Hearing crickets

Is anyone cooking out there?

Soup cookbook suggestions

Can anyone suggest some yummy, not too complicated, flavorful soup cookbooks?

Cover Recipe - Beef with Oyster Sauce

We made the cover recipe the other night. We made our own rice, used fresh broccoli, more garlic and we used the oyster sauce option. It was a little salty for my liking but it was quick and good. At dinner we discussed that we would use more veggies next time and find a way to get a sauce with as much flavor but a little less salt. We served it with a fresh green salad and it was a dinner worth repeating!

Spiced Orange Chicken

This recipe is so easy and delicious! I made many substitutions, but used what I had and was on sale! I just cooked the chicken (I used the chicken quarters that were on sale at Market Place) and toward the end, added the other ingredients. I didn't use the boneless chicken breasts and didn't flatten them as listed in the recipe, so cooked for a bit longer. I didn't have the orange marmalade they called for, but used some of the apricot jam I made this summer instead. It was the end of the jar, so used the jar to mix up the rest of the ingredients. One can of the mandarin oranges that were on sale this week at Market Place, some orange juice and cinnamon were perfect! My husband loved it! This is one to remember!

Pork Chops with Peachy Mustard Sauce

This is a tasty treat! I had a package of boneless pork ribs instead of the pork chops, so used them. After cooking them for about 12 minutes, I realized that they were thicker than the 1/2" thick pork chops they had called for. And, being pork, I thought they should be cooked thoroughly, so continued to cook for another 10 minutes. This increased the time over the stated 15 minutes, but worked out ok for me. The sauce is really tasty and so easy! My husband loved it! I kept the pork separate from the sauce, and I was able to reheat the it and serve it over the pork again. It looked just as lovely and the flavor is fabulous!

I made some rice to accompany it since I didn't have the beans and tomatoes they called for. I sauted some mushrooms, red peppers and onions to mix in and it was lovely.

Vegetable Panini with Feta

I tried the Vegetable Panini with Feta on page 168 of the 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook. The Caesar salad mix was a great boon and included the Caesar salad dressing, so I didn't have to buy that extra. However when I went to buy it the second time, I discovered that buying a head of Romaine and chopping it is MUCH cheaper and I already had the dressing in my fridge anyway. And although my time is a major factor, so is my pocketbook! We loved the presentation of the salad in the hollowed-out French bread, but also enjoyed this as a salad with a slice of bread on the side. The feta cheese made this into a gourmet salad sandwich!

All of us loved this and it's one to repeat at a moment's notice! It truly took only 15 minutes to put together. Hollowing out the bread and slicing the red onion were the time-consuming factors! We didn't serve it with the Tomato Soup, but could see that it would be a tasty addition!

Been cooking a lot from Foster's

I have to say that I have cooked biscuits, crepes, pancakes, chili and a couple of soups from Foster's and they have all been tasty. I just wanted to shout out a quick "Thank you" to Suzanne for suggesting it! The problem I am running into right now is that I don't seem to have enough time to pull of most of the recipes. Any helpful hints out there?

Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Bleck. This coffee cake was tough and tasteless. I'm wondering if there's a problem with reducing some of these recipes for the home kitchen, because someone else had a problem with the brownies. I won't be making this again. Even my kids (who beg to lick the beaters every time I bake) hated the batter. It wasn't sweet and it had the consistency of pizza dough -- tough and stretchy.

The bottom half of the cake is edible if you include the crunchy stuff in the middle, but look close at the picture and you'll see that the top half of the cake is dense and doughy. Yuck.

I'm cheating - Moosewood's Cauliflower-Cheese Soup

Okay, I know this is cheating going back in time to our last cookbook, but I had dog-eared several soup recipes from our previous pick, the New Moosewood Cookbook, and this recipe is one of them. Now that we have some gorgeous cauliflower in our garden, I decided the time was right to give this one a try. Plus, I felt like Molly and I had a bad divorce, so I wanted to try to make amends.

Well, we're on good terms again. This is a fabulous soup. I used John's "cheese cauliflower" which is new in our garden this year. It's golden yellow (but it doesn't taste like cheese, in case you were wondering). I wish I had taken a photo of the cauliflower before I made it into soup; it was that beautiful. I thought the recipe's proportions of everything were right on. Delicious! I'll make this again and again.

p.s. Instead of a blender or food processor, I used an immersion blender and blended it in the Dutch oven that I used to start the soup, then steamed the remaining florets in the microwave, so there was very little clean-up.

Devil's Food Cake with Satin Chocolate Frosting

Even with following the instructions for not using an electric mixer, this cake came together easily and quickly. I think, though, next time I'll risk using the mixer on "stir" to see if it really turns out as a "heavier, tougher cake."



The frosting involved quite a few steps, but it proved well worth it; it may even be better than the cake itself. Before putting the mixture in the fridge, it was quite thin, and it looked like it would never stay on a cake. As promised, though, it firmed up in about 40 minutes and smoothed on the cake perfectly. The recipe calls for using Valrhona or Callebaut, but at 1 1/4 pounds of chocolate, I thought I'd try with Nestle chocolate chips this go-around. Maybe it would taste better with a higher caliber chocolate, but I can't imagine it tasting much more delectable than it did.

If you're a chocolate fan, I recommend giving this combination a try.

Chocolate Espresso Layer Cake with Mocha Latte Frosting

I made this cake for my mom's birthday. She loves coffee, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give it a try. There were lots of steps and bowls required for the recipe, but I think it just seemed more complicated than it was because I was making it in my mom's kitchen instead of my own. Also, once I'd started mixing everything, I realized that we didn't have any canola oil, so I substituted olive oil. I was a bit worried that it might add a funny flavor to the cake, but it turned out fine.

The frosting was too sweet for my taste, but everyone else loved it. I do have to say it smoothed onto the cake like magic and looked pretty good with out much effort. The picture of this cake in the cookbook has chocolate curlicues all over it, but that looked a bit ambitious to me. The cake did, however, seem to need something, so I made some chocolate shavings to sprinkle on the top.

This cake tasted great the day I made it, and even better the second day for breakfast. My parents report that, "It tastes better every day, which seems crazy since it was so good the first day we had it!"

Herb-Grilled Salmon with Fresh Tomato-Orange Chutney

(This review was jointly written by Krispi and her daughter Sarah Joy, who is visiting with her family from Costa Rica.)

We bought some amazing fresh sockeye salmon this week in town. For this recipe we used a whole fish (about 5 lb) instead of the 3 lb side of salmon they suggest. We had two big sides to deal with on the grill. I got to practice with the turning, etc on one and then do it "for real" on the other one!

First of all, the potato trick to keep the salmon from sticking to the grill really worked! The grill turned white from the potato starch which was kind of cool looking. That didn't entirely keep it from sticking, but it was better than any other fish grilling experience we've had! For the fish part of the recipe we made minor adjustments such as using more fresh basil leaves and dried rather than fresh dill (because we didn't have the fresh).

For the chutney we roasted 1 pint of halved cherry tomatoes, plus 2 more medium on-the-vine tomatoes. We aren't huge fans of ginger or jalapeno, so we reduced those measurements (from 2 T grated ginger to scant 1 T grated ginger and from 1 jalapeno to 1/3 jalapeno). We didn't have cracked peppercorns, so left those out.

Sadly, we felt that both the flavor and texture of the chutney were particularly unpleasant. Way, way too much zest and tough tomato skins. To get rid of the texture problem we blended it all and served it with second helpings of salmon. However, it still wasn't very good. We've added two medium tomatoes, some more fresh squeezed orange juice and blended it again; hopefully it will mellow and taste better with the leftover salmon tomorrow.

If we were to make the chutney again (we probably won't) we would adjust the recipe as follows:

from 1 pint cherry tomatoes to 1.5 pints cherry tomatoes (yellow and red, if possible)

from zest of 2 oranges to zest of 1/2 orange

from juice of 2 oranges to juice of 1 orange

from juice of 1 lemon to juice of 1/2 lemon

Blend!!! (This is a key step, but makes it more of a saucey topping than a chunky chutney.)

Overall, we found that there's enough orange flavor in the actual grilled salmon, so it's better to let the tomato take center stage in the chutney (or sauce, as the case may be).

We'll probably go back to using the salsa we've been using for years with grilled salmon but we'll repeat the grilling techniques and orange juice and herbs from this recipe.

The Salsa Recipe we love with Salmon:

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup extra-virgen olive oil

1/3 cup shallots

1 T grated lemon peel

1 3/4 t ground cumin

1 medium English hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, diced

1 12 ounce basket small cherry tomatoes, each quartered

1 large yellow bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup drained capers (if these are big they can be halved or quartered)

2 T finely chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk the first 5 ingredients in small bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine 1/2 cup marinate with the second 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, season salsa with salt and pepper, let stand 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

You can use the rest of the marinade for the fish 10 minutes before grilling.

(from Bon Appetit, July 1999)

Sauteed Chicken Breasts w/ Artichokes, Lemons & Capers and Risotto Cakes w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Pesto

(How's that for a long title?)

Loved, loved, loved the chicken breasts. Easy, beautiful, and oh so good.

The Risotto Cakes were fun to make -- a little time-consuming, but not so much that I wouldn't make them again. There is a strong Parmesan flavor, which I liked. I am looking for gluten free recipes for a friend, and this fit the bill. I would serve these cakes as a gluten-free entree for sure - they're filling and very pretty.

The Oven-Roasted Tomatoes were easy, too, and a nice way to add color to the risotto cakes. I wasn't sure if the tomatoes were supposed to be seeded (recipe says to "core and cut in half") but I did remove the seeds and think that was the way to go.

I did not make the pesto because I had a jar of pesto in the frig made by a friend who grows all his own veggies and herbs, so I used that and can't attest to the pesto recipe. I likely wouldn't have made it anyway, since I don't care for arugula, although the side note says that young arugula has a delicate flavor. I guess I've always had old arugula because it's too "hot" for me.

Blueberriest Muffins

I made these muffins this morning. They were quick and easy, but the jury is out on whether they will replace our old standby recipe. After reading Krispi's review, I decided to reduce the lemon juice to 2 tsp. and the zest to 1/2 tsp., which is a significant reduction over what the recipe calls for: the juice and zest of an entire lemon. The lemon wasn't noticeable, which is how I like it when it comes to blueberry muffins or blueberry pie.

I used my Pampered Chef hand-powered chopper to chop the berries. I like the chopped berries a lot - they certainly make the muffins moist and I think it's an improvement over the usual recipe that calls for just whole berries. Like Krispi, I too was worried that chopping some of the berries would turn it into a bluey gooey mess, but that didn't happen at all. Whether I use this recipe or not, in the future I think I will always chop some of the berries.

Classic Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are okay, but nothing to rave about. I thought they were a bit anemic. I should have doubled the cinnamon and nutmeg. Even my son said, "Mom, these aren't your best oatmeal cookies." Oh well, they'll get eaten. When it comes to cookies, we aren't that picky.

Baked Potato Casserole Topped with Crispy Onion Rings

This is one yummy casserole. It's pretty easy to make and also can be prepared ahead of time, which is what I did. You just pop it in the oven and it's ready in 30 minutes. A lot of times, I have time in the morning to cook, but because of activities the kids are in, no time to cook after 3 pm, so I like dishes that can be made ahead and that don't take an hour to bake.

The crispy onion rings are a bit of a pain to make (I hate cleaning up after deep frying), but pretty good. If I were in a hurry, I would either use those canned ones from the grocery store, or substitute chopped fresh chives after baking, which would also add some color.

You can use either baked potatoes or boiled. To save on time, I boiled mine, but I chopped them into 1" cubes before cooking them, rather than after, and I left the skins on so they'd taste more like baked potatoes.

I will say I was cursing Sara Foster earlier today when I realized that the 4 potatoes called for in the recipe were not nearly enough for this dish. Either there's a typo (did she mean 4 lbs of potatoes?) or the rest of the ingredients are way off (2 cups of half & half poured over 4 measly potatoes = potato soup): when I put what was supposed to be the first layer of potatoes in the 13x9 dish, it didn't even cover the bottom of the dish, so I dumped all the potatoes in (both layers worth) and it still didn't cover the bottom of the dish. I ended up cooking another batch of potatoes, which was really annoying. In the end, I used 9 medium russet potatoes, or about 3 lbs.

After I thought about it, I should have realized that there was no way that 4 potatoes could serve 8-10 people, even as a side dish. That's less than half a potato per person. Unless they grow some monster 1-lb potatoes in North Carolina, there's a typo in this recipe. Fortunately, it turned out so darn yummy that there are no hard feelings, Sara.

Buttermilk Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Cream

I have made this cake many, many times, and I love it. The finished cake always looks spectacular, and it tastes delicious. Be warned, however, that it does not look spectacular when you transport it -- assembled in all four layers of lusciousness -- to South Beach.

I recognize what an ambitious idea it was to imagine that I could really get it there in all of its grandeur. But it was my dear friend Kimi's birthday, and I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She was here visiting all the way from California, so there you go. I have brought the cake layers, strawberries, and cream to friends' houses several times in the past to assemble, but I didn't really see how I could put it together at South Beach without getting sand in it. How bad could it really be, I thought? Well, we didn't even make it out of Friday Harbor Labs before the top layers slid off into my lap. Messy, messy. As I type, I am regretting that we did not get even a single photo of this cake wreck. At the time, I just couldn't imagine recording it. I looked through the pictures from the night thinking someone else might have had the good sense to recognize that I'd be able to laugh about it later, but no luck. The only picture I could find that included cake was of Kimi attempting to beat the wind to blowing out the candle on the piece I had to slice and save for her before the whole cake was gone.

On a positive note, it still tasted great. I used a combination of Sharalyn's duck and chicken eggs, which added height and resulted in a super-moist cake (at least I'm attributing it to the eggs; it was way more moist than it's ever been before). Also, some kids decided to try and improve things by adding blueberries that someone else had brought. They made it look so patriotic that I realized that this would be a great Fourth of July cake. So, maybe we'll have it next Fourth of July. At home!

I was given some blueberries and decided to use them in the blueberry muffin recipe. The instructions have you chop about half of the berries and the rest go in whole. That was an interesting process. I used my tiny Black and Decker food chopper. It worked well, and I didn't have to clean the big one. The recipe adds lemon zest and juice of one lemon. Both Craig and I thought it was too lemony. I will use this chopping technique again, but reduce the lemon. They look really pretty. They are intensely blueberry and not at all mooshy which I was afraid of with the chopped berries.

New York-Style Crumb Cake

The New York-Style Crumb Cake sounded almost like the coffee cake I used to order at Millie's Kitchen, a quirky diner in Lafayette, CA, only open for breakfast. I have fond memories of gobbling up coffee cake at Millie's after morning swim practice. After looking over the recipe, it seemed like I should probably exercise before partaking in this version -- the topping alone calls for one pound of butter.

Like most recipes in Foster's Market, this one serves a crowd; I decided to bring it to our neighbors' house when they invited us over for pancakes. I had all the ingredients on hand, and the whole thing came together easily and quickly--just in time for breakfast at 9:30 without rushing our morning routine.

People really seemed to like it, and only four end pieces remained after everyone had finished breakfast. I recommend eating it right after it comes out of the oven. I ate one piping hot piece and another piece later after it had cooled; the topping definitely tastes better gooey and warm.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Making bread makes Ellie so happy (her's is the little folded one on the right).  This recipe also interested me because I have lots and lots of rosemary in my front and back yard.  I am always looking for ways to use it.  Well, I found a great one.  I brought this to the potluck tonight too.  All gone.  Thank you Foster's market.  I am making this again tomorrow.

Foster's Market Brownies

I thought I would try the brownies.  Like many of the recipes in this cookbook the brownie recipe is huge.  I halved it.  I am not sure what I did wrong.  I am pretty sure my calculations were correct.  I cooked it for the allotted amount, let them cool an hour or so before cutting.  They were a runny mess.  Unless someone else tries this one it will not be repeated by me (Anyone?).  I was a little sad but I think my sister and Adam were much sadder.  Se la vie (is that how you spell that?)

Zesty Tomato Sauce

I wanted to try the zesty tomato sauce b/c when the tomatoes and eggplants come in I want to know if it is worth using this recipe or something else.  I like this recipe and I will use it for the Eggplant Parmesan.  The recipe is easy.  I did make a few changes.  I added both marjoram and oregano (more than the recipe called for) and I added 5 cloves of garlic.  I should have added a little more because I ended up sprinkling a little bit of garlic powder in at the end.  Oh, and I added a Tablespoon of brown sugar to even out the bitterness in the canned tomatoes. I used 28 ounces of crushed tomatoes and 8 ounces of diced.

Tonight I used the sauce to do a baked ziti.  I boiled the pasta, added some of the sauce, placed it in a 9 x 13 inch pan, topped it with a lot of shredded mozzarella and baked it at 400 until the cheese browned around the edges of the dish.  I brought it to a potluck and by the time my husband arrived there was one serving left.

Chicken Chili with Navy Beans

Val got me in the mood for soup after reading her review of the Corn and Roasted Red Pepper Chowder, so I made this chili recipe tonight. It was a hit -- very, very flavorful. It was a tad on the spicy side, which we liked. I used my favorite red chili powder from Chimayo, NM, which probably upped the heat a bit.

I wouldn't call this a chili, though; it's much lighter, more like tortilla soup, if you've ever had that. So it wasn't too heavy, even for a dinner in July, at least on a cool evening.

There was one odd thing about the recipe. You can use either dried beans or canned beans. I used canned. The recipe tells you to simmer for 1.5 hours if using dried beans, but it's unclear on what to do if using canned beans. It says to "add them at this point and cook about 30 minutes" but it's not clear what "this point" is -- after 1.5 hours of simmering? Or do you skip the 1.5 hours of simmering and just cook for 30 minutes? I took the middle road and simmered for 45 minutes, then added the beans and simmered for another 30 minutes. It was great, so it probably didn't matter much. I guess when you're using canned beans you just want to make sure that you don't simmer it so long that the beans fall apart and become mush.

I made the Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits to go with it, after reading the previous review (I think it was Sharalyn's?). Wow, those were good. They're very buttery yet light and flaky. Mmmmm. Thankfully there are 4 leftover -- hoping to snag at least one at breakfast tomorrow to have with jam. I already like this cookbook, particularly the little side notes throughout.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Tomatoes, Spinach and Dijon Vinaigrette

I served this as a main course as a beach picnic and it was a hit. I did make quite a few changes.

First, I have grill fear because that is my husband's domain. If I were to show I could use it, he might never use it again. As a result, it's his. The chicken breast were cooked in my oven using the broiler.

Next, I completely forgot to buy celery, so it was missing that element.

When I made the vinaigrette, it tasted to acidic for my liking so I added about 2 tsp of honey to the dressing and YUM-O. It was tasty.

I made the chicken and veggie part of the salad ahead and served it on spinach at the beach. It was great. The one thing that I would add, and this could be the pregnant woman in my speaking, but I would add some of those chinese crunchy noodles on top. That would have made me eat this salad until I burst. I know, pretty picture. Speaking of pictures, I didn't have my camera or my cell phone with me at the beach, WHAT?!?! Next time, I promise. :)

Corn and Roasted Red Pepper Chowder

This is some seriously tasty soup. However, there are some glitches in the recipe. First, the first ingredient is for 2 tbsp of olive oil, which I am assuming is for roasting the peppers, but is never mentioned within the recipe. As a result, when I started out, I threw the olive oil in the pot. Duh. Do over.

I also was stingy with the salt. Don't be. I forgot how much salt potatoes suck up in a soup. Use the full amount of salt, if not a little bit more or it will fall flat.

Also, if you are a kitchen gadget person, you should own one of these. The OXO Good Grips Corn Stripper (American Test Kitchen's Top Choice and I want one!) Click here and you too can own one!

The cool thing is that it collects the corn kernels so they don't end up all over the counter. Excellent.

I made this soup and took it to Music on the Lawn. We shared 3 cups and Cole, Neil and I each had 2 along with a loaf of homemade Gruyere bread (The Bread Bible). All we had left was enough for Neil to take to work the next day for lunch. That's a good sign!

Crispy Gingersnaps

I am not a big ginger snap person.  I made these for Adam.  He LOVES them.  Before he left for the labs tonight he said they were awesome.  So, I suppose they are.  They were easy.  It seems I like most recipes I put together.  Perhaps I am so thrilled I can cook I am easily pleased or I just love to eat.  Who knows :).

Chicken Pot Pie with Foster's Herb Biscuits

This was delicious, although it did take most of the afternoon.  I think next time it will be not quite so labor intensive.  I will know what to make when.  That was not clear in the recipe.  For instance, the first step was to preheat the oven to 375.  If I did that the oven would have been on for 1/2 the afternoon.   One can cook the chicken and make the first part of the biscuits in the morning.  It is possible to make the pot pie filling earlier in the day and put it all together 30 minutes before sitting down to eat.  Again, that was not clear in the recipe.  I was not sure if the pot pie filling could sit.  It can.

I did add potatoes to the veggie medley.  I like potatoes in my pot pies (and we had just harvested some from the garden).  They seemed a good addition.  I cooked the potatoes some before putting them into the vegetable mixture.  They cooked the rest of the way in the oven with the biscuits.  It is a beautiful dish (and I do love homemade biscuits) so I will make this again.  Adam loved it and Ellie loved helping make the biscuits (not to mention she ate 1/2 cup of peas during the prep).

Oh, the herb biscuits.  I used mostly parsley and a little bit of sage.

German Chocolate Cake

It was a friend's birthday so it seemed a great time to try a cake recipe.  I love chocolate cake and it seems my birthday friend does too so I thought a german chocolate cake was the way to go.  I used four of our duck eggs (which are smaller than "normal" duck eggs).  I think they make the cake pretty light and fluffy.  A plus.  The cake was so high I could not cover it on the cake stand.  The recipe calls for Coconut-Pecan Caramel frosting.  Since I know coconut can be a questionable thing for some, I decided to try the mocha frosting instead.  It was yummy!  I was happy with the cake and the frosting.  The people easting it seemed to like it too.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Tonight my family and I attended the Roche Harbor BBQ.  I made and brought the buttermilk biscuits.  Adam, my husband, ate 9 so it seems they are a hit in this household.  I had one and found them light and fluffy.  They were easy and quick.  For some reason biscuits always seem a treat, especially with butter and honey.  I will make this again for sure.

"Nutty Buddy" Shortbread

This is a "dressed up" shortbread . . . especially good for dipping in coffee or a hot beverage of your choice. An attractive cookie for a tea party.

The recipe was pretty straightforward. I needed to use a bit more than 1/4 cup of coffee to get the dough to stick together. I also ended up sort of brushing the chocolate on the ends rather than dipping. (My husband wondered why I didn't just dip the whole thing in chocolate!)

I shared them at a teacher's meeting and with Val and Neal when they came for a visit. Everyone said they were good, but they didn't elicit the yummy noises that come from an exceptionally good cookie. Good and attractive, but not exceptional.

Go Suzanne Go!

Last night I sampled the "Sour Cherry Tart" ...is that what it is called Suzanne? She didn't take a picture. Let's just say I was filled to the gills from a wonderful meal and then  I ate 1 1/2 pieces of this mouth-watering deliciousness. The lemon curd is what really sold me, but the entire thing was an absolute treat to the taste buds. Thank you for treating us to a wonderful dessert AGAIN!

Panama Buttermilk Pancakes!

Eliza woke up this morning and wanted pankackes. I was about to pull out her old favorite recipe when Suzanne reminded me that the Foster's Market book had a pancake recipe as well.

The description of the recipe is mostly about the strawberry, banana, and coconut topping that you put on top, but the meat of the recipe is the actual cakes. I cut the recipe down by 1/2, since it seemed like a lot for the girls. I used Sharalyn-fresh eggs; fortunately, there were 2 small ones, which seemed like a decent way to split 3 large eggs.

I generally dislike simple recipes like this that call for separating eggs and whipping the whites, but the cakes were pretty darn good, no doubt about it. I opted against the dark rum option, going for vanilla extract instead. The vanilla flavor was pretty pronounced, which I saw as a feature.

In sum: delicious. I'd make them again when I was feeling up to the egg separating task.

moose

Cajun Cut Rib Eye Steak and Potato Gratin with Tomatoes, Chevre, and Thyme

I made the steak recipe using the last t-bones of our island cow, and this was a worthy recipe for them. Roasting the peppers in the oven was so easy -- I can't believe I've never done it like that before. I even threw in a bonus green pepper because Tessa demanded it. I was a little skeptical of the combination of ingredients in the marinade, but the flavor was great and complemented the sweet-spicy peppers well.

I also loved the Potato Gratin. I halved the recipe and made it in a pie dish. Five medium-smallish Yukon golds, one large tomato, and half of the other ingredients filled the pie dish perfectly. I think I will use less butter next time; I'm not one to skimp on butter, but when you can see pools of butter in the finished dish, it might be going a bit too far.

While I loved both of the dishes, I don't think I would prepare them together again. The steak was spicy and flavorful, which overpowered the delicate flavors in the gratin.

Chicken Chili with Navy Beans

I had a ton of leftover chicken breasts, so I decided to try one of the many recipes in Foster's Market that calls for shredded chicken. I was in a hurry to make it, so I used canned beans instead of dried. I followed the recipe very closely, with the exception of adding extra beans. After I added one can, it didn't really look like chili to me, so I added another can. It still didn't look like chili, so I added one more. I guess I could have kept on going, but decided I could live with it as more of a soup than a chili. It tasted great, especially sprinkled with cilantro, scallions, and grated cheddar cheese.

Buttermilk Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Cream

We have strawberries coming out our ears (NOT complaining), and today I made my 5th strawberry pie in less than a week, so this cake was a nice change of pace and a great way to use up more of our berries. This cake is really a glorified strawberry shortcake, but it looks a lot fancier and would be great for a large summer dinner party.

I cut the recipe in half because I knew if there were leftovers, I wouldn't make it past midnight before I was in the kitchen, fork in hand. I used a single 9" square pan. The cake baked perfectly. It was so flat on top that I didn't have to level it at all. It was a little tricky keeping the two layers from breaking after slicing the cake in half horizontally, but I managed. Since I only used two cake layers, I had leftover cream, even after halving the recipe, (I realized too late that half the recipe would mean spreading cream on one and a half cake layers instead of three, which would look pretty ridiculous), so I opted to spread cream on the top cake layer, too. I also loaded on top more strawberries than the recipe called for to use up as many as possible.

This half a cake still served 8 and we like our desserts big. So when they say the full recipe serves 12-16, you can believe it. It's a lot of cake.

One final note: with only cream holding the layers together, I was worried that the layers would shift with the cake sitting in the frig for 3 hours, but the recipe says it can be made a day ahead. Not to worry -- the cake layers didn't budge a bit. It looked just like it did when I finished it. I sifted confectioner's sugar on top before serving. We all loved it.

Fresh Strawberry Shortcake

I usually make a strawberry shortcake recipe from Epicurious, but I decided to give the one in Foster's Market a try. Eliza helped me out by measuring all the dry ingredients in the food processor. We added the butter and whirled it around, leaving some pretty good sized chunks of butter intact. We moved the mixture to a different bowl to mix in the cream before rolling out the dough. Eliza would have just eaten all the dough before we baked it if I hadn't stopped her. I have to admit, as dough goes, it tasted pretty good. Even with all the nibbling, we were able to get seven large shortcakes and one smaller one (sized perfectly for two-year-old Tessa) from the recipe.

We liked the shortbread portion of the Foster's Market recipe much more than the Buttermilk Biscuits suggested by Epicurious for its recipe. Foster's recipe includes 1/4 cup sugar, much more than the 1 tablespoon included in the Epicurious recipe. The extra sweetness, as well as the richness of cream instead of buttermilk, make the shortbread a tasty vehicle for strawberries and cream, but, really, you could almost eat them on their own. In addition to the flavor, they had an awesome texture; while forming the short breads, I resisted the temptation to really work the dough together, which resulted in super tender-flaky cakes.

Mike and I ate one strawberry shortcake each and split another one. The next day, finding ourselves strawberry-less, we served the remaining shortcakes with some nectarines. We didn't love them quite as much, but the nectarines weren't particularly sweet.

This recipe came together fast and made for an awesome dessert. Eliza apparently talked it up at school today; when I picked her up, her teacher asked me for the recipe.

Hot & Sour Soup

Tonight I made the Hot & Sour Soup on p. 8. Unfortunately, it wasn't very hot or sour. I sound like a broken record, I know, I know, but where is the flavor?



This is surprising to me because I was raised on chicken and boiled potatoes, and the only spices my mother ever used were salt and pepper, so it's not like I grew up on hot and spicy food. And after living most of my adult life in Santa Fe, I learned that when it comes to spicy food, by New Mexico standards, I'm a real wimp. But honestly, most of the recipes I've tried from this cookbook are just okay, bordering on bland. All that said, Molly has sold a lot more cookbooks than I have, so it must just be me.

I know I could try doctoring her recipes to suit my taste, but I want to try her actual recipes as she thinks they should be made. I think I'll stick with her brownies, which I LOVE.

p.s.--
I will try a few of her other soups, especially if it stays soup-weather around here, but if I don't like them, I promise to be brief. I'm starting to feel like a real naysayer. Seems like I'm the only one who doesn't care for most of the recipes, and I don't want to make this blog a downer for everyone. I really like doing this!

Next Cookbook--The Foster's Market Cookbook

Most of the cookbooks I own are in my storage unit here on the island. As some of you know, I live in a small cottage at Friday Harbor Labs that doesn't have room for anything I don't truly need. One of the cookbooks I kept with me when we moved here is The Foster's Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night. It includes several cake recipes that I love to make, including a Four-Layer Blueberry Gingerbread Cake with Mocha Cream and a Buttermilk Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Cream.

I hadn't prepared anything other than cakes from this cookbook for a long time, but I recently started making my way through some of the recipes I hadn't yet tried. A couple of weeks ago, I brought the Lentil, Spinach, and Feta Salad with Sour Cherry Vinaigrette to a barbecue and came home with a completely empty bowl. The next week, the same thing happened with the Sesame Noodles with Baby Greens and Cucumbers. After several people asked me for recipes, I decided to suggest the source as our next cookbook.

The book features recipes from its namesake, a restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In the introduction, Sara Foster talks about using high quality, in-season produce at her restaurants because "Food at its peak doesn't need much done to it to taste great. Simplicity is key: I believe in enhancing flavors, not masking them." I'm hopeful that Foster's recipes will provide some great opportunities to highlight the amazing produce available at the farmer's market and in our gardens right now. Foster notes that while the recipes she's included in the cookbook are carefully crafted, they are certainly "not sacred." She encourages readers to use her recipes as a springboard: "Let personal taste and what's available at the farm stand - or in the cupboard - inspire you." I know that none of us needs permission to get creative with recipes, but I love the the sentiment. I hope you find some new favorites in Foster's Market throughout the next couple of months.

Carrot Cake

I couldn't decide what to bring to a potluck barbecue at South Beach, so I flipped through Moosewood looking for something new to try. Much to Mike's disapproval, I settled on the carrot cake, which he doesn't consider dessert. But it looked easy to make and easy to transport, so that was that. More importantly, though, I was hoping it would be easy to foist off on others since the recipe claimed that it served 12 to 16 (which turned out to be quite an understatement).

When mixing the batter, I generously mounded my teaspoons of cinnamon and allspice. I also opted to add shredded coconut to the mixture. I smoothed the very thick batter into a 9 by 13 pan and hoped that I hadn't accidentally added too much flour. It took much longer than 35 minutes to bake; the middle was quite soupy at 35 minutes, so I just kept adding five minutes until it had cooked for nearly an hour.

The recipe didn't include a frosting or topping, and it seemed sort of naked and incomplete, so I found this Ginger-Cream Cheese Icing recipe on Epicurious to mix up for the top. It wasn't super thick -- if I'd had more cream cheese, I would have used it to thicken the frosting up a bit. The sweet-gingery flavor complemented the spiced cake nicely. People seemed to enjoy the cake, and, as Mike was carrying it back to the car, someone stopped him and asked for "just one more piece" before he took the remainder back home.

Moosewood Fudge Brownies - oh yeah!

Finally, a recipe I will make again. On a lark I made the Moosewood Fudge Brownies (p. 213) after dinner tonight. I've never before made brownies with brown sugar, and with a whopping 5 eggs I figured they'd be pretty cake-like, which is how I like my brownies. What's great is that they bake for only 30 minutes (recipe calls for 25 but mine weren't done till 30), and you test for doneness like a cake -- by inserting a knife in the middle and if it comes out clean, voila! Never have done that with brownies before, either. And to top it all off, you cut them while they're hot, then let them cool for only 10 mintues. Now that's a bonus. So now my kids only have to wait 10 minutes after they come out of the oven to dig in. We're all happy about that. Yum. A keeper.

Curried Squash & Mushroom Soup

I love to make soup, so on this chilly Juneuary day, I decided to start working my way through Molly's soups. I was encouraged by Suzanne saying she has liked several of Molly's soups from this or other cookbooks. I chose the Curried Squash & Mushroom Soup on p. 15 because my husband would eat a shoe if it were flavored with curry, so I figured it would be an easy sell. But, here I go again, there's just not enough flavor to this soup for me, or maybe I should say there's too much flavor, but it's all orange.

The recipe calls for a whole cup of o.j., which I had misgivings about considering you only use 2 1/2 c. water, and that's your liquids. Yep, it's really orangey. I've spent the last half hour adding more and more cayenne, which I never do, 3 tsp. curry powder, several dashes of hot sauce, and lots more salt. I think it's okay, but my husband won't be asking for seconds. Thankfully I'm serving it with a salad and salmon, so it's not the main course.

Here's what I think: this recipe can't decide if it's supposed to be sweet or savory, so it's neither. But I know people who really like orange and this would probably be a lovely soup for them. Me, I love oranges, but eaten out of hand, not on my steak, not infused into my chicken, and not overwhelming my curry soup. So, onward . . . I think I'll try the Hot & Sour next.

Samosas-- the original recipe

I decided to try the Samosas using the actual ingredients called for in the cookbook. It was disappointing to say the least! I am bummed since I made these as a dinner offering for our friends Terese and Brian and new baby girl. I am surprised that they were so blah! The only thing that saved them was the dipping sauce (which isn't in my early copy of the cookbook.) I did run out of stuffing since I was making a double recipe, so opened a jar of spaghetti sauce, added peas and some cheese and pre-cooked frozen hamburger. They were much better than the original recipe. So I suggest that the recipe be zipped up a bit, maybe adding mustard powder rather than mustard seeds.

Brazilian Black Bean Soup

When I tell someone how much I love a soup I'm eating, I often learn that the person found the recipe in Moosewood or another one of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. Since I've enjoyed so many of her soups already, I decided I needed to try a soup recipe, and I went with the Brazilian Black Bean Soup.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe, including chopping up extra carrots and peppers because I like each spoonful of soup to have a variety veggies in it. I also sauteed the onions and garlic for quite awhile before I added the carrots because caramelized onions make me happy. We don't have great tomatoes yet, so I drained a can of diced tomatoes and used them instead.

As I was serving dinner, I realized I didn't have ANY of the suggested toppings, so we used cheddar cheese and green onions. I was hoping my kids would eat the soup, so I didn't use much cayenne pepper; Mike and I splashed in some Tabasco Sauce to liven it up a bit. Cilantro would have been nice -- I will buy some to serve with the leftover soup. A bowl of soup with a salad and a slice of watermelon left us plenty of room for chocolate cake and homemade ice cream.

Cardamom Coffee Cake

I was intrigued by the cardamom coffee cake.  Also, Adam is a coffee cake fanatic.  Denise's post was really helpful.  I had green Cardamom pods (which I use in a favorite Indian Dish).  I opened those and took out the seeds.  I then crushed the seeds with my morter and pestle.  They were very fragrant.  I was a little afraid to use a whole Tablespoon (or 2, I cannot remember what it called for).  Because Denise said hers was not very flavorful I added the full amount.  Also, I added a whole Tablespoon more cinnamon.  We thought the coffee cake was delicious.  We definitely liked the cardamom flavor.  Adam could not believe how much cake it made.  If I ever have a brunch I will include this in the spread.

Samosas AGAIN!

Well, I seem to be in a rut, but it's a good rut! I am loving these Samsosas! You can use many different ingredient combinations for the filling. To be a real samosa, it must have peas and potatoes, but then the world is open! I took them to a potluck and there were no left-overs! So I had to make them again. I used the dipping sauce recipe that was in the updated version of the cookbook (thanks Val!). And then the filling ran out, so made up some cream cheese filling (I softened the cream cheese with a little half and half) and added chopped peppers, basil, onion, and rosemary pepper. I am taking them to a potluck, so made these as a vegetarian option. To distinguish them, I have sprinkled those with paprika.

I love the pastry made with yogurt. The 6 oz container of yogurt is 2/3 of a cup..... EXACTLY enough for two recipes of the dough. It's so flaky and lovely. I find the dough recipe will make 20 rounds (~4"). I make the dough in my food processor, roll into 20 balls about the size of a large walnut, and refrigerate (covered) for a few hours. Then I roll them out in a folded piece of waxed paper, peel it off, then fill with the stuffing in my handy dandy pocket maker.

One change I made this time was to melt the butter in a dish in the microwave, but let it cool almost back to "solid" stage. That way it didn't go into the flour hot. Since I was doing it in the food processor, I probably could just use room temperature butter instead of melting it as the recipe requires.

Samosas - kind of

After reading Krispi's entry about the Samosas, I had to give them a go. First, I must say that I want that lovely little gadget she has to create the pockets. Incredibly cool and it makes the samosas look so pretty. Mine were not beautiful, (Are you seeing a pattern here with my cooking?) but, they were delicious.


I followed the recipe out of the most recent edition of the book (here is the link: Samosas). I guess "followed" should be used loosely. My first change was that I used whole wheat flour and as a result I had to add some water to the dough to make it pliable. For the filling, I cut up two sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes and boiled and then mashed them. I sauteed onion and garlic and then I threw in a bunch of spinach. Again, are you surprised? No. I mixed all of the filling together with a little toss of mozzarella (cheese makes everything better), salt and pepper.


The final result:

Like I said, they aren't beautiful and the dipping sauce (in the most recent edition, here is the link again: Samosas) is a MUST.

Side note: My 3 year old had been refusing to eat dinner for the last week and he usually is a great eater. He said he wanted pie and that was it. Can you blame the kid? So, we had pies for dinner!! He was very excited to have pie and LOVED the dipping sauce. He actually ate 2 large pies! 


When we had leftovers the next day for lunch, his first question was, "Mommy, where is my dipping sauce?".  


Thank you Krispi for trying this one out.

Montana's Mom's Dynamite Cheese Cake with Berry Sauce

I haven't made a cheesecake in a few years. I love cheesecake, but I've never had great luck making it. This recipe looked pretty simple and and straightforward, and it was. I'm glad I decided it to give cheesecake another try.

I prepared and baked the cheesecake the day before I served it to give it plenty of time to chill. I always feel a little nervous unmolding cakes from my spring form pan, and I felt especially wary this time as I realized that the recipe didn't call for greasing the pan. I needn't have worried, though; this one released easily in one piece. The distinct crust, cheesecake, and sour cream layers looked fancy on the plate over a dollop of berry sauce.

This cheesecake seemed lighter than others I've eaten, which everyone seemed to like. I think almost everyone had a second slice, and my friend's 8-year-old son ate maybe one quarter of the cake.

The berry sauce came together easily as well. I doubled the recipe using fresh strawberries and lime. It added a nice fruity flavor to the dessert.

Gypsy Soup

This soup was VERY easy to make.  I used chicken broth instead of water to give it more flavor.  It was not a favorite of mine but friends loved it.  Unless I have guests or am making dinner for friends I most likely will not make this one again.

Cardamom Coffee Cake

My friend Cere and her daughter Vida saw me checking out this cookbook from the library and told me I had to try the Cardamom Coffee Cake (p. 195). I love coffee cake, (what I really mean is I love any cake), and I had cardamom in my pantry (not sure why) so I thought that's not one, but two good reasons to give it a try.

Before we get to it, let's be honest: with a pound of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar, you could add a cup of dirt to this recipe and it would still be pretty good. On top of that, you use 4 eggs. In the past, this wouldn't have mattered much to me, but I got my cholesterol reading back last week and it's now over 200. So, this recipe had to be really, really good to make it worth all the saturated fat, cholesterol and calories. In short, it just wasn't that good.

I kept waiting for that bite of spice that I now know I like in coffee cake. It just wasn't there. I have no idea why cardamom was in my pantry or what I used it for, but it tastes to me like a really mild cinnamon. (I think I probably used it in some Indian dish.) This coffee cake tastes like a brown sugar cake - sweet, moist, but otherwise nondescript.

So, all in all, it's fine, my husband liked it a lot, but it's not one I will make again. (By the way, I am guessing that, with all that butter, this recipe was not "trimmed down" from the prior editions of this cookbook. So, it should be the same recipe as in the prior editions.)

OLD cookbook/Other versions

I guess I have the original 1977 version of the Moosewood Cookbook. I understand that there are several revisions for clarity and a nod to less fat. I am interested in hearing which version each of you is using. Also, I understand that the page numbers may be different in the revisions. I am also interested in knowing if people are using other Moosewood cookbooks for this time through.... I have several and the library has lots. What do you think? Are we using just the plain "Moosewood Cookbook"?

My cookbook has notes next to recipes I like and paper tabs on the pages I really liked and used all the time! One recipe has a note with the date of 1988 next to it! It was my birthday cake made for me by my friend Marty (of FH Elementary School fame) ... Date-Nut Torte on page 183. It was delicious!

Samosas/Calzone

Last night I started out to make Calzone (page 159), but the page flipped and I unexpectedly ended up making the dough for Samosas (page 155). I guess I was really pretty asleep! They are very similar, although one is a yeast dough and the other is a "pie crust" dough, and one deep fries the other bakes. I made the Samosas dough and baked them. I also varied the stuffing. I have one of those Pocket Gourmet makers, so was able to stuff them with more filling than you can by hand. If you like this type of little pocket things, this plastic gizmo useful. You can probably find them at the thrift shop.

I used the yogurt samosas recipe for the dough, rolled it out and created the pockets. The dough was a little wet, but seemed ok.... ended up tasting fabulous. It was flaky and really nice.

For the filling, I used some of the ingredients, but made some changes. I used: 1 baked sweet potato, mashed, ~1/2 cup thawed frozen peas, 1/2 cup shredded spinach(Thanks, Val!), garlic, sliced onion, grated carrots, salt, 1 T. lemon juice, 1/2 t. powdered mustard powder, 1/2 t coriander. I also had a left over piece of cooked steak, and chopped it fine and added it to the mixture. This packed up very well and held together in the dough.

After forming the pockets, I brushed them with melted butter and baked them for 20 minutes at 450 degrees.

They browned around the edges, but were not overall brown. I used a piece of non-stick aluminum foil on a cookie sheet to bake them on, so sticking wasn't an issue. Craig even liked them. We each had two of them and a green salad for a filling dinner.