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