Suburban Culinary Adventures’ blog

We all have one (or two, or three)... those cookbooks that we reach for time and time again, their pages sticky from use, their covers worn and tattered with love.  I have an obsession with buying new cookbooks, so I am always interested to know which books other cooks hold dear.

For me, I have three cookbooks that I use on a weekly basis:

Barefoot Contessa at Home

Barefoot Contessa At Home - Ina Garten

Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Barefoot Contessa Family Style - Ina Garten

Baking: From my home to yours

Baking: From my home to yours - Dorie Greenspan

All three of these books have the kind of classic recipes that you reach for time and time again.  They're always fail proof and guaranteed to be delicious.

So what is your favorite cookbook(s)?  Why?

I tend to accumulate a ton of clutter in my freezer, and unless I keep a firm system in place I completely forget what is hiding in there.  I think that if you have a family it is essential to have at least a small chest freezer to keep meats and premade meals on hand for those "just in case" days.  I love buying meats in bulk at Costco so that I always know I have good quality food on hand and I am never more than a few fresh veggies away from a great meal.  So how do you keep everything straight?  Here is my system:

Fridge Freezer:

This is where I keep things that I just need to grab quickly like herbs, bread, soup, and any convenience foods I have on hand (come on, we all have them).  I always like to freeze canned foods when a recipe only calls for a portion of the can... why let it go to waste?

Fridge Freezer Storage

Chest Freezer:

If you don't have some organization in here it will become a bottomless pit and you will never know what's hiding at the bottom.  I have bins which each hold a different type of meat: beef, pork, boneless chicken, bone-in chicken, and seafood.  This way I can stack them to better utilize the space, and I can see at a glance what I have on hand while I'm meal planning.  If you package all of your meats in individual meal size servings then it's that much more convenient.

Chest Freezer Storage

Spend some time adapting your own strategies to keeping your freezer organized and your life will be much easier and you'll have less food waste.  Happy organizing!

Has it really been a month since I've posted?  I must get better at this!

I'm at it with the leftovers again today.  We had rice with our souvlaki tonight and I ALWAYS cook too much.  The one time I tried cooking less we were wanting more... and then when I went back up to my usual amount there were leftovers again.  Geesh!  Since nobody likes stale rice the next day, I decided to bake a rice pudding tonight.

There is something that is instantly comforting about knowing that there is a warm, silky pudding baking away in the oven, just waiting for a cup of tea to go alongside it.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) my husband is not a fan of rice pudding so I will enjoy it all to myself!

This is a fabulous recipe to just use up what you have on hand, so be flexible and add whatever fruits and spices you fancy.

BAKED RICE PUDDING

1 cup already cooked medium or long grain rice (I always use basmati)

1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruits (today I'm using a mixture of dried blueberries & cranberries)

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar, either white or brown is fine depending on your preference (I like brown for the richness & colour)

2 cups milk, either 2% or higher (low fat milk just won't make a creamy enough pudding... in fact I'm going a bit overboard and using half & half today as I have some sitting in the fridge that needed a use)

1 tsp vanilla extract (Don't be cheap with the vanilla!  Artificial extract will do your food a huge disservice)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 325 F.  Lightly butter a casserole or baking dish, or spray it with cooking oil spray.

Combine the rice and raisins in a large saucepan, add 1 cup water, and heat over medium heat until the rice is rehydrated, about 10 minutes.  Drain, if necessary, and set aside.  (You can skip this step if the rice has just been cooked)

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon together in a medium-size bowl.  Add the drained plumped rice and raisins to the mixture.  Stir well and pour into casserole dish.

Bake the pudding, uncovered, until the center is almost set and a knife inserted within 1-inch of the edge comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled... whatever you're in the mood for!

Comfort food at it's finest.

I'm generally not a fan of most leftovers.  This is a big problem since I always tend to overcook, and I hate to see food go to waste.  After making our standard sunday dinner of roast beef and vegetables, I was left with half a roast, a bowl full of roasted parsnips, carrots, and potatoes, and some steamed green beans to deal with.  I'm having a bit of a soup fetish lately, so I thought - I'll make soup!  And it was yummy!  I just threw everything in the pot with some beef stock, added some fresh herbs with salt and pepper, and voila!  A whole new dinner to enjoy.  Add some fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuits and you're ready to go!

YEAST BISCUITS

1 package yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup Crisco shortening

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Disscove yeast in warm water; set aside.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Cut in shortening.  Add yeast and buttermilk and mix well.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness.  Cut with small biscuit cutter (or a drinking glass) and place on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen biscuits (give or take depending on how large or small you make them).  Don't be worried about having leftovers of these though, they are delicious the next morning heated up and smothered with butter and homemade raspberry yum.  What a treat!

Moving to a small town has been a bit of a culture shock for me.  I'm finding it difficult to find ingredients that I am used to using on a regular basis (who ever heard of a grocery store that doesn't sell capers?), or the people at the shops are confused by what you even do with the ingredients they do sell.  I went to Sobey's today and picked up some proscuitto, and the woman at the deli counter asked "So what do you use this for anyway?"  I told her that I'd bought it to add to a ratatouille, which was just greeted with a blank stare.  Who doesn't know what you use proscuitto for?

Most days I really like the relaxed, laid back atmosphere of living in a small town, but the culinary part of me abhores it.  Nick and I have been seriously talking about opening up a gourmet food shop in town in the years ahead because I think that there is such a need for quality ingredients, and for a staff that knows how to use them.  An exciting but scary endeavour!

I can't believe that it's been over a month since my last entry - shame, shame, shame!  It's certainly not because I haven't been cooking, rather that I've perhaps been cooking far too much to blog about it.  This summer is becoming a blur and I find myself longing for the cooler days of fall.  There always seem to be less pressure to get out and actually do things in the fall, and I feel entitled to long days in the kitchen at home making soups, stews, and all of the warm comfort foods that will stave off the chill.

But enough of my longing of the cool days to come.... summer is still here and with it always comes entertaining.  I love to entertain, but I always find that I struggle with what to serve when I'm entertaining for lunch.  Today my grandmother and my sister came over for lunch, and then I have my parents coming for dinner, so it was essential that the mid-day meal was quick and easy!  So what is easier than chicken salad sandwiches and tomato basil salad?

TOMATO BASIL SALAD

Sooooo simple!  Simply slice fresh tomatoes and arrange on a serving platter, top with sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, a few basil leaves, and then repeat the layering once more.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar - delicious!

Tomato Basil Salad

CHICKEN SALAD

What I love about Chicken Salad is that you can literally just throw in whatever you want and whatever happens to be in your pantry at the moment.  I just roasted a couple of chicken breasts with salt & pepper, then diced into bite sized chunks.  To this I added some mayo, mustard, paprika, more fresh pepper, grapes, and celery and tossed it all together.  Serve on some nice, freshly baked bread or buns and you have an easy, tasty treat for lunch.

Finish it off with fresh fruit for dessert and it is a completely stress free way to serve your guests.

...and then once you've done all that and you realize that "Oops!" you forgot to take the roast out of the freezer for dinner, you can take advantage of my Panic Roast recipe.

PANIC ROAST

Simply take your frozen, boneless beef roast and put it in the slow cooker.  Cover with boiling water.  To this you can add whatever herbs and seasonings you like, today I added some beef bouillon, pepper, salt, thyme, and bay leaves.  Cook in the slow cooker on low for 7-8 hours and you will have a perfectly tender roast, and nobody needs to know that you forgot to defrost it!

We have been having some HOT summer days around here lately, which usually leaves me in the mood for something COLD.  But one cannot survive on sandwiches alone, nor would you want to.  The solution: a cold salad and soup, packed with all of the fresh flavours of summer.  Here are a couple of my favourite recipes from the Moosewood Cookbook.

THE MENU:

Gazpacho soup

Carrot yogurt salad

Gazpacho & Carrot Yogurt Salad

GAZPACHO

4 cups cold tomato juice

1 small, well-minced onion

2 cups freshly diced tomatoes

1 cup minced green pepper

1 diced cucumber

2 scallions, chopped

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tsp honey

juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 lime

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp each tarragon and basil

dash of ground cumin

1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

dash of tabasco sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

salt & black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 2 hours.

CARROT-YOGURT SALAD

1 lb carrots - coarsely grated

2 medium apples - grated

1 cup firm yogurt

1 tbsp honey

pinch of celery salad

juice from one small lemon

a few dashes each of salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients, mix well and chill.

THE REVIEW:

Yum!  Soooo simple to make, you can make it early in the day when the house is cool and you feel up to it, and then by dinner time you have a nice cool dinner to enjoy with your family.

Pregnancy is always great for bringing about cravings.  I'm finding the worst part is that I want to make anything and everything that I see on cooking shows.

While watching "Paula's Home Cooking" the other day, she was making Croque Madame sandwiches.  Now, in the past, the thought of these just turned my stomach.  All that butter and cheese, and then you put an egg on the top, who would want to eat that?

Well, I do!  And they are DELICIOUS!  Unbelievably so actually.  They taste like the greasiest, cheesiest diner sandwich you've ever eaten.

Croque Madame

To make these is very simple, it's fairly similar to your standard grilled cheese.  Just butter one side of two slices of white bread and place butter side down in a hot frying pan.  Layer on each piece of bread a piece of swiss or gruyere cheese, and some shaved ham.  Once the bread has turned golden and crisp, put the two sides together, spread the top with mayo, and add another layer of swiss cheese over the top of the sandwich.  Place the sandwich under the broiler for the cheese on the top to melt (careful that it doesn't burn, it melts quickly).  Meanwhile, fry up an egg to your liking, and once your sandwich is out of the broiler top with the fried egg and serve.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Note: If the thought of the egg on the top just seems a little too "over the top" just eliminate it and you have a Croque Monsieur instead!

Yesterday was one of those cold and rainy days where you just want to curl up inside with your family, and so that's what we did!

I started the day off with some Chocolate Chip Muffins, because let's face it, nothing brightens your day like knowing that there are muffins (let alone chocolate ones) sitting on your kitchen counter.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking power

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp cocoa

1 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 F and fill a muffin tray with paper cases.  (I would not recommend doing this without the papers, I never use the papers and quite frankly should have because these are STICKY)

Measure out the dry ingredients into a large bowl.  Pour all the liquid ingredients together in a measuring jug.  Mix both together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins, then spoon into the waiting muffins trays.  Cook for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen, and springy.

....

For dinner it was one of those simple nights where you just want something hot and comforting, nothing too fancy.  So we had Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken and some boiled potatoes and peas with cheese sauce.  mmmm....  too bad my husband took the leftovers to work with him today or I could probably go for some of those potatoes right now!

OVEN ROASTED BBQ CHICKEN

4-5 Chicken pieces, bone-in, skinned

1 large lemon

1 onion

3/4 cup ketchup

1/3 cup worcestershire sauce

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup water

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place meat in shallow roasting pan.  Place a slice of unpeeled lemon and a thin slice of onion on each piece (as the juices from the lemon and onion penetrate the meat as it cooks, it becomes a natural tenderizer.)  Insert uncovered roasting pan and let chicken bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Stir well and bring mixture to a boil.  When sauce begins to boil, remove from heat.  Remove roasting pan from oven and remove lemon and onion slices.  Baste each piece of meat with bbq sauce.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and continue baking until chicken is done, about 1/2 hour.

CREAMY PEAS & POTATOES

15-20 small new potatoes (I like white creamers)

2 cups fresh or frozen peas

6 green onions, finely chopped

1 1/2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese

1 tsp salt

Boil potatoes for 15 minutes.  Add peas and onions to potatoes and continue boiling for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain.  Make a white sauce in a small saucepan by combining melted butter with flour, a dash of salt and milk.  Add grated cheese.  Pour sauce over vegetables, sprinkle with salt and stir well.

....

No picture today because, let's face it, good home cooked food may taste delicious, but it's certainly not going to win any prizes for presentation.

THE MENU:

Sausage Lasagna

Homemade Focaccia Bread

Caesar salad

Italian Night

SAUSAGE LASAGNA

from: Barefoot Contessa's "Family Style"

2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs Italian sausage, casings removed (any kind works, I used a combination of pork & beef)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/2 chopped chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt
1/2 lb lasagna noodles
15 oz ricotta cheese
4 oz creamy goat cheese, crumbled (if you don't like goat's cheese you can just use more ricotta)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling (PLEASE use FRESH!  It's well worth the cost)
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (Again - it should be FRESH!  You can use regular mozarella cheese but you'll use a lot of the creamy texture that makes this dish so amazing)

Preheat oven to 400 F

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausge and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tbsp of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes, drain.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, goat cheese, 1 cup of the Parmesan, the egg, the remaining parsley, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp of pepper, set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9x12x2 rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one third of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.

HOMEMADE FOCACCIA BREAD:

Dough is made in the bread maker.  Ingredients must be added in the order listed:

1 cup water

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp Salt

3 cups White bread flour

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp Active dry yeast (increase amount if you live at a low altitude)

Process on the DOUGH cycle.

With oiled hands, evenly press dough into a greased 9X13 pan.  Using your fingertips, make indentations in the dough.

Cover, let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in size (I use my oven's warming drawer).  While the dough is rising, prepare the topping.

Topping:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup garlic, finely minced

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

In a skillet, heat oil.  Stir in oregano and garlic.  Immediately remove from heat.  Spoon topping mixture evenly over dough.  Sprinkle with parmesan and salt.

Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

CAESAR SALAD

The dressing recipe is from my friend Dani and it is fantastic!  I've listed it just as it was given to me, however I think in future I'll add the juice of one lemon and another clove of garlic to add more tang and heat to it.

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg
1 clove of garlic
salt & pepper

Just mix together with a hand blender and you're done!

THE REVIEW:

My husband said it was "A triumph! A real treat!" Although I think that his compliments may have been a bit overboard, it was a truly delicious meal and well worth the effort.  The focaccia was surprisingly tasty, and who doesn't love a good lasagna?  Since our family is small I froze half of the lasagna to have for dinner another night.  YUM!