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Posts Tagged ‘recipes’

What’s Been Cookin’ in our Kitchen

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on July 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

As I wrote recently, I’ve been getting a ton of recipes from Pinterest. Most come from people’s blogs, so before I give one a try I always look through the comments carefully. You usually have to skip the first bunch because they are always, “This looks great!” “Mmmmm! Can’t wait to make it!” Instead, keep scrolling and look for ones that say it was good or indicate what tweaks were necessary to make it better.

Here are a few I’ve been happy with recently (with my adjustments, of course):

Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Parmesan Spaghetti – I’ve made this twice and I love that it can be put together in under a half hour. My suggestions: I like crisper prosciutto and I HATE cutting it raw (slimy, clingy, yuck). Lay out the pieces on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes (depending on the meat’s thickness), then you can just break it up when it’s nice and crispy over the finished dish. I also found that the cream sauce thickened much faster than the recipe indicated so watch for that. If it gets too thick it’s very difficult to mix with the pasta. Last one, I omitted the mushrooms because we’re not big fans over here.

Man-Pleasing Chicken – I’m a little put off by the title but this took about 60 seconds to assemble. Although the sauce the chicken cooks in is primarily Dijon mustard, it actually doesn’t taste like mustard when it’s done. Seriously, I don’t even like mustard. My suggestions: Don’t worry if you don’t have rice wine vinegar. Most other types are fine (maybe not balsamic!). I used Champagne vinegar.

Caesar Salad – Ok, this one isn’t from Pinterest, it’s Barefoot Contessa, but I served it with the Man-Pleasing Chicken so I figured I would include it. While this recipe isn’t difficult, it is a bit involved. Thankfully, everything can be done ahead of time. My suggestion: I halved the dressing recipe and it still made plenty. I considered halving it again but it’s difficult to do things in small batches in a food processor. Again, I wouldn’t bother with the tedious chopping of the pancetta. I would buy it in slices and roast it for a few minutes until it’s crispy, then break it up over the salad. Finally, don’t even think about omitting the anchovies. I know they look gross (I gagged a little), but they are what make Caesar dressing taste the way it does.

Green Monster Smoothie – This smoothie is healthy and filling and although it looks weird (it’s green and filled with raw spinach), it tastes like delicious peanut butter, banana, tangy goodness.

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Be a Good Holiday Guest

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 19, 2011 | 1 Comment »

If you’re lucky enough to not be the host for the upcoming holidays, do your host a favor and bring a thoughtful gift!

If you can bake, try Martha Stewart’s lime meltaways. I blogged about them here.

 

The Barefoot Contessa’s Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake is really impressive and not too challenging. Food Network has the mini-cakes version that appeared on her show, but the whole cake, which is made in a bundt pan, is found in Barefoot Contessa Parties.

If you’re not really a baker but you can turn on an oven and you own a spoon and an 8×8 pan, you can make some jazzed up brownies. Start with a box of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownies and get cracking.  Peppermint Brownies are perfect for the holidays and a cinch to make. Pour half the prepared batter in the pan, layer six large peppermint patties across the pan (or a bunch of smaller ones) and cover with the remaining batter.

Nothing goes better with brownies than peanut butter so microwave a few tablespoons of peanut butter for 15-30 seconds to soften it, pour three stripes across the batter and run a knife perpendicular to the peanut butter to swirl it through. Wowee zowee.

If you know your hosts are wine drinkers, choose a bottle for them to enjoy when they’re not crazed with guests. And please, step away from the white zinfandel! If you’re a wine novice, ask the salesperson for a suggestion and don’t be afraid to communicate your budget (even if it’s $10), there are a lot of good choices at every price.

Of course there are many great websites with beautiful gifts. Check out Terrain, Wisteria, Beekman 1802, and for gorgeous personalized photo gifts that are surprisingly well-priced, you can’t beat Pinhole Press. I bought a ton of gifts there this year.

Happy Holidays!!

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Tasty Fall Breakfast

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on October 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I posted a link to this recipe on Pinterest the other day. (I still haven’t figured out exactly how I want to use Pinterest, but I know I like it.)

Family Feedbag is a beautiful food blog that I spent way too much time reading yesterday. I followed Amy’s recipe exactly except that I added a pinch of salt to the mixture while it was cooking. Salt + oatmeal probably seems a little weird but trust me, it helps. I also added the brown sugar and splash of cold milk, as instructed, and it was delicious.

So go there! And make it! I just made it and it was divine with my morning joe.

 

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Quick and Easy Chili

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on October 7, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Hey, it’s fall! Football is on! Hockey is on! Playoff baseball is on! Men are glued to the television and that means if you make chili you can eat it all yourself!

I’ve been making this Martha Stewart Everyday Food chili for several years because I think it has tasty, interesting flavors and is pretty quick. It bills itself as 30-minute chili but that’s not realistic. As is the case with many Everyday Food recipes, the cooking time and directions for certain steps are way off. But no fear, cooks! It can easily be tweaked for your personal preferences.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 3 medium onions, chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 2 – 2.5 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (found in the Spanish or Mexican food section)
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1.5 lbs ground beef
  • 1.5 lbs ground turkey (dark meat is tastier)
  • 3 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 bottle/can (12 ounces) mild lager beer
  • 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) kidney and/or black beans, rinsed and drained
  • Toppings! Cheddar, avocado, sour cream, tortilla chips, etc.
I made this in a 5-quart Dutch oven (because that’s what the recipe told me to do) and it JUST fit. Let’s just say there was a lot of sloshing and my stove was a mess after. (Don’t worry, Mom, I cleaned it up.)
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and not so onion-y, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and stir around for another minute.
COOK’S TIP! Very often recipes will tell you to cook garlic and onion (or other veggies) together from the start. This is a big mistake. Garlic cooks in about a minute and if it’s being sauteed, burns pretty soon after. Always add it at the end of sauteeing and cook for just a minute.
Add the tomato paste, chili powder, cinnamon, and chipotle chiles. It’s really important that you get the right chiles because the adobo sauce is the main flavor in the chili. If you want to cut out some of the heat, scrape out the seeds from the chiles before you chop them. Stir it up and cook this big sticky mess for 2-3 minutes.
Add the beef and turkey and stir with the mixture for 5-10 minutes until the meat is cooked. It’s kind of a pain to cook all that meat with the onions and seasoning so in the future I might try cooking the meat in another pan first. Just a thought.
Add the diced tomatoes, beans (rinsed and drained), and beer. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Enjoy!

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Thanksgiving Menu Ideas Part II

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on November 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »

As if turkey and potatoes weren’t enough?? Here are the other veggies I’ll be making this year:

Asparagus – So easy to prep, so easy to jazz up, so delicious to eat, so smelly to pee. Oops, did I just say that? I did. Because it’s the truth. Just hold your breath.  It’s good practice for diving and getting rid of the hiccups.

Back to the asparagus. Wash the stalks, break off the bottoms (they’ll naturally snap off where they should), spread them out on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, jazz up. I’ll be sprinkling the asparagus with chopped up pancetta before cooking (or prosciutto? I never remember the difference) and adding grated parmesan for the last minute. Because I’m using the pancetta, I won’t add salt but normally you would salt them before roasting. 400 degrees for fifteen minutes. Yum.

Carrots – Wash them, peel them, cut them into similar sized wedges, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Sprinkle with chopped up dill before serving. Hell to the yeah.

String Beans – I’m steaming them because I know I won’t have room in my oven or on my stove top. I was tempted to make this amazing sounding green bean casserole from Pioneer Woman, but between the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other fattening goodies … well, I just had to draw the line somewhere.

Cranberry Sauce – Last year I made Barefoot Contessa’s; it was ok but a little too citrusy for me. This year I’m making this one I found on Epicurious. Have you been to Epicurious? It’s amazing! Go now!

Stuffing (Dressing) – I’m not one to make actual stuffing (that means it’s cooked inside the bird) because it takes longer to cook and then your bird gets dry. Nobody likes a dry bird. Just like nobody puts Baby in the corner. It’s just not done! Stuffing that’s cooked on its own is actually called dressing. I wasn’t going to make it but yesterday I said to Matt, “It’s ok that I’m not making stuffing, right?” And he said, “I really love stuffing.” So… I’m making stuffing. Dressing. Whatever. This cornbread stuffing from Tyler Florence looks great so I’m giving it a try!

I’ll take pictures and get reviews from friends on Saturday. Happy Fakesgiving!

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Thanksgiving Menu Ideas Part I

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on November 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Hey there, November. When did you get here? Oh! A week ago? Hmmmm…that means Thanksgiving is only eighteen days away. This year I am (thankfully) not hosting Thanksgiving. Once Matt and I were married we decided to start alternating where we go and this year it’s my family’s turn so we’re headed to my aunt and uncle’s house. (Sidenote: Marrying someone of a different religion is awesome because I never have to share my holidays and Matt never has to share his. We only have to split Thanksgiving – not bad!)

Although we’re not hosting this year, we are having Fakesgiving for the second time. Fakesgiving is our pre-Thanksgiving friend celebration.  If you’re hosting and need some ideas, or even if you’re just bringing a dish somewhere, here is what I’m making:

Turkey – Forget everything you’ve ever heard about getting up pre-dawn to put your turkey in the oven for a million hours. It’s completely unnecessary and it dries out the bird. Follow Ina Garten’s instructions and you won’t be disappointed. I sort of combine two of her turkey recipes but it’s best to follow this one.  Instead of using truffle butter I use regular softened butter because I’m poor. I also put one or two halved lemons in the turkey cavity.

Here’s my turkey from last year!

Can you tell how deliriously tired I was here?  Note to self: you need to take off the day before Thanksgiving if you’re hosting.

Gravy – I made Ina Garten’s gravy last year for Fakesgiving and it was horrible. I rectified that for Thanksgiving and followed The Pioneer Woman’s recipe from here. I ignore everything that has to do with the giblets (she boils them and uses the water and then cuts them up for gravy – no thank you).

Mashed Potatoes – Last year I made Ina Garten’s because they are rich and creamy beyond belief (that could have something to do with the butter, sour cream and whole milk – just a guess). Mashed potatoes need to be made right before you serve dinner and there is just too much going on with turkey carving and veggie roasting to bother. Also, they require the mixer and they didn’t all fit in the bowl so I had to do two batches and it was a headache and a half. They’re absolutely worth making for a regular dinner but forget making them for twenty people for Thanksgiving.

This year I’m using The Pioneer Woman’s recipe because they can be made ahead of time and baked to heat them up. We’ll see how it goes. They sure look good!

 

Image: thepioneerwoman.com

Sweet Potatoes – AKA dessert that I pass off as a vegetable. There are plenty of healthy sweet potato dishes you can make, but that’s not what Thanksgiving is about! Isn’t it the time to give thanks for the important things in life, like butter, brown sugar, eggs, and cinnamon?

There are a few options here and they’re all delicious. In the past I’ve made Ina Garten’s smashed sweet potatoes with apples and it’s great. For some reason it’s not on Food Network’s website but the recipe can be found in Ina’s Parties book. Once I made a copycat recipe of the sweet potato casserole from Ruth’s Chris. Wowee Zowee.

This year I’m making Pioneer Woman’s Soul Sweet Taters which seem very similar to the Ruth’s Chris dish. Get your stretchy pants out!

That’s it for now! In another day or two I’ll post the non-potato veggie side dishes.

Anyone else really hungry now?

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Peach Cobbler

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Fresh peaches are such a treat and now is a great time to get them. To tell if they’re ripe, smell the spot where the stem is (was). If it smells peachy, it’s good.

A few years ago I went to see Katie Lee Joel do a cooking demonstration at the Viking Cooking School (formerly Loaves and Fishes) in Garden City. At the time she was married to Billy Joel but in case you hadn’t heard, it didn’t work out. Big surprise there.

She was gorgeous and friendly and lovely. I bought her cookbook and one of my favorite recipes is the peach cobbler. The topping is more like a biscuit than a crumble and the focus is really on the peaches. Unfortunately, there is a typo in the recipe so I’ve had to make some executive decisions. The ingredient list calls for one and one quarter cups of sugar, but the directions only have you use one cup. I think the biscuit could be a little sweeter so I decided that the extra quarter cup should go there.

The cookbook is decent, but you can definitely tell that it’s her first one. For example in this recipe it says 4-5 peaches, peeled and sliced. Ok, how thick should they be sliced? Thinly sliced? Thick wedges? Also, peaches are practically impossible to peel, so how about a trick (which I included below, courtesy of Ina Garten)?  If you like southern food, it’s worth a read, otherwise, you can just borrow mine.

Ingredients:

5 peaches

1.25 cups of sugar

1 cup of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup of milk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

3/4 cup of boiling water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

To prepare the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop the peaches in for 30 seconds. Take them out and put them in a bowl of very cold water to stop the cooking. When they’re cool enough to handle, the peels should slide right off. WARNING: Naked peaches are very slippery! Be careful when you’re slicing them. Slice the peaches into 1/2 inch wedges. Place them in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, the baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the milk and melted butter and mix together. Evenly pour the batter over the peaches.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining sugar with the cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Sprinkle it over the batter. Evenly pour the boiling water over everything. This will mix with the dry ingredients to make a nice sauce for the peaches.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the top starts to brown. Serve warm. I’ve had it for breakfast for the past three mornings – it’s fruit!

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Beef Brisket

Posted in Cooking, tagged on December 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Brisket is a great meal for entertaining because it’s meat and vegetables all in one dish, AND you prepare it ahead of time and let it cook for about three hours. Beef brisket = happy hostess.

This is adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe which is designed for ten people. The preparation below serves between four and six (depending on the crowd).

Ingredients:
3lb beef brisket – get it from the butcher, it makes all the difference
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 lb of carrots, peeled and cut into two-inch diagonal chunks
4 stalks of celery, well cleaned and cut into two-inch chunks
2-3 yellow onions, peeled and sliced in half rings
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of  black pepper
1 teaspoon dried (NOT fresh) oregano leaves
23 ounces of tomato juice (low sodium if you prefer)

Take the meat out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking to bring it closer to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and get started on the rub. Combine the 2 cloves of minced garlic, tablespoon of salt, teaspoon of pepper and teaspoon of oregano in a small bowl and mix them all together.

Bleck! The lighting in my kitchen is terrible! Peel and chop the carrots, chop the celery and slice the onions.


Put the brisket in a medium roasting pan and pat it dry with a paper towel. Cover it with the rub you made before. This brisket was a little too fatty on top; you can ask the butcher to trim the meat however you like it.

Pile the veggies on top of the meat and pour the tomato juice over it until the juice is three quarters of the way up the meat. Lay the bay leaves on top of everything.

Apparently aluminum foil and tomato juice/sauce don’t mesh. Therefore, you have to cover the meat with parchment paper (buy it in the same section as the aluminum foil) BEFORE you wrap the roasting pan in aluminum foil.

Stick it in the oven and leave it alone! After three hours it should be done. Word to the wise: use an oven mitt to remove the foil because the steam that escapes from the pan is a million degrees and will burn you (as it did me). The meat should be easy to cut through when it’s done.

Remove the meat to a pan or cookie sheet and cover it tightly with foil. Put the roasting pan with the veggies and sauce over a burner (or two if the pan is large) and cook over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes,or until the sauce thickens.

Slice the meat and pour veggies and sauce over it. Be sure to discard the bay leaves before serving! Word to the wise #2: Even if you’re not serving all the meat at once, slice it up. Once it’s refrigerated, it’s nearly impossible to slice.

Printable Version

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