2011.10.20 - Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup

The Seattle rains have started, so it felt like a good week for soup.  I hadn't made much with pumpkin yet this season (besides adding it to Chewie's special dog food mix of chicken + brown rice + pumpkin + yogurt), so this soup sounded appealing.  I served it with a wheat bread loaf from Trader Joe's some cheese, and a bagged spinach salad.  D brought us some awesome hazelnut chocolate from Germany, which has the very metal sounding name of HASELNUSS.

Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup

This had a tad too much curry powder in it for my taste, but it was a very good and hearty soup.  And extremely easy to make, and make ahead.  I did not find that the suggestion of sour cream topping added much, since the soup is already "creamy" to begin with.  Using canned pumpkin in an interesting variation in something I'd typically make with butternut squash.

2011.10.13 - Breakfast Bake, Yogurt Brulee

Since I eat the same thing for breakfast every day (greek yogurt with some jam) and am normally not hungry enough in the morning to eat a big breakfast, I love doing breakfast for dinner nights!  I believe I saw this breakfast bake floating around on Pinterest and thought it looked amazing.  Trying bi bim bap has been opening me up to "runny" eggs, so I was intrigued by the egg preparation in this dish.

Bacon, Tomato, and Cheddar Breakfast Bake

This dish has a LOT of cheese.  An embarrassing and shocking amount of cheese.  It was also REALLY good.  Coincidence? :)  I am normally not a fan of sourdough, but that flavor worked really well with the other ingredients.  Because of my inexperience with not completely cooked eggs, I did unfortunately end up overcooking this.  The egg yolks were almost rubbery :(  Oh well, will know better for next time.

Modifications: I left the bacon on the side and used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock to make it vegetarian. 

Yogurt Brulee

The idea of this intrigued me when I first read about it.  Creme brulee, but with yogurt??  I don't have a kitchen torch, so I did the best I could under the broiler (which ended up in a mediocre sugar crust).  I used raspberries and a bit of honey on the bottom.  You would think that hot greek yogurt would taste odd, but this was actually pretty good.  Next time I think I'd use vanilla sugar or mix some vanilla into the yogurt.

2011.09.22 - Spaghetti with Cabbage and Breadcrumbs, Caprese Salad, Red Wine Chocolate Cake

In my journeys on the internet, I see a fair amount of pasta + breadcrumbs recipes, but I've never made one before.  I had some leftover cabbage in the fridge and was intrigued by this recipe, so I went for it.  I served it with a basic tomatoes + mozzarella + basil + balsamic caprese and an awesome chocolate cake for dessert.

Spaghetti with Savoy Cabbage and Breadcrumbs

Making your own breadcrumbs for this elevates the breadcrumbs from adding crunch to being a delivery system for more butter.  Sauteing the cabbage completely mellowed out its flavor and the butter and cheese made a great coating for the pasta.  Everyone was surprised by how much they liked this dish.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Like Deb says in the recipe, I'd never heard of putting red wine in chocolate cake.  It was a really interesting addition and made for a very rich cake.  As much as I liked the cake, I think the marscarpone whipped cream was the real surprise here -- SO GOOD.  I should never make regular whipped cream again.

2011.09.15 - Tortilla Soup, Lemon Sorbet with Prosecco

This dinner was also a going away party for K, who moved down to the sunnier climes of California.  When I think of California and food, I think of avocados and wine country, so I found a dish and dessert that would incorporate each.

Tortilla Soup

This soup was very fresh tasting and delicious and feels healthy with all the vegetables. 

Modifications: The recipe is for a vegan soup, which I didn't follow in a couple ways.  Instead of vegetable broth, I used homemade chicken stock (recipe from Urban Pantry).  I omitted the garlic, chili pepper, and chia seeds (I don't think I could cook with those -- ch ch ch chia is too ingrained in my mind).  And I served with real cheese, not vegan cheese.

Lemon Sorbet with Prosecco

Not much is simpler than this.  Scoop of sorbet with some prosecco poured over top.  Since I served soup for dinner and only have about 10 bowls, having a collection of jam jars saved me from running out of bowls for dessert :)

2011.09.01 - Chik-Fil-A Nuggets, Tomato Salad, Potatoes with Peas and Mint

I had never encountered Chik-Fil-A until we moved to the south in the 90s.  Later, back north, there was one in my college science center's cafe, which fueled more all-night computer programming sessions than I'd like to admit, until they closed it down to bring in "healthier options" (pizza??).  A first got exposed to the wonders of Chik-Fil-A down in Arizona, and ever since we make a point to eat there once when we head down to AZ or back east.  I've had a candy/frying thermometer that's been sitting unused far too long, so when I saw this taste-a-like recipe flying around on Pinterest, I decided to give deep frying a go. 

Chik-Fil-A Nuggets

I've never deep fried anything.  The thought of it terrified me, and I didn't have the proper equipment.  This time, I had the aforementioned thermometer, and I used my 6 qt dutch oven as the oil vat.  After trying it this time, I don't foresee doing it much in the future.  The amount of oil used is wasteful (I know you are supposed to filter and reuse, or something?), the whole process is messy, and when you can only cook a few things at a time, it takes forever to get dinner on the table.

These nuggets were good, but did not taste much like the Chik-Fil-A I remember.  Even with the powdered sugar added to the flour mix, I did not think they tasted sweet enough.  Frying does give a pretty awesome crunchy texture and a very moist chicken though.

Tomato Salad

The recipe made way too much dressing, but other than than, a good simple recipe.  I love my tomatoes in any form (except red sauce).

Potatoes with Peas and Mint

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this side dish.  The peas and mint really freshened up the potatoes and made it feel like a spring/summer dish.  I could not get my peas to mash into a paste (maybe I didn't cook them quite long enough), but even keeping the peas mainly whole, this was still very enjoyable.  It isn't the prettiest thing, but I'd make this again.

2011.08.25 - Italian Antipasto Salad, Herb Cheese Bread, Cantaloupe Basil Sorbet

This meal all started with the bread.  I came across it in my internet travels and couldn't stop thinking about it.  While walking the dog, I puzzled over what to make with it.  The idea of antipasto salad stuck with me, so I looked up a recipe (Giada seemed like a good place to start, and lo and behold she had one).  To combat the excess of cheese and meats, I decided a sorbet for dessert would be best.

Unfortunately we were so caught up in the food that none of us took any pictures!

Italian Antipasto Salad

The lettuce and beans make you almost forget that you are eating a salad filled with fatty meat and cheese :)  I enjoyed this salad a lot, but would individually dress each portion next time.  The dressing decimated the lettuce as it sat and made for leftovers with a bunch of really soggy, wilty lettuce.  Ew.

Modifications: I used just romaine and butter lettuce and left out the iceberg.  I see no reason to eat iceberg lettuce (even though my dad contests that is the only TRUE lettuce).  I bought a Trader Joe's appetizer pack that had prosciutto, salami, and capicola, and augmented with a bit more salami.  I think that the combination of meats was a lot better than just using salami -- the prosciutto in particular added great flavor. 

Herb Cheese Bread

I liked this bread a lot, although I think it could have been well served by reducing the amount of cheese by half.  I wished that the herb flavor would have come out more.  It is a nice alternative to garlic bread, though.

Modifications: Omitted garlic, per usual.  I used a par-baked ciabatta from TJ's, since it had to bake to melt the cheese filling anyway.

Cantaloupe Basil Sorbet

When I was planning the meal, I kept thinking that cantaloupe was the green melon.  Of course when I got to the store, I realized I had been thinking of honeydew, and that cantaloupe was the orange melon.  I am not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but charged forward regardless.  I think I would have preferred a honeydew/mint or a watermelon/basil combination, but this was fairly refreshing and inoffensive.  Not great praise for a dessert.  There's a lot still sitting in my freezer, which is telling.

2011.08.18 - Tomato and Corn Pie, Blueberry Fool

When I started this post, I typed: "Tomato and Corn Pie was a revelation when I made it last year" and then looked back at my last write-up.  Sure enough, I discovered that I called it a revelation back then too.  Tomato and Corn Pie = revelation.

Tomato and Corn Pie

I used the same substitution as last time - greek yogurt for mayo.  I don't know why I don't make this way more often.  Once a year is not enough.

Blueberry Fool

The heart cookie in the picture is a lemon almond cookie from Trader Joe's.  I found it to be too crunchy and too almondy -- was expecting more of a lemon shortbread.

I added too much lemon juice to the blueberry sauce, but otherwise this fool was a nice dessert.  Sweet but not too sweet and light as air.  And a GREAT color :)