Saturday night dinner

Three more cookbooks to check off the list, with about 40 cookbooks to go and only six weeks to go in our challenge. I'm already picking the least favorite ones to go. But we did make another stride on Saturday.

First, I made Chocolate Chip Muffins from Susanna Tee's "Cupcakes." First of all, this recipe had five ingredients and could all be mixed in the same bowl. Cutting down on dishes always makes me happy. They were moist and simple cupcakes and didn't need to be frosted.

For dinner on Saturday evening, Matt prepared two great dishes—Fish with Olives, Pine Nuts, Basil, and Wine from Williams-Sonoma's "Food & Wine Pairing" and Asparagus Risotto from "The Silver Spoon." The fish was so simple, just roasted in the oven. The risotto was better than others I've had. The recipe called for chopping up the asparagus tips and adding while the arborio was cooking. That really added a nice asparagus flavor to the dish. And the chardonnay we paired with the meal was also delicious.

Now we're down to crunch time, and I'm searching for recipes from cookbooks that I would hate to lose. We'll see how far we can get in the next six-week holiday period. —CS

A Week's Worth of Cookbooks

We're making progress as we head into the fourth quarter of our cookbook challenge. Last weekend, we used two more cookbooks. And this weekend, we are using another two.

Last Saturday morning, I pulled out the standby "The All New Joy of Cooking" to whip up a batch of blueberry pancakes from scratch. They were a little runny and on the thin side, but tasted great for a relaxing weekend breakfast.

Then on Sunday to continue with the relaxing theme, I used Williams-Sonoma's "Food Made Fast Slow Cooker" cookbook to make a great Barbecue-Style Brisket. Great flavors, really tender, and all I had to do was sear the brisket, chop a few onions, and toss it all into the crockpot!

Last night, we threw a harvest dinner for our friends. I wanted a great fall dessert to accompany dinner, so I picked the Gingered McIntosh Crisp from Greg Patent's "Baking in America." I found some fresh McIntosh apples at the farmers market, and they really made the dessert great.

With all of the cooking and baking yesterday for the harvest dinner and Matt traveling this week, I thought I better do something easy so not to have too hectic of a Sunday evening. I have potatoes, onions, and chicken broth in the crockpot to make a Creamy Leek and Potato Soup from Betty Crocker's "Slow Cooker Cookbook." I opted to use onions instead of leeks to give myself a little bit of a break (you don't have to worry about sand in onions!). It smells good and should be done in another three hours and 28 minutes. Not bad for just a little bit of chopping! —CS

All-American Meal

Three more cookbooks down, and the recipes were perfect for one of our first crisp, fall-like days here in Boise. Unfortunately, the thermometer is going to go back up again during the week, but at least we had a little taste of fall.

Let me start by saying Matt and I are huge "Top Chef" fans, so I wasn't too surprised when Matt bought "Top Chef: The Cookbook" as one of my anniversary gifts last year. Sad to say we hadn't used this cookbook until today. I made Elia's Roasted Chicken with Vegetables from Season 2's seven deadly sin challenge. I loved that challenge, and we've been in a roasted chicken rut of late. But this one is a definite keeper and one we'll make again in the near future. It was so moist and flavorful. And the veggies—all from the farmers market—were so so fresh! If I would've known how good this recipe was, I would have picked up this cookbook and used it a lot sooner.

The next recipe is Classic Apple Pie from Martha Stewart's "Baking Handbook." I didn't actually make a full pie, I adapted the recipe to use in these new miniature pie molds in apple and pumpkin shapes from Williams-Sonoma. First of all, Martha' s Pate Brisee recipe is the best. You just pulse the dough in the food processor and chill. It rolls out nice, is easy to work with, and a nice-tasting crust. The apple pie recipe was also tasty, with a nice amount of cinnamon. The finished project was quite cute, and now I'm searching for more recipes and ideas to use these pie molds this fall and winter.

I've been waiting to make something with pumpkin. I geared up last weekend by buying three giant cans of pumpkin at Costco. So I decided to do pumpkin bread so we could have it as a snack or breakfast. I made the Pecan Pumpkin Bread (sans pecans) from Pillsbury's "Best Muffins & Quick Breads." First of all, I've had this cookbook since 1999 and have used it a lot, just not this year yet. This bread, which I had not tried before, is really moist and tasty. It made two loaves, so I'll send one to work with Matt. And I can't wait to have a piece of it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. —CS

Seafood Delight

We followed up the shrimp appetizer tonight with wonderful Linguine alla Vongole (Linguine with Clam Sauce) from Williams-Sonoma's "Savoring Italy" by Michele Scicolone. There was very minimal prep work, and what took the longest was gettting the pasta water up to boil. You can't beat dinner at home like that on a Saturday night. Ciao! —CS

Shrimp-o-licious

We've used our first cookbook of the weekend, Mark Bittman's "Fish." It's another great informative cookbook by Bittman. Great tips on what seafood to substitute in recipes, and a range of techniques to prepare different seafood and fish. Matt made the "Spicy Grilled Shrimp." They're so tasty, I found myself just popping them into my mouth. A little spicy, but that's a plus!

That was just the appetizer for the evening. We have another cookbook coming up later for the main course. We're also hoping to use two or three more cookbooks tomorrow for Sunday dinner! Maybe we're finally on a roll. —CS

Belated Entry

Well, the end of summer got the best of us. We're even further behind in our cookbook challenge and didn't post about two we actually used in August.

First, I grabbed Mark Bittman's handy "How to Cook Everything" when making a steak dinner mid-August for steakhouse mushrooms. We had everything on hand to do Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic, which went great with the meal. I do use this cookbook often, but not for the recipes. The backpage is my go-to source when I need to remind myself of meat doneness temperatures.

The other cookbook we used toward the end of August was "Creme Brulee: The Bonjour Way" by Randolph W. Mann. Normally you wouldn't think creme brulee for a summer dessert, but I thought the S'more Creme Brulee would be a perfect ending to an evening BBQ. And I was right. It was a hit. I loved the chocolate melted on the graham crackers in the oven as well as torching the marshmallow creme on top.

So, our goal this weekend is to use four cookbooks to try to get back in this cookbook game. Another option to get back in the game is to consider putting some of the more obscure cookbooks into the community garage sale at the beginning of October! —CS

A Good Use for Zucchini

We complain for the first month or two of Boise's farmers' market that there's no fresh produce. But come July, there are so many great finds to choose from. Even though it was going to be over 100 degrees, I had decided yesterday in the morning that I was going to purchase a zucchini at the market to make bread. I searched through many of the cookbooks not yet used, and I came across a spicy zucchini bread recipe in Art Smith's "Back to the Table" cookbook, which I had received several years ago as a gift. The Spicy Zucchini Quick Bread was fairly quick, done in a bundt pan, but not as spicy as I would have liked. I used pumpkin pie spice, but I think I should have gone with the Chinese five-spice for the extra kick. —CS

Cheesecakes!

I'm on a roll. Another cookbook down. On Monday evening, I made miniature Key Lime Cheesecakes from "Ultimate Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecakes." Using the miniature graham cracker crusts instead of a full 9-inch crust cuts the baking time in half, and the recipe is only three steps. I forgot how much I love this cookbook, which I've had since 1996. One of my favorite recipes is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. Maybe I'll have to make that sometime soon! —CS

Third quarter update

Needless to say, we 're quite behind in our cookbook challenge since we didn't use any new cookbooks in June and even added another one to the collection.

Matt bought me "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson for my birthday in June, and I have already used it. I made a wonderful Lemon Blueberry Buckle over the 4th of July weekend. This cookbook has the recipes broken down by season. All of the seasons include wonderful recipes, but I'm most looking forward for fall and the Maple Apple Dumplings and Pear Cobbler with Shingled Hazelnut Biscuits.

And then yesterday I made a salsa recipe from Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food." First of all, it was a gift from my friend Susan two years ago and she had it autographed by Alice Waters. I felt guilty that I hadn't used it yet, so I made it a priority on the cookbook list. The Fresh Tomato Salsa recipe is a perfect match for the cookbook's title. It was so simple, fresh, and tasty. Perfect for a summer evening BBQ.

According to my spreadsheet, we've used 19 cookbooks out of 75. A little more than a quarter of the way there, but with only six months to go. We've got to light a fire to make it to our deadline, or else purge a lot of cookbooks from our collection. —CS

Another Fine Grilling Night

Every food magazine that we've received in the mail over the past several weeks have been featuring burgers. So last night was turkey burger night, and I had wanted some type of grilled potato dish. Matt is never keen on grilling potatoes. Usually I make a foil packet with cut-up potatoes, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil, but they're never done on time. So I searched yesterday for a new recipe. We tried the grilled Hand-Cut French Fries from "Weber's Art of the Grill Deck." Just thin potato wedges, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Matt enhanced them a little more at the end with some cajun seasoning. Finally, a potato recipe that doesn't take an eternity to grill!

And just an aside—we made Spicy Turkey Burgers out of Bon Appetit's "Fast Easy Fresh" cookbook. Also, very fresh and delicious with a some pepper jack cheese melted on top!—CS

BBQ Season Has Arrived

The warm temperatures have arrived in Idaho, and it's time to fire up the grill. Matt made a great Grilled Flank Steak out of Williams-Sonoma's Food Made Fast "Grilling" cookbook on Sunday evening. The flank steak marinated for a couple of hours in a Justin cab, soy sauce, and garlic. And then Matt just tossed it onto the grill, and I have to say he grilled it perfectly—a nice medium rare. We paired it with a grilled corn salad with cherry tomatoes, chopped red pepper, arugula, and a lemon vinaigrette. It was a tasty dinner, but the flank steak made even tastier leftovers. Matt sauteed mushrooms and onions and then reheated the steak. He topped that mixture with some provolone cheese and put it all onto a toasted hoagie roll to create our own Boise-style cheesesteaks! —CS

Rainy Day Cookies

We woke up to a rainy morning today and didn't plan to get out of the house anytime quick, so I decided to make a batch of cookies. I looked through Elinor Klivans' "Big Fat Cookies" and decided I had all of the ingredients to make the Cinnamon Sugar Snickerdoodles. I even just ordered more cream of tartar from Penzey's, so I was in good shape to get started with these giant cookies.

It was a simple recipe to whip up, and the dough was really easy to work with—not too sticky or messy. Oliver and I just tried them. They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. A perfect cookie.

Over the past two years I have made other cookies from this cookbook. I especially enjoy the Peanut Butter Cup Cookies and the Big City Black-and-Whites, which really are comparable to what you can get in NYC!—CS

How to Cook Everything

We've had Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" since it came out.  Sometimes the other cookbooks overshadow it, and I only find myself using it as a reference on what temperatures meat should be cooked to. But I pulled it out today when I was planning the menu and the grocery list for the week. We went out to eat last night and had all seafood, so we decided we could have beef for dinner. I found a great recipe for Grilled Marinated Flank Steak. Ginger, garlic, soy, and lime juice were the main ingredients in the marinade. Simple and tasty. Matt was going to grill, but it was really windy so we just broiled it instead. Since the cookbook was out, I also made the Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic. In addition to the steak and mushrooms, we sauteed some spinach from the farmers market and baked some potatoes. No need to go to a steakhouse when you can make a great dinner at home yourself! —CS

Easter Brunch

Yes, I know Easter was two weeks ago, but we have a 23-month-old who had the stomach flu and then forgot to blog. We did use a bunch of cookbooks for our Easter brunch, but most of them were ones we have already used in 2009. But we did use two ones that will stay in the rotation for 2010. 

The first—"Rice" by Mary Goodbody—was one of Matt's cookbooks prior to moving in together back in 2000. The Wild Rice & Mushroom Pancakes are standard on our Easter brunch menus. These savory pancakes are so tasty and so reminiscent of stuffing with the sage, onions, mushrooms, and chicken broth. We can't have a brunch without this dish.

Even though we haven't used this one this year, the second new cookbook used—"Perfect Recipes for Having People Over" by Pam Anderson—is a popular one in the household. We've made several recipes out of it over the past couple of years. But for brunch, I made the Zippy Bloody Marys. This was my first foray into fresh bloody marys, and they came out great. The horseradish really added a kick!

I used a couple of cookbooks that had already been used in the first quarter of 2009, but still wanted to share those recipes. The most popular dish at the brunch was the Strawberry-Rhubarb Breakfast Cake from Williams-Sonoma's "Muffins" cookbook.  I had a struggle finding the rhubarb, but ended up getting the last two stalks at the third grocery story I went to. Well worth the hunt—there's nothing better than the strawberry/rhubarb combo. On the muffin front, I also made Ina Garten's Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffin recipe from her "Barefoot Contessa Family Style" cookbook and Mocha Muffins with Chocolate Chips and Pecans from Bon Appetit's "fast easy fresh" cookbook. Both recipes turned out tasty muffins. Also from that big green cookbook was the best breakfast potato recipe—Spicy Bacon, Onion, and Cheese Potatoes. I didn't let any of these leftovers go to waste. I even had them for lunch one day the week after Easter. We'll definitely be making these potatoes again!

I thought we would have made more progress in April using some more cookbooks, but that didn't happen, and we're starting to fall behind. Let's hope May is a better month. Maybe we can start to use all of the various grilling cookbooks on the bookshelf. —CS

Thai Chicken and Basil

So we love Thai food, and Christine always orders spicy Thai chicken with basil, and I usually try to order something different but usually end up being jealous because hers is so good. With that in mind, we used our Williams-Sonoma "Chicken" cookbook to make their version of Spicy Chicken and Basil Stir-fry. I was at the NCAA basketball games during the day, so took on prep and cooking duties for this meal on Sunday night. Prep was really, really easy...garlic, jalepenos, red pepper, basil, and chicken were the basic ingredients and then the liquid portion, which was pretty straight forward. The dish came out great and really did taste like what we get when we go out for Thai food. Start to finish, the dish was about 20 minutes in total, and the jasmine rice in the rice cooker was a nice addition. The only veggie in the dish was red peppers, so I think the addition of some straw mushrooms, baby corn, or a few other items would have made the dish even better! I think with its ease of preparation and good flavor, this is going to become a staple for us! —ms

Another good use for ripe bananas

I had another pesky ripe banana left that no one was going to eat over the weekend. Maybe I should learn not to buy so many bananas for the week. But I didn't want it to go to waste, and I had remembered recently seeing a cookie recipe in Martha Stewart's "Cookies" cookbook that called for one really ripe banana. The Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies were tasty. It was an above-and-beyond twist on regular chocolate chip cookies. The banana, toasted walnuts, and oats really added a nice dimension, and they didn't go flat as they baked as some of my chocolate chip recipes do. 

They got rave reviews so I'll definitely be making these again. My 22-month-old son wanted "more." And our friend Laurel said it was delicious: "Like breakfast and dessert all in one cookie." --CS

Good old comfort food

We're heading into spring so we don't have too many more opportunities for heavy comfort foods. But yesterday was somewhat rainy and cool, so we decided to try out Ina Garten's Spaghetti and Meatballs from the "Barefoot Contessa Family Style" cookbook. This was a big step for us since Matt has been making his version of spaghetti and meatballs with his own sauce for about the last 10 years.

The recipe was fairly simple for both the meatballs and sauce. I wasn't able to find ground veal for the meatballs so I substituted another 1/2 pound of ground pork instead. The pork definitely came out strong over the ground beef instead of a more blended mixture. The sauce was really good, I think the Chianti gave it a great taste. It was very rustic. But I actually prefer my onions and garlic in the meatballs instead of the sauce.

I love the Barefoot Contessa, but I don't think we'll make this recipe again. Matt's spaghetti and meatballs is still the household favorite! —CS

Soup's on!

The last two cookbooks that we've used have been for soups. I'm trying to get some winter cooking in before spring arrives!

I'm not sure if this is cheating or not. But about a week and a half ago, I made Asian Chicken Noodle Soup with Ginger and Chiles from Bon Appetit's "fast easy fresh" cookbook. I  got this cookbook for Christmas, but it's full of Bon Appetit recipes that I have been making for years. I have been making this soup with Thanksgiving leftovers since 2004. And because we love this recipe so much, we use rotisserie chicken in place of the turkey so we can have it year-round. It's so simple to make, and the serranos tossed in to the bowl before serving gives it some great heat. When you want the comfort of chicken noodle soup, this twist is just what the doctor ordered.

Tonight we're trying out our new panini machine (yes, appliances are another obsession in addition to cookbooks!), so we thought soup would go great with our roasted pepper-mozzarella-chicken paninis. We made the Roast Turkey Vegetable Soup with Rice from Williams-Sonoma's "Soup for Supper." It was really light, fresh, and flavorful. We used already roasted turkey and a bunch of veggies—mushrooms, onion, celery, carrots, and broccoli. The recipe called for homemade turkey stock, which we opted not to do. Maybe next Thanksgiving! With spring and/or Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I might have to try the Asparagus Soup or the Chicken, Tortilla, and Lime Soup next.

Ten cookbooks down, 65 to go (since the initial counting of cookbooks, we added the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook, and then Matt was given an Atlanta cookbook). We better get cooking! —CS

Adding those veggies

We have been having a hard time getting our 21-month-old to eat his veggies. So I decided to buy another cookbook focused on kids. It's "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld—yes, Jerry's wife.

Her technique is pureeing vegetables and adding the purees to your basic recipes. I decided to take a stab at it and start with the Spaghetti and Meatballs since Oliver is a pasta fan. I roasted butternut squash and pureed it for the meatballs, and I steamed some carrots and pureed for the sauce. It definitely adds to the dishes since I used my steamer, my food processor, and my blender to puree canned whole tomatoes. But the overall result was pretty tasty and healthy since it called for ground turkey. And Oliver ate his entire serving with a side of cottage cheese (he loves any kind of cheese or dairy product!).

I'm planning on trying the Grilled Cheese recipe later in the week, which calls for more pureed butternut squash. I had plenty of that leftover, so it should make it a little easier and a lot less dishes.

I'm still not sold on the dessert recipes. Chocolate cake with beet puree? The chocolate cupcake recipe has avocado puree, and the frosting has cauliflower puree. And then, the chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for chickpeas. Maybe I'll have to try one of the dessert recipes just for the heck of it. Maybe it'll be scrumptious (as well as packed full of veggies)! —CS

Catching up - 3 more cookbooks

I apologize for being delinquent in updating the blog. I've been busy with work, home, and play, and I forgot the password to get into the blogspot account. But over the past few weeks, we have used three more of our cookbooks. And I'm currently considering buying one more.

We've been doing Saturday dinners at home after Oliver goes to bed. A couple of weeks ago, we bought a tri-tip and made Flank Steak with Red Wine Sauce from Giada De Larentis' "Giada's Family Dinners." It was delicious and easy, and we served it with steakhouse mushrooms, asparagus, and a potatoes anna recipe from an old issue of Cooking Light. The whole dinner was excellent, but we're still working on perfecting the potatoes anna. It always tastes great, but never comes out of the cast-iron skillet right.

The Saturday after, we went with an Asian flair. We seared pepper and sesame seed-crusted tuna and served it with an Asian slaw. We also had Ina Garten's Szechuan Noodle recipe from "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook." I love sesame noodles, and this was a tasty variation. Quite a few ingredients, but only a couple of states. I'll definitely repeat this one.

And as I said earlier, our household has been busy. So I pulled out one of my five crockpot cookbooks—"Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook"—and made some Chicken Cacciatore. I put all the ingredients in and started it when I was taking a break from work for lunch. So simple. And making a thicker sauce is optional at the end, but who needs to bother with that. The juicy broth was perfect with bread.

We're halfway through February and have only used seven of the 73 cookbooks in the house, so it's time for us to pick up the pace. Now that I have retrieved the password to the blog, I'll be updating more often so check back soon! —CS

Deep-Dish Taco Pizza

I decided to try a dish that I thought would be toddler friendly - Deep-Dish Taco Pizza from Cooking Light's "Superfast Suppers." There wasn't much prep, just chopping an onion, which made it really easy to make while Oliver was watching Sesame Street. I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef, and I didn't have Mexican seasoning, so I tossed in some cumin, chili powder, and oregano. Oliver seemed to like it and ate his helping with a side of cottage cheese and some strawberries. I only had a taste, and it was OK. The jury is still out on how it will do reheating tomorrow night as leftovers. —CS

Chocolate Chip Cake I

We had a wonderful chocolate chip cake in Ohio over the holidays that one of my aunt's relatives made in North Carolina. So, I was flipping through the never-used "Alameda Cooks" cookbook that our good friend Jane bought me a couple of years ago (Jane lives in Alameda, Calif., now, and we used to live there before moving to Boise in 2004), and I saw a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cake. I had to try it out and see if I could replicate that holiday cake that was just so moist and dense even after a couple of days. It was a really simple recipe and turned out nice, but definitely not the same cake. It was all chocolate, and the other cake wasn't. So the search will continue until I finally just ask my aunt if she can get the recipe for me. —CS

Sunday Night Chili

I've been making chili during the colder months for the past several years and have basically made the same chili each time ... ground turkey, some onions, some peppers, lots of nice spices, etc ...

For our first Sunday night chili of the year, we decided to use the new Bon Appetit cookbook Christine received as a gift. Turkey Chili with White Beans. I was a little apprehensive about making a new chili, and the inclusion of cocoa powder had me a little bit nervous.

The best thing about this recipe was the prep work involved ... just about none! The only thing that required a knife was the chopped onions (which I did earlier in the day while prepping my red sauce) ... once I had those done, I was ready to go.

The combination of the spices was actually really nice ... cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and lots of chili powder (I use a chili powder blend from Dean and Deluca, which I think just adds a lot of nice flavor to anything that calls for chili powder). The cocoa powder gave it a deep, rich flavor and color that was missing from my standby chili. White beans opposed to standard kidney beans was also a nice change.

Start to finish, this recipe was about a 90-minute project but well worth it. We served the chili over rice with chopped red onion, cilantro, and grated pepperjack cheese with cornbread on the side.

We have plenty of leftovers if you're in the neighborhood ...

Only one weekend into the new year and we've already tackled two cookbooks ... this project will be a breeze!

-ms

Muffins, muffins, and more muffins

I needed to get off to a good start in the cookbook challenge so I started to think about what to make for New Year's Day. We had leftovers, so dinner wasn't an option. I looked around the kitchen and saw ripe bananas. Normally I would just make my tried-and-true banana-chocolate chip bread, but I decided to try something different and probably more healthy. 

I opted for the Banana-Walnut Muffins from the Williams-Sonoma "Muffins" cookbook. I really like this cookbook. I had to buy it after browsing it at my sister-in-law's house a couple of years ago. I don't use it that often, but I have made the Blueberry Muffins and the Blackberry Muffins several times. 

The Banana-Walnut Muffins turned out great—a nice toasted walnut taste with chunks of banana. The recipe was easy and quick, and I had most ingredients on hand. Matt just had to pick up some walnuts and buttermilk when he stopped at the store.

I'm not going to wait another year before using this "keeper." I have my eyes on the Cinnamon-Buttermilk Muffins, and I can't wait until spring to make the Strawberry-Rhubarb Breakfast Cake. —CS

Cookbooks Galore

Our cookbook collection has gotten out of control. From regional cuisine to celebrity chefs to specific foods and recipes, we have more than 50 cookbooks in the house. I'm afraid to do a final tally to see the actual amount. So my husband and I decided to do a cookbook challenge in 2009. If the cookbook is not used during the year, it doesn't stick around for 2010. So, if we want to keep them all, that's going to mean making roughly one recipe out of each cookbook each week. Stick around and see what comes out of our kitchen and if we can meet the cookbook challenge!