Recipe: Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts

Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts
Kristen Bell recipe for Whole Foods
4.5 stars

We enjoyed this dish during Thanksgiving, and I forgot to take a photo!  Will update this post with a photo the next time we make this dish.  Super simple side dish that's a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:  Brussels sprouts, red seedless grapes, walnut pieces, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh thyme, sea salt, black pepper

Recipe: Broccoli Bolognese with Orecchiette

Broccoli Bolognese with Orecchiette
Bon Appetit Magazine, Nov 2017, p. 48
3.75 stars

I didn't rate this super high and am not adding this to our 'What Not to Make' blog post because this dish was good (not amazing) and easy to make in a pinch for a weeknight meal.  We usually have all the ingredients that this recipe calls for.

By the way, I can't understand why they call this a bolognese?!?

Ingredients:  broccoli, Italian sausage, orecchiette, unsalted butter, Parmesan, garlic, EVOO, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used frozen broccoli instead of fresh
• Didn't have orecchiette pasta so use any pasta shape you have on hand!

Recipe: Green Corn Soup

Green Corn Soup
Food and Wine Magazine, Aug 2017, p.92
5 stars

Silky Zucchini Soup was our go-to "easy," healthy soup to make until this one came along.  This dish has great flavor (especially with our changes to the recipe) and was just as simple to make -- and just as creamy (without any cream added!) as the zucchini soup. 

Ingredients:  corn, medium onion, garlic, baby spinach, jalapenos, lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips/Changes:

• Used frozen corn instead of fresh corn
• Added a pinch of chipotle powder for added heat and complexity
• Added a dollop of sour cream and finishing salt on top
• Served it hot instead of cold

Recipe: Vegetable Tortilla

Vegetable Tortilla
Food and Wine Magazine, Sept 2017, p. 118
4.5 stars

This dish took me back to Spain where we ate a lot of "tortillas."  For those that live in Texas and the Southwest, tortilla here is not the flour or corn type that we get at the typical Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant -- this is a Spanish tortilla that is like a frittata. I gave this 4.5 stars and not 5 because this is a dish where I have to be in the mood to eat it because of the saffron flavor.

Ingredients:  eggs, Yukon Gold potato, small onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, baby spinach, saffron, boiling water, EVOO, mayonnaise, garlic, Kosher salt, pepper


Tips:

• Even if you don't like mayonnaise, make the aioli-like sauce.  It complements the tortilla perfectly and makes the dish (but go light on the garlic); without it, the tortilla is missing something.

Recipe: Lumaconi with Prosciutto and Lemon Breadcrumbs

Lumaconi with Prosciutto and Lemon Breadcrumbs
Bon Appetit Magazine, Sept 2014, p. 129
5 stars

This recipe is from Tosca in San Francisco, and the dish is one of the best cream-based pastas we've made.  While there are a few steps to this, it was not a difficult recipe.  This will be a go-to dish for when we cook while on our next ski trip!

Ingredients:  pasta, parsley, prosciutto, breadcrumbs, radicchio (we used spinach), shallot, garlic, brandy, thyme, bay leaf, lemon zest, lemon juice, heavy cream, olive oil, Kosher salt

Tips/Changes:

• Chopped the prosciutto instead of putting it in the food processor
• Used spinach instead of radicchio (note: use a huge box of spinach next time)
• Used fusilli shaped pasta instead of lumaconi (snail shell shaped) pasta
• Added red pepper to the prosciutto cream
• Did not strain the prosciutto cream through the fine-mesh sieve (no need to!) -- but we did remove the sprigs of thyme and the bay leaf
• Be careful to not oversalt the dish since the prosciutto provides saltiness

Recipe: Mini Chocolate Chip Scones

Mini Chocolate Chip Scones
Sugar Spun Run Blog
5 stars

Inspired by the Great British Baking Show, we decided to make scones, mini ones.  I found this recipe on the Sugar Spun Run blog while Googling for 'scones' in general.

These scones were a-maz-ing!!!  So flaky.  Flavorful.  Great amount of chocolate chips.  The perfect size.  One night I had 2 scones (they were THAT good) and really shouldn't have since I felt stuffed afterwards.

Tips:

• Freeze the butter and instead of using a box grater which takes a long time (and the butter starts to melt), use a food processor.
• Put the grated butter and also the dough in the freezer for a minute or so to ensure the butter doesn't melt.
• The dough will be very shaggy but will eventually come together.  Just make sure not to overwork the dough.

Scone ingredients:  flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, heavy cream, vanilla extract, chocolate chips

Glaze ingredients:  powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract

Recipe: Polenta and Sausage Stuffing

Polenta and Sausage Stuffing
Gourmet Magazine, Nov 2005
4 stars

I found this recipe from a 2005 issue of now defunct Gourmet Magazine that we had saved.  Really delicious dish and quite simple to make -- there were just some steps like cooling the polenta, broiling half of it, and baking it for 35 min which takes a bit of time altogether.

Tip:

• Make sure to broil the polenta until crispy!  We were trying to speed up the process and get dinner on the table and didn't brown it enough.
• Also, we made half the recipe which was more than enough for 2 people with leftovers for a couple of days.

Ingredients:  polenta, sweet Italian sausage, onion, garlic, chicken broth, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, olive oil, butter, water, salt

Recipe: Bucatini with Tomato, Guanciale and Chile

Bucatini with Tomato, Guanciale and Chile
Bon Appetit Magazine, Sept 2014, p.130
5 stars

This is a restaurant-worthy dish (in fact, it's from the restaurant Tosca in San Francisco) and a quick, weekday meal.  We've made similar dishes before, but the layers of flavor from the salty prosciutto (umami!) to the underlying barely-there rosemary and the heat of the red pepper -- and then the garlic and Pecorino. . . yum!  This is one we'll be serving to guests for sure in the future.

Tips:

• Used prosciutto instead of pancetta
• Added garlic
• Topped with parsley

Ingredients:  guanciale or pancetta, red onion, crushed tomatoes, bucatini, rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt, Pecorino, olive oil

Recipe: Corn Cake Stacks with Aged Cheddar and Arugula

Corn Cake Stacks with Aged Cheddar and Arugula
Country Living, Jun 2014, p.105
4 stars

A nice main or side dish.  The corn cakes didn't get as crispy as I thought they would; they were a bit soft, but the flavor was good especially with the aged Cheddar cheese.  We made refried beans on the side with the extra diced red bell pepper as well as onion, garlic and cumin.

Tip:

• Instead of baking in the oven as the last step, we'll try the broiler next time.

Ingredients:  corn kernels, red bell pepper, aged Cheddar cheese, baby arugula, cornmeal, eggs, olive oil, sugar, kosher salt, baking powder

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: Lamb Larb

We turned this into a salad

Lamb Larb
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2017, p. 97
4.5 stars

This was a fast and healthy dish to make with a lot of complexity in flavor -- and yet with not many complex ingredients to prep.

Ingredients:  ground lamb, white rice, Bibb lettuce leaves, cucumber, mint, shallot, cilantro, garlic, red Thai chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, demerara sugar or dark brown sugar, lemongrass stalk, salted roasted peanuts, vegetable oil

Tips:

• Add red pepper to the lemongrass mix
• I'm not a huge fan of peanuts in dishes so didn't top mine with peanuts
• Add basil
• Make extra fish sauce to top the dish
• Add sriracha on top
• Didn't have large enough leaves to make lettuce cups, so turned this into a salad!

Recipe: Chocolate Torta Soffice

Right out of the oven without the powdered
sugar and mascarpone whipped topping

Chocolate Torta Soffice
Food and Wine Magazine, May 2017, p. 107
3 stars as a regular chocolate cake;  4 stars as a chocolate tea cake

This is a chocolate tea cake, not very sweet and not suitable for a celebratory dessert.  However, as a tea cake or a non-so-sweet chocolate cake, it's good.

We had some ganache from another recipe I made;  topping the cake with the ganache, mascarpone whipped topping and a little ice cream was delicious.  We did not top it with the pistachios.

Ingredients:  flour, unsweetened cocoa, salted butter, baking powder, eggs, granulated sugar, whole milk, mascarpone, heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, chopped roasted unsalted pistachios

Recipe: Toasted Orecchiette with Veal Meatballs

Toasted Orecchiette with Veal Meatballs
Bon Appetit Magazine, Jan 2016, p. 11
4 stars

This recipe would be GREAT with some changes.

Tips/Changes:

• Definitely need to cook the bacon first to render off the fat!
• The meatballs were not done after 20 min of cooking in the broth.  We ended up sauteing them in a pan.
• Double the amount of kale next time.
• There wasn't a need to fry the orecchiette -- I mean, it might have been good, but it wasn't necessary (saved the calories here).
• Used ground beef instead of ground veal.
• Used baby bellas instad of maitake mushrooms.
• The recipe called for 8 garlic cloves.  We used 6 (afraid that it would be too garlicky which it wasn't), so will use all 8 next time.  

Ingredients:  smoked bacon, ground veal, ground pork, garlic cloves, onion, breadcrumbs, milk, broth, orecchiette, olive oil, maitake mushrooms, kale, Parmesan, ground coriander, red pepper flakes, allspice, hot smoked Spanish paprika, kosher salt, black pepper

Recipe: Crusty Baked Shells & Cauliflower

Crusty Baked Shells & Cauliflower
Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2016, p. 80
5 stars

This is my new favorite cauliflower dish!  TASTY, and I can't wait to eat the leftovers today.  I love the cheesiness of the dish along with the 'crunch' of the panko and cauliflower.

Ingredients:  cauliflower, medium shells, fresh sage, capers, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, crushed red pepper, grated Fontina cheese, fresh ricotta, panko, Italian Pecorino cheese, parsley, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips:

• Instead of capers, used peppadew peppers instead -- we like the flavor better
• Used a little extra Fontina since we had more than was called for

Recipe: Farro-and-Sausage Parmigiano

Farro-and-Sausage Parmigiano

Food and Wine Magazine, Jan 2017, p. 48

4 stars

I was looking for a hearty dish that uses farro, and I found this recipe that I had saved from a few months ago.  What sold me on the dish was the addition of the Italian sausage and the fresh mozzarella on top.  You can't see the mozz in the image above (I topped it with a lot of panko), but it really 'made' the dish.  

This recipe isn't hard to make and didn't take long (we didn't cook the farro for 2.5 hours;  we have 30-min farro) so this is good for a healthy, weekday meal where you'll definitely have leftovers!

Ingredients:  farro, crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, hot or sweet Italian sausage, scallions, yellow onion, garlic, panko, Parmigiano-Reggiano, fresh mozzarella, parsley, lemon zest, fresh oregano, dried oregano, crushed red pepper, fennel seeds, white wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Make half of the topping
• Use quick cook farro
• Use mini balls of mozzarella

Recipe: Lentil and Egg Stew

Lentil and Egg Stew
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2017, p. 79
4 Stars

I thought we'd give this recipe a whirl as we had almost all of the ingredients listed -- plus the recipe photo in the magazine looked delicious!  However, this was one where I was skeptical of the recipe based on the ingredient listing and the name of the dish;  I was thinking this might turn out very bland (it's basically lentils and vegetables and no herbs), but it wasn't.  It was a nice, flavorful, healthy stew.  Just make sure to add enough salt and to cook it with the umami-laden Parmesan rind.

Ingredients:  lentils, onion, fennel bulb, carrots, garlic, tomato paste, Parmesan rind, spinach, eggs, red wine vinegar, grated Pecorino, olive oil, Kosher salt, bread for serving

Tips:

• Used grated Parmesan instead
• Added celery since we had that in the fridge
• Didn't fry the bread
• Next time: Mixing in Andouille sausage would be a nice addition

Recipe: Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Lots of Kale

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Lots of Kale
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2017, p. 34
4.5 stars

For such a simple recipe, this was flavorful and is now a go-to weekday meal.  Nine ingredients and about 20 minutes is all you need.  I was a little skeptical (kale with spaghetti???), but it works!

Ingredients:  kale, garlic, spaghetti or bucatini, olive oil, Parmesan, red pepper flakes, Kosher salt, black pepper, flaky sea salt

Tips:

• Used bucatini -- I consider it a "fun" pasta(!) since it's tubular/hollow
• Make sure to use all the kale the recipe calls for;  like spinach, it shrinks down to nothing as it cooks

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: Grits Aligot

Shrimp and grits and salad

Look how thick and cheesy these grits are!

Grits Aligot
Bon Appetit Magazine, Sept 2016, p. 144
5 stars

The recipe is from Buxton Hall Barbecue, one of Bon Appetit's 10 Best New Restaurants of 2016.

This recipe should be called Cheese with Grits.  These are the richest, cheesiest grits we've made. . .  and we WILL make these again!  It's perfect with shrimp and a simple side salad.  Note:  This dish is not for those on a diet.  As blog contributor (or non-contributor now) the grandcruman said to me, "They're over the top!"

Ingredients:  coarse-grind grits, butter, heavy cream, mozzarella, Gruyere, extra-sharp cheddar, Kosher salt

Recipe: Pappardelle with Summer Squash and Arugula-Walnut Pesto

Pappardelle with Summer Squash and Arugula-Walnut Pesto
Food and Wine Magazine, Aug 2015 p. 122
4 stars

I love when I find recipes that use up ingredients that we have on hand.  We had a bunch of basil leftover from another pesto dish that we made; and while this dish doesn't call for basil, we added it to the arugula pesto -- it was great!  This is a restaurant-worthy dish that we'll serve to guests in the future.  Great presentation (lovely ribbons of pappardelle and also zucchini) and a pasta/veggie dish all in one.  Plus, it's super simple to make.

Ingredients:  papparedelle, zucchini, arugula, walnuts, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, lemon juice, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips:

• Added basil to the pesto