October 2008 Archives

The weather has turned quite chilly which means it's perfect for soup. I used whatever I could find in my fridge for this one. It really hit the spot - I ended up eating it for lunch AND dinner. It is filling without being heavy, and is super healthy with its array of vegetables. Great alongside a grilled cheese sandwich.

Edit: It could have used some minced garlic to add a little more flavor.


» Recipe for Vegetable Soup with Beans and Greens

My 7-year-old niece is allergic to peanuts, so whenever we get together for family dinners we have to steer clear of anything peanut related. Last night, though, she and her family couldn't make it to dinner with the rest of us. They were missed, of course, but my mom and I realized it was a great opportunity to make some peanut butter cookies. She probably hasn't made them since her granddaughter was born. So, I pulled up the recipe on my iPhone and made a spur of the moment batch of cookies before dinner. They were a hit, along with my mom's apple pie.

This time around I used less butter and more peanut butter, because my mom only had one stick of butter in the fridge. I also opted for quick-cooking oats instead of regular rolled oats.

» Recipe for Peanut-Butter Oatmeal Cookies» Recipe for Peanut-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I don't often serve a plate full of cheese for dinner, but that's pretty much what this was. The recipe is from Simply RecipesSimply Recipes. I made half the recipe and added some pinto beans to the filling (about a tablespoon in each tortilla). They were delicious, of course, but a bit too greasy for my taste. Next time I think I would either skip the frying step (and heat the tortillas in the microwave instead) or use a lot less oil. I'd cut down on the cheese a bit too.

» Recipe for Enchiladas from Simply Recipes» Recipe for Enchiladas from Simply Recipes

I made a batch of these cookies for Matt today (happy birthday baby!) and I added a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed and they were fantastic. I'm updating the recipe in the archive.

» Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies» Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I haven't made lentils in a while and today seemed like a good day to cook up a pot for lunch.

EDIT: The leftovers sat in the fridge until I finally threw them away. It wasn't terrible or anything, but nothing special either.


» Recipe for Lentils and Brown Rice

Matt suggested I call this Big League Stew, in honor of the Phillies game tonight. Go Phils!

This stew was very loosely based on the Irish Beef StewIrish Beef Stew from Simply RecipesSimply Recipes, but I didn't really follow it at all. I just needed a general idea to get started, and the end result was just fantastic. I served it over toasted slices of no-knead bread that I made again yesterday. I know I'll be making this stew all winter.

And look! We finally got some new plates!

» Recipe for Beef Stew» Recipe for Beef Stew

By the time I looked at the photos and realized they were all out of focus, the potatoes had been devoured. Oh well.

I had an extra leek after making the stew yesterday, so I sauteed it in some butter and mashed it up with some potatoes to eat alongside baked chicken thighs tonight. They were so good. Definitely a keeper. Substituting caramelized onions for the leeks would be great as well.


» Recipe for Leek & Parsley Mashed Potatoes

This is one from the recipe archivesrecipe archives. I used mild Italian sausage and browned then sliced it instead of crumbling it. I'm not sure which preparation I liked better. Crumbling it is less time-consuming but I think the slices look better. Instead of kale I used collard greens because that's all that was available. The taste is very similar to kale but the leaves are flatter. I cut them into strips, but I wish I had chopped them up a little more. All in all, very yummy stew.

» Recipe for Italian Sausage, White Bean & Kale Stew» Recipe for Italian Sausage, White Bean & Kale Stew

This was a great accompaniment to the stewthe stew I made last night. It's a quicker version of Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread that I found at the Kitchn. I've made it a couple times before but this time I made half the recipe. I used half bread flour and half white whole wheat with 1/2 tsp active dry yeast. I ended up letting it ferment for about 9 hours, and baked it in my small (2 quart) cast-iron pot. Next time I make this I want to try the original version with the 18-hour rise. I also want to try it with just bread flour.

» Recipe for Quicker No-Knead Bread

It was time to partially deplete my stash of over-ripe, frozen bananas. I used the same basic recipe that I've used the last couplelast couple times, but tried it in a loaf pan instead of an 8"x8" dish or muffin tin. I didn't bother with the cinnamon-sugar topping or toasting the walnuts, and it was just right.


» Recipe for Banana Nut Bread

The photos of this didn't really turn out very appetizing so I won't subject you to them. However, this was possibly THE BEST meatloaf I've ever had. Extremely juicy with melted bits of cheese in every bite.

I was sitting here yesterday, chilled to the bone, wearing two pairs of socks, insulated wind pants, a long-sleeved shirt AND a sweatshirt, trying to decide what to make for dinner. I suppose I could have turned on the heat, but I'm stubborn. Not to mention it was lovely outside, it was just the house that was freezing. Anyway, I remembered that there was a package of ground beef waiting in the fridge that I should either use or put in the freezer. I suddenly had a craving for meatloaf, the ultimate comfort food. But what to serve with it? Normally it would be potatoes and some kind of vegetable, but I had neither, nor the desire to run to the store. I did have a pantry full of canned beans and tomatoes and a freezer full of zucchini. It would do. The resulting dish is a variation of the stewed white beansstewed white beans I made before.


» Recipe for Clean-Out-The-Fridge Meatloaf and Stewed White Beans with Zucchini

I made this 2 nights ago and really enjoyed it. It's a preparation I never would have thought of - frying fresh sage leaves, then pan-frying the pasta with the squash before serving. I used my stainless saute pan, which isn't non-stick, and I guess I didn't use enough oil because the pasta kept sticking. I made a mess. Also, I burnt the sage the first time I tried to fry it. It's a good thing I have plenty of it out in the garden.

» Recipe for Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage, and Pine Nuts from the Kitchn

After working a double shift yesterday I came home feeling restless, and when I'm restless I bake. We still have some of that pumpkin ale in the fridge so I made another raisin spice beer breadraisin spice beer bread, this time adding oatmeal and more raisins. Yum. Great for snacking, especially toasted.


» Recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Beer Bread

I bought a container of figs a couple weeks ago because I'd never had fresh figs and I wanted to try them. I ate a few and they were pretty good, but the rest of the container has been sitting in the fridge, neglected. I finally decided I had to do something with them, so I started looking for recipes. I came across a recipe for fresh fig galettes in this book that I received for my birthday. I love the rustic look (and ease) of free-form galettes, so I thought it was a good starting point. I ended up using the pastry that I used for my nectarine mini galettenectarine mini galette. I substituted white whole wheat flour and it added a nice nutty flavor. The filling is sweet but not too sweet. Overall I'm very pleased and would make this again.


» Recipe for Fig & Honey Galette

Dinner tonight was roasted chicken and this kale and potato gratin. The aroma coming from the oven was amazing. I really enjoyed this gratin. The soft potatoes and garlicky kale are so good together. I added some red onion because I had some to use up, and I think it made it that much better.


» Recipe for Kale & Potato Gratin

I swear, if it weren't for food blogs I don't know where I would get inspiration from. I submitted to Molly's demands yesterday because I was in dire need of dinner ideas. Ok, I guess it wasn't dire, but what can I say, she's convincing. I could've just thrown a lasagnalasagna in the oven and called it a night, but I want to save those for nights when I really don't feel like cooking.

So when this recipe came into my google reader I took it as a sign. It also meant that Matt would be eating vegetarian dinners two nights in a row. I'm making up for it tonight by roasting a chicken.

This was extremely easy to make, and while it was roasting away in the oven I had a chance to do some post-work, pre-dinner pilates, which rarely happens.

» Luisa Weiss’s Tomatoes Filled with Rice via Orangette
» The original recipe from The Wednesday Chef

I've had this recipe bookmarked since Molly posted it last year. Since then I've seen it on various blogs (and a different rendition of it here), all claiming it was fantastic. I'm glad I finally got around to trying it because it really is wonderful. My favorite part is the squash that's roasted with allspice, but all the different flavors go so well with each other. Matt even liked it, despite the fact that it's completely vegan.

Like Molly, I added an extra tablespoon of olive oil to the dressing to smooth the flavor out. I served the dressing on the side because I knew we'd have some leftovers. I ended up having extra dressing so I'll probably have it on falafel or cucumber slices or something.

» Recipe for Warm Butternut & Chickpea Salad with Tahini