Grandma's Kitchen Table

Sunday's Snippets

(Photo:  IU guys watching from the sidelines, obviously a swim that the team did not win...wanted you to have the whole experience of winning at a meet, and not winning at a meet.  Next time!)
READING:  I've been subbing a lot and the history students are all preparing for History Day with projects and papers and documentaries and websites and such, so I have had a great time reading their submissions...yes, I know, you can barely contain the envy.  It's been fun for me to read how they view various historical information.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Before I get to this week, let me just say that Steve was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week the week before, this was his second time, so here's the information on all that, congrats to Steve! The swim meet this weekend was a home meet...against Louisville.  The IU/Louisville rivalry is alive and well...and enough that the Louisville guys tapered for the meet, which did net them the big win, our guys saving any tapering for the Big Ten Championships in February.  IU girls' team, however, won over the Lady Cardinals.  Here's a recap of the racing.  Matt swam the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, and the first position in the 200 Free A Relay.  Results for each swim are posted and you can find them here.  He's doing nicely for his freshman year.  (Photos below:  This is the difference between guys and gals.  We wanted them to line up for photos, the girls' team immediately got into photo-taking position, the guys' team did their cheer and that was the best we got. lol. Lauren is far right front row in girls' photo, Matt and Steve are far right in boys' photo, there are no rows, lol.)


COOKING BYTES:  See "Favorite New Find."  Yikes. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Despite much encouraging from many friends, I had managed to just say "no" to the Pinterest craze.  Well, that's no longer true.  I am now happily pinning something most days.  Right now I am just using it as a sort of recipe storage board, pinning recipes that look good or useful in one instance or another...it is a whole lot easier than copying down a site or blog and posting it in a folder in my email.  And it has nice photos.  And it is fun to see what others pin.  So while now it is just mostly for recipes, when we move, I may get into pinning decorating ideas on my boards.  Come and find me so I can see what you are all pinning as I haven't a clue (no surprise) how to find others...I'm listed here.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Definitely the favorite of the week was going to Bloomington to see Matt swim and spend some time with him there.  We did get to go eat here as we were all in the mood for Greek.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Pretty normal stuff with working and life in general last week, but I will comment on the lovely temperatures we are having today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, yes, indeed, looking forward to all of that! 58 degrees outside in January is definitely a great deal. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Indiana State Museum, Jim Irsay's eclectic collection (here until the end of May but don't go this weekend as there is a little thing called the Super Bowl going on here in Indy and it will be a mad crush and limited hours), read about it here. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. 

Bread Alone: Nick Malgieri's Old-Fashioned Raisin Bread

      Quite often friends on Twitter will bake together and compare results.  Someone will come up with a recipe and toss out an idea of making it and others will grab onto the idea, and before you know it, a few people are tackling the same recipe at the same time, kitchens spread across the world at times. 

      Phyl noticed that Nick Malgieri had a new bread recipe on his blog and soon Phyl had Nancy and I lining up ingredients and settling on a time to make and bake the bread.  (No easy task as Phyl and I are in the same time zone, but Nancy is currently out in California so she had to get up nice and early to bake with us.) 

      I made the recipe according to the instructions, with just one minor change, instead of a total of 3 cups of raisins, I used only 2 as I knew we wanted this for toasting for breakfast and it has been my experience that if I have too many raisins, they fall off in the toaster and burn.  That said, if I wasn't using the bread for toasting, I would have used all 3 cups of raisins as they were really good in this bread.

      The bread was wonderful from beginning to end:  it went together like a dream, the dough is silky and lovely to work with, the fragrance from the raisins was wonderful as I was kneading it, the dough behaved wonderfully well on both the rises, and....you guessed it:  a truly wonderful loaf of raisin bread resulted from all my efforts!  The key word here, obviously being: wonderful.

      We couldn't resist, we sliced it warm and ate a piece standing at the counter...the aroma was so enticing and it was just too much to think of not trying a nice warm slice five minutes out of the oven.
      I also toasted a piece and it is excellent toasting bread, the crumb nice and light and crispy with a good crunch, it is good plain or with a little cinnamon sugar on it.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here's the link to the recipe so you can make it in your own kitchen.  Oh, and be sure to thank Nick for the recipe as it is going to be in his new bread book coming out in September, so it's like a little gift to print that for us on his blog.  Thanks, Nick...we loved it.

CEiMB: Spicy Chicken Fried Rice with Peanuts

      This week for CEiMB, the group made Spicy Chicken Fried Rice with Peanuts from Ellie Krieger's new book, Comfort Food Fix, on pages 174-175.  (You can also find the recipe on Chaya's blog, here, as this was her choice for the group this month.) 

      The ingredient list:  soy sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, red chili flakes, canola oil, onion, scallions, red bell peppers, garlic, fresh ginger, water chestnuts, cooked chicken, cooked brown rice, and chopped unsalted peanuts. 

      This was a lovely lunch, nice and light without a lot of heavy oils or any greasy feeling left on your tongue (as is often the case with recipes such as this).  It has a real nice hot kick to it with the red pepper flakes and sesame oil.  Very nice.  I did leave the water chestnuts out as we don't care for those, but other than that, the recipe was made as written and worked wonderfully well.  Recipes like this are nice as you can mix them up as far as the veggies you have on hand, etc.  Shrimp would be nice in place of chicken as well.  Definitely a repeat. 

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

BBA: White Bread (Variation 1)

      The fortieth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is White Bread (Variation 1), and is found on pages 265-267.  I made the full recipe of this bread, 2 loaves, one to put into the freezer and one to have on hand. 

      The ingredients:  bread flour, sugar, powdered milk, salt, instant yeast, egg, butter, and water. 

      This is a one-day bread.  Margaret and I are continuing on in our attempts to finish the book in a more timely manner, i.e. we are making definite progress.  Di joined in with us for this bread, her post is here.  This bread is delicious for eating out of hand, using for sandwiches, toasting, and grilled cheese.  It has a nice flavor to it, the dough is lovely to work with, etc., however, I felt it was just a little lacking as compared to Dan Lepard's Milk Loaf which is hands down our favorite eating, toasting, grilled cheesing bread.
      I would not hesitate to make this BBA recipe again, but if I am truthful, I probably won't because the DL Milk Loaf is just that much better in taste for my family.  The only way you will know is if you make them both and have a side by side taste test to decide for yourself.  Either way, you are in for some lovely bread with each of the recipes.

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  White Bread, Variation 2, found on pages 265-268.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Tagliatelle al Ragu Veloce (Tagliatelle with a Quick and Simple Meat Sauce)

      This week for the thirty-fourth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Tagliatelle al Ragu Veloce (Tagliatelle with a Quick and Simple Meat Sauce), on page 156. 

      The ingredient list:  onion, olive oil, butter, tomatoes, ground chuck, salt, tagliatelle (or pappardelle or rigatoni or shells), and Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

      This is basically noodles and meat sauce, but with a little extra kick with the fresh tomatoes and onion sauteed into it.  It's nice to have a pasta sauce with meat on a weeknight as it incorporates all the food groups into one quick, easy meal.  My regular meat sauce takes hours on the stovetop and is truly wonderful with a depth that you can't get with just a quick sauce like this.  That said, this is a very nice sauce as the fresh tomatoes retain some of their firmness and body so it gives the sauce a lovely fresh taste.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here's Margaret's entry this week.  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.)

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Brown-Buttered Beans

      Our fourth recipe here at Wednesday with Donna Hay was chosen by Gaye and is Brown-Buttered Beans.  These are easy and quick to make and are a delicious combination of flavors. 

      Ingredients:  green beans, butter, pine nuts, lemon, freshly ground black pepper.      

      While Gaye is in Australia and fresh green beans are probably lovely there this time of year being summer and all, the best I could come up with in the way of fresh green beans were ones that were rather more developed than we like, sort of with over-developed beans in the center and not all that appealing, so this recipe is a great way to make these sorts of beans more tasty. 

      Start with the best beans you can get obviously and then with the addition of the nuttiness of the browned butter, the extra buttery nuttiness of the pine nuts, and the bright pop of the lemon and pepper, you end up with a very tasty side vegetable for dinner.  I can't wait to try this with the nice new green beans in the late spring, early summer. 

      I really like having new recipes that are easy and quick for side vegetables, so it is great to find one that makes the most of fresh green beans this time of year, kind of like roasting tomatoes this time of year as the ones in the stores have very little real tomato flavor.  This is definitely a repeat. 

      Gaye's post on these is here.  Next week, we are making a Puffed Cheese Omlette, so if you would like to make it, here is the recipe.

Modern Baker: Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chunk Bars

      The 78th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chunk Bars, on page 277.  (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).

      The ingredient list for the bars:  butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, coconut, pecans, and chocolate.
      These bars remind me of the Seven Layer Bars that I have been making forever and a day...you know, the ones that we make all in one pan by layering in the ingredients and baking.  That said, these are much better than those (according to my sources) and not that much more effort.  Might have to change it up and make some of each as you can't beat the others for convenience and if these taste better to the guys, that's a good sell as well.  Chocolate, Pecans, Coconut...butter, sugar, vanilla...it's so easy to get their attention.  Definitely a repeat. 

      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, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

(1st photo:  From the sidelines cheering on the team, Ian and Matt are on either side of the gray hooded swimmer.)

(2nd photo: The final Victory Cheer after winning the meet, both boys and girls were victorious...Matt is center toward the back but facing camera with a bare chest...he's tall so one can easily find him most of the time.)

READING:  Tackling my stack of bits and pieces I've marked and set aside to read.  It was growing deep.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Before I get to this week, let me just say that Steve was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week the week before, so here's the info on all that, congrats to Steve! The swim meet this weekend was finally a home meet...the guys had not had a home meet since October, so we were very happy to be able to cheer from the sidelines in our home pool...against Purdue.  For the first time, BTN aired a live dual meet, so that was exciting as well.  Lots of huge cameras, etc., and they break for commercials, interesting at a swim meet. We watched it when we got home and it was fun seeing them all on camera swimming, etc.  It was also senior recognition day with the banquet at night, so that was a bit of extra fun as well...we stayed the night as Boomington was iced over from the time we hit town until the time we left the next day, which made for some interesting navigational issues, both in the car and on foot.  Matt's times were okay, he did get to swim on the A Relay again (and he had the fastest time of the four guys swimming it, so that was a good high note for him).  It was just a very enjoyable time with the meet and getting to spend time with Matt and his friends at the banquet.  Here's the recap of the racing.  Matt swam the 50 Freestyle (7th place), 100 Freestyle (6th place), 200 Freestyle (6th place) and the second position in the 400 Free A Relay.  Not all the results are posted there, but you can find them here.  He's doing nicely for his freshman year.
(Photo:  Ian, Steve, Tyler (one of the seniors), and Matt at the Senior Recognition Banquet Saturday night.)
COOKING BYTES:  Determined to finish that Bread Baker's Apprentice book, I think I have maybe half a dozen to go yet. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Last week was final bid week for the sororities so it was fun finding out where all Matt's friends and the GCHS friends pledged.  IU Swimmers aren't allowed to pledge fraternities or sororities so Matt wasn't involved in any of that...just as well, he has enough going on with the swimming and school. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  The swim meet and getting to spend a couple of days in Hooville. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  We went from lovely temperatures to horribly cold ones, not my favorite thing, but now there is promise of other bearable ones on the horizon and for that I am rejoicing.  How far off is spring?  It was a good week to stay inside and read in front of the fire after work. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Eiteljorg, a film series called The Urban Indian:  click here for the schedule for the remaining ones.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, here is the calendar for it. 

BBA: Vienna Bread

      The thirty-ninth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Vienna Bread, and is found on pages 261-264.  I made a half portion of this bread, which was one loaf, I should have made the whole recipe of 2 loaves (and had one to keep on hand in the freezer) as Vienna Bread is one of our very favorites for grilled cheese sandwiches, and this recipe was excellent.   

      The ingredients:  bread flour, sugar, barley malt powder, salt, instant yeast, egg, butter, and water. 

      This is a two-day bread: one hour and fifteen minutes to make a pate fermentee on the first day (one hour of that is a rising time), and another approximately six hours for the assembly, rising times, forming, and baking on the second day. (Really, most of it is rising time, so this is a great bread to make when you are going to be home or out running errands as you can time the rises between other things you are doing, so don't let that 6 hour bit throw you.)
      I managed to again talk Margaret into baking it with me as it is always more enjoyable to be baking along with someone else and she and I are determined to finish the book together. 

      This bread is excellent for eating out of hand, just a really great flavor to it, and it crisps up nicely for grilled cheese sandwiches, definitely a keeper, and definitely one that I will make time and again. 

      (Note:  Please forgive the photo as I forgot to make the slashes in the bread before it went into the oven, so the outside looks rather plain and dull...that, however, does not affect the taste in the least, so when I bake this again, I will sneak in here and change the picture to a more lovely version of the outside of it, but for now I wanted to get this posted and did not have time to again bake a loaf for photo ops.) 

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  White Bread found on pages 265-267.

CEiMB: Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Couscous; Broccoli with Toasted Garlic

     This week for CEiMB, I chose to make two recipes:  the Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Couscous on page 205 (and online here) and Broccoli with Toasted Garlic on page 249 (and online here) of Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave. 

      The ingredient list for the chicken recipe:  olive oil, chicken breasts, salt, pepper, garlic, fresh spinach, balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and couscous. 

      The ingredient list for the broccoli recipe:  broccoli, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.  

      Time to give another shout out to one of my favorite cooking "help" sites called Eat Your Books.  This site allows you to key in all your own cookbooks and access the recipes in them according to author, book title, or ingredient.  I have had a membership in it for a year now and cannot tell you how many times I go to it each week and how much money it has saved me by quickly finding recipes in my books for me to use up ingredients that I have a portion of that needed to be used up.  This week I had a half a can of tomatoes, a half a bag of spinach, some broccoli, and 2 chicken breasts. 

      I listed my ingredients and the generator kicked up lots of choices.  I settled on this one in a matter of minutes and dinner was on the table in less than a half hour.  Delicious, every single forkful, and lots of Vitamin C as someone (not me) is still trying to kick the end of a cold.

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

 

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Fettuccine alle Zucchine e Zafferano (Fettuccine with Zucchini in a Saffron Cream Sauce)

      This week for the thirty-third recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Fettuccine alle Zucchine e Zafferano (Fettuccine with Zucchini in a Saffron Cream Sauce), on page 82. 

      The ingredient list:  heavy cream, saffron, onion, butter, zucchini, salt, pepper, fettuccine, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

      I was originally going to keep this recipe as you see it in the top photo, a nice little side dish.  When I realized that I had chicken and mushrooms in the frig, and  that I could use them to make a main dish, I went in that direction for dinner.
      This is one of my favorite aspects of this book, each recipe can stand on its own or you can survey what you have on hand and make it go in numerous other directions.  I just love that. 

      This was a nice dinner, easy to put together, and we have all the food groups represented in one dish.  All of it delicious, that saffron sauce gave it all a very special taste and depth.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here's Peggy's post for the week.

      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.)

Modern Baker: Caramel Crumb Bars

      The 77th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Caramel Crumb Bars, on page 276.  (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).

      The ingredient list for the bars:  butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, all-purpose flour, corn syrup, dark brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. 

      The others were raving about this recipe so I moved it up on my list of ones to get to sooner rather than later.  Good decision.  The crust and topping are extremely easy to make, and the caramel center goes together easily following the recipe instructions. 

      These are wonderful, nice and crunchy on the outsides with that creamy gooey caramel center.   Definitely a repeat.   

      Here are posts from others who made them:  Phyl, Margaret, Renee, and Abby.  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, with the blogroll here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Sticky Chicken Parcels

      Our third recipe here at Wednesday with Donna Hay was chosen by me and is Sticky Chicken Parcels.  These are easy to make, contain easy to find ingredients (you could easily change up the combination of veggies), and are delicious, a lovely combination of flavors. 

      Ingredients for the parcels:  chicken breasts (thighs would work nicely as well), soy sauce, plum sauce, garlic, carrot, red bell pepper, leek, ginger, baby corn, basil and butter. 

      Other than the taste, of course, my favorite thing about this recipe is that the packets are made as a little parchment parcels so you can assemble the parcels all ahead of time, place them in the refrigerator, and pull them out when it is time to bake them.  They bake for about 20-25 minutes and would be perfect for busy nights or for times when you are cooking dinner for others and don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen away from your guests.
      I served them with rice as the recipe suggested, and a small salad.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Gaye's post on these is here.  Next week, we are making Brown-buttered Beans, so if you would like to make them, here is the recipe.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream, and Lingonberries

 

      The theme for the 14th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "Winter Wonderland"  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "now is the time for some serious comfort food." When I was searching for my recipe for this theme, I figured Tessa's Finnish background would surely net me a wonderful wintery type dish since Finland is often associated with thoughts of the winter season. 

      I came upon this Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream, and Lingonberries recipe and searched no further.  Meatballs are just a great way to serve up a little protein and depending on the saucing and spicing, they never get boring as there are so many things you can do with them.  And, of course, the guys here love meatballs.  I had made Swedish Meatballs before so I was curious how these would be different as many of the ingredients are the same.  Basically, they are the same thing. 

      These were easy to make (they go together very quickly, as does the sauce). I was a little skeptical of enjoying the additional berry sauce with the meat like this, but it works, it's really good so don't leave it out.  I like how she recommended serving just a bit on the side like this as that way you can just have a little in the bites you want and leave it out of the bites you don't.  Win. Win. 

      The recipe recommended serving it with boiled potatoes, but I had been wanting to try these little Fried Smashed Potatoes from Giada deLaurentiis, so I opted for those and a side of broccoli instead.  Good choices, Mark was very happy with the whole meal, and I would definitely make this and eat again as well.  This is definitely a repeat! 

Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream, and Lingonberries
Serves 4-6

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in

Falling Cloudberries)

Ingredients:
3 slices of white bread
2/3 cup of milk
2-1/4 pounds mixed ground pork and beef
1 large egg
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoons ground allspice
4-1/2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
Lingonberry or Cranberry Jam (to serve)

Soak the bread in the milk in a large bowl for about 30 minutes, or until it has absorbed all the milk and is very soft.  Add the meat, egg, onion, allspice, and season with salt and pepper.  Knead together well with your hands, then form into small balls about the size of walnuts, rolling them between your palms so that they are compact and won't fall apart when cooking.

Heat 2-1/2 Tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil in a nonstick skillet.  Fry the meatballs in batches, turning them once during cooking.  (You will have to work quite quickly and take care not to burn the butter and oil.   If necessary, wipe out the skillet between batches and start again with a little less butter and oil.)  Transfer the cooked meatballs to heavy-bottomed saucepan with any onion that is on the bottom of the skillet and continue with the next batch.

Sprinkle the four into the skillet and mix with a wooden spoon until it is smooth.  Add the remaining butter and let it melt.  Continue cooking, stirring almost continuously, until it is a golden color.  Remove the pan from the heat and very slowly pour in 2 cups of hot water, standing back a bit.   Mix in quickly, then return the pan to the heat.  Stir in the sour cream and mix well, then carefully pour over the meatballs.  Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook, covered, over very low heat for 10-15 minutes, until you have a thick, creamy sauce with soft meatballs to serve with berry jam and boiled potatoes.

 

 

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Baked Fish Parcels

 

      The theme for the 17th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "White as Snow"  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "The view outside your kitchen window is white as snow..." well, yes, it is, definitely white snow out there when I was making this week's recipe. 

      In the Tessa Kiros book Apples for Jam, each chapter is divided into colors, which is quite fun actually when you look through it all.  Sometimes the theme at IHCC this rotation with Tessa Kiros has incorporated that theme by claiming a color for a certain week's selection.  This week the color was white.  I opened the book, each recipe looked worthy and I was wavering back and forth which one I would choose.  Until I got to this recipe:  Baked Fish Parcels.  All the other recipes receded from my mind as I knew this was the perfect one for me for white week, it wasn't until just now that I looked beyond that and saw that there were 5 more white recipes (all desserts) after this one. 

      I first fell in love with doing parchment packets when I was doing Whisk Wednesdays (remember the days when we were Whisk Chicks, Natashya?) and we were cooking French food from Le Cordon Bleu at Home...finding another parchment package recipe to try now interests me each and every time.  This recipe was a very nice one, takes very little time to assemble and bake, and the flavors are wonderful.  A couple of new things I learned from this recipe and will incorporate when I do packets in the future were first, Tessa has us take the rind off the lemon before placing the lemon slices on the fish in the parcel (a nice technique as you can eat the lemon with the fish this way unlike the other way I have done it, which was leave the rind on for baking and that lemon rind is not good to eat with the fish as it doesn't have enough time to cook thoroughly so it has a bitter flavor rather than a soft lemon taste), and the other thing I liked was the way that she directed us to slice the garlic and put it in as a slice rather than dicing it up (when the garlic finished cooking in the parcel it was soft and sweetly toasted garlic, very nice in bits with the fish).   This is definitely a repeat!  Often.

Baked Fish Parcels
Serves 4

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in

Apples for Jam) 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of dry breadcrumbs
4 thick firm whitefish fillets (about 4 ounces each, bones removed)
salt
4 thick slices of lemon, rind removed
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
8 small thyme springs
5 Tablespoons of red wine

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut four pieces of aluminum foil or parchment paper quite a bit larger than your fish fillets. 
Put the bread crumbs on a plate and pat the fish in them to coat both sides.  Sprinkle the fish lightly with salt and put each fillet on a separate piece of foil.  Put a lemon slice on top, drizzle with a tablespoon of oil, and put a garlic clove half and 2 thyme springs on each.

Close up the parcels so that you will be able to open them easily.  Fold the top sides of the foil up and then fold or roll them down.  Fold in the ends to seal them.  Drizzle the rest of the oil over the bottom of your oven dish.  Put the fish parcels in the dish and bake for about 20 minutes.  You should be able to smell the cooked fish, but I usually gently open one parcel with a fork and spoon just to check that it is cooked and then seal it up again.  Wait for 3-4 minutes (so that the oil doesn't spit, then drizzle the wine into the dish and put it back into the oven.  When you start to hear activity from the oil, in about 3-4 minutes, remove the dish from the oven again.  The wine will have reduced to almost nothing, but adds a lovely perfume to the fish.  Serve the parcels immediately, unopened, helping children to open their packages and not get too close to the steam.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I didn't quite make it to the library last week to get books by James Fenimore Cooper as the weather was a bit nasty and I contented myself with a new book that was already here...well, new to me, not new as in copyright date as that is 2009...the book is The Big Burn by Timothy Egan.   I happen to be on a late 19th/early 20th Century kick at the moment so this one fit in nicely...about a huge fire out of control in the summer of 1910 in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.  Lots of excitement and people like Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot popping up constantly and the movement for public conservation in the nation with national parks, etc., what's not to love about that?  JFC will need to wait...maybe this is why I have never read JFC before:  I get distracted easily with historical bits.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt and the team had no swim meet this past week, which might be good as the boy has had a cold which has been hanging on for a bit too long, so a week of not having a competition meet might have been nicely timed for him.  As of today, he says he is on the mend and almost over it all.  Just in time for the IU/Purdue meet this weekend.  Fingers crossed.
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up a bit last week for the blog-along groups, doing more of it again this week, maybe soon I will feel like I am where I am supposed to be with the rest of the group...although, truth be told, most of the groups are all over the place with where they are in keeping up each week, so I'm actually doing pretty good.   With the exception of the Flavors group, that one may have to be a just read-along participation at this point.  Sigh.
FAV NEW FIND:  Lately my favorite new finds have been people-related instead of material-things-related.  Just as well actually.  This week I came in possession of a photo that just warmed my heart...it's a photo of Daniel's mother and Matt at the Yuletide concert over Christmas break.
It's my favorite new find as in all the years of Matt and Daniel's friendship, I don't think I have a photo of Matt and Kathy like this and Kathy is just such a big part of Matt's swimming years, always so encouraging and always bringing her mother along to the meets to help in that endeavor for the CSC kids...the swimmers always knew they could look up in the stands and get a big smile and thumbs-up from Grandma and Kathy no matter what their time or placing was in the event. Kathy got Matt out to California for Nationals this past year and made sure he got to celebrate his birthday with a nice birthday dinner and little cake with a candle in it since he was away from home that day.  She's just that thoughtful always.  It's a very good photo of the two of them, Kathy as lovely as always and Matt as happy to be included always with Kathy's great plans for the boys over the years.  Kathy is one of those moms who is always looking for ways to brighten the lives of everyone around her and Matt and his CSC swimming buddies have benefited greatly from those ways over the years with invitations to concerts, meals, various house invasions for food, games, movies, hanging out, and trips to their lake house for boating weekends.  Over Christmas break she had all the college swimmers over for breakfast after swim practice on the day before they all had to leave to go back to their schools. Fun times, a fun photo for me to have for Matt's scrapbook. (Below is a photo of the Christmas break breakfast at Kathy's house, this was the dining room group, there was a whole other group eating in the kitchen...unfortunately I only have a photo from the group Matt was sitting with: hint to you swimmers out there who were in that other group, send me a photo of you all for the scrapbook!)
 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  It was a great weekend for watching Big Ten Basketball.  Okay, I know those Hoosiers did not win either of their games this week, and we were a bit disappointed, of course, as that removes us from the top ten in the national rankings, but one was a road game no one thought they would win and every team has growing pains...no one ever thought we would be as far as we are this year, so this didn't particularly devastate anyone.  There were some great games and wonderful surprise endings to a lot of games this week...which is what makes it all terribly exciting.  When it is cold and snowy outside there is always NCAA Basketball to keep one warm and happy. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  This was a very slow week in printable news around here...a nice week, but nothing particularly noteworthy at all.  Mark and Alex went up to Grandma and Grandpa's to make sure they had everything they needed, help with a few household chores, salt the driveway for them, and have a nice little visit on Sunday.  The guy-time portion of the visit, i.e. ride to and from, went reasonably well, giving them some time to chat together.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking this out because it leaves in February:  Flow: Can you see the river?  It all looks so different in the winter! (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Mozart, Symphony No. 40, here is the calendar for it. 

Modern Baker: Parisian Fruit Tarts

      The 76th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Parisian Fruit Tarts, on page 166.  (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).

      The ingredient list for the little tart crusts:  butter, sugar, vanilla, egg yolk, and all-purpose flour.  The ingredient list for the pastry cream filling:  milk, cream, sugar, flour, egg yolk, and vanilla.  The ingredient list for the fruit topping:  various fruits, apricot preserves, and water. 

      Say what you want about chocolate desserts, and believe me, they are very popular with the guys here, but when I make something like these fruit tarts, interest runs high and anticipation for the time to eat them always makes me smile because everyone here agrees that fruit desserts are loved best of all.  These little tarts were especially welcome on a cold snowy day when thoughts of summer were far away...and I was able to find at the market fruit that actually tasted like the fruits they are, not quite like summer's bounty, but definitely welcoming and delicious. 

      The tart crust is easy to make, form into the little tart pans, bake, and cool.  The pastry cream is made all in one pan, transferred to a glass bowl to cool in the frig, and the fruit is  a one-bowl deal as well.  All in all, very easy and fun to put together.  Definitely a repeat.   

      Here are posts from others who made them:  Phyl, Margaret, Renee, and Andrea.  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, with the blogroll here.

BBA: Tuscan Bread

      The thirty-eighth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Tuscan Bread, and is found on pages 259-260.  I made a half portion of this bread, which was one small loaf, as I wasn't sure how well-received this was going to be minus the salt as there is no salt in this bread...and quite frankly, what is bread without salt in it?  Apparently the Italians use this bread to serve with salty things so that is why there is no salt in it. 

      The ingredients:  water, bread flour, instant yeast, and olive oil. 

      This is a two-day bread: fifteen minutes to make a paste on the first day, and another approximately five hours for the assembly, rising times, forming, and baking on the second day.  I managed to again talk Margaret into baking it with me as it is always more enjoyable to be baking along with someone else, we were both skeptical at how this was going to taste with no salt, and frankly, we both agreed it was tasteless and we probably would not be making this one again unless we added salt to the recipe.
      I served it with beef stew and it was nice enough with that, Mark enjoyed it that way, and then I also toasted in the oven and put a salty olive spread on top of it to see how that would work, and it did in fact work well, just the right amount of saltiness when you combined the salty olives with the bread in a bite, maybe the Italians do have something going there...leave the salt out of the bread and salt up the toppings! 

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Vienna Bread found on pages 261-264.

BBA: Swedish Rye (Limpa)

      The thirty-seventh Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Swedish Rye (Limpa), and is found on pages 257-258.  I made a half portion of this bread, which was one small loaf, as I wasn't sure how well-received this was going to be with anise and fennel in it, turns out it was very well-received, surprisingly light and delicious. 

      The ingredients:  water, molasses, dried orange peel, ground aniseeds, ground fennel seeds, ground cardamom, barm, white rye flour, bread flour, instant yeast, salt, brown sugar, vegetable oil and an egg white for the egg wash for the top of the loaf. 

      This is a two-day bread: four hours on the first day to make the sponge (and also the barm if you don't have any of that hanging around), and another approximately five hours for the assembly, rising times, forming, and baking on the second day.  I managed to again talk Margaret into baking it with me as it is always more enjoyable to be baking along with someone else, we were both skeptical at how this was going to taste, and both surprised at how much we liked it.
      The flavors do not overpower the bread taste at all, rather they just add a nice little something to it.  It was good eating out of hand, was also nice toasted, and it made a lovely grilled cheese sandwich using Swiss cheese and caramelized onions.  I think I might make this one again sometime.  (And yes, I know the top photo is not good, between the shiny finish from the egg wash and the camera flash at night, it didn't stand much of a chance.  Ah, well, proof I made it!) 

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Tuscan Bread found on pages 259-260.

CEiMB: Hearty Beef Stew

      This week for CEiMB, I chose to make the Hearty Beef Stew on page 137 of Ellie Krieger's new book, Comfort Food Fix.  I could not find the recipe online for you, so you'll just need to buy the book and get all the recipes!  It's a very nice book, I am a big fan of Ellie's recipes and style of cooking, so I was more than delighted to find it under the Christmas tree this year.

      The ingredient list:  flour, salt, pepper, paprika, lean stew beef, olive oil, onion, rutabaga or turnip, carrot, russet potato, tomato paste, dry red wine, beef broth, and green peas. 

      In the book she lists the make-over statistics for each recipe, which I always find interesting to read.  While her version was down just 10 calories per portion for the recipe, the sat fat count was reduced from 8g to 3g, the cholesterol count was reduced from 120mg to 50mg, fiber was increased from 4g to 8 g, and sodium was reduced from 1200mg to 340mg.  All of that seems to point the finger in the direction of making this one again, replacing it with my go-to beef stew with just one minor change. 

      The change I would make would be to leave out the flour...the recipe has instructions to coat the meat with flour and then brown it.  I know this adds to the thickness of the stew juices, but I just don't care for that flavoring and gumminess that flours gives (not a lot but I am a bit picky, so it was enough that I didn't like it).  I much prefer to just brown the spiced meat and let the potatoes do their job of adding a bit of thickness by squashing some of them along the way so the starch from them can thicken things up a bit, and if that doesn't seem satisfactory enough, maybe add a little cornstarch or arrowroot, but only just a little.  The potatoes would have worked well here as they were very soft by the time the meat was cooked nicely tender.  Other than that, this is a very good beef stew.  Definitely a repeat. 

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

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Soutzoukakia (Cumin Meatballs in Tomato)

 

      The theme for the 11th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "A Study in Scarlet."  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "Red fruits and veggies are packed with antioxidants which help fight heart disease and cancer and could help reduce the risk for stroke and the leading cause of blindness in older people, macular degeneration.  Even lean red meats are a nutrient-dense protein and a source of iron, zinc, and minerals including vitamin B12, niacin, and vitamin B6." 

      My guys love red meat, no doubt about it, while they put up with chicken and fish and seafood nicely, if they are requesting things around here in the protein department, it is always red meat.  I didn't have any trouble finding a "red" recipe for this week's theme, not only with the red meat, but with the rich red tomato sauce that accompanies it.  Meatballs are a favorite and in Tessa's book Food From Many Greek Kitchens, I found a nice new take on the meatball using cumin in the mixture.  These were really good, different from what we normally have by way of meatballs, and are definitely on the list for things to make again.  Yep, a nice new take on an old favorite.

Soutzoukakia (Cumin Meatballs in Tomato)
Serves 4-6

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in

Food From Many Greek Kitchens)

Ingredients:
3.5 ounces of crustless bread, about 3 slices, torn up
3/4 cup of milk
1 pound 9 ounces of ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons of chopped Italian parsley
3 garlic cloves, 1 whole, 2 finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 14-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine

Put the bread into a bowl, cover with the milk and leave it for about 10 minutes to soak and soften.

In another bowl put the beef, egg, cumin, parsley, chopped garlic, and season with salt and pepper.  Squeeze out excess milk from the bread and add the bread to the beef.  Mix in very well with a wooden spoon and then with your hands.  Form into meatballs of about 1-3/4 ounces each.  Line them up on a tray.

Heat 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a nonstick pot, add the whole clove of garlic, and when it begins to smell good, add the tomatoes.  Season with salt and a little pepper, put the lid on and simmer for 10 minutes or so, smoothing out any lumpy pieces.  Heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick skillet that has a lid.

Add the soutzoukakia (they should all just fit if you have a big skillet).  Cook until golden all over, gently turning them with tons or by flicking the pan sharply from your wrist if you can manage.  When they are nice and gently browned, add the wine and cook for 5-6 minutes on high heat, until it reduces.  Scrape the tomato sauce over the meatballs and bring it to a gentle boil.  Lower the heat slightly, put the lid on and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Shuffle the skillet once or twice to make sure nothing is sticking.  There should be a good amount of sauce at the end. 

Remove from the heat.  Leave with the lid on for a few minutes or so before serving.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Fasolada (White Bean Soup)

 

      The theme for the 10th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "Bean There, Done That."  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "Beans offer good nutrition and body to a dish, and work magically with rice, corn, and other grains.  And Herbs love 'em.  Just ask them." 

      My favorite thing to do with beans is add them to soups, so this week's assignment had me flipping through the pages of my books looking for a good bean soup.  I found one...it's just full of all good things veggie, and beans, of course.  Everything retains it's own taste, which I love in a soup, and the little salad-like mix sprinkled on the top at the end really adds a nice touch: clean, crispy, and cool.  I am going to remember to do that little technique with some of the other soups that I make, it's just really nice.  Definitely a repeat...and it's very pretty, too.

Fasolada (White Bean Soup)
Serves 6

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in Food From Many Greek Kitchens)

Ingredients:
1 pound 2 ounces dried butter (or cannellini, haricot, navy) beans
3 garlic cloves, 1 whole, 2 chopped
1 bay leaf
1 small celery rib
1/2 small onion
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled, cut into nice chunks
14 ounce can chopped tomatoes
freshly ground black pepper
1-3/4 ounces red or green onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 very coarsely chopped Italian parsley
1/3 cup chopped celery leaves
best quality olive oil for serving

Cover the beans with plenty of cold water and soak overnight.  The next day, drain, and rinse them, and put into a pot with cold water to cover.  Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that has formed.  Drain and rinse again.  Wipe any scum that has collected on the pot, then return the beans to it.

Add 8 cups of cold water, the whole garlic clove, bay leaf, celery rib and the 1/2 onion.  Simmer, partly covered, for about an hour, until tender.  Larger beans will take longer and will need more water.  Add salt in the last 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat and saute the chopped onion until soft and golden.  Add the chopped garlic and carrots and when the garlic smells good, add the tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Swish about 1/2 cup of water in the tomato can and pour into the pot.  Put the lid on and simmer for 10 minutes or so. 

When the beans are ready, pour them and their water in with the tomato sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes, adding a little water if it's too thick.  Ladle into bowls and serve with red onion, parsley and celery leaves on top, a drizzle of oil and a grinding of pepper.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Baked Butternut With Butter and Sugar

 

      The theme for the 9th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "Attitude of Gratitude."  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "Do certain foods come to mind when you think of a bountiful table?"  Back in the fall when I was searching for orange foods for the previous week's entry, I had another orange recipe favorite that I wanted to try so I decided I would make it for the bountiful table post so that I could try both recipes...and really, one cannot have too much orange food in one's diet from the nutritional standpoint alone, right?  Right.  I made only a partial recipe, and if one wanted to cut back on the butter and sugar a bit for moderation's sake and all, this would still be a very tasty squash dish.  Rich and delicious, it belongs on a bountiful table.   Definitely a repeat, easy enough for a weeknight.

Baked Butternut With Butter And Sugar
Serves 6

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in Apples for Jam)

Ingredients:
3-1/2 Tablespoons of butter
2-1/4 pounds unpeeled butternut squash
1/4 cup light brown sugar
salt
4 Tablespoons of water
2 bay leaves

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and generously butter the bottom of a large round ovenproof dish (like 12").  Peel the butternut squash by first cutting it in half, then scooping out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the squash into long slices that are about an inch thick.  Using a small sharp knife, carefully cut away the skin, keeping the shape of the squash slices and taking care that you don't cut yourself, as the skin is hard.  You should have about 1-1/2 pounds of butternut.

Scatter some of the sugar over the bottom of the dish and then lay the butternut slices flat, in a single layer.  Scatter the rest of the sugar over the top, dot with the rest of the butter and sprinkle with a little salt.  Pour 4 Tablespoons of water around the side and add the bay leaves. 

Put into the oven for about 1 hour, or until the butternut is soft and golden, even dark in places, and there is some thick golden juice bubbling away at the bottom.  Spoon the pan juices over the squash a couple of times during the cooking -- if it looks a little too dry, add a dribble more water.  Serve warm.  If you aren't serving it immediately., then reheat gently so that the butter melts again.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros: Cream of Winter Squash Soup

 

      The theme for the 8th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club was "Orange Skies."  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "We will be making any Tessa Kiros recipes where orange-hued ingredients are featured in either a starring role or as part of a strong supporting cast."

      I am always looking for excuses to make soup and I am always looking to try new variations of soups that I love.  Orange?  Great....Cream of Winter Squash Soup fits the criteria, hands down, I had my choice of recipe in short order.

      This is a very good butternut squash soup recipe.  The fresh chicken wing stock really makes a difference and brought a richness to the whole soup.  I will make this again.  One thing of note is that this is a very rich soup so a little goes a long way, make portions planning in that direction.  Might need to make this again soon as I think I used up all my portions in the freezer since I made it in October (life has gotten in the way of my posting but not cooking, hence the late posting of Week 8, oops, and thank you for your patience).  Definitely a repeat, orange food is so good for one...and so cheerful to look at while you are eating it! 

Cream of Winter Squash Soup
Serves 6

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in Apples for Jam)

Ingredients:
2 large chicken wings
9 cups of cold water
1 carrot, peeled and halved
1 small leek, trimmed and halved
2 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
small bunch of parsley
3 thyme sprigs
7 peppercorns
salt
2-3/4 pounds of winter squash
1-1/2 Tablespoons of butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Put the chicken in a large saucepan with 9 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Skim the surface well and then add the carrot, leek, garlic, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns. Season with salt.  Bring it back to a boil, skimming off any more broth that comes to the surface.  Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about an hour.

Strain the broth into a clean pan. (You won't need any of the solids here, but some chicken can be picked off and the vegetables can be chopped up, stirred through some rice and served with parmesan.)

Peel and remove the seeds from the winter squash, then cut it up into smallish pieces.   You should have about 6 cups.  Heat the butter in a large nonstick frying pan and saute the squash over fairly high heat so that it turns quite golden in places and starts to get a little soft inside.  Tip it into the broth and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes until it is soft all the way through.  Puree with a handheld blender until it is completely smooth, and taste for salt.  Add the cream, whisking it in a bit, and heat through, or swirl a little cream through each bowl.  Serve with some brown bread and butter, and adults could add a small scattering of ground chili powder if they want.

IHCC: Tessa Kiros - Spanakorizo (Spinach Rice)

 

      The theme this 16th week of Tessa Kiros' recipes at I Heart Cooking Club is "Rice is Nice."  More precisely, this is what was on the IHCC site for the week:  "Rice is versatile.  There are many different kinds of rice to choose from. Different colors, textures, sizes, and tastes. A rice for everyone." 

      Matt and I love rice, Mark not so much.  He doesn't hate it, and he will eat it, but he would rather have a potato or pasta than rice, so most of the time rice around here is something I make small amounts of and eat myself these days with Matt off at college. That said, I made this rice to accompany another recipe of Tessa's and Mark ate it happily and took leftovers of the meal for lunch the next day, so maybe rice like this has more of a future here than I thought. Maybe rice here needs to be bolder with more flavors incorporated to be truly appreciated.  Whenever I make rice to accompany something at dinner, I just usually use straight rice (different kinds but usually don't mix things into it except for special recipes that call for it).  This recipe was really nice with the scallions, spinach, dill, and lemon...it brought a lot of flavor to the overall dish.  Delicious, and so easy to make.  Definitely repeat-worthy, even for Mark.

Spanakorizo (Spinach Rice)
Serves 4

(Recipe from Tessa Kiros in Food From Many Greek Kitchens)

Ingredients:
2.5 pounds of spinach, rinsed and drained
4 Tablespoons olive oil
3.5 ounces green onions with some green, chopped
3 Tablespoons chopped dill
1 cup medium-grain rice
salt
juice of 1 small lemon
freshly ground black pepper
1 T. chopped mint

Coarsely chop the spinach leaves.  Heat the olive oil in a very large pot and saute the onions until pale gold and softened.  Add the dill and saute for 30 seconds or so, then stir in the rice.

Now add the spinach.  You might feel that it won't all fit in the pot, but fit in as much as you can.  Add 2 cups of hot water and press down and turn the spinach until it begins to wilt and it's all in.  Add a good amount of salt, turn the spinach over with a wooden spoon and put the lid on.

Bring to a boil then turn through again. Lower the heat and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes.  If there is still water in the bottom of the pot toward the end of this time, take the lid off and turn up the heat to let it evaporate.  Remove from the heat.

Sprinkle in the lemon juice and add a few grinds of pepper.  Turn through gently and taste for salt.  Add the mint.

Cover with a clean dish cloth, put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes to steam.  Serve hot or even at room temperature.

Modern Baker: Three-Way Gingersnaps

      The 75th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Three-Way Gingersnaps, on page 279.  (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).

      The ingredient list:  all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, unsalted butter, sugar, egg, fresh ginger, crystallized ginger, and honey. 

      Oh my goodness these are addicting.  They have the nicest spice kick to them, better than any other gingersnap cookie I have ever had...it must be all that ginger in the three forms.  From now on all other gingersnaps will pale in comparison.  They are that good. 

      I baked mine for the 20 minutes rather than the 15-20 as stated in the recipe because we like a nice crunchy cookie.  They were perfect for us.  I also made two batches, one with my Modern Baker Twitter pals online, and one again after that because one batch was not enough, they disappeared quickly over the holidays.  Definitely a repeat, easy and excellent in taste.   

      Here are posts from others who made them:  Phyl, Margaret, Abby.  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, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Raisin Pecan Spice Bars

      The 74th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Raisin Pecan Spice Bars, on page 275.  (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).

      The ingredient list:  all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, butter, dark brown sugar, sugar, eggs, molasses, sour cream, raisins, and pecans. 

      These are really wonderful, moist, spicy, sweet, delicious, a little one goes a long way as they are filling, so a big pan makes a huge amount.
      I wanted these for the Christmas cookie tray so I fancied them up a bit with a little icing on the top just to make them seem party-festive.  There weren't any left at the end of the evening.  Definitely a repeat, this is a really nice recipe for a spice bar. 

      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, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Sour Cream Brownies

      The 73rd recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Sour Cream Brownies, on page 274.  (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).

      The ingredient list:  butter, chocolate, dark brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, salt, vanilla, all-purpose flour, and walnuts.

      I maybe should have baked these a little less to get a less firm center as these were cake-like, but then others said that cake-like brownies are great, so I'm not really sure as it's not like I eat brownies to know the difference, being full of chocolate and all as they are, of course. 

      Mark liked them very much, the combination of a nice moist brownie with the sour cream addition and the nuts appealed to him enough to request a repeat soon.  He was happy that I made them when Matt was at school so that he actually could get more than one or two.  I froze some of them for Matt when he would be home over Christmas break, and those appeared to be just as well received as the fresh ones. 

      Here are posts from others who made them:   Abby, Marie, 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, with the blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Tagliatelle ai Piselli (Tagliatelle with Peas)

      This week for the thirty-second recipe I've made forThirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Tagliatelle ai Piselli (Tagliatelle with Peas), on page 53. 

      The ingredient list:  onion, olive oil, peas, salt, pepper, and tagliatelle or pappardelle (I used pappardelle). 

      This is a good pasta to make for a side dish (and if you want to put chicken or shrimp in it, you could use it for a great lunch or dinner as well).  It doesn't take long to make, it has very few ingredients, most of which you probably have on hand on any given week, especially since the recipe states that you can use either fresh or frozen peas.  The taste was what you would expect of peas and pasta, nothing really stellar but a nice peas and pasta recipe.

       Here's Margaret's choice for the week, and here is Peggy's choice for the week.   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.)

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Smoked Ham and Cheese Toasties

      This year my blogging friend Gaye from Australia and I are determined to make use of our Donna Hay recipes, cookbooks, etc., so we are hoping to commit to Donna Hay Wednesdays (Gaye likes that it rhymes and of course, it rhymes with "Gaye" as well) and the two of us (and whoever else would like to join in the fun) are going to make recipes from the DH website where she has recipes already posted and we don't have to worry about any copyright problems, we can just link to the recipe...which also means if anyone wants the recipe, they can also get it this way. 

      Since Gaye and I are 16 hours apart in time zones and forever the opposite seasons, we are not going to try to actually cook this at the exact same time, but just rather cook the same thing and post it each week on Wednesdays.  This is especially necessary since our common hours of daily activity, i.e. being awake and productive are 3 p.m.-10 p.m. my time, at which time she is busy at work lawyering down there in Melbourne from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. her time.  When she is posting her recipe, it is still Tuesday here for me (Wednesday post) and when I am posting the recipe (Wednesday post), it is Thursday for her...one can see why Gaye and I are meeting up in cyberspace only at this particular time.  It will be interesting learning all these differences and which are seasonal ingredients there for her, could be quite challenging as she is having summer right now and I am having winter! 

      Our second recipe was chosen by Gaye and is Smoked Ham and Cheese Toasties.  They are easy to make, contain easy to find ingredients, and are easy to share around if you can't eat the whole one because this makes a very big sandwich (the above photo is half of a sandwich). 

      Grilled cheese sandwiches are favorites at our house, using just the right bread to get just the right crunchy texture on the outside with the creamy melted cheese on the inside, it's hard to beat a really good grilled cheese sandwich. 

      This sandwich has bread, Swiss Cheese, shaved smoked ham, Dijon mustard, and a creamy cheese sauce inside the sandwich made with more Swiss Cheese.  Totally wonderful.  I made as stated this first time and made note that half the recipe for the cheese sauce would be plenty for the next go at it as it makes a lot of cheese sauce.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Check the recipe out here.  Gaye's post on the first and second recipes is here.  Next week, we are making Sticky Chicken parcels, so if you would like to make them, here is the recipe.

Sunday's Snippets

Photo:  If you ask this guy (Vash) what his favorite thing was this week, the above photo would be it...his buddy Matt home to spoil him rotten with tummy rubs and attention, even for just three hours.

READING:  In all my reading, I have never read a single thing ever by James Fenimore Cooper, so I am rectifying that by going on a Cooper binge in reading.  Sometimes I run across someone major that I haven't read like this and it amazes me that I haven't stumbled across some assignment or some reading urge to read his/her works.  Going for this one now.    
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt and IU the team traveled to Ann Arbor for a swim meet yesterday.  The girls team won, the boys team had to acknowledge the superiority of UofM's men's team this meet.  I think UofM's men's swim team is rankled like 4th in the nation, so if one has to yield a victory to another team, it makes sense that it would be such a good one.  Matt didn't have any new best times, but he is right on his old best times, so that is good considering he is dealing with his new physique, a bit of changing by the coaches to his starts, turns, and strokes...all good and his times being this good in the midst of all of that is encouraging.  His favorite part was that he got to swim the A relay in the 400 Freestyle Relay as he thought he was going to be on the B relay, so he was excited to be moved up to that first one in such an important meet. All in all, a very good freshman year so far.   Here's the link to the wrap-up at the IU swim site and Matt gets a few mentions in the article so that is very fun to see.  Go IU!
COOKING BYTES:  Last month marked the end of the Tuesdays with Dorie blog along as all the recipes had been chosen, made, and posted.  Here is a nice link to the Washington Post article discussing such.  What a lot of fun these past four years baking with this group...I made a lot of wonderful friendships baking and discussing each week with so many of them.  The group starts a new challenge in February...yep, I'll be there...we are going to be baking our way through the Baking with Julia book.
FAV NEW FIND:  On New Year's Day Mark and I went to Bloomington to take Matt out for New Year's lunch and we rounded up Ian, Steve, Ryan, and Joe to take with us as well.  Such fun getting to know Matt's teammates as this was the first time we had gotten to actually sit down and converse with Ryan and Joe, both of whom Matt enjoys hanging out with at IU.  Since the dorms are not open over break, Ryan graciously housed Matt, Ian, and Steve at his place for those days as the swimmers all needed to be back on campus for practice the by December 27th.  A fun time was had by all, as they say in my hometown newspaper, nothing to do but go to practice twice a day and hang out with no classes to attend.  Anyway, it is fun getting to know some of the other guys on the swim team. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Of course, it was great seeing what Matt could do at the swim meet this week, so that's a given.  Other than that, I think the near 60 degree temperatures here this week in January has got to be my favorite thing.  I am not a winter-loving person.  Enough said on the weather. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  GCHS was back in session this week so it was nice seeing the students and hearing about their holidays/gifts/fun times over break; some of the college kids came around to visit while on break, so that was great seeing them; IU's win over OSU this week was huge, as was today's win over Penn State on the road, making the basketball team 15-1 for the season feels great, and having Matt home for a bit today was wonderful.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking this out because it leaves in February:  Art of American Indians: The Thaw Collection (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Hello Dolly in Concert, here is the calendar for it. 

BBA: Stollen

      The thirty-sixth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Stollen, and is found on pages 252-256.  I made a half portion of this bread, 1 crescent shaped loaf. 

      The ingredients:  whole milk, all-purpose flour, instant yeast, golden raisins, candied fruit mix (I used dried cherries with the golden raisins), brandy, lemon extract, sugar, salt, grated orange zest, grated lemon zest, cinnamon, unsalted butter, slivered almonds, and powdered sugar. 

      This is a one-day bread: one hour to make the sponge, and another three hours for the assembly, rising times, forming, and baking.  I managed to talk Margaret into baking it with me as it is always more enjoyable to be baking along with someone else...and it was. 

      The dough came together easily, I kneaded it by hand, and it came together in about 5 minutes of steady kneading.  My kitchen was cool so the rising time for the first rise was a little longer than stated, but for the second rise, I parked it by the fire in the fireplace and it was right on the time stated.
       I baked the bread for 40 minutes as it was a smaller loaf and finished by then, cooled it just slightly and (although it said to wait to slice it), we sliced it and ate a piece warm and then I made the rest into French Toast, which was really good (although maybe not politically correct). 

      I would definitely make this one again, I had no idea Stollen was so easy to make, and the process so enjoyable!  This is a wonderful recipe.  You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Swedish Rye (Limpa) found on pages 257-258.

CEiMB: Portobello Lasagna Rollups with Easy Tomato Sauce

      This week for CEiMB, I chose to make the Portobello Lasagna Rollups with Easy Tomato Sauce on pages 152-153 of Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave.  You can find the recipes online here. 

      These were fun to make and they look so cute all done up in their little packages.  This would be a great recipe to make ahead, park in the frig, and then bake in the oven when guests were coming for dinner, or on a busy weeknight.  The portions are large, the book states that each person would get 2 rolls but that is way too much if you are serving a salad and maybe some garlic breadsticks with it, one of the rolls is plenty.  Next time I will adjust the recipe accordingly to figure the portions. 

      The mushrooms were wonderful and one doesn't miss the meat at all.  That said, if meat was desired, you could use a meat sauce rather than just a tomato sauce.  Rather than stand the rolls on end, which was really pretty in the photo in the book, I positioned them on their sides so that they would fit in my baking dish better.  Definitely a repeat. 

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

Twitter Chef Avatar Fun: Donna Hay's Roasted Pistachio and Honey Yogurt

 

      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.  It has been a great way to learn new chefs and cook something in their repertoire. 

      January's avatar chef is Donna Hay, chosen by myself.  I have two of Donna Hay's cookbooks:  Off the Shelf and New Food Fast, which have been shamefully neglected.  I hope to correct that this year, so January is a good place to begin. 

      My blogging friend Gaye, from Australia who baked in Tuesdays with Dorie and French Fridays with Dorie with me, expressed a desire to cook more Donna Hay recipes, so we are hoping to explore them together this year.  Donna Hay is actually Australian and if you would like to learn more about her, here is her site.  

      What attracts me to her recipes are their simplicity and the clean healthy appearances of them...the books I have contain a photo for each recipe (nice to know where one is headed and all) and the recipes are simply and clearly written.  Each recipe is beautifully presented (check out the recipe links on her site and I'm sure you will agree.)  Like I said, shamefully neglected on my shelves as each time I look through them I am determined to cook more from them and somehow that day has not arrived...until now. 

      I'm starting off with a simple recipe that I thought would make a delightful breakfast (or snack) and also make a pretty avatar.  This recipe is all that, and very fast/easy to make and eat!  Delicious!

Roasted Pistachio and Honey Yogurt

Adapted From New Food Fast by Donna Hay

 

 

Pour honey into the base of a small glass or bowl (I used a tablespoon of honey in this small glass).

 
Sprinkle with coarsely chopped roasted pistachios (I used a tablespoon of nuts).
Top with thick creamy yogurt (I used about 3 ounces of yogurt).

 
Delve spoon through the layers to the bottom and drag it through the layers to get a bit of each with each bite.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Conchiglie alla Salsiccia (Shells with Sausage and Cream)

      This week for the thirty-first recipe I've made forThirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Conchiglie alla Salsiccia (Shells with Sausage and Cream), on page 160. 

      The ingredient list:  onion, butter, sausage, cream, salt, pepper, conchiglie or fusilli, and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. I also tossed a little fresh parsley on top to make it look pretty as I was in a mood to have it look pretty since sausage and pasta alone don't look all that exciting.

      This is clean-out-freezer-frig-pantry week/month here...bits and pieces of things that are hanging around and need to be used, i.e. part of a box of this pasta, part of a package of sausage in the freezer, and an onion that was screaming to be used sooner rather than later.  I love this book of recipes, I can almost always survey the ingredients I have on hand and match it with one of the recipes.  

      It was delicious, not a lot of butter and cream in it, so it is lighter than you would think, and the freshly grated cheese makes it taste fresh.  Mark loves sausage, so he was happy that half a recipe made enough for us to eat and for him to take for lunch tomorrow.  Definitely a repeat.  

      Margaret also participated this week, here's her post.

      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.)