Showing posts with label cook's illustrated. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cook's illustrated. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunday Afternoon Roast Beef & Garlic Mash
Here is a little photo essay of our Sunday afternoon meal. It's obviously a heart attack waiting to happen. Since we haven't had a pot roast in four years, I decided it was okay. So, yeah, we'll stick to that four year plan.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Spaghetti al Limone
Super simple and satisfying Cook's Illustrated recipe.
If you want a tangy, slightly creamy dinner in 15 minutes this is it:
table salt
1 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1/4 heavy cream
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup juice (approximately three lemons)*
1 ounce Parmesan cheese (we sub Pecorino)
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh shredded basil leaves
* My very important side note here is that if you are not going to use real lemons don't even attempt to make this. It's crucial for taste. Also, this recipe is best in winter time when you can get lemons in season.
Boil pasta with one t salt. Cook until al dente. Set aside. Reserve 1 and 3/4 cups pasta water. Set pasta aside.
Heat 1 t of oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallot and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cook until shallot is softened. Whisk in 1 and 1/2 cups reserved pasta water and cream into pot. Bring to a simmer and cook two minutes. Remove from heat, stir in pasta until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Cover and let stand 2 minutes, stirring periodically. Add additional reserved pasta water if needed to adjust consistency (you don't want it to be too dry). Stir in basil and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with some additional freshly shredded cheese.
And...voila! The easiest, nummiest dinner you ever did put in your belly.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Farmer's Market to Table
Ry has been tethered to the task of refinishing our fireplace mantel, which left me lots of time to kill this weekend. I filled it by riding a good fourteen miles on my bikecycle and gathering the fixin's for a home-cooked Sunday meal.
One of the places I rode was the West Allis Farmer's Market, which I believe is the best market in the metro area. My purchases were limited to the capacity of my bike basket, so I kept it simple. I purchased a whole organic chicken to roast with a tried and true Cook's Illustrated recipe, some taters, tomatoes and lovely flowers.
Flowers at the market are such a steal! It was quite a task making it home with them safely in tact given the cool and strong breeze flowing through the city this weekend.
Farmer's Market finds in tow.
Cook's French Chicken in a Pot recipe.
Naked, patted-dry, salted and peppered bird.
This was my first experience with preparing an entire animal for supper. I freaked out when I had to stick my hand in the cavity and pull out the gizzards. I only managed to get the heart out and had to have Ry come in and get the liver.
I think it was a good experience for me. I believe Ry's direct quote was "woman, if you can't do this you have no business being a carnivore", which is completely true. Since we've morphed back from vegan to veggie to meat eaters again, it's important for me to have this experience. It reminded me that what I intended to eat was at one time a living, sentient being. Holding the whole animal in my hands and preparing it, instead of some freakishly large frozen chicken breast out of a bag, was quite the reality check.
I seared each of the sides with just a bit of celery, onion and garlic in the dutch oven.
Lined top with foil before setting it to roast for two hours at a low temperature.
Internal temp of at least 175 degrees with the instant-read thermometer after two hours in the oven.
Our lovely table.
Chicken, peas and homemade pesto pasta for sup.
And I can't resist a pick of my mow-mow to finish out the day. He must miss his Uncle Steven 'cause he kept sleeping on the guest bed until we took the linens off.
One of the places I rode was the West Allis Farmer's Market, which I believe is the best market in the metro area. My purchases were limited to the capacity of my bike basket, so I kept it simple. I purchased a whole organic chicken to roast with a tried and true Cook's Illustrated recipe, some taters, tomatoes and lovely flowers.
Flowers at the market are such a steal! It was quite a task making it home with them safely in tact given the cool and strong breeze flowing through the city this weekend.
Farmer's Market finds in tow.
Cook's French Chicken in a Pot recipe.
Naked, patted-dry, salted and peppered bird.
This was my first experience with preparing an entire animal for supper. I freaked out when I had to stick my hand in the cavity and pull out the gizzards. I only managed to get the heart out and had to have Ry come in and get the liver.
I think it was a good experience for me. I believe Ry's direct quote was "woman, if you can't do this you have no business being a carnivore", which is completely true. Since we've morphed back from vegan to veggie to meat eaters again, it's important for me to have this experience. It reminded me that what I intended to eat was at one time a living, sentient being. Holding the whole animal in my hands and preparing it, instead of some freakishly large frozen chicken breast out of a bag, was quite the reality check.
I seared each of the sides with just a bit of celery, onion and garlic in the dutch oven.
Lined top with foil before setting it to roast for two hours at a low temperature.
Internal temp of at least 175 degrees with the instant-read thermometer after two hours in the oven.
Our lovely table.
Chicken, peas and homemade pesto pasta for sup.
And I can't resist a pick of my mow-mow to finish out the day. He must miss his Uncle Steven 'cause he kept sleeping on the guest bed until we took the linens off.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Huckleberry Pie
Ry and his bro Jon collected a Nalgene full of huckleberries on their recent back country hiking trip to Montana. They lugged the berries all the way home with the agreement that Ry would make a huckleberry pie for us to share.
We just spent the evening with Jon and his lovely lady Megan having dinner, drinks and of course, the pie. Ry made Cook's Illustrated Stuffed Manicotti. I made my famous homemade salad dressing and also some Texas Toast, which was about as far from homemade as it gets.
Family, good food and quality beer always make for an excellent night!
We just spent the evening with Jon and his lovely lady Megan having dinner, drinks and of course, the pie. Ry made Cook's Illustrated Stuffed Manicotti. I made my famous homemade salad dressing and also some Texas Toast, which was about as far from homemade as it gets.
Family, good food and quality beer always make for an excellent night!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Pesto-rific!
Our garden is starting to overflow with herbs. Ry decided to make pesto so none of that good basil would go to waste. He used a Cook's Illustrated recipe, of course. If anyone is interested I can send it your way.
Proud Pesto Papa!
Basil bounty. He only harvested roughly half the leaves.
Bruising the basil leaves.
Leaves chopped up. Recipe also calls for some parsley in order to help maintain color. It came from our garden as well.
Pecorino Romano, garlic cloves and toasty pine nuts.
Using our friends' food processor after breaking our second in less than a year. I think it's time to go high end. That'd be cheaper than getting a new one every six months.
Plopped into ice cube trays. This was the only part I helped with, unless you count eating shredded cheese or observing.
Silly face, but look at how green that stuff is. We use our empty Bonne Maman jars for everything!
Frozen pesto cubes. I had to pry them out carefully with a butter knife. They don't just pop out like you might imagine.
All bagged up and ready for the freezer.
Proud Pesto Papa!
Basil bounty. He only harvested roughly half the leaves.
Bruising the basil leaves.
Leaves chopped up. Recipe also calls for some parsley in order to help maintain color. It came from our garden as well.
Pecorino Romano, garlic cloves and toasty pine nuts.
Using our friends' food processor after breaking our second in less than a year. I think it's time to go high end. That'd be cheaper than getting a new one every six months.
Plopped into ice cube trays. This was the only part I helped with, unless you count eating shredded cheese or observing.
Silly face, but look at how green that stuff is. We use our empty Bonne Maman jars for everything!
Frozen pesto cubes. I had to pry them out carefully with a butter knife. They don't just pop out like you might imagine.
All bagged up and ready for the freezer.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
A Long Awaited Bloom
A few pics to show updates from our home life so far this week:
One of our orchids finally shot out a new bloom after two years! Today it started slowly opening.
Ry made a delicious Cook's Illustrated spring Pasta Primavera recipe featuring leeks, asparagus, peas and mint. Nummy.
This weekend I started dusting the living room, including the mantel and started this paint stripping project on a whim. Can't wait to see what it looks like once it's been sanded and refinished!
One of our orchids finally shot out a new bloom after two years! Today it started slowly opening.
Ry made a delicious Cook's Illustrated spring Pasta Primavera recipe featuring leeks, asparagus, peas and mint. Nummy.
This weekend I started dusting the living room, including the mantel and started this paint stripping project on a whim. Can't wait to see what it looks like once it's been sanded and refinished!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Blog Redux
Over the weekend I was working a mandatory all-day event for our upcoming RA Selection process. All of the students who hope to become RAs participate in group activities and we observe them to see how they interact with others when working on tasks. During some of our down time the prostaff and I invaded a basement classroom and were hanging out shooting the sh*t. I told a couple of my female co-workers that I'd started a new blog and we began talking about hosting services. It came up that one of the other women and I had both used an older hosting service to post "blogs" in our early college years. I'm not even sure the word blog was in the common vernacular (a shout out to the Royal Tennenbaums for those listening) at that point. I thought I'd deleted mine, but for the heck of it we logged in to see if they were still there. Hers wasn't, but to my horror, mine was.
Later on that night I spent some time reading it to see what was there and decide if I'd share it with Ryan. It was a little snap shot into the mind of a twenty-one to twenty-three year old, but also an illustration of the significant ways I've changed since that time. I was floored at some of the things I deemed appropriate to share: partying, romantic liaisons, distateful language, personal accounts of my struggle with depression. Keep in mind it wasn't associated with my real name, but nonetheless, it was over the top. Ultimately I decided not to share it with Ryan.
When I have these moments of reflection on where I've come from (they happen occasionally when I start re-reading old journals) I usually start to dissect and analyze changes in me since the timeframe in question. It's always an emotional process. So, though I didn't share the old blog with Ryan, we talked about what I was struggling with and how I've moved forward since.
I am embarassed of some of the things that happened in the past. I don't want them to define me. There was a time when all they did was live in my head and I let them define me (Arizona - there's nothing like years away from your home, friends and family to drive this process). The reflection this time was more exhilarating than sad. I know that I've changed in positive ways, that I'm a stronger, better person than I ever was before. I thanked Ryan for his love, because it fortifies me and helps me feel more confident out there in the world.
A snapshot of our life that lives in the kitchen:
On a lighter note, last night I decided to bake some cookies for my staff meeting. I selected a crispy oatmeal recipe from a tattered Cook's Illustrated magazine where we've been challenging ourselves to hit all of the recipes. They offered an orange/almond modification, but since several of my ladies have nut allergies I elected to make make my own orange/dark chocolate modification. I used the zest from these organic Casa Casa oranges, which I bought for the first time last week. They have an interesting dark orange red color and are very juicy. Ryan says the cookies turned out great, but we'll have to wait until tonight's meeting for the verdict from my ladies.
Here are some pics of the process:
Still Life with Ingredients.
The dough.
Dough balls.
Posing with Ryan's new apron. Low and behold it actually serves a great function. I didn't even change out of my work clothes. I did have to take off my beautiful decorative scarf because I was hot!
The finished product on parchment.
Lastly, I want to give a little shout out for my sister, Greta. She is pretty humble about sharing her success stories with any of us in her family. Which means that she sometimes forgets to share important news. She has an art piece accepted into the show at the Society of North American Goldsmiths national conference for the second year in a row and has been admitted to a national undergraduate art research conference in Montana. Props Gret! These are great honors and it's cool to see your unique artistic style emmerge.
Later on that night I spent some time reading it to see what was there and decide if I'd share it with Ryan. It was a little snap shot into the mind of a twenty-one to twenty-three year old, but also an illustration of the significant ways I've changed since that time. I was floored at some of the things I deemed appropriate to share: partying, romantic liaisons, distateful language, personal accounts of my struggle with depression. Keep in mind it wasn't associated with my real name, but nonetheless, it was over the top. Ultimately I decided not to share it with Ryan.
When I have these moments of reflection on where I've come from (they happen occasionally when I start re-reading old journals) I usually start to dissect and analyze changes in me since the timeframe in question. It's always an emotional process. So, though I didn't share the old blog with Ryan, we talked about what I was struggling with and how I've moved forward since.
I am embarassed of some of the things that happened in the past. I don't want them to define me. There was a time when all they did was live in my head and I let them define me (Arizona - there's nothing like years away from your home, friends and family to drive this process). The reflection this time was more exhilarating than sad. I know that I've changed in positive ways, that I'm a stronger, better person than I ever was before. I thanked Ryan for his love, because it fortifies me and helps me feel more confident out there in the world.
A snapshot of our life that lives in the kitchen:
On a lighter note, last night I decided to bake some cookies for my staff meeting. I selected a crispy oatmeal recipe from a tattered Cook's Illustrated magazine where we've been challenging ourselves to hit all of the recipes. They offered an orange/almond modification, but since several of my ladies have nut allergies I elected to make make my own orange/dark chocolate modification. I used the zest from these organic Casa Casa oranges, which I bought for the first time last week. They have an interesting dark orange red color and are very juicy. Ryan says the cookies turned out great, but we'll have to wait until tonight's meeting for the verdict from my ladies.
Here are some pics of the process:
Still Life with Ingredients.
The dough.
Dough balls.
Posing with Ryan's new apron. Low and behold it actually serves a great function. I didn't even change out of my work clothes. I did have to take off my beautiful decorative scarf because I was hot!
The finished product on parchment.
Lastly, I want to give a little shout out for my sister, Greta. She is pretty humble about sharing her success stories with any of us in her family. Which means that she sometimes forgets to share important news. She has an art piece accepted into the show at the Society of North American Goldsmiths national conference for the second year in a row and has been admitted to a national undergraduate art research conference in Montana. Props Gret! These are great honors and it's cool to see your unique artistic style emmerge.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Coq Au Vin
Last weekend I created a meal plan, something I had never done for an entire week. My goal was to keep us committed to cooking at home several nights, to reduce our impulse buys at the grocery store (this is especially dangerous when you reguarly shop at Whole Foods - what can I say, we just love gourmet products) and to try out a few new recipes (at least one vegetarian included). We stuck to the plan throughout the week, despite a little snafu not making it to the store over the weekend.
Here was the menu:
Monday - Was supposed to be a soul food dinner at an MLK Jr. event at Memorial Hall in Racine but we arrived late. Instead we ended up eating out at Erv's mug in Franklin afterward. Unhealthy as all get out, but a colorful experience nonetheless.
Tuesday - Split Pea and Barley Soup from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures (Lemlin). Cooked by Megan.
Wednesday - Homemade Spinach/Feta & Mushroom Pizza. Homemade crust, sauce and fresh toppings. Ryan's own recipe. Cooked by Ryan.
Thursday - Leftover soup.
Friday - Coq Au Vin (Chicken in wine sauce) and braised fennel. We totally forgot about cooking the fennel and swapped it out for some homemade garlic mash taters. Cook's Illustrated Best Chicken Recipes (Kimbell). Cooked by Ryan.
We had ourselves a quiet little night together at home. Ryan loves to cook these complicated french sauce recipes so I let him go at it. We made our second use of my sister Greta's lovely Christmas gift of a dutch oven (first use was Cook's French Chicken in a Pot). Dinner preparation took nearly four hours from boiling and peeling the pearl onions to frying the bacon to searing the chicken to reducing the complicated wine sauce to chopping up the parsley garnish. The end result was rich and divine! We paired it with our recent favorite Cotes Du Rhone red (a steal at $6 from Trader Joe's).
Greta's new burnt orange dutch oven being put to the test:
A little impromptu ambiance created by Megan. Our pumpkin has dried out on the table since Halloween!
Our Friday night table. You can see the steamed windows backlit by the street light on the pedestrian mall in front of our building.
The final product. Chicken cooked in bacon fat, thyme, garlic, tomato paste drenched in a sauce reduced from pearl onions, white mushrooms, a bottle of red wine and some butter whisked in at the end for good measure. Garnished with crumbled bacon and minced fresh parsley. All I have to say is that I have a new found love for pearl onions and that my hubby is a culinary god. He has much patience for following recipes and waiting for the complicated end results. Har, har for gluttonous French recipes!
Here was the menu:
Monday - Was supposed to be a soul food dinner at an MLK Jr. event at Memorial Hall in Racine but we arrived late. Instead we ended up eating out at Erv's mug in Franklin afterward. Unhealthy as all get out, but a colorful experience nonetheless.
Tuesday - Split Pea and Barley Soup from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures (Lemlin). Cooked by Megan.
Wednesday - Homemade Spinach/Feta & Mushroom Pizza. Homemade crust, sauce and fresh toppings. Ryan's own recipe. Cooked by Ryan.
Thursday - Leftover soup.
Friday - Coq Au Vin (Chicken in wine sauce) and braised fennel. We totally forgot about cooking the fennel and swapped it out for some homemade garlic mash taters. Cook's Illustrated Best Chicken Recipes (Kimbell). Cooked by Ryan.
We had ourselves a quiet little night together at home. Ryan loves to cook these complicated french sauce recipes so I let him go at it. We made our second use of my sister Greta's lovely Christmas gift of a dutch oven (first use was Cook's French Chicken in a Pot). Dinner preparation took nearly four hours from boiling and peeling the pearl onions to frying the bacon to searing the chicken to reducing the complicated wine sauce to chopping up the parsley garnish. The end result was rich and divine! We paired it with our recent favorite Cotes Du Rhone red (a steal at $6 from Trader Joe's).
Greta's new burnt orange dutch oven being put to the test:
A little impromptu ambiance created by Megan. Our pumpkin has dried out on the table since Halloween!
Our Friday night table. You can see the steamed windows backlit by the street light on the pedestrian mall in front of our building.
The final product. Chicken cooked in bacon fat, thyme, garlic, tomato paste drenched in a sauce reduced from pearl onions, white mushrooms, a bottle of red wine and some butter whisked in at the end for good measure. Garnished with crumbled bacon and minced fresh parsley. All I have to say is that I have a new found love for pearl onions and that my hubby is a culinary god. He has much patience for following recipes and waiting for the complicated end results. Har, har for gluttonous French recipes!
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