January 14 Meal: Veggie Lasagna

After a week off nursing a cold I got back into cooking with the Swiss Chard Lasagna with Ricotta and Mushrooms.  The recipe starts with a bechamel sauce, which is a traditional French white sauce.  It is made from milk, bay leaf, butter, flour, salt, nutmeg, and clove.  The lasagna is layered with lasagna noodles, bechamel sauce, and a Swiss chard and mushroom mixture.  Trying to be a nice wife, I left out the mushrooms on Shaun's side.  The problem I had with this meal was that I used lasagna noodles that weren't the kind that cook well in the oven, so it was a bit crunchy.  The flavor of everything together was quite good, though!

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

January 8 Meal: Saturday-Morning Pancakes

As I was slipping into a week-long cold I had one more cooking session in me.  For this one I made Spiced Coconut Pancakes with Tropical Fruit.  We typically make chocolate chip pancakes on Saturday mornings, so this was quite a bit different.  The pancake batter was made from wheat flour, shredded coconut, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.  The pancakes seemed like a backdrop for the fruit salad on top - mango, pineapple, banana, and maple syrup.  Finally, top with some chopped pistachios.  Without the fruit salad the pancakes would be a bit boring.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

January 7 Meal: One Bad Coconut

This was a Friday night that we decided to make some pizza and just do a drink and dessert from the magazine.  Neither dishes worked out well.

Luau Coconut

Many things went wrong with this recipe, so I'm not going to give it a yumminess score.  First, I was supposed to use young coconuts, which weren't available at the store, so I used a regular hard-shelled coconut.  When I opened up the coconut I saw that there was a gross mold under the skin, but not inside where the liquid was.  I had to use the liquid inside, mixed with a simple syrup, canned coconut milk (but oops, I forgot to actually use it!), rum, lime juice, and pineapple juice.  Just not my thing.

Honey-Caramel Ice Cream Sundaes with Apples

Ah, caramel again, my nemesis.  The caramel was a sauce for the ice cream made from honey, sugar, cream, butter, and a little water.  As usual, mine was a bit too tough and chewy to be a good sauce.  The apples were great, though.  They are just cooked with butter until browned.  I'd take the apples and leave the sauce.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

January 6 Meal: A Nice Surprise

Quinoa Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

The name of this dish doesn't do much to make you want it.  For starters, I didn't know what quinoa was.  Turns out it is a grain-like crop grown for its seeds and it's a great source of fiber, protein, and lots of vitamins.  The pasta cooked up just like normal pasta and had a good taste by itself.  This recipe is very fast and easy.  Start off cooking the pasta and blister the grape tomatoes.  Add some garlic to the tomatoes, then mix them into the cooked pasta with spinach and some Parmesan cheese.  The seasoning is just some fresh marjoram and crushed red pepper. 

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Potato and Kale Cakes with Rouille

Getting your veggies with a dose of potato is great.  These little cakes are made by mashing potatoes, cooking onions and garlic with kale and thyme, and mixing together with nutmeg.  The cakes are fried in olive oil for about 3 minutes per side.  Mine didn't exactly crisp up, but they browned nicely.  The rouille is a nice accompaniment, made with mayo, olive oil, garlic, tomato paste, paprika, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

January 5 Meal: I Love This Salad

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb

I don't think I've seen a shorter recipe for meat than this.  Oil-up the lamb and sprinkle with rosemary and thyme.  Mix up breadcrumbs, butter, garlic, and mint.  Press the breadcrumb mixture onto the lamb.  Last, just roast the meat.  Not bad, but rack of lamb is not my favorite piece of lamb.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Roasted Potatoes with Fresh Herbs

Another easy one for the night.  Little fingerling potatoes cut in half, then mixed with oil, garlic, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.  Roast for a while and you have a great little side dish.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Avacado-Goat Cheese Salad with Lime Dressing

Yum!  Goat cheese and Avocado... with lime dressing!  An interesting addition to this salad was jicama. I've come to describe jicama as a cross between a radish and an apple.  The annoying part is that they are covered in wax when you get them at the grocery store, so you cut a bunch off trying to get to the good stuff.  That's it, avocado, goat cheese, and jicama on mixed greens.  The dressing is just lime juice and oil.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

January 4 Meal: Turf and Greek Surf

Crispy Tilapia Fillets with Fennel-Mint Tzatziki
The crisp in this fish comes from Panko breadcrumbs and fennel seeds.  A delicious yogurt sauce is a great accompaniment to the fish.  It is made with sliced fennel and fennel frond, Greek-style yogurt, mint, white balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.  Very refreshing and I imagine it would be a great summer recipe.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Steak with Stout Pan Sauce

Bon Appetit never fails to have great steak recipes.  This one starts with Dijon mustard spread on the steak, then cooked.  The sauce is garlic, beef broth, stout beer, brown sugar, and soy sauce thickened with butter and flour.  It's also a really quick meal for a weeknight.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

January 3 Meal: Japanese Spaghetti

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Togarashi, and Thai Basil Oil
Bon Appetit has this listed as an appetizer, but we ate it as a dinner.  The basil oil is made by blanching basil, blending, mixing with olive oil, and then straining the oil.  It is an interesting and tasty topping to the spaghetti.  Then make a sauce of shallot, lemongrass, garlic, Shaoxing wine (I used sake), clam juice, and cream.  The shrimp is just in a skillet with togarashi (a Japanese seasoning) and salt.  Cooked spaghetti is mixed with the sauce, then the cooked shrimp is added to the top and drizzled with the basil oil.  It's an unique take on pasta.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

January 2 Meal: Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday I wanted to have people over for lunch.  One of the easiest things to make in the January issue for a large group of people was Hot Dog with Poblanos, Pepper Jack, and Tomatillo.  To go on the side we made Extra-Green Green Goddess Dip, Grill-Roasted Garlic and Olive Relish with Toasts and Goat Cheese, and Spanish Trail Mix.  Shaun always makes me a special dessert and this year I picked out the S'Mores Cupcakes. 

Hot Dog with Poblanos, Pepper Jack, and Tomatillo

What an easy lunch.  Saute up some onions and poblanos.  Cook the hot dogs and toast the buns.  Heat up tomatillo sauce (we already had some we made a while ago frozen).  Top the dogs with the onions, poblanos, tomatillo sauce, and feta.  Not the classiest birthday meal, but boy was it good!

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Extra-Green Green Goddess Dip
I love green goddess dip.  Usually it is made with avocado, one of my favorite foods.  This one didn't live up to the name.  No avocado.  Instead, the green was from watercress, basil, chives, and tarragon.  The creaminess came from mayo (yuck!) and sour cream.  The part that I really messed up was that there were supposed to be two anchovy fillets and I accidentally used sardine fillets.  I had them saved in the freezer and didn't think about the difference.  It made the lackluster dip taste quite fishy.

Yumminess: 5 out of 10

Grill-Roasted Garlic and Olive Relish with Toasts and Goat Cheese
This is a recipe that combines three things I love - olives, garlic, and goat cheese.  Roast a whole garlic head with a mixture of olives.  Press out the garlic cloves and mush into the olives.  Top toasted brad with goat cheese and the olive mixture.  My mouth is watering just thinking about this appetizer!

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Spanish Trail Mix
Another case of making too much of something good.  I've discovered that Bon Appetit seems to have larger portion sizes than we usually eat.  With the hot dogs and other appetizers, we really didn't need a ton of the Spanish Trail Mix.  Toasted almonds with paprika and orange peel, dried apricot, dried dates, chorizo, and manchego cheese. The combination is delicious and would be a good side with beer or wine.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

S'Mores Cupcakes
 

These may be my new favorite cupcake.  The cake part is flavored with graham cracker.  You cut out the center and pipe in chocolate ganache.  Top with marshmallow fluff and broil or flambe with the kitchen torch.  Yumminess: 10 out of 10

January 1 Meal: Starting the Year Off Right

I didn't plan anything big for the first day of 2011.  We made the energy shake from the January issue for breakfast.  Fresh-squeezed OJ (not a must for the recipe, but it was a good touch), a banana, kiwi, dates, and kale.  I had you up until the kale, right?  I agree.  It is a weird touch.  It makes the whole shake green and to me it gave a weird texture.  The taste wasn't bad, but I couldn't really get past the fact I was drinking raw kale.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Trying to Keep Up

Yet again, I find myself trying to catch up with this blog.  We're already near the end of February and I am just done with the December posts.  January was a difficult month since I was sick for almost a week and then went out of town to Haiti at the end of the month.  That means I didn't end up completing all the recipes from January.  In some cases that was because the ingredients weren't available (fresh halibut is out of season and squid were gone from Whole Foods for two weeks straight).  In others I bought the ingredients, like beef for the beef jerky, and forgot it in the back of the refrigerator.  I'll be making the rest of theses recipes over the next few months, along with the regular recipes from the magazine.  Here's what I left out from January:

Braised Halibut Fillets in Coconut and Lemongrass with Smoked Eggplant and Tomato-Ginger Chutney
Prime Beef Sirloin Jerky
Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Mizuna with Tofu
Amalfi Calamari Pasta

December 31 Meal: Happy New Year!

For the last night of the year (but not the challenge) we went for some comfort food - ribs.  Our friends had us over for a "dress Up or Down" New Year's party.  We wore formal tops and pajama bottoms.  It also provided a chance for us to make the rest of the cocktails for the month.

Short Ribs in Red Wine and Port with Tangerine Cream Gremolata

These ribs cooked for a while, beginning with a brief broil.  You start with a "packet" of herbs wrapped in cheesecloth, including parsley, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, star anise, and celery leaves. Saute onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and ginger, add in some tomato paste, wine, Port, and the herb packet.  The ribs go into the pot, then into the oven to braise for two hours.  A sauce is made from the juices and the solids are discarded, including the vegetables.

The gremolata is just a mixture of parsley, tangerine peel, and garlic.  I can't say that it added much to the ribs for us.  For me, when eating ribs I just want to enjoy the flavorful meat.  The only problem with the meat was that we used beef short ribs, which are very fatty.  I prefer pork ribs.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Spinach-Parmesan Souffles

I thought that you couldn't really go wrong with spinach , butter, and Parmesan cheese.  However, the texture of these souffles was quite eggy.  The taste was OK, but I wouldn't make them again.  The process begins with melting butter, whisking in flour, and adding buttermilk.  Then the spinach, egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper go in.  Last, the egg whites are whipped into peaks and folded into the spinach mixture.  I do like using ramekins, making little individual portions.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Salmon Rilletes

So, earlier in the month I thought this recipe as going to be something like a rolled up salmon thing because of the sound of the word "rilletes."  Unfortunately, it is actually a dip made with salmon and butter.  Fish dip is not high on my list of food likes.  Shaun actually made this recipe and was the only one to try it.  He was not a fan either.

Yumminess: 3 out of 10

Hot Peppermint Patty
This is a really great winter hot cocktail.  Whole milk, bittersweet chocolate, whipping cream, creme de cacao, and peppermint extract.  It is a creamy version of hot chocolate with a mint and liquor kick.

 Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cranberry Champagne Cocktail
This is an easy way to make champagne more interesting.  Add some Cointreau, cranberry juice concentrate, and a frozen cranberry (for garnish) to your favorite champagne.  In my case, I couldn't find cranberry juice concentrate anywhere, so I boiled down some cranberry juice cocktail to get a more concentrate version.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Imperial Punch Royale

What's New Year's Eve without punch?  Well, it would be a normal New Year's Eve for us, but this punch was a nice fancy touch. This punch is like a Long Island Iced Tea, a bunch of different ingredients mixed together that gives you a concoction that is more alcoholic than it tastes.  It has pineapple that is soaked in brandy, leaving pineapple-flavored brandy behind, along with tawny Port, maraschino liqueur, ad Prosecco.  The topper is the ice ring, made with slices of lemon and lime.  Just place the slices in a bunt pan with water and freeze.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

December 30 Meal: Ducking Out

Duck with Cherries, Spinach, and Pine Nuts

For this duck recipe I ventured over to Carrboro to our trusty butcher, Cliff.  He had packages of 4 duck breasts, so I have 2 leftover in the freezer for the next duck recipe Bon Appetit comes up with.  The accompaniments with the duck were great and had a nice balance of flavors.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Celery Root and Potato Mash
I'm writing this over a month after making this recipe and since then it seems like I've made two other variations on mashed potatoes.  We're a bit tired of messing with our spuds, to be honest.  Yes, the celery root adds a nice flavor to change things up, but in the end, regular mashed potatoes are our favorite.  If you want to impress someone by making mashed potatoes more fancy, this is a good recipe.  However, I'll be sticking to my traditional potatoes when this challenge is all done.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

White Chocolate Espresso Torte with Hazelnut Praline

I made this dessert for a New Year's Eve party the next night.  The main problem I had was that I didn't use enough of the Kahlua mixture to moisten the cakes.  The whole thing ended up being a bit dry.  If I were to do it again I'd definitely add more liquid to the cakes.  The icing was good, but the white chocolate curls were a pain to make.  Anyone know an easier way to accomplish the effect?  I took a bar of white chocolate, heated it briefly to soften a bit, and used a vegetable peeler.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Brioche Rolls

I also made these rolls the night before we ate them.  Shaun actually had New Year's Eve off, so we had a special breakfast of the brioche rolls.  The dough is fun to make and requires a bit of kneading.  My favorite part was breaking off little pieces of dough to roll into balls.  Three little balls go into one cup of a muffin tin to make a roll.  Add a bit of sea salt to the top and that's it.  They could also be eaten with a dinner.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

December 29 Meal: I Like the Latkes

Rosemary-Rubbed Side of Salmon with Roasted Potatoes

This was a typical, but good, salmon recipe.  Seasoned with rosemary, salt, and pepper, then served with potatoes and parsnips over a bed of greens.  Easy and good.  Not too much to complain about or say.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10


Porcini Mushroom Latkes with Mushroom Salad and Chive "Cream"

Mashed potatoes in fried cake form?  Sign me up!  I made a few with the mushrooms and a few without for Shaun.  I don't think the mushrooms really make a big difference.  Grind the potatoes and onions and press out the liquid, then add more onions, egg, flour, salt, and pepper.  The mixture is fried in olive oil until crispy.  A topping of sour cream, chive, white wine vinegar, and olive oil is the perfect accompaniment.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Coconut Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Glaze

If you like coconut and cheesecake, this is the recipe for you.  The crust is made from flaked coconut, graham cracker, sugar, and butter.  I think the flaked coconut is key.  The filling is cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, salt, eggs, and cream of coconut.  I wasn't able to find cream of coconut (I didn't try too hard), so I used regular coconut milk.  It turned out fine anyway.  The glaze on top is made from fresh passion fruit juice mixed with gelatin.  The fruit compote on top was supposed to contain mango, star fruit, and passion fruit, but I didn't find a star fruit and used all mu passion fruit for the juice, so it was just mango.  Again, I thought it tasted alright anyway. 

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

December 28 Meal: Baby Cow and Mousse

Veal Chops with Sherry Gastrique and Roasted Peperonata
You may not feel good about eating veal, but this recipe is a good one for those who do.  I wouldn't say I feel great about eating baby cows, but they taste so good! My favorite part of this recipe is the roasted pepper peperonata, which is a mix of different colored bell peppers, garlic, white raisins, vinegar, and some spices.  That, along with the sherry gastrique, really provides a lot of flavor for these chops.  I definitely recommend serving with the polenta, too.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Golden Corn and Saffron Polenta
This is like corn in two different forms, which I think is a wonderful thing.  Seasoned with onion, chicken broth, and saffron, this polenta has the added bonus of whole corn kernels.  OK, the recipe calls for the kernels to be blended, but I'll confess that I didn't read properly.  I really like the whole kernels, but I'm sure it would be good blended as well.

Yumminess:  9 out of 10

Top-Secret Chocolate Mousse
I think the secret of this mouse is that it doesn't have any dairy if you don't dollop the whipped cream on top.  I expected mouse to be full of cream, but this only called for chocolate, eggs, salt, and sugar.  The texture when I made it was a bit chunky, so I'm not sure what I did wrong.  It still tasted great.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

December 27 Meal: A Sweet Night

There were a lot of desserts in December.  This night I made a lot of the sweet stuff to catch up before the end of the month.

Kiwi-Passion Fruit Pavlova

A pavlova is a meringue-based dessert that's actually named after the Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova.  The baked meringue is topped with a mixture of kiwi and passion fruit and honey-flavored Greek yogurt.  I wasn't really looking forward to this one, but it was really good!  It doesn't look so pretty in the picture, but don't judge by that.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Chewy Almond-Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

This was a new way to make a cookie for me.  The dough is just almond paste, egg whites, cinnamon, and sugar.  The mixture is piped onto slice almonds and then transferred to a baking sheet.  Let the cookies cool while heating the jam on the stove to get it syrupy.  The jam is spread on the cookie and sandwiched between another cookie.  Sprinkle some powdered sagar on the top and you're done.  These cookies are a lot more chewy than they appear.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10


Lemon Sugar Cookies

This recipe is super simple.  Beat some sugar, butter, egg, lemon peel, vanilla, and salt.  Add flour.  And that's it.  Roll the dough into little balls and into colored sugar.  I used pink and green.  Press slightly flat onto baking sheets.  It's hard to go wrong with sugar cookies and the lemon flavoring adds a nice kick.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Steamed Whiskey and Marmalade Puddings with Sauce Anglaise

I put this one off for a while, scared of the word whiskey.  It actually turned out tasting pretty good.  The puddings are cooked on the stove in a water bath.  The orange marmalade adds a nice little citrus flavor.  Finally, the sauce anglaise is a sweet and cool final touch made form a combination of sugar, milk, and egg yolk.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

December 22 Meal: Not Feeling So Great

This was an unfortunate day.  I was home for Christmas and my Mom and I went out for the day to run some errands.  We were out until mid-afternoon and never had anything to eat.  Half-way through cooking this meal I started to feel faint, so I had a snack, but the damage was already done.  The dinner didn't sit well and I didn't even get to try the dessert. 

Mustard-Seed-Crusted Prime Rib Roast with Dijon Crème Fraiche and Roasted Balsamic Onions
The roast is covered with salt, pepper, mustard, and garlic, roasted for 20 minutes and then the vegetables are added.  I added them a little too early or cooked too long, so they ended up pretty crispy.  The cream for the top isn't really my thing because of the horseradish. The meat tasted good, though.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Rainbow Chard and Radicchio Saute

The rainbow chard part of this combo is great, but the radicchio was way too bitter.  I also loved the pine nuts.  This was a good way to eat the chard, but next time I'd leave out the radicchio.  Although, it did add a nice punch of color.

Yumminess: 5 out of 10 with the radicchio

Endive Spears with Smoked Salmon, Horseradish Cream, and Dill

If you've read my other posts, you know that I've learned I don't like smoked salmon.  Or maybe it's more of an aversion.  Shaun actually ended up making this recipe for me and taste-testing it, too.  The process of making it is fairly simple, mix up the cream cheese, capers, dill, lemon juice, lemon peel, and horseradish.  Top the endive spears with the mixture and red onion and salmon.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10, according to Shaun

Frozen Chocolate-Peppermint Buche de Noel

This was fun to make and I'm disappointed I didn't get to try it.  You make the cake on a baking sheet.  When it comes out form the oven you roll it in a kitchen towel to get a bend into it and let it cool.  Unroll, spread softened ice cream, and roll it back up to put in the freezer.  The last step we did was to make the meringue to top the cake, run a fork through for texture, and freeze again.  The final touch is a little hit with a torch to give it a more tree-like look.  We didn't make the chocolate leaves because of lack of time.

Yumminess: Shaun says 7 out of 10