Category: recipe review

My review of recipes that I’ve made from other chefs.

Recipe #8 – Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart

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From Barefoot Contessa Family Style! page 151

Nothing says Fall in New England like pumpkin! And what better was to celebrate a very “fall” weekend with a pumpkin tart?

(Not to mention I got to use my new tart pan again — I need to get its monies worth!)

So I found that Ina’s recipe for Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart only needed a few additional ingredients from the grocery store. Plus I wanted to make a tart to try to redeem myself from the last one…..

Well now that I have made it and tried it, this one did turn out much better than the chocolate mousse tart I tried to make last weekend. However, I think there is still room for improvement.

The empty tart shell….much thicker and more even than the first one I made last week.

In contrast to last week’s tart recipe, this one called for gelatin which did help the mixture firm up quickly and nicely. However, I think the pumpkin mixture had to cook for an additional few minutes over the double boiler.

This ended up being a good recipe for me to learn from. Not only did I have another chance to improve my tart shell making skills, but I also received experience working with a double boiler. I have only a double boiler setup a few times in my life. Once when I made a homemade herbal medicine salve and the other was when I melted orange colored chocolate for Halloween.

While the double boiler worked fine the previous times since I only needed to melt something, I think I need more experience actually using it to cook/heat something well. To be honest, I think the real issue here is the fact that I do not let eggs cook long enough to allow things to thicken.

Overall this week’s tart was tasty. I was able to taste the banana throughout even though there is only one banana in the whole tart. The orange zest also made my tongue jump for joy since it was a nice, unexpected flavor profile that you wouldn’t automatically associate with a pumpkin dessert.

This tart did require A LOT of dishes, but will make a nice substitute for a pumpkin pie at the Thanksgiving table. One of the nice things about the tart over a traditional pumpkin pie is that the mousse tart is creamy and lighter than a pumpkin pie.

Completed Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart

Since I did not feel like fighting with a piping bag, I decided to just spread the whipped cream on top of the already chilled tart. I then attempted to sprinkle the orange zest over it, but the zest was rather juicy, so it didn’t spread too well. Oh well! Still tasted good!!

Recipes #6 and #7 – Fingerling Potatoes, and Peas and Pancetta

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Fingerling Potatoes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, page 159 AND Peas & Pancetta from Make it Ahead, page 158.

To pair with my Turkey Meat Loaf, I decided I needed potatoes. After all, is a classic American dinner like meat load complete if there are no potatoes? I think not.

Luckily, Ina has numerous recipes involving potatoes. I chose for a simpler one, but also a somewhat non-traditional one since meat loaf is usually served with mashed potatoes.

Ina’s fingerling potatoes are just about as basic as you can get and it was lovely anyway. I purchased fingerling potatoes from the store and sliced them before cooking to save time. Since I had more time in the morning, after slicing them in half I filled a pot with cold water and let them sit in there on the stove (it was off) until I needed them for dinner. The potatoes were cooked until fork tender, I drained them, let them steam for a few moments while I was working on the Peas & Pancetta, then tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper.

They paired really well with the meat loaf and it was probably the most basic recipe Ina has.

The Peas & Pancetta is where we bring in the “gourmet” that is typical of Ina Garten’s recipes. Pancetta is not something that I typically cook with, so going to the store to get pancetta would have been a hurdle. I’m not sure if the deli department in the grocery store would have it. Luckily, I didn’t have to find out because where the cheeses are on display with the other cured meats, they had prepackaged pancetta already diced just how I needed it!

It was a win for me and what a great way to start the day!

When it came time to make the veggie, I sliced up the shallot and threw it into the pan with some oil, I added the pancetta and shortly after I heard little crackling noises of the pancetta searing. Once the shallot turned translucent, I added the peas, the salt, pepper, and mint. I gave some time for the peas to defrost (since they were frozen) and cook. Almost as soon as the peas were ready, the meatloaf was done.

I plated everything and served it to my family. Everyone liked it. The pancetta was a welcome change to our usual routine of having plain peas or just something out of a steamer-bag. I do think I had too many peas…I used a larger bag than called for, but it was all I was able to find in the freezer. Oh well, I got the gist of the taste.

You may be wondering if made a dessert for this meal.

Well, I did…sort of. But it wasn’t made the same day as these. I made it Friday morning, which I will discuss on Monday’s post!

Recipe # 5 – Turkey Meat Loaf

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From The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, page 138-139

I have to admit, I was not as productive this week when it came to cooking. I made dinner for the household last night and it took me quite some time to figure out what I wanted to make.

Did I want a one-pot meal type of thing? Or did I want to combine a couple recipes as an easy way to knock out more than in one day?

Well, after some deliberating and flipping through numerous pages of cookbooks, I decided I would combine three recipes to make a full meal. I also decided that I would probably be easiest for me if I kept the recipes to the same book.

That was the real challenge, though!

The first hurdle was figuring out what the main course would be. Eventually, I stumbled upon the Turkey Meat Loaf recipe out of Ina’s first cookbook. Next came figuring out the sides. Seeing as I wanted to keep the recipes in the same book, I found a recipe for fingerling potatoes which I thought would complement the meat loaf well. Tried as I might to find a vegetable recipe that interested me to pair with the meat loaf and potatoes, I realized that the The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook would not be doing it. Eventually, I found a recipe in Make it Ahead for peas and pancetta. (Post about making the fingerling potatoes and peas dish coming Sunday!)

The turkey meat loaf recipe, as written, serves a small army of 8 to 10 people (though I think that would allow for large portions), so I decided to cut the recipe in half since I only needed to feed three and I knew I would still have leftovers.

I needed a few items at the grocery store for this one, so I went and picked up the ground turkey, grown thyme, the Worcestershire sauce, and ingredients for the other recipes. When I returned home, I started to create the meat loaf, even though dinner was hours away, I figured it wouldn’t harm anything to let the meatloaf sit in the fridge for a few hours while the flavors mingled with each other.

I cooked the onions and spices as directed, letting things go for a little longer than recommended in the recipe. It wasn’t until I added the chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce that things really started to heat up — or I guess in my case, smell up!

While the onion mixture was cooling, I mixed the ground meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, and then added the onion mixture. I formed it into a loaf shape on a cookie sheet, spread ketchup on top and placed in the fridge with a piece of foil.

When dinner time arrived, I set the oven to the 325 degrees, as the recipe states. Now, since I halved the recipe, I assumed it would take about 50 minutes to cook fully. Well, that wasn’t the case. It look over an hour and the full recipe says the 5-pound meat loaf would only take 90 minutes! I think my oven temperature may be off, or Ina uses a really high-scale oven….probably both.

Once the meat loaf was done and plated, I tried some. I was impressed with how moist it was. There wasn’t a salty flavor that is usually present in the meat loafs (loaves?) I make following the Lipton soup recipe. It paired nicely with the sides I had chosen…again separate post coming at you tomorrow about that!

I think this recipe will be made frequently in my life. It’s pretty easy and really flavorful. I wonder if the flavors would be more pronounced if I had made the larger loaf? Maybe one day I’ll find out!

(Sorry, readers, no picture of this. The house was crazy around dinner time and I was also dealing with a pot of boiling potatoes and cooking a vegetable.)

Recipe #4 – Chocolate Pudding Cream Tart

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Located in How Easy is That?

For my next recipe, I decided to make another dessert.

As you may recall, I purchased a tart pan from Williams-Sonoma last week and I decided that it was time to break it in! By the way, this recipe was made on Saturday morning, so I didn’t wait very long to give it it’s first use!

Ina has many tarts sprinkled throughout her cookbooks. Some of them are savory, but most are sweet, desserts. However, I wanted chocolate! So I found the Chocolate Pudding Cream Tart inside the How Easy Is That? cookbook. I gathered my ingredients and everything was going to plan, until one step…..

The recipe requires that you combine the scalded milk with the egg mixture in your stand mixture. Which went swimmingly: I poured the milk in slowly and had the mixer on stir so it wouldn’t scramble the eggs, which it didn’t. However, after doing that, Ina says you need to cook the mixture over the stove until it thickens. Her recipe says cook it for 5 to 10 minutes.

Well…I cooked it. But after 8 minutes on the stove with constant stirring, it had thickened a bit so I thought it was ready. I removed it from the heat and continued on with the recipe by adding the chocolate and butter and whisking until it turned into a nice chocolate-y pool of goodness!

(Or so I thought)

I then poured the mixture into the prepared tart pan with its cooked graham cracker shell, put the plastic wrap on it, and shoved it in the fridge to cool/harden. After about an hour, I checked on it and it was still pretty liquidy, but Ina says it will take around six hours to completing become pudding consistently so I didn’t worry too much.

However, when it reached Hour 5 and not much had changed I did begin to worry!

I didn’t want chocolate milk and I didn’t want to lose the whole thing, so I placed the tart pan in the freezer for the final hour.

It did freeze, but when I cut into it about 90 minutes later, I realized my problem. The custard didn’t cook long enough and thus thicken properly. I was so disappointed that this one didn’t work out. I was really hoping that my first experience making a tart would be a success.

Also, it was the first recipe that I was failed by Ina, I feel like. Prior to starting this blog, I made a few of her recipes here and there and everything always came out amazingly. But not this time. While I know this isn’t technically Ina’s fault, I am still disappointed. I think I am more disappointed over the fact that I feel like I have failed Ina.

However, I wanted this recipe to be good and turn out okay, so I’ve decided I’m going to make it again at some point. In fact, I already bought the chocolate. I just need to get the whole milk, which is a necessity when making this since anything but whole milk won’t cook and set properly.

So there you have it! My first “fail.”

But I plan to march onward and try again and continue to make more recipes. After all, this experience is so that I could learn something, after all!

My “fail” or a chocolate cream pudding pie.

Recipe #3 – French Chicken Pot Pie

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French Chicken Pot Pie from Make It Ahead

On Friday I decided to make another recipe from one of Ina’s cookbooks. The meal I made it for would be dinner so I paged my way through the “Dinner” sections of each of her eleven cookbooks until something caught my eye. I eventually found the French Chicken Pot Pie.

I went to the grocery store, found the leeks and mushrooms and opted for the a roll of the Pillsbury biscuit dough over the boxes of puff pastry as she suggested (I wanted to save a few bucks!), and I went home.

This was the first time that I can recall in which I cooked with leeks. And it was interesting. Every time I watch a chef on TV cook with leeks they say something like “You need to wash leeks really well because they are so sandy and dirty.” Remembering this, I was prepared for a mess of sand and dirt, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. These leeks were relatively clean and required only minimal additional cleaning.

The hardest part about this recipe was all the prep work. First you have to cook the chicken in the oven, then wait for it to cool to shred it by hand to get the pieces of chicken that will be “pie friendly.” Then you need to cut carrots, mushrooms, and the leeks into bite-sized pieces (half-inch dice). All of these cutting took some time and was probably the most time-consuming aspect of the recipe.

Finally, my mise en place was done and I was ready to cook. I followed the recipe diligently and when it came time to add the tarragon (after more knife work), the kitchen almost immediately smelled wonderful and I felt like I had just walked into a fancy-smanzy restaurant.

Ina’s original recipe calls to make individual portions of the pie in two-cup bowls that are oven-safe. While cute, it isn’t very practical. So I poured the mixture into a 13-by-9 baking dish and rolled the biscuit dough over it. I still brushed it with an egg wash and some salt and pepper, and it looked amazing!

While it baked, the house filled with wonderful smells of chicken, leeks, carrots, tarragon — and yes, Pillsbury biscuits.

Finally, the time came to eat the pie. I let it sit for a few minutes after removing it from the oven and it was worth it!

Upon having my first bite I immediately thought, “All the prep work was worth it!”

We had leftovers and I think the pie even tasted better the following day. Overall, it wasn’t all that much work (if you get over the chopping) and totally worth the effort!!

Sadly, the only photo I have of it is while the contents of the mixture was simmering on my stove, but the picture wouldn’t do it justice anyway. I highly recommend you try to this one for dinner soon.

Recipe #2 – Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

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Ina’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars from Barefoot Contessa At Home

Last night, on a whim I felt that I was in the mood to bake. So, naturally, I chose an Ina recipe. I figured since it was late and a weeknight it would be best and easiest to bake something from the “Dessert” sections of the cookbooks. I thumbed through each of the 11 books I currently own, narrowed it down to three top choices then picked from those three.

And the Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars won….mainly due to the fact that I needed a limited number of ingredients from the grocery store.

After heading to the local Big Y, standing in line for almost 10 minutes while the elderly woman in front of me took her sweet time loading her groceries on the cashier’s conveyor belt, I started baking.

Everything was going well until I got to the part where I had to add the flour. Ina calls for 3 cups of flour for this recipe. I had the flour, but it was a new bag so the flour was more compact than usual and I think I added probably an extra tablespoon or two just because the flour was too packed in the cups.

This recipe looks easy, but peanut butter is hard to handle and I learned that cleaning up anything that had peanut butter in it can be challenging! Also, due to the my inclination that the mixture had too much flour, the dough itself was hard to spread.

It was more annoying than hard to make these. But after they baked and cool, I was impressed! They were so sweet and delicious and I doubt they will last very long in the house.

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer by any means. And I only have an iPhone 8 as a camera, so please bare with me on the sub-par photos.

Cheers!

Recipe #1 – Homemade Applesauce

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Yesterday was the first of many recipes on this very long journey. For my first recipe I felt strongly that I wanted it to be one from Ina’s first cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. So, I got it off the shelf and started paging through it. However, I quickly realized a slight problem. Many of the recipes called for ingredients that are “fresher” and “in season” during the summer months.

Now, yes, it is technically still summer (at least until Tuesday!), and I could (in theory) get some of these items now. But doing so I would break one of Ina’s cardinal rules: always use the freshest ingredients possible. So I continued on paging through the book until I stumbled upon an applesauce recipe.

With Fall just around the corner, apples are starting to come in season here in New England and the ones this recipe calls for tend to be “always in season.” So that is what I decided to make.

Her apple sauce recipe is overall quite easy to make. The most annoying aspect was peeling the apples (I had 14 to do!), but it was totally worth the effort. The addition of butter in the pot makes the sauce smooth and helps layer some of the spices included. The added lemon juice and orange zest give it an especially interesting taste. In fact, one of my first thoughts after tasting it was “This tastes like gourmet.”

I also love any excuse to break out my Dutch oven and since the apples cooked for 90 minutes in it, it’s starting to move beyond being used only to make bread.

1 recipe down, 1,055 to go!