Tag: cooking

Saturday Cookin’

Published on by RJLeave a comment

This week I will be making three recipes!

The main course will be Parmesan Chicken from Family Style.

I will be serving it with two side dishes. For a vegetable, I’ll be preparing Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots (At Home) and for a starch, I’ll be making Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (At Home).

I may modify some of the recipes a little bit to cut down on the ingredients needed to be purchased. For example, I will only be using the amount of buttermilk I have left from last week (about a half cup) and not buying anymore. So I’ll be short a bit for the recipe, but I also plan to not make the full amount the recipe yields.

Pics (hopefully!) and reviews to come!!

Snickerdoodle Cake

Published on by RJ1 Comment

This recipe is NOT from Ina Garten, but I wanted to show off what I made because I was really pleased with myself and how it turned out! If interested, this recipe came from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The photos are mine, however. (Hers are much, much better!)

Snickerdoodle Cake is my new love! Three layers of cake with snickerdoodle pieces spread throughout, amazing cinnamon buttercream frosting, and just all around happy dancing!

Since this is not an Ina recipe, I will NOT be going into detail about the baking process. But…I do recommend you try this cake for yourself. It was so worth the effort!

The completed and decorated cake. Please excuse the bit of wax paper hanging out from under it.

Recipe #13: Weeknight Bolognese

Published on by RJLeave a comment

Featured in How Easy Is That?

In the headnotes to the recipe, Ina says (and I’m paraphrasing) that everyone needs a quick, easy, and flavorful sauce recipe. And after trying her Weeknight Bolognese I think I’ve found it!

This recipe was super simple. It reminded me of the “old Ina” (which is the Ina I knew and loved before I started this blog) meaning that I always found her recipes to be easy. This sauce recipe came together in a little over 30 minutes but it tastes as though it cooked all day. It also seems adaptable enough to increase the amount made or to omit the beef to make a true marinara-style sauce.

The flavor in this recipe is the real hidden secret.

There are so many layers of flavor in this sauce. I never thought nutmeg in an Italian sauce would taste so good. That is just one of many different flavors. Since I did not have crushed red pepper flakes, I did a quick Google search to try to find something else. I substituted chili powder and I think it only intensified the flavor. Red pepper flakes aside, this recipes uses a lot of black pepper. Which seems to be a theme in Ina’s savory recipes.

Add in some heavy cream, oregano, basil leaves, and red wine and this sauce will surely be a winner for you as well!

I think this one needs to go on the Favorites Lists!

Excuse the messy bowl. This was taken right before I sat down for my second helping! Yes, I forgot to take one before eating my first serving…..forgive me. I’m trying to remember to take them and make them look halfway decent!

This Week’s Cooking Plans

Published on by RJLeave a comment

Disclaimer: This post was started early Thursday afternoon and completed Thursday evening. I kept the “stream of consciousness” style so that you can see how my brain actually works when it comes to deciding what to make each week. Sometimes dealing with over 1000 recipes and a dozen cookbooks gets to be overwhelming.

Well, here we are. Friday….again.

Personally, this week was a little tough for me. The weather didn’t help much either. The lack of sun really starts to get to me after two days.

So, I’m looking forward to spending some time in the kitchen this afternoon preparing a tasty meal. I also decided to give Ina’s dessert recipes a little break. No desserts from her books this week, if any dessert is made at all.

That said, I still want to try to do two or three recipes this week.

I am thinking of branching out of my comfort zone and attempting some elegant and very gourmet.

After reviewing Barefoot in Paris yesterday, I realized that I haven’t made any of those recipes yet. So I’m thinking of doing Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic.

But then, when I looked over the recipe I realized that this chicken dish will feed a small army. We would have too many leftovers. So, it was back to paging through books to find a recipe that would work.

Which proved to be a bit of a challenge. We had fish already this week, chicken, lasagne, and pot pies. We also had a leftovers night which just repeated those dishes again. I am also hesitant to do anything with beef and lamb. The beef because I’m not a huge fan of it and the lamb because, well….the fear of the unknown. I’ve never had lamb.

After paging through Barefoot in Paris, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen this week. Nothing seemed easy and interested me. So, I picked a few books at random and thumbed through those. Soon enough, I found a recipe in How Easy is That?

Weeknight Bolognese for the win!

Bolognese is a meat sauce that is fairly common in Northern Italy. It’s an easy sauce to make and since it has meat (beef) in it, it helps fill you up.

(Disclaimer: I’m not opposed to beef in its ground form. Hamburgers, meatloafs, meatballs, etc are all OK in my book!)

I decided to use De Cecco pasta since it was on sale this week and use the called for pasta shape. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Since I’ve settled on this pasta dish, there will be no side dish or salad from Ina’s books to go with it. And as I’ve mentioned earlier, I won’t be making a dessert this weekend…from Ina that is.

I stumbled upon an amazing cake recipe that I just had to try! That review and write-up will be posted as well, however under a different category entitled “Other Recipes.”

Ina’s pasta sauce recipe will drop on Saturday and the cake recipe will be released on Sunday.

Enjoy the weekend!

Review of “Barefoot in Paris”

Published on by RJ1 Comment

This is part of a 12-part series where I review each of Ina’s cookbooks. A new review drops every Thursday at 1:30 PM. This is the fourth review out of the twelve.

This week I get to talk about my favorite Barefoot Contessa cookbook to date — Barefoot in Paris. This book is different from the others in a few ways. First, this is the only book (so far!) that focusing solely on one type of cuisine: French.

Continue reading “Review of “Barefoot in Paris”” →

The Woes of a Cook-Through Blog Part 1

Published on by RJLeave a comment

It’s been about a month since I started this project. So far, I am enjoying it. I have learned some things about cooking and purchasing ingredients. I also got to add a few tools to the kitchen during the process.

However, there have been some downsides.

This is starting to get really expensive! I spend anywhere from $30 to $75 a week on the groceries needed to make the recipes. Yes, sometimes that means more than one recipe, but still.

Also, I am coming to the realization that I am “neglecting” certain categories. Mainly the cocktails and the appetizers. The cocktails always posed a challenge since I am not one who consumes alcohol for pleasure. The appetizers are difficult to make for a meal since they weren’t intended to be a meal. I suppose I could plan a meal of just appetizers, but I feel like that would be more costly than it’s worth.

I feel like if I was having parties or family gatherings, then I could easily mix in some of these recipes, but with the COVID pandemic, that won’t be happening anytime soon.

Eventually, I will have to make both cocktails and appetizers. But for now, I’ll stick to the desserts, dinner, and lunch categories. Luckily, there are hundreds of recipes between those three groups to choose from.

Recipe #12: Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola

Published on by RJLeave a comment

This recipe comes from “Barefoot Contessa Foolproof,” pg. 156.

The third and final recipe I made last Friday was a pasta dish! This served as the main course meal and was paired with recipe #11 (read the post here).

This recipe comes from Foolproof which, prior to the start of this project, was the cookbook I cooked out of most. I’m not really sure why, it just kind of happened that way.

Anyway, Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola is a dish that I’ve been wanted to make for a while. And let me tell you: it did not disappoint. This recipe is essentially a cream sauce-based pasta dish. But, I found it to be lighter and more flavorful than a traditional Alfredo style sauce.

The layers of flavor built into the sauce are what really make it stand out, in my opinion. In earlier recipes, I was using pancetta to add flavor but this one called for prosciutto. I have to say, I like pancetta better. It’s easier to work it and has more body to the taste than prosciutto. Another layer of flavor was basil that is added at the end, just before serving.

Unfortunately, I forgot to buy basil at the store. And now that we’re in October, all the herbs I had growing are dead. To compensate, I mixed in some dried basil. It, of course, didn’t do it justice. But it’s all I had to work with.

One of the highlights of this dish is gorgonzola used. Up until me making this recipe, I didn’t even know there were two types of gorgonzola! Did you? Apparently, there’s a creamy kind known as dolce. This is what is used in this recipe. The other kind, mountain is more peppery and crumbly. The dolce gorgonzola melted quickly and when mixed with the parmesan resulted in a flavorful sauce that could easily be used for other dishes.

Overall, this was one of the easier recipes that I made so far doing this project. I made the sauce while the pasta cooked, married the two and then served it with the salad.

Once again, I do not have pictures of the finished product. I’m still getting used to taking photos while I’m cooking and before I eat. Sometimes I forget that I’m doing all of this for the blog.

Until next time, readers. . . . . .

Recipe #11: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Published on by RJ1 Comment

This recipe comes from “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics,” page 88

The second of three recipes that I made on Friday was the side dish.

I decided to complement my main dish and the dessert, I wanted a nice Fall-themed salad. So, I found a salad that used both butternut squash and apple cider! Perfect!

Granted, I ended up serving this a bit differently than called for. The vinaigrette ended up being cool, not warm, but I’m not really sure I would like a warm dressing anyway.

Despite this dressing tasted yummy and complemented the roasted butternut squash, walnuts, and dried cranberries in the salad. I also discovered that arugula is NOT my favorite lettuce, so I may end up having to switch it out in the future. It seems like Ina uses arugula quite often.

If you are interested in making this dish, be warned that if you add the cranberries to your roasting pan for the last 5 minutes, like the directions state, you may end up with some burnt cranberries on your tray. But! It’s totally worth it. Who knew roasting dried cranberries would bring out the flavor??

Sadly, I do not have any photos of this salad…or even the main course. I get too excited to eat the things I make that I sometimes forget to snap a pic!

Please forgive me.

Recipe #10 – Apple Pie Bars

Published on by RJ2 Comments

From Barefoot Contessa Cooking for Jeffrey

Last night, I made a three course meal for myself and my family.

This post will discuss the dessert course for that meal. The other two recipes will be featured in a separate post.

Apple Pie Bars were an easy choice since we are in the heart of apple season here in New England. Plus, the salad I made had notes of fall flavors, so I figured this dessert was a great way to carry-over that theme.

These pie bars are completely different than what I was expecting! Instead of a thin crust that is found in a traditional pie, this crust is a little bit thicker and more plump. It also had some hints of flavor, until a regular pie crust. Which makes sense, since the pie crust taste shouldn’t outshine the flavor in the pie.

What really got me was the apple mixture and the topping!

The recipe called for both Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples. I think this was the first time I cooked with Golden Delicious. I think this combination worked really well and probably adds some subtle flavor differences had I used only one type of apple. Mixed with sugar, lemon juice, and other common “fall spices,” the mixture simmered on the stove for about 15 minutes and in no my house smelled of pie!

The topping is more like a crumb topping, but it’s the crust dough with the flavor turned up. I added cinnamon and chopped walnuts and boy did it make a difference! I think the topping is the best part of this dish! If I make it again, I’ll probably add some cinnamon to the bottom crust, too.

While this does a little time to make since you have to peel, core, quarter, and thinly slice 6 apples, I think it is worth it and a great option to a traditional apple pie! The apple mixture appears to work well as a base for a regular pie, too.

This recipe is going on the “My Favorites” list!

Friday Recipes

Published on by RJLeave a comment

Well, here we are again.

Friday.

And that means I get to (have to?) cook for the family once again. This week was a tricky week when it came to deciding what I wanted to make. Since I only was able to do one recipe last week (read the post), I felt I needed to knock out at least three this weekend.

While I’ve not given myself an “official” timeline, I am trying to do at least 100 recipes over the course of the next year. That comes out to about two recipes per week. Which I think is doable…for now at least.

I was feeling kind of down for most of the week. I’m not sure if it’s the seasonal change or the pandemic. Most likely both. So, I decided I was going to make something sweet to have as a dessert over the weekend!

And I think I found the perfect thing: Apple Pie Bars

This recipe is featured in Cooking For Jeffrey which is one of the books I haven’t made anything out of yet, even before this project began.

I chose this one for a number of reasons. First, it seems pretty easy. Second, apples are in season here in New England this time of year. And finally, because who doesn’t love apple pie? I mean, I know it isn’t truly apple pie. But it’ll give me the feeling of eating apple pie.

At least I hope so!

Now, the next challenge was what would I make for dinner?

After looking through some of the cookbooks I have yet to cook ANYTHNG out of, I decided on something from Foolproof. It is a pasta dish that I’ve wanted to make for a long time: Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola. I then decided to make a a salad to go with it. (I’ll have my three recipes!)

I went Back to Basics and found a tasty-looking autumn salad that I think will complement the pasta nicely. Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette just screams Fall. Doesn’t it?

I can’t wait to try these tonight. Now, off to get the ingredients I don’t have.