Quick Cooking and Sick Babies-4/30/09

It hasn't happened often but Eyrleigh got sick today. I'm hoping it just a product of her emerging eye teeth but either way, she was not feeling good this evening. She had that bleary eyed look through dinner but did manage to eat quite a bit of rice and end her meal with her favorite dessert, an ice cream cone. I didn't even start dinner until Richard got home from work after 4:00 so it was wonderful to have a dinner and appetizer that could be made quickly. I've mentioned in earlier posts that Gourmet has a section geared toward quick weekday meals. I looked back in some of my old Gourmets, going back to 2003, to see if this section had been as large. I didn't remember it being a focus but then again, I wasn't making every recipe and getting to know the magazine as well. Sure enough, there was a section with the same name with only one fewer recipe. Quick cooking has been a focus of Gourmet for a long time, they just don't emphasize it like some cooking magazines do.

Tonight I made 3 recipes from May's Gourmet, all in under an hour. The main course recipe, the Sake Sea Bass in Parchment on page 74, was a fancy looking recipe with very simple execution. The sea bass was simply soaked with a sake-based sauce and wrapped up in parchment. I used steaks instead of fillets and though the cook time was a little more, everything else was identical and tasted great. Richard is not a huge fan of fish and found sea bass a bit "fishy" but I thought it was moist, flavorful, and very good.

I made the Stir-fried Bok Choy and Cabbage on page 75 to go with the fish as recommended. I wish I had taken a few extra minutes to wash the cabbage. I forgot and the dish was pretty gritty. The grit and the bitterness of the greens made this a dish neither of us liked. The sesame oil wasn't enough to compliment the very strong flavor of the greens.

Our favorite recipe of the night was the second dumpling recipe I've made from May's Gourmet. The Shrimp Scallion Dumplings were excellent and I was surprised how much they looked and tasted like dumplings at a restaurant. I'm amazed at how easy they were when I used the premade dumpling wrappers. I made them even easier by simply putting all the ingredients in the food processor to chop. It sure didn't look pretty but who was going to see it inside the dumpling?

Shrimp Scallion Dumplings- A

Cost-$13.07

Calories per serving- 49 a dumpling

Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Cabbage-D

Cost-$3.89

Calories per serving- 133

Sake Sea Bass in Parchment-B

Cost-$61.72 (I did NOT buy 6 fillets! Whew!)

Calories per serving- 286

El Veintinueve De Abril- 4/29/09

El Veintinueve De Abril doesn't have quite the same ring as Cinco De Mayo but tonight's recipes created the only meal in May's Gourmet that claimed to have Mexican flavor. Today Richard told me that his business trip is postponed until at least May 10th so we'll be home for Cinco De Mayo but I won't be cooking a Mexican meal, at least not one from Gourmet. To be honest, neither of these dishes are very Mexican in concept but they use common Mexican ingredients in a different and creative way.

The first recipe, the Tortilla Chicken Drumsticks on page 78, used tortilla chips and chili powder to create a crunchy flavorful crust for chicken drumsticks. The tortilla chips stayed crunchy through baking and were a creative twist on fried chicken. I liked the chicken but it could have had even more spice. It was easy to make and a quick weeknight meal.

The Roasted Potato Wedges with Cilantro-Lime Mayonnaise, also on page 78, were equally simple. The potatoes were roasted with oil and some spices and the mayonnaise was thinned with sour cream and flavored with lime and cilantro. I really like the Cilantro-Lime Mayonnaise and it would be great in a sandwich too. No matter what day, Mexican flavors are a great addition to a meal.

Tortilla Chicken Drumsticks-B

Cost-$6.66

Calories per serving-600

Roasted Potato Wedges with Cilantro-Lime Mayonnaise- B+

Cost-$4.20

Calories per serving-542

A Different Light-4/28/09

We got a new camera today and I'm curious to see how the food pics will look. I can already tell they are a little lighter. Not that I do this blog to plug products, but this camera is a Canon Power Shot SD1200 IS if you like the pictures.

I'm racing along on my head start on May's recipes. Tonight I made two recipes from next month's Gourmet. The first recipe was the Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp on page 76. Risotto recipes are pretty similar and this one was like most. You make the risotto and add the extras at the end. This was good but not spectacular. Some of the issue was the rather vague directions about how much liquid to use/leave after making the risotto. My risotto was still a little too chewy after 18 minutes and adding the last of the liquid would have given it a little more time to finish. Shrimp and asparagus are pretty common risotto additions and they worked well.

My second dish was listed as a one pot meal but the ingredients sounded a little thin so I made the risotto to go along with it. I am so glad I did. This dish was not only not filling, it was flat out not good. I really can't tell you what went wrong but this was a really poor dish. There was very little flavor outside of the hot pepper flakes and the squid was flavorless and tough after cooking for that long. Perhaps in Florence, Italy, where this dish was conceived, each component carries its own flavor but using my supermarket ingredients, nothing stood out. The Swiss chard added a bitter note that really off-putting. This is my first D of the month and it would have been an F if I even had them. Oh well, at least the picture looks good.

Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp-C+

Cost- $14. 43

Calories per serving-562

Florentine Stewed Calamari with Swiss Chard-D-

Cost-$14.44

Calories per serving-270

Thank Goodness for Christmas Gifts-4/24/09

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I had to run out at the last minute to pick up the sun-dried tomatoes for the Penne with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula. As I started dinner tonight, I thought I was about to repeat that story. I remembered I had used the last of my curry powder for another Gourmet recipe last month. In a panic, I searched through my spice drawers and was intensely relieved to find a stocking gift that Richard gave me at Christmas, a jar of Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger Curry Powder. Tonight I made Curry Chicken with Cashews from epicurious.com and I really think the quality of this curry powder really helped make this dish outstanding. Throughout the project of making each recipe in Gourmet magazine, I have struggled with balancing the desire to use the best quality ingredients and the need to stay within a family budget. I am sure many of the dishes I have made would have been even better if I did not have to think of price and could buy based on quality alone.
To make this dish, I bought a whole chicken and cut it up as the recipe recommended. The cashews and yogurt made a thick sauce that coated the chicken and added depth to the curry. Though this was not a dish from May's Gourmet, it was a great compliment to the recipe I made from Gourmet.
Each month, the final page of Gourmet has a set of several recipes that focus on a single common ingredient. The last several month's have ranged from pudding to Key Limes to ham. This month, the "The Last Touch" theme is dumplings, a food popular throughout the world. Tonight, I made the Indian Sweet Coconut Dumplings on page 134 to go with the excellent curry chicken recipe I found on epicurious.com. I bought dumpling wrappers at Super H Mart and they are so easy to use. This recipe was easy to make and very good. I didn't have golden raisins so I used some chopped dates instead. I thought they worked great and I think any other kind of dried fruit would work as well. My only suggestion to this recipe would be the addition of a dipping sauce of some kind. Richard and I brainstormed a few ideas like a sweet pineapple sauce or even a simple caramel sauce. This is a yummy sweet dumpling and a dipping sauce would turn it into a classy dessert. Wait, did I get some Chipotle Chocolate Dipping Sauce in my stocking?


Curry Chicken with Cashews-A
(Not from Gourmet)

Indian Sweet Coconut Dumplings-B+
Cost- $6.20
Calories per serving- 65 per dumpling

April in Review- 4/24/09

The end of April is still a week away but I have made all the April recipes and tonight will start May's in earnest, so I want to give my monthly review while I'm still remembering. I do feel a bit guilty about not making the Cocktail of the Month but I think my reasoning (mentioned in the previous post) is quite legitimate.

What did I like and learn during the month of April in my Month of Gourmet project?

I really got a boost of confidence with making desserts. There were a lot of dessert recipes for April and I was pleased with all of them. Even if the flavor was not excellent in my opinion, I felt I did a good job of executing the recipe and creating an attractive and tasty dessert. My favorite recipe of the month was a dessert recipe. I was so proud to serve the Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries on page 86. I felt this dessert had everything I was looking for in a showstopper. The visual appeal of the cake was impressive with the puffy white meringue and the contrasting red and blue berries. The flavor was complex with the 3 components of sweet meringue, tart lemon curd, and fresh berries. The dish was not labor intensive though. The stand mixer did the work for you and though you needed several hours for chill and bake times, much of that was simply wait time with no work required.

I also managed to pull off 2 very large menus of 8 or more recipes in almost back to back days. I managed my time well and never doubted that I would be able to complete each recipe in time for the two special dinners. I hosted or catered a number of meals and did not get flustered or disorganized even when meatloaves refused to leave the pan and crusts were burned.

I actually had to look back at the blog to find my least favorite recipe of the month. I had very few D rated dishes and none were so disastrous they stood out. I'd have to say my least favorite dish of the month was the Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs. The problem with this dish was simply a lack of flavor. I've had many wonderful potato dishes in my life and because this dish was part of a special holiday menu, I wanted something special. This dish wasn't special, it wasn't horrible either but for Easter dinner, my expectations are high. As a hostess, I want my guests to feel I am serving them the best recipes I have. I felt the Pavlova did this but the Golden Potatoes did not. Another successful month of Gourmet!

The Last... and the First Recipe- 4/23/09

Tonight I made the last recipe of April that I will be making. If you are keeping track, I have made 50 out of 51 recipes in the April 2009 Gourmet. The one recipe I will probably not be making is the Cocktail of the Month, The Waldorf. This recipe is made with absinthe, a spirit that until recently was illegal in the United States. The local liquor stores do not carry it, they only carry an absinthe style liquor called absente that costs $40. I just can't rationalize spending $40+ for one ounce of liquor. I am still going to try to to find this drink at a bar on our trip. I should really entertain some bartender somewhere with that request!

Ok, back to the last recipe. Tonight I made the Ham and Rice Croquettes on page 4. I was really struggling with where this recipe would work best. I am not very familiar with croquettes and initially assumed they were a breakfast food. When I looked them up online, I found they are more of a snack than a real side dish but I made these little fried snacks to go along with a main dish. The croquettes were much like fancy hush puppies. Thankfully, the rice and ham filling was moist and flavorful, unlike most hush puppies. I liked them, and Richard really like them. I fried them a little too dark but we liked the crunch.

Now for the first recipe... I mentioned that Richard has a business trip and I am tagging along. We were supposed to leave this last Sunday but a phone issue postponed the trip one week, then two. We probably won't leave until May 3rd and we'll be gone for at least 3 weeks. That doesn't leave many days to make May's recipes if I don't feel like cooking in a hotel, which I don't! So I'm going to go ahead and start May's recipes now, giving myself at least a ghost of a shot of finishing the recipes in May's Gourmet. Tonight, to go along with the Ham and Rice Croquettes, I made the Penne With Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula on page 73. The toughest thing about this recipe was getting the sun-dried tomatoes. I had some in the fridge so I didn't bother to buy any at either grocery store I went to today. When I went to make the dish, however, I found out the tomatoes in my fridge had white fuzzy stuff growing on them. So I had to make a last minute trip to the third grocery store for the day. The flavor of this pasta was excellent. I love all the components of this pasta, from the pancetta to the basil. The arugula was a nice addition. It added some a freshness and complexity to the pasta. This was one of my favorite pastas in this project. A great way to start May!

Ham and Rice Croquettes- B
Cost- $8.47
Calories per serving- 209 per croquette

Penne with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula-A
Cost- $12.82
Calories per serving- 680

Baby Food Goes Luxe-4/20/09

Eyrleigh is almost a year and 1/2 and she still has not crossed over the 20 pound mark. I put some 18-24 month size pants on her yesterday and she looked like she was doing an ad for NutriSystem. She's a thin little one and though she is certainly not unhealthy, it wouldn't bother me a bit if she put on a little weight. The Gourmet dish I made tonight could go a long way toward fattening her up.
Tonight I made the Creamy Cheese Tortellini with Asparagus on page 62 in this month's Gourmet. This was a very simple dish, using packaged tortellini to save time. The sauce was a base of chicken broth, cream, and cheese and it took less than 20 minutes to make. It was a definite keeper for the weeknight repertoire. The sauce coated well and the asparagus was fresh and perfectly cooked... and Eyrleigh loved it!

Creamy Cheese Tortellini with Asparagus- A-
Cost-$14.35
Calories per serving-585

Getting Behind and Catching Up- 4/16/09

I have to admit something. It's not April 16th today. If you are reading this blog regularly, you may notice that my postings aren't matching the dates. With all the hosting last week, I got behind. Most nights I'd at least start the post, but I wasn't finishing them and then the next day would be a whole new batch of recipes and I just couldn't keep up. In fact, the cost and calorie breakdowns for the last week are still not up and may take awhile to do. I guess that's the problem with trying to cram a month's worth of recipes into 2 weeks. And it looks to be for naught. Richard's business trip got postponed so we won't leave until at least the last week of April. Oh, well... I'm still having fun and it was great to have guests to share this month's recipes with so I don't mind at all.

Tonight I made three more recipes from April's Gourmet magazine, leaving me with only two recipes left to make. I made the Grilled Mediterranean Lamb Steaks on page 62 and paired them with the Black-Eyed Pea and Ham Salad on page 114. I put the Caper-Tarragon Vinaigrette from page 12 on our salad. The lamb steaks were good. I bought a leg of lamb designed for Easter. I don't usually see lamb in the Kroger so I think it was a special holiday item. I sliced it for steaks and they worked out great. I recently bought a cast-iron stove top grill pan to replace the indoor grill I set on fire. This grill got much hotter than an electric grill and made beautiful sear marks on the steaks. The cooked time called for left the steaks still very rare but both Richard and I liked them. I just get a little nervous about Eyrleigh and rare meat so I gave her the more well-done edge pieces.

The Black-Eyed Pea and Ham Salad was a quick, easy salad with a lot of flavor. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I've been using cubed ham from the store since we had very little left over from Easter dinner but I think it worked just as well. The dressing was just vinegar but it absorbed the flavor of the meat and black-eyed peas well and was not too strong.

The Caper-Tarragon Vinaigrette was pretty similar to a number of dressings I've had before but it blended well and covered the salad without separating so we could enjoy the flavor.

I do need to add one more recipe that I made over the weekend but forgot to write about. Easter morning, I made the Cheddar Dill Biscuits on page 59. Obviously, they weren't very memorable. They were cheesy but quite dry. The dill flavor went virtually unnoticed as the cheese was the dominant flavor. Sometimes it's a more honest opinion when I've had a few days to think or in this case, forget. Maybe getting behind isn't so bad!

Grilled Mediterranean Lamb Steaks-B+

Cost-$26.71

Calories per serving-715

Black-Eyed Pea and Ham Salad-B

Cost-

Calories per serving-343

Caper-Tarragon Vinaigrette-C

Cost-

Calories per serving-740 for whole recipe

Cheddar Dill Biscuits-D

Cost-

Calories per serving-244 a biscuit

Dutch Babies and Fig Cakes- 4/15/09

I thought about titling this post, "Even Bloggers Need a Break" but it wasn't the blogging I took a break from. This evening when Richard got home from work and Dad and I were still working on the plantings out front and dinner had not been made, the suggestion to go out to eat at Dacula Dogs, a local hot dog place, was met with great enthusiasm. My parents have been here for 6 days and I've made dinner from Gourmet for them every night. I had already made 2 recipes from Gourmet today so I still have something to write about and my dinner recipes can wait for another day.

This morning I made the last of the recipes in the "Transformers" article that uses lemon and eggs to make 5 dessert recipes. The article mentions that the recipe for Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar could be for dessert or breakfast. I am glad I choose to make this recipe for breakfast. It is basically a large eggy pancake. It's good but not really dessert unless you dressed it up a bit with ice cream and chocolate syrup or something crazy like that. With the lemon sugar, it was a good breakfast food alongside some sausage patties. We all enjoyed it but it needs to be served with other foods, it's not a full meal by itself.

This afternoon, before the decision to bail dinner and go out, I made the final dessert recipe for the month, Frances O'Neal's Fig Cake on page 105. This recipe accompanied an article about the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Sadly, I always find these vacation articles after I've visited the locations so I don't get to take advantage of the restaurant recommendations. We were in the Outer Banks this last September and had a great time. We didn't visit any restaurants though and I wish I'd had this article before we went. The fig cake was pretty average in my opinion. It was well spiced and actually better the longer it sat. I did use the food processor to chop the figs and in retrospect, it would have been better with larger chunks of fig in the cake. All in all, some very good desserts this month and I feel I did them justice. Hooray for the baker in me!

Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar-B

Cost-

Calories per serving-319

Frances O'Neal's Fig Cake-B-

Cost-

Calories per serving-448

Up Until Midnight-4/14/09

Last week, my friend Devi asked if I could watch her girls one day as she had to go back to work before they went back to school from spring break. I said I'd watch the kids contingent on her allowing me to make her family the Passover menu from April's Gourmet. For some reason, she thought that was a great trade;). Daycare and dinner!

The most interesting thing about making a meal for Passover was the fact that I did not use a single dairy or wheat product in the entire menu. I know a little about Kosher regulations but I have never cooked with them. It was great to see how creative you can be without these key ingredients. Wheat and dairy are also common food allergens and all of these recipes would be a great choice for people with these allergies. It was also great to have Devi and her husband, Dan explain to my family the significance of the Haroseth that represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the pyramids while captive laborers for the Egyptians. I was a little nervous that some of the flavors would be too strong for the kids, but all the adults are adventurous so I knew they would at least try each dish.
A number of the dishes in this menu had to or could be made ahead and since I knew I'd be responsible for 3 children under 5 during the day, I made 6 of the dishes the night before. Yes, it took me until almost midnight but I was having so much fun and there was this bottle of white wine that was just going to go bad...

The Moroccan Spiced Olives were one of the easiest recipes on the menu and because of the harissa, were very flavorful. They were a good spice note, though I don't think anyone ate more than one or two at a time.

The Lemon Mint Braised Artichokes were a real eye-opener. The flavor was very similar to that of good canned artichoke hearts but I'd never actually trimmed a whole artichoke before. The amount of waste was incredible. I did only 6 artichokes and my sink was at least half full of leaves and peelings. I'm glad I did it but I don't think I'll need to trim a whole artichoke again for awhile. That's a lot of work for not much food!

The Catalan-Style Fresh Sardine Escabeche was also a learning experience. I bought mackerel fillets at Super H Mart and deboned them. That is also a lot of work. I actually had watched an episode of the Bravo show, Top Chef, where the contestants had done a similar thing so I had a vague idea of what to do. Some of the fillets looked awful, I'd pulled almost all the meat off in an effort to get the bones but by the last few fillets, I was getting pretty good. I almost took a picture of my second-to-last one, it looked so pretty. What I was proudest of was the fact that not a single person complained about a bone when they ate the dish. As for flavor, it was a little much for the non-fish people, namely Richard and Dan, but I thought it was relatively mild and the breading was light and crisp. My dad absolutely loved this dish and ate most of the leftovers.

The Spice-Rubbed Cornish Hens with Haroseth Stuffing and Sherry Jus were good but I found the skin almost overpoweringly spiced and I bet Devi will be smelling it for days as it permeated the whole house. The meat was moist and had the familiar gamey taste of Cornish hens. I didn't taste the Haroseth stuffing with mine but Richard did and said the stuffing in the bird was excellent. I had the Apricot, Date, and Pistachio Haroseth on the side and found it a very nice accompaniment to the whole meal. It was not as sweet as the more traditional apple haroseth that Devi had made but I liked the tart of the dried fruits and the crunch of the nuts.

The Saffron Rice Pilaf was the safe dish that I knew everyone, including the kids, would like. It was actually a little dry, I wouldn't have minded a bit more oil or other spice combination but given the already spicy nature of the menu, this was probably by design.

The Parsley Mint Salsa Verde was the one dish that left me a little lost. It tasted fine but none of us could figure out what to put it on as all the other dishes had sauce already. I've found that many of the big menus given in cooking magazines have one recipe like this that doesn't seem to fit well.

The Sweet-and-Sour Celery was interesting. I was pretty neutral on this dish. It had good flavor but was pretty discolored after the braising which was a little off-putting. Ruth Riechl, the editor of Gourmet, mentioned in her editorial that she found this dish addicting. I wouldn't go that far.

The Simple Spring Green Salad was hardly a recipe. Rip up lettuce and drizzle it with olive oil and salt. I know that the quality of the olive oil, salt, and for that matter, even the lettuce, does make a big difference but I found this addition a bit over the top. There were enough dishes in this menu without adding lettuce.
The dessert for this menu was perhaps the most creative since very few desserts have no wheat or dairy. The Orange Flan was made with almond milk and orange-flower water and lots of eggs. Back in February, I needed orange-flower water for the Orange Polenta Cake and Richard put the kibosh on ordering the orange flower water online so I used orange extract instead. I was a little short on sugar late at night, I actually burned my first attempt at caramel, so the caramel was enough but did not run down the sides attractively like the picture showed. I actually put the Almond Olive-Oil Tuiles on the top of the flan for two reasons. One was that the top was a little dry because of the small amount of caramel. The second was that I used a stone cookie sheet and the directed cook time was not enough. Those stone cookie sheets take longer and I always forget that. My tuiles were not crisp but they were still very good. I just wish the recipe had made more. I only got 8 cookies from this recipe, not 18 like they said. Was it worth staying up until midnight? I thought so, and I hope everyone who ate the meal agreed!

Moroccan Spiced Olives-B

Calories per serving-904 total

Catalan-Style Fresh Sardine Escabeche-B

Calories per serving-391

Lemon Mint Braised Artichokes-B

Calories per serving-158

Spice-Rubbed Cornish Hens-B

Calories per serving-424

Apricot, Date, and Pistachio Haroseth-B

Calories per serving-266 for a 1/2 cup

Parsley Mint Salsa Verde-C

Calories per serving-171 per 1/4 cup

Saffron Rice Pilaf-B

Calories per serving-514

Sweet-and-Sour Celery-B-

Cost-Calories per serving-107

Simple Spring Green Salad-C

Calories per serving-47

Orange Flan-B

Calories per serving-245

Almond Olive-Oil Tuiles- B+

Calories per serving-70 per cookie (if you make 18)

Wow Them with Dessert!- 4/13/09

When I began my month of Gourmet project in February, I thought of myself more as a cook than a baker. I've never been particularly astute at making cookies, pies, and breads. (Previous posts prove that!) I've always felt more confident with main dishes, particularly those made on the stove top. This project has helped me find some foolproof baking recipes that can really wow without the risk. This month's recipe for the Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries on page 86 is one of those recipes. I've never made meringue and it always looked very difficult. Well, let me assure you, it's doable! Very doable!

I made the Pavlova along with the Rustic French Meatloaf on page 59 and the Mashed Potatoes with Crisp Ham on page 114 for some friends of my mom's who own a bed and breakfast. Hosting bed and breakfast owners sounds intimidating but Grace and Steve are some of the nicest people we know and I was only a little nervous about the meal. Like I said, the Pavlova was a huge success. The meringue spread while baking so the center depression was a bit larger and the sides a bit lower than when I put it on the baking sheet. That didn't affect the look at all. The only thing that was tough was moving the meringue to the plate because it is so fragile. Little pieces broke off but all in all, it stayed together. The meringue is very sweet so the tart lemon cream and berries were perfect. Best dessert I've made yet!

I must have been a little flustered by the meatloaf breaking as it came out of the loaf pan. I didn't take a picture! I was a bit nervous also about using chicken livers in a dish for guests. Liver of any kind is a risky food because some people really don't like it but the liver only mildly flavored the other meats in the loaf. I could taste it but it was not overpowering. The loaf had less texture than most meatloaf, because of the blended liver, and that may be why it collapsed coming out of the pan. The flavor was good, though, and once sliced, it was less obvious that it had crumbled.

The Mashed Potatoes with Crisp Ham were good but I did add some milk for body. The ham did not get very crisp in the time called for, I should have cooked it longer. This was not anything outstanding in my opinion but it was a good side dish to the meatloaf and our friends brought a cheese casserole that rounded out the meal.

I did make one other recipe today from this month's Gourmet. Although I had almost no leftover ham from Easter dinner, I've been buying ham to make the 5 recipes that call for leftover ham. I made the Deviled Ham and Pickle Sandwiches on page 114 for lunch today. I'm not a huge mayonnaise fan so I was a bit apprehensive about this sandwich. I probably wouldn't make it again, too much mayo for me, but my folks really liked it. I thought the pickles were the best part and the vinegar cut the salt of the ham well.

French Rustic Meatloaf-B

Calories per serving-683

Mashed Potatoes with Crisp Ham- C
Calories per serving-389

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries-A
Calories per serving-394

Deviled Ham and Pickle Sandwiches-C
Calories per serving-517

Make Your Own Peeps- 4/12/09

Very few things I've made in my Gourmet project have made me quite as excited as making my own marshmallows. I'm not a sweets person normally but the whole process of making the Lillet Marshmallows in the Easter menu on page 78 was so cool. That only 3 ingredients and some water could make puffy sweet marshmallows is amazing chemistry in action. It's so simple but impressed everyone at Easter dinner (and for the next few days). Next year, I may try making my own Peeps with some food coloring and cookie cutters. I'm sure it would work and look so cool... and I don't even like Peeps!

I made the Easter menu in this month's Gourmet article "One Fine Day" with only one change. I made the Thyme-Honey Glazed Ham on page 33 in place of the Herb-Roasted Pork Loin that was recommended with the menu. I made the change so I could take advantage of the ham's longer cook time while we went to Easter Mass. Pork with herbs for pork with herbs was a fair trade. I already mentioned how much fun I had making the Lillet Marshmallows. The Lillet was added for essence and flavor but it was not strong. The recipe added a special touch to the holiday menu.
The Cucumber, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Farro Salad in this menu was a great starter. I couldn't find farro at my local stores and didn't want to make the hour round trip to Whole Foods so I used an acceptable substitute, quinoa. The quinoa gave the same texture as farro would have so I felt it worked just as well. The flavors of the mozzarella and cucumber worked well with the dressing.

The Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs were not so successful. I found them really bland and dry. I had to add more butter at the table to try to zip them up. I would not make this again.

The Green Beans with Celery-Salt Butter were just that, green beans with butter and celery salt. The extra tang in the salt was a nice addition but nothing outstanding.

The Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes was a nice flavor surprise. The sweet pop of the grapes contrasted well with the onions and the color on the plate was nice. There was a lot of salt in this meal and the sweet of the grapes cut some of the saltiness.

The Rye Dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops had an extra touch with the rye crisp tops but that did not take that much effort. The rye crisps were easy to make and only put on top of the risen rolls at the end. My rolls were small and pretty compact but had great flavor. I did the slow chill rise, putting them in the fridge and allowing them to rise over 12 hours. That may be why they were smaller that the rolls pictured but this technique worked well with our Easter day schedule.

I've already raved about the Lillet Marshmallows but I also made the Candied-Fennel-Topped Lemon Cake for dessert. This cake is much like a pineapple upside-down cake but with candied fennel. My picture doesn't do a particularly good

job of showing the unique shape of the fennel bulbs around the top of the cake but it looked pretty impressive. I don't have an adjustable-blade slicer, that's next on the wish list, so I had to be very careful with a knife but it still worked. The cake flavors of fennel and lemon worked well but unlike the notes at the end of the recipe, I thought this recipe improved with age. More of the liquid soaked in and made a flavorful moist cake. All in all, a fine Easter menu and my guests were happy. They almost didn't have room for those Chocolate Bunnies!

Cucumber, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Farro Salad- B+

Calories per serving-234

Thyme-Honey Glazed Ham-B+

Calories per serving-1050 (don't know if leftovers were expected, that's a lb of meat per person)

Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs-D

Calories per serving-282

Green Beans with Celery-Salt Butter-C

Calories per serving-92

Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes-B+

Calories per serving-88

Rye Dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops-B

Calories per serving-92 a roll

Candied-Fennel-Topped Lemon Cake-B+

Calories per serving-371

Lillet Marshmallows-A

Calories per serving-40 per marshmallow

Miss Forgetful- 4/11/09

A few years ago, I ran into the sister of my college suite mate at an alumni function. One of the first things she said after I introduced myself was "Oh, you were the ditsy one!". Not exactly the compliment I was hoping for but on occasion, it is true. I don't mean to be a ditz, it just happens. I leave my coffee on the back of the car and run over it. I get flustered and forget my own phone number when leaving a message for a friend. And when I'm cooking, I forget to add ingredients, sometimes vital ones. I once added salt instead of sugar to a large vat of coleslaw when I worked at an ice cream stand in college. I realized my mistake before I served it to customers but that was a lot of wasted coleslaw.

Tonight I had decided to switch out the Herb-Roasted Pork Loin that was part of the Easter menu on page 76 in April's Gourmet with the Glazed Thyme-Honey Ham on page 33. The longer cook time allowed for the ham to be put in before Easter Mass tomorrow morning and left to cook while we were gone. I made the pork loin tonight instead but my uncle was an hour later than I expected him and my parents went to Alabama, forgot it was Central Time, and were two hours late getting back. (The ditz thing may be hereditary!) I finished the pork loin two hours before we sat down to eat and it was not until then that I realized I had not made the sauce to go with it. Instead of jumping up and making an already late dinner even later, we ate the pork loin without sauce. It was still excellent. The herbs flavored the pork nicely without over salting it and the garlic mustard oil kept it moist. I'm sure the sauce would have been a wonderful addition but I was pleased at how good the meat was without it.

I made the very simple Asparagus with Horseradish Butter on page 61 to go with the pork and it was also very good. The asparagus was simply oven roasted with oil but the horseradish butter added zing without an overpowering kick. It's a simple side dish that I will make again.

The most frustrating ditz moment came with dessert and I have no excuses. I made the Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze on page 56 and I flat out didn't pay attention. I didn't watch the tart and it burnt around the edges and I let the glaze boil too long and it got too dark. I couldn't do much about the tart. I had no more rhubarb so I just cut off the edges and served it with ice cream. I should have remade the glaze but I thought I could save it and tried to spread it on the tart. It was too thick and didn't spread so again, I just hid that part with ice cream. The tart was very thin and though the flavor was good, it was not substantial enough to be an impressive dessert, ditz or not.

Herb-Roasted Pork Loin- A-

Calories per serving-660

Asparagus with Horseradish Butter- B+

Calories per serving-153

Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze- C

Calories per serving-248

And Now The Hosting Begins- 4/10/09

Starting tonight, we will be hosting my parents for 6 nights as well as feeding other visiting family and friends. It will be the first true test of the Gourmet cooking project. Can I successfully make Easter dinner, Passover Seder, and 4 other meals for at least 5 people without any really big disasters? Well, Night One went well. My parents aren't a tough crowd. They probably would have raved about anything but we ate at a reasonable time, everything tasted good, and Dad even did the dishes!

I made the Lemon-Oregano Chicken on page 58 of this month's Gourmet. I had thought Eyrleigh and I might go and meet my parents at Cloudland Canyon State Park earlier today so I wanted a quick main dish. This recipe used chicken thighs and I had only bought 4. Eight thighs would have been better for 4 people. The chicken was flavorful and made up for its small size. The oregano sauce coated the chicken well and made the skin crispy while leaving the meat juicy. I did have to put foil over the chicken for the last 10 minutes of baking to keep it from getting too brown.

Since we were a little light on chicken, having a good dessert was important and as I've mentioned before, there are plenty of them in this month's Gourmet. I made the Lemon-Glazed Butter Cake on page 87. Yes, the little confetti sprinkles are not sanctioned by Gourmet, but they do add a cute Easter touch to this classic butter cake. The cake was very simple to make and the glaze was just two ingredients, lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. The cake was very moist and had a fresh lemon flavor. Night One of Hospitality Week was a success!

Lemon-Oregano Chicken- B

Cost-$6.98

Calories per serving-

Lemon-Glazed Butter Cake-A-

Cost-$5.51

Calories per serving-480

Humble Pie... Crust- 4/9/09

The culinary gods must know when I'm getting cocky. Just when I start to feel like I'm really getting the hang of this cooking thing, along comes a simple pie crust to make me humble again. Tonight, I made the Ricotta Polenta Pie recipe on page 12 of April's Gourmet magazine. I've never been a confident pie crust maker and today was no different. After chilling the dough for the crust overnight as recommended and then taking it out to warm up (I don't get that!), I tried to roll out the dough. The operative word was try. The crust cracked in numerous places and even with frequent flouring, little pieces kept coming off the crust and sticking to the rolling pin. I finally got a large enough circle of dough and turned it over into the pie plate. Again, the crust broke into many small pieces and I had to squish the pieces together and the whole bottom looked like a rather monochromatic patchwork quilt. I should have taken a picture but that would have been embarrassing so I'll just tell you about it. I did do a little better with the top crust but the pie still looked like it had a huge scar where one large piece cracked while I was putting it on top.
Other than the crust's visual issue, the flavor of the cake was really interesting. The filling was ricotta with some dried fruit in it. I thought the pie was a bit dry but I could see where the flavor would be a holiday tradition to look forward to each year. This pie was in the reader requested section and developed at the Crossroads Bake Shop in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The bakery's website tells customers that the recipe for this classic pie is available for the first time courtesy of Gourmet.


For dinner, I made the easy and fairly quick Spinach and Red-Pepper Calzones on page 64. You'll notice in my picture that my calzones got a little brown. Sorry, I was outside on the hammock with Eyrleigh reading a cooking magazine that came in the mail today. It was another beautiful day outside. The calzones used store-bought pizza crust and jarred roasted red peppers to save time. I thought they were good, not great but Richard disagreed. He thought these were excellent. We'll compromise at a B+.

Spinach and Red-Pepper Calzones-B+
Cost- $14.72
Calories per serving-550

Ricotta Polenta Pie-B
Cost-$9.55
Calories per serving-500

Don't Pack Those Knives- 4/8/09

If you have ever seen the Bravo show, Top Chef, you know that the chef with the weakest dish of the night is asked to pack their knives and leave the show. Tonight's recipe was created for the cookbook, 'wichcraft: Craft a Sandwich into a Meal--and a Meal into a Sandwich, by Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame. I've seen the show a few times and am not prepared to make a judgement on Mr. Colicchio but I can now say, he makes a really good sandwich.

The recipe April's Gourmet included with the cookbook review was Red Wine-Braised Flank Steak with Roasted Peppers, Onions, and Gruyere. Most sandwich recipes are quick but this one was not. Three hours is a long time to spend on a sandwich but it was worth it. The wine braise made the steak very tender and the wine braise sauce gave a rich flavor to the meat. The homemade roasted peppers and roasted red onions added flavor and crunch. The Gruyere was flavorful enough to pull its weight with all the other strong flavors. This was a really good sandwich. The only shame was it didn't make more.
This recipe included a recipe for Roasted Peppers on page 111. I've roasted my own red peppers before and it's always fun to peel the charred skin off the peppers. I actually lit my grill just to roast two peppers. It's been in the 40's or rainy for the last few weeks in Atlanta but today was sunny and almost 70. Just lighting the grill and standing outside was healing. The marinade for the peppers was excellent, too. I gave Richard a blind taste test and he picked my homemade peppers over the jarred variety. He said he like the smoky taste and I liked making better peppers than a jar!

Roasted Red Peppers-A
Cost-$2.17
Calories per serving- 372 for entire recipe

Red Wine-Braised Flank Steak with Roasted Peppers, Onions, and Gruyere-A
Cost-$24.88
Calories per serving-833

Eight Dozen is 96- 4/7/09

I am admitting here in writing for all to see that I am notorious for making too much food. Richard repeatedly asks me why I did not halve the recipe as there are only 2 real eaters in our family. Eyrleigh does not warrant a full serving yet. I rarely look to see how many servings a recipe makes and have frequently made a meal that will serve 8 for just Richard and I. Naturally, the amount of leftovers is overwhelming and most of the food gets thrown away.
Tonight, I didn't do that. I saw that the recipe for Dot's Sugar Cookies on page 79 of this month's Gourmet would make about 8 dozen cookies. We don't need 96 cookies so I halved the recipe. Well, I don't know what size the cookies would be that the recipe was intended for but with my egg cookie cutters for Easter, I only got about 25 cookies. The picture above was taken on a dessert plate so don't be deceived by the picture, these are very normal size cookies. I wish I hadn't halved the recipe. I had hoped to take about 20 to a birthday party on Saturday and after making several with Eyrleigh and her little friend Tyler tonight, I don't have enough. They were good though so I guess I'll just make more and know NOT to halve the recipe.
We didn't just eat cookies tonight, though if it were up to Eyrleigh and Tyler, we may have. Every issue of Gourmet has one or two recipes that don't fit well with other recipes from that issue. The recipe I made tonight was one of those. There are 4 recipes at the end of Gourmet this month that use ham, presumably leftover from Easter dinner. I made the Jerked Ham Corn Bread on page 114 tonight and paired it with a chili recipe from Epicurious. The chili was good, mild for the kids, but good. The cornbread, however, was not my favorite. It was quite dry and I felt the flavors of ham and jerk seasoning didn't meld well together. They just made the cornbread salty and greasy. At least I've got 14 cookies to fall back on!

Dot's Sugar Cookies- B
Cost- $7.93
Calories per serving -90 per frosted cookie

Jerked Ham Cornbread-D
Cost-$5. 60
Calories per serving-300

Failures that Succeed- 4/6/09

Does this picture at left look like a successful cooking experience? If your answer is no, you are observant... and wrong. I was sure that tonight's dessert, the Lemon Snow Pudding with Basil Custard Sauce on page 87, was going to be a failure. The recipe said that I should beat the gelatin mixture that would become the lemon snow cream for 5 minutes or until it had tripled in volume and was thick enough to form a wide flat ribbon. After more than 10 minutes of beating, liquid was still flying out of the mixer bowl at a rather alarming rate. There was no triple-ing and no wide flat ribbons. I decided to cut my losses and put what was left of the liquid in the bowl in the fridge to chill. I was not feeling optimistic about this lemon snow cream.

After dinner, I got the lemon snow cream and the basil custard sauce out and was pleasantly surprised. The snow cream had solidified well on top, though there was a layer of clear lemon gelatin on the bottom. The custard sauce is a sauce more than a custard and the taste of basil is a delightfully subtle twist. I could see this dessert on a high end restaurant menu. It has all the elements of a special dessert. It is light but complex in flavor. Obviously, in creation, something went a little wrong but that did not affect the final outcome. What a delightful spring dessert!

For dinner, I made the Pork Katsu with Quick Carrot Pickles on page 65. I like pork but until this month, there have not been many pork recipes in Gourmet. There were 2 in February and only one in March but Easter is bringing out the pork, more specifically, ham. This recipe used chops, pounded thin and breaded with Japanese breadcrumbs or panko. The pork was quite simple but good. Panko is a bit flakier than traditional bread crumbs and it kept its crunch through the pan frying. The carrots were quite tangy, even with the short pickling time, and were a good partner for the fried pork.

Pork Katsu with Quick Carrot Pickles- A-

Cost- $8.29

Calories per serving-500

Lemon Snow Pudding with Basil Custard Sauce-B+

Cost-$4.97

Calories per serving-300