I have a Cookbook Review for you and a Recipe Roundup tonight. Hopefully my pictures are right side up. I uploaded them from my phone (through the air, Mom!) and they seem to adjust themselves automatically. If not, pretend I meant to put them that way. It’s way too cold and my hip doesn’t like stairs at the moment.
The Husband was gone on a business trip for a couple of days, so I had a vegetarian feast week planned. It didn’t go quite as well as I hoped, as I ended up with no time to shop for the couple of things I couldn’t find. I did use the cookbook enough to be able to review it though, since I have used it before as well, for mac and cheese. I also had so many leftovers that I had to eat up, that I didn’t end up needing to cook as much as I thought I would.
The cookbook I used is called Vegetables! It’s by Pippa Cuthbert & Lindsay Cameron Wilson. It has some extremely fancy recipes in it, some of which are a little intimidating. It’s a very colorful book. Everything has fancy names and some of them are all about the 15 ingredients that you’ll only use once.
This recipe had baked chicken breasts on the side, as the Husband was still home at the beginning of the week and apparently likes regular meals. 😉 It was Linguine with Swiss Chard and Sweet Onions.
The sweet onion part is misleading, because you just caramelize them, not actually use sweeter onions. I was a little disappointed in that, as I think it would have gone well using them. I used rainbow chard for extra happiness and chicken broth instead of wine. I also added baked chicken on the side. I was a rebel!
Really though, we had a seasoning mix from Penzey’s called “Krakow Nights” that I wanted to try. It is a Polish style seasoning and tastes delicious. The Husband also likes meat. I had herb goat cheese crumbles on the top of mine. The recipe was pretty simple though, so I don’t know if I would use a recipe again. You basically caramelize the onions, sauté the chard, take it out of the pan, deglaze with the wine/broth, then add everything back in along with the noodles. The chicken and the onions made it a longer dish, but everything else cooked while the noodles were boiling. I actually made the onions in the morning and just reheated them. We would have this again.
I also made Black Bean And Vegetable Chili. I didn’t bother with the cilantro-lime creme fraiche (see what I mean about the fancy names?) as I knew I wouldn’t actually like it. I had this as a three course meal after work, with frozen popcorn shrimp, and arugula salad.
Mmmm! I love arugula! The Husband does not, so I don’t have to share! This also means I need to eat the entire container of it myself. Hmm.. I should probably have a rather large salad tomorrow.
The chili has chipotle chilis in adobo sauce in it and it makes it have the most delicious and smoky taste. I brought container of it to work and a co-worker tracked me down to find out what the delicious smell was! I would make this again, but was glad I made just half the batch. The Husband is not a fan of chili.
I’m in two minds whether to keep this book or not. I think there are some very good looking recipes in it, but I have had it for quite a few years and have made exactly three things out of it. The Husband’s dislike for vegetables makes it unlikely that I could make many more of them for both of us. It’s too much work to make separate dishes! But if I keep it, I could supervise the Husband’s pork cookery and make these for myself. Decisions, decisions… (Also, there are two book sales on the horizon and the Husband and I may have come home from shopping with three new cookbooks…)
For our other meals, we have had a variety of things.
I had the urge to make a chocolate cake a few weekends ago from the Alex Guarnaschelli book, so I did just that. (I know! But I can’t stop! Too many good recipes!) What the Husband doesn’t know is that it was the Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake recipe. Don’t tell him, or he won’t ever eat it again! I didn’t use the vanilla frosting though. It involved corn syrup. We don’t get along. I made a chocolate cream cheese frosting from the Better Homes book instead.
This was hands down the best chocolate cake I have made. It was super moist, even after a few days and very lovely and rich. It soothed my soul!
My only complaint was my frosting job wasn’t even, but I have not had a lot of practice with actual layer cakes. I will definitely make this again.
This banana bread was also from A.G’s cookbook. It was a spectacular failure in that I accidentally froze the butter while mixing it, by using partially frozen bananas. I had to put the metal mixer bowl in the preheating oven and it was a mess. Tasted delicious, but was sooooooo dense and wet at the same time.
There was a small mishap when I tried to turn the first loaf over. Half of it came off, so I had to eat it. I ended up throwing it away though. It was not good after a day or two. I may try it again with ripe bananas, not frozen, and halve the recipe.
Another failure this week was on Sunday, when I attempted to make quesadillas and had four fall apart on me for unknown reasons. I was mystified, as I make these all the time with leftover taco meat!
These were the “good” ones. I cooked up hamburger and added green chilis, onions, and some of our Fire-Breather salsa. Then I added it to the tortillas and that’s when it all fell apart. I was a little mortified, but we ate the evidence, so no one needs to know.
Something that did work out well, was the drumsticks.
I used another Penzey’s spice mix, the Galena Street Rub. I swear they didn’t sponsor this post, but they probably should have. Sometime soon, I might write a post about my spice cabinet contents, as it has grown exponentially and deliciously. I also had canned peaches with mine. The Husband has requested this spice rub on everything. 🙂
We also had venison and beef Christmas/Swedish meatballs and noodles at the beginning of the week last week. They were delicious as usual. Fancy was extra excited as she got a tiny bit of the raw venison. No pictures, as we ate them too fast.
Last, but not least, I made Pannukakku, or Finnish pancake this morning and had lingonberry jam on it. Sadly, my thimbleberry dealer is slacking and I am out of it again. 😉
It made my little Finnish heart all warm and cozy this morning. If the dog weren’t pinning me to the couch, I would post the recipe. Although I may have posted it before.
So that’s what we’ve eaten lately. With the exception of the two missteps, which both still tasted delicious, I think it was a pretty good couple of weeks. Now to pick the next cookbook to focus on! And find room for the new cookbooks…
