Grandma's Kitchen Table

IHCC: Donna Hay - Prawn Spaghetti with Lemon Vodka Sauce

      The theme for this week forI Heart Cooking Clubs is November Potluck (Cook any Donna Hay recipe or a recipe from any other former IHCC chef).  The recipe I chose for this week was Prawn Spaghetti with Lemon Vodka Sauce, and it can be found on page 40 in Donna Hay's Simple Dinners cookbook. 

      The ingredient list:  pasta, butter, garlic, shrimp, cream, vodka, lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper.  

      Here it is Sunday and I still have need of making and posting a recipe for IHCC, not particularly organized this week about getting it all done, so DH recipes are great ones to be choosing from as I can usually go to my pantry and frig/freezer and find the ingredients I need on short notice.  Such was the case with this recipe.   Everything listed was something I already had on hand, even the vodka, which is not something I normally have on hand, but I did have one of those little teeny tiny bottles of vodka in the cabinet for some reason and when I saw this recipe I figured this was the perfect place for it as I only needed 2 Tablespoons! 

      Easy recipe, comes together quickly, and the taste is wonderful, the lemon and vodka gave the cream and shrimp a whole new dimension, not alcoholic in taste but just a little depth and some character.  I would make this again (and I might even buy some actual vodka to have on hand for it).  

      Really, for the recipe, just buy the book, I've made eight recipes from it so far, and each one worthy of the purchase price. Please visit the I Heart Cooking Clubs site to see what the others made, you just click on their photo entry and it links you to their post/recipe.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Pumpkin and Goat's Cheese Pizza

      My eightieth recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Pumpkin and Goat's Cheese Pizza, was chosen by me, and is found on page 78 in Donna Hay's Modern Classics 1 cookbook.

      The ingredient list: roasted pumpkin, goat's cheese, pancetta, thyme, oil, and pizza dough (I used her Basic Pizza Dough recipe online here). 

      First of all, I like Donna Hay's Basic Pizza Dough recipe, it's quick, easy, and I always have the ingredients in the pantry.  This pizza was fun, just different ingredients from what I would normally select for a pizza, put together simply, and baked in about 15 minutes. 

      The taste was mild, and I would probably think of other ways to jazz up the flavor the next time just to see where I could go with that, but this was great just on its own as she has written it.  Pumpkin on a pizza, who knew?  Absolutely delicious.

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post is here.  Margaret's post is here. Chaya's post is here.  Sarah's post is here.  Next is Margaret's choice, Potato, Bacon, and Leek Soup, found in Modern Classics 1, page 24.  Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Coleslaw

      My seventy-ninth recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Coleslaw, was chosen by Gaye,and is found on page 46 in Donna Hay's Modern Classics 1 cookbook.

      The ingredient list:  cabbage, green onion, parsley, radishes, black pepper, egg, white wine vinegar, vegetable oil, and capers (I did not use these as Mark does not care for them). 

      This recipe deviates from my standard coleslaw recipe a bit but is every bit as tasty.  I like that the dressing is sort of just drizzled on and does not touch every single piece of the cabbage, sometimes one just wants a bit of that dressing and not a whole bunch gunking up the entire salad (that would be me).  I liked the radishes in this (my other slaw has carrots in it which are nice, but the radishes were pretty and gave it a little spicy kick as radishes tend to do). 

      I would have liked to used the capers, but Mark does not care for them, so sometime I will make it just for me and sneak those capers in like she suggested in the recipe. I like that salty briny flavor of those little capers.  The dressing was like a homemade mayonnaise with the egg and oil, and I'm not sure why, probably my horrific skills with the camera and the flash, but my photo looks like the dressing was absolutely white, which is wasn't really, it had a yellowish tint to it from the egg.  Oh, well, it looks nice either way. 

      We liked the recipe, would make it again, and as far as ease goes, it really doesn't get much easier.

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post is here.  Chaya's post is here.  Sarah's post is here.  Next is my choice, Pumpkin and Goat's Cheese Pizza, found in Modern Classics 1, page 78.  Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

IHCC: Donna Hay - Cheat's Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tarts

      The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Are You Calling Me a Tart?  (Donna Hay sure knows how to make a great tart. And so can you.).  The recipe I chose for this week was Cheat's Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tarts, and it can be found on page 180 in Donna Hay's Simple Dinners cookbook. 

      The ingredient list:  thin plain round chocolate biscuits (cookies), caramel sauce, sea salt flakes, dark chocolate, and single cream.  

      I know, I know, I chose a chocolate recipe, seriously, me...a chocolate recipe?  I am not a fan of chocolate.  That said, I am trying to chose my theme recipes from this one cookbook, and as luck would have it, this is the one cookbook of hers that has very few tart recipes, only a couple, and one of them was one that I had already made before, so chocolate or not, I decided to choose this recipe for technique alone (and to get others to taste test it for me, which is really never any problem).  

      It's called "Cheat's..." because the recipe calls for the tart crust to be made from a single cookie.  You choose a store-bought cookie, place it on a muffin tin cup, heat it in oven for 5 minutes to soften it, poke it down into the cavity of the muffin tin cup, let it cool, and there you have it, a nice little tart crust in a matter of minutes with no fuss and no mess. 

      The filling is easily made by heating the ingredients on the stovetop and spooning it into the little tart shell.  The caramel sauce is spooned on top, and the whole thing gets a sprinkling of salt flakes. 

      I live with chocolate-loving guys so my husband Mark did the honors of taste testing and declared it "Excellent."  As a side note, he ate one while waiting for dinner to cook as he didn't want to wait for dessert, so I guess you can use it for an appetizer as well, right?  I would say that was a decent endorsement. 

      You can be assured I will use this little cookie crust technique again, it is so quick and easy, perfect for a last minute dessert to serve or take somewhere.  I can also see this working very nicely for a non-chocolate cookie, and you can bet I'm going there next. 

      Really, for the recipe, just buy the book, I've made seven recipes from it so far, and each one worthy of the purchase price. Please visit the I Heart Cooking Clubs site to see what the others made, you just click on their photo entry and it links you to their post/recipe.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Eggplant and Feta Meatballs with Tzatziki

      My seventy-eighth recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Eggplant and Feta Meatballs, was chosen by Sarah, and is found online here.  I also made the accompanying Tzatziki sauce, found online here. 

      The ingredient list for the meatballs:  eggplant, olive oil, ground beef, parsley, mint, garlic, lemon rind, feta cheese, salt, and pepper.  The ingredient list for the sauce:  yogurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, honey, cumin, salt, and white pepper. 

      This recipe takes a bit of work, not a lot, it was all finished in 45 minutes once I had the eggplant cooked and cooled (I did that the day before while I had the oven going for something else).  When I looked at the list of ingredients for the meatballs, I wasn't too certain they would hold together while cooking (and I am not the best or even close to good at making meatballs look lovely and round and gorgeously browned, etc.) as there weren't any breadcrumbs or egg or anything else I could see would work as a binder for them, but you know what?  They held together pretty well and all those calories from the extra bread and egg weren't present, go figure.  Anyway, the eggplant is kind of mushy so that might be what held it together, yours will probably look better than mine. 

      I couldn't taste the eggplant in the meatball at all, but I could discern little chunks of it.  It all just tasted like a meatball, no eggplant taste at all for me, which was fine...I do like eggplant, but the guys aren't too fond of it.  It all tasted ever so nice, delicious and moist, and the feta, garlic, and lemon in the mixture gave it all great seasoning.  I would make these again, they were delightful in taste and fairly fun to process and make. 

      The accompanying sauce worked so nicely with that hint of cumin and honey in it that I don't usually have in my other Tzatziki sauce recipes.  Definitely a repeat for us both the meatballs and the sauce were delicious! (There were 3 small ones on my plate and I helped myself to another 2, and maybe I could have eaten another when all was said and done, they were great!)

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post is here.  Margaret's post is here. Chaya's post is here.  Sarah's post is here.  Next is Gaye's choice, Coleslaw, found in Modern Classics 1, page 46.  Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

IHCC: Donna Hay - Roasted Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese, and Pear Bruschetta

       The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs is In Season (What's in season in your little corner of the world?).  The recipe I chose for this week was Roasted Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese, and Pear Bruschetta, and it can be found on page 26 in Donna Hay's Simple Dinners cookbook. 

      The ingredient list:  butternut squash, olive oil, sage leaves, sourdough bread, caramelized onion relish, blue cheese, arugula, pear, and walnuts.  

      In the book, this recipe was right after the Simple Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich so last week I was sort of torn which one I wanted to make for sandwich week.  When I realized this week was going to highlight seasonal ingredients, I made my mind up rather quickly which recipe to make last week, and which for this week as this recipe has butternut squash, walnuts, arugula, onions, sage, and pears, all of which are readily available and in season in Indiana in November. 

      Oh my goodness is this a wonderful brushchetta...all those fall flavors camping happily together on top of the sourdough bread and a riot of flavor in every bite.  I think I could eat one of these every day this week and never tire of it...and I just might, after all, it's in season and I really should be making the most of the season before we zip into winter and some of these will be a tad harder to locate.

      I served it with grilled steak for dinner, which worked out really well as it was sort of salad, side dish, and bread all in one neat (okay, not so neat) little package.  (She actually had more pear and arugula on top and I added it after the photo so that you could see more of the ingredients and not have them covered up with the lettuce and pear.)  Goes great with grilled steak.   Really, for the recipe, just buy the book, I've made six recipes from it so far, and each one worthy of the purchase price.

      Please visit the I Heart Cooking Clubs site to see what the others made, you just click on their photo entry and it links you to their post/recipe.