Grandma's Kitchen Table

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Asparagus Tarts

      My forty-fifth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Asparagus Tarts, found in Modern Classics I on page 174. 

      The ingredient list:  puff pastry, fresh asparagus, and parmesan cheese. 

      Only three ingredients (and I did add a little salt and pepper as I think many times recipe authors just assume you know to add that at will).  The recipe is simple, just cut the puff pastry to fit the asparagus spears, place the spears on the pastry, top with some freshly shaved parmesan cheese (and I sprinkled on a little salt and pepper), place in oven to bake, and serve.

      Two notes:  these are best fresh from the oven as the puff pastry does not rewarm well, and the second note, when I placed the asparagus spears on the pastry, I alternated the spears so that if I wanted to divide one of the little pastries in half, the person would get a couple of tops and a couple of bottoms, not just all tops or all bottoms.  That worked nicely. 

      We liked these and I would make them again as they are extremely easy to assemble, bake, and serve.  Delicious! 

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret and Chaya each had majorly busy lives this week, so they will join in again next week.  Next week we are making Gaye's choice, Indian Lamb Curry found on page 100 of Modern Classics I. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Brown Butter and Sage Fettuccine

      My forty-fourth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Brown Butter and Sage Fettuccine, found in Modern Classics I on page 148. 

      The ingredient list:  fettuccine, butter, and sage leaves. 

      Only three ingredients and you have a nice side dish for a busy weeknight to satisfy your carb-loving family. I have buttered up a little fettuccine countless nights and added an herb or two, but I have never made it with brown butter before. The brown butter does add a certain depth of flavor and nuttiness that makes it a whole different flavor profile.  You don't need much as it is very rich in flavor and filling enough on its own. 

      Margaret has had a busy month, so I'm sure she enjoyed the ease of her pick of this recipe for this month, it is definitely one that I will make this again.  Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret's post is here. 

      Next week we are making Asparagus Tarts found on page 174 of Modern Classics I. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Vegetable Pies

      My forty-third recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Vegetable Pies, found in Modern Classics I on page 164.

      The ingredient list:  potato, sweet potato, butternut squash, zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper, oil, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, fresh rosemary, ricotta, cheddar, parmesan cheese, and one pastry crust.

      If you love roasted vegetables, this is a "must make" recipe, they are so tasty in this little one-crust pie.  The vegetables all get roasted in the oven (I did mine the day before while I was cooking dinner and parked them in the frig until the next day's assembly).  Once the veggies are all roasted, they are combined with the ricotta and cheddar and placed into a pastry-lined pie dish (or tart pan).  Parmesan is sprinkled on top before it is baked. 

      The recipe actually had instructions for making little individual small pies with the ingredients, but I decided that I would make a third of the recipe and use a 6" tart pan instead as you all know me by now...there are never enough excuses to use my favorite little 6" tart pan.  It worked well.  I did have some leftover roasted veggie mixture, but this is Lent, and the leftover mixture will go for a meatless meal by way of being included in a frittata later in the week. 

      All the flavors went so wonderfully well together, her choice of vegetables was a delicious combination with the cheeses.  Definitely will make this again, it was a big hit here. 

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  (She made hers in little individual pie dishes and they are so cute!) Margaret's post is here.   Next week is Margaret's choice:  Brown Butter and Sage Fettuccine found in Modern Classics I, page 148. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Sunday's Snippets (A Little Late This Week...Oops)

READING:  The Reshaping of Everyday Life 1790-1840 by Jack Larkin.  This is a very good review of the material culture during America's early Republic days.  It reads fast, and even though you might have a good grasp on most of this if you read a lot of history, there was still a lot to learn.  Very enjoyable.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU Men's Swimming and Diving swim meet this past week was the Big Ten Championships and was hosted/held at the IU pool in Bloomington.  IU came in second to Michigan's first this year...if you know anything about the conference, you know Michigan is hard to beat in Men's Swimming, they have a depth like no other Big Ten team and they are big and strong and fast and numerous and just keep coming at you.  We were very happy with second place.  Standing room only crowd on hand.

      The Wolverines totaled 899 points over the four-day event. Indiana finished second with 664 points and Ohio State was third with 470 points. Minnesota tallied 378 points, while Purdue compiled 328 points to round out the top five in the final team standings.  Wisconsin finished 6th with 277 points, Iowa finished 7th with 245 points, Penn State finished 8th with 212 points, Northwestern finished 9th with 161 points, and Michigan State finished 10th with 126 points.  Illinois and Nebraska do not have Men's Swimming and Diving teams, so in Men's Swimming and Diving at least, the Big Ten is still the Big Ten, meaning there are just ten teams participating.   

      Matt had a very good meet, he swam 50, 100, 200 Freestyles and the 800 Freestyle Relay.   He had a new best time in his 800 free relay leg, a new best time in his 200 Freestyle (finishing in the Top 16 and achieving a B cut for NCAAs), and in his 50 and 100 freestyles he had close to his best times.  His 800 Freestyle Relay broke the school's record and achieved an A cut for the NCAAs later this month.  Matt was awarded an All Big Ten Award for that relay swim (which he was really thrilled with).  His sophomore year ended on a great note.  (Of course he wanted to have new best times in everything, so that's the goal for next year.)  Here's a connect to the meet story from Day 1 from Day 2 from Day 3 from Day 4 and from there you can go to each day's Meet Results. 

      Here are some photos, not all that great because frankly it was very crowded/noisy/nuts and hard to get my camera out/focused/inline with anything remotely resembling a clear shot.

Coach Looze leading the men in the opening cheer.

Enthusiastic yells for the IU swimmers in the water winning the race, taking 1st and 2nd.

The 800 Freestyle Relay lining up to swim the first night of the meet. Eric in red cap ready to get on the block, Matt in black cap, Steve in white Indiana cap, and Jimmie in fourth position with a red cap.

Matt on the block and ready to swim his fastest leg ever in the 800 Freestyle Relay.

And, he's off, swimming as fast as he can trying to beat Michigan.
The school record-breaking Men's 800 Freestyle Relay:  Matt, Eric, Jimmie, and Steve.  Second place finish, enough for All-Big Ten Awards for all four of them (Matt and Eric are holding their awards.) 

Matt's Second Place medal for the 800 Freestyle Relay (Darn that Michigan...lol...first place was theirs!)

Sometimes when you aren't swimming, you have another important task for your teammates who are distance swimmers:  Lap Counter.  Matt putting the board in with the number of laps his teammate is on during the distance swims.  This requires a great deal of focus to be on the correct lap and can be taxing when you are upwards of 38 laps.  Especially if you are a sprinter and 8 laps only seems to be manageable without a counter.

There's always a bit of additional fun when someone you have known your whole life shows up as a student worker at the meet and is assigned to be a timer in the lane you are swimming in...Miss Molly O'Malia with a big smile (Molly is our Godchild and Molly's parents are Matt's Godparents).  They had a good time chatting and cheering...Molly being one of Matt's best cheerleaders always.

This year Mark and I were in charge of the Big Ten Goody Bags for the Men's Swimming and Diving teams.  I vaguely remember volunteering for this in the heat of the moment at last year's Big Tens. lol Anyway, this is the scene in our dining room the week before Big Tens...38 Swimmer/Diver bags, 6 Coach bags, 1 small Secretary Thank You bag, and 1 very large bag for the staff working the meet...all ready for assembly.
All assembled (except for Secretary and Staff bags).  Mark and I did it together and it was actually quite fun.
This was the main gift...a big swim towel individualized with each swimmer or diver's name on it.  The swimmers got Indiana Swimming on theirs and the divers got Indiana Diving on theirs.  The rest of the bag was filled with healthy (and some not so healthy) treats donated by the parents for inclusion in the bags.  Big Ten Goody Bag job, not such a bad deal at all.

COOKING BYTES:   Think I am down to blogging in just one group, Wednesday with Donna Hay, for the time being and then just venturing out on my own with various things as with The Swimmer away at college, we can't dispose of food as easily as has been the case in the past and I am finding that matching all the groups with what is needed/wanted here currently isn't working as well.  So, guess for the time being, my solution is to jump in the groups whenever I can make something work menu-wise, and sit out when I can't.  Except for WwDH, which I can always make fit in around here. 

FAV NEW FIND:  I try to keep this positive, but for this week I will say what my Favorite New Find WAS NOT:  the huge snowfall that appeared out of the west two days ago and dumped several inches of the white stuff covering everything and leaving no blade of grass (or my emerging crocus flowers) in sight.  Spring can't come soon enough.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  We were at the Big Tens this past week and it was just a wonderful time.  Although it was in Bloomington (about 72 miles away), we stayed the whole time and made the most of being in B-town.  Matt, Ian, and Steve were required to stay with the entire team at a hotel (so hometown swimmers don't have advantage of being in their own beds, etc.), so Matt offered his house for our lodging and it was great as they have a really nice little house on campus. He was very appreciative that I did all his laundry while I was there.  It was thrilling to watch all our IU swimmers and divers compete in the meet.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Not much going on except the Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships all week, if there were other things happening, I missed them all.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   If you did not get to see IU Opera's production of Akhnaten when it was in Bloomington, you have another chance as it is guesting at the Indianapolis Opera venue here in Indianapolis at Clowes Hall for this weekend only.  Go see it...it is wonderful!  Historical in content (obviously), stage and sets are fantastic, performances top-notch. Read more about it here.  At the ISO:  Son Lux and Shara Worden, click here for details and Sunday a special Dance to the Music performance, click here for details.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Beef and Caramelized Onion Couscous Salad

My forty-second recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Beef and Caramelized Onion Couscous Salad, found in Off the Shelf on page 78, and you can perhaps find it online here. 

      The ingredient list:  steak, olive oil, black pepper, spinach (obviously missing in my dish this week so I guess it's not really a salad after all), Dijon, onions, couscous, chicken stock, lemon juice, and sea salt. 

      Gaye chose this one for us this week and I was sorta hoping that the weather would be nice enough for Mark to grill the steak out on the grill, but no...we currently have 3 inches of freshly fallen snow with more joining it as we speak.  No time for the grill.  So, for the first time ever, I grilled a steak on my grill pan indoors...who knew that was so easy and delicious?  This is why I join cooking groups, to expand my horizons and encourage me to try things I wouldn't normally try.  This was a happy find indeed. 

      The couscous combination is one that I will definitely use again and again.  It has caramelized onions and Dijon mustard in it, what's not to love about that combination...goes perfectly with steak. 

      There was supposed to be a third component to this dish...a nice bed of fresh raw spinach nestled under the couscous and steak, which is what makes it deserve the title of "salad" and which I am sure is going to be delicious when I try it correctly next time.  I had spinach and last night I couldn't for the life of me remember what I was saving it for so we had a nice spinach salad to use it all up.  Then this morning I remembered what it was I was saving that spinach for, but obviously too late, and who feels like going to the market when it is much more enjoyable to stay indoors and watch the snow falling from my windows?  Next time.  (The third selection pictured on this plate is the Roasted Asparagus and Gruyere Bread Pudding that I made from Nick Malgieri's new Bread cookbook.  Will post that later.) 

      All of this was simple, easy, delicious, and one that I will make again.  All the flavors went so wonderfully well together. And, of course, I can't wait to get more spinach and try it as a proper salad soon!

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret's post is here.  Next week is my choice:  Vegetable Pies found in Modern Classics I, page 164. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.