Duh squared.

Remember a few months ago when I was complaining about how recipes sometimes don't really tell you HOW? Because no one ever taught me how to cook. Sometimes I just don't know HOW. What I know, I pretty much figured out through trial and error. And it doesn't always work out... Well, Santa Brad to the rescue!

What a fun and pretty book! Recipes, tidbits, know-how, and lots and lots of pics. Love it love it.

I might not be debearding any mussels anytime soon, but it's still good info. And I certainly need to know how to frost a cake. I think I make a pretty mean birthday cake, but I certainly make quite a mess of things, no matter how long I wait to frost it after it's cooled. Hmph!

And, it's already inspired two meals this week... Mmm!

Oven baked onion rings, you say? I've never even thought of making onion rings, but as soon as I saw this, I was all over it. (I was only making onion rings for one, so I had to fiddle with the recipe a little -- what follows made my seven onion rings, but I had a TON of goo left over, so you could probably get double out of the mixture.)

First up, the most potent onion I've ever met. (Seriously, I had to walk away.)

Then I mixed two eggs with 2 tablespoons of flour, a teaspoon or so of sugar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. I dipped all the onion rings then dumped them in a big bag.

Next I dumped about a cup of breadcrumbs into the bag and voila! Spread the rings out on a baking sheet, then coat lightly with Pam. And into the oven they go...

Bake at 450. The recipe says to bake for 5 minutes, rotate trays, bake another five minutes, flip rings, bake five minutes, rotate trays again, then bake a final five minutes. Because I was only baking 7 onion rings on one sheet, I basically just baked them for 10 minutes, flipped them, then baked them another 10 minutes.

I made Brad some oven fries and paired our sides with double Boca cheeseburgers for a healthy, vegetarian diner feast.

Yes, that is a Kraft single you see oozing out of my burger. I don't care. Yum.

I am super excited about this "duh! why didn't I think of that!" method of making onion rings (and perhaps many other "fried" veggies). I honestly didn't miss anything from your average fried onion ring, finding these perfectly crunchy and delicious. Now I just need to have an onion eater over for dinner so I can make more than seven at a time!

Broiled quesadillas? Of course. Duh!

I also never ever would have thought to broil quesadillas. Seriously, though, what a great idea! You can make several at once and you don't have to flip them, so all the goo doesn't fall out midway... I was all over it for dinner tonight.

Before:



After:



I filled tortillas with beans, cheese, fake chicken (which I love on its own but honestly wasn't the best addition here -- whatever it's seasoned with didn't quite match....), and tomatoes and mushrooms for me. Under low broil for three minutes and they're done. Then I plopped them on a comfy bed of lettuce.

Dang quesa-dillahhs.

Like I said, the fake chicken threw the taste of a little bit. But otherwise, I'm totally sold on this method. It really made the perfect little quesadillas, perfectly toasted and crunchy on each side -- without ANY flipping. And we got to eat hot food, together. Woohoo! Thank you, Santa Brad and Cooking Light cookbook.