Tag: recipes

January Cooking Round-Up

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This past January, I made a number of Ina Garten recipes. I covered soup, chicken, Mexican, and vegetables. I really made a dent in January, with eight recipes. I think that is the most I’ve made in a month so far. I even made some dessert recipes!

Click on the links below to read the recipe reviews.

I started off with one of Ina’s favorite foods: chicken. But, I was feeling the need for comfort food, so I scoured her latest cookbook Modern Comfort Food for a worthwhile recipe. Boy, did Ina’s Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas hit the spot!

Read about the recipe here!

As a side dish for the enchiladas, I wanted to keep the Mexican theme going. So, I found a corn recipe that paired wonderfully with the enchiladas. Confetti Corn was so tasty and so easy to make! You can read about it right here.

Next, I made a dessert recipe. Ina Garten’s Ultimate Ginger Cookie really is something that should be tasted! I crystallized ginger adds a not-so-subtle flavor and “bite” to the cookie. Though these were tasty, they are not my favorite cookie. But, they can definitely be used as a wonderful fall dessert. If you want to read my review of the recipe, click here.

You know me and desserts! I can’t get enough of them!! So, I stayed with the dessert theme for the next Ina recipe I made in January. This time, it was Chocolate Chunk Blondies. This was a cross between a cookie and brownie. Filled with chocolate chunks, these will definitely satisfy any chocolate craving. These are for sure to be added to my recipe repetoire. Wanna hear more about these wonderful blondies? Here is the link.

The next recipe? More veggies! Orange-Braised Carrots and Parsnips introduced me to a new cooking method and I couldn’t be more pleased. Parsnips are totally an underrated vegetable. They can do more than just jazz up your mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving and Christmas! Read about braising and how these carrots tasted at the link.

Ina’s Lemon Chicken Breasts are a wonderfully light dinner than can be made any night of the week. With hints of Italian and French herbs, this recipe cooks up fast!

To go with the Lemon Chicken, I made a vegetable dish. Roasted Broccoli with Panko Gremolata looks elegant but it couldn’t be any easier to make. In fact, roasting vegetables is a great way to bring out the great flavor of vegetables without slaving over the stove. Read about the broccoli was dressed up right here!

To close out the month of January, I made a soup. Snow was predicted (and arrived) so having soup on hand was a must! Ina’s Winter Minestrone and Garlic Bruschetta filled us with tasty veggies and wonderful plant-based protein. Read about this flavorful soup here.

Let me know if you try these recipes! Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments below!!

My First Pioneer Woman Recipe

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In September of 2019, I created a different blog that I have since made private. However, I did want to share this recipe with you all since I will most likely not be doing any other cooking this week. This recipe was made in February 2020, before COVID hit the United States. This post appears as it did when it was originally published.

In a future post, I will talk about my love of all things Ree, but for now, here’s the recipe review. Enjoy!

Continue reading “My First Pioneer Woman Recipe” →

Recipe #23 Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

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This recipe appears in Modern Comfort Food, page 114.

The first recipe back from my short Ina Garten hiatus was a total hit! Which, to be honest, surprised me since my parents do not typically have the taste buds for Mexican food. However, I think it went over so well because these enchiladas are loaded with cheesy goodness and I left out practically all of the heat.

Making these enchiladas was a challenge! Well, parts of it was challenging anyway. For the most part the recipe was straight forward and enjoyable. The problems arose when it became time to actually stuff the enchiladas and roll them. That part was tricky and turned messy — both my kitchen counter and the attractiveness of the dish. The good news is since they bake in the oven and are covered in sauce and cheese, no really noticed how sloppy they looked.

Seeing that this recipe appears in Ina’s latest book, Modern Comfort Food, it lives up to being a classic comfort food recipe. It is also one that I plan to make again in the future, but with some modifications. Instead of chicken I may use tofu or a meat replacement. I may even use vegetables entirely instead. Anything with cheddar and goat cheese has to be good, right?

Even the photo above couldn’t save the dish from looking messy. Well, it probably could have, but these enchiladas were so yummy that I almost forgot to snap a photo for the blog!

Weekend Recipes 1/8/2021

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It’s Friday. Finally. This week was long for me. I’m not really sure why. But at least now I can look forward to the weekend ahead and spending some time in the kitchen. Over the last week I’ve taken some organizing and planning steps to help me stay more on track with the blog and cooking/baking. Now it’s time to put them into practice!

Continue reading “Weekend Recipes 1/8/2021” →

New Year’s Cooking

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Now that the major holidays are behind us — at least for my family — I can focus on getting back into the swing of cooking Ina recipes each week.

Even though New Year’s is this week, my family was never really “big” on doing anything for the New Year. In normal times, we would go to my aunt and uncle’s house New Year’s Day, but that isn’t happening this year.

So, I decided I will cook something for them…but now what remains is the blog-age-old question:

What shall I make?

Recipe #22 Challah French Toast

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This recipe can be found in Family Style, page 187.

This one of the first recipes I made from the Breakfast category that I actually I ate for breakfast! I had made Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake recipe last month which came from the Breakfast section.

This recipe has so much potential, but sadly I did not execute it well. First, I used bread that was too soft and got soggy really quickly. This led to not having crispy edges on the French toast during the cooking process. However, the flavor is present and tastes amazing! I was just missing that slight crispness around the edges.

This is a recipe I’d make again with sturdier bread. It is a quick meal and I can see it impressing someone if it’s executed properly.

The taste of the orange and vanilla was really prominent which was a nice change for me. Granted, I’m accustomed to frozen French Toast, so anything would be better than the box.

I will be taking the next couple of weeks off from cooking. Yes, even with Christmas on the way. But, I will just be too busy. Plus my brother is coming home and I haven’t seen him in a while.

I do plan to make some posts over the next two weeks. First, I will be reviewing another one of Ina’s cookbooks sometime next week. I’ll also make a post about the dessert recipe I try from the new cookbook I bought over the weekend.

Now, it’s time for me to get ready for the snow!

Until next time….

Recipe #21 – Triple Chocolate Loaf Cakes

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This recipe is from Cook Like a Pro, pg. 224.

Last weekend I made another dessert recipe, the Triple Chocolate Loaf Cakes. While the recipe was very simple, this was not exactly something to write home about. It was basically a very chocolate-y cake in a loaf form. What I did like though, is that it yields 2 loaf cakes. But in reality, I feel like I could have combined the two pans into one and gotten a taller cake.

It was tasty and simple and can definitely be used if you don’t need a full cake for something, but again, I wasn’t overly impressed with it.

The recipe calls for chocolate chips to be coated in flour before adding them to the recipe. I remember Ina saying something in one of the episodes of Barefoot Contessa that this helps the chips not sink to the bottom of the pan. Well, I did coat them in flour — generously — and they still sunk. Oh well!

Recipe #20 Eggplant Gratin

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This recipe can be found in Barefoot in Paris, page 54

This weekend, I decided to cook from one of the two remaining cookbooks that I had not yet cooked from: Barefoot in Paris and Cook Like a Pro. The first recipe I made this weekend was for dinner on Friday night and it was Eggplant Gratin, coming from Ina’s French cookbook.

This recipe is nothing more than a French take on the Italian Eggplant Parmesan. However, it was so much tastier! Who would have thought half and half would make such a difference! This recipe was pretty easy to make since I already had the eggplant fried. It was also a win for me since I only had to buy the half and half for this recipe. Everything else, including the ricotta and parmesan cheese was already in my fridge!

The thinning of the cheese mixture with half and half adds an unexpected richness that would probably be overwhelming if the recipe called for cream. It was a big hit with my family too! I think this will become the recipe I make in the future when I feel like making an eggplant parmesan.

Additionally, I also baked this weekend. It came from Cook Like a Pro and the recipe and review of that will be dropping later this week!

Yesterday’s Cooking

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I did do some cooking this weekend, but I did not make Ina recipes.

Instead, I chose to make recipes that would give my family and me a little more plant protein versus meat protein. So, I crafted two dishes and my family liked them.

The first one was a take on Beef Wellington, but instead of meat, I used a delicious mushroom mixture to wrap in the puff pastry.

Mushroom Wellington

The other dish I made was kind of my own creation. I used quinoa and chickpeas (garbanzo beans) as the star players and make a dish that also featured kale, an orange pepper and cherry tomatoes. I added in some sherry wine and spices and it was so yummy! Though, I think I needed more salt and pepper. Oh well, you live and learn, right?

Quinoa & Kale Recipe

I’m not sure what I will make this week, but it will be an Ina recipe, that’s for sure!

Also, the cookbook reviews will return next week, but there will be more time between them. They will not be a weekly post, but I do still plan to review all twelve.

Sit tight, more is coming your way soon!!