Cooking: Root Vegetable Stew with Herbed Dumplings

So much better than delivery: Homemade pizza!

Made with Cento pizza sauce, Jimmy's Spicy Italian Sausage, and Mitch's Basic Pizza Dough

Happy New Year

From the New York Times, "Brooklyn-Style" Hoppin' John

Looking up: Muscovado Sugar

Muscovado sugar
Similar to dark brown but less refined...

Called for in a recipe from Bobby Flay for pork tenderloin with a rum molasses glaze

Pickling

Tried these from SmittenKitchen


Next going to try: haricots vert, carrots, garlic

Looking at containers, reading about wire-wale closures


from Crate and Barrel:


Decision: Sur La Table but they don't seem to be online

January 1

Delicious wine braised short ribs... from Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook


Served with polenta, from the same book, roast brussels sprouts, Central Market's recipe for black-eyed peas and...

2000 Jordan cabernet sauvignon

Capers 'n Creole Deviled Eggs

The season of deviled eggs is upon us

I say, soufflé!

Awesome souffle class from the Central Market cooking school...

Nigella Express

Welcome back Big Tex!

BigTex.com new and improved with the Food Locater. I dare you, just enter the word "fried"

Anthony Bourdain & Low Country Shrimp and Grits

Our new favorite show: Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. This week, featuring South Carolina.

Before the episode started, I said "I hope they feature low country shrimp and grits." Well they did, sort of. Bourdain's companion ordered it at the first restaurant featured.

Anthony ordered "The Big Nasty." Anthony, please.

So we'll be making our own this week, and trying this Shrimp 'n' Grits recipe from MyHusbandCooks.wordpress.com

Edit: He ordered the shrimp and grits at the end. I didn't have faith.

Cooking: Paella

The husband made a DELICIOUS first attempt at this month's Real Simple recipe: Spanish chicken and rice.

Of course, it was gummy, as it always is when we attempt a paella-esque dish.

The USA Rice Federation via the Culinary Institute of America web site says:

"Cook paella uncovered and never stir after adding the liquid. Stirring will cause the kernels to lose their integrity and result in a gummy paella."

Recipes never say this, so we'll try it next time.

Cupcakes

I'm not on the cupcakes eating bandwagon with everyone else because of the perpetual diet, but this pan from Sur la Table could not be cuter.

Cooking: Panko-crusted Tilapia

Lovely husband made:
Panko-crusted tilapia, a version of what we did can be found here, although we used less spices, and cooked the filets in a pan instead of the oven.
Mixed field greens salad
Artichokes
and from Whole Foods: Artichoke Parmesan Bisque

Didn't get a picture, ate it too fast, but it was delicious, as usual

UPDATE: Panko is a Japanese bread crumb, way lighter than normal Italian breadcrumbs. Highly recommend it when you're pan frying food but want it to be light...

Amy's bread, part 2

So the bread was sweeter, delicious, but not appropriate for dinner (see below). It was COMPLETELY delicious toasted with strawberry preserves for my husband's breakfast a day or two later, and this morning, I decided to try it for French Toast. It was un-be-liev-able. It tasted like it was right out of the Four Seasons kitchen, and I've never even attempted to make French Toast before....

Here's what I did:
Two thick slices (approx 1") of Amy's bread
Soak in 2 eggs, whisked with a little non-fat milk, for a couple minutes on each side
On medium-high heat, fry in a tablespoon of butter with a little vegetable oil, til brown-ish on each side.
Serve, with maple syrup.
It was RIDICULOUS-good... here's the evidence:

Monday night dinner...

My wonderful husband made shrimp and crawfish etoufee for me for dinner on Monday night... here:


so to do my part for dinner, I tried this recipe, Ann's No-Knead Bread, courtesy of Posie Gets Cozy.

The results are here:




I was so thrilled with the dinner I kept taking pictures. Posie was right about the recipe though, this is a sweeter bread, and if I were a more confident baker I would've tried to mess with the proportion of sugar to make it more suitable for dinner. It would be fantastic for breakfast, but still did the trick with the etoufee. And it was seriously the most ridiculously easy bread I've EVER made. Waaay easier than that OTHER no-knead bread that's been floating around...

seriously. i need a better hobby.

all i've had on the tv today other than a movie this morning, is one Food Network Challenge after another... It's been a Guiness World Record Day or something.

20-foot Mickey Mouse made out of solid popcorn
Tallest sugar structures emulating famous buildings
Pizza toss, pizza roll, pizza making, pizza dough width.
Most pancakes made in a hour
... most oysters shucked
... most onions peeled
Fastest pumpkin carving

Brilliant

A whole show about SUPPLIES. FoodNetwork.com

This sounds fantastic

I'm not normally a fan of Rachael Ray, quite frankly she grates on my last nerve, but she just made this, and it looks awesome...

Fried Vermicelli and Green Onions

1 pound vermicelli
Salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed away from skins
6 scallions, whites and greens, cut into 3-inch pieces then shredded lengthwise
Pepper
20 leaves fresh basil (1 cup), shredded into a chiffonade
Cook vermicelli in salted water to al dente; drain. Heat extra-virgin olive oil and butter with garlic over medium heat and cook garlic until it begins to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove garlic and raise heat. Fry the scallions in the seasoned oil for 3 to 4 minutes. Add well-drained pasta to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta liberally with the scallions and seasoned oil. Place a plate smaller than the pan down over the vermicelli and weight it with a few cans or a heavy skillet. Let the vermicelli brown and crisp up a bit. Remove the skillet and plate and invert onto a serving platter. Garnish with basil.

Cooking: Blueberry Tart

I made this blueberry tart tonight, recipe from MarthaStewart.com here. It is fabulously easy and just delicious.