Vegetarian Moussaka

Recipe 11 - January 30th, 2012

Success!

Vegetarian Moussaka

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, March 2011

The bulgar added nice texture to the filling and I love eggplant, this is a really nice dish!  In the online reviews people have recommended adding more of the spices (be careful not to overdo the cinnamon), additional bulgar, and make a double batch of the béchamel.  I did not do any of these things (I don't read the reviews until after I've tried the recipes).

The recommended cooking times are good and there is a lot of multitasking involved and it does take a long time to prepare.  I am not familiar with traditional meat moussaka so there was nothing for me to compare the recipe to other than if we liked it or not.  And we did and will keep this recipe!

Bucatini with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

Recipe 10 - January 28th, 2012

Fizzle.

Bucatini with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, November 2011
Chef: Marc Vetri

I think the recipe was too oily for my taste.  The cheese and bread crumbs were a nice addition, but with the anchovies and oil and pasta (I used linguini because I couldn't find bucatini), it ended up being very rich and too filling.  The servings were large, cooking times were all correct, and it tasted nice, just not something I would make again.    

Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado

Recipe 9 - January 26th, 2012

Success!

Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, March 2011

Yum!  This recipe is easy and delicious!  One review suggests adding more peppers for more heat.  It has a mild to medium heat straight from the recipe.  It is a great recipe for a cold winter evening.  Or when you have a tex-mex craving.  I worked straight from the recipe.  It took longer because I chopped the veggies myself.  The servings are generous and we have leftovers.  I'm excited for lunch tomorrow!

Mushroom and Root Vegetable Potpie

Recipe 8 - January 22nd, 2012

Success, but not a keeper.

Mushroom and Root Vegetable Potpie

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, March 2011

Chef: Jeanne Kelley

It was fun to use parsnips and rutabaga.  And all of my ramekins in multiple shapes and sizes.  The end result was really nice.  I'm a bit of a traditionalist and like my potpie with more of a pastry crust, not the crumble in this recipe.  The filling is really good.  But overall the amount of preparation and cooking time, plus multiple steps did not make this recipe worth repeating.  

Buttermilk Waffles

Recipe 7 - January 22nd, 2012

Success, but not a keeper.

Buttermilk Waffles

This recipe comes from The New Best Recipes from the editors of Cook's Illustrated

Yummy waffles, but not the best yet.  I've been trying different recipes for two years and still looking for that perfect waffle...  please share any great recipes!  

I must admit that I mis-measured the baking soda and had to pull some out of the dry batter.  This affected the waffles I'm sure.  Good, but still looking...

Red Kuri (or Butternut) Squash Soup

Recipe 6 - January 19th, 2012

Success!

Red Kuri Squash Soup

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, February 2012

Chef: Alice Waters

I used butternut squash for this recipe (which is a legitimate option).  I have found kuri squash since making the soup and would like to try it again using kuri squash someday soon.  This recipe is really easy, and delicious, and does not require a lot of ingredients.  The roasted fennel bulb, pecans, and marjoram added a lot!  Definitely add at least the roasted fennel bulb.  

I made the full recipe and it provided 5 servings.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Tuscan Kale and Squash Minestra

Recipe 5 - January 18th, 2012

Success!

Tuscan Kale and Squash Minestra

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, December 2011

Chef: Grace Parisi

I have to admit right off that I did not find "Tuscan" kale.  I bought (in layman's terms) "curly" kale and it worked well in this recipe.  One bunch equaled about 0.6 lbs and was enough for the recipe (it calls for a pound).  Also, as you will notice, my toasts got really toasty!

This recipe is quick and hearty.  The servings are pretty generous, I made the full recipe and there were leftovers.  The ditalini pasta are adorable and it was fun to learn about a new type of pasta.

I bought canned beans and would recommend Eden Foods canned beans.  They are the only company that has BPA-free can lining for their beans.  They also offer stewed tomatoes in glass jars, something I have found to be very hard to find.

We really liked the soup and will definitely make it again.  

North African Fish Stew

Recipe 4 - January 16th, 2012

Success!

North African Fish Stew
This recipe comes from Food and Wine, February 2012
Chef: Cat Cora

Today I had 90% of my mise en place prepared when I started cooking.  This is not something I'm very good at doing, but am working on.  It worked well and made the clean up super easy.  This recipe requires a moderate amount of chopping and preparation.  Cooking goes smoothly and the times recommended in the recipe work well.  I halved the recipe (the servings are large) and omitted the raisins.  The raisins would add a nice sweet contrast to the overall taste.  There are a lot of subtle flavors in the stew.

My favorite part of the recipe was discovering a new spice blend (I found it at the Savory Spice Shop, there are also recipes to make your own spice blend online) and the trick of adding spices to couscous before adding the water to add flavor.

It looks great and tasted really good!  I will add this to my recipe binder and make it again.

Coffee-Baked Squash with Creme Fraiche

Recipe 3 - January 12th, 2012

Finally Success!

Coffee-Baked Squash with Creme Fraiche

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, January 2012

Chefs: Daniel Patterson and Rene Redzepi

I made this with Delicata squash and another small round yellow and orange squash.  Both from our community share agriculture(CSA - Grant Family Farms) squash bounty.  This is delicious!

Our whole house smelled like roasting coffee and even Erik, who doesn't drink coffee, didn't mind it.  You really can taste the coffee in the squash, just a subtle added taste that was wonderful.  I'm going to run tests as well to see if creme fraiche doesn't make everything taste better...

We had this with baked salmon with a fish rub.  This is definitely going in the recipe binder and I will make it again.  Yippee, finally, success!   

Curry-Spiced Noodles

Recipe 2 - January 11th, 2012

Fizzle.

Curry-Spiced Noodles

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, February 2011

Full disclosure, I made this with regular curry, not red curry.  Overall it tasted good, but was somewhat bland.  The online reviews recommend adding Sriracha or extra curry to spice it up.  The preparation of the vegetables took a lot of time for a recipe that was just okay.  We will not be adding this to the recipe binder.  Hoping for better luck on recipe 3, new blog title, "Waiting for Success".  

French Onion and Apple Soup

Recipe 1 - January 10th, 2012

Fizzle.

French Onion and Apple Soup

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, March 2011

Chef: Nicolette Manescalchi

Maybe I should not have started this adventure with a recipe that takes 2 hours and 10 minutes?!  This recipe is a nice variation on French Onion soup, but the time it took was not worth it compared to the time it takes for my regular favorite French Onion soup recipe (from the How to Cook Everything cookbook).  It tasted fine although there was not much broth after simmering for 45 minutes.  I really liked the added apple slices and apple cider and the caramelized onions.  I will try adding them to my regular recipe.  I made it with Gruyere cheese, cut the recipe to a third (the linked recipe serves 10), and finally used up all my CSA onions.

This is where we begin...

There is a drawer full of recipes torn out of magazines as well as a cabinet full of cookbooks in my house.    After a summer of many variations on recipes with cabbage and kale, I am going to try these stored recipes and record my successes and failures here.  I follow the directions as much as possible and make some adjustments here and there.  These adjustments, some notes about taste and ease of assembly, as well as notes about where to find ingredients and lessons learned will hopefully be recorded for future use.  Enjoy!  Here we go...