Recipe: Pork Ragu Over Creamy Polenta

Pork Ragu Over Creamy Polenta
Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2015, p. 76
5 stars

This is what I call a "weekend recipe" since it takes about 4 hours to make (with 2.5-3 hrs simmer time).  If you take a look at this recipe, it actually is quite easy; you just need to be around the house to keep an eye on it and stir periodically.

This dish has really great flavor -- I'd make it for guests especially since you can let it cook on its own (instead of hovering over the stove during a dinner party while guests arrive).

Pork ingredients:  boneless pork shoulder, onion, garlic, tomato paste, full-bodied red wine, can of whole peeled tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, kosher salt, pepper, vegetable oil

Polenta ingredients:  coarse (not quick-cooking) polenta, Parmesan, butter, Kosher salt, pepper, fresh parsley, olive oil

Tips:

• As the recipe notes, this is a thick ragu.  To make a little more sauce, I'd add a small can of tomato sauce or an additional can of diced tomatoes.
• I didn't think the olive oil drizzled on top was necessary.

Recipe: Sugar Snap Peas and Oyster Mushrooms in Sherried Cream

Sugar Snap Peas and Oyster Mushrooms in Sherried Cream
Food and Wine Magazine, April 2015, p. 131
4 stars

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but it was quite tasty.  A nice side dish to serve with steak and mashed potatoes.

It's a different vegetable side dish that has the earthiness of the mushrooms, "bright" flavor of the lemon juice and zest, slight hint of sherry, and some creaminess -- plus crispiness of the snow peas.

Ingredients:  oyster mushrooms, shallot, sugar snap peas, dry sherry, heavy cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, canola oil, salt

Tips:

• The grocery store didn't have oyster mushrooms, so we used baby bellas.  They also didn't have fresh snow peas, so I used frozen.
• Use a tad less sherry
• 1/2 a cup of heavy cream is a LOT -- use about 1/4 cup
• Add the snow peas near the end so that they remain crisp 

Recipe: Double-Chocolate Souffles

Double-Chocolate Souffles
Food and Wine Magazine, April 2015, p. 128
5 stars

Let me just say that these are AMAZING!!!!!  And so easy to make -- just 7 ingredients that we usually have around the house so I can whip these up any time!

Ingredients:  unsalted butter, sugar, bittersweet chocolate, kosher salt, milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, eggs

Tips:

• Needed about 19 min bake time (vs. 15).
• To make them even more chocolatey, I added chocolate chips on top when serving.

Recipe: Twice-Baked Potatoes

Twice-baked potatoes along with ribs, broccoli cheddar gratin
and popovers w/gruyere = a perfect meal

Twice-baked Potatoes
Bon Appetit, March 2015
4.5 stars

Why have we never made twice-baked potatoes before?  I've had them . .  but we usually default to making regular mash which I love.  After seeing this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine (and knowing we were going to make ribs AND that we had tarragon and sour cream in the fridge) -- I added this to our weekly recipe selection.

Yum.

Ingredients:  potatoes, vegetable oil, sour cream, butter, chives, tarragon, salt and pepper

Just 8 ingredients including salt and pepper!

Adding this to our side dish rotation!

Recipe: Oven Risotto with Kale Pesto

Oven Risotto with Kale Pesto
Bon Appetit, February 2015, p.46
4 stars

Low-maintenance risotto!  I was a little skeptical about this recipe, but it turned out great!  Good flavor, easy and healthy. It's good if you like kale.  (I like kale.)

It only takes 11 ingredients (not including water, salt and pepper) . . .

• Pesto ingredients:  garlic, toasted walnuts, parsley, chives, kale, oil, water, salt, pepper
• Other ingredients:  onion, arborio rice, white wine, kale, butter, Parmesan, walnuts, olive oil

Recipe: Three-Cheese Gougeres

Three-Cheese Gougeres
Saveur, Issue #172, p. 66
4 stars

These gougeres were very nice -- would be a great hors d'ouevers for a party!

This recipe calls for just 8 ingredients which includes 3 different cheeses:  whole milk, unsalted butter, flour, 5 eggs, kosher salt, Comte cheese, Emmentaler cheese, Gruyere cheese

For a dinner side dish, I would actually make the Popovers with Gruyere recipe instead which are full-size popovers/muffins, not mini ones like this recipe, and are actually even simpler to make.  The popovers recipe also doesn't require butter or the mix of cheeses and requires fewer eggs.

Recipe: Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles

Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles
Saveur, Issue #172, p. 32
5 stars

What to do with extra cauliflower in the fridge?  Make souffles, of course!

This was actually one of the easiest souffle recipes I've made so far in my cooking experience.  I'll have to test the recipe using other ingredients (a different vegetable and cheese).

It's a short ingredient list:  cauliflower florets, plain goat cheese, eggs, nutmeg, parmesan, butter, salt and pepper.

In this recipe, the cauliflower is boiled, drained and then pureed.

I just loved this recipe and can't wait to make it again.

Recipe: Dirt Bombs

Dirt Bombs
Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2014, p. 20
4 stars

This recipe was in the 'r.s.v.p.' section of Bon Appetit where readers request their favorite restaurant recipes.  This one is from Bantam Bread Bakery in Bantam, CT and is described as a 'cinnamon-sugar doughnut in muffin form.'

I had to try making these.

I read the reviews, and they were mixed so I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out.  They turned out great; people at work asked for the recipe!  What I really like about it is the density of the cake -- it's like a cake doughnut.

Tips:

• One change I made to the recipe based on the reviews I read:  Add at least a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter.
• Dipping the tops of the muffins in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar didn't work well for me.  Instead, I brushed the tops with the butter and then sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.
• They're best when served warm so reheat them and serve with coffee -- yum.

Recipe: Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese

Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese
Food and Wine Magazine, February 2015, p. 100
4.5 stars

Strange sounding, recipe, I know.  But really nice flavor and easy to make!  The photo above isn't the best -- I forgot to take a photo when I originally made them, so this is what they look like reheated.

I would make these as an hors d'oeuvres for people who aren't picky and enjoy trying new things ~ and people who like quinoa and hummus, for example.  It's not the typical appetizer.  One note is that your place will smell like scallion and garlic when these bake, but the smell of those ingredients is stronger than the taste of them.

Here is the ingredient list:  quinoa, cauliflower, halloumi cheese*, scallions, chickpea flour, garlic, egg, sea salt, pepper, nutmeg, baking soda, lemon juice.

*Halloumi cheese can be found at specialty grocery or cheese shops.

Recipe: Christina Tosi's Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie

Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie
People Magazine, Jan 26, 2015, p. 106
4 stars

I saw this recipe from Christina Tosi (chef and founder of Milk Bar) in People Magazine.  I was shocked that the recipe calls for a can of apple pie filling, but I suppose she was trying to simplify this recipe for the masses.  For an easy homemade dessert to take to a cookout, I'd make this again.  I'd consider using caramel instead of butterscotch (or maybe both!) for the topping.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  pretzel crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, kosher salt, heavy cream
• Filling:  butter, white chocolate chips, heavy cream, vanilla extract, egg yolk, flour, kosher salt, canned apple pie filling
• Topping:  butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips

Recipe: Marcus Samuelsson's Black-Bottom Peanut Pie

Crust with the chocolate filling

Mixing the peanut part of the filling

Black-Bottom Peanut Pie (Marcus Samuelsson recipe)

Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2014, p. 82

5 stars

This is 'Samuelsson's ode to his favorite candy bar, Snickers.' And it tastes just like a Snickers bar!

Super easy recipe.  Make it for the Snickers-lover in your life.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  butter, sugar, vanilla wafer cookies, vanilla beans
• Filling:  bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, sugar, light corn syrup, butter, molasses, kosher salt, eggs, unsalted roasted peanuts

I used a 9 inch pie plate (instead of a 10 inch plate) and was able to make another portion in a standard loaf pan (extras for us!).

Recipe: Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie

Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2015, p. 70
5 stars

Really delicious!  Not a hard recipe but takes a long time to make from start to finish.

Few notes/tips:

• Allot about 4 hours to make this dish
• Use 1/4 cup of flour instead of 1/2 cup
• It's not a pretty dish once you cut into it (all brown on the inside!) so while it's delicious, I might not serve this at a dinner party
• Make sure to remove the bay leaf and star anise -- this is not mentioned in the recipe
• I'd add another carrot or two next time

Recipe: S'mores Cupcakes (or S'mores Dessert)

 

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow

MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Marshmallow Frosting

Chow.com or MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Made these for the first time -- GREAT recipe!  Found it online on marthastewart.com;  it's courtesy of Jennifer Shea, owner of Trophy Cupcakes.

Notes/Tips:

• The cake itself isn't super sweet which is good because all of the other ingredients add the sweetness.  (So, I wouldn't actually use the cake recipe for cake alone.)
• Next time, I may add a little less butter to the graham cracker crust.
• Adding the boiling water to the batter does make the batter very watery, but that's ok!
• For some of the cupcakes, I added some sea salt and a pinch of chipotle chile powder -- was delicious and gave an added dimension like the Spicy, Smoky S'mores Bars that I make.
• Don't overfill the cupcakes liners.  They will rise and then go over the rim and be hard to remove from the muffin tin (esp. since the cake is so moist/sticky).
• For the marshmallow fluff, make it the DAY-OF serving.  It will become really soft (soft peaks) and not be very stiff.  You cannot re-whip the the frosting.
• Beware of the paper cupcake liners catching fire when torching/toasting the marshmallow.
• As you can see above, I made a dessert (instead of cupcakes) using the recipe as well.

The Best Chocolates I've Ever Had: Kate Weiser

Need a gift for a chocolate lover or a hostess gift -- or a gift for yours truly?  Note that I'm not being paid to say this . . .  Kate Weiser's chocolates are the best and most beautiful chocolates I've ever had.

I was a Vosges Chocolate fan and really like Christopher Elbow's chocolates as well, but forget them;  Kate Weiser's beats them all by a LONG SHOT.  The flavors are incredible (fresh ingredients!), and they're so beautiful and artistic.  The packaging is gorgeous as well.  It is truly artisan chocolate to the highest degree.

In some of the pieces, she cracks a corner so you can see an ingredient like basil in her Strawberry Basil chocolate, peeking from underneath the chocolate shell.

I can't wait to see what other flavors she comes up with.

Her current flavors include:

• Strawberry Basil
• Fresh Mint Leaf
• Raspberry
• Passion Fruit
• Yuzu
• Key Lime Pie
• Cherry Cordial
• Sweet Potato
• Mango Habanero
• Lavender Apricot
• Truffle Honey
• Hazelnut Latte
• Banana Dulcey
• Caramelized Pineapple
• Buttery Popcorn
• Peanut Brittle
• Ninja Turtle
• Toasted Coconut
• Red Wine & Berries
• Orange Butterscotch

I recently tried her Champagne and Cognac ones as well -- they are amazing.  The liquid slowly melts and then bursts in your mouth.  Time to stop by her shop and get some more.

Recipe: Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans

(I almost didn't include a photo since I didn't
take time to nicely plate up the food.)

Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans
Saveur, Issue #171 (Feb 2015), p. 22
4 stars

Nice dish with lots of flavor.  It was good, but not "oh my gosh amazing;" thus, the 4 stars.  The pickled shallots were a nice touch.


Tips/What We Did:

• Used chuck roast instead of zabuton or boneless chuck flap
• Used half the amount of beef but all vegetables and 1/2 of most of the other ingredients
• Instead of coffee beans, used 1 tbsp of coffee rub that we had
• Didn't need to reduce the sauce
• Didn't strain the sauce -- but did remove the bay leaves and star anise
• Served it over rice

As you can see, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, but it was close enough to produce a nice meal.

Recipe: Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp

Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp
Bon Appetit, p. 50, Dec 2014
5 stars

This dish reminded me of my childhood -- going to the authentic Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and ordering the shrimp that was so flavorful but wishing that they didn't have shells (I didn't like having to suck the flavor out of the shells and peel the shrimp at the table).

This recipe calls for shell-on shrimp, but we unshelled (de-shelled?) them.

Ingredients include:  shrimp, Sichuan peppercorns (ground), cilantro, Fresno chile, cornstarch, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, pepper

This is a FAST recipe to make and again, has so much flavor.

Tips:

• We used a jalapeno since we couldn't find a Fresno chile.
• Even though this was a spicy dish because of the Sichuan peppercorns, it needed another red spice like paprika or chile powder to give it another dimension.
• Serve this with garlicky green beans and steamed rice.
• Beware of the heat.  The spice from cooking the shrimp got into the air that I started sneezing!

Recipe: Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings

Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings
Food and Wine Magazine, Dec 2014, p. 148
5 stars

Blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" made this for me last month, and it was freakin' amazing.  I would have paid $22 for a serving of it in a restaurant.

Here are a few tips from him:

• Allow a LOT of time to make this -- a few hours.
• Add red pepper to give it a kick.
• Use about 2 1/4 quart of whole milk instead of 2 quarts.  (The bechamel was too thick and hard to spread.)
• For the roasted wild mushroom topping, make sure to buy and use all 2 lbs of mushrooms so you have enough.

Recipe: Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese

Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese
Bon Appetit, p. 114, Dec 2014
5 stars

Made this in a pinch when we were trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  A great quick side!

Ingredients include:  potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, goat cheese, Kosher salt, pepper

Recipe: Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette

Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 128, Dec 2014
5 stars

I think sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) are my favorite vegetable.  I love their texture and flavor -- like a potato but crunchy and like an artichoke.  It's just such an interesting vegetable!

This was an amazing side dish/salad;  I could eat this every week.  Can't wait to make this again.

Ingredients for this dish include:  sunchokes, fresh spinach, EVOO, thyme, garlic, apple cider vinegar, minced shallots, red pepper, honey, butter, chives, Kosher salt, pepper

Recipe: Best-Ever Potato Latkes

Best-Ever Potato Latkes
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 180, Dec 2014
5 Stars

True to the recipe's name, these were the best ever potato latkes we've ever made.  The latkes formed and stayed together nicely in the pan and had great flavor.  Instead of matzo meal, we used panko.