A Change of Pace

After a weekend full of what I like to call "holiday fare" (rich, often carb-heavy meals capped off by cakes, pies and cookies), I was craving something different. So I decided to try out a recipe that caught my eye back in the late summer/early fall-- seared beef and noodle soup from the Everyday Food TV show. It is sort of poor man's pho (or what I imagine pho would be like given that I have never actually had it before). Martha's version was indeed easy-- seared meat sitting a top a bed of rice noodles covered in a mushroom broth and garnished with carrots, scallions and bean sprouts. It looked awesome and tasted....just ok. I really wanted to love this dish. It looked cool and it was a cinch to make, but it lacked the flavor I was hoping for. I was underwhelmed. I think I'll try it again but I'd recommend adding some ginger, some sirracha, and maybe even some fish sauce to try and liven things up. Ooo, maybe even some cilantro and/or basil at the end!If nothing else, it definitely inspired me to try real pho the next time we decide to eat Vietnamese!

Seared Beef and Noodle Soup
Adapted slightly from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 sirloin steaks about 1 inch thick
2 TBL olive oil
1 package of rice noodles
10 ounces of mushrooms, sliced (I used a combination of white mushrooms and portabello)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups of low-sodium beef broth
2 cups of water
2 TBL soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
4 scallions, sliced
2 carrots, sliced thinly
1 cup bean sprouts

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 TBL olive oil. Pat sirloin dry and season each side with salt and pepper. Sear 3 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside (tent with foil to keep warm).
2. Add remaining olive oil to pan. Add mushrooms and garlic. Saute until tender. Add beef broth, water, soy sauce, and vinegar. Let come to a boil (this is also when I'd add the freshly ground ginger, sirracha, and/or fish sauce next time around).
3. Meanwhile, place rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until soft. Drain and set aside.
4. Slice meat on the diagonal. To serve, place some of the noodles in a bowl. Top with broth mixture and several slices of beef (don't worry if you don't like your meet medium-rare-- the hot broth will cook it a little more). Serve with chopsticks and a spoon!

Better Late Than Never

Roku finally came through and thanks to Priority Overnight shipping Jason's Christmas present finally arrived today!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Best wishes for a happy holiday season!

Yep, another shot of our tree...I'm obsessed with it!

PS Good news! Jason's Roku player was found :) Bad news is that it was returned to the seller who had started processing my refund. Hopefully we have it all straightened out now and he'll get his present next week. All in all , I have to say that I was very dissatisfied with the customer service of both USPS and Roku since I had to call at least 5 times (to date anyway) between the two to find out what happened....despite them telling me they'd call me back. But I'm putting it behind me and trying to enjoy time with family :)

When No News is Not Good News

Still no word on Jason's package. It's looking like he will be opening a picture of his gift (a Roku XDS player, since many of you have asked...don't worry I told him not too read the blog until this weekend!). I'm getting kind of frustrated about it since I realized (somewhat belatedly) that I did, in fact, give Roku the correct apartment number (I went back and looked at the confirmation email for shipping/billing address) so if the package arrived without an apartment number (per my apartment complex's assertions), it seems to have been their fault...not mine! At this point I have resigned myself to the fact that Jason will not be receiving the one present he requested (and researched and agonized over for at least a month) on Christmas Day but I want to know when we can expect it! Despite going through all the proper channels with Roku and USPS, all I am still being told (a week into it at this point) is that they're looking into it. :(

On another note-- people have started receiving mail they sent to us back with "return to sender" marked on it, so it looks like it's not lost somewhere in the depths of the post office. I'm actually starting to think this is a good thing...aside from the other lost Christmas gift which we may have to re-order.

The good news is that work has been a little less stressful this week (so far anyway) and I've actually been able to try out a new recipe for dinner. Tonight I made Smitten Kitchen's Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree. It had all the makings of a great weeknight meal-- easy, relatively quick, and makes leftovers. But like SK noted in her write up of the recipe, I felt like it was missing something. Jason, on the other hand, seemed to love it as he ate three helpings (either that or he was just really hungry). I'd definitely recommend giving it a try, though I might up the cheese and/or red pepper flake quotient to give it a little something extra next time.

Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree
Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 small eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, whole
3 TBL olive oil
1 teaspoon (or more) dried red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
3/4 pound of rigatoni pasta
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
3 TBL olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan (plus for garnish if desired)
1 TBL balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, 3 TBL olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Spread onto baking sheet and roast until tender and eggplant is golden, about 30-35 minutes.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid and drain. Place pasta in a large bowl.
4. Transfer roasted vegetables to a food processor. Add basil and remaining olive oil. Puree.
5. Add pureed vegetables to bowl with the pasta and add Parmesan. Stir to combine. Add some (or all) of the pasta liquid to loosen the sauce as desired. Top with balsamic vinegar and taste for seasonings. Serve with grated Parmesan on top (optional).

Christmas Cookies

It's hard to believe we are less than a week away from Christmas at this point! It's even harder for me to believe that 2011 is in spitting distance as well....where did this year go?!

With the exception of the day we put up our tree I haven't had much holiday spirit this year. Work has been busy and there have been a lot of other things that have caused me to feel somewhat overwhelmed. As a result I was late getting my Christmas cards out and just today finished the last of the Christmas shopping and gift wrapping. In order to try and foster some additional holiday cheer I decided to do one of my favorite things this time of year-- make Christmas cookies.

When I was growing up my mom made a number of different cookies and treats around the holidays, but the ones that stick out in my mind the most are her Thumbprint Cookies. Nothing says "Christmas" to me like these buttery cookies coated in nuts and topped with a dollop of sweetness. My mom always filled them with red and green icing but I've made them my own by switching out some of the icing for raspberry jam. However you choose to eat them, I hope they will help make your holiday season merry and bright!

Thumbprint Cookies
Adapted from my mom

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, divided
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg white, unbeaten
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 TBL butter, melted
1/2 TBL milk
food coloring
Seedless raspberry jam (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line one or more rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and granulated sugar together. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix until soft dough has formed.
3. Shape into one inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg white and roll in the chopped nuts. Place on prepared baking sheets and "dent" the center with your thumb or back of a small spoon.
4. Bake 5 minutes and dent again. Bake another 12-15 minutes until the edges are just starting to turn brown. Gently transfer cookies (on parchment paper) to wire racks to cool.
5. While the cookies cool, mix powdered sugar, melted butter and milk together until smooth. Add food coloring of your choice to achieved desired color (you could also divide the icing into different bowls and tint with different colors).
6. Once cookies are cool, use a small spoon to fill the center with icing and/or raspberry jam.

How the Post Office (and My Apartment Building) Stole Christmas

It all started last weekend when I went to pick up a package from the front desk (my apartment building is responsible for receiving/distributing all packages). I knew the package, which had been sent through USPS, had been delivered because I had received tracking information on it. But the front desk couldn't find it. They looked and looked but the package (which just so happened to be something for Jason for Christmas) could not be found. Finally, someone asked for the last name again and said-- "Oh yeah....I remember now. We sent that back."

"Um, excuse me?" I said in total disbelief, "You SENT IT BACK??!?"

"Yes, we sent it back...there was no apartment number on it and we didn't recognize the name" was the (unapologetic) reply.

Turns out that despite statements to the contrary, not to mention a willingess to cash monthly rent checks that contain my married name, my information had never been updated in the system to reflect my name change post-wedding. So when they looked me up to see which apartment I lived in, nothing came up and they sent my package back.

I have spent a good portion of this week calling and emailing with the postal service and the retailer trying to track down the missing package-- you know, since I spent money on it and it's a CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR MY HUSBAND-- to no avail. No one has any idea what it currently is (or at least every time I call USPS Customer Service I am told there is no new information...but they are looking into it. I'm not buying it). And I'm pretty sure the retailer is not going to just send me another one, which means I have to decide whether to just buy another item and hope the original package can be tracked down and returned or if I just wait it out and hope Jason will be content with a picture of his gift.

If that wasn't bad enough, our mail carrier decided that since the package was returned we must not live here any more and, without any sort of follow-up to make sure that was the case, stopped delivering our mail. After three days of a completely empty mailbox (no ads, no nothing), we got suspicious and called the post office to see what was up. They confirmed that they had been told we no longer lived at the address. After we assured them that we do still live here (in fact I've lived at this same address for almost 4 years now), we received  mail today.

However we are still missing four days worth of mail in addition to Jason's package--I'm pretty sure another gift has been lost in the mix as well (and this one did not have a tracking number associated with it). We decided to go by the post office this morning and ask about the missing mail in person but the clerk was totally unhelpful. So I left a note in our mail box that read

"Dear Mail Carrier,

Do you know what happened to our undelivered mail?
Thanks,
Lindsay"

No response....of course.

Next up-- calling the post office again on Monday to ask whether all of our mail was returned to sender or if they might have it hidden somewhere.

All I want for Christmas at this point is my missing mail (which now includes TWO Christmas gifts I paid good money for) to show up.

Come on USPS, don't be a Grinch! Help a girl out.

A Sweet Way to End a Sour Week

Last week was one heck of a week, y'all.

One heck of a really sucky week.

I spent most of it at work. And when I was home I was either sleeping or putting together meals that did not require much effort--tried and true favorites I can do in my sleep (chicken picatta, homemade pizza, fish tacos, and thai beef salad). And thank goodness I didn't try to tackle anything more difficult-- because pretty much everything that could go wrong last week, did, in fact, go wrong.

Even yesterday as I made Smitten Kitchen's Gingerbread-Apple Upside Down Cake, which I've made before to great success, I had problems. First the middle of the cake fell, then I had a hard time getting it out of the pan. And since I made this cake to take to my friend Lauren's house last night, I was a bit upset by its hideous appearance. Fortunately it still tasted great so I was able to salvage it by pre-slicing the non-fallen/fractured pieces.


Now I don't want you all to think this is too hard to do-- last time I made it, I had zero problems. So give it a try if you are looking for a sweet (but not overly sweet) seasonal treat. Let's hope this week is a little easier (and more conducive to blogging!)

Gingerbread Apple Upside-Down Cake
Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
4 TBL plus 1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (I used a springform pan). Melt 4 TBL butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and simmer over low heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and pour into bottom of your cake/springform pan. Layer the apple slices in overlapping, concentric circles on top of the sauce until the bottom of the pan is covered.

2. Cream the sugar and stick of butter together until light and fluffy. In a medium bow, whisk the egg, buttermilk, honey, and molasses together. Set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.

3. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture, adding the next once the last has been incorporated.Pour/spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Note: if you are using a springform pan, be sure to place it on another baking sheet to catching any leaking caramel.) Let cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto a platter.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you.....

Our very first Christmas tree!

Although last year was our first Christmas as a married couple, we did not get a real tree. I had a two and a half foot fake tree that I had been using for years so we decided to stick with that thinking that by this year we'd be out of our apartment and in a bigger space more suitable for a full size tree. I guess the joke was on us....a year later and we're still here. But I convinced Jason that we could find a corner in which to stick a real tree and after much cajoling on my part, he agreed.

After an hour at Home Depot, we left with a 6' Balsam Fir--the perfect size and shape for our apartment. And it's beginning to look (and feel and smell) a lot like Christmas!

Thanksgiving Recipe Recap, Part 2

Soooooooo. Thanksgiving. That holiday that I was so excited about that I consulted five different holiday food magazines in order to find the right recipes? That was a week ago.

A week ago.

And I’m just now picking up where I left off in terms of recipe reviews.

I am a bad bad bad blogger.

What can I say….after devouring a delicious Thanksgiving meal I spent most of the rest of the holiday weekend devouring The Hunger Games and its two sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay (Note to my fellow book clubbers—if anyone wants to borrow either of the other two books, let me know!) Needless to say I was a big fan.  Before I knew it my vacation was over and I was back to work and headed to Kansas City.  And my poor blog was left all by its lonesome.

Well I’m back and I want to make sure I share the recipe that was the biggest hit at our Thanksgiving table: pumpkin crème brulee.  Pumpkin carmelized greatness. In Jason’s words anyway. And I’d say it was pretty accurate. Light, creamy, and tastes like fall….the perfect end to a hearty holiday meal. Plus it has the added bonus of being set on fire.

Although crème brulee may sound intimidating, it really isn’t. Sure it takes a few steps but none are extraordinarily difficult. And the end result is well worth it.

Pumpkin Crème Brulee
Adapted slightly from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar plus 4 teaspoons
8 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Arrange 8 small (approximately ½ cup in size) ramekins in a large metal baking pan.
2.In a medium saucepan, combine cream, brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar.  Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat.
3.In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy. Slowly whisk in ¾ cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture to the hot cream and whisk.  Add pumpkin and whisk until smooth. Strain into a large bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Stir in vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Divide among the ramekins.
4.Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until custards are set in the center but not completely stiff, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
5.When you are ready to serve, sprinkle each custard with ½ teaspoon of sugar. If you have one, use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. If you don’t, place under a hot broiler until sugar caramelizes (1-2 minutes). Serve!

Thanksgiving Recipe Recap, Part 1

Thanksgiving….my favorite holiday of the year….has come and gone. All in all it was a good one. I woke up on the earlyish side (thanks to the fact that I forgot to turn my weekday work alarm off…oops) and spent the morning finishing my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (the official start of the holiday season!), and prepping our annual pre-Thanksgiving lunch of quiche and ham rolls.

If you remember, I had promised to make three items for Thanksgiving at Jason’s house: cranberry chutney, spinach gratin, and pumpkin crème brulee. I had taken care of the cranberry chutney and pumpkin crème brulee on Wednesday night (more to come on those) but waited until Thursday morning to do the spinach gratin—primarily because I didn’t have a whole lot of fridge space left at that point and also because I wasn’t 100% sure how it would hold up pre-cooked overnight (in retrospect, it probably would have been fine). I chose spinach gratin as a side dish for a couple of reasons—1) I thought that we probably needed another green vegetable to go with all the starches I knew my mother-in-law would be making (stuffing, mashed potatoes and bread) which was good since she also ended up making sweet potato casserole (one of my family’s favorites) as well and 2) Jason has a vast love of creamed spinach and as soon as I told him that one of the recipes I was considering for Thanksgiving was essentially creamed spinach topped with cheese and baked in casserole form, he was sold.

The spinach gratin recipe I chose, from Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa (who else?!), was ridiculously easy. Usually when I make creamed spinach I opt for fresh spinach, but fortunately this recipe called for frozen chopped spinach (otherwise I would have spent half the morning wilting pounds and pounds of spinach to get the amount needed to feed 8 people).  Actually, the hardest thing about this recipe was getting all the extra liquid out of the five packages of thawed spinach that was called for (my secret—squeezing each package through several layers of paper towels and then putting it all in a colander and squeezing anything else that remained with the back of a large spoon).  Once the spinach was fairly dry it was as simple as sautéing onions, making a roux, and cooking milk and cream until it thickened. Fold in the spinach and some cheese and all you need to do is stick it in the oven when the time comes.

If you like creamed spinach, you will love this recipe. I would go so far as to say it is as good any creamed spinach side you will find in the fanciest of steakhouses (which may be why I decided we needed go to Whole Foods and get a steak to cook for dinner tonight to eat with our leftovers!) It is a wonderful addition to any holiday table.

Spinach Gratin
Adapted slightly from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
4 TBL butter
2 large yellow onions, chopped
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
1-2 cups milk*
5 (10-ounce) packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and pepper


*the original recipe called for 2 cups of milk but since I was using skim, I ended up using less—probably closer to 1 ½ cup—since I know from previous experience that skim milk can wreck havoc when you are trying to make white sauce using an Ina Garten recipe

 1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees (if you are planning to cook right away). Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible and set aside.
2.Melt better in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 2 minutes.
3.Add cream and milk and cook until thickened. Stir in spinach. Add ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4.Spoon mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and Gruyere cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly (about 30 minutes if you are baking it straight from the refrigerator). Serve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving Eve which means I've spent a good portion of my evening prepping for tomorrow's big event. Jason's mom is providing the majority of our Thanksgiving feast, but I'm contributing three items as well. After a month of research, here's what I've come up with to supplement the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole (Jason's family is into all the traditional dishes as you can tell):

• Cranberry chutney with ginger and orange
• Spinach gratin
• Pumpkin creme brulee

I wish I could tell you that all of these recipes came from the many holiday issues I amassed during the Great Thanksgiving Recipe Search 2010...but the truth is, not a single one did! Can you believe it?! FIVE magazines and I end up going with three internet/blog recipes instead. Sigh. I really do have a problem.

Stay tuned this weekend for recipes and reviews. In the meantime, I leave you with an awesome example of how the holidays can bring out the worst in those of us with Type A personalities: Awkward Family Photo's infamous Thanksgiving letter....hopefully I never get this bad!

Happy Thanksgiving :)

An Easy Autumn Menu

Our friends Matt and Stephanie came over for dinner last night and since I knew I’d be doing a good deal of cooking this week (with Thanksgiving and all), I was determined to come up with a meal that would be both easy and delicious. I ended up with just that thanks to a soup and salad menu and a jazzed up pre-made dessert.

Soup and salad combinations are great because they are both pretty easy to prepare (which is great when you want to actually spend time with your guests while they are over) and feel like fall to me. I ended up with my favorite curry carrot and squash soup and a tasty salad of arugula, fennel and apple.

But dessert was the real start of the meal, in my opinion. Friday night we drove over to our favorite local spot for ice cream (frozen custard, actually)—The Dairy Godmother in Alexandria—to pick up a couple pints just for this occasion.  DG is unique in that it offers three flavors of frozen custard—chocolate, vanilla, and whatever the flavor of the day is. The flavor of the day varies and can be anything from mint chocolate chip to snickerdoodle or tiramisu. In addition to custard, DG always has a variety of interesting sorbets too (one time I had sangria sorbet).  We ended up bring home sweet potato pecan custard and cranberry tangerine coriander sorbet. To go with it I made Barefoot Countessa’s Ultimate Ginger Cookies and the combination was fantastic! I love these cookies because they incorporate chopped crystallized ginger making the ginger goodness pop on multiple levels.

All in all we had a great evening full of good, simple food and fun with friends. The perfect way to kick off the holiday season!

Ginger Cookies
Adapated from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
¼ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
½ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper (or grease them if you don’t have parchment).
2.In a large bowl, mix first six ingredients (through salt) together and set aside.
3.In the bowl of an electric mixer, add brown sugar, oil, and molasses. Beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add egg and beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides down with a rubber spatula and then beat on low for another minute.
4.With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Then mix on medium for 1-2 minutes or until the dough is well combined and it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.
5.Pour some sugar into a shallow bowl or plate. Scoop dough and roll into one inch balls with your hands. Roll dough in sugar and place on baking sheets. Before putting them in the oven, lightly flatten the cookies with the back of a spatula or your fingers.
6.Bake for 11-13 minutes until the cookies are crackled on the outside but still soft on the inside. Cool for a minute or two on the baking sheets and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Serve by themselves or with your favorite ice cream

A Book Club Miracle

I worked late almost every day this past week (hence the complete lack of posting—blah) with the exception of Wednesday.  Wednesday also happened to be the date of this month’s  book club so the fact that it was my one non-late day was something of a miracle. A book club miracle, if you will. You know what else was miraculous? The cheese ball I made to take to book club!

That’s right I said cheese ball.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of cheese balls, I think of the highly processed versions my mom used to buy from Hickory Farms around the holidays when I was a kid. I did not care for cheese balls back then but I am decidedly a fan of this recipe from Cooking Light (I just so happened to run across it during the Great Thanksgiving Recipe Search 2010).

It’s so easy you can put it together after a long day of work without breaking a sweat. And seriously, cream cheese + blue cheese + shallots + lemon zest + parsley + walnuts = awesome.  Miraculous, even.

Miraculous Blue Cheese Ball with Walnuts
Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
1 8-ounce brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1 TBL milk
1 TBL finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Salt and pepper
¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
2 ½ TBL chopped walnuts

1.Place cream cheese, blue cheese, and milk in a bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add shallots, lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Beat with mixer until well blended.
2.Spoon mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Form into a ball. Wrap and chill overnight.
3.Before serving, combine parsley and walnuts in a shallow bowl or plate.  Unwrap cheese ball and gently roll in nut mixture. Either serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready. Serve with crackers, bread, or veggies.

Mmmmmm Macaroni!

I love me some macaroni and cheese. It really is the best comfort food there is, in my opinion anyway. But it’s not something I make very often. And that is because I’ve never found a recipe that I’ve liked as well as my grandmother’s (which, because it doesn’t have a recipe, is impossible to replicate).

But that excuse wasn’t cutting it for Jason any longer-- a month or so ago he started hinting that he’d really like macaroni and cheese for dinner sometime soon.  Then came October’s Everyday Food with its Three-Cheese and Bacon Macaroni cover recipe and the hinting became pleading.  How could I say no?

Thank goodness I gave in, because this recipe (from Emeril Lagasse’s monthly Everyday Food column) may rival my grandmother’s in terms of delciousness. It was SO good. And pretty easy too. Unlike other recipes I’ve tried in the past, this one does not require making a roux (flour+ butter) and adding milk that cooks until it thickens before melting in the cheese. Instead, this called for mixing evaporated milk, eggs, and three kinds of cheese adding in the cooked macaroni and bacon (BACON!) and letting it thicken in the oven.  But what I think I liked most was the addition of the garlic—it really added a depth of flavor that was absolutely yummy.

I highly recommend this dish for all the macaroni lovers out there!

Three-Cheese and Bacon Macaroni
Adapted, just barely, from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
½ pound elbow macaroni
3 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into ½ inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 large eggs
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
Two dashes of nutmeg
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

1.Preheat oven to 475. In a large pot of boiling water, cook macaroni for 6 minutes (it will be undercooked).
2.Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium heat and add bacon. Cook until crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon and garlic (while leaving the rendered fat) and place in medium-bowl.
3.When macaroni is ready, drain and add to the bacon. Toss to combine.
4.In a large bowl, mix together milk and eggs. Add nutmeg and cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in macaroni and bacon mixture.  Coat a 8- or 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and spoon macaroni mixture into dish. Bake until sauce is bubbling around the edges. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

To Fry or Not to Fry

Until a couple of weeks ago, I had a strict no-fry policy. I’m not a huge fan of most fried foods (with a few exceptions, of course) and was somewhat intimidated by the thought of a pot of hot oil sitting on my gas stove waiting to catch on fire.  Plus there’s the smell; heating large quantities of oil leaves your house/apartment smelling like oil for days.

Nope, frying was just not my thing.

Then about a month ago, I was browsing through Smitten Kitchen (I think as the kickoff to my Thanksgiving recipe search) and came across her recipe for what has to be one of my favorite fall treats: apple cider doughnuts.  Soft and lightly apple-flavored with hints of cinnamon, these delicious doughnuts are not that easy to come by. The only places I’ve ever seen them are apple orchards.  The recipe seemed easy enough—with the exception of the frying part. So I thought about it for a week or two and decided to give it a try.

It was not nearly as intimidating as I had made it out to be (although there definitely was a smell that lingered a day or two). The key is having an accurate candy thermometer. Mine ran cold and so when I put the first doughnut in, it got really brown really fast due to the overly hot oil.

SK’s recipe was pretty true to what I remembered from apple cider doughnuts past—though I did wish that the apple flavor had been just a tad bit more pronounced. Either way it was a fun way to spend Halloween afternoon and may become an annual autumn event.

Apple Cider Doughnuts
From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 cup apple cider
3 ½ cups flour, plus additional for work surface
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon plus 1 ½ TBL cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
4 TBL butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
A ton of vegetable oil (for frying)

1.In a saucepan set over medium-low heat, gently reduce apple cider to about ¼ cup (about 20-25 minutes). Set aside to cool.
2.Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3.Using an electric (or stand) mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until mixture is smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until completely incorporated.
4.Reduce the speed to low and slowly add reduced apple cider and buttermilk. Mix until just combine. Add flour mixture (in a few batches to prevent flour from going everywhere!) and continue to mix until dough comes together.
5.Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Turn dough onto one of the sheets and sprinkle top with flour. Flatten dough (with your hands) until it is about ½ inch thick. Transfer baking sheet to the freezer until it is slightly hardened, about 20 minutes. Remove.
6.Using a 3-inch round cutter and 1-inch round cutter (for the hole)—cut doughnut shapes. Place the doughnuts and holes on the second sheet pan. Refrigerate the doughnuts for 20-30 minutes.
7.Meanwhile, add enough oil to a deep-sided pan to measure a depth of about 3 inches. Attach a candy thermometer  to the side of the pan and heat over medium heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees. Line a plat with several layers of paper towels.
8.In a shallow bowl, mix together remaining sugar and cinnamon.
9.Carefully add two doughnuts to the oil and fry until golden brown (30-60 seconds depending on how hot your oil actually is). Turn and fry the other side (about 30 seconds). Drain on the paper towels for a minute and then dip in cinnamon sugar mixture. Best served warm!

Good News!

It's been a busy couple of weeks around our little household. Two (wonderful) weddings in two weeks and work that is picking up steam. But there has been some really good news as well. Jason will be starting a new job next week that will cut his 45 minute (on a good day!) commute down to 15 minutes. AND I found out today that I will get to stay in my agency's DC office permanently rather than making the move to Baltimore!

I know the blogging has been a little light lately but I have a couple of good recipe posts on the way (Can you say apple cider doughnuts? How about macaroni and cheese with bacon?) as well as a recap of our recent trip to California. If that isn't good news, I don't know what is :)

A preview of our day in Muir Woods

Election Day Soup

It was downright cold today. When I left home this morning (to go vote on my way to work!) I worried that I was breaking out the wool coat too early. But no. It was definitely cold out there.  Perfect weather for soup. And it just so happened that I had planned to try out a recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup from this month’s Food & Wine. (Side note: I only recently started subscribing to Food & Wine—thanks to a six issues for $6 special I got in the mail a few months back—and I have to say it is quickly becoming my favorite food magazines. High quality content, all around).

The recipe, particularly as originally written, could not have been simpler. Simply bring a pot of veggies, barley, and beef broth to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. I was a little skeptical as to how a seemingly scant amount of boiled vegetables would amount to a tasty soup so I upped the quantities added some leftover butternut squash from the  two pound behemoth we cut up for risotto on Saturday and sautéed the veggies before adding the broth and barley. Overall the recipe yielded a light and flavorful soup.  I definitely would recommend adding some additional vegetables to make it a little heartier. And Jason said he wouldn’t mind some additional barley so next time we might up to ¾ cup. Otherwise, an easy weeknight meal perfect for watching the election results (or not) this cold November evening.

Mushroom Barley Soup
Adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients:
1 TBL olive oil
½ onion, diced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2-3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 cup diced butternut squash (left over from when we cut up a whole squash for risotto on Saturday)
1 8-ounce container for cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper
6 cups of beef stock
½ cup barley

1.Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven. Add onion, celery, carrot, and butternut squash. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften (about 5-7 minutes).
2.Add mushrooms and toss. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Add barley, reduce heat to moderately low and partially cover. Cook until barley and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Check for seasonings and serve.

Making Sunday Dinner on a Saturday Night

After spending much of the day trying to restore sanity, Jason and I decided to spend a nice quiet evening at home Saturday night.  (Side note: you know you are getting old when you want to spend an evening cooking and hanging out rather than getting dressed up and going to a Halloween party with the rest of the “youth.”) Since we have plans to spend this evening eating chili and passing out candy to adorably dressed children at our friends Matt and Stephanie’s house, I decided to make a recipe I had been wanting to try out for Sunday Dinner: Butternut Squash Risotto.

Although I have chronicled my risotto making adventures in the past, I decided to try a slightly different technique that seemed to offer an alternative to the constant stirring of recipes past. This one, from Cook’s Illustrated, also made use of some distinctly fall flavors that seemed perfect for Halloween weekend. I ended up with a lot more squash than the recipe called for so I stuck the pre-chopped pieces in the freezer for future use.

All in all it turned out well (although be forewarned—if you don’t like sage you will not like this recipe!) and, according to Jason, I can add risotto to my list of specialties!

Butternut Squash with Sage and Toasted Pine Nuts
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 TBL olive oil
3 ½ cups of butternut squash cubes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
3 TBL butter
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper
2 cups Arborio rice
1 ½ cups dry white wine
2 TBL minced fresh sage leaves
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
¼-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (depending on cheesy you like it)

1.Heat olive oil in a large pan or dutch oven. Add squash and cook over medium heat without stirring for 4 minutes or until golden brown. Add salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 4-5 minutes until beginning to soften. Transfer squash to a bowl and set aside.
2.Combine chicken broth and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, lower heat to a bare simmer and cover to keep warm.
3.In the same pan/dutch oven you used to cook the squash, melt butter. Once foaming has subsided, add onions and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened (about 4-5 minutes). Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, until grains begin to turn translucent around the edges—about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently, until fully absorbed (about 4-5 minutes).
4.Add 3 cups of hot broth and half of the reserved squash. Simmer, stirring every few minutes, until liquid is absorbed and bottom of pan is almost dry (about 8-10 minutes).
5.Stir in ½ cup of hot broth and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Repeat with additional borth until rice is creamy and al dente. Turn off the heat. Add in Parmesan, sage, remaining squash, and pine nuts. Taste for seasonings. If desired, add up to ¼ cup broth to loosen risotto. Serve.

Sanity Restored?

So as you all have probably heard today was the big Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. With all of the things we have had going on recently, I had actually sort of forgotten about it until last night when Jason asked if we were going to go.  My initial answer was no—as much fun as it sounded, I was a little turned off by the idea of being shoulder-to-shoulder with 60,000 other people for most of the day when all I really wanted to do was relax this weekend. But after a good night’s sleep, I decided we should at least give it a shot. So off we went into the city to take part in a faux political rally.

We came, we saw, we left after 20 minutes.

Despite our best efforts, we did not make it there in time to get a spot close enough to the stage (or even the jumbotrons) to be able to see or hear all that much. And as I had initially feared, the crowds were pretty nuts…I was just starting to feel claustrophobic when Jason suggested we high tail it home and watch it on the DVR instead.

Although we did not see too much, it was still pretty interesting to be a part of the insanity (to restore sanity) for a short time at least.  You can see more of how our day went below:

10:30am: We get the metro and it looks like this. A train goes by and no one is able to get on. Plan B: walk the 3-4 miles to the Mall instead.

12:00pm: We finally make it to the outer edge of the Mall (we did not choose the most direct walking route and so it took longer than we thought to get there). There are a lot of people walking towards the rally.

There are A LOT of people....and we aren't even there yet.

The best part of the trip was seeing all the signs people had made. One one side this guy's sign says "Liberals are appealing" (you know, cause he's dressed like a banana); on the other-"Orange you glad I'm not a teabagger."

We're getting closer!

But not close enough....this is about as far as we were able to get. And the stage is in front of the Capitol.

This was one of my favorite signs. The other side was a picture of Hitler and the caption read "Adolf Hitler, THAT GUY was a NAZI." Because whether you agree or disagree with the current Administration's politics, the name-calling has gotten a little out of control these days.

I also liked the sign on the left that said "Actually, the end isn't near. So there's time to, like, think and talk things through."

12:50pm: Did I mention there were a lot of people there?! This was as we were leaving the Mall to get the heck out of there.

I Have a Problem

My name is Lindsay and I am holiday-themed-cooking-magazines-aholic. Every year around this time when all the major food/cooking magazines start putting out Thanksgiving/holiday themed issues I go a little nuts.

Case in point:

Cook's Illustrated (subscription), Cooking Light, Food and Wine (subscription), Martha Stewart Living, and Everyday Food (subscription)

Yes, so far this year I have purchased (either through subscription or on the newsstand) five…FIVE!.... Thanksgiving/holiday themed magazine issues.

I know…it’s gross.

But I can’t help it…Thanksgiving is an important cooking/food holiday and the one I have looked forward to the most for many years. You see, my mom doesn’t like to cook and one year when I was in college she suggested that we (gasp) go out to eat for Thanksgiving. That was too much for me so I said if she didn’t want to cook, I would do it. So I planned my menu and made about 80% of the meal (my mom did pitch in with a few key dishes and helped do some of the prep work despite her aversion to the kitchen). And it got to be a tradition that I looked forward to. I loved researching recipes, creating a menu, and executing it from start to finish.

Things are a little different now that Jason and I are married; last year we went to his parents house for Thanksgiving which meant I had to relinquish my role as executive chef (as is the plan for this year too). Fortunately his mother has allowed me to bring a couple of dishes so I still get to indulge in my penchant for the Thanksgiving glossies. But you can bet on the fact that I am counting the days until we have our own house so I can host everyone and put together that Thanksgiving menu of my dreams!

Wednesday Night Chili

Remember this summer when I started my new job and I didn’t have enough to do. Yeah, those days are over. I laugh at those days.

Then I cry.

I’m only kidding. I’m mostly enjoying the fast pace at which I am currently working…except for days like tomorrow when I have meetings scheduled for 5 of my 8 hour workday (ha-- 8 hours is probably wishful thinking). Not only that but tomorrow is a Baltimore day which means I have to add at least 2.5 hours to my day for the commute AND to top it all off we are heading out of town for a wedding this weekend.

Much like my friend Stephanie, I tend to be more productive when my schedule is packed. Good thing since I have created a pretty large to-do list for myself tonight so I don’t have as much to tackle when I get home late tomorrow. In addition to pre-travel things like laundry and packing, this list also included making a pot of the easiest (and dare I say tastiest) vegetarian chili I’ve ever made.

This recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated by way of Cheap Healthy Good and I highly recommend it for those of you who like bean-based chili with a healthy dose of spice (which comes from chopping up chipotles in adobo and adding it into the mix). It comes together pretty quickly and makes enough for two meals if you are like us and only cooking for two.

Guess what we're having for dinner tomorrow :P

Easy Vegetarian Chili
Adapted slightly from Cheap Healthy Good

Ingredients:
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can of black beans, drained
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans, drained
1 1/2 TBL minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and Pepper
1 onion, minced
2 TBL chili powder
3 teaspoons cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 TBL chopped cilantro

1. Pour tomatoes and juices into a blender or food processor and pulse 4-5 times until chunky.
2. In a large saucepan, combine tomatoes, beans, chipotles, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in another large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add onion, cumin, chili powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook until onions are soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Pour tomato mixture into onion mixture, stirring to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Drop heat and simmer for about 15 minutes (or longer if you are waiting for your friend/significant other/etc. get home from work). Stir occassionally.
5. When you are about 15 minutes away from servin