You live, you learn!

So I am trying desperately to be a good wife that cooks! The problem is that I am not a natural in the kitchen like my husband is, so mistakes are made, which will hopefully make me a better cook the next time!
This week we've used more of our venison to make some meals : ) Cody made venison chilli on Sunday night.
I stumbled across The Little Kitchen that Could blog a few weeks ago and have started trying her recipes this week.
Monday night we made venison burgers using her slider recipe and they were delicious!!

1 pound premium ground beef (I used Venison)
1/2 tablespoon good Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for brushing the grill
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon worcestire sauce
Thin small slices of your favorite cheese (I used sharp cheddar on some)
4 hamburer buns
Step by Step
Heat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
Place the ground beef in a large bowl and add the mustard, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix gently with a fork to combine, without compressing the meat. Shape the meat into 12 (2-inch) patties of equal size and thickness.
When the grill is medium-hot, brush the grill grate with oil to keep the sliders from sticking. Place the burgers on the grill. For the last 2 minutes of cooking time, place cheese on the top of each burger and close the grill lid. Remove the burgers to a platter and cover with foil.
Open the hamburger buns, brush with olive oil and place on the grill to toast.
*I also made the carmelized onions that she has on her blog to top the burgers.

That night I also attempted a Paula Dean recipe for crispy baked sweet potato fries which turned out to be a disaster. They had entirely too much salt/seasoning on them.

On Tuesday I used my mom's Chicken and Dumplings recipe! What a perfect meal for a cold day!
Boil 4 Chicken Breasts (Add seasoning: salt, pepper, onion flakes, celery salt, little bit of garlic)
Cube Chicken after cooking.
Dumplings
2 cups flour 1 rounding tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt shortening- size of an egg
1 scant cup hot boiling stock
Knead until not sticky. Roll out on floured surface. Cut in strips. Leave a little flour on the dumplings. Let dry for an hour or more. Drop in hot boiling stock and cook 10 minutes.
Add the cubed pieces of chicken and cook for an additional 10 minutes, add additional seasoning as needed.

Then tonight I went back to the Little Kitchen that Could to make homemade Pesto, Pesto Chicken, Asparagus and I attempted sweet potato fries for the second time.

Fresh Basil Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon
Freshly ground black pepper
Step by Step
1. Combine basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic and salt in a food processor. Grind for a few seconds until mixed.
2. While the motor is still running, slowly pour oil in and blend until the mixture is incorporated.
3. Add pepper to taste and extra salt if needed.
4. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days tightly covered or freeze for up to a month.

Pesto Grilled Chicken
Serves 2
ngredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Seasoning salt (I used Lawry’s)
3 to 4 tablespoons pesto (make with this recipe or use store bought)
2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
Step by Step
1. Heat grill or grill pan to medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
2. Season chicken (lightly - I mistakingly put a lot on tonight, making our chicken entirely too salty) on both sides with seasoning salt and pepper.
3. Grill chicken until no longer pink in the middle.
4. Remove chicken from grill and sprinkle each breast with one tablespoon
5. Remove from heat and sprinkle each breast with one tablespoon of parmesan cheese.
6. Top the cheese with 1 to 11/2 tablespoons of pesto on each breast.
7. Serve while warm.

Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
4 to 5 asparagus stalks per person
Olive Oil
Coarse Sea Salt (for the best taste, but other types of salt will work as well)
Step by Step
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cover a shallow baking sheet with foil.
3. Cut off coarse bottoms (a.k.a. "woody ends") of the asparagus.
4. Lay out asparagus like shown above.
5. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and coarse salt.
6. Roll the asparagus around on the baking sheet to get the olive oil evenly spread.
7. Roast in oven for about 10 minutes. *Shake the pan half way through to move asparagus around* (cooking time could be longer or shorter depending on thickness of stalks)
8. Pull out of the oven when lightly browned and asparagus is tender when pierced with a fork.
9. Serve immediately.

My second attempt at sweet potato fries was a little bit better. I still need to find a good recipe!

Right now I have pizza dough in the fridge for tomorrow night! Let's hope it turns out so that we can enjoy yummy homemade pizza while watching Grey's and the Office tomorrow night!