Cooking Mag Mommy

A good friend of mine has a deep love for all things Hungarian and tonight's meal reminded me of her (Hi Stac !). What a simple but delightful set of recipes to transport you to Central Europe. Okay, none of the recipes were classic European recipes themselves but the use of red cabbage, caraway seeds, and hazelnuts and chocolate combined for an easy dinner with some really great flavors. The Caraway Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Red Cabbage took just over half an hour and simply cooked with spices and bacon. The cabbage was equally simple with broth, vinegar , and a bit of sugar. I paired this meal with the Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso. This fancy dessert was really quite simple, though it took awhile to make and chill. Each section was made separately and then layered and chilled. Richard was hooked and I thought it was almost like a Rolo in dessert form. Yum! Caraway Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Red Cabbage-A- Milk Chocolate-Car

Some nights just go better than others. A bit like life, there are just days like that. Sometimes these recipes go great and I'm pleased as punch. Sometimes things are okay, and I can live with that. Some days things are just salty or a little bit bland, and yes, this was one of those days. I'm not really a meat and potatoes kind of girl and though I'm skipping the lamb recipe in the article "Meat and Potatoes" in this month's Bon Appetit , I am almost done making the five other recipes and I'm almost done with meat and potatoes. No wonder America has an obesity problem. Eating meat and potatoes just once a week makes me feel like a blob. Tonight's Ham, Artichoke, and Potato Gratin was not only fatty but super salty, probably courtesy of the ham. Neither Richard nor I enjoyed this dish very much. I used Gruyere instead of Comte cheese because of availability and without a real knowledge of Comte cheese, I can't say whether this would have h

The three recipes I'm going to review in this post from this month's Bon Appetit were not made in the same night. That's a good thing. That would be a very strange meal. It's a bit tough to find time each night to write about the recipes I've made from this month's Bon Appetit . Since each of these recipes was made alone, that would have made 3 rather short, rather dull blog posts. Now you get one longer, duller one. Ok , I admit, I'm not very inspired tonight but I want to get this done so I don't get behind. Several months ago, when I was still blogging about Gourmet's recipes, I got over a week behind and it took like 4 hours one night to catch up. Don't want to do that again but I do want to make as many recipes from February as I can. Looks like I'll be able to do all but 5. The first recipe I made for tonight's blog post struck me as a bit strange. The recipe wasn't strange but the fact that I made it 8 months previously wit

When I write out my menu for the month, I try to avoid putting recipes on the weekends. Weekends are very unpredictable. I never know exactly what we'll be doing and want to leave room for spontaneity . Saturdays are Richard's long training days for triathlon and Sundays are church and small group. I don't want the schedule of our day to be dictated by what we have for dinner. So this month, I've made Wednesdays our glamorous meal day. Thankfully, tonight's meal could be made quickly (with a make-ahead last night) because I took Eyrleigh to a playdate at 3:00 and didn't get home until 5:30. The main dish, the Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Potato "Risotto", was a very easy dish. The "risotto" was really diced potato and tasted as creamy as the real thing. The steak was rubbed with thyme, salt, and pepper and grilled. I will certainly try the potato trick again, even if I have real risotto in the cabinet. This way was faster an

When I got the idea last February to make every recipe in the current issue of one of my favorite cooking magazines, I knew that doing every recipe would be difficult. Some recipes have unique ingredients that are difficult to find and sometimes rather pricey. But I felt it was important to try to make every recipe. I knew this would mean making recipes I would not otherwise make, recipes that used ingredients I didn't like or seemed strange. Tonight, I made a recipe from Bon Appetit that didn't strike me as particularly exciting. I wouldn't say there was an ingredient I didn't like in the Egg-Topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto . I just didn't think this dish would be as good as it was. This dish was good, really good! The buckwheat soba noodles were flavorful and had great texture. I'll be honest, I thought they might be gritty and they weren't at all. The Parmesan and prosciutto gave a rich saltiness and the asparagus gave a

Friday night was the Opening Ceremonies for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. I must confess, I'm an Olympics junkie. Growing up, my family did not have a television. I remember spending summer nights at my friend's homes, watching the Olympics until all hours of the night. Then, when I was 20, I was able to attend the Barcelona Olympic Games. What an amazing experience! If you can make it to any Olympics, go. If you are American and can attend an Olympics in another country, be prepared to see the Olympics in a completely different light. Watching on television we see primarily American athletes, many of whom are among the top athletes at the Games and are expected to compete for medals. The eye-opening part of attending the Games elsewhere is that the citizens of the host country are just as proud of their athletes, regardless of their medal hopes. While I was in Barcelona, a Spanish biker won silver and the television covered him for the next several hours, doing everythi

I read an article a few months back about the rise of "helicopter" parenting. These parents hover over their children, never allowing them to experiment and learn because of a paralyzing fear that their children may fail. These parents often over involve these children in activities of their own choosing, ignoring the personal desires and innate gifts of their child. One of my greatest hopes as a parent is to never do that to my daughter. So it is with a sense of humor that I show off my 2-year old's first attempt at photographic greatness. She loves to play with the camera and though the batteries die on an almost daily basis, I let her. She's never pushed hard enough on the button before but today she took the above picture and another close up of her teeth. I thought I'd spare us that picture. Tonight's meal made up for the fatty pork ribs and chocolate cake of last night. I made the Barley Soup with Greens, Fennel, Lemon, and Dill, a soup I nicknamed th

This may come as no surprise to some but I am not a hopeless romantic. I don't like romance novels or even novels with more than a little romance. (Sorry, Twilight fans, way too much for me!) Kissing in public makes me uncomfortable, even at my wedding, and I'd rather Richard help by doing the dishes than give me chocolates any day of the year. But even I like Valentine's Day. Making Valentine's cards (I've always made my own) and decorating food with hearts is creative fun and I'm all about the creative fun. Richard and I will probably go out to eat on the 14 th so I did my hearts a little early. My uncle from Chattanooga came into town for the night before heading to Raleigh to see my cousin and gave me the perfect excuse to make a Valentine dinner. Richard had been begging for the cover recipe in this month's Bon Appetit so in the spirit of love, I obliged. The Grilled Cheese and Short Rib Sandwiches with Pickled Caramelized Onions and Arugula were a

Becoming parents has changed the nature of many activities. The Super Bowl is not excluded from this. Before Eyrleigh , we went to friends...or hosted our own Super Bowl parties. These parties lasted lasted late and involved a lot of snacks and beer and sitting on the couch watching t.v. Tonight's Super Bowl festivities were a bit more low key. We'd turned down an invite to our friend's Super Bowl party because it conflicted with Eyrleigh's bedtime and they live over 1/2 an hour away. The three of us watched the first half snuggling on the couch and eating some yummy snacks. Then Eyrleigh went to bed, she's not a big fan of The Who anyway, and Richard and I put a trailer hitch on his car. Just another quiet night at home. All the snacks I made tonight came from this month's issue of Bon Appetit magazine Super Snacks article. I made eight of ten recipes for just the three of us. Got a few leftovers if you want some. The highlight was the Boubon -Glazed Chicke

I mentioned in an earlier post that Eyrleigh is not the best eater, particularly in the evening. Over the last two days, I've started getting cocky. She absolutely loved last night's Shepherd's Pie and then tonight, she asked for more dinner for the very first time. She loved the dumplings in tonight's Mushroom and Leek Soup with Parsley Dumplings. I had made the Light Vegetable Broth earlier in the day and used that as the base for this vegetarian soup. The mushrooms gave the soup a filling, earthy flavor. The leeks were mild and were a bit overpowered by the mushrooms. The dumplings were the best part. They were easy to make and puffed up beautifully. They were not doughy at all, a fault of many dumplings. I wish I'd made a few more dumplings. They were gone long before the soup was. The Rustic Pear-Cranberry Tart we enjoyed for dessert was probably one of the easiest, best desserts I've made for this project. This recipe used refrigerated pizza

In the last two months, over 17 inches of rain have fell from the skies here in my part of Georgia. That's a lot of rain on top of the over 20 inches of rain we had in the fall. Even the ants think it's too much and have entered my house in droves. We finally had to call the exterminator Monday when they got into the pantry and I flipped out. Today's menu was the perfect antidote for another cold, rainy day. The Bison and Red Wine Sheperd's Pie in this month's Bon Appetit is a luxe version of a comfort food favorite. This dish looked wonderful and tasted great but the three hour prep time not realistic for a weekday meal (if you don't work from home). I used boneless beef instead of bison. The meat was wonderfully tender and the sauce was thick and rich. Any extra would make a delicious gravy for just about anything. The egg garnish baked up beautifully and added flavor to the potato crust. I loved the use of parsnips and turnips instead of more potat

In February of 2008, Bon Appetit changed the name of their Quick Menu column to be more attractive to the modern family. Just one month after redesigning the cover of the magazine to look more modern, the Family Style column was aimed at the busy cook who wanted to give their family a healthy gourmet meal. The photos in this section show kids, pretty young kids, enjoying some really yummy food that bears little resemblance to chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly. I think Eyrleigh would be a great model for one of these photos. Look at this kid loving up her dinner! This month's Family Style menu is kid friendly Indian food. Using a mild level of spice and an all-time favorite side of rice, Eyrleigh was more than convinced that this menu was made for her. The main dish, Easy Chicken Masala , was as advertised. Last night I spent 5 minutes putting together the overnight marinade. Today all I did was spread the chicken out on a baking sheet and bake it. The Caramelized Cu

I wish there was a little more to Groundhog Day than hearing a weather prognostication . How about a traditional dish? Some silly ritual you can perform at home? Anything? Sadly, there are none of these things for Groundhog Day so I made dinner from Bon Appetit magazine and enjoyed a relaxing cup of tea with some delicious Madeleines . I think that works as a new and fitting Groundhog Day tradition. Dinner was fast and easy, it should be, it came from the Fast Easy Fresh section of Bon Appetit . One thing I've learned while cooking from cooking magazines is the structure of the magazine always includes a section with quick easy recipes that appeal to the busy cook. I've never done an official survey but I bet the largest percentage of recipes made from a cooking magazine come from this section. Most people don't have hours to put a meal together and these recipes come together quickly and still taste great. The Balsamic-Glazed Salmon with Spinach, Olives, and Golden Rais

A year ago this month, I began a fun little project that soon became much bigger and more meaningful than I really intended. I decided to make every recipe in Gourmet magazine for the month of February. Well, for 8 months, I made virtually every recipe in Gourmet magazine and learned a lot about cooking, and even a little about myself. This February, there is no Gourmet. The magazine ceased publication two months ago. I also took four months off from regular blogging for various reasons, and though I did still cook, most of it was not very exciting. I've decided to do this project again because I love trying new things and making cooking an adventure, not a chore. I'll change the magazine , admit I want to be a little less intense, and write out a menu for a month of recipes. This time, I'll use Bon Appetit , the sister magazine to Gourmet, and now the last one standing. As for intensity, I've already cut one recipe from the February menu, the Tofu Dengaki on page 10