The Spring was all about lighter foods, then Summer was fresh produce- and lots of it. Now we are in to baking and cooking. Love it!
Recently I made a Taste Section recipe from last February actually- and I taught myself something new. I butterflied a chicken! The recipe was called Butterflied Roasted Chicken. It was really pretty simple- you basically put the chicken on it's breast and cut out the back bone with a kitchen shears and lay the chicken down flat. The chicken cooks faster and it was easier to carve up than a whole chicken. Really pretty easy meal.
Another chicken dinner I made was Pretzel-Coated Chicken Tenders with Mustard-Apricot Dipping Sauce. We had company over and I had my daughter help me dip the pieces. I bought some oven French Fries and made an easy salad. Everyone commented that they were really good and well worth making again. I thought they were tasteless actually and next time I'd add salt which wasn't part of the recipe. I'm sure it would seem like the salt in the pretzels was enough but actually there wasn't much there.
For baking this winter so far, I made a few recipes that I thought would be great gifts. The first was Cranberry Pecan Swirls. I was going to make Christmas cookies with my daughter and wanted to make a cookie from the StarTrib's annual cookie contest. These seemed easy because you roll them up, cool the dough and then later slice and bake. The only problem is that you make the dough and cool it, they you roll it out, put on the toppings, roll it up and then freeze for 8 hours! Well, I did make them and they were well worth the effort.
Another recipe that looks great is Cinnamon Swirl Bread. I made it and it looks delicious! I haven't cut in to it yet because I am going to give it as a gift. They great thing about this recipe was that you knead it in a standard mixer. It was super easy! I used to love to bake bread but this took time out of the process speeding it along.
Now I have two things to give as gifts- but next time I make the cookies, I'm going to double the batch so that I have several swirls ready in the freezer to bake up!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
My Year Of Taste is Almost Over!
Boy- I can't believe it. I have been cooking a recipe from each Thursday's Taste Section from the Minneapolis StarTribune this year- sometimes depending on what I have on hand or time for. They haven't been in order so my seasons are a bit off. For example, I'm bringing an appetizer to a Christmas party that was from the Spring that is essentially thin slices of radishes with salt on buttered bread.
I have been cooking, just not blogging. I'm going to try to catch up.
I made a Winter-Squash Souffle that was fun to make but relatively tasteless. I would add toasted walnuts or cheese...? Something.
One recipe that I held out making for a time when I had time and the ingredients was Shirred Lemon Eggs. In this recipe you basically poach eggs in cream with a little cheese in ramekins. The lemon comes from grated lemon peel. I served it with toasted, buttered baguette slices.
One of my favorite recipes to date is Garlic Broccoli with Walnuts. It's from an article called "Nuts Add the Finishing Touch". I love Asian food and this is just like something you would order for carry-out. I added some garlicky, sauteed shrimp.
1 large head of broccoli, about 1 1/2 lb.
1 C veg. or chicken broth
2 Tbsp Peanut oil
3 cloves garlic ( I love garlic so I added more)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger or 1tsp powdered garlic
1/4 to 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 tsp peanut oil
cut up the broccoli to 3 inch spears and discard the tough stems. Rinse the broccoli well under cold water. Bring the broth, oil, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to a boil and add the broccoli. Cook the broccoli for about 5 minutes until tender.
Cook the walnuts in the rest of the peanut oil for a few minutes over medium heat until slightly browned, 3-5 minutes, stirring often and watching carefully. Using a slotted spoon, place the broccoi in a serving dish and add the hot walnuts on top. Serve immediately.
For Thanksgiving, I brought the green salad and for the dressing, I made Cranberry Maple Vinagrette. This was super easy and the maple syrup adds an nice sweetness without being too maple-y.
I had a friend over one night when my husband was out and I made Chipotle Chicken Soup. It was super easy and delicious. It called for cooked chicken AND garbanzo beans. Since they are both a good source of protein, I was surprised to have them both in the soup and we both though the soup would work with just one or the other. I also had never worked with canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce but my friend had some- glad we didn't go without because it really packs a punch.
More to come- only have a few weeks to go!
I have been cooking, just not blogging. I'm going to try to catch up.
I made a Winter-Squash Souffle that was fun to make but relatively tasteless. I would add toasted walnuts or cheese...? Something.
One recipe that I held out making for a time when I had time and the ingredients was Shirred Lemon Eggs. In this recipe you basically poach eggs in cream with a little cheese in ramekins. The lemon comes from grated lemon peel. I served it with toasted, buttered baguette slices.
One of my favorite recipes to date is Garlic Broccoli with Walnuts. It's from an article called "Nuts Add the Finishing Touch". I love Asian food and this is just like something you would order for carry-out. I added some garlicky, sauteed shrimp.
1 large head of broccoli, about 1 1/2 lb.
1 C veg. or chicken broth
2 Tbsp Peanut oil
3 cloves garlic ( I love garlic so I added more)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger or 1tsp powdered garlic
1/4 to 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 tsp peanut oil
cut up the broccoli to 3 inch spears and discard the tough stems. Rinse the broccoli well under cold water. Bring the broth, oil, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to a boil and add the broccoli. Cook the broccoli for about 5 minutes until tender.
Cook the walnuts in the rest of the peanut oil for a few minutes over medium heat until slightly browned, 3-5 minutes, stirring often and watching carefully. Using a slotted spoon, place the broccoi in a serving dish and add the hot walnuts on top. Serve immediately.
For Thanksgiving, I brought the green salad and for the dressing, I made Cranberry Maple Vinagrette. This was super easy and the maple syrup adds an nice sweetness without being too maple-y.
I had a friend over one night when my husband was out and I made Chipotle Chicken Soup. It was super easy and delicious. It called for cooked chicken AND garbanzo beans. Since they are both a good source of protein, I was surprised to have them both in the soup and we both though the soup would work with just one or the other. I also had never worked with canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce but my friend had some- glad we didn't go without because it really packs a punch.
More to come- only have a few weeks to go!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)