Posted in appetizers, beans, gluten free, healthy, italian, vegetables on Feb 24th, 2010
No matter how hard I try, I can’t get excited about the Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries – I don’t know, they’re all just fine, but Thanksgiving isn’t the eat-until-you-pop day for me that it is for a lot of people. I do love the idea of a free for all food day [...]
Posted in cheese, italian, pasta, vegetables, vegetarian, weeknight meal on Feb 21st, 2010
I’m all about taking water out of ingredients. Zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, tomatoes, tofu, even bread for French toast. Water doesn’t contribute flavor, so if it isn’t improving texture, I have no use for it.
In this recipe, ricotta is drained in cheesecloth for several hours, then baked. What I thought would happen is [...]
Posted in bread, cheese, favorites, italian, pizza, vegetables on Nov 28th, 2009
When it comes to cooking, I definitely have weaknesses. I’ve never cooked a perfect roast chicken. I can’t cook a steak with any sort of precision in doneness; if it’s somewhere between ‘moo’ and black, I consider it a success. And grilling? I’ve really never done it. Clearly there are [...]
My less-baking-until-Thanksgiving goal is getting annoying. The deal was that for most of November, I would only bake biscotti for Dave, 100% whole wheat bread, and any recipes that were required for my blog. Well, I finished baking November’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipes last week, and my freezer is stocked with whole wheat [...]
Posted in cheese, gluten free, italian, rice, vegetables on Sep 14th, 2009
Although I think that adding green pepper is the easiest way to ruin otherwise perfectly good pizza, I’m not in general a picky eater. There are no common ingredients that I refuse to eat, I’m game to try just about anything, and I think even green pepper has its place. (Caveat: margarine and [...]
Posted in Bread Baker's Apprentice, bread, cheese, freezer friendly, italian, pork, sandwiches, yeast bread on Jul 17th, 2009
This is the third time I’ve made this bread, and the first two times just didn’t do it for me. It seems like a given, right? Bits of sausage and cheese dispersed in a tender buttery bread? What isn’t to like?
The first time, it was the type of cheese I used that [...]
Posted in book review, gluten free, healthy, italian, salad, side dish, vegetables on Jun 18th, 2009
I used to read cookbooks like novels. I don’t require pictures, and I don’t like to skip around – I’ll be annoyed making the chocolate cake from Chapter 10 if I’m still reading through Chapter 2’s salads. It feels like a spoiler; like when I was sad to see Gandalf die in The [...]
Posted in cake, chocolate, dessert, italian, tuesdays with dorie on May 5th, 2009
I would be curious to see a statistical analysis of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes chosen so far. I figure we’ve made our way through about a third of the book, maybe a little less. But we’ve made 12 out of 18 of the celebration cakes (and that’s not including the Perfect Party [...]
Posted in cake, chocolate, dessert, gluten free, italian, nuts, tuesdays with dorie on Apr 14th, 2009
My cake is ring-shaped! Because I’m creative! Because I have a plethora of interesting-shaped pans to choose from! Because, um.
It’s actually because I totally botched this week’s recipe.
The torte is made by grinding store-bought Italian amaretti cookies with almonds in a food processor. Then butter, sugar, eggs, and chocolate are blended [...]
Posted in cheese, chicken, italian, pizza, vegetables on Mar 14th, 2009
I hardly ever cook large roasts of meat, but when I do, I find like I like the leftovers even more than the original meal. I had lots of fun after Thanksgiving, and found that pot roast makes an amazing soup and sandwich. And roast chicken, to be honest, hardly ever impresses me [...]
