ctbrit's Profile
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Desserts
Thanks for the report - I'm planning on making those this week & did wonder about the amount of icing - will start with a half recipe
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Appetizers, Soups and Salads
Parker's Split Pea Soup - p73
Made a 1/2 recipe from the book (full recipe serves 12-14) - the online recipe is already halved and splits the peas into 1/2 whereas the book puts 3/4 in first
Sauteed onions with oregano and garlic, then added carrots, potatoes, stock and 3/4lb of the split peas, simmered for 40 mins then added the rest of the peas. Simmer for another 40 mins.
Timing worked out this time (unlike the white bean soup, the peas must have been fresher)
I didn't eat it immediately but reheated a couple of days later.
Simple, comfort food, tasty - next time I would probably try adding a parmesan rind and saute the carrots for while for some more depth of flavor.
I liked the idea of adding the split peas in two batches - the first batch break down to form the base of the soup and the second batch add some texture
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Breakfasts
Raspberry Corn Muffins - p215
WARNING - significant recipe adulteration ahead. (I figure that with a smaller book this would be acceptable)
So I had to make breakfast treats for a birthday breakfast at work and some of my colleagues are gluten intolerant. I made the maple oatmeal scones (see below) following the recipe exactly and then decided to try adapting the corn muffin recipe to see if it would work gluten free.
I substituted the flour for a gluten free all purpose flour mix from Bob's Red Mill & used a white cornmeal that's grown locally. I made a half recipe and made it into mini muffins - it made 24 mini muffins - again her portions seem huge.
It's a simple recipe - mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine until just blended.
The smaller size muffins took about 20-25 mins to bake rather than the 30 she suggested
Given the white cornmeal they were rather wan looking - maybe I should have left them in a bit longer to get browner but I didn't want them to be dry.
I served with raspberry preserves on the side rather than injected into the muffin (wasn't convinced about the transportation readiness of the jam filled original).
They were a hit with the gluten intolerant colleagues - to me they tasted a bit odd (almost peanuty eventhough no peanut involved - maybe the chickpea flour in the wheat replacement) but they were moist enough had a nice texture.
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Breakfasts
Maple Oatmeal Scones p 223
Recipe is linked above so I won't go into too many details
I made a 1/2 recipe for a birthday breakfast at work - it made a lot of scones - not sure how a whole recipe makes just 14 scones....
I had to chuckle after reading the following statement in the intro "with the addition of whole wheat flour and oatmeal, maple syrup (too give it sweetness) and buttermilk (to cut the fat)....." and then looking at the recipe which for a half recipe has half a pound of butter and 1/4 cup of buttermilk! Safe to say these are not particularly healthy but they were delicious.
It's a relatively simple recipe - for some reason she suggests using a stand mixer to cut fat into the dry ingredients, I just used the food processor. I added the liquid, pulsed a few more times and then brought it together after tipping it out onto a floured board. I cut it into small mini scones - it made a lot....
The scones baked up wonderfully - really light (despite all of that butter) with a distinct maple taste ( I used Maple syrup from a farm near us that is grade C and very dark - we love that flavor) with the wholewheat flour they are not too sweet (I used KA white whole wheat - you'd be fine with true whole wheat I think) .
Definitely a treat breakfast but very tasty
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Dinner and Vegetables
Beetlebug - I have the same problem with roasted Cauliflower - I have to do a whole large head for the two of us 'cos a lot of it doesn't make it to the table!
*October 2010 COTM: BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK - Appetizers, Soups and Salads
Rosemary White Bean Soup - p83
This was really simple but the timing was way off for me.
The recipe is linked above so I won't describe all of the steps.
I used Navy Beans not Cannellini (shopping list said white beans, forgot to note what type). Soaked them overnight and then made the soup the next morning.
The recipe calls for cooking the beans for 30-40 mins but mine took more like 2 hours to get completely soft. Would my choice have beans really made that much difference?
I pureed half of it but left some whole for some texture
It was very creamy and had a subtle rosemary flavor - not stellar - would have been better with homemade stock (I used free range organic though).
It makes more than 6 servings unless you are going to eat a lot - I think I have about 8.
I find it interesting that she adds the salt at the end as it's supposed to make the skins tough yet cooks the beans in stock which is generally pretty salty. I'm pretty sure cooks illustrated didn't find any correlation between salt and tough skins (I think they even brine them - although they seem to brine everything).
Easy recipe (assuming you're at home it just sits there cooking) and with some added flavorings - maybe some hot sauce it will probably make a reappearance.
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Vegetables
Pumpkin and Chickpeas p 294
We're trying to eat more Vegetarian dishes and this seemed ideal, especially after we got a pumpkin in the CSA box. However I was really disappointed, this had very little depth of flavor - some heat from the harissa but that was about it. I think that the pumpkin would really have benefited from a different cooking method - roasting or similar.
The recipe; peel pumpkin and cut into pieces, fry onion in oil until golden, add tomatoes, sugar, S&P, harissa, chickpeas and pumpkin. Add a little water and simmer with the lid on until the pumpkin is cooked adding parsley towards the end. Add more water if necessary
Sounds like I should have made the stuffed pumpkin instead!
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Appetizers, Salads and Cold Vegetables & Yogurt
Spicy Eggplant Salad p83
This was delicious - the texture was a bit odd - like a couple of the other salads chowhounds have posted about, it was a chunky dip rather than what I normally think of for a salad.
As usual I varied the recipe slightly - I just never seem to be able to follow anything but a baking recipe exactly anymore!
The recipe calls for boiling the cubed eggplant in water - I could not bring myself to do that and instead roasted them (after piercing to guard against explosions). I then peeled and chopped the eggplant. The rest of the recipe I followed pretty much as is; cook tomatoes (she didn't say how to cut them so I roughly chopped)over low heat (no fat) for 20 minutes, until they make a sauce then mix with the eggplant, olive oil (she recommends argan or walnut), vinegar, harissa, cumin and parsley. I made this in advance in a 'I must cook as much of the CSA box in one go as I can' Monday night frenzy and then we ate it a couple of days later. It was delicious - not the most appetizing looking dish (the eggplant were kinda brown-beige and the tomatoes were cooked to a thick sauce), but a had great flavor and went well with grilled salmon steaks.
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Fish, Poultry, and Seafood & Meat Dishes
Joan N
Glad that it worked out for you too
Seems like a good recipe to make with the 'less popular' fish since there's so much flavor in the sauce
October 2010 Cookbook of the Month Voting [Primary] [through 9/18/2010]
No i haven't heard of that but sounds perfect - do they have a good selection of books indexed?
October 2010 Cookbook of the Month Voting [Primary] [through 9/18/2010]
I know - but that's what by husband tells me - and most of them are his :)
But I do feel guilty looking at all my wonderful books and not cooking from them regularly - I tend to go for the same old favorites. I really need to spend time with them, but then something else (that thing called work or life) intervenes!
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Savory Pies & Soups & Egg Dishes
Spiced Creamy Lentil Soup p 149
Fry an onion, add garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander and chili - I used a bit more than she suggested - 2 tsp. Add red lentils (1.75 cups), celery leaves, and a chopped carrot. Cover with stock (I used low sodium chicken) and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the lentils have disintegrated, then add lemon juice (1 lemon). Top with caramelized onions (which seems to be a theme) and pita croutons.
I cooked mine for over an hour and the lentils broke down but never totally disintegrated. The end result didn't look very appetizing so I pureed it. The taste was great, we ate it the next day as she suggests, but the texture a little grainy - maybe my lentils aren't very good or perhaps I should have cooked it more.
I was surprised that she didn't cook the carrot and celery leaves for any length of time before adding the stock and would probably take the time to do that next time.
Overall a good recipe but not anything so different from other lentil soups I've tried.
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Fish, Poultry, and Seafood & Meat Dishes
I've been cooking from the book but haven't gotten around to posting - so here's a summary of two dishes I made for two separate meals
Chicken with Spiced Yogurt p 221
Since I've been finding some of the dishes less flavorful that I'd like I decided to focus on those with some significant spicing.
You make a sauce with greek yogurt, cardamom and grated fresh ginger - I halved the yogurt (only 2 people eating) but kept the spice level basically the same. This sits 'infusing' while you cook the chicken. For the chicken (pieces) you fry an onion, then add the chicken, brown it, add a cup of water (I used low sodium broth since I had some open and wanted to use it up). Then cook over a low heat - she suggests 20 mins for dark meat but the thighs I had took more like 30-40 mins. You remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Then sprinkle with toasted almonds.
It was very tasty with the cardamom and fresh ginger flavors coming through and different to anything I've made before. The yogurt separated a little (I used low fat) and I made the mistake of not chopping the almonds well so there were too many crunchy pieces in the sauce. It also wasn't very hot - the yogurt cooled it down somewhat despite being a room temperature. Overall a success not sure if I'll make it again.
Fish in a Hot Saffron and Ginger Tomato Sauce - p186
This was another weekday meal
Instead of a whole fish I used Salmon steaks.
You fry garlic and a chili for a minute, add chopped tomatoes (i didn't bother peeling and it worked fine), sugar, S&P, grated fresh ginger and saffron and simmer for 10 minutes (I didn't have Saffron so added a little sumac - I know the flavor profile is totally different but I figured it'd work and it did). Then place the fish on top of the sauce and simmer until done. I had to add a little broth - my tomatoes didn't seem to be that juicy.
The result was a great midweek meal, that I'll make again, I think it would work OK with canned toms. It didn't take to long, only took the one pan and had a lot of flavor. I served it with steamed kale and boiled fingerlings - there was enough flavor in the sauce.
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Appetizers, Salads and Cold Vegetables & Yogurt
Fattoush - Bread salad - p 74
I made this as a main course salad for lunch last weekend, but haven't had a chance to post
Essentially it's a large salad with lots of greens, tomato, green pepper, onion and herbs. The dressing and the bread is what makes it - the dressing is olive oil, lemon juice, sumac and garlic - I'm beginning to really like sumac, will have to look for some other recipes to try that use it. The bread is toasted pita - I used a slightly thicker flat bread that I had in the freezer. I also added chickpeas, feta and olives as that's what a local restaurant puts in theirs and I wanted to bulk it out a bit.
Salad was delicious, the dressing was tangy (I upped the sumac a little) and everything tasted very fresh.
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Vegetables
This is very similar to the green bean recipe I tried - on p92, except for the higher tomato content, the sugar and lemon juice. I found the earlier recipe a bit boring - I think that the lemon juice probably made all of the different - interesting that the recipe's are so similar.
I'll have to try this one if my CSA has beans next week (already ate this weeks)
October 2010 Cookbook of the Month Voting [Primary] [through 9/18/2010]
Option 1 - BAREFOOT CONTESSA COOKBOOK
Plenty looks interesting but I can't find it in our library system & I have too many cookbooks already
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Fish, Poultry, and Seafood & Meat Dishes
Yes & not too sweet - but that's probably partly down to the quality of the jam - but then I love plum jam !
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Vegetables
Carrots in Oil
I made this tonight - had the same problem with the water. I also found there was too much water in her cold green bean recipe. Need to watch for that. I think I must have bought the wrong kind of dried mint because this was basically inedible - tasted like mint tea (and not in a good way). I recall having enjoyed using dried mint in the past so I must look out for something better
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Fish, Poultry, and Seafood & Meat Dishes
Chicken with Plums - p 215
This was a great weeknight meal made with what I had in the house - given plums are in season here in CT.
I used chicken drumsticks since that's what I had rather than boneless chicken pieces but I adjusted the cooking slightly - you're supposed to cook at a very low heat in olive oil and butter - I needed to speed up the cooking (got home late from work) and had the bone in. So I seared the chicken in olive oil and then added a little chicken broth to finish the cooking. The rest of the recipe I followed pretty much to the letter - added plums and garlic to the chicken after it was cooked. The sauce of plum jam (we have a great jam from a farmers mkt in VT), vinegar, garlic and chili pepper (I used aleppo pepper) was a good contrast to the chicken. This one's a keeper!
*September 2010 COTM: tNBoEF - Appetizers, Salads and Cold Vegetables & Yogurt
Lentils & Bulgur with Carmelized Onions p96
Green Beans in Olive oil p92
I wanted some dishes to take with us for the first night of a camping trip & these fit the bill.
Lentils & Bulgur
This was really easy - you cook the Lentils in a mildly spiced chicken broth (tom paste, allspice & chili pepper), add the bulgur to soak up the remaining broth and then top with the onions. This really needed the onions - the flavors were too mild for my tastes. Also my lentils needed a little longer to cook than the 15 mins allowed for in the recipe - I had to overcook the bulgur slightly in order to get the lentils soft enough. Since the cooking method and texture were good I will try this again - but next time I'll make sure the lentils are basically cooked before adding the bulgur, as well as considerably increase the spices.
Green Beans
I had some Asian long beans left over in the garden and knew that they'd need to be braised rather than just steamed since they were a little past their prime. This recipe looked promising - you fry onion & garlic add some tomatoes and the beans, just cover with water and simmer until the liquid reduces. This did not need as much water as it took to just cover the beans - next time I would add less water at the beginning and then top it up if necessary. Again the flavors were very mild - despite a lot of garlic - maybe it needed some acid or just better beans.
Arabesque: Main Courses
Roast Cod and Tomatoes - not totally true to the recipe!
I made this last night - didn't have any Fresh Coriander (cilantro) so I substituted mint which is abundant in my garden right now and increased the number of tomatoes. It worked really well, very flavourful and *as another poster noted ) easy enough for mid week if you have the time.
I served it with roasted cauliflower (if I'm going to switch the oven on then I want to fill it :) served with the tahini cream sauce in the New Book of Middle Eastern Cooking - basically tahini, lemon juice and garlic - simple but very good.
As someone else noted the recipe is written in rather an odd order - you need to get the toms and potatoes in the oven before starting the fish in order to make it 'flow'. Also the English to American translation seemed weird - I'm a Brit living in the US and have plenty of cookbooks from both countries - the mix of coriander (for fresh cilantro) and new potatoes with cup measurements seemed strange - not exactly a problem but not a good a translation as other books I have.
This is my second COTM - the first was a couple of years ago and I only cooked a couple of things. These books seem really interesting and have a lot of recipes that sound like they can use some of the local produce available here in CT, so hopefully I'll cook a little more!
J
Albany rarea recommedations - I90 vicinity with parking
That looks perfect thanks so much, especially for all of the links
J
Albany rarea recommedations - I90 vicinity with parking
We'll be passing through Albany on Sunday on our way from Syracuse back to Connecticut.
Looking for a late afternoon/early evening dinner recommendation
We usually stop at Orchard Tavern but we will have our travel trailer with us this time and the parking there isn't the best.
Any recommendations for something that is close to the highway, has parking (the trailer's 20 ft long so somewhere (strip mall) were we can get a double length space would work well).
Any cuisine works - just something good and open
Thanks
J
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Orchard Tavern
68 N Manning Blvd, Albany, NY 12206
st petersburg/st pete beach/tierra verde?
We're visting the St Pete Beach area for a week with my parents for a week in Jan.
We're staying on Tierra Verde & come to the area around once a year, we're willing to drive up the coast or to St Petersburg for dinner & need some recommendations
In years past we've enjoyed; tokyo bay, bella brava, red mesa, abc seafood, primi. Anything new in the area, anything else we should try?
Thanks
J
asian in missoula, mt?
We're driving back through Missoula tomorrow from Glacier.
We need a lunch and dinner recommendation for Sunday - is there any asian (thai/ Vietnamese /indian etc) that's worth visiting? We're on a road trip out from CT for the last 3 weeks (doing many of the national parks) & are craving something with a little spice.
Other recommendations also welcomed - we really enjoyed Hob Nobs b'fast, Biga Pizza, Petit Outre and Scotty's table on our way up seems to be a fantastic foody town.
Thanks
J
Streetsboro area dinner?
We'll be passing through Streetsboro, OH this weekend on our roadtrip out West. Would love a recommendation for dinner - we'll be staying at the KOA.
We like pretty much any sort of food, ideally we'd like to avoid national chains.
Right now Swensons in Stow is looking like a contender, but we'd be good with something a little more interesting than a burger too.
Thanks in advance
Lunch stop - Sunday - I80/90 - nr Toledo?
Thanks for the suggestion, that menu looks great - this is our first real trip with the trailer & it's tough to always think about parking for lunch!
J
Lunch stop - Sunday - I80/90 - nr Toledo?
All,
We'll be travelling from Streetsboro, OH to Chesterton, IN as part of a multi week trip from CT to MT.
We need a lunch stop off I80/90 for a Sunday - probably near Toledo...or just past that.
We're driving a minivan pulling a small travel trailer so we'd rather stay close to the highway & need sufficient parking.
Tony Packo's in the Maumee Andersons (530 Illinois Ave, Maumee, OH) sounds good - we could pick up some groceries at the same time - do the Andersons outlets only do the hot dogs or do they carry a wider menu?
Anywhere else you'd recommend?
Thanks in advance
J
Curry leaves - New Haven to Middletown
Anyone know of somewhere I can get Curry leaves in the New Haven or MIddletown areas? Usually good Indian groceries carry them but I'm not that familiar with the area.
Thanks
J
Vermont's North East kingdom
Thanks for all of the recommendations: here's what we ended up with-
Stopped at Carpenter and Main in Norwich on the way up for Dinner Friday night.We sat in the Bistro side of this cozy & charming restaurant - service & menu were excellent - lots of local foods, a good mix of simple and more complex dishes. I had the beet & goats cheese salad and the flatbread special (mozzarella, spinach, mushroom & garlic). Salad was great, flatbread OK (base was a bit blah), T had the burger in homemade english muffin with salad & fries (local beef etc) this was excellent & the fries were out of this world. We finished with the berry shortcake - wild blackberries, berry sauce & we substituted homemade ice cream for the whipped cream - excellent.
Sat am went to Dylan's cafe in St Johnsbury 'cos we wanted to go to the farmers market. Breakfast was OK - I had crepes with berry filling - nice pancakes (not thin enough to be crepes, not thick enough for normal US pancakes) - too much filling. T had the breakfast burrito - too much cheese, not enough salsa.
For lunch (after riding) we ate at the River Garden Cafe in East Burke, had a good salad special - grilled chicken, blueberries, almonds etc, and an OK pasta/creamy pesto. Nice cafe with tables overlooking their flower garden.
Sat evening went to Elements - reservation was a good idea! - restaurant is in a converted mill & decor/layout is lovely. Menu was promising - more local foods and options of large & small plates. Food was excellent - I had smoked trout cakes (large pieces of trout inside, nicely crispy on the outside), followed by Duck confit salad which was fantastic, T had tomato & corn soup (really fresh tasting & great) & the ribs - good ribs, too big a portion, fantastic coleslaw (with kale as well as the usual cabbage etc), we ordered a side of curried carrots which missed the mark - nearly raw carrots in a lot of red curry sauce.. Overall we enjoyed the restaurant & would go back but the service suffered, particularly towards the end of the evening - we waited a long time to order dessert - so long that we decided to pass & other tables were also looking concerned about the timing..
We were planning on the Miss Lyndonville diner for breakfast on Sunday but we had to cut short our trip & drive straight back to CT on Sunday. We did manage to stop on the way back for breakfast snacks at King Arthur in Norwich (excellent) & lunch at Simon Pearce in Queechy - more local foods - lamb burger (fantastic) & duck hash (amazing).
Hope to get back up there again soon - the bike trails are fantastic
J
