Cookbook Challenge February Update

I’m back up and running! I think I have got all the kinks ironed out, and my domain should be working like usual. Now back to the important business, blogging!

Instead of doing a weekly check in for my Cookbook Challenge 2013, I have decided to do one once a month. That way I have more to share each time 🙂 In February I have made 4 recipes from my Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs cookbook.

The first recipe I made was Honey Sesame Chicken from Nine Dragons restaurant in EPCOT. The recipe had a lot of steps. The chicken had to marinate for 10 minutes, I had to make a tempura batter and let that sit for 30 minutes, then I had to fry the chicken and make the honey sauce.

It took almost hour and a half to get dinner finished, but it was definitely worth the wait! The chicken had a crispy batter, and the honey sauce was sweet without being super overpowering. I made plain white rice to go with it and it was a perfect match for the chicken. This is definitely a recipe I will make again, but I will cut it in half because it made A LOT and the leftovers did not reheat well.

I was going to make Chef Mickey’s Breakfast Pizza for breakfast, but I ended up making it for dinner one night and it was amazing. Jeff normally doesn’t like breakfast for dinner because he says he doesn’t get full, but he loved this; especially since I added bacon. This was really quick to make and the leftovers heated up really well the next morning for breakfast.

I made a New England Pot Roast (sorry forgot a picture) that they serve at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom, and I will not make it again 🙁 It took way too long to make and it was very tough and dry. If I try the recipe again, I will most likely let it cook all day in the crock pot rather than cook it in the oven like the directions said.

The final recipe I made in February, was Mom’s Meat Loaf that is served at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios. This was probably the best meatloaf I have ever made, and I have made a lot of meat loaf! It was delicious and moist, and had bits of onion and bell peppers in it.

I normally do not like to put a glaze on meatloaf because most of the time they end up being too sweet, but this one was perfect. It was just ketchup, brown sugar, and Dijon mustard. Just Jeff and I ate almost the entire thing by ourselves, and Jeff requested that I make this meat loaf from now on because he loved it so much!

Well that is it for February. I’ve made 4 out of  the 99 recipes in the book, I think it is safe to say that is a pretty good start. I’m hoping that I get at least 6 recipes checked off next month. Has anyone else decided to take the Cookbook Challenge 2013? What cookbooks are your favorite?