RECIPES #13 & #24

Cooking with Rachael Ray
Hi, since I last logged on I've made two Rachael Ray dishes. Recipe #13 - yes, I finally made the Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies. I was sick to death of hot potato salad though, so skipped that part. I also used relish, rather than the cut up pickles she suggested. I served them with potato chips. Jeanne really loved the burgers and asked me to save the leftovers! Kate and I enjoyed the burgers too.

I've learned a secret with Rachael Ray recipes - that is to totally ignore the measurements on ingredients. She has required as much as 2 to 3 pounds of ground turkey meat per recipe and her spice measurements are way whacked. I now use my eye to know how much meat to buy and how much spice my family will like. I am careful though to add every ingredient she suggests. She encourages creativity - will tell you to "eyeball it" when pouring liquids. At first I found this highly amusing ... like she didn't want to be held responsible if the dish didn't work out. But I began to see the wisdom of it. For the BBQ sammies though, I measured very carefully as I wanted to taste the sauce as she intended it. My only complaint was that I thought the worchestershire sauce was too heavy, I'd cut the amount asked for in half next time.

Last night, like Diane, I made recipe #24 - Salsa Stoup and Double-Decker Baked Quesadillas. We had a large turkey breast in the fridge, so I added that to the crockpot. About half an hour before serving I poured the whole stoup into our lobster pot and got it boiling and added cut up flour tortillas. These make a sort of dumpling that tastes incredible.

I'd never made quesadillas this way - triple-decking them and baking them in the oven. I have so much cheese in the fridge and used up all the cheddar I had. Mine came out very well, browned and melted. I sliced them with the pizza cutter. I think Diane's idea of adding avacados would have really improved them but no one complained as it was.