Culinary Goods

I messed these up a little, so think they would have been much better had I followed the directions. I also want to add some nutmeg and cloves next time to give it a nicer taste.  I served these with cinnamon whipped cream instead of the caramel sauce, also. I would give these a 6. I got the recipe (and pic) from smittenkitchen.com. Apple Latkes In an earlier post about potato latkes, I share a few of my favorite tips . In summary: Keeping them in a warm oven doesn’t only keep them crisp for a long time after baking, but helps even out any uneveness from pan-frying. Well seasoned cast iron skillets make the brownest, crispiest fritters. Cheesecloths are my favorite way to wring moisture out of pancake ingredients. And finally, latkes are totally not just Hanukah food. I’d eat these for breakfast, any slept-in morning of the year, should one of those happen again in my lifetime. Makes 12 2 to 3-inch latkes 1 pound tart, firm apples such as Granny Smiths (2 large o...

I thought this was okay but not great. There is potential there for it to be better, so I'm not ready to disregard it just yet. Jared and I gave it a 6.5. I got the recipe and pic from smittenkitchen.com. Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Pesto 1/2 pound broccoli 1/2 pound dried spaghetti 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 small onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced (or, more to taste) 1/2 teaspoon table salt Freshly ground black pepper or pinches of red pepper flakes 4 tablespoons heavy cream I used half and half A heap of grated parmesan (about 1/2 cup), to serve I added about 1/2 C. chicken broth Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for your pasta. Remove broccoli florets from stems and chop into medium florets. Peel stems with a vegetable peeler (I do this so that they cook quickly, plus, I prefer their taste without the tough stem skin.) and slice them into 1/2-inch segments. Use your pot of future pasta water to steam (by s...

I made these for Valentine's Day and served them with vanilla ice cream. Without ice cream, I would give them a 5. With ice cream, I would give them a 7. I got the recipe off of marthastewart.com. Ingredients 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter I substituted half of this for canola oil 2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar I put in only 1 1/2 C.  6 ounces unsweetened chocolate 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt Confectioners' sugar, colored sugar, cocoa, or crushed toffee bits, for decoration Cook's Note If you don't have a heart-shaped cutter, you can cut the brownies into squares or other shapes. Directions Step 1 Prehea...

This roll recipe comes from my mom and I would give it a solid 10. I may be biased for sentimental reasons, but I always get a ton of compliments when I make these. This recipe is versatile, so I use it for orange rolls and Parmesan rolls. 2 Tbs. yeast 1/2 C. butter 3 beaten eggs 1/2 C. sugar 4 1/2 C. flour 2 tsp. salt Dissolve yeast in 1/4 C. warm water and 1 tsp. sugar. Then melt butter in the microwave and combine it with sugar and 1 C. warm water. Mix. Add eggs and salt. Mix. Then add yeast and flour and mix until flour is just combined and there is no flour visible. Let rise double (about an hour) and then chill at least an hour, but preferably overnight. Punch down, roll out into whatever roll you are making (in the shape you're going for along with flavors i.e. orange for orange rolls, cheese, butter and parsley for Parmesan rolls). Let rise double again and then bake at 425 for about 10 minutes.

I really thought this would be good, but it wasn't, mainly because it was so dry. I also used whole wheat noodles, which adds to the overall dryness, so this desperately needed some sauce to go along with it. I even added some chicken broth and half and half to make it not so dry, but probably needed to add a lot more than I did. It had decent flavor, but isn't very good as is. I gave it a 6 and Jared gave it a 3. Both the pic and recipe came from finecooking.com. Kosher salt 3/4 lb. whole wheat penne 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium zucchini (8 oz. each), cut in half lengthwise and sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick half moons 4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest Freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmig...

This was awesome. John likes it almost as well as Mexican Quinoa. I give this an 8.5 and this will become a regular meal. I will also double it so that I can have more leftovers. Also, I served this warm, and it’s much better warm than cold. Finally, I left the sauce on the side because it does not need as much as it calls for. Thai-Style Chicken and Quinoa Salad Yield: Serves 6 Be aware that this recipe makes use of already cooked chicken so plan ahead (it's a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken and is delicious with grilled chicken or even leftover turkey). I can't find fresh edamame in my neck of the woods, so I bought frozen, let it thaw and popped the edamame out of the shells and right into the salad. Also, for the most part, the amounts for the salad ingredients aren't rocket science and can just be eyeballed based on your taste preference. Ingredients Salad: 1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed well 2 cups cooked chicken I left this out 1/2 cup cho...

This recipe came from melskitchencafe.com, and as usual, it was awesome. I don’t like curry, and even I gave this an 8. Love it. I indicate my changes below in bold. Coconut Curry Soup Yield: Serves 4-6 Note: the slight dash of cayenne pepper doesn’t make the soup spicy, instead, it just enhances the overall flavor. You can add more to taste, if you like things a bit spicier. Also, if you are worried about the fish sauce, don’t be! It is widely available in most grocery stores in the Asian foods section. It is relatively inexpensive and lasts a long time in the refrigerator. It adds an element of flavor you can’t get otherwise, but in a pinch, you could leave it out and sub in probably 1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste). If you don’t know what you would use the rest of the fish sauce in, here are a few of my other favorite dishes that call for it: Shrimp Stir Fry with Coconut Curry Sauce , Chiang Mai Noodles , Red Coconut Curry Noodles , Vietnamese Spring Rolls , Authentic...

I got this recipe from Fine Cooking and it was good. It was better than the one I posted a few months ago, but it’s still not as good as Mrs. Richardson’s fudge that you buy at the store. However, this is super easy and was really tasty. Here is the recipe: Quick Hot Fudge Sauce 1 cup heavy cream 2 Tbs. light corn syrup Pinch salt 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (to yield about 1-1/3 cups) Bring the cream, corn syrup, and salt just to a boil in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking until combined. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Let cool to a bit warmer than room temperature before using in the ice cream pie. The sauce thickens as it cools; you want it warm enough to drizzle but not so warm that it melts the ice cream. You can see from my picture that this is really thick, but it didn’t thicken up like this until it was in the fridge. I used about 60% dark and 40% milk chocolate, and I would say that i...

  I didn’t love this. It came from melskitchencafe.com and I give it a 6.5. First, I don’t like to mix sweet and savory. I would have much rather had a baked sweet potato in the oven with vegetables on the side. I likely won’t make this again, but I also didn’t add chicken, so maybe that’s the problem. Spicy {Or Not} Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup Yield: Serves 6-8   Note: Increase the red pepper flakes if you like more heat. The 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe will give gentle and flavor but is not overly spicy (as in, my kids ate it with no problem). Ingredients 1 tablespoon butter 1 red onion, finely diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 3 ribs celery, diced 6 cloves garlic, minced 7-8 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (or use about 3-4 cups of shredded, cooked chicken) 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/- inch pieces 1 can (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon dried marj...

I got this recipe from finecooking.com and through it was a good, easy recipe. Jared and I both gave it a 7. Fusilli with Peas and Feta Kosher salt 1-1/2 cups lower-salt chicken broth 1 lb. fresh or frozen peas (about 3 cups) 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbs. chopped fresh dill Freshly ground black pepper 12 oz. dried fusilli pasta 4 oz. feta, finely crumbled (about 1 cup) juice from 1/2 lemon 1/4 C. fresh Parmesan  Tip: If starting with peas in the pod, you’ll need about 3 lb. before shelling. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. In a 3-quart saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Add the peas and cook until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat an...

This is an oh so yummy pasta that has actually inspired me to use cauliflower more often as a side dish. I’ll explain more later. First, I give this an 8.5. I have included my changes below in bold. First, note that this is time consuming. It’s not hard, but it will take an hour to make this. Secondly, I think I might use this roasted garlic and cauliflower method and add toasted pine nuts for a killer side dish. This was the best part of the whole meal. I might even try this with quinoa, because I am not a fan of white pasta. Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta Yield: Serves 4-6 Ingredients 2 heads garlic, papery skins removed, top quarter of heads cut off (on the pointy side of the garlic) and discarded I might even use 2 1/2 heads 6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 head cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds) I used twice this, and would use 3 full heads for a full pound of pasta 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon sugar I left this out and it...