Halibut with Lemon-Butter Sauce

Recipe 35 - May 31, 2012

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Halibut with Lemon-Butter Sauce

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, September 2006

We made only the halibut with the lemon-butter sauce.  We paired it with a green salad instead of the mixed beans.  The beans would make a good compliment, maybe next time.  The taste was complex and had lots of layers.  Definitely will try it again.

Mexican Pizza

Recipe 30 - March 27th, 2012

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Mexican Pizza

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, July 2010

Chef: Spike Mendolsohn

This recipe is relatively quick and easy and delicious!  Great variation on pizza.  Used a store bought dough, but will try homemade dough next time.  You can spice it up as much as you like.  

Creamy Risotto with Edamame

Recipe 29 - March 26th, 2012

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Creamy Risotto with Edamame

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, April 2007

Chef: Isabelle Smith

Unfortunately, the Laughing Cow cheese gave this dish a weird, bitter aftertaste.  The lager beer is an interesting addition.  It may have something to do with the weird taste as well?  

Dave's Mom's Spinach-Feta Pie

Recipe 28 - March 24th, 2012

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Dave's Mom's Spinach-Feta Pie

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, September 2006
Chef: Alhadeef

This was a tasty, pretty quick recipe.  It tasted good reheated as well.  It should be served as a side as the portions are small for a single serving.  I love that Food & Wine has recipes online from their 2006 issues, this is so helpful!  

Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

Recipe 25 - March 15th, 2012

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Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, October 2006

Chef: Han Feng

Full disclosure, I used a Long Island Cheese squash and sesame oil drizzle in this recipe in place of the pumpkin and pumpkin seed oil.  Pumpkin seed oil has to be special ordered in this part of the country.  And I wanted to continue using the rest of the squash we have left over from the CSA.  This recipe was delicious as I made it!  It's probably just as if not more delicious with the correct ingredients.  It was pretty hands-off once the squash/pumpkin was cut up and easy to prepare.  The serving sizes were filling.  It's a light broth soup, not very thick with lots of subtle flavors despite the minimal number of ingredients.   

Beet-and-Goat Cheese "Ravioli"

Recipe 24 - March 14th, 2012

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Beet-and-Goat Cheese "Ravioli"

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, October 2006

Chef: Han Feng

Boiling the beets for the full hour made them just the right texture and softness.  This is a very easy recipe and very nice.  We had it as our main dish, although I would serve it in the future as a side salad.  It tastes nice with crackers.  The servings were a good size.  It was quick to put together once the beets were cooked and peeled.  

Squash Stuffed with Quinoa and Wild Mushrooms

Recipe 23 - March 10th, 2012

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Squash Stuffed with Quinoa and Wild Mushrooms

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, November 2011

Chef: Kevin Kathman

I used two gold nugget squash from our CSA for the squash.  It added great color.  Mine doesn't quite look like the picture in the magazine, but still is an attractive dish.  It takes a while to prepare and at one point I had the timer on the microwave, stove, and my cell phone timing the squash, quinoa, and mushrooms as they cooked separately.  The cream, sugars, and maple syrup add a sweet note to the savory squash, quinoa, and mushrooms.  Together all the tastes are very nice.  We had it as a main dish alone and the serving size was filling.  The leftovers are quite nice warmed up too.      

Minny's Chocolate Pie

Recipe 21 - March 4th, 2012

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Minny's Chocolate Pie

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, August 2011

Chef: Lee Ann Flemming

This is a recipe for Minny's chocolate pie from the book (and movie), The Help.  Minus the secret ingredient!!  It is amazing!!  I made it for our book group and they gobbled it up!  It's quick and easy and delicious.  

Orecchiette with Greens, Mozzarella and Chickpeas

Recipe 18 - February 29th, 2012

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Orecchiette with Greens, Mozzarella and Chickpeas

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, September 2011

As you can see, I did not use Orecchiette pasta, but Penne pasta for this recipe, since that was what I had in the pantry.  It was very tasty and fresh none-the-less.  The crispy chickpeas is a nice addition.  The tomatoes and chard are fresh and this will be a great recipe for summer when we get lots of chard and tomatoes from the garden and CSA.  

Pan-Fried Flounder with Poblano-Corn Relish

Recipe 16 - February 14th, 2012

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Pan-Fried Flounder with Poblano-Corn Relish

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, October 2006

Chef: Brian Talley

This is a horrible picture of a really nice dish.  I found out that my local Safeway mis-labels Poblano peppers and luckily I decided to buy the one that looked most like a poblano and was lucky that it was mis-labled.  

I used cod instead of flounder because I can not find flounder here.  The serving sizes were just right and the cooking times were right on.  It is a really nice dish!

Goan Shrimp Curry

Recipe 14 - February 3rd, 2012

Fizzle.

Goan Shrimp Curry

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, March 2011

Chef: Sanjeev Kapoor

I don't think I prepared this recipe correctly.  There were too many different flavors going on.  The curry didn't get pureed the way it should probably have.  I don't know if I didn't blend it enough or if it wasn't cooked enough to blend well.  Also, I bought Mexican shrimp (probably another name for Gulf Shrimp in case people aren't buying it again yet...?) and it wasn't very good shrimp.  Overall it was edible and interesting, but not worth making again.  Will try something else from this region another time.  Maybe this: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-vindaloo-10000001041869/

Parsi-Style Vegetable Stew

Recipe 12 - February 1st, 2012

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Parsi-Style Vegetable Stew

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, March 2011

Chef: Sanjeev Kapoor

Quick and easy and tasty!  The added sugar and Worcestershire sauce add a nice variation.  I don't usually like sweet potatoes either and they are really nice in this recipe.  The servings are hearty, we got about 5-6 servings from this recipe.  Great winter recipe!  

Bucatini with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

Recipe 10 - January 28th, 2012

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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.    

Red Kuri (or Butternut) Squash Soup

Recipe 6 - January 19th, 2012

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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

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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

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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

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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!