Recipe: White Bean and Mushroom Cassoulet

White Bean and Mushroom Cassoulet

Food & Wine Magazine, Mar 2024, p. 39
4.8 stars

Delicious and EASY dish to make -- though the cook time is a little long. The dish will look soupy, but the liquid soak up.

Ingredients: cannellini beans, dried porcini mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, panko, Gruyere cheese,  garlic, tomato paste, dry white wine, dry sherry, parsley, extra-virgin olive oil, thyme, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper, hot water

Tips/Notes:

• Used dried porcini powder that we had
• Used a little less water since there was so much liquid
• Next time consider adding some paprika and cayenne

Recipe: Lentil Veloute with Cabbage and Toasted Brioche

Lentil Veloute with Cabbage and Toasted Brioche

Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2019, p. 85

4.7 stars

(I couldn't find this recipe online so have not linked it here.)

I had set aside this recipe back from 2019, thinking we might make this super interesting recipe one day.... 

We had some cabbage left over from another dish so decided to give this a try. I was mostly intrigued because of the coffee whipped cream that tops this soup. 

This soup was delicious and something I'd expect to find at a high end restaurant. The recipe is from the restaurant Lauza in southern France.

In short, there is a lentil veloute where a cabbage and mushroom mix is added along with a topping of coffee whipped cream. A lot of components and levels of flavor and textures which I love.

Lentil Veloute Ingredients: green lentils, yellow onions, garlic, heavy cream, parsley springs, thyme springs, bay leaves, olive oil, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper, water

Cabbage and Mushrooms Ingredients: bacon, green cabbage, shiitake, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper

Coffee Whipped Cream Ingredients: heavy cream, brewed coffee, Kosher salt

Additional Ingredients: brioche slices, extra-virgin olive oil, microgreens for garnish (optional)

Tips:

• Cooked the lentils for 30 minutes instead of 45
• Next time, add 8 cups of water instead of 10 so it's less watery
• We wanted some lentil texture so only blended half of the lentils
• Topped with bacon instead of mixing in with the cabbage and mushrooms so the bacon stayed crispy
• The coffee whipped cream took quite a while to whip because of the coffee liquid
• Add salt to taste -- the 2.5 teaspoons is a lot

Recipe: 30 Minutes Coq Au Vin Chicken Meatballs

30 Minutes Coq Au Vin Chicken Meatballs

HalfBakedHarvest.com

4.6 stars

My new favorite chef is Tieghan Gerard from HalfBakedHarvest.com. Her recipes are for one, GREAT, and they just all look incredibly delicious (see her Instagram account). I've been going to her site more often than Bon Appetit or Food and Wine's magazines and sites.

We had ground chicken in our freezer so this recipe caught my eye especially during these semi-cold winter days. Loved this dish -- good flavor!!! While it took a little bit more than 30 min, it doesn't taste like a simple, 30 min dish.

Ingredients: ground chicken, egg, carrots, mushrooms, Panko bread crumbs, bacon, yellow onion, garlic, tomato paste, red wine, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, Parmesan cheese, Kosher salt, pepper

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Tips:

• Because I was craving polenta, we made polenta instead of mashed potatoes; we'll do mashed potatoes next time. 

Recipe: Savory Cheese Souffle Recipe

Savory Cheese Souffle Recipe
seriouseats.com
5 stars

I've made quite a few different souffle recipes, but this one has the best flavor and texture for a basic cheese souffle -- and it was a relatively easy recipe!  Can't wait to make this again.

Ingredients: 4 egg yolks, 5 egg whites, Gruyere or other semifirm cheese, flour, whole milk, Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream of tartar, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips/Notes:

• Baked for 35 min
• This recipe was for one large 48 oz souffle; however, next time will test the bake time in small ramekins

Recipe: Omelet Souffle

Omelet Souffle: An Experiment
Food and Wine Magazine, July 2010, p.36
4 stars

I love souffles, but sometimes there just isn't enough time to make them especially on a weekday.  This is a quick 'omelet souffle' recipe that works in a pinch, but it doesn't have the depth of flavor as a regular souffle as the ingredients in this recipe are few.  I'd definitely make this again; however, do prefer regular souffles.

Ingredients:  eggs, butter, Gruyere cheese, salt, top with herbs

Recipe: Rise No.1 Souffles

Rise No.1 Souffles

A souffle = my favorite dish.  They're generally light, delicate and full of flavor -- and because of the multiple steps to make them (and the myth that they're hard to make), are special . . . kind of like French macarons.  Souffles are actually not hard to make; however, the recipes I've made have not cracked the code on how to keep the souffles from "falling" so fast.

Rise No.1 in Dallas, TX makes amazing souffles that are beautiful (perfect!) and don't fall.  They offer a souffle cookbook that I was going to purchase, but the reviews were, well, not great.  However, I searched online to see if I could find one of their recipes to test, and I found one:

Rise No.1's Jambon & Gruyere Souffle

The recipe was significantly different from others I've followed (the ratio of egg whites to eggs and the mixing process), but I decided to give it a try.  The recipe turned out wonderfully!  As you can see from the photos, the souffles rose, and they didn't fall right away!  I overfilled the ramekins a bit too much which is why the top of the souffle looks like it has shifted to the right.  The recipe from here on out is my go-to.  Give it a try along with the following accompaniments for the perfect dinner:

• bread
• salad made up of mixed greens, Granny Smith apple, bleu cheese, candied pecans and a light vinaigrette
• glass of Pinot Noir 

Recipe: Spinach Souffle with Shallots and Smoked Gouda Cheese

Spinach Souffle with Shallots and Smoked Gouda Cheese
Epicurious.com
3.7 stars

I found this recipe in my recipe binder -- I'd printed it back in 2011 but hadn't made this souffle.  Don't know why.  I pulled the recipe and was honestly not 100% optimistic on how it was going to turn out.  I've made other souffles before, but the steps were different, and I wasn't sure if the shallots, spinach and smoked gouda were going to complement each other well.

Overall, it turned out pretty good.  The souffles didn't rise as high as other recipes that I've made, and the texture was not as light and airy as I would've liked, but flavor-wise, it was delicious.

10 ingredients:  milk, butter, flour, eggs, shallots, spinach, smoked Gouda cheese, nutmeg, salt, pepper

Tips/What I did:

• Made half the recipe which yielded 3 large individual portion ramekins
• Instead of frozen spinach, sauteed fresh spinach and then drained off the water and chopped it up
• Used onion instead of shallots because, well, I forgot to buy shallots

I'd make a spinach/shallot/smoked gouda souffle again, but perhaps use another souffle recipe's steps.  Will update this blog post with tips when I make it next time.

Crepes!

We received a crepe pan from guest blog contributor FoodFiend (thank you!) for Christmas.  We made honey ham & gruyere crepes for dinner and "Blue Lagoon" (Nutella, blueberries, brown sugar, Bailey's Irish Cream) crepes for dessert.

Here's the basic crepe batter recipe we used from allrecipes.com
It's 1 cup of flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp of melted butter -- ingredients most people have at home.  (Note: A crepe pan isn't totally necessary; use a large, flat-bottomed non-stick saute pan)

An easy and quick meal!

Recipe: Italian Wedding Soup

We've been eating leftovers (the Rick Bayless enchiladas I posted last weekend, more Martin Yan dumplings I made, and a beef daube stew my husband cooked up last weekend).  So, today it was time to make something new.  I was craving souffles and since we had some gruyere in the fridge, we made Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese Souffles.  I still get excited when the souffles rise beautifully.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gruyere-and-Parmesan-Cheese-Souffle-103223

We also had some spinach that we needed to use up, and I'd seen Grace Parisi's recipe for Italian wedding Soup (that calls for spinach) in the new Food and Wine Magazine (Feb 2012) we received the other day.  On a cold day like today, it was perfect and a nice complement to the souffles.  We decided that the soup is  perfect if you need something hearty, basic and quick. 

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/italian-wedding-soup

A few suggestions:

• Add herbs
• Saute the meatballs first to give them more flavor and color
• Use 3/4 orzo and double the amount of celery and carrots (we like hearty soups that can stand alone as a meal)

I'm getting the hang of making souffles

Here's my cheddar, scallion, sausage & bacon souffle with a side salad.  The souffle is deflating already, though, as I'm taking the photo.  You know, I don't understand the fear people have of making souffles -- it's really not difficult!

I'd recommend this one if you're in a breakfast-y mood:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cheddar-Bacon-and-Scallion-Souffle-12789

Another Souffle Success!

Woohoo!!!  Another souffle success!  We made Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese Souffles for dinner last night.  Had a simple greens & tomato salad with red wine/olive oil/shallot/salt/pepper dressing and a bottle of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Karia Chardonnay.  I am now confident that I can make souffles for guests.  Who wants to come over for dinner?  : )

I made half of this recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gruyere-and-Parmesan-Cheese-Souffle-103223

I love beets; and my first souffle ever!

I went through the Nov's Food and Wine Magazine and saw the recipe for Roasted Beets & Carrots with Goat Cheese Dressing.  We made it last night with steak & frites and will definitely make it again!  We cut the recipe by half and also skipped step 4 since I didn't want to eat the beet tops.  I love beets.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-beets-and-carrots-with-goat-cheese-dressing

For dessert, I wanted to try my hand at making a souffle.  It was success, and my souffles rose!!!!  So exciting.  We did a quarter of the recipe for this one since I only wanted to make 2. 
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Warm-Milk-Chocolate-Souffles-with-Vanilla-Ice-Cream-107329

Tonight, I'm going to make a Parmesan & Gruyere Souffle.  Yummy!