Two Peas & Their Pod. French Omelets. Why are these called French omelets? Je ne sais pas. (That’s French for, I have no earthly idea.) But that is what the recipe calls them, and so who am I to argue. I love omelets. Or I should say, I love EATING omelets. I have a love/hate relationship with actually cooking them — when they come out looking good I feel very very good, and when they are bad, they are horrid. And so. The first will probably horrify half of you and make the other half of you laugh, but I promise you, it WORKS.
Washington Post’s Omelet in a Bag For those of you who prefer cooking an omelet with the more traditional skillet on the stove approach, I highly recommend the French Omelet recipe (and that is the omelet you see resting in that lovely bed of baby spinach above). FRENCH OMELETS, adapted from a Cooks Illustrated recipe Ingredients 3 eggs 1 tablespoon butter, diced and put into the freezer f0r 10 minutes 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese Fresh ground pepper Chopped parsley Directions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Aligot Potatoes. I actually don’t know if I have the words to describe the joy that is aligot potatoes.I had never heard of them until a couple of years ago, when I ran across a recipe for them.
Never saw them on a menu, never read about them, had no idea what “aligot” meant. Now mind you, I consider mashed potatoes one of the great pleasures of life, and I have tried all different approaches to them, none of them quite measuring up to my mother’s homemade mashed potatoes that we get at Christmas. (One Christmas she mixed pureed turnips into them. Or maybe it was parsnips. That was the Christmas That Almost Wasn’t. I have forgiven her, but it has taken a while. Anyway, one of the things every mashed potato recipe tells you not to do, NEVER to do, is to “mash” them in your food processor. Here is my ultimate proof. So there you go, aligot potatoes, a gift from the heavens. Ingredients 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices 1 tablespoon salt 2 garlic cloves, minced Directions 1.
Rosemary Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes. So, I’d like to go on record as saying that mashed potatoes are pretty dang good on their own, and I usually don’t condone any messing with a good old classic mashed potato recipe. On occasion my mother has snuck some mashed parsnips into her mashed potatoes. Or maybe it was mashed turnips. Whatever it was, I know her intentions were good, but we figured it out and staged a mutiny.
There was to be NO messing with mashed potatoes! So for me to break my sacred mashed potato rule, you know it had to be for something amazingly, extra-specially good. Which brings me to the subject of rosemary. I miss it SO much in the winter, so much so that this past year my heroic Southern husband tried to keep some growing in a pot during the chilly winter months. Back to the mashed potatoes. But Mom? Rosemary Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes Ingredients 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature 4 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled and at room temperature 1/3 cup heavy cream Directions.
Lemon Ricotta Potatoes. Okay, so I don’t usually get too worked up about side dishes. I tend towards those dishes that pretty much feature all the food groups and courses in one handy pan. That’s why I love Shepherd’s Pie, and Chili Dog Casserole, and pretty much anything with pasta in it. But every once in a while a side dish comes along and steals my heart. That’s what happened with these gorgeous little potatoes. It might have been because they feature ricotta cheese. I have recently learned how to make my own ricotta cheese, and so my ricotta cheese radar is on high alert. You can feel free to be a normal person and buy your own ricotta cheese (Whole Foods has great fresh ricotta), or you can join me in home-made ricotta cheese paradise by clicking here. And a couple of these… And the best olive oil you can find. Anyway, you cook up a bunch of baby red potatoes by drizzling them with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrapping them up in a foil packet.
Life is good. Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes 1. Asparagus Grilled Cheese. Is there anything better than a grilled cheese sandwich? Okay, there’s bacon and chocolate, but aside from that? I actually don’t think so. There’s the old classic, of course…American cheese between two slices of white bread, buttered and fried until golden. This is the Southern husband’s favorite. There is the Rolls Royce of grilled cheese, which is the croque monsieur, which is the grilled cheese I love above all others. But there are many others in between, and it’s my responsibility as a grilled cheese lover to sample as many as possible. Now, grilled cheese is not exactly, well, low-calorie, but I figure if you throw some veggies in with it, at least you are making somewhat of an effort, and if the veggies actually kick the grilled cheese up a notch, it’s a total win-win.
Asparagus Grilled Cheese, adapted from from Closet Cooking Ingredients 8 thin stalks asparagus, tough ends broken off 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 teaspoons grainy mustard 2 slices gruyere cheese 1. Lemon Cool Whip Cookies. So those of you who have been following this blog for a little while know that I have this, um, obsession with cooking. Which sometimes works out okay if I am making soup or other things that can be stowed in the fridge and eaten for leftovers later on in the week. Where I tend to get into trouble is with the whole baking thing. As in cookies. Because I live in a house where the Southern husband is perfectly capable of eating one cookie and leaving the rest in peace in the cookie jar, so unless the teenager is home with her usual horde of friends, the rest of the cookies sit there on the kitchen counter calling out to me.
(And by the way, WHO eats just one cookie? Until I made the Lemon Cool Whip Cookies. Now to be totally honest, the only reason I made these was because I had a container of Cool Whip that I had bought for something else and never used. My first hint was the Southern husband. Hmm. Second, when you mix up the ingredients the dough is going to be VERY sticky. Ingredients. Brie and Chive Biscuits. There’s something about biscuits that is so comforting. Warm, savory, soft biscuits…they taste like everything’s right with the world.
Now, plain old biscuits are just fine with me, and I will happily eat one every time it’s offered to me. (Or two. Or, um, three.) But if you add a little something extra to them…say some creamy brie cheese and some spicy chopped chives…well, THOSE are biscuits you really want to savor. Which brings me to something I wanted to tell you about…something the Southern husband and I have been trying to do over the past weeks, and that is savor our supper. And as you might guess from the cover, it had a lot to say about not eating your supper in ten minutes while simultaneously watching the latest episode of Mad Men or talking about your tax returns or answering the phone (guilty as charged on all counts). I won’t say that we are spending every suppertime in reverential silence, but we HAVE slowed down a little.
So! Ingredients 2 teaspoons baking powder 1. 2. 3. Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon. Things I love in life: 1. Bacon 2. The Southern husband 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Five of these things are part of the sandwich we had for dinner tonight. I won’t lie to you, this is a messy one to eat, but man, is it worth every single drip and spatter. Now slide the egg onto the bottom half of the muffin, lay some spinach over the egg, and a couple of maple bacon pieces over the spinach. Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon Ingredients Two strips bacon, each cut in half 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups baby spinach One English muffin, split 2 large slices of Brie cheese, softened One egg 1 tablespoon butter Directions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Baked Goat Cheese with Spring Vegetables. One of the great things about writing a recipe blog is that right out of the blue, wonderful people who also love bacon and wine and chocolate and cheese write you from out of the blue to ask you if you would like to try some of their bacon or wine or chocolate or cheese.
And one of the many things I have learned over the course of learning about cooking and photographing and blogging about food is that if someone offers to feed you something delicious, you say yes! Which is how I recently ended up with two boxes (two boxes!) Of scrumptious, creamy, wonderful goat cheese. Now, I am a sucker for goat cheese not only because goat cheese is one of the most delicious things on earth, but also because it comes from, well, goats.
And I’ve been lucky enough to get up close and personal with a few goats in my time and really…could you ever resist these faces? So back to my two boxes of goat cheese. And some of these. And one of these perfect babies. Thank goodness for goats! Ingredients Directions. Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. If you told me (and please don’t tell me this, this is for purposes of demonstration only) that I could only have one thing and one thing only for breakfast from now on, I wouldn’t even have to think twice. Because for me, at the very top of the breakfast happiness list is Eggs Benedict. I love Eggs Benedict madly. And because Eggs Benedict is not something you can eat on any sort of regular basis and still fit into your Levi’s, when I do have them I like to make it An Event. Sometimes this means just going out to our favorite breakfast place and ordering up a plate of Eggs Benedict…but sometimes it means making them at home, and sometimes with a little spin on them.
For example…how about a little smoked salmon? This is REALLY good. And not only that, this version does away with another part of the traditional eggs benedict…the hollandaise sauce. So the next time you are in an Eggs Benedict kind of mood, give this one a try. Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1. Black Pepper and Lime Fries. Black Pepper and Lime Fries June 22, 2010 by Kate 12 Comments For me, summer cooking is all about the grill wherever possible. Steak, chicken, seafood, corn, grilled pizza(happy happy sigh)…and since the Southern husband is an impresario at the grill, life in the summer is even better. There’s nothing like sitting on your back steps, glass of merlot in hand, watching the love of your life do the cooking.However, it DOES entail coming up with more side dishes than I, lover of one dish cooking, am normally used to, so I am always doubly happy when I come across a really fun one.
These lime fries are from the fabulous 101 Cookbooks blog, and they are both super-easy and very yummy. And pretty darn healthy, as they are the variety of fries that cook in the oven with just a drizzling of olive oil. Black Pepper and Lime Fries, adapted from 101 Cookbooks Print Black Pepper and Lime Fries Yield: serves 4-6 Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds small potatoes, cut into wedges 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1. Homemade Butter | Petite Kitchenesse.
That’s right. That delicious stuff you’re buying in the store, those tasty blocks that come wrapped in paper and packaged four-at-a-time in little 1-lb boxes—you can make that. Not only is homemade butter so much yummier than the store-bought kind, it’s also easy to make. This can be done several different ways. You can use a mixer, a food processor, or a container of some sort. All you’ll need is: 1 pint of heavy creama 2-pint* or larger container (I used a 1-liter bottle)cheesecloth (I use a gold filter)salt *You will need to use a container that is at least twice the volume of the cream. First, you’re going to want to bring the heavy cream to room temperature. Once the cream has warmed, pour it into the empty container and seal with a secure lid. Remove the top from the container. Using a wooden spoon, press your butter down into a large, flattened pancake. And now, grab the nearest piece of bread and slather it with fresh butter!
The Perfect Buttercream Icing Recipe and Cupcake Tip. Join us on Facebook for our latest recipes! My family is absolutely addicted to frosting! There is even one sister (I won't name names, but her name does rhyme with Bisten- ha ha! I know that is not a word, but what else rhymes with Kristen?) Who I save my leftover frosting for and she will eat it straight out of the container! I wish she lived closer so that I could share this frosting with her . . . IT IS AMAZING! I use it for all my cupcakes lately and not only does it taste amazing, but it is so easy to pipe with and decorate with. 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening1/2 cup butter or margarine4 cups (1 lb) sifted confectioners sugar2 tablespoons milk1 tsp vanillaFood coloring (to get that pink color in the picture, I added 4 drops of red food coloring to my icing) Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer.
If you need to thin this icing, add a small amount of light corn syrup. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Photo Credit: KellyNeil.com. Recipe for Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes at Life. Well last but certainly not least, today I present to you the dessert for your at home Valentine’s day feast. I couldn’t possibly let Valentine’s day go by without some kind of chocolate thrown in the mix so I made some chocolate cupcakes. But these aren’t just any chocolate cupcakes, no, you need something extra special on Valentine’s day. These decadent dark chocolate cupcakes are filled with sweet raspberry jelly and topped with homemade vanilla butter cream.
Prior to making these cupcakes I had never made any kind of filled cupcakes before. Note: If you don’t have a pastry bag, you could also cut a small hole in the top of the cupcake, fill with the jelly, replace the part you cut off, then frost as usual.