June 2012
32 posts
Food Follow Up: 3/19 Menu
Beef stew in red wine sauce - There is no other stew recipe for me. The part about the lardons and veg sounds fussier than it is, I just slice up regular bacon and it ends up crisp. Also very flexible; this time I chopped up big carrots, used a defrosted bag of pearl onions, and quartered cremini mushrooms. In the past I’ve reconstituted dried wild mushrooms and added some of the liquid back into the pot.
Polenta with sausage, spinach, and onions - Easy/satisfying. Takes all of 10 minutes to assemble, then throw in the oven for another 20. The proportions are off though, so I make the specified amount of polenta but use a pound of sausage (roasted red pepper from Costco is da jam), a whole sliced onion, and I managed to wilt 2 bags of baby spinach to fit (they were buy one get one free at the store stop looking at me like that).
Slow cooker orange chicken - I had heard both raves and horror stories about this so my expectations were low…I thought it was okay. Not too orangey or dry like others said, I was most disappointed that the sauce didn’t reduce to amazing sticky takeout consistency. I had a knob of fresh ginger that needed to go so I sliced it up and threw it into the crock pot. I think this could be very good with some tweaks, but there are too many already great recipes out there to make me want to fix this one.
Pasta with sausage, basil, and mustard - Another home-late-too-tired-to-try dinner staple. Noodles, sausage, white wine, cream, grainy mustard, basil, red pepper flakes. 20 minutes, tops. The end.
Food Follow Up: 3/12 Menu
Caprese risotto - Yes. If you like caprese anything run and make this. I’ll wait. It’s awkward to make so little balsamic reduction since most of it will stick to the bottom of the saucepan; just make more and store in a squeeze bottle.
Green chile turkey burgers - Great flavor, but the patties were really wet. Either squeeze some of the liquid out of the chiles or add breadcrumbs until they hold together. Flipping these beasts was annoying.
today is the first official day of summer (!!!!!!)
so, without further adieu I present to you:
to me, you are perfect.
[via: thegreensandyellows: gastrogirl]
homemade beet chips
ThatsQuirky: We’ve received beets every single week of our CSA share and I’ve finally found a way to use them, thanks to your suggestions! It took me a few tries to get just the right crisp. Here’s how I did it:
Ingredients
- 2-3 Medium Sized Beets
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
Start by thinly slicing your beets using a mandalin. They’re super sharp, so be cautious!
Coat slices in olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
Place in 170 degree oven and cook for 3 hours. The key is to slowly cook the beet chips and dehydrate them as the oil makes them crispy.
Yum! I can’t wait to try sweet potato and parsnip chips next!
Food Follow Up: 5/21 Menu
Restaurant-style salsa - There are no other salsas. Only this. I’m astounded at how fresh and delicious it is considering it’s made from canned tomatoes. You’ll think it makes a lot and how are you ever going to eat it all but then three days passes and whoops it’s gone. Or something.
Peppered beef stroganoff - The flavors were delicious. Mushrooms + brandy + cream goes wrong basically never, so. I think I could’ve probably sliced my steak a bit thinner, I don’t know. I’m really not great at cooking steak.
Tortilla soup - I’ve tried a handful of tortilla soup recipes, always looking for something slightly better. This is where my search ended. It’s so good. The masa thickens the broth beautifully, so it’s still a thin soup but with texture and depth. The cooking time is a little on the long side, but if you need to speed it up go ahead - I doubt it will be disastrously different if you shave off 5-10 minutes here and there. My only change is don’t bother with the tortilla strips part; use the crumbs in the bottom of the tortilla chip bag and be done.
Shepherd's Pie
Shepherd’s pie - Easy recipe, fairly standard, can be a little bland so season aggressively. I make this because my husband is all MEAT AND POTATOES CLUB, I don’t find it exciting but I humor him sometimes.
