomorrow's dinner.

43 recipes down, 504 more to go.

Crostini with Gorgonzola, Caramelized Onions, and Fig Jam

CROSTINI with GORGONZOLA, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, and FIG JAM

great flavor combinations...

All of us, except for our son in law, liked these crostini. I really liked the flavor combinations a lot. Toasted baguette with Gorgonzola cheese spread on it, caramelized onions, and a home made fig jam, it was excellent.

There was a lot of work to these with preparing the onions and the fig jam, but they were worth the effort. And I'm not a fan of Gorgonzola cheese by itself, but mixed with other flavors it's delicious.

We all agreed, well, most of us, that these were really good and definitely a dish I'd prepare again in the future.

43 recipes down, 504 more to go.

Herbed Ricotta Won Tons with Spicy Tomato Sauce

HERBED RICOTTA WON TONS with SPICY TOMATO SAUCE
Not a hit...

These did not go over well with the family at all. My hubby and I both thought they were just ok, our daughter didn't like them, and her hubby wouldn't even try them after he heard our daughter didn't like them. I think it was the amount of mint mixed in with the ricotta cheese that didn't go well with it. There was quite a lot of mint in them, and it was really overpowering.

The sauce, however, was good. The won tons definitely needed the sauce to help bring some more flavors to the won tons. Without the sauce, the won tons aren't very good by themselves.

Our overall impression with these, not good, and I won't be making these again.

42 recipes down, 505 more to to.

Roasted Tomato and Green Chile Salsa; Salsa de Molcajete

ROASTED TOMATO AND GREEN CHILE SALSA; SALSA de MOLCAJETE

very good...

This was a very good fresh, home made salsa. We all liked it very much and it's definitely worthy of making again.

One of the problems that I've had with some of the recipes in this cookbook, is that the directions are not always very clear or precise. For example, in this recipe it tells you to broil the tomatoes, garlic and jalapeno peppers, and to cool and peel the tomatoes and garlic, but not the jalapenos. I know from experience that you need to peel the skins and remove the seeds. The picture in the cookbook clearly does not show the seeds from the jalapeno peppers, but the directions do not tell you to remove them. A little more clarity in some of the recipes would be helpful, especially for a novice cook.

Another thing to note is that this salsa does not seem very hot at first bit, a bit warm, but not hot; however, when you continue to eat the salsa the heat does intensify and lingers for quite some time, so be prepared for that. My hubby was drinking milk along with all the spice we had tonight.

Final synopsis, the flavors of this salsa are good and is a definite keeper.

41 recipes down, 506 more to go.