Roasted Garlic and Grilled Eggplant Whipped Potatoes

Epcot Events

Wow, this was awesome. Who would think that eggplant in potatoes would be great?! You actually roast a whole head of garlic, squeeze it in, add in a cooked and pureed eggplant, and whip it into fresh mashed potatoes, milk, butter, salt, and fresh ground pepper. Simple ingredients...so good.

4 mickeys. 

 

Walt Disney's Own Chili and Beans

Walt Disney's Personal Recipe

 This is by no means a spicy chili. I used the Optional ingredients list to make it spicier, but becuase I didn't have a Mexican Chili pepper I had to add the powder version instead. It didn't make it spicy. Overall it was good if you want a non-spiced chili. I would like to try making it again with the added chili pepper.

3 mickeys.

Minestrone

L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante - Italy Showcase, EPCOT

 I cheated a bit on this recipe..I used frozen spinach instead of fresh. I did, however, use and soak dried beans for this recipe. It was very spinachy, but good. The flavor was good and not too salty. The veggie combos were great. 4 mickeys.

Walnut Poultry Stuffing

Walt Disney World

The recipe book didn't specify where this was used, so I assume it was used in multiple locations. This is ...wait for it...the last bread recipe in this cookbook! It was a good stuffing. Me with my non-thinking brain made it without a poultry to stuff...so I baked it instead. It had a good flavor, but was fairly average. 3 mickeys. 

Twinkie Tiramisu

Everything Pop! Shopping and Dining - Pop Century Resort, WDWR

I went out of order a bit and went for a newer cookbook. I made this for a brunch potluck at church...because tiramisu is great for breakfast....

Pop Century is one of the value resorts on the Disney property.

Knowing I had this recipe before me, I had to make a snap decision when Twinkies were about to become extinct. We bought 4 boxes the day of the announcement. We used 2 on this recipe. It was worth it. While it looks like a big, complicated recipe, it really isn't. You make the Expresso Syrup and the Mascarpone Filling, then layer it all with the sliced up twinkies. So good!
5 mickeys!

Pear Mel'ono

Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian Village Resort

I was a bit concerned going into this recipe. It could either be awesome, or go drastically wrong. First you poach the pears in various brandys and spices. Then you make the sauce. It was sooo good! It takes a bit of time and chilling, but it's worth it. The dessert is fresh, not overly sweet, but very satisfying for your sweet tooth!
4 mickeys!

 

Dark Chocolate Cake

Farmers Market, The Land Grille Room - EPCOT

I was so excited about this cake. I made it for birthankmas...yes, birthankmas. My husbands family came out to visit us between thanksgiving and Christmas, plus we were celebrating birthdays, so it all combined together. I figured since they were making pies that I should make a cake..only appropriate for a birthankmas!
I wish all my effort would have been worth it. The cake is very dense. The icing is good, however I didn't let my butter warm enough before whipping it in (note: it doesn't say to use room temp. butter in the recipe, but you need to). I was the only person that finished my slice, and that was out of sheer determination. So sorry dark chocolate cake, but you only get 1 mickey. So disappointing.

 

Vegetable Soup

Village Restaurant - WDW Shopping Village

Another great soup recipe!  Once again, I didn't have celery...oops. I cheated and used canned beans instead of cooking dry ones myself. It really didn't seem to make a difference, and saved a ton of time. Just make sure you rinse the beans well before adding them in. It didn't take long to prep this recipe, and about 45 minutes for it to cook up. Totally worth the time. 4 mickeys!

Beef and Barley Soup

King Stefan's Banquet Hall - Magic Kingdom

 Yum yum yum!
I was definitely make this soup again. It had a great flavor and was easy to make. We used the left over roast from a previously made Disney recipe. The only thing I didn't have for the recipe was celery, but it didn't seem to effect it at all. It wasn't too salty either. I would highly recomend it!
4 mickeys!

Beef Wellington

Verandah Restaurant - WDW Shopping Village

First, I apologize for the gross picture. We started eating and I realized we didn't take a photo.

Second, I messed this up royally. I cut the puff pastry the wrong way, so it would roll as directed in the recipe.

The chicken livers were very salty, but it wasn't the recipes fault. I take this factoid from my husband who actually ate them. I did not. I can't bring myself to eat things I have previously dissected in college.
Overall it wasn't bad, but it wasn't exceptional either. A normal 3 mickeys.

 

Tomato Florentine Soup

Liberty Tree Tavern - Liberty Square, Magic Kingdom Park

 While this looks like an average tomato soup, it comes back with a kick! Yes, I used thanksgiving turkey for this too. It calls for cooked ground turkey but I used already cooked turkey. The spice in this soup is great! It is by no means average. I would advice some crackers or rolls to balance it out. I was definitely make it again! 4 mickeys!

Pecan Pie

Coral Isle Cafe - Polynesian Village Resort

Forgive the funny animal plate - it was a leftover from my son's 1st birthday part (a year ago) that I was trying to use up. Also forgive the pumpkin in the back - what can I say, it was thanksgiving! This is also the last pie recipe in this book! Yay!

This was a very unimpressive pecan pie. If you have made it and think it's good, then you have never had our family recipe and known how GOOD pecan pie should taste. It was actually better the next day than the day it was cooked. Only 2 mickeys.

Turkey Wing Pie

Yacht Club Gallery - Disney's Yacht Club Resort

I still had more leftover Thanksgiving turkey, so I moved on to the next cookbook for a solution. This recipe finished off the rest of the turkey :-) I have to admit that it's strange to have a bone sticking out of the top of the pie, but that's what the recipe called for! Again, it was a pretty normal pot pie. 3 mickeys. 

Crepes Lafayette

WDW Shopping Village

 I've done it! I've finished off all the turkey recipes in this book! All 2 of them! Okay okay, so it's not that impressive, but I'm making progress!

Crepes Lafayette is a really unique way to use up cooked turkey. It also has mushrooms, celery, onions, peas, and red peppers inside. When I went to make this recipe I thought for sure I had frozen peas. I didn't. I didn't even have canned ones. What did I have? A bag of frozen mixed veggies. Yes, I picked out each individual pea, all 1/2 cup of them. The Mornay sauce on the top is great. Savory crepes might seem strange, but they were good. With a few changes it could be great! 3 mickeys the way it is.

Turkey Pot Pie

Plaza Restaurant - Main Street U.S.A, Magic Kingdom



 Thank you Thanksgiving for providing me turkey for these recipes. Thank you Disney for providing me recipes to use up all our extra turkey in a variety of ways!

By the way... the turkey recipes will continue...

I love pot pies but this one was just not that impressive. It was boring and bland. Nothing about it was amazing. It wasn't bad, but my grandma's recipe is better.
2 mickeys.

Horseradish Sauce

Steerman's Quarters - Empress Lilly, WDW Shopping Village

I had frozen the extra cheese, nut, and mushrooms balls from a past recipe. I decided to cook them and make the horseradish sauce to dip them in. FYI - The dough for the balls doesn't freeze well. They tasted awful. On the plus side, the dip was good! I would recommend the two recipes together - fresh.

3 mickeys

Florentine Sauce

Terrace Cafe - Contemporary Resort

 

This recipe is in the "sauces" section. I decided to put it over chicken and noodles to turn it into chicken Florentine.  It wasn't bad, but it was bland and unimpressive. 2 mickeys.

Vichyssoise (Cold Keek Potato Soup)

Contemporary Resort Banquets 

I don't like leeks, so I was skeptical when I made this recipe. It also contains potatoes. I seriously didn't even taste the leeks. It most more like a cream of potato soup. Really good. While is says to serve it chilled, I found it to be just as good, if not better, warmed.  It gets 3 mickeys only because it was a basic potato soup.

Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

 Fisherman's Deck - Empress Lilly, WDW Shopping Village

I'm still not a big artichoke fan, but these weren't bad. It's a basic filling of chicken and mushrooms stuffed into the artichokes and baked. The best part is the bearnaise sauce! 3 mickeys.

 

Spanish Omlete

Concourse Grille - Disney's Contemporary Resort

A standard omelet with veggies, but still good. The only real difference is a cheese sauce you place the omelet on top of. Pretty average. 3 mickeys.

Cheese Crepes

Empress Lily - WDW Shopping Village

It's been awhile since I have blogged about Disney recipes, but don't worry - I'm still cooking!

Drum roll please..........:::....:::...:::  This is the last "eggs and cheese" recipe in this book! I have indeed finalized a section!

Holy cheese. That's a good thing. I love cheese. I cheated on this recipe and used swiss cheese instead of Gruyere since it's similar and much cheaper. Still so yummy. I'm sure it would be even better with the real stuff. FYI - the crepe recipes in the Disney books are awesome. Best crepe recipe I have ever had. The recipe was fast - make the filling, make the crepes, put them together!
4 mickeys!

Florentine Sauce

Terrace Cafe - Contemporary Resort

  This recipe is in the "sauces" section. It informs you to serve the sauce over noodles or pasta. I decided to add a grilled chicken breast into the mix to turn it into forentine chicken and pasta. It was easy to make but not very impressive. The main reason why I didn't enjoy it was the strange fish flavor it had. Note: there is nothing fishy in it. I'm not sure if that flavor came from the spinach or not. Because of that, it only gets 2 mickeys. Sorry florentine sauce.

Steak Neptune

Pueblo Room - Contemporary Resort

The recipe looks simple and fast. It's not. The biggest reason is that it has so many elements - sauce, crab, steak, asparagus, and toast. The Bearnaise sauce is great. I would make it again. It was fairly easy to make, but took some devoted time to stand and whip. Again, I didn't eat the crab (which is sad because I like crab) but I did eat the sauce. I like the fact that the sauce does not contain any shellfish, therefore if you do have an allergy like I do you can still eat the meal, just leaving the crab off the steak. The asparagus is cooked by boiling it in water and chicken bouillon for a few minutes. I have never cooked asparagus like this before, but it was very good. Overall this recipe gets 4 mickeys. Even though I'm not giving you the recipe, you should still try it if you have the book. It's worth the effort!

Shrimp and Cheese Omelet

Coral Isle Cafe - Polynesian Village Resort

Since I have developed a shellfish allergy after having my son, I leave the shellfish taste testing to my husband. Don't worry, I made myself an omelet...mine went southwestern with homemade salsa and cheese. :-)

According to Greg, the omelet was good. He was sceptical at first if shrimp and eggs would taste good together. The shrimp is cut up and put into a sauce, the cooked into the middle. It only took about 20 minutes to make.

4 mickeys.

Banana Bread

Monorail Cafe - Disneyland Hotel

I love banana bread. This recipe was no different. It had a great nutty, yet sweet flavor. The texture was perfect - not to dry, not too moist. The top even turned into a sugary crust. Well worth the 10 minutes it took to mix it up! :-)
Super fast and easy, very yummy, 4 mickeys!