Grilled Thai Beef Salad ~ page107

This was my first Ellie recipe--and it will be a repeat! I actually did not have very high expectations of this recipe, not being  familiar with flank steak, but the flavors of this salad and the beef were a wonderful surprise!  This made a perfect main dish for a hot summer evening.

I cooked my flank steak for about 8 minuets per side--though Ellis recommends 5 minuets per side. The center of the steak does need to be quite pink--leaning toward red. I served this salad with the Garlic Fries on page 265--outstanding combination of recipes!

Indonesian Ginger Chicken and Curried Couscous

I was nervous that we wouldn’t like the chicken because we aren’t big fans of ginger, but as it turns out this was a pretty tasty recipe. It was so good that I got the okay to make it again! As with most of Ina’s recipes, I only made half of the marinade and it seemed to be enough. Because I didn’t read ahead to see how long it should set, my chicken only marinated for about 45 minutes. I had made the couscous before and it was so easy, so I decided to make that while the chicken was in the oven. Great weeknight meal!

Indonesian Ginger Chicken (page 125) & Curried Couscous (page 94)

Curried Couscous

OK, this isn't the best picture, but it does show off my new Christmas Tree...and look, Giada is even in the photo! Yes, that is my 2 year old on the big chair mesmerized by Food Network!
Anyway, the couscous was really good! I forgot the red onion, parsley(it was raining too much to go outside and pick some) and almonds but it was still very yummy! I used Craisins in mine. All members of the family ate some...although I think Evelyn the 2 year old just picked out all the dried cranberries to eat. I will definitely make this again.
--Carissa

Szechuan Noodles and Broccoli with Garlic

I made both the szechaun noodles and the broccoli with garlic last week for dinner one night.  My husband grilled some chicken to go with the salads, and all the dishes worked really well together.  As always, the szechuan noodles recipe made a lot, so I'd recommend halving the recipe unless you're cooking for a big group.  I agree with Darby, the broccoli with garlic recipe doesn't make a ton, so making a full recipe is probably smart. 

I enjoyed both recipes and would make them again.  Here's the finished product:

Szechuan Noodles

This turned out to be a simple recipe once I had the ingredients all in one place. I pre-made the sauce, like she recommended, and chopped my veggies the day before so all I had to do was cook the pasta and throw everything together. The hardest part was probably tossing the pound of hot pasta with the sauce... I guess I just don't own good pasta tossers. The sauce had a lot going on, in a good way, and got great reviews from all tasters, including one of our fearless leaders, Carissa :)

Beets with Orange Vinaigrette

These beets were not as repulsive as my father-in-law (Janice's husband) made them out to be!! I used balsamic vinegar, and my orange segments kinda disappeared into it all, but I thought they tasted pretty good. Maybe I came into it with no preconceived ideas of what beets should taste like, but it made me want to experiment with beets more. I may come back to this recipe, but not before I try out several other recipes first.

When I chopped the tops off my beets I felt vaguely certain that people eat beet greens.. so I sautéed them in in butter with some garlic and they were so very tasty (if you like greens of course). They tasted similar to mustard greens but had the cool looking red veins so they felt fancy!

Broccoli with Garlic

I don't usually do much to my broccoli so this recipe was a nice change of pace. I loved the cloves of garlic and left them all in the salad (instead of only some like she said). The crushed red pepper added more of a kick than I was expecting but since this was for adults we all liked it. I liked it better at room temp than I did cold.

Beets with Orange Vinaigrette (Beets me why Ina likes these...)

I made this recipe because my husband has wanted beets for years and years, and I would not buy them. But being the nice wife I am, I decided if Ina thought beets were worthy of eating, maybe I should fix them for hubby as a treat. I hunted down, going to 2 grocery stores, and bought one beet—that is all I had the never to fix.

Well, beets are very messy things to work with and to eat. I think this must be where some type of red/fuchsia dye comes from. My hands were stained for most of the day after peeling my simmered beet. I made the salad and put it in the fridge to sit a day and become wonderful. My husband quietly ate a good helping of this beet salad, and I ate a bit, and then asked him what he thought. His only comment was not to make them again. I guess the wonderful part did not happen….and if a beet lover says that, well….what can I add to that?

Grilled Salmon Salad With Chicken

My husband grilled some chicken breasts so I used the leftovers to make the grilled salmon salad without salmon. We enjoyed it and it would probably be very good with salmon. I made the full recipe and in keeping with Ina's way, it made a lot. We have had it off and on for lunch or dinner for 4 days. It is good cold, I'm just not sure that salmon would be as good as chicken 4 days later. Also, I somehow didn't come home from the grocery store with the capers (I wonder what else I left) so I finely chopped some green olives for a little salty flavor. The recipe calls for raspberry vinegar, I found "raspberry french wine vinegar" at HEB which seemed to work well. The onion flavor was a bit strong, so next time I will use a little less but on the whole, we liked this recipe and when your husband does the grilling it comes together really quickly!

Ina All Day, All the Way

JANICE AND INA~I literally spent a full day Saturday with Ina in the kitchen --cooked up 6 recipes! We had plans to have my sister-in-law and brother-in-law over for his birthday, so that seemed like a good time to put Ina to the test--and it would be good to get ahead of this cooking pressure! (Is anyone else feeling it?)

I made the Roasted Vegetable Torte on Friday night, as it needed to hang out in the fridge for a day. This is one recipe that Ina did not describe very well with her instructions. She tells you to put this in a 6-inch cake pan, which is pretty small, and which I didn't have--but did have a 7 1/2 inch souffle dish that I used. My dish was tall, so I put saran wrap loosely over the dish, then weighed it down as instructed. The next day the dish was full with liquid--just covering the stack of vegetables, and I drained it off. Ina did not say how to get the torte OUT of the dish...so I very hesitatingly turned it upside down over a plate, and thankfully it all stayed together. Mine was not quite as pretty as the book, but it came very close! And, it was not only cute, but very tasty. The whole dinner party liked it room temperature as Ina said, though my husband thought hot might be better, so he stuck his portion in the microwave. It was good, but I thought heating it kind of defeats the purpose of it being your "cold salad" as a temperate taste difference.... My guests were very impressed with this dish. I will make this one again. (It also sliced up very nicely.)

My main dish was the Perfect Roast Chicken. I have a roasting rack, so I used that to hold my chicken above the drippings. I only used half a lemon, quartered, and half a head of garlic--just because I thought that was plenty. I did use a lot of thyme branches to stuff inside, just because I have lots of it growing in my garden. I lowered the oven to 400 after 30 min. as I got worried it was browning too fast--and eventually, I put a tent of foil over it. It definitely takes the full 1 1/2 hours to cook. The chicken was very delicate tasting and tender. I made the gravy too, which was wonderful on it. (Also, after carving it, I saved the chicken carcus in a plastic bag, and used it the next day to boil it and make some wonderful homemade chicken broth.)

I also made the potato-fennel gratin, with the fennel Julia brought me from Houston. The Gruyere was expensive (about 16.95/lb. I think!) but with half a recipe, I only needed 1/4 lb, so just around $4. I thought it a wonderful cheese, even for snacking (except for the expense!). After tasting it though, I think you could make a substitution with half Parmesan and half Swiss cheese to come reasonably close to the taste. I could not handle all the cream in this recipe...(plus, it seemed mean to do that to my relatives who watch their diet pretty closely!) so for the 1 cup of heavy cream, I used 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup half-and half, and 1/4 cup heavy cream. I don't know what the fully leaded version tastes like--but we defiantly did not feel we were eating low fat even with this concoction for the liquids! The potatoes were creamy and delicious!

For the bread for our meal, I made the Cheddar-dill scones that morning, then heated them up for dinner. I didn't have fresh dill, so used 1 T dried dill, plus a teaspoon or so of a dried herb mix. The scones had a lot of flavor. I forgot the diced cheese till I almost had them rolled out, so I added my cheese chunks (probably cut a little too big) to the dough and tried to barely work it in. The cheese melted out a lot because of that I guess...but after I cleaned up the edges they made a nice presentation and suited the meal well. (The next day, we tried some hot pepper jelly with the leftover scones, and it was a perfect fit--really good!) Unfortunately, my relatives had noticed a trend in Ina cooking...and asked how much butter was in the scones...and even though I actually did cut back on the butter some, I didn't have the heart to tell them how much butter they were eating!

My brother-in-law commented that all the foods went very well together. He said he had had several birthday meals over the week, but this one was his favorite. That made me feel it was worth my long day in the kitchen.

But then it was time for desert: the classic peach and raspberry crisp. I made it as directed, except also added a handful of frozen blueberries because I have a bunch of them in my freezer from blueberry picking this summer. My peaches and raspberries were frozen too, so it took the crisp longer to cook than what Ina said. To top off the crisp, I made the orange yogurt (not wanting to add ice cream or whip cream out of deference to my guest's diets--of which my sister-in-law thanked me for!) I will tell you about the orange yogurt, plus one more dish I made in another post, as this one is getting too long!

Two hours after dinner, my sister-in-law said she was even more full than after she ate--she thinks all that butter gives a person a "food baby" and keeps you full a very long time!

Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad pg99

This was the 2nd time I have made the lemon chicken...it was just as good as the first time, and I even used bottled lemon juice and only marinated it for 2 hours this go round. I used a grill pan inside this time instead of an outdoor grill. I had trouble getting them to cook through, so I ended up slicing the chicken breasts and putting them back on the grill pan to finish cooking though.

As you can tell, I added a bit more to the salads to make them more substantial than just the bell pepper and sugar snap peas that Ina used. It made it more of an entree than a side salad. I really do love this chicken. YUM!
--Carissa

Curried Couscous & Hummus

In addition to the pecan squares, I made the Curried Couscous and Hummus to bring to our small group last Wednesday night.  The Curried Couscous was very simple to make, and delicious.  It is definitely a keeper recipe.  My husband loved it!  I substituted dried cranberries for Ina's suggested dried currants, since I have no idea where to find those, and it worked well.  Wyatt (my husband) did suggest to toast the almonds next time before adding them to the Couscous, and I agree.  I think this would allow you to get more of the almond taste into the mix, which for me would definitely be a good thing.  Otherwise, it was a perfect recipe!

The hummus was also really good and another simple recipe.  We Smiths like our hummus, so we've made plenty of our own batches over the years (9/10 were made by my husband using a recipe that's only in his head).  Ina's hummus was tasty, but I think I still like Wyatt's (husband's) version better.  Wyatt's has cannellini beans (pretty sure that's what they're called) in addition to garbanzo beans/chickpeas, and also has olive oil.  I think there are a few other differences, but not having an actual written recipe to compare to, it's hard to know for sure.  Ina's recipe was tasty, though, and it will come in handy when I can't obtain the elusive Smith family hummus recipe from my husband's brain. 

Curried Couscous

Hummus

The spread at our small group meeting. 

That's tzatziki sauce at the front, which was also quite yummy.

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Satay Dip and Curried Couscous

These 2 dishes were incredibly easy and went together very well. For the grilled chicken, I halved the recipe and it was the perfect size for 2 people with left-overs for lunch the next day. The satay dip was different but tasty. I omitted the sherry and decreased the sesame oil. Next time I will probably only use half of the peanut butter because if not then the flavor is so robust that I can’t taste the other ingredients. In the description at the top of the curried couscous recipe Ina says, “it doesn’t feel like cooking” and I couldn’t agree more. The curried couscous was so incredibly fast and easy. There were only a couple of things that I did differently, I substituted dried cranberries for currants and didn’t blanche the almonds (but actually if you look closely at the picture on page 95, those almonds aren’t blanched either). These 2 dishes were so fast, I got them both made and on the table in less than 30 minutes. It was a great meal for during the week when time is limited.

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Satay Dip (page 48) and Curried Couscous (page94)

Curry Couscous

This was another really easy recipe and boy was it a hit at my house.....Danny finally said, "I think you CAN cook!!". After all the great meals I've cooked over the years, it finally clicks that I might just be able to cook! Oh boy.....

He also said that this tasted like his mom's cooking, hence the curry!! (for those that don't know, Danny is Indian), which then made me think that he only realized I could cook when I made a dish that tasted like his mom's cooking...It all started to come together!!

I guess we all think that our moms are the best chefs we know, just because that's what we ate for so much of our lives. I've probably been making food that is similar to what my mom cooks, but because it wasn't familiar enough for Danny, he never saw it as great! This cookbook has made me a STAR in my kitchen, so I'm sticking to it!!

Back to the food....I made the full recipe and used grated carrot, onion and craisins with all the other suggested seasonings, including the curry. It really was a great dish and was not overpowered by the curry. This probably made 6 servings. I paired it with baked salmon that was seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon and herb seasoning......perfect match. Danny stirred it all together and made his own signature dish!!!

Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad

This salad was VERY easy to make and yummy.

I added a bag of spinich leaves. I only marinated the chicken for about 3 hours and I thought it was plenty. Any more time would have broken the chicken down even more. It was tender!

We all agreeded it needed the spinich to make it an entree. It was also agreeded that this salad would be best in the spring for a luncheon or light lunch.

My sister took the leftovers and is going to sautee it all for her dinner tomorrow evening. She will let me know how that is.

Another Ina Version of Sugar Snap Peas

I actually came across this recipe while watching Ina's show on Food Network right before our blog got started. We have made this a few times and it is really good! It's simple and that's what I like about it...not a lot of extra stuff to take away from the flavor of the vegetables themselves. Here's the recipe straight from Ina herself!

The Sugar Snap Pea Make-Over

I made the Sesame Sugar Snap Peas, not real impressed. So I took the advice of Amy's husband and added the red wine vinegar and salt. It was better, but not better enough for me. I kept looking at the huge 2 lbs bag of sugar snap peas (from Cosco) on my counter wondering who was gonna eat all those, cuz it wasn't gonna be me.

Then it occurred to me that it was the raw taste that bothered me, so I Googled.."How to steam sugar snap peas". I found a recipe that was simple...fill a pan with 1/2 inch of water, add 1/2 tablespoon of butter (I did a little less), and a teaspoon of sugar, boil, then throw in the peas, turn down to a simmer and cover for 3 minutes, drain and sprinkle with salt. So I did just that!

the result.....LOVED THEM! I gobbled them right up, and then threw in another handful in the pan. They were sweet, still crunchy, and a very lovely bright green color. So, for those of you looking to use up the rest of your bag of peas...try it out. I'm finishing off my 2nd bowl as I type.

--Carissa

Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame

Because we enjoy the taste of sugar snap peas and think they are delicious on their own, I found it very hard to add ingredients to them. The sesame oil and seeds added quite a unique flavor to these peas. Obviously because of the minimal ingredients and zero cooking time, these are an easy and fast salad or side dish.

Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame page 105

I know that this isn’t a great combination but this was what was requested for dinner. I served the sugar snap peas with a pot roast with carrots and potatoes.

French Potato Salad

This was such an easy recipe and it turned out great (not to mention it required minimal mess). Though I will say that my version of this dish does not look as pretty as Ina’s does on page 140. So far I have yet to follow a single recipe as published in the cookbook. I somehow always come up with something different. For this recipe I didn’t have the scallions so I just used a small amount of yellow onion that I already had. I reduced all of the spices because it just looked like too much for our taste buds; reduced to: dill ½ tsp, parsley ¼ tsp, ¼ tsp basil, and 1 tsp of salt at the end. I served this dish cold, because I really wanted to give the potatoes time to soak in all of the flavors. As mentioned in a previous post, this is the perfect picnic dish because there is no mayonnaise in it!

French Potato Salad (page 96)

Szechuan Noodles and Caramelized Butternut Squash, (not together)

A few nights ago I made the caramelized butternut squash. I only used one squash, which fed the three of us with enough left over for me and Ethan for lunch the next day. It was very good, they actually tasted a lot like roasted sweet potatoes. If you've never cut a butternut squash, which I had never done, be sure you have a very large, sharp knife. It was quite difficult. So, if you're not too sure about your knife skills, maybe stick to another vegetable.

Now, the Szechuan noodles, we all really liked it. I made the sauce earlier in the day then just added it to the noodles right before we ate. I didn't use sherry (being pregnant and all) or sherry vingar but put in some red-wine vinegar. I was a little concerned about the sauce when I tasted it by itself, it was very peanut buttery, so I actually added a dash more soy sauce and vinegar. Once it sat in the fridge for a few hours and then on the noodles, the taste mellowed out a bit and it was quite good. We had a single guy friend over for dinner and he really enjoyed it, although anything is probably better than what he has on a consistent basis.