Basic Cheese Quiche

Recipe: Basic Cheese Quiche // How to Cook Everything

Rating:

The last time I made quiche, I added a lot of extra fillings and removed one egg. Turns out ALL the eggs are needed for the quiche to set properly. And a variety of fillings really didn't taste as a good as a basic one- or two-ingredient quiche. Bittman mentions this in his book, so I should have known better. Anyway, this one had only cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, pecorino) and sauteed mushrooms. It turned out quite well.

Stuffed Tomato (In Which We Use Peppers)

Recipe: Summer Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes // Serious Eats
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We spent a glorious labor day weekend in Ithaca, NY. While there, we visited Wegmans at least three times. On our last stop on the way out of town, we picked up a bunch of local produce. We found ourselves left with much of it at the end of the week, and needed a recipe that made use of it.

This was great! We didn't have tomatoes, but we had big peppers, and the substitution was fine in my opinion. I was afraid this recipe was going to be too veggie-y for me, but it really wasn't. We used fontina cheese because it melts beautifully (and we were out of mozzarella). It had a sharper taste, which I enjoyed. Seth was liberal with the olive oil. The fresh basil was essential. Definitely a good one for summertime produce.

French Bread Pizza

Recipe: The Best French Bread Pizza // Serious Eats
Bread Recipe: French Baguette // Local Breads

Recipe:

Our French Bread Pizza turned out truly amazing. I started the bread in the morning, and by the afternoon we had some fresh, soft loaves. We didn't have crushed tomatoes, so we whizzed a can of whole peeled tomatoes around in the food processor. The pizza wasn't soggy in the least; our sauce cooked up nicely and we loved the garlic butter base. If I could give this five kitties, I would.

Fanny Farmer Mac & Cheese

Recipe: Macaroni & Cheese // Fanny Farmer Cookbook

Rating:

After Seth made macaroni & cheese for dinner a few weeks ago, I felt the need to try again using a different recipe. This is from the beloved Fanny Farmer Cookbook -- my mom cooked some of my favorite meals from this cookbook when I was growing up (specifically, Chicken Pie Country Style).

I enjoyed this with a bit of ketchup. It's my go-to macaroni & cheese recipe.

Pasta with Goat Cheese, Broccoli, and Oregano

Recipe: Pasta with Goat Cheese, Broccoli, and Oregano // Serious Eats

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Seth's Rating: 

I forgot that I'm not fond of goat cheese used as pasta sauce. I love goat cheese, but it just doesn't work for me on pasta. Seth liked it, though (and made me include a separate rating for him). 

We roasted the broccoli using the Cook's Illustrated method instead of steaming it. I can't get enough of roasted broccoli these days! 

Chicken Parmesan

Recipe: Chicken Parmesan // How to Cook Everything (pg 388)
Rating: 

This was a nice chicken parmesan. The chicken got crispy on the stovetop and the cheese was bubbly and melty in the oven. We used linguini noodles because I am not fond of spaghetti noodles. We've made this before, and we'll definitely make it again.

Omelette: Yesterday's Breakfast

Recipe: Tomato Mushroom Onion Cheese Omelette // Seth's creation
Side Recipe: Crispy Sautéed Potatoes with Rosemary // How to Cook Everything (pg 597)

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Seth is a master omelette maker. Yesterday he also treated me to crispy potatoes. We had it with home made toast. Weekend breakfasts are the best!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Recipe: Broccoli Cheddar Soup // Mangio da Sola

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I have made this soup before and enjoyed it again tonight. I added an extra can of chicken broth when my base looked too thick, but I think I should have just added one cup of water. I didn't add any extra salt, but this still tasted salty to me (we used low sodium broth). It's still a nice soup, and I expect we'll make it again.

Stuffed Peppers with Goat Cheese and Couscous

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers with Couscous and Goat Cheese // How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (pg 399)
Side Recipe: Blumenthal's Roast Potatoes // Serious Eats

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This was a tasty vegetarian entree. The peppers, goat cheese, and couscous blend well together. We roasted the peppers over our gas stovetop before stuffing them; we set them over a low flame and let the skin soften and blacken. The original recipe calls for quinoa, but we had couscous on hand, so that's what we used.

My favorite was the roasted potatoes. We liked them better than our homemade fries. The recipe called for peeled potatoes, but I like potato skins, so I left them on. They were great.

Slow-Cooker: Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Recipe: Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna // Slow Cooker Revolution (pg 232)
Rating:  

This was the best lasagna I've ever had. It had excellent flavor, wonderful texture, and it wasn't overly cheesy. A real winner, and I'm not usually a lasagna fan.

This recipe required all the prep for a lasagna cooked in the oven (pre-cooking noodles, sautéing vegetables and the like), so the only real convenience is that you come home and your meal is already cooked. The authors do not try to disguise the fact that most quality slow cooker recipes require a fair amount of prep work. Regardless, I can't wait to try more from this cookbook.

I have been looking for a quality slow cooker cookbook, and I think I have found one worth purchasing from the fine folks at America's Test Kitchen & Cooks Illustrated.

Pizza: My Favorite Food

Recipe: Cornbread Pizza Dough + Toppings // Bread Lovers Bread Machine Cookbook (dough)

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I like making pizza at home because I always want to eat pizza. Today we made a margherita pizza and a caramelized onion, shallot, and garlic pizza.

Burgers & Fries

Recipe: Burgers with Shallots & Blue Cheese on Hamburger Buns // Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (burgers), Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook (buns)
Side Recipe: Baked Potato French Fries // Vegan Richa
Rating:  

I used the bread machine to make dough for hamburger buns this morning--all I had to do is shape the dough and bake them. The burgers were simply put together with an egg & salt and pepper. I splurged on crispy shallots & blue cheese treat. This was an excellent meal (although not the healthiest). The fries took the longest--around 30 or 40 minutes.