Honey-Roasted Sweet Potatoes, pg 268, Peppercorn Pork with Wine Sauce

I am always on the lookout for new ways with sweet potatoes--something that does not involve the holidays and marshmallows (the only way I ate them for so many years!). I used yams in this recipe, but I think either one would be great. I enjoyed these a lot, although hubby rated them a bit lower than me (but maybe he just misses the marshmallows!). I served this with the Poppercorn Pork recipe that Carissa and Cathy loved, but my pork was a bit too thick, even when split, so that the outside was burning while the inside was pretty rare. Well, hubby has a phobia about rare pork, so he was not happy. But I think all my problems were from the thickness of my meat. We ate the more cooked edges, and the center was used for a Chinese stir-fry the next day, which worked out fine.

Oh, I did learn something interesting about pork (from the internet--does that make it true?) when I was trying to prove to hubby that he was not going to die from my rare pork...There have been only 4 cases of trichinosis in the US in the past year--and they were all attributed to wild game. The problems with pork were supposedly eliminated when pigs became pen raised on feed and grain, rather than scavenging and eating raw meat, like pigs used to do! ~janice

Cornmeal-Crusted Roasted Ratatouille Tart ~ page 98

This fun tart has all my favorite roasted vegetable flavors--eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and basil. It seemed like it took a long time to make, as I had keep going back to read directions. But after you have done this once, you can almost do it from memory.

The recipe called for a tart pan with a removable bottom...but I just had a spring-form pan, like for cheesecake...so I used that, and it worked just fine. This is the crust pressed into the pan bottom.

I had to show off my pie weights--I bought them a year or more ago, and this was my first time I have actually had a chance to used them!

I think these long skinny eggplant work wonderful in this recipe.

Here it is out of the oven...

The flavor and appearance of the tart are wonderful. I do have an issue with the crust though...it was dry, soft, and not that tasty I thought. I believe you just need more fat than what this calls for, in order to make a good crisp and tasty crust. Next time, I will use my own pressed butter pie crust recipe, but perhaps substitute some cornmeal like this recipe has for crunch. Except for the crust though--I really like this recipe! I served this as our Saturday light lunch. My husband says he would like just a bit more cheese next time.

Garlic "Fries" ~ page 265

These fries are a winner, even though I didn't cook them quite right! I misread the oven temp, and did 350 instead of 450 degrees (should have worn my glasses!). They took a bit longer too cook, and weren't quite as crispy as I think they would have been if cooked right--however, they were not lacking on flavor at all!

The prep was interesting--warm the oil and minced garlic, then strain out the garlic and toss the shoestring potatoes with the oil (I used olive oil, though Ellie does not) and spread them on a baking sheet to bake. I had red potatoes on hand, so that is what I used. Later, the strained garlic and chopped parsley are tossed with the cooked fries. I served this with the Grilled Thai Beef Salad on page 107. You will want to give this a try!

BBQ Chicken, Fingerling Potatoes, & Croissant Bread Pudding

For dinner last night I made the BBQ chicken, fingerling potatoes and the croissant bread pudding. All together this was a super fast meal to make. I was nervous to make my own BBQ sauce because I had never done that before but it really wasn’t hard. I will say, when Ina says there are a lot of ingredients, take her word for it! The upside to the many ingredients was that they were all generally things that I already had (with the exception of hoisin sauce, which was totally new to me). I think in the future I will use a little less vinegar so the sauce is less tangy. I had never heard of fingerling potatoes before, but I think I have a new favorite potato! This was my kind of recipe: put it on the stove and leave it! This required very few ingredients and little of my time. I used organic ruby crescent fingerling potatoes and they were delicious and creamy.

BBQ Chicken (page 120) & Fingerling Potatoes (page 159)

Following dinner I served the croissant bread pudding. To be honest I have never liked bread pudding in my life until I tried some at the first Barefoot Contessa Cookbook meeting. Someone made it and it was delicious. Not being the biggest raisin fans, I omitted those but I agree with whoever recommended substituting them with chocolate chips (or even butterscotch chips) and will try that next time. I sprinkled a little bit of powdered sugar on top and it was delicious- even better this morning for breakfast ;-)

Croissant Bread Pudding page 192

Brussel Spouts

We gave these a try the week before Christmas- they were very easy to fix (great one pan recipe). My brother was visiting and he and I and Brayden enjoyed them very much- Danny was not a fan!

You do need to move them around on the pan so they brown and crisp evenly.

Don't think these will be a regular staple at our house- but a good unique veggie to fix for parties.

Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

Forgot to take a picture of these before they were gobbled up! They were yummy! Followed the recipe exactly using full fat! They were creamy, parmesany and buttery! Took to a dinner party and they were enjoyed by all - even my husband who doesn't really like potatoes! Leftovers were reheated with a little parmesan sprinkled on top and they were enjoyed by my kids. Will be making these again!

Butternut Squash

I bought the smallest butternut squash I could find, knowing I would probably be the only one eating it in my house! The squash was tougher to cut than I imagined- maybe my knife wasn't sharp enough. I did like that I only had to use one pan to prepare and cook it in.

I enjoyed the squash, but it was a bit sweet for me! Danny didn't like the texture, as I imagined. Brayden spit it right out- but right now he is not eating anything orange!

Fingerling Potatoes

I made the fingerling potatoes to go along with a yummy tilapia dish. HEB had a bag of fingerlings that I used and I loved that they were different colors. Who knew that potatoes could be purple? :)

Spinach Pie

This pie was wonderful!! I had my doubts about it, put anything wrapped in phyllo dough has to be good. :) I made this awhile back and can't remember all the details, but I think I halved the recipe and it was just the right amount.

Roasted Fennel with Parmesan

This was surprisingly nice, I was afraid it would taste like hot licorice! It was good, I wouldn't say it was great though. Honestly it didn't have a whole lot of flavor, it reminded me of a watered down onion. The cheese helped cheer it up a bit. I think it would be better in a recipe than being a recipe itself.
--Carissa

Roasted brussels sprouts

We really like brussels sprouts but I had no idea that it was a winter vegetable. The night I had planned on making this, I came home from work later than I had expected but I quickly mixed the ingredients and put them in the oven with the chicken that I was making for dinner. I had dinner on the table in about 40 minutes. It was a deliciously healthy and quick meal.

Roasted brussels sprouts page 150

Broccoli with garlic

Strangely, I would recommend making the full recipe. Unlike all of Ina’s other dishes, when you half this one it doesn’t make very much. This broccoli was good but I would recommend serving it warm instead of cold.

Broccoli with garlic page 100

Homemade Applesauce

Brayden's Paw Paw made him this recipe for breakfast on Saturday. (Really my dad just wanted to use our very cool apple corer/slicer/peeler). Very handy for recipes like this and apple pie- We also found the pieces it cuts are PERFECT for Brayden to eat.

I used 3 Golden Delicious and 3 Winesap apples. This was probably about 1/3 of the recipe.

It was not nearly sweet enough for us. Brayden wouldn't even eat it! Next time, we will use all red apples and add a bit more sugar.

I will agree that it makes your house smell amazing!

Caramelized Butternut Squash

Well, after several not so great reviews of the butternut squash, I was hesitant to try it, but it was on sale today at Kroger so I gave it a whirl. I bought a tiny one that was probably not even 1.5 lbs. The smaller size must have made for easier chopping cuz I didn't have any problem cutting it up. I diced it into 1/2 in cubes thinking this would give me more flavor per bite. They roasted really quickly too. I halved her ingredient amounts since she asks for 5 lbs of squash. Oh, and I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top of them before roasting. The result?
I was prepared to not like them, but was pleasantly surprised that I did like them. They were almost dessert tasting with all the sugar and cinnamon, but hey I'm eating a veggie that I wasn't eating before, that has to account for something.
Actually they tasted like a sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving.
So I say try it if you haven't.
-Carissa

Roasted Eggplant Spread

Funny, now that I type it in I realize this wasn't a dip so much as a spread. That's exactly what my husband thought of it, when I served it as a dip with crackers. He said it was good but he thought it would be more appropriate on a sandwich, like a muffaletta. Or with pita bread like she said.

The veggies roasted quite nicely and since I'm obsessed with eggplant, I loved it! It was creamy and flavorful, and I can't wait to use the rest. However, I noticed that my dinner guests didn't eat much of it, so it might just be for veggie lovers like me and my husband.

I also roasted some Brussels sprouts (for like the billionth time) and set them out as appetizers, so that the sprout-haters didn't have to turn them down at meal time, or feel bad that they didn't finish their plate. But all my guests tasted them and agreed that they were amazing (one girl actually said "these are amazing!!"). I cannot say enough about the roasted Brussels sprouts.

Roasted Veggies

Ina seems to have several recipes for roasted veggies in her book. The are all about the same method, just different cooking times. I did asparagus and zucchini. They were both very yummy. I think I will be roasting alot more veggies in the future, the flavor is something you can't get from a fast saute' in a skillet.

--Carissa

Fingerling Potatoes

I cooked these with the Perfect Roast Chicken. I could only find a bag of purple and brown organic fingerlings.

My mom said Ina is the only one she has seen that cooks her potatoes the way she describes in the recipe. I don't think I let them boil long enough, they were a bit tough for our tastes, but overall I thought it was a great technique to use- the skins don't fall off and you are sure to not overboil them (as I sometimes do).

Once again, all 3 of us enjoyed the little bit different taste these potatoes had.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I have never really been that crazy about brussel sprouts, but I figured this whole cook a book thing is all about getting out of my box...so I did. I had so much confidence that I bought the huge container of them from Cosco!
The result.....
I loved them...which is a good thing cuz I have alot more in the fridge.
The kids wouldn't touch them...I actually had to threaten spankings to get them to eat one tiny bite!...the husband ate one and then put the rest of his on my plate! I told him he was being a bad example for the kids, but that didn't make him budge!
Since I have so many more of these little guys, I got creative, I quartered them and then drizzled them with olive oil and salt and pepper, then threw them raw in a salad today for lunch. I know sounds weird, but it was really good! So the verdict...I will buy them in small quantities from now on and just make them for me!

--Carissa

Spinach Pie

I too made the spinach pie this weekend.  My husband and I were planning a meal for my mother in law, and my husband asked me to come up with a side item to go with the rest of the meal.  He was making steak au poive and herb crusted rack of lamb with a mushroom and cognac beef reduction (something like that), roasted fingerling potatoes, and roasted tomatoes.  I thought the meal sounded slightly greek (I guess because of the lamb), so I thought the spinach pie would be a good fit, since it seems a lot like spanikopita to me (a greek dish with spinach in it). 

The recipe was pretty simple, but did have a fair amount of preparation work.  I know it's been said before, but make sure you defrost your philo dough before you're ready to make this.  I'd also recommend defrosting your spinach at least a few hours ahead of time.  This should save you some hassle when you're ready to really start making the pie. 

I didn't have a problem with the salt content, but I think that's because I deliberately cut the salt amount by about 1/3, and I was also a little short on the feta cheese, which has a lot of salt in it.  Also, as others have said, the philo does not cover over the top of the pie, so you'll have to add a few sheets on the top to cover it.  I added about three sheets, doubled over the top, and it did the trick. 

Here is is just out of the oven- very pretty!

 

The pie went over very well at dinner, although I must confess the other items on the table were so wonderful, I think a little of the pie's thunder might have been stolen. I guess that's the price I pay for having a great chef for a husband. I will willingly pay it!

This recipe is a definite keeper. It's delicious and unique, and looks so pretty on the table.

Spinach Pie

This spinach pie was easier to make than I thought it would be, and it made me feel like some sort of pastry chef! I made the full recipe as stated, and you might not be able to tell from this pic, but my phyllo dough didn't at all come close to covering the top of the pie. I ended up laying two more sheets, buttered and folded in half, on top and it came out quite nicely.

I really loved this spinach pie, and didn't have any problems with too much spinach taste (but we really like spinach over here). The pine nuts made it interesting, and usually I love them, but I didn't think the recipe would lack if you left them out. I thankfully only used half the butter the recipe called for. The only real problem with my pie was the saltiness. The recipe called for 2 teaspoons, and I was careful. I probably used a scant 2 tsp, and it was still pretty salty. Maybe if you add the eggs and salt last, or added less salt initially, you could taste the mix for salt as you add it. I will make this again, probably for company, not just for regular dinner. My sons loved it, except my 3 year old complained that he didn't like the dough part. Not like butter covered pastry? Give it time, kid.

I have a theory though: recently, I ran out of my kosher salt, which was Morton brand, and bought some off-brand Kroger kosher salt. Since then, my recipes have been on the salty side, and even my husband has used it and complained it tasted saltier... is it possible for one salt to be saltier than another? From what I remember, I think my Morton kosher salt was cleaner; this Kroger salt is dusty, and my guess is it adds more salt when I measure the same teaspoon. So my recommendation, if your recipes are too salty, is to go try some different salt. Or just use less.