Cafe World Challenge Week 37

I had a very good cooking week, not only did I make 3 of the Cafe World dishes, but I also had yummy mushrooms stuffed with scallops and made homemade fettuccine Alfredo. The pasta making is really getting so much easier each time I attempt it, the fettuccine turned out perfectly.

I also had a lovely lunch with my husband (without kids) at the buffet restaurant inside Caesars Windsor, so I'll consider that research for the Vegas Buffet dish. Not Vegas, not Caesars Palace either, but close enough. When I went to Vegas, I didn't eat at one of the famous buffets, we were too busy watching shows, casino hopping and consuming absurdly vast quantities of margaritas. If my husband hadn't sworn to never, never go to Vegas again, I'd have thought it would've made a great victory weekend after finally finishing this challenge. Maybe I can still convince him.

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK

I love Philly Cheesesteak, not that I've ever been to Philly and had the real thing, but I love the various versions you get at sandwich shops.

I didn't find the nice bigger hero/sub rolls I wanted, so I had to make do with regular wholewheat rolls. So here goes my version:

Recipe:

Hero/sub rolls, split
vegetable oil
onion, thinly sliced
green pepper, cut into strips
1 lb sirloin cut into strips
salt
hot sauce
shredded cheese

The quantities you use will depend on how many sandwiches you're making. I made enough for 6 rolls so, I used 1 large onion and 1 regular green pepper.

Wrap rolls in foil and warm in a 350F oven. Heat on in a large skillet and add onion and green pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft. Add meat and cook until no longer pink. Season to taste.
Divide meat mixture over rolls and top with cheese. Place in oven for a few minutes until cheese melts, remove, replace top and enjoy hot from the oven.

ESCARGOT

I lucked out with this one, because I was searching for a few days for escargot in shells, as depicted in the game graphic, but finally settled on buying the canned version. I didn't want to eat the escargot, so I was buying scallops for myself at a fish store. What did I find in the same freezer as the scallops....escargot in shells!!! So I bought them and I still have a $1.99 can of escargot in my cupboard. The package said the snails were already cleaned and ready to cook, so I just made an adapted version of the snail butter recipe in Joy of Cooking and plugged the shells with the butter.

Snail butter recipe:

In a blender combine:

1/4 cup softened butter
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp minced shallots
2 garlic cloves minced
1tbsp parsley
1tbsp minced celery

Plug the snail butter into the snail shells and cook for about 15 minutes in a 300F oven or until the butter bubbles. Serve with toasted wholewheat bread to soak up the excess butter.

CARAMEL CORN

To finish off the week, I made a super easy batch of caramel corn. I generally prefer plain salted popcorn. I always have a huge box of microwave popcorn available and it makes the best quick snack for myself and hubbie while we watch some TV and the kids adore popcorn when they watch a movie on the weekend. My little one calls it "Cocorn", very cute.

I found the caramel corn to be very filling, I can usually eat half a regular package, but I struggled to even eat a quarter of the package, so the kids had extra.

Recipe:

1 package light butter flavoured microwave popcorn (or your favourite type)
1 package (170g) toffees (I used Mackintosh's Mack toffees - the package said "great for baking")
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp milk

Prepare popcorn as usual. Empty into a LARGE  bowl  (you need to stir popcorn around without it overflowing everywhere) and remove unpopped kernels.
Unwrap toffees and place in a glass bowl or measure, add butter and milk. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until it starts boiling. Stir once during cycle. Give a good stir and pour over popcorn, stir popcorn till coated. Pour out onto a wax paper lined tray and allow to cool and crisp for 15 minutes.

CAFE WORLD COOKBOOK ADDITIONS

I admit I haven't really been playing regularly, so I haven't unlocked any of the new dishes. You now get new dishes when you complete a catering order with a 3 star rating. I'm finding it almost impossible to get them done in time, since guess what...I have a REAL life too. So I won't be adding those, but over the Thanksgiving period, it seems you can cook Deep Fried Turkey and unlock Chocolate Pecan Pie. The latter would be great in real life though.

Next Up: Cupcakes...although not specifically for a birthday, just because I can.

Progress: 67/83, which, read my lips, equates to 16 dishes left. Whhooohooo!!!! Okay that is until more get added or something, but the end is near.

Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property

Cafe World Challenge Week 28

Despite starting a volunteer job this week, I actually managed two dishes. Although the lamb was made on the weekend when I had more time. I was exhausted after the first two day's work, but am now faring better and am having a fun and rewarding time after spending the last six years at home with the kids.




Rack of Lamb

There are so many flavour options with lamb: traditional with mint sauce or rosemary or North African/Middle Eastern spices, but I came across a recipe for Cranberry-crusted Rack of Lamb, which combines cranberry, sun dried tomato and thyme, and I thought, "Here's something different!" This actually describes my approach to recipe selection pretty well, I tend to decide the type of flavour (if this makes any sense) first, as in do I want plain, herby, spicy, fruity, rich, zesty or an interesting fusion. Then I either look what I have and make up my own dish or browse through the various sources and get inspiration.

The chosen recipe was delicious and my family really enjoyed this meal. The leftover lamb was a favourite as well, eaten as my son called it "Caveman"-style using the frenched bones as a grip to tear into the yummy lamb.



Clubhouse Sandwich

A Clubhouse or just Club Sandwich is one of my favourites. I must have mentioned before that I love bacon?? So for those that aren't familiar with this one, it's a combination of turkey (in some cases chicken), lettuce, tomato and bacon which are usually layered with three toasted bread slices, although many restaurants serve them in a sub (bread roll).

My Clubhouse sandwich was layered as follows, starting at the bottom:
1. Toasted bread
2. A healthy smear of Dijon mustard
3. Lettuce
4. Smoked Turkey deli meat
5. Toasted Bread
6. Mayonnaise
7. Bacon
8. Tomato, with a sprinkling of salt & pepper
9. Mayonnaise
10. Toasted bread

I then cut my sandwiches in triangles and speared them with a cocktail stick to hold them all together.

This makes a fantastic lunch, but I served mine for dinner with some garlic seasoned baked fries. My son actually loved it so much he's asking for the same for lunch everyday for school and he actually eats it....Hooray!!! I just skip the middle toast layer for his school lunch, his little 4 year old mouth doesn't quite handle the layers yet.



Up Next: Seriously!! Who knows, I'm still adjusting to working and have a very busy weekend too, but I'll make something. I've actually already picked out a Stuffed Turkey recipe for Thanksgiving in October (in Canada) and that is something to look forward to.

Progress: 53/80

Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property