Grandma's Kitchen Table

CEiMB: Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup

      This week for the newly structured CEiMB, yes, the little Ellie group has been reborn and we are now structured a bit differently, I chose to make the Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup on pages 204-205 of Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy. 

      We decided that with our busy lives, etc., it made sense to change the format of the group a bit to lessen the commitment to posting a certain number of times (we now can post at will and leave our links under the week indicated at the main site when we post so that means if you would like to cook along with us occasionally and leave your link, you are more than welcome to do so, just post, link, and you're included), and we are all free to make whichever Ellie recipe we would like to make each week, i.e. free choice!  This way it fits in with family tastes, budgets, desires, and most of all gives us a chance for some fun each week at picking our favorite recipes.  All good.  We are also now posting on Fridays. 

      You can also find the recipe for this Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup online here. 

      Ingredient list:  tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, chicken broth, black beans, cumin, chili powder, hot pepper sauce. 

      I love soup, no surprise that I would head straight for a soup recipe given the first opportunity.  This was good, nice and roasty-tasting from the oven roasted tomatoes and the cumin, a little spicy from the chili powder and hot sauce, just a whole lot of flavor in this soup.  I added a little parsley to pep up the photo a bit, but the soup itself doesn't need a single other thing.  Soup weather is here, this is definitely a repeat. 

      To check out other Ellie recipes, you can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Feta Fournou (Baked Feta)

      The I Heart Cooking Club changes chefs every six months, alternating between women/men chefs.  This week marked the change-over from Jamie Oliver to Tessa Kiros.  Once I heard that Tessa was in the mix for the new lineup, I hopped over to cast my vote for her and she won, so I'm definitely in for this rotation of IHCC from now through the end of March.

      Tessa, who?  Tessa Kiros.  I had heard of her before as we are fond of Greek cuisine around here, so I had made two recipes online by her but had never received one of her cookbooks and didn't know much about her.  Until now.  If you follow this link here, you can read about Tessa and see the lineup for this month of themes at IHCC. 

      Themes?  Yes, IHCC chooses a theme each week and the participants may cook/bake any recipe they wish from Tessa Kiros' books or online, etc., posting at will sometime during the week before Sunday when the new theme goes into play (themes for the entire month are listed on the right sidebar).  Once you post, you simply leave your link at the site and readers are able to click on other participants to see recipes chosen by them.  I like the freedom of this style of recipe selection/posting/linking very much. 

      Tessa is not as well-known as other cookbook authors, but she has an amazing array of recipes and cooking experiences from her travels.  I am looking forward to trying her Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, South African recipes, etc. as well.  I am hoping this exposure will add a little more presence for her on the internet, so I am doing something I rarely do, I'm going to post recipes from the books, hoping that this will generate interest in this author, who has gorgeous books, and leads to more sales for her. 

      I thought long and hard about this as I do not post recipes that belong to others without permission and I wasn't certain how I was going to get permission each week to post Tessa's recipes.  That said, when I looked for contact information for the publisher, I found this note in the book Food From Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros: "This edition published in 2011 by Andrew McMeel Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in China. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews."  So, please know that these posts are all "reviews" of Tessa's recipes and are being shared so that interest might be generated for her work and recipes in hopes that others will purchase her books for their enjoyment and use.  Now, that makes me happy. 

      The first theme is "Welcome Tessa" and suggestions were to choose a recipe that says "a 'welcome' to you."  Actually, all of them seemed welcoming to me, I love Greek food, but I finally decided to settle on something that would be a nice welcome to someone stopping by the house for a visit, something easy, quick, delicious, and fun. 

      I chose Feta Fournou (Baked Feta), on page 148 of her book Food From Many Greek Kitchens.  It seemed a nice thing to make and snack on.  I served it warm with pita bread cut into wedges.  Delicious, filling, and fairly healthy as well.  The ingredients are ones that I always usually have on hand, so if someone pops by unexpectedly, I'm thinking that this is a go-to on that and taste alone.  (If you have any leftovers, it works great as a topping for lettuce salad, just plop it on top of lettuce and you are good to go.)

Feta Fournou (Baked Feta)
Serves 2 or 4 as part of a Meze

7 ounces of crumbled Feta
1-1/2 ounces of green sweet pepper, finely sliced (about 1 small)
1/2 small tomato, chopped
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 good pinches of dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Divide the feta between two small ceramic dishes.
Scatter the green pepper over the top and then the chopped tomato over the pepper.
Drizzle on the olive oil, crumble the oregano in, and top with a good grind of black pepper.
Bake until a bit crusty on the sides, about 20 minutes.

Note:  This is nice made in small individual ceramic dishes.  Serve hot with bread.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Penne ai Funghi e Prosciutto (Penne with Mushrooms and Ham)

      This week for the twenty-sixth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and Margaret and whoever else wants to join us, I made Penne ai Funghi e Prosciutto (Penne with Mushrooms and Ham), on page 159. 

      The recipe calls for prosciutto cotto or plain boiled/baked ham, so I used the boiled ham as I could not find the prosciutto cotto which he describes as a ham that is slow-cooked with a minimum of herbs and spices. 

      The ingredient list:  mushrooms, yellow onion, butter, salt, pepper, ham, cream, freshly  grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and penne. 

      We don't have ham very often, only a few times a year, and we all enjoy eating it, so I was happy to find a recipe that uses ham like this, i.e. this would be perfect for using up the Easter or Christmas ham.  I added very little salt as the ham was salty, the pasta water had salt in it, etc., so really that was fine and I would definitely test as you go and add salt sparingly, he doesn't give an exact amount in the recipe, probably for that reason. 

      The combination of the ham, the cream, the mushrooms, and onions is really nice, not a lot of each, each retains it's own flavor and yet it all blends together nicely.  Definitely a repeat. 

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

More Dorie: Around My French Table - Cafe-Style Grated Carrot Salad

 

      The thirty-second recipe I made from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Cafe-style Grated Carrot Salad  found on page 107. 

      I had most of the ingredients out for making Dorie's Bill's Big Carrot Cake from her Baking From My Home to Yours book and remembered that I had seen this recipe on one of my many search and seek recipe jaunts through the book, so decided that the time was right for making it today.  

      Ingredient list:  carrots, Dijon, honey, cider vinegar, canola oil, salt, pepper, raisins, and walnuts. 

      This is a great tasting little salad.  While it had many of the same ingredients as the carrot cake, the carrot cake combines them in a totally sweet way while this salad had a nice sour/sweet tang going on with the combination of the raisins/honey and the Dijon/cider vinegar. 

      It all comes together very quickly and can be made and parked several hours before serving, always a good deal.  Definitely a repeat for this carrot-loving family.

      I am no longer officially cooking with the French Fridays with Dorie group, but if you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Bill's Big Carrot Cake (rewind)

 

      Thanks to Becky, from Project Domestication, for her pick of   Flip-Over Plum Cake, found on page 42 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe. 

      I didn't make this cake this week, opting instead to make a rewind cake that I knew would be a huge success and that was assigned before I joined the group, Bill's Big Carrot Cake on page 253-255.  It was made in April of 2008, so here's a link to the recipe from then, click here. 

      Mark loves carrot cake, one of the few cakes he does love, and this was a really great recipe for carrot cake, cream cheese frosting and all!  The inside is just full of carrots and raisins and coconut and nuts, everything good!
      Definitely a repeat and this one is now my go-to carrot cake recipe from now on.  

        Next week:  Katrina from Baking and Boys has chosen Apple Nut Muffin Cake, found on page 37. TWD blogroll found here.

Modern Baker: Lemon Lime Tartlets

      The fourteenth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 72nd recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Lemon Lime Tartlets, on page 189.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).  Citrus in desserts...my favorite! 

      The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, and eggs.  I used a half of the dough recipe for 12 little tarts about 2-1/4" size. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  lemons, limes, sugar, butter, and egg yolks.  I made half of the filling recipe and had some left over as I didn't want to skimp on the filling.

      The tart shells are baked for 10 minutes, cooled, and filled with the citrus curd when ready to serve.  It was suggested topping the little tartlets with almonds or coconut so coconut was it.

      These are so delicious, they just melt in your mouth.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here are posts from others who made them:  Phyl, and Abby, and Andrea, and Renee.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Raspberry Almond Tartlets

      The thirteenth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 71st recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Raspberry Almond Tartlets, on page 188.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      Raspberries in desserts...another favorite, that said, I used blackberries instead as Mark is not fond of raspberries. 

      The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, and eggs.  I used a half of the dough recipe for 12 little tarts about 2-1/4" size. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  almond paste, sugar, egg, vanilla, butter, flour, raspberry preserves, raspberries (I used blackberries), almonds, and confectioner's sugar. 

      The little tarts are filled and baked for 20 minutes, cooled, and then dusted with powdered sugar before serving (okay, I didn't see the need for the extra sugar so I didn't do that part but you can look at Phyl and Renee's posts linked below as they both used it).
      These are so delicious, they just melt in your mouth.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here are posts from others who made them:  Phyl and Renee. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  End of summer finish to my novel reading of a particular author, Susan Vreeland's Clara and Mr. Tiffany (set in late 1800s-early 1900s in NYC, story of sorts of Clara Driscoll, a Tiffany glass cutter and designer, who in 2005 (this part is for real) was discovered by art historians to have been the artist behind the famous Tiffany lamps, not Louis Comfort Tiffany himself as originally thought and was credited with all these years.)  Also finishing The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris by Daniel McCullough.
LISTENING TO: Def...it's rainy...it's been rainy...it's a little gray out...definitely need some Def to cheer things up and get things lively around here.
SWIMMING NEWS: Matt finished with swim practice Saturday morning and I was there to pick him up and bring him home for a bit of a rest and relaxation time, very nice for all of us.  We are amazed at the change in his physique already from all the weight lifting and running for college swimming.  My goodness that happens quickly.  He says practices are harder than he ever envisioned but that he loves the team and that his coaches are great so he is just hoping to get to the point where he doesn't feel like he is going to collapse after running the football stadium and all the steps up and down that they run when they do all that, i.e. up one section, down the next, up the next, down the next until they cover them all. Yikes, see below, although you can't really see all the sections very well.

COOKING BYTES: I know, I said I was not going to join any more new blog-alongs, and technically I'm not because this is one I have blogged in before, but I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) is cooking from Tessa Kiros' books for the next six months and I could not resist.  Figure since Tessa has traveled so extensively and learned so many different cuisines along the way, it would also qualify for my worldly bits on Wednesdays, so Tessa it is on Wednesdays for the next six months.  Here's a link to learn more about Tessa, click here.  Here's the link to IHCC if you would like to cook along, everyone chooses their own recipes each week that fit into a theme, so we aren't all cooking the same things each week.
FAV NEW FIND:  The road construction in Bloomington on the bypass is further along than we hoped and it isn't as bad getting through it as we thought...of course, disregard this on football weekends.  We had been taking alternate exits to enter town, but this weekend I went through the construction and it wasn't bad at all.  It's going to be very nice when it's all finished.  Same deal with Keystone Avenue in Carmel, except disregard the part about it not being bad at all right now.  Sigh.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  No doubt about this one:  having Matt lounging around the house this weekend was really nice.  Isn't it fun when they (college student children) come home to visit? They are just so happy to be doing all the normal every day type things around the house and he kept saying, "I love college, but it is great to be home!"  What more could a parent want to hear about all this?  (Photo right of Matt and Reyn in IU shirts...The Adorable Couple...Reyn stayed at IU this weekend, decorated her room for autumn, and did her homework on Saturday night since the boyfriend was out of town!)
WEEK IN REVIEW:  It rained most all week. All. Week. It's still raining. Wait, there was one day when it didn't and I was able to swim.  One day.  I can see the days for swimming are few in number now.  Besides work and everyday things, not much new around here.  While Matt was home we watched movies (my favorite was Michael Clayton), grilled dinner, and since he had to be back at IU before study tables at 5 on Sunday, not much else, especially since he went to bed at 11 p.m. and got up at 12:30 p.m. -- 13.5 hours of sleep is not something he ever gets to do with early morning swim practices and all.  I did all his laundry (which he appreciated very much), baked cookies/brownies for him to take back with him, and he and I went to an apple orchard in the pouring down rain to get fresh apples, cider, and caramel apples for him to take back.  Matt and I found a new little place to eat in Bloomington, called Soup du Jour and it features soups and salads (our favorites) and big cookies.  Mark isn't all that fond of soup, so it was a good time to check it all out since he wasn't with us on the jaunts to and fro this weekend.  They have 12 different kinds of soup each day, spanning everything you can possibly imagine, and the soups change every two days.  Check it out...just north of the corner of College and Kirkwood downtown Bloomington across from the courthouse.  It was all fun all weekend. 
PRAYING FOR:  Let's pray for all the dads this week who go to work each and every day and never complain about doing that and for providing the finances for their families...I don't think we ever show enough gratitude for all of that...please join me.

Missing this:  Swim guys hanging around our Men's Den:  Jani, Mike, Daniel, Nik, Harrison, and Kiernan...miss all you guys...see you at Thanksgiving!

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Penne alla Boscailoa (Penne with Mushrooms and Fresh Tomatoes)

      This week for the twenty-fifth recipe I've made forThirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and Margaret and whoever else wants to join us, I made Penne alla Boscailoa (Penne with Mushrooms and Fresh Tomatoes), on page 90.  Boscaiola means "woodsman style" and says this is the type of sauce one would make after a successful mushroom hunt.  He suggests various types of mushrooms one might use in the recipe, but I think it amounts to whatever kind you have on hand would be appropriate, I used baby portabello mushrooms. 

      The ingredient list:  mushrooms, yellow onion, olive oil, salt, fresh tomatoes, pepper, parsley, and penne. 

      This was wonderful...there really isn't a sauce made with the ingredients, rather the ingredients are just left to stand on their own mixed with the pasta, lightly dressed with just a tiny bit of olive oil that was used to cook the onions.  I added just about a quarter of a cup of the pasta cooking water to give it all a little moist finish, but it probably wasn't necessary, I just do that out of habit. 

      We served it with grilled steak/grilled pineapple, and it was all wonderful.  Definitely making this one again soon while the fresh tomatoes are still so nice. 

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Salt & Pepper Cocoa Shortbread

 

      Thanks to Tia, from Buttercream Barbie, for her pick of   Salt & Pepper Cocoa Shortbread, found on page 128 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe.  One can never have too many cookie recipes, Tia, so thanks for this week's pick.  

      These cookies were fast and easy to pull together.  After you mix it all up, it sits in the frig for a few hours while you run errands, read, or watch a movie...yep, you don't even have to hire a babysitter to watch over it.  After you slice and bake them for 15 minutes, they are ready to be devoured.  At least that was the story here...I'm not sure there are cookies that Mark does not like, but these disappeared in very little time, a good indication that they are worthy of repeating.
      He did say that the salt and pepper were not the predominant flavors, the chocolate carried more of the flavoring, but that he could taste the salt and it was pleasant and that the pepper left a little lingering taste in the back of his mouth which was rather nice.  Good or bad, you decide.   

        Next week:  Becky from Project Domestication has chosen Flip-Over Plum Cake, found on page 42. TWD blogroll found here.

More Dorie: Around My French Table - Corn Soup

 

      The thirty-first recipe I made from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was  Corn soup  found on page 60.  I'm all about the soup recipes every day and I figured this was the time of year to be making corn soup, when you can get the fresh corn on the cob to use in the soup.  

      Ingredient list:  corn, milk, butter, onion, salt, celery, carrot, garlic, water, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, white pepper, scallion, chile pepper, and bacon. 

      This was a good soup, not a great soup, but a good soup.  It was a little mild for me, not exactly boring, but sort of just so-so in taste satisfaction, so the next day I added leftover chicken, adobo chile, and sprinkled a little pepper jack cheese on the top.  It made another lovely lunch with just a little more punch.

      I am no longer officially cooking with the French Fridays with Dorie group, but if you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Modern Baker: Breton Apple Pie

      The twelfth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 70th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Breton Apple Pie, on page 180.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      This was touted more as a cake-like dessert than a pie, so I made a third-size version, because that's just how fond of cake-like things Mark is and I didn't want to eat more than a thin slice of this myself.  Big mistake, this is more pie-like made in a cake pan, so Mark just loved it and would have gladly eaten more of it.  Next time. 

      The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs.  I used a third of the dough for a 6" round pan (original recipe called for a 10" round pan) and it worked perfectly. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  butter, apples, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon.  I made a third of the filling and that also worked perfectly in the 6" pan.
      The little pie/cake was done baking in 45 minutes.    The taste is excellent, the nice flaky crust with the cinnamon apples just melts in your mouth.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here are posts from others who made it:  Phyl, Andrea, and Margaret.        

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting this section, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Maida's Big Apple Pie

 

      The eleventh recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 69th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Maida's Big Apple Pie, on page 182.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      This was a really big pie, so I made a half-size version, not that we would not love that much apple pie, but we really didn't need to be eating that big of a pie with just two people here, even over the course of several days, half-size was plenty big. 

     The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  (I used one-half of the filling recipe and it fit perfectly.)  The ingredient list for the filling:  butter, apples, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  There was also sugar needed for sprinkling on the top of it all. 

       The tart was done baking in 40 minutes.  When I cooked the apples I had a lot of liquid so I chose not to add all of that as it would make the dough soggy and run out of the free-form crust...all apples have differing water content when you cook them down, so I just went with my instincts about the amount of moisture I thought it needed and that worked well.
      The taste is excellent, the nice crunchy flaky crust with the cinnamon-sugar apples is one of our favorite combinations.  It was easy to make the free-form crust and fill it with the apples.  Definitely a repeat, the question is:  How soon should I wait until I make another? 

      Here are posts from others who made it:  Phyl and Abby and Renee and Mia.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland.  No, no this is not some sort of romance novel, it is a book about Emily Carr, a Canadian painter who traveled  (in the early 1900s) through the forests to locate Indian totem poles so that she could paint pictures of them in their natural habitats to preserve the memory of them as they were in danger from natural disintegration, destruction, theft, and being sold to private collectors.  It is interesting to learn about the totem poles, the stories they represent, etc. and has inspired me to learn more about them in a historical context.

LISTENING TO:  Rebecca had this on her blog this week and I thought the little slide show was so beautiful that I have listened to it once a day in quiet moments appreciating the advice of slowing down a bit, Rebecca is good about reminding me of that always.  Click here to link. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  College recruiting season continues and Matt is enjoying meeting swimmers who come in each weekend to check out the IU swimming/diving programs.  They come from all over the United States so Matt likes to hear from them about their areas of the country, their swim programs, and to show them what IU is all about.  One of the things he is in charge of on Friday mornings (since he has no classes on Friday morning) is showing the guys the dorm rooms that the swimmers at IU have.  He says it is also a good excuse for him and Ian to have their room very clean and vacuumed each Friday!

COOKING BYTES:  With the cooler temperatures we have been having, my bread baking desire has returned and I've been firing up the oven for bread again.  Kneading bread is so soothing and relaxing, I did miss it over the summer.

FAV NEW FIND:  A few months ago I learned of a new-ish site called Eat Your Books (a search engine for your own cookbooks, i.e. the cookbooks you already own).  It sounded intriguing and upon further investigation, I found a wonderful resource that anyone who owns cookbooks could absolutely use each and every day.  The site indexes cookbooks and recipes/ingredients.  It costs about $25 a year to join (since I was a food blogger, I was able to have a free year as a gift to try it out), and I am figuring it would save me that amount in time and food easily.  So many times I use half of an ingredient and then wonder what to do with the other half and sometimes (shame on me) the other half goes bad before I can figure out what I want to do with it.  This is no longer happening here because I can type in my ingredient at the site, and it pulls up all the recipes in the cookbooks I own that use that ingredient.  I get the name of the book, the name of the recipe, the page it is on in the book, and a list of all the other ingredients in that recipe so that I can see if I have or need to buy other ingredients to make the recipe.  I wanted to have it a couple of months before I wrote about it because I wanted to make sure it was worth it, that I would remember to use it regularly, and that it would be something I would want to recommend to others.  It is all those things.  What a deal this is!!  Here's how it works:  you join, you type in the names of all your cookbooks, it keeps a list of them in your "library," and whenever you are looking for a recipe or a way to use an ingredient, you type it in and it gives you a list of all the ones that are in the books you own.  Yes, it is fun to go through your cookbooks looking for recipes and picking out ones suitable, but on busy days, it is also wonderful to just plug in what you have on hand and be able to go right to the cookbook and page and have the recipe ready to go in a matter of seconds.  Sometimes I remember a recipe we liked but I can't think of the specific cookbook it is in, so this is a great help for that as well.  Give it a try...and remember to use it!  You will find that all those partially used ingredients you used to throw away are now easy to make use of...it will save you money, what's not to love about that?!  You will also feel really good about using the cookbooks you already own and getting your money's worth out of them now.  Click here to find out more.   

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  You know, Empty Nest has its good points...either I am in shock and it will all hit me at a later time, or I am doing remarkably well with adjusting to it.  Since Mark and I were married 14 years before the boys came along, it feels now like we are getting back to those pre-children years and I have to say, it is quite nice.  I miss the busy-ness of the boys and I do miss them and all, but it's kind of nice for Mark and I to just have time hanging out together and going/doing whatever suits us at the time.  Now, if I could just not worry about the boys on their own quite so much...when does that happen? 

WEEK IN REVIEW:  It would be nice to have a lot of really exciting things to put in here this week but the fact is that we had a very quiet week and didn't feel the need to wander out much since last week and next week will be much busier.  A nice quiet week.  Mark and Alex finally saw the Harry Potter film, the Hoos and Hawks both won this week on their football fields, Matt had a great time at the game and he and Reyn and a bunch of friends watched movies in the dorm afterward as they had to "rest up from watching a four-hour football game, the tailgating beforehand, and getting back to the dorm when it was all over."  Temperatures still cool here...was hoping for a bit of hot weather yet before we say goodbye to summer, so maybe this week will bring something along those lines.  Maybe.

PRAYING FOR:  For families grieving the loss of a loved one, please join me.

 

 The boys of summer are all off at college now...a parting shot...Matt, Nik, Daniel, and Kiernan.

 

Bread Alone: Fancy & Delicious Cinnamon Bread

 

       Nancy's daughter, Allison, bakes bread in a bread co-op in New York called Fancy & Delicious and sells it at market each week.  This is one of the loaves that has been very popular for them and when Nancy asked if I wanted to make it with her this week, I didn't think twice..."cinnamon, raisins, okey dokey, I'm in." 

      The dough is absolutely lovely, very silky and nice to work with...all that cinnamon makes it lovely to smell as you are kneading as well. 

      While I don't usually publish recipes that aren't mine on this blog, Nancy did get permission from Allison to include the recipe, so I will do that for you so that you can all make it and have cinnamon toast for breakfast this week because it is just that good...and that easy to make. 

      I particularly like the combination of flours as it gave the bread a depth of flavor, that and the raisins and cinnamon sugar, sort of elevates this bread to the dessert category. Thank you, Allison...another wonderful recipe.

Fancy & Delicious Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 T cinnamon
1 t. instant yeast
2/3 t. salt
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup warm water
1 T oil
1 T honey

1/2 cup raisins
 
1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar (1 part cinnamon, 5 parts sugar)

To make dough:
Mix dry ingredients: flours, cinnamon, yeast, salt.
Add milk, water, oil, and honey and mix to combine.
Knead until pliable, stretchy, and doughy.
Knead in raisins.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover. 
Let rise until doubled.

To shape dough:
1. Prepare 8.5x4.5 bread pan:  butter pan and cut parchment to fit pan (so cinnamon sugar will not cause bread to stick to pan), butter/flour parchment.
2. Shape dough into rough ball and grab a rolling pin.
3. Roll dough into a rectangle 1/2" thick.
4. Spread the 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar over middle of the bread, leaving an inch around all the edges.
5. Start rolling by turning a short edge inward.
6. Roll tightly until a cylinder is formed.
7. Press down edges, turn seams under, roll on work surface until sealed.
8. Place seam side down in loaf pan.
9. Let rise until it reaches an 1/2-1" over the rim of loaf pan. 

To bake:
After bench rise, heat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 40-45 minutes (start checking after 30 minutes). 
Bread is done when it reaches internal temperature of 190 degrees. 
Remove from pan, cool on rack, slice when cooled.

 

Bread Alone: Knotted Dinner Rolls from Peter Reinhart

      It's a bit strange, but as I sat down to write this post I realized that last week's post were breads I made with Di and Allison and Nancy, and as coincidence would have it, today was another day of baking bread with Di and Allison and Nancy.  We don't all make bread together that often, so that seems a bit odd to have it be two in a row.  And again, it's rolls and bread. 

      Di found a recipe (click here) for Knotted Dinner Rolls from Peter Reinhart (the author of Bread Baker's Apprentice which I have been baking from the past couple of years).  Knowing how well-written PR's recipes are, and what tasty results ensue, I didn't hesitate to join in when Di broadcasted it on Twitter for a bake-along this week.
      Once again this recipe proved PR's expertise:  easy, tasty, definitely a keeper of a recipe worthy of repeating often. 

      I made the recipe as stated, tried to form the knots properly (obviously that needs a little work, but until then let's just call them "rustic," shall we?), and smiled at the rave reviews.  The rolls were nicely tender and soft, full of yeasty flavor, and I used poppy seeds on a few, and sesame seeds on the rest.  Like last week:  their little selves are just so cute.  Quite often, I am all about the cute in food.

      Here is the link to Di's rolls. 

      The bread I made with Nancy today, using Allison's recipe, Fancy & Delicious Cinnamon Bread, is on the rise and I will post that later today when it finishes baking.

A Little Ellie Everyday: Open-Face Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

      This week for A Little Ellie Everyday, I made the Open-Face Chicken Parmesan Sandwich, from Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, found on page 115 and also online here. 

      Do you ever grill chicken breasts and then end up with one or two extra and wonder what to do with them?  Add this recipe to the line-up, it's easy, quick, healthy, and delicious!  We made them on a ballgame-watching night, and while a bit messy to eat (you need a knife and fork), a really nice option for a meal while watching the games....think of it as tailgate food at home. 

      Ingredient list:  cooked chicken breast, marina sauce, fresh spinach leaves, mozzarella cheese, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and Italian bread. 

      To make this a little easier for the guys to eat (Mark wanted a closed sandwich, so I did put a bread top on for him), I think I will shred the chicken next time and mix it in the marina sauce, top with the spinach and the cheeses...kind of like a pulled pork/chicken sandwich, as I think it would be easier to pick up and eat with the hands that way.  Great recipe. 

      To check out other Ellie recipes, you can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti al Pomodoro e Cappe Sante (Spaghetti with Scallops, Fresh Tomatoes, and Basil)

      This week for the twenty-fourth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and Margaret and whoever else wants to join us, I made Spaghetti al Pomodoro e Cappe Sante (Spaghetti with Scallops, Fresh Tomatoes, and Basil), on page 114. 

      The ingredient list:  spaghetti, tomatoes, garlic, hot red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, scallops, and basil. 

      Delicious!  Mark is not a fan of scallops for some odd reason, but I am!  I knew I would save this one to make when he was not going to be here for dinner.  What a treat for me, this was really fresh, light, quick, easy, tasty, what more do you want?  May have to repeat this the next time he is out of town during dinner.  Definitely a wonderful recipe.  

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Classic Brownies

 

      Thanks to Anne, from Anne Strawberry, for her pick of  Classic Brownies, found on page 88 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe.  Brownies are always appreciated by the guys, Anne, so thanks for this week's pick.  

      The brownies could not be easier, melt the two chocolates and butter in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, pour into a pan, bake, and cool.   Seriously easy, I did it all in my 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup with a whisk. 

      While these have nuts in them, apparently the opinion is that chocolate and nuts mix well together and guys here will eat them, if no chocolate is involved, do not put nuts in things.  I made a full batch as I'm sure Mark will have no trouble packing these in lunches and snacking on these in the evenings.  I believe his comment was, "Great, now that Matt is gone, I might actually get more than one!" Could definitely be a repeat.  (Matt: if you are reading this, we love you and miss you, Dad would give up all the brownies anytime you want them!)

        Next week:  Tia from Buttercream Barbie has chosen Salt & Pepper Cocoa Shortbread, found on page 128. TWD blogroll found here.

 

More Dorie: Around My French Table - Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

 

      The thirtieth recipe I made from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was  Deconstructed BLT and Eggs, found on page 133 (Everyday Vinaigrette, page 484). 

      This is a BLT in salad form with a few additions to make it a little more "whole-lunch worthy." I must admit that I am not really into the whole "deconstruction" trend that seems captivate the foodies these days, but this was a nice salad with traditional BLT ingredients, so in this case, I am a fan.

      Ingredient list:  arugula (Mark does not care for this so I used a combination of romaine and spinach), bacon, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, wine vinegar, Dijon, hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and bread to make croutons. 

      I have made salads like this before, probably never with all these exact ingredients at the same time, but definitely with all the ingredients at various times, so while this was nothing really new in the preparation or the tasting, it was a great tasting salad and one I could make time and again.  It made a lovely lunch.

      I am no longer officially cooking with the French Fridays with Dorie group, but if you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris by David McCullough.  This is a collection of stories of young Americans (artists, doctors, writers, architects, etc.) who went to Paris to study/work between 1830-1900 and then returned to the U.S. to make their marks on the future.

LISTENING TO:  The kid is gone so I can listen to Tom Petty all day every day if I want to and no one says, "Enough already."  Not everyday, not all day long, but really what's not to love about some TP every day?  Don't bother to argue this, I Won't Back Down.

SWIMMING NEWS:  College recruiting season has begun.  Last year Matt was traveling all over visiting colleges that he was interested in and colleges interested in him swimming for them and that was, frankly, a lot of work for everyone involved.  This year he gets to experience it from the other side as his coaches and team at IU are involved in interviewing and getting to know various swimmers from this year's senior high school swimming classes with thoughts of recruiting them to swim for IU next year.  So far he is enjoying the process, but says that from Thursday night through Saturday morning, it is non-stop with commitments involving the process and showing the recruit around campus, etc.  They are paired in groups and each group has specific things they are responsible for doing.  Interesting to hear about it all from the "other side" now.

COOKING BYTES:  I did much better with my food group blogging this week.  I have to say, without Matt here in the evenings I find myself with a lot of extra time to throw together quick posts. And, guess what?? Nick Malgieri left a comment on my blog post this week about the the Fig and Almond Bread of his that I made, check it out here.  I'm such a fan of his work, so that was very fun for me.

FAV NEW FIND:  Okay, this isn't so new, but I haven't taken time to blog it before, so let's just pretend.  One of the blogs I like to check in on is from a Canadian blogging friend, Helene.  Here is her blog.   Often food bloggers that have ads on their sites will do giveaways on their blog which are sponsored by various companies, etc. and people can comment on the posts in hopes that their comment will be generated randomly as a winner.  Such was the case on Helene's blog with Tate's Bake Shop cookies!  I was the lucky winner and to my house arrived a lovely box of goodies from Tate's Bake Shop in New York (see photo).  Inside the box was also the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook, which I was thrilled to receive, even autographed with a nice note from the author.  It's a great little book of about 150 pages filled with recipes for muffins, scones, pound cakes, breads, cookies, pies, crisps, cobblers, cakes, and even a "healthy alternatives" section.  I'll try to blog a few soon.  Thanks Helene and Kathleen, what a wonderful surprise!  

  

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Going down to Bloomington to see Matt (and Reyn), take him food treats, and spend some time with him.  He wanted to go to the orchard and get apples, cider, and a caramel apple...like "old times," which I thought was rather sweet of him, and which I was very happy to see as I was afraid that now that he is a college guy that maybe he would not want to do those things anymore.  Definitely happy to know that he still wants to do things with us old folks.  Unfortunately, they had no caramel apples today...guess that means we will need to go down and visit another orchard soon.  We had a wonderful time chatting over lunch, he's been really great about sharing news of his new life and making us feel a part of it all.  All is well, he is very happy there.  Reyn had a class assignment requiring her to shuffle around an historic neighborhood in Bloomington locating certain buildings and such so we all went and did that...you all know me, what a great afternoon!! Thanks, Reyn, for including us and making it such fun.

WEEK IN REVIEW:  The weather took a dive this week and it was rainy most every day and cold when it wasn't rainy, so no swimming for me, unfortunately.  I can see autumn advancing.  I love autumn actually...just not what comes after it.  Mark enjoyed the short 4-day work week, and it did make the week go quickly.  Those Hawks lost to the Cyclones in three overtimes, not a good thing.  The Hoos, while never expected to win, did show some shining moments with their new head coach and lost by only 3 points, giving fans all a treat of some exciting plays and real hope until the last few seconds of actually being able to win the game!  Next week.

PRAYING FOR:  For all the families still grieving their losses from 9-11, please join me.

 

 

 

Bread Alone: Fig and Almond Bread from Nick Malgieri

      My blogging buddy Phyl runs BOM (Bread of the Month) on FB and so far I haven't joined in even though the selections each month sound very good.  One just has so much time.  I've been in a bread making slump most of the summer as we don't eat a lot of bread in the summer and it's too hot to really be interested in firing up the ovens for bread making.  It's been cooler here this week, however, and thoughts of returning to bread baking have been dancing in my mind. 

      Recently Phyl has been trying out some possible Thanksgiving recipes and he was baking this Fig and Almond Bread, featured on Nick Malgieri's site here (recipe and photo).  "Figs and Almonds you say?"  That was about how  much it took for me to start lining up the ingredients. 

      Ingredient list:  dried Calimyrna figs, almonds, water, yeast, bread flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, and butter.  I didn't have access to dried Calimyrna figs (a light colored fig), so I subbed in other California figs, the dried Mission figs, but otherwise I made the recipe exactly as written by NM.
      Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my is this delicious!  It's a savory bread, with a touch of sweetness from the figs and a nice little crunchy texture from the chopped almonds.  Trust me, if you like figs and almonds, you should really make this bread as soon as possible.  The recipe is straight-forward, just follow each step and it works perfectly. 

      On his site, NM says this is a recipe that he pulled from his new bread book manuscript...the book is set to publish next fall (2012), so this was sort of a preview for us.  If this is any indication, and I am certain it is, of just how wonderful that new book is going to be, stand aside, I'm first in line.  Thank you, Nick...another wonderful recipe.

Bread Alone: 1) Buffalo Barn Raisers Wheat Bread and 2) Crusty European-Style Hard Rolls

      Now that I've decided to give Saturday's posts over to bread making (we will see how long this actually lasts), I have two breads that I made with my Twitter friends and have never posted because I am just that untimely at times with things like this. 

      The first was called Buffalo Barn Raisers Wheat Bread and when I saw it on Allison's site here I knew I wanted to make it as 1) It looked delicious, 2) She raved about it, 3) Nancy was also going to make it (see post here), 4) I always like to try new bread recipes that others recommend, 5) it's good to try new grain recipes as I tend to use the same ones over and over, and maybe most of all, 6) it uses a bread pan!  (I am not too great with the free-form breads, those still need a lot of work in my kitchen yet, but a bread you can put into a pan to bake is just great!)
      The bread was really nice, very easy to make/bake, and we enjoyed it as toast and using it for grilled cheese sandwiches, giving both a pleasant taste and chew.  The recipe can be found on both Allison and Nancy's sites and Nancy even ground her own wheat in her new food mill!
      The second bread (as you can see from the photo above) is really a roll recipe that I made with Di one Sunday afternoon, and these were a big hit with the guys, they were gone before I had a chance to use them a second day. 

      The recipe for the rolls is on the King Arthur Flour website here (a wonderful resource if you don't know about this, and you like to bake, you should check it out for all sorts of baked goods).  They are called Crusty European-Style Hard Rolls.  They are crusty on the outside (but not too much so) and light and fluffy on the inside.  I'll bet you can't eat just one.
       It takes a little planning for these rolls, as one day you make a starter and the next day are a couple of rises and a stint in the refrigerator, but the hands-on time is not all that much of a commitment and the rolls are so worth every single minute of it. 

      The second time I made them, I put some aside for sandwich-making and they were perfect for that as well, smallish and just wonderful bread for a sandwich.  Easily they are a favorite around here...that, and their little selves are just so cute.  Sometimes I am all about the cute in food.

A Little Ellie Everyday: Greek Salad Pitas with Feta Spread and Turkey

      This week for A Little Ellie Everyday, I made Greek Salad Pitas with Feta Spread and Turkey, from Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, found on page 80.  You can also find the recipe online here. 

      Ingredient list:  feta, yogurt, lemon juice, oregano, grated lemon zest, pepper, whole-wheat pita pockets, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, mint leaves, turkey breast (I used grilled chicken). 

      First let me say that the little sauce is just wonderful, the lemon zest in it really adds a zing to the feta and yogurt and goes so nicely with the pepper and oregano.  Then let me say that it was all very good and a healthier version of some Greek sandwich-type things like this that I have eaten out.  Finally, let me just note that this is way too much for a lunch portion:  after a bite, I pulled the whole thing apart, ate it as a salad with about half of one-half of the pita bread and called it a day. 

      After this, I would cram two-thirds of it into one-half of a pita pocket at best, two half-pockets are a bit much.  At least for my idea of lunch...I wanted to have room for watermelon because, after all, just how long is watermelon going to last with summer fading? 

      It's a good recipe...instead of the other half of the pita bread I would rather toss a couple of grape tomatoes, a black olive or two, and a chopped up scallion into the mix.  Oh, yeah, that would be a great Greek Salad Pita.  To check out other Ellie recipes, you can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

A Little Ellie Everyday: Asparagus with Lemon and Tarragon

      This week for A Little Ellie Everyday, I made Asparagus with Lemon and Tarragon, from Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, recipe found on page 252. 

      Quite often when I am searching for a new recipe to make I get caught up in the photos and chose something that has a photo (maybe because I figure I can see where I am going with it), pick a main dish, and call it a day.  Lately I have been trying to remember to look for side dishes to accompany a main dish, something new and different to do with the same old line up of vegetables that we use as side dishes around here. 

      Such was the case when I was searching for a side to go with the shrimp and pasta that I had marked for Wednesday's dinner.  I had asparagus on hand, so I chose this recipe (which I must have passed hundreds of times while looking through the book, it has no photo).  And such a happy outcome as it was light and tasty, perfect with shrimp and pasta. 

      Ingredient list:  asparagus, olive oil, grated lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chopped fresh tarragon. 

      It's a great little recipe and takes only moments.  The flavors of lemon, tarragon, and asparagus are just wonderful together, a little zip most welcome.    To check out other Ellie recipes, you can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti al Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper

      This week for the twenty-third recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and Margaret, and whoever else wants to join us, I made Spaghetti al Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper), on page 70. 

      The ingredient list:  spaghetti, olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and pecorino cheese. 

      Do you see that ingredient list?  There's hardly anything on it...and yet this was a wonderful pasta side dish.  Just pepper and cheese with a little bit of oil on pasta...who knew it could taste so wonderful?  Light, tasty, quick, economical, and delicious, it was perfect with shrimp and asparagus, the pepper giving it all a nice little kick that was most welcome, and if you want more kick, add more pepper!  Definitely a wonderful recipe.  

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

World Cuisine Wednesdays: Indian: Bal Ameson's Chicken Masala

      It's fun each week to throw something into the lineup that is not our usual, something "wordly," i.e. something from a cuisine not our own, and while Wednesdays here at The Table had belonged to Whisk Wednesdays for a bit, cooking with friends from Le Cordon Bleu at Home, I thought it might be fun to just do a quick post on Wednesdays of something I made around here this week, thinking someone else might want to make it, too. 

      First up is Indian cuisine:  Chicken Masala, a recipe from Bal Ameson, which I borrowed and will send you off here to look at the recipe if you think you might want to float it sometime at your place.  I have been cooking Indian food this year with Margaret and Leslie, and we have made a recipe of BA's a time or two.  She has a show called The Spice Goddess on The Cooking Channel...I just found out about it, so I tuned in last week, this recipe was featured, and I knew I wanted to try it soon.   It's easy, fairly quick, delicious, and healthy...what more do you need for a reason? 

      Ingredient list:  chicken, onion, garlic, fresh ginger, grapeseed oil, green chile, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, garam masala, Spanish paprika, tumeric, salt, tomato paste, tomatoes, potatoes, cilantro (I used parsley), and water.  The serving suggestion was to serve it with rice.  (Since I figured rice and potatoes were a bit much in the same meal, I halved the amount of potatoes.) 

      It is all made in one pan, simmers for about 25 minutes so you can do other things, and if the husband calls, is stuck in traffic on his way home for a short bit, it does hold very well in the covered pan.  Delicious, definitely a repeat.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Spice Quickies

 

      Thanks to Jessica, from My Baking Heart, for her pick of   Chocolate Spice Quickies, found on page 140 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe.  Cookies are always a popular item around here, Jessica, thanks for the pick.  

      These cookies could not be easier, you throw a few ingredients together in a food processor, roll into a log on plastic wrap for a four-hour stint in the refrigerator, slice, bake, and cool.  They are, just as the recipe says, quickies, although you do have to take into consideration the time the dough rests in the refrigerator before you bake them off, so you can't make them and eat them in the same hour. 

      The cookies make a nice addition to packing in Mark's lunch and, of course, his favorite way of eating cookies:  grab a few on the way out the door in the morning and call it breakfast.  Could definitely be a repeat. 

        Next week:  Anne from Anne Strawberry has chosen Classic Brownies, found on page 88. TWD blogroll found here.

More Dorie: Around My French Table - Goat Cheese and Strawberry Tartine

 

      The twenty-ninth recipe I made from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Goat Cheese and Strawberry Tartine found on page 44. 

      Around our place, Mark is the one who grills.  I wouldn't have a clue as all these years he has enjoyed sitting out with the grill on summer evenings or on the weekends, reading, having a beverage and a little snack, while he grills dinner.  He does not cook or bake in the kitchen, but he is absolutely wonderful with the grill.  (Just one of the many reasons he is such a great husband.) 

      Ingredient list:  baguette, goat cheese, strawberries, pepper, and Balsamic vinegar (optional).  I did not use the vinegar this time as I was out of the really good one, but will try it the next time as that sounds delightful. 

      The little snack was easy and quick to prepare, a nice mixture of textures and tastes...the strawberries, pepper, and goat cheese were wonderful together.  Definitely a repeat, definitely trying it with different fruits as well, i.e. peaches, apples, berries...the list goes on and on.

      I am no longer officially cooking with the French Fridays with Dorie group, but if you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

More Dorie: Around My French Table - Cafe Salle Pleyel Hamburger

 

      The twenty-eighth recipe I made from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was  Cafe Salle Pleyel Hamburger found on pages 240-242. 

      In this book, Dorie's explanations of the origins of recipes preface each recipe, making the book a fun and educational read as well as one with delicious and wonderful recipes.  This hamburger was created by the owner of a little cafe within the Salle Pleyel concert hall in Paris and was designed to give Americans (and others) a hamburger menu choice while creating something new and delicious to fit more in with the French taste palate.  I have to say, she did an excellent job as the ingredients in this burger made it interesting, different, and delicious. 

      The ingredient list for the Onion Marmalade:  red onions, water, coriander, butter, salt, and pepper.  The ingredient list for the burgers:  ground beef, oil-packed sundried tomatoes, capers, cornichons, tarragon, parsley, salt, pepper, and Parmigiano Reggiano. 

      Whatever you sub or change, don't change the Onion Marmalade until you have made it once exactly as she says because (despite the rather pale mushy look of it) this is really wonderful.  I taste-tested it way more than absolutely necessary while making it, and I can think of other things this onion jam is going to grace around here in the future.  So good, and perfect for the burgers.  

      When I made the burgers, I used ground sirloin as that was her first suggestion, but in the future, I will use a less lean mixture to give the burger just a little more moistness.  That said, it was absolutely delicious with the ground sirloin alone as well.  Definitely a repeat, the combination of flavors is fun and very French, loved it.

      I am no longer officially cooking with the French Fridays with Dorie group, but if you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here.   Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Bake! Cream Cheese Scones

 

      The twentieth recipe that I made from Bake!  by Nick Malgieri was the one for Cream Cheese Scones, found on page 182. 

      This was Glennis' pick for the group a little while ago but we are sort of so-so on scones around here, sort of need to be in the mood for them...today was the day that we were in the mood for them.  Lucky us as they were a tasty and delicious way to start a holiday morning.

      The ingredient list:  flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cream cheese, butter, eggs, and milk (and in my case, I also drizzled a little raspberry sauce over them as I had some extra from the Peach Melba I made recently).   I made a half batch which was easy to do as the ingredients easily divided in half, so I ended up with one circle disk of dough, and six little wedges of scones.

      Scones are always so easy to make, it's too bad we don't like serving them more often.  The recipe mixes everything in a food processor, it gets turned out (I just turn it out onto the silpat covered baking sheet), gathered together, turned a couple of times, patted into a circle, scored into wedges, and baked for 15 minutes.  Voila...nice hot scones ready in no time. 

      The author declares these great without butter or cream but Mark, of course, went the butter route.  The recommended way to serve was with jam or marmalade but with that lovely red raspberry sauce staring at me each time I opened the refrigerator, I knew what direction I was headed.  And, believe me, it was absolutely the right choice, however you need to eat them with a fork because of the drippy sauce...that's not a problem, right?  I didn't think so. The scones are nice and moist with great flavor from the cream cheese.  These could be a happening thing around here more often actually, they were that good.
      Here's what the others thought:  Glennis here, Phyl here, Margaret here, Abby here.

      Get the book and Bake! with us, we will even let you choose recipes in rotation with us, yes, we will!

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  A Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie.  Mark and I recently watched The Pacific, a WWII film series about several men who served in the Pacific and the battles they fought in at the time, see link here.  The movie was based on several books by veterans, Robert Leckie one of them, accounts of their time in the Marines in action in the Pacific during WWII.  Wonderful reading...firsthand accounts always fascinating to me.

LISTENING TO:  The ISO performed jazz, swing, Dixieland, and Big Band tunes at Symphony on the Prairie this weekend...a fine reason to spend some time with it here at home as well.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt is down at IU enjoying his new swim team and working hard.  The IU swim program includes much more dryland and Matt, believe it or not, has gotten as far as he has in the swimming world with no running or weight training work, etc.  This, however, is not the case with the rest of the team, so Matt is working hard to try and get used to all these new bits in his routine.  The actual swimming part he is enjoying very much.  Here are some photos from the Freshman Swimmer Orientation/Parent Meeting.
Matt and his roommate, Ian...also a swimmer (guess you could tell that by the hair, right?), someone Matt has known through the years, Matt's swim club swimming against Ian's each year.
Some of Matt's new freshmen teammates and his sprint coach:  Mike, Coach Mike, Matt, and Steve.
Head Coach Loos with the Freshmen Carmel Connection:  Matt and Lauren.  It's so nice to have Matt and Lauren on the IU team together after all these years of swimming at CSC together.

COOKING BYTES:  Am trying to find my way about all my cooking/baking blog-alongs now that Matt is off at college and not eating here on a regular daily basis with his ravenous swimmer appetite.  Making mini-sized desserts and reduced portions of recipes seems to be absolutely workable, but the number of recipes I can actually cook/bake a week has changed so am anticipating reduced participation in all my groups to accommodate the new Empty Nest lifestyle happening around here.  Meals also change quite a bit as cooking for Mark is a lot different as there is less of a need to fill in menu choices with lots of carbs, etc. that Matt always needed as a swimmer.  I like the blog-alongs as they are a chance to cook/bake recipes with friends and I have made things over the years that I would not have made on my own (left on my own I am not all that adventurous), so am still planning on cooking/baking, but at a reduced amount. 

FAV NEW FIND:  After much consideration of managing this blog to fit my needs and the needs of people who actually read it, I have decided on a new posting plan for it all.  For my foodie/baking/cooking readers, those posts will be Monday through Saturday.  Sundays will be family/friends day where I post Sunday's Snippets and things more of a family/friend nature.  This way my non-foodie readers can skip all the foodie bits by just looking for the Sunday night posts (or clicking on Sunday's Snippets category in the left sidebar) and my foodie readers can look for the appropriate foodie posts on the days I am supposed to post them (or by clicking on the appropriate category in the left sidebar).  Foodie line-up:  Mondays, Nick Malgieri (Modern Baker and Bake!); Tuesday, Dorie Greenspan (Tuesdays with Dorie's Baking from My Home to Yours and Around My French Table); Wednesdays (World Cuisine from various books/cultures); Thursdays (Italian: 30 Minute Thursdays Pasta with Guiliano Hazan's book and other Italian chef recipes); Friday, A Little Ellie Everyday with Ellie Krieger recipes; Saturday, Bread Baking from Bread Baker's Apprentice and other books.  You don't have to memorize that for a quiz or anything, just figured it would make it easier for those who tune in for certain posts at certain times.  Oh, and don't hold me to it 100% each week or you will certainly be disappointed at my lack of timeliness. 

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  I have to say, it is really nice not waking up in the wee hours of the morning when Matt heads off to swim practice before school...yep, really nice just to sleep right through that these days.  I miss him a lot, but I don't miss that.  Let's see, other benefits:  our grocery bill has decreased by a shocking amount, the tape/scissors/pens/pencils/stapler all remain in their designated places and I don't have to go in search of any of them when I need them, laundry takes only a day to complete, and there are no discussions about how late one can stay out of a weekend evening.  I'm trying to look at all the positives to offset the fact that Matt is greatly missed by all, especially this guy who can't figure out why everyone keeps disappearing around here this past year:  Alex, Sophie, Pippin, Matt...it's a little much for Vash to figure out.  Among many downsides to Matt being gone are missing his hugs, his smiles, his fun personality, his excellent skill at lawn mowing (and come winter, snow removal), car washing and vacuuming, household vacuuming, and many other around-the-house chores he always willingly just did without being asked.  Matt is a bit of a neat-freak.  Here are some photos of his room at school, anyone want to take a guess which bed is Matt's and which one is Ian's?
      Matt's is the one with his key chain and bicycle pump on it...something I was shocked at seeing as Matt is very very particular about out of place things (when we were moving him in, Mark tried to help him make the bed and gave up after a couple of seconds when Matt said, "I like the sheet turned down just this exact amount, and don't put that much on that side, I want it to be more like this, and I don't want that touching where my head is going to be, so can you shorten that?").
Yep, just that particular about things in his room.  Further evidence.


Below:  Ian and Lauren hanging out in Matt and Ian's room enjoying the time before classes start.  And, finally, the last photo is Reyn ensconced in her dorm room at IU, happy to be at college at last and every bit as neat and tidy as Matt!


      Matt's biggest concern about going to college was whether or not he was going to get a roommate who was neat and tidy.  Fortunately, Ian seems to be just that and all is going well.

WEEK IN REVIEW:  Same old, same old:  besides working, there was beautiful weather for swimming yet, the IU/BSU football game opener yesterday was a bit of a bust for IU (Mark thought watching it at Lucas Oil Stadium was definitely preferable to the Iowa Hawk fans who had a 1.5 hour rain/lightening delay in IC), Symphony on the Prairie tonight, and a whole day of vacation to fritter away tomorrow for Labor Day.

PRAYING FOR:  For all parents and children who are struggling with medical/mental disadvantages, please join me.

 

Twitter Chef Avatar Fun: Nigella Lawson's Peach Melba

      We are having a bit of avatar fun over at Twitter, my baking/cooking pals and I, just to shake things up a bit and confuse everyone each month as to who is who and all.  Nancy came up with the great idea of each of us picking a different chef for each month, all of us making anything we each selected to make from that chef's recipes, taking a photo of our efforts, and using that photo as our avatar for that month. 

      September's avatar chef is Nigella Lawson, chosen by Marthe.  The recipe I chose was NL's recipe for Peach Melba and you can find it online here. 

      I have never made any recipes from Nigella Lawson before, so I am looking forward to exploring a bit this month and making a few things from her online recipes as I don't have any of her cookbooks.  When I did a search to look for a recipe, this Peach Melba recipe was the first one that popped up and since right now peaches here are just wonderful, I looked no further for my first recipe as I knew it would be pretty and make a nice avatar...oh, yes, not only do I need a great tasting recipe from the chef each month, I need one that will be avatar-worthy on Twitter. 

      This recipe is quick, easy, and oh so delicious. Raspberries and Peaches are a match made in Heaven.  Oh, yeah.  Definitely a repeat.