Cooking Everything in How to Cook Everything

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2010-07-05T14:19:00.001-05:00

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Pasta with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce p. 525

2010-06-17T15:30:00.002-05:00

This dish reminds of one of my standard meals at our favorite restaurant. Only without the chicken. The sauce is very easy, yet makes the meal.

Start by melting butter. Meanwhile mix crumbled gorgonzola cheese (the good stuff, don't skimp here) with milk. When the butter is melted add in the milk/cheese mixture. Stir this until its a nice creamy sauce. A few lumps are okay, but I found that as I stirred I tried to mash cheese lumps against the side of the pan and this worked well.

Once your pasta is cooked and your sauce done combine the two adding some Parmesan cheese as a final garnish.

One variation is to add arugula and cherry tomatoes. I'm not a huge fan of arugula, but it was tasty. Other things I thought of to add in include: frozen peas, chopped asparagus, and cooked chicken.

Egg Drop Soup p. 127

2010-06-16T15:07:00.003-05:00

Ever since I was sick around Christmas when I was a young girl egg drop soup has been a comfort food to me. I didn't realize how easy it was to prepare until a few weeks ago.

Start with around 4 cups of stock (I used chicken stock)and bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile in a separate bowl beat 4 eggs together. When the water begins simmering add in the eggs and stir until the eggs are cooked (just a couple of minutes). Garnish with cilantro, soy sauce, etc. You will need to season with salt and pepper to taste. This makes two good size servings or four small servings.

I fell in love with how easy and delicious this soup was that I've made it several times since. My absolute favorite though was when I mixed in a cup of cooked, shredded chicken and leftover cooked leeks.

Words cannot describe to you how amazing it was. Definitely my favorite thing I'd ever made. Seriously. And it only took five minutes max.

Stuffed Mushrooms p. 113

2010-06-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

I do not believe I'd ever had a stuffed mushroom. It seems like its a traditional appetizer at parties and such, but somehow I had missed it.

Several weeks ago I hosted a small gathering at my house and decided it was high time I try a stuffed mushroom.

They were fairly easy to prepare and turned out being a tasty snack. Great for a cocktail party or other gathering.

Curried Deviled Eggs p. 85

2010-06-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

Oppsy. Its been a while. I didn't realize how long its been until I sat down with my book to look at the pages I've been meaning to post and realized that this one was made at Easter. EASTER! Yikes.

Deviled eggs is one of the staples, at least in my opinion, of an Easter meal. Something about eggs, I don't know for sure. But I wanted to try a variation, as there are mutliple good ones offered in How to Cook Everything. I'd also been craving some curry around this time as well.

Curried deviled eggs substituted yogurt for mayo (another reason for using this recipe to get rid of the large container of yogurt going bad in my fridge). Instead of mustard, use curry powder and garnish with cilantro.

They turned out very pretty, but I still prefer a traditional deviled egg for flavor.

Cooking without a book: Potatoes au Gratin

2010-06-03T11:54:00.003-05:00

For dinner last night I wanted to make potatoes au gratin. My mom made these occasionally while I was growing up, but I had never made it myself. So I called for the recipe. There isn't one. So I used my best judgement and threw it together.

I sliced 4 large potatoes. I'd place one potato (sliced) down, add some salt and pepper, add a few dots of butter, a handful of cheddar cheese, and light drizzle of heavy cream. Repeat until all potatoes are used. I topped it off with a lot of cheese. Put it in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour at 350.

The result: probably one of the most fattening foods you can possibly eat... but worth every calorie. The whole meal I proclaimed my love for potatoes and made my husband jealous, it was worth it though.

The beauty of cooking without a recipe is you can do whatever you want! Tweaking it to you and your family's preferences. I added a shallot to my casserole. It added a nice flavor without totally repulsing my onion-phobic husband. You can change the vegetable, the cheese, the seasonings to whatever you heart desires.

Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary p. 754

2010-05-06T09:04:00.002-05:00

Final meal of the planned week of meals saga. Closely tied with the ketchup stir fry for best meal of the week.

This meal was relatively easy, but it takes time. Every 15 minutes for over an hour I basted and added more stock to the pan and the pork.

We ended up with a beautiful and delicious pork roast. I had never cooked a boneless pork roast before and it was not my favorite cut of meat. Too fatty for me. Maybe next time I'll try the pork loin roast.

Garlic Fideo Soup p. 141-142

2010-05-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

Day four of meal planned week I branched out to a pasta soup. I wasn't sure what Bryan was going to think, but I liked the idea of a lighter meal in the middle of the week.

First cook chopped garlic for a few minutes. Then add in your broken noodles. (The recipe calls for fideo, which is a thin pasta, but our small grocery did not have that. The thinnest I could find was angel hair.) Add a ton of chicken stock and cook until the noodles are cooked through.

Mark Bittman suggests garnishing with bread crumbs and fresh herbs, this was my favorite part. I added an obscene amount of parsley to my bowl. Without the herbs it just too bland for me.

Stir Fried Chicken with Ketchup p. 677

2010-05-04T08:40:00.001-05:00

Continuing on with my planned week of meals, I made this dish one night during the week. It was a fast, easy dish to prepare after a long day of work.

First chop your chicken pieces (either breasts or thighs will do) and lightly coat in flour. Cook for a few minutes until cooked through. Cool garlic and cayenne for a minute , add a bunch of ketchup and let it cook for a few minutes. Toss chicken with ketchup sauce.

I served over rice and added some chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro. One of the better meals we'd had in a while.

Pound Cake p. 906-7

2010-05-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

In my last post I plotted out a meal plan for a week. I stuck to it, but it only took me 3 weeks to post it. Sorry. Without further ado... pound cake!

I felt like I wasn't a true Southern girl since I am a quarter decade old without ever attempting to make my own pound cake. Although, to be truthful, I'm not crazy about pound cake. But it was a Sunday and I wanted to bake something sweet. I also wanted to use some yogurt I had laying around.

It was not too difficult to make, just a bunch of steps to add ingredients at just the right time. I'm sure there's a science behind it that I just do not care to learn.

The cake turned out great and we enjoyed it for several days. I didn't get a chance to toast some, which I wanted to do. I'm sure it would have been really delicious with a little homemade plum preserves.

Meal Planning

2010-04-11T16:44:00.005-05:00

By nature, I am a planner. My life revolves around my iGoogle set up with my calendar and task lists. I get a thrill when I check something off my to-do list. And I get aggravated when something spontaneous comes up that is not on my calendar... well at least not a week in advance.

But when it comes to meal planning, I'm terrible. I'd like to plan more in advance - it would definitely help out with my avoidance of the grocery store. When I've planned for meals in advance it seems like something always comes up and then the food is wasted. And like my grandparents who survived the depression, I do not want to waste food!

Today I planned out a week's worth of food. I'm posting it here to keep me accountable.

Sunday:
- Lunch: pasta salad
- Dinner:Grilled marinated flank steak, corn, green beans
- Pound cake (from the book)

Monday:
- Steak salad with leftover flank steak

Tuesday:
- Stir-fried Chicken with Ketchup (from the book)

Wednesday:
- Garlic Frideo Soup (from the book)

Thursday:
- Pork Roast with Rosemary and new potatoes (from the book)

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday:
We're going on an anniversary weekend get-away to Little Rock, AR!

It was important to make sure we eat at home this week since we will be eating out the coming weekend. Total we spent just over $100 for a week's worth of groceries which isn't too bad. About the price of us eating out twice... which we normally do anyways.

So now the responsibility falls on you, will you keep me accountable to my meal plan and to follow up with posts?

(Also, does anyone know what to do in Little Rock?)

Light and Fluffy Pancakes p. 812

2010-03-27T08:30:00.002-05:00

I flipped to this recipe first when Bryan requested pancakes one morning. It didn't occur to me that there was an Everyday Pancake on the page before. But it was a weekend morning and we had slept in and I hadn't even had my coffee yet, so light and fluffy it was.

First get out 3 bowls. This is not a "clean" recipe. You'll dirty 3 mixing bowls, various things to beat, whisk, and stir, a pan, and a spatula.

In on bowl you beat milk and egg yolks (the yellow part, I always have to remind myself of this). In the second bowl is your whites. You will whisk until stiff, but not dry. Please explain this to me. I still do not understand.

In the third goes the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder).

I made half the batch in small pancakes and then got tired of those so I made several pan sized cakes. This recipe will make enough to feed six hungry boys. So unless you are feeing a crowd, be prepared for left overs. Although I do love having left over pancakes. I will put a couple in a bag in the freezer and pull out for a quick breakfast on the run. Simply pop them in the toaster and they are good to go! Yum!

Steamed Artichokes p. 253-4

2010-03-25T08:30:00.002-05:00

I do love a good artichoke. Steamed artichokes with a good dipping sauce are the perfect appetizer for an intimate meal.

The only tricky part is preparing it. You have to trim the leaves and scoop out the middle part. But all that work is worth it in the end.

Steam your whole artichoke(s) for 20-40 minutes until done.

Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. I personally like melted butter with lemon and garlic, or a nice rouxemalade or comeback sauce.

If you've never had an artichoke like this, you take off a leave, dip the end in your sauce, and bite off the end, scraping the leaves with your teeth (much like a crab claw).

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank my best friend Allyn A. Sossaman for introducing me to the glories of a fresh artichoke. Thank you, Allyn.

Pan-Cooked Thin Fish Fillets p. 564

2010-03-23T08:30:00.002-05:00

Do you ever get those thin frozen fish fillets at Sam's or grocery? I usually get tilapia. They are great to have on hand to make a quick dinner after a hard work day.

This recipe is perfect for those little fishies. And the sauce is to die for.

Dredge the thawed fish fillets in flour and add to a warmed pan with melted butter. Cook for a few minutes on each side. Once the all the fillets are cooked, add more butter to the pan. Add lemon juice and cook scraping the bottom of the pan. Drizzle of your fish.

Bryan and I literally faught over the last bites of the fish with sauce.

Eggs Benedict, Unleashed p. 799

2010-03-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

This is really a triple whammy recipe as you are really just assembling several seperate things.

First toast your english muffins. I hate english muffins and didn't have any (I made this spur of the moment one Sunday morning) so I used regular bread. A nice french bread or something fancier would probably have been better, but I was a poor planner for this meal.

Make a hollandaise Sauce (page 59-60). This mixes egg yolks, butter, lemon juice and some cayenne. Careful with the cayenne, I made mine too spicy. Keep it warm while you prepare the ham and eggs.

Next you will heat up your Canadian bacon. It only takes a minute or two, you just want to get it warm and crispy. Once done, let it drain on a paper towel.

Final step, poached eggs. I must admit a deep fear of poaching eggs. I've never had a poached egg before, but I've witnessed the process on cooking shows and read about it on various cook books. It seems weird and a freak of nature. So I was very hesitant about this step. But it ended up okay. The water had a milky foam over it, but my perfectly poached eggs were still in there and okay!

Finally assemble. Toast, bacon, eggs, and generous spoonful of hollandaise. Enjoy!

Broiled Lamb Ribs p. 778-9

2010-03-19T08:30:00.002-05:00

Bryan and I never had much lamb growing up, so I've had fun experimenting with a "new" meat. We've had it a couple of times since we were married and it always makes a "special" meal.

This recipe is all about the glaze. I'm surprised it doesn't have more of a prominent roll in the title. It should be something like Tangy Glazed Lamb Ribs.

Since the weather is yucky, I broiled these ribs. First you have to parboil them. This seemed odd to me, but when you broil them you are really just finishing off the cooking and adding flavor.

Mix together orange marmalade or syrup (I used plum preserves because that is what I had and it turned out amazing), Dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, and ground cumin. This little glaze is your best friend. I've put similar glazes on pork chops. It'd also be amazing in chicken. Bryan almost liked the bowl clean.

Glaze your lamb on both sides, broil, turn and re-glaze a couple of times until brown and crispy.

Classic Pot Roast p. 742

2010-03-17T08:30:00.002-05:00

Yes, somehow after two years of cooking for myself I had not managed to cook a pot roast. I've done stews, which I consider similar, and briskets, but never a pot roast. Determined to change that, I held a family dinner at my house last week serving a classic pot roast. I had to wait to make it for company because there is no way Bryan and I would be able to eat a whole pot roast on our own.

This version of pot roast is cooked on low over the stove top. I always thought it was cooked in the oven, but I was wrong.

I won't go in depth about each step, but my main concern with this recipe is that there aren't nearly enough veggies. Mark Bittman calls for 2 carrots, 1 celery stick, and 2 onions. I intended to follow the recipe to a T since I was nervous feeding a crowd. But the onions were over powering. So I added at least on more celery stalk and 3 or more carrots, I forget now. I've made a note in my book so I remember to add more when I make it again.

The end product was delicious, flavorful, and tender. I served the meat and veggies over homemade mashed potatoes. The perfect causal dinner for a casual get together.

Mashed Potatoes p. 339

2010-03-15T08:30:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure why its taken me this long to try Mark Bittman's mashed potatoes. Maybe because its such a simple thing.

Last week I made pot roast for the first time. It just seemed natural to make mashed potatoes to go with it.

Start off by boiling your potatoes. When done, drain. Melt butter and warm milk in the drained pot, then add your potatoes back for mashing. At this point I veered from the recipe. I just added milk, butter, cheese, and salt to it satisfied my taste buds. I don't think you could mess mashed potatoes up. Unless you over salt them.

Spaghetti with Butter and Parmesan p. 506

2010-03-08T08:30:00.002-06:00

Out of my lazy few weeks, I prepared this dish with things I had on hand. I just adore recipes like this one. So easy to adapt to whatever you might have on hand.

It really can't get easier than this. Cook pasta. Toss with softened butter and parmesan cheese. Yes, that is it.

As always, Mark Bittman gives plenty of additions to your spaghetti dinner. I added frozen peas and a fried egg.

Easy, delicious, and I didn't have go shopping. Beautiful.

Leeks Braised in Oil or Butter p. 311

2010-03-05T08:30:00.001-06:00

I've made leeks a few times, and I love them. Each time I made them I grow to love them just a little bit more.

For this recipe simply melt some butter and throw in your leeks. Add salt and pepper and some stock. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes or until tender and liquid is gone. Add a bit of lemon juice before serving.

This is a great, easy recipe to keep on hand for a simple weeknight meal.

Detour: Salad Dressing

2010-03-03T08:30:00.001-06:00

I think I was around the age of 12 when I was introduced to salads. I don't know how it happened, but I was at a restaurant with my family and it suddenly dawned on me to order a salad. Ever since, me and salads have been best pals. I order them out regularly, I take them for lunches, I make them for dinner. But I haven't been brave enough to make my own dressing until the last year or two.

I happened upon this recipe a few months ago and bookmarked it for further use. Finally, I made a mason jar of creamy dressing last week. It was an inspiration. So simple and so delicious.

I've since made it three times... in only 7 days. Its that good. While its not part of How to Cook Everything or the project this blog is dedicated to, I feel it my duty to pass it along to the public. Try it. Today.

Since I'm not one to measure when making things like dressing, I've included my eyeball measurements. They are probably not accurate, but I just made a jar and it turned out good.

Creamy Salad Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise (about 1/4 a mason jar)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (heaping, I love things tangy)
1-2 gloves garlic, minched (or more... I used 4, but they were small)
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice (or 1 juice lemon)
3 tablespoons water
salt
freshly ground pepper

Put in a mason jar and shake vigorously.

Originally stumbled upon here.

Pictured here with pork tenderloin, risotto, and braised leeks.

Cleaning House

2010-02-27T08:03:00.003-06:00

So, this is not a recipe post, but I think it goes along the theme of this blog.

I love buying in bulk and it doesn't help that I work only a few hundred feet from a Sam's. What I love about buying in bulk is splitting it up and putting some in the freezer for later. I tend to hate going to our local grocery store, but I don't mind Easy Way, which sells fresh produce. So if I can pull a meat out of the freezer and just stop at Easy Way to fill in with a veggie or two, I'm a happy camper.

But I tend to buy more than I use, which leads to a cluttered freezer, fridge and pantry. For the last few weeks I've made an effort to use what we have already and I've been impressed with the outcome.

We've had pork tenderloin, various chicken dishes, taco salad, lamb, beef tenderloin, fish, and much more. Bryan and I have been downright impressed with what we can put together without even going to the store. I haven't been to the grocery store for three weeks now! (Don't worry, I stock up on milk and eggs at Easy Way once a week.)

So not only is it decreasing my grocery bill, I'm also cleaning out the old. I am loving how easy it is to find things in the freezer and pantry now. Hopefully I can keep things on a minimum, buying only what I need.

Oven Baked Ratatouille p. 373

2010-02-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Lately I've had a craving for fresh vegetables. Probably because we've been eating out as well as eating our of the freezer a lot lately.

I was never sure what exactly Ratatouille was, but I guess its more of a mixture of vegetables. For this dish I used onions, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic. Chop your vegetables up and layer them in a deep casserole dish generously adding olive oil.

After an hour in the oven you have a delicious mixture of vegetables.

I served ours over rice, which Bryan appreciated since he had maybe two bites of the vegetables.

Flash-Cooked Collards with Lemon Juice p. 308

2010-02-22T08:30:00.002-06:00

This was Bryan and my first time to have collard greens. My mom never served them growing up since she didn't like them herself. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I went into this experiment with an open mind.

This recipe is much the same as how I cook fresh spinach. The exception though is that Mark Bittman suggests cooking the stems as well. Collard leaves are much thicker than spinach and that didn't change after they were cooked. Bryan actually liked that the leaves were thicker and distinguishable as opposed to spinach.

The flavor was nice, I added some red wine vinegar as well as a little lemon juice, which, to me at least, made the collards edible.

It may not be my favorite vegetable, but at least I gave it a fair shot.

Vinaigrette p. 199-200

2010-02-09T06:56:00.000-06:00

The basics of vinaigrette are these: oil. vinegar. salt. pepper. You can use different oils, different vinegars, and whatever other mixins you have on hand.

The other night I added whocestershire sauce, parmesean cheese, and honey as well as a smashed garlic clove.

Simple, yet delicious.

The beauty of vinaigrettes is that you can use whatever you have and whatever your tastes prefer. I had thought about added some fresh yogurt, but I when I went to fetch it from the fridge, discovered it wasn't fresh. Mark Bittman lists more than 20 different things you can add to your vinaigrette to spice it up. I had a hard timed editing the items I wanted to add to our dressing.

The proportions for this vinaigrette make enough for about 6 salads.