At a crossroads...

So I checked out a few other cooking blogs and most post recipes and such. That would probably be more interesting than reading about my trials and tribulations in the kitchen. How can you really know if something is good if you can't try it yourself. In the general sense, I like the idea but there are two problems as I see it. First, it would be a pain in the ass to type out all of the recipes we use and I barely have time to put in the brief notes that I've been doing. Second, a vast majority of the recipes we use come from cookbooks and I don't know if posting those recipes would be some sort of copyright infringement. Seeing as how my two readers have just finished law school, I thought I pose the problem. What do you think?

Easy as pie!

Except it wasn't pie at all. Tonight, we made a recipe I received from my friend, Megan - Pesto Sausage Pasta. So simple and yet quite filling. I boiled up some tri-colored rotini pasta and browned some medium spicy Italian sausage. Once the sausage was browned and crumbled, I mixed in a tub of pesto and alot of parmesan. Stirred in the pasta and, voila!, dinner is served. It took longer to defrost the sausage than it did to make dinner! I should have drained the sausage though after I browned it. Mine was greasier than Megan's usually is. Draining the sausage should take care of that.

I could get used to this...

Yesterday, Zeb made the best ribs I have ever tasted - Apple City Ribs (Smoke & Spice, pg. 72). They weren't spicy at all. Instead, they were flavored sweet with brown sugar, cinnamon, carmelized onions and apple juice. The ribs were meatier than usual. I got them from the grocery store instead of Costco so that may have had something to do with it. I can't stand grizzle which usually turns me off of ribs so this was a treat. I made the side dish - Sherried Sweet Potatoes and Apples, one of my mother-in-law's recipes. The recipe called for boiling the sweet potatoes but that takes too long so I just microwaved them. I sauteed the granny smith apples in butter until they were softened and then added lemon juice, sherry, brown sugar and cinnamon. Brought everything to a boil and added the peeled and cut-up sweet potatoes. It was the perfect compliment for the ribs. It's not very often when I come up with the side that goes well all by myself!

If I were ever stranded on a deserted island with a fully stocked kitchen...

and I could only bring one cookbook, without hesitation, I would choose Joy of Cooking. In addition to being a fantastic instruction manual for just about every type of food (with helpful illustrations), there are an enormous number of recipes and they're all excellent. With all my other (heavy rotation) cookbooks, I've come across recipes that I wasn't too fond of; but with Joy, each one is a homerun. Heck, each of our all-time favorite recipes come from Joy (Shepard's Pie for me, Chicken and Dumplings for Zeb). On Thursday, I made Brunswick Stew (pg. 596). Although the recipe didn't call for it, I shredded the chicken. It was so good - spicy and flavorful - healthy too with a ton of vegetables and such. Zeb almost ate himself sick! (which I take as high praise indeed) Another great thing about this recipe is that all the ingredients were ones that I usually have on hand so this could easily be a filler meal for those times when I haven't been to the store to get the next week's menus. Somehow I don't think Zeb would mind...

Salmon is best raw

How can a fish taste so good but smell so bad afterwards? Tonight, I made Salmon Cakes with a Dill Tartar Sauce on Watercress (Cooking In Cast Iron, pg. 84). Easy to make, tasted great, but now I'm gagging in my own house. It reeks!! I think I'm going to avoid salmon recipes from now on that aren't on the outside grill and then eaten outside. I think I'm going to be sick...

Can soup soothe the soul?

I'm stressed. I'm not feeling well. Zeb's at class. So I made soup. Black Bean Pumpkin Soup. Excellent flavors of beans, tomatoes, pumpkin, sherry and ham. Wasn't that difficult to make. I would reccomend it in a heartbeat and, while the recipe made alot, I think it will probably freeze beautifully. Unfortunately, I'm still stressed, I still don't feel well and Zeb's still at class.

Corn!

On Friday, I made Easy Skillet Tacos (Southern Living) for a main dish. It was fine - nothing special - just a routine sort of dish. However, for a side, I made Grilled Corn in the Style of Oaxaca (Southern Living, June 2004, pg. 148). Oh. My. God. It was so good! I sprayed sweet corn with cooking spray and sprinkled salt and pepper all over. Zeb grilled the corn for about ten minutes until the ears were browned all over (okay, slightly singed in places). Once off the grill, I slathered the corn with an equal mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise. Then I sprinkled chili powder and grated parmesan cheese. Finally, I squeezed lime juice all over the corn. It sounds bizarre but it was fabulous! The sweet corn, the hot chili powder, the cooling sour cream/mayo mixture, the salty parmesan, and the tart lime juice; it's like every flavor type in one bite!

On another note, I didn't realize I didn't have any mayonnaise so I made my own. I'd never done that before. I used the basic recipe in Joy of Cooking (best cooking instructional manual ever). Egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper whisked together and then vegetable oil slowly whisked into the egg mixture. I used a regular whisk which meant my arm was freaking tired by the end. Zeb reminded me that we have a hand beater which would have made it so much easier. Oh well. It turned out really well. Very different though from the stuff I've purchased from the store.