TGIF

      After not cooking for 2 days, and the start of the weekend I am motivated to catch up my recipes this weekend.  I started with 4 for dinner tonight /(breakfast tomorrow)!
      In the effort to clean out the freezer with Labor Day approaching and the start of school coming, I needed to use up the ground beef.   I made Blue Cheese Hamburgers with Caramelized Onion, pg 447.  I did not take it to the extreme however and make the Hamburger bun recipe from scratch (pg 614).  Instead I added my own touch and used store bought Onion Rolls.  The touch of blue cheese in the center of the burger topped with onions was a really easy way to make a simple burger something special.
      This of course could have been done on a grill and been wonderful, but the one drawback I will have as I continue to cook and blog about certain recipes is that here in the city in a condo with no outdoor space, we can't grill.... I am sure it will pose a problem for the flavor of some recipes as I move through this book, but generally I find I can either skillet cook or broil as a substitute fairly sucessfully.  The burger recipe did call to be skillet cooked.  My vegetables however called to be grilled.   I made the Grilled Summer Vegetables with Pesto, Page 591.  Instead of grilling, I left them in a baking pan and roasted them at 500 and then upped them to broil to brown them.  It certainly doesn't give the charcoal flavor, but still equally tasty,  Its very simple cooked, coated in Olive oil,  oregano, Thyme Salt & Pepper.   It made me miss the days of my house with my garden and the summers of enough basil to keep the whole block stocked for the summer.  I used Tubed pesto instead of making my own (page 889) this evening, even though its so easy and I have made it many times.   I should make some and keep it in the freeezer for future use while Basil is still in season. 
      The good news about oven roasting is that it made the third recipe really easy to make.  I simply started by roasting the potatoes for Golden Potato Wedges, page 568.  As the potatoes got tender I just added the other vegetables right to the pan.  Easy and one pan clean up! I also have plenty of vegetables left to eat for my lunch tomorrow.
      And lastly I contemplated quite a few things for dessert, and came to the realization that I was slightly limited by the fact that I was out of eggs.   So my dessert this evening became a chocolate pudding from the other night, and instead I made Apple Crisp, Page 812.   Do you remember what old fashioned bakery crumb cake crumbs are like?  Buttery and dense and golden brown on top of the golden cake.  Crumbs like those are exactly why I refuse to use the food processor as the recipe calls for for the topping.   I use my pastry blender and do it by hand and then just use my hands.  I get big moist crumbs, and save myself the trouble of cleaning the cuisinart! The crisp looks beautiful and smells yummy. I am guessing that this will act as my breakfast tomorrow.
    So I have the whole day again tomorrow to conjure a few more recipes, we'll see what it will be.  Maybe something Irish to tribute Ted Kennedy as I watch the funeral?  We will see what tomorow brings.