Cooking Mag Mommy

When I began the project of making all the recipes in the February 2009 Gourmet magazine, I knew what I wanted to do. Now at the end of the month and with the project successfully completed, I can better answer why I did it and what I learned. First, I love being a stay at home mom. I get to spend every moment with my daughter, watch all her steps, hear all her words, and savor the all the messes she makes (See right). But I do miss the daily purpose that teaching gave to my life. I had a goal each day, a lesson to teach, a concept to help children understand. Being a parent has some of those same ideas but they are often less concrete and rarely accomplished in a day, a month, or a year. I missed the sense of daily accomplishment that starting and finishing a task provided. This month of Gourmet project allowed me to see daily purpose and accomplishment. I had a goal, a goal that matched well with, and did not take time from, my job as a mom. I could spend time each day reaching the ...

I did it! I made every recipe in the February 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine during the month of February. I had only one recipe left for today, the Hush Puppies on page 15. This recipe didn't fit well with any other in the magazine. It was published in response to a letter to the editor requesting a hush puppy recipe to go with a pulled pork recipe from the June 2008 issue. I debated getting out my June '08 issue and making the pulled pork recipe that inspired these hush puppies. But Richard had a trail race this morning and we live in Georgia. I could get authentic pulled pork at the drive-thru of The Little Barn, a restaurant just 4 miles from our house. Let me begin reviewing the recipe by saying I did not grow up in the south. I like pork barbeque but the whole hush puppy thing I've never quite gotten, the same for white gravy. I find them dry and crunchy and well, fatty. Thankfully, Richard also ate the hush puppies I made today. He thought they were good b...

I have shared in earlier posts that I am not a fan of blenders. My earlier ire was directed at my particular blender but my frustration lies with the appliance of blenders in general. If you do not have enough liquid in the blender, the food simply pushes out to the blender walls and the blades spin uselessly. If you have too much liquid, the sheer force of the spinning liquid pushes off the flimsy top and sprays the contents at high force all over walls, cupboards, and anything else within a 20 foot radius. If the liquid is hot, such as soup, the contents need not be even close to the top of the blender and the top still flies off and spatters the contents all over the walls. Yep, tonight I did that. Not once, but twice. The Red-Bean Soup with Gremolata on page 70 on this month's Gourmet called for you to simmer the soup for 2 hours then blend before serving. I was trying to make 3 recipes simultaneously so I was a bit behind getting the soup simmering. After 2 hours of simmering...

One of the articles in the February 2009 issue of Gourmet contained 6 recipes for yeast rolls. For better or worse, tonight I finished making every one of those recipes. I remain adamant in my belief that one of the hardest things to make well are yeast breads. Yeast breads seem simple, just yeast, flour and a liquid of water or milk make up the base for all of these breads. But in my mind, nothing could be more difficult to truly get right. Did you let the yeast foam enough? Did you knead too little or too much? Did you let the bread dough rise the correct amount? As I read back over the 5 other posts from this article, I see that each time something was not quite right. I really enjoyed making each roll recipe but I still need to perfect the art of bread making. Tonight, I made the Rye Walnut Rolls on page 87. One of the first lessons I should have learned was to not mess with the recipe. I ran out of white flour today and had only 2 cups left for a recipe that called for 5 1/2 cups...

Tonight was Mardi Gras or Carnival, celebrated on Fat Tuesday throughout the world. In honor of this, I made the Gumbo Ya-Ya recipe on page 32 of this month's Gourmet. This recipe was from the book, New Orleans Classic Gumbos and Soups , by Kit Wohl . I was hoping for something really good and this recipe did not disappoint. I would invite my friends from New Orleans, Matt and Arlene, over to eat this one. Wow! Just making the roux was an experience. I had read the recipe quickly earlier in the month and thought I had to stir the butter and flour mixture for an hour and 45 minutes. Thankfully, when I read it today, I realized it was only 45 minutes to an hour which is still a long time to stir but did fall in the Eyrleigh's nap time range (she usually sleeps about an hour). I was fascinated by the way the simple flour and butter mixture turned from basically a pasty dough to a rich dark brown gravy just from heat and stirring. The recipe said stir constantly but I did cheat...

I'm sure everyone has had this happen. The thing you want to do becomes the thing you have to do and suddenly, the thing is not as fun anymore. Can anyone relate? Well, today that was true of this project. The truth is I don't have to make every recipe in the February 2009 Gourmet issue, no one is paying me a cent to do this, but I'm only 9 recipes from the end and it would be a shame to quit now. So I made 3 very good recipes that made me glad I'd cooked today. When I wrote out the schedule that allowed me to make all the recipes before the end of February, I actually planned to skip cooking today because I had two meetings this afternoon. Our trip to South Georgia, however, threw off the schedule so I worked around my meetings and made dinner. There are six yeast roll recipes in this month's Gourmet and I still had three left so I made the Cracked-Wheat Topknots on page 87. This recipe took both bulgar and whole wheat flour so I was concerned it would be too de...

A newspaper that only reports old news will not be purchased. A social magazine that covers only stars that are no longer popular will not sell. C ooking magazines are like every other publication in that they must stay current to capture their audience. A magazine like Gourmet must include some recipes that can be made quickly and easily after a day of work or between ball practice and dance lessons. The Pork, Mushroom, and Snow-Pea Stir-Fry on page 59 is one of those recipes and I sure did need it tonight. We drove down to South Georgia to hike at Providence Canyon State Park and visit some friends and got back at 6:00 tonight. We debated stopping on the way home but Eyrleigh hung in there and we were tired of eating out. We needed fast and this stir-fry fit the bill. I had rice boiling in just a few minutes and was cooking the pork as soon as the oil was hot. Within 20 minutes, dinner was on the table. This dish was simple and quick. I just used a generic teriyaki mari...

I love to travel. I hope that one day I will visit every place in the world but for now, I'll settle for simply pretending. Tonight I used food to take myself to Hungary. This month's Gourmet had a menu of Hungarian inspired recipes and I made all 7. I started this morning by making the Borscht Horseradish Terrine on page 74, the Paprika Veal Shanks on page 78, and the Apricot Almond Linzertorte on page 77. These 3 recipes needed some advance prep and as I knew I'd be out for some of the afternoon, I wanted to get these 3 finished ahead of time. The Borscht Horseradish Terrine was about as labor intensive as any recipe I have ever made. It wasn't cooking or stirring but the number of bowls and the in and out of chilling the terrine. I really thought the one in the magazine looked so pretty with the contrasting layers of gelatin . One look at my picture shows that I was not so successful. I gave the gelatin more than enough time to set. I had finished making it by 10:00...

Many cooking magazines, Gourmet included, draw a strong connection between the enjoyment of food and the enjoyment of drink. Tonight, I was able to use the Gourmet magazine from February to enjoy both. I made the Tortilla Soup with Chiles and Tomatoes on page 71 and the Agave Margarita on page 34. There was only one drink recipe in this month's Gourmet so I wanted to make sure it fit in well with the menu. I am more of a novice at bartending / mixology than I am at cooking. It's not that I don't like to drink. Like many 30-something moms, alcohol is something I have restricted as I've gotten older. I was trying to get pregnant (limited alcohol), got pregnant (no alcohol), and then was breast feeding (limited and well-timed alcohol) and now I am trying to get pregnant again (limited alcohol). Let's just say that tonight, though, I had a practice Margarita and then enjoyed one with dinner so I certainly did my part in sampling the recipe. I really enjoyed the drink...

When I decided to do my month of Gourmet experiment, I knew that I needed to make every recipe in the magazine for me to truly learn something from the experience. Tonight was a night where I made something I never would have made without the commitment to make every recipe in the magazine in one month. There are several reasons that the recipe for Cheesy Polenta Lasagna with Mushrooms and Seitan on page 60 was at the top of my least likely recipes list. I don't like white sauces like bechamel , and I particularly don't like them as replacements in good traditional foods like lasagna. I live in Georgia and just the thought of white gravy makes me shudder. I have eaten seitan before and find it has a striking resemblance to cat food. That being said, it may surprise you that I really was pretty impressed with tonight's dish. I don't think I'll be making it on a regular basis but if I had a friend who was a die-hard vegetarian coming for dinner, this would be a g...

Anyone who has cooked has had them. Those big failures, flops, disasters! Something that in no way resembled edible food, or at least food that the average person would want to eat. Well, tonight was not the first failure ever, I can't even tell you how many of those I've had, but it was the first one that has happened during my month of Gourmet experiment. I may actually be more prone to these disasters than the average person as I have a tendency to read quickly and not always, completely. That's what I did in this case. I read that I needed tapioca for the Tapioca Pearl Pudding with Lychees and Mango on page 110 but I was so intent on finding canned lychees that I neglected to get the right kind of tapioca. Yes, yes, I know now it says "not quick cooking". Well, here's what happens if you use quick cooking tapioca. You will have a large pot of something that can only be described as clear lumpy slime. Without sugar, it actually tastes like nothing. (I ...

Before I had a child, I told myself I would encourage my child to be an adventurous eater, not allowing her to subsist on traditional kid's fare like macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Well, I'm encouraging her alright but she's not taking the bait. There is nothing I can do to get this kid interested in eating fish. She turns up her little 15-month-old nose at any fish, even if it's the only thing on her plate and she has shown she is very hungry. Even decorating it with a little coconut did not entice her to try even a bite. Ok, she did have one bite that I put in her mouth and she promptly spit back out. What is it with kids and fish? I was fed a lot of strange stuff as a child, namely anything and everything that was a byproduct of tofu, and I was less excited about fish than any of the aforementioned tofu products. Is it the strong flavor? The smell? I'm sure children in fishing regions do not have this aversion but perhaps that's because they eat fis...

I'm a day late to write a Valentine's Day post but I wanted to write about how much I appreciate Richard's willingness to go along with this "Month of Gourmet" project. He's never complained about having to eat different foods night after night and having no choice in the matter. Tonight was the first time that Richard questioned the sanity of the idea of cooking every recipe in an entire cooking magazine in one month. I play on a tennis team and we didn't get back home until 5:30 and dinner still had to be made. Thankfully, I had made the dessert, the Dense Chocolate Torte on page 15, this morning before we left. But, I had planned to make the Smoky Radicchio Risotto on page 14 and the Duck Breast with Frisee Salad and Port Vinaigrette on page 61 and still needed almost a hour before those would be ready. Richard put Eyrleigh in her seat and got her some crackers to tide her over until dinner was done. I can work fast when I have to and quickly got the ...

I have never have been a vegetarian but like most people, I've considered a meat-free diet. I'm not comfortable with the killing of animals. I've seen chickens killed and I could see that the animals experienced pain and fear prior to being killed. I will do anything I can to avoid following a truck hauling animals in crowded cages and pens. But obviously I still eat chicken and in fact, all other types of meat. Why? Because, like most people, I separate myself from that process when I cook with or eat meat. I don't boil live lobsters or roast whole pigs. All the meat I cook with or eat is in non-animal form. I don't think about the connection between the meat and live animals. I have had pets and feel that animals don't have the same emotional complexity that humans do. Animals don't think about the past and future in the same way that humans do. They don't compare their lives to other animals. But I do know they can experience fear, stress, and pain an...

I never question the oven temperature and cooking times on recipes. There are too many other variables to worry about and temps and times are right... most of the time. Two of the recipes that I made tonight, Paprika Roast Chicken with Sweet Onion and Roasted Green Beans and Cashews, both on page 55 called for a 500 degree oven. The chicken had a cook time of only 30 minutes so a hot oven was necessary. The bean recipe called for a equally hot oven for almost the same time, that was too hot. Half the beans had roasted beyond recognition and were not palatable. The rest were salvageable but still quite overcooked. I like my vegetables very crispy and without a lot of fat from butter or oil. The beans were pretty much the opposite of that. Oh, well. The Paprika Chicken was very simple and lightly flavored. Again,, the 500 degree oven was too hot for some of the onions but perfect for the chicken. The chicken was moist, I only wish the skin had been more crispy. For desert, I made the S...

Anyone who has cooked for awhile has used creative license . Today, when I made the Braised Chile-Spiced Short Ribs with Black Beans on page 30, I used that license . When I was at the Super H Mart, I picked up sliced beef short ribs instead of well... unsliced. I was pretty sure that wouldn't make a huge difference in flavor, only shorten the braising time. I was right. I also didn't find dried ancho chilis at the store. I actually thought I had the powdered ancho chili powder at home but when I got home, I only had chipotle chili powder. Since the recipe already called for canned chipotles , I thought more chipotle powder was unnecessary so I just skipped the ancho chilis altogether . I enjoyed the flavor of the chili braise but it was quite fatty. The high fat content in the ribs sat in my stomach for several hours after eating. I also missed the carmelizing affect that is created when you throw ribs on the grill in the summer. Ribs are a summer grill food! The short...

As we walked into the house tonight after dinner, Richard commented that ever since I've started this "Gourmet" thing, our house smells good all the time. That's a wonderful, if unexpected, result from my still short-lived experiment making the recipes from the February 2009 Gourmet magazine. The smells from yesterday's Thai soup have melded into those of tonight's Fennel-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel Wedges on page 56 and the Broccoli-Parmesan Gratin on page 57. I thought I was a pretty creative cook and it's taken less than a week to disprove that. Yesterday I worked with lemongrass for the first time. Tonight, I used fennel bulbs and though I have eaten fennel bulbs before, I'd never cooked with them. The bulbs had the feel and look of celery without the bitter taste that cooked celery can impart. The Fennel-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel Wedges was very good and quite simple. It was nice to use one pot from stove to oven. I...

Before I could get too far into the list of February's recipes in Gourmet, I needed to visit the local Asian market, Super H Mart. Let me first say that if Super H Mart were the closest grocery store to my house, I would go there for all my groceries, not just specialty items that the standard grocery stores do not hold. Like most Asian markets in our area, Super H carries a large number of standard items, breakfast cereal, pasta sauce, etc. but the reason I went there today was to pick up ingredients for the variety of soups listed in the "Bowled Over" article that starts on page 62. Tonight I made the Thai-style Chicken Soup with Basil on page 70. I even made the extra effort to make the Rich and Flavorful Chicken Stock on page 106 to use as a base for this soup. As mentioned, the stock was a cinch. The time needed for it to simmer was the only thing that would prevent me from making this stock for all of the soups that call for it. I used dried thyme and parsley and I ...

Finding a good veggie burger is tough, finding a good one that a home cook can make quickly is even tougher, obviously. The recipe for Black-Bean Burgers on page 59 looked easy and I had tennis today so I didn't have a lot of time to cook. It was easy, it was good, but it was mush! The burgers did not hold together at all! I know I must have done something different than they did in the Gourmet test kitchen. Here are some possiblities. I used fresh bread crumbs, but does dry bread crumbs mean I should have dried them out in the oven? Also, I rinsed and drained the beans but was the water remaining on the beans after a quick drain enough to make them too wet to hold together? That's the tough thing about translating cooking mag recipes, little things like that can make a real difference in the way a recipe turns out.

Jicama is one of those foods I wished I ate more. Tonight I made three recipes from this month's Gourmet. Since I love thematic meals, I picked three recipes with a Mexican flavor. The magazine often puts recipes together and in fact suggested that you make the Cilantro-Chipotle Tilapia on page 57 with the Mexican Pineapple Salad on page 58. I took it one step further and finished the meal with the Mexican Chocolate Pudding on page 110. The Cilantro-Chipotle Tilapia was really easy to make though I have the worst blender ever. It just pushes whatever is in it to the sides and the blades spin in the middle. The cooking time given was perfect but visually not the prettiest once cooked. Pretty green and gloppy looking but again very good. Eyrleigh hasn't eaten much fish and didn't seem thrilled but then again, most American 15-month-olds probably don't eat much fish nor proclaim to really like it. The Pineapple Salad was another story. Eyrleigh loves pineapple and quickly ...

Before I thought of the idea to blog about my results from Gourmet recipes for this February, I already made 2 things from this issue. I made the Steak and Vegetable Soup on page 61 and the Buttermilk Fantails on page 86. Honestly, the Steak and Vegetable Soup was good but not spectacular. As babyfood though, Eyrleigh loved it. The kale was too strong for her but straining out the broth and giving her the pieces made for dinner and lunch for her for several days. The Buttermilk Fantails are excellent, though make sure you have time to let them rise the maximum. I am sure they have a great warm place to rise bread in the test kitchen for the magazine but in my kitchen, it rose very slowly. Would I make them again? Fantails, yes, though I need to let them rise the max or more! The Steak and Vegetable Soup was pretty normal, I'd love to find another similiar recipe with a little more flavor.

When I was in college, the woman I babysat for had a stack of cooking magazines in her kitchen and after the children went to sleep, I would look at them until she and her husband got home. I found myself entranced with the lovely pictures and the enticing recipes. It reminded me of when my friend Heather and I would make thematic meals for our parents as kids. We used a child's cookbook of food from other countries (I still have that wonderful little cookbook.) and the Better Homes and Garden's International Cookbook printed in the 1960's. Some were a great success, though interestingly, those are not the meals I remember. Perhaps most memorable was a Polish meal we made, complete with a polka record in the backround and babushkas on our heads, that was unbelievably salty. Our parents kindly ate it and perhaps felt some strange sense of payback for the sour aspic and grainy humus they made us eat. With these memories of my own enjoyment cooking as a kid and the knowledge t...