Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

chocolate orange mousse

This was my first go on making mousse! It was pretty fun, folding in the whipped egg whites and whipped cream! Mac got a little excited and put more than a "dollop" of whipped cream on top. But hey, the boy likes whipped cream...it's irresistible. There's Grand Marnier and orange zest in the mousse to make it "orange."

saffron risotto with butternut squash

Get this one in your repertoire! It is so delicious and easy. You roast butternut squash in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper before putting it in the risotto. The saffron gives the rice the great yellow color. It's great leftover too!

creamy gorgonzola cream sauce

The star of Christmas Eve dinner was no doubt the awesome filet of beef we prepared according to Ina's directions - two different ways! We did some beef in the traditional preparation and served it with the creamy cheese sauce. Of course the beef was so good it didn't even really need the sauce, but since it's the holidays, anything goes!

balsamic roasted beef

Annie wanted to try this version of the filet from Ina's Parties! cookbook, and then we heard from Tricia it was amazing, so it was a done deal and a huge success at dinner. Thanks to Mac for cooking and slicing, and thanks to Mary for the photos!

carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I love carrot cake, and it was one of the cupcake flavors we chose for our wedding. It was exciting to try Ina's recipe for this favorite. As expected, they did not disappoint! They were super cute in Annie's cupcake tree with fun ornaments from Williams-Sonoma's cupcake decorating kit.

recipes from this post:

carrot cake cupcakes

balsamic roasted beef

gorgonzola cream sauce

saffron risotto with butternut squash

chocolate orange mousse

Holidays are Here!

And that means we are taking advantage of the last few days where we can get away with saying, "It's the holidays, I do what I want!" when it comes to our attitude towards food. So that's why I'm trying to take full advantage of this time of allowed gluttony when it comes to the Ina recipes. Life is good!

*kitchen update: the stovetop has been replaced. we're back in action!

weeknight bolognese

That's right! Mac got me the new Barefoot Contessa Cookbook How Easy is That? for Christmas. We had to try this super easy and delicious bolognese. Make sure to use good red wine, it determines a lot of the flavor of the sauce!

jam thumbprint cookies

These delightful gems come from Family Style cookbook, and they're featured in the kids' section, because they are the kind of treat that everyone likes. They're made with a really simple shortbread dough, tasty jam of your choosing (Ina recommended raspberry and apricot, so that's what I went with), and sweetened coconut flakes. Classic.

easy lobster paella

I still wish I had one of those awesome copper paella pans, but this is so easy you don't need one of those to find success and tasty dinner. I went to Dirk's Fish to pick up some frozen, cooked lobster to use in keeping with the "easy" theme of the recipe. It was done in less than 45 minutes and good enough to serve to company for sure. Though admittedly, I've had much better paella in restaurants - this won't become one of those dishes you won't want to order out anymore because you like the way you make it better. But it's a good version to make at home.

baba au rhum

I went to New York in November with Mac and we went with some friends to Sarabeth's restaurant across the street from Central Park. Naturally, I bought her cookbook after perusing the perfect looking desserts and breads and jams. She had several recipes for cakes that required the use of the kugelhopf pan so I was pretty excited to have a reason to buy one for the blog and this rum cake. I don't know why, but I decided to substitute half-and-half for milk in the recipe and I think that may be why it didn't rise as much as it was supposed to and fill out the whole mold. Aside from that, the texture and flavor of the cake was right on. The rum syrup tasted a little too much like rum for me, but maybe I just don't like rum cake. The whipped cream in the middle definitely does cut the rum taste, making it really good, but I'm not dying to make this one again. (Except to correct my half-and-half error.)

recipes in this post:

weeknight bolognese - not available online. how easy is that? cookbook.

jam thumbprint cookies - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/jam-thumbprint-cookies-recipe/index.html

easy lobster paella - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/easy-lobster-paella-recipe/index.html

baba au rhum - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/baba-au-rhum-recipe/index.html

Cold Weather Comforts

*kitchen crisis: there's a glass tray in the microwave that we accidentally dropped on our ceramic stovetop (never get one of those), and it is cracked and broken. we can't use it, and the replacement won't be here for at least two weeks! mac saved the day and bought a little electric two burner stovetop from target that we'll use...victory!

coconut macaroons

These could not be easier to make. 4 ingredients (coconut flakes, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and egg whites) are mixed together in a large bowl and then scooped out onto a sheet to bake. They're delicious!

chicken with morels

Morels are fancy mushrooms. I bought 1 oz of dried morels at Sur La Table for $20. Before using them in this recipe I soaked them in hot water for a half hour. They became plump when hydrated and quite delightfully fragrant! The sauce has a wonderful, complex flavor the comes from the Madeira wine, a fortified wine from Portugal. It creamy and comforting on a stormy night.

lasagna with turkey sausage

Well...I didn't use turkey sausage. We just picked up our new share from Cedar Valley Farms so I just used that pork sausage instead. I think what makes this lasagna especially good is the combination of cheeses. The ricotta is mixed with creamy goat cheese and parmesan and there are slices of fresh mozzarella in each layer. This is the kind of food that's better the next day, too. Yum.

recipes from this post:

coconut macaroons - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-macaroons-recipe3/index.html

chicken with morels - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-with-morels-recipe/index.html

lasagna with turkey sausage - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/turkey-lasagna-recipe2/index.html

Two Soups

cheddar corn chowder

I made this when the first snow was falling in Chicago. It's made with potatoes, corn, bacon, and cream. It's classic comfort food and it's really easy to make.

lentil sausage soup

I have yet to post about recipes that I've made before. There are so many recipes, I've been focusing on new ones so that I can have them all done by July. However, this soup requires deviation from the norm. It is so awesome! The first time I made it was in college, and it's been a favorite ever since. It is healthy, hearty, and really tasty. This version includes kielbasa that's just warmed through in the soup, but it's delicious without the sausage too.

Recipes in this post:

lentil sausage soup - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lentil-sausage-soup-recipe/index.html

cheddar corn chowder - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cheddar-corn-chowder-recipe/index.html

Sorry October!

I'm so sorry I went the whole month of October without a post! Here's what I've been working on:

mache with warm brie & apples

What is not to like about this tasty little lunch or snack? Warm brie with honey, pistachios, fresh lettuce (just mache was not available at Treasure Island, but is in this little mix pictured below), apple slices and toast are a fun combination. The layered crostinis they beg you to make are a real treat.

maple baked beans

This recipe is actually from the Stonewall Kitchen cookbook, but it was included in the barefoot contessa at home book. I used some awesome bacon from the farmer's market, and this was really great! There are a lot of good flavors (maple syrup, brown sugar, ketchup, chili paste, ginger) that cook in a low oven for a while and come together well.

blue cheese burger

jalapeno cheddar cornbread

There's nothing too special about this burger except that you put blue cheese on top. I used ground beef from our CSA Farm, Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. Of course it was delicious. The cornbread has cheese, green onions, and jalapeno in the batter, and they do a great job of making the bread more flavorful than the original.

apple dried cherry turnovers

These turnovers are an easy dessert to make in the fall when there are lots of great apples. You can just use the frozen puff pastry from the store and most of the ingredients are things you would likely already have in the pantry.

cauliflower gratin

This gratin is made by making the same cheese sauce you would use in macaroni and cheese, but you pour it over cauliflower instead of pasta! This makes cauliflower delicious, of course, but not nearly as healthy.

italian wedding soup

I brought this soup in to work for our Soup Wednesdays, and it was a hit! There are meatballs in the soup made with ground chicken and chicken sausage. I will definitely be making this again!

brownie pudding

This is one of the best desserts I've ever had. It was crisp on the outside and gooey brownie-like on the inside.

coq au vin

It felt good to check off this classic. Thankfully, it did live up to its reputation! The broth in the stew was really great to dip bread in. The chicken in this recipe is from Cedar Valley as well.

old fashioned gingerbread

This bread tastes like cake (because, basically, it is) and is really wonderfully spiced. Golden raisins and crystallized ginger are baked in and are yummy morsels.

caesar club sandwich

This is so good. It's a chicken caesar salad with arugula, pancetta, and sun dried tomatoes on ciabatta bread.

caesar club sandwich (again)

radishes with sea salt and herb butter

This was...interesting. It's from the Barefoot in Paris cookbook, and maybe my palate is not yet sophisticated enough to appreciate this, but it wasn't great. The radishes are super bitter, which is kind of enjoyable, and the butter softens that taste, but the flavors don't come together at all. You taste three things separately: radishes, butter, salt. Not bad, though.

portobello mushroom lasagna

This lasagna was made after I spotted a mushroom stand at the farmer's market. I got some portobello's and some other fancy kinds that I don't know the names of, and the result was an earthy, satisfying lasagna. It was great with a green salad.

caramel pecan sundaes

This was my first attempt at making caramel, and it was much easier than I thought it was going to be! Although, I think it would have been impossible without the candy thermometer.

Ina Garten recently came out with a new cookbook How Easy is That? I read some reviews online that were quite negative and accused her of just recycling recipes. But, I think I'll give it a shot anyway.

Recipes from this post:

Italian Wedding Soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/italian-wedding-soup-recipe/index.html

Cauliflower Gratin

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cauliflower-gratin-recipe/index.html

Apple Dried Cherry Turnovers (the recipe below doesn't have the dried cherries, but you just add them in to the apple filling)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/apple-turnovers-recipe/index.html

Blue Cheese Burger

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/blue-cheese-burgers-recipe2/index.html

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread

Barefoot Contessa at Home Cookbook

Maple Baked Beans

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/maple-baked-beans-recipe/index.html

Mache with Warm Brie and Apples

Back to Basics Cookbook

Radishes with Butter and Salt

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/radishes-with-butter-and-salt-recipe2/index.html

Welcome Fall!

This first recipe is a California BLT from the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. Mac and I both think it's the best BLT we've had. You roast the bacon in the oven for about 20 minutes, and it comes out crunchy and delicious.
I made these Buffalo Chicken Wings for a lazy football afternoon. You cook them in the broiler, so they take less than 15 minutes total and are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Love them!

This delightful breakfast treat is called a Tri-Berry Oven Pancake. Tri usually stands for 3, but when a half pint of blueberries are $5, mine is just going to have 2 berries. This pancake batter is much thinner than the ones from Bisquick that we're used to. You heat up the individual gratin dishes and then cook the batter in the oven for about 13 minutes. The pancakes puff up out of the dishes and then you can pour the fruit and some maple syrup in the middle. This was an amazing discovery, because sometimes regular pancakes can be heavy, and these have a consistency closer to crepes. I'll definitely be making these again.

This recipe is Roasted Striped Bass with left over Tomato Rice Pilaf. You cook skinless filets of bass in a baking dish with peeled, deveined shrimp and mussels with a tomato and wine sauce on top. This dish was good, but not one of my favorites from Ina. However, the tomato rice pilaf is quite tasty, and is a good rice side dish to have in the repertoire.
Mac loves bread pudding, so when I saw this Croissant Bread Pudding I knew it would be a winner. You layer croissants with raisins and then top them with the other half of the croissants and pour the egg and half-and-half custard over top of it all.

These Provencal Tomatoes are light and fresh tasting. The tomatoes are cut in half and are stuffed with an herb, garlic, and bread crumb mixture. They would be great as a side dish or a vegetarian lunch. There's melted Gruyere on top that makes them even better.

I'd never made Creme Brulee before, so when it came out succesfully...Victory! I didn't even need one of those fancy blow torches, the broiler made the top crispy and brown.

There's the Tomato Rice Pilaf with Tuscan Lemon Chicken. The chicken needed to be flattened which meant that both the breast bone and back bone were removed. Thankfully the guy at Whole Foods did this for me, because it looked kind of gross. The chicken marinated overnight in an olive oil, lemon, rosemary, garlic marinade and then was grilled with a weight on it to get some great grill marks. Another great chicken dish!

I've made Indonesian Ginger Chicken before and loved it, so I knew this Indonesian Grilled Swordfish would be outstanding as well. We didn't get the pretty grill marks on this one because the propane on our little grill went out mid cooking. We put a new tank on and everything was great, but next time it will be more photogenic! The Moroccan Couscous beside the swordfish has butternut squash, zucchini, onions, and sweet potato, and it's a keeper for sure!

Parker's Beef Stew is a classic that's made even better with the sustainable, grass-fed beef that is in it from our CSA from Cedar Valley Farms. The stewing beef marinates overnight in red wine, garlic and bay leaves. It cooks in a dutch oven for a couple of hours with lots of veggies, including sun-dried tomatoes (which I normally don't like, but because they re-hydrate in the stew they are much better and don't have as intense of a flavor).

This recipe is easy, but it seems so fancy! Prosciutto Roasted Bass with Autumn Vegetables was a lovely way to welcome fall into the kitchen! The vegetables that are underneath the bass are yukon gold potatoes, butternut squash, parsnips, and carrots.

We brought this French Chocolate Bark over to Susan and Mark's with some Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies for an Ina inspired dessert. Both were a hit! The chocolate bark has both semi and bittersweet chocolate and is topped with roasted cashews, dried cherries and apricots, crystallized ginger, and golden raisins. Yum!

This is a delightful salad! The Cape Cod Chopped Salad has so many great ingredients, it's difficult not to like. It is topped with a citrus vinaigrette and has bacon, apple, walnuts, dried cranberries, and blue cheese.

This is Ina's version of classic garlic bread. Garlic Ciabatta Bread is really easy to make when you have a food processor do all the chopping for you. I really like this garlic bread, because it calls for fresh oregano as opposed to the dried oregano which can have a really overwhelming flavor.

You know, I tried and tried to get this picture to rotate the right way, but I just don't think it wants to. This is a Sunrise Smoothie which is made with watermelon, strawberries, peaches, raspberry sorbet, and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Recipes found in this post:

Sunrise Smoothie- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sunrise-smoothie-recipe/index.html

Garlic Ciabatta Bread- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/garlic-bread-recipe/index.html

Cape Cod Chopped Salad- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cape-cod-chopped-salad-recipe/index.html

French Chocolate Bark- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/french-chocolate-bark-recipe/index.html

Prosciutto Roasted Bass with Autumn Vegetables- Not Available Online. Back to Basics Cookbook.

Parker's Beef Stew- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parkers-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

Indonesian Grilled Swordfish- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/indonesian-grilled-swordfish-recipe/index.html

Moroccan Couscous- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/moroccan-couscous-recipe/index.html

Tuscan Lemon Chicken-

Tomato Rice Pilaf-

Creme Brulee- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/creme-brulee-recipe/index.html

Provencal Tomatoes-

Croissant Bread Pudding-

Roasted Striped Bass-

Tri-Berry Oven Pancake-

Buffalo Chicken Wings-

California BLT-

Some More...

French Bistro Steaks with Provencal Butter and Creamy Cheddar Grits

The steak recipe called for hanger steaks, but both Treasure Island and Whole Foods did not carry them so I just got some filets. The butter on top is made with garlic, anchovy, capers, chives, thyme, lemon zest, and herbs de Provence. This mixture would definitely be good on a steak sandwich the next day, if you have any left over.

The grits are a little difficult to see (sorry!), but they are so easy and tasty. They're an alternative to mashed potatoes or polenta, and they are as easy to make as couscous. These grits were made super tasty with the addition of half and half (don't make these when you're dieting! Or you could use skim milk...), cheddar cheese, green onions, and maybe a dash or two of hot sauce when you serve them!

Bay Scallop Gratins

My go to recipe for scallops is in Ina's Barefoot in Paris cookbook, and they're called Scallops Provencal. This recipe is similar to that one, but has a couple of ingredients that really make awesome flavor! It's also fun to make individual portions in gratin dishes :). These scallops are made with Pernod, which is a French liquor that smells like black licorice. It adds a really interesting dimension to the butter, wine, shallot, garlic flavors that are in the Provencal recipe. This also has a little bit of prosciutto, and that's always a welcome addition to a recipe!

Happy Birthday Mac!

In honor of the blog, Mac went without his classic, Duncan Hines yellow cake with chocolate frosting so that I could try Beatty's Chocolate Cake. I think he was okay with the substitution! This was the most moist, delicious cake we've ever had! You add a little brewed coffee to the batter, and I think that must make a difference. Yum!

Dinner Spanakopitas with Oven-roasted Vegetables

This is a delicious vegetarian meal! The spanakopitas are filled with spinach, onions, Parmesan cheese, feta, and pine nuts. Mac used his flag folding skills from elementary school to wrap up these pockets of goodness in phyllo dough. The oven-roasted vegetables include fingerling potatoes, fennel, green beans, and asparagus. It was a really nice combination.

Let me know if you try any of these!

Recipes from this post:

Dinner Spanakopitas - Back to Basics

Creamy Cheddar Grits - Back to Basics Unfortunately, this recipe is not available online.

Bay Scallop Gratins - Back to Basics

French Bistro Steaks with Provencal Butter - Back to Basics Unfortunately, this recipe is not available online.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake - Barefoot Contessa at Home

Oven-roasted Vegetables - Back to Basics Unfortunately, this recipe is not available online.

Crossing Off Recipes!

Above are "Lemon Chicken with Croutons" from Barefoot in Paris and "Frozen Key Lime Pie" from Barefoot Contessa Family Style.

These are both great, easy recipes that I'm happy to have made for the first time. The Key Lime Pie can last for several days in the freezer so it's great to make ahead or just leave in the freezer to eat piece by piece each night. ;) The chicken is a winner dinner for sure. You might have everything you need to make it in your pantry already, besides the chicken and the baguette. The chicken is juicy and flavorful and the croutons soak up all of the tastiness.

In my first post I said I was starting this journey with the Barefoot Contessa At Home book. I am changing my course in order to find sooner success. My focus is now to complete the recipes in the Back to Basics book. Here are my counts of # of recipes left in each category:

Starters- 6

Soup- 6

Lunch- 8

Dinner- 8

Vegetables- 6

Dessert- 11

Breakfast- 10

10 months left!

Here are the recipes from this post:

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-chicken-with-croutons-recipe2/index.html

Frozen Key Lime Pie

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/frozen-key-lime-pie-recipe3/index.html

Back in Action!

The wedding and honeymoon were AMAZING! Dream come true. But, I was dying to get back in the kitchen. Here's what I've been up to!

Below are caramelized shallots. I was super excited to try these, because I've loved every other recipe that included shallots. However, I think these were a little too sweet for my taste. Sweeter than onions. Not for me.

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

This soup was great! It was a great way to use some yummy tomatoes we got at the Farmers' Market. It was also my first experience using the food mill, and that was very fun. I look forward to using that tool again in the future. That's a little bit of basil chiffonade floating around in there. It tasted very fresh and sweet.

These guys are trouble! First I halved the recipe (9x13 of these would be too dangerous!) I intended to make these and send Mac to work with the leftovers. They never made it to the office, and when we had people over on Thursday night, they became an impromptu dessert. I will definitely make these Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars again!

This is what we made the very first night we were home from Hawaii. White Pizza with Arugula salad on top. This is a must make. The dough instructions were easy, and it tasted light and fluffy. The arugula salad had a great bite with all of the white cheeses.

Recipes in this blog can be found at:

Caramelized Shallots - give them a try...maybe you'll enjoy them!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/caramelized-shallots-recipe2/index.html

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup -

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-fresh-tomato-soup-recipe/index.html

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars -

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/peanut-butter-and-jelly-bars-recipe/index.html

White Pizzas with Arugula -

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/white-pizzas-with-arugula-recipe/index.html