Ben: I realized that we'd made a version of the mescu-iuà from one of Deborah Madison's cookbooks in the last few months, but this variation was more satisfying I think. It had a very earthy, elemental flavor and seemed like a very sustaining meal.
Monday:
Once-Baked Goat Cheese Soufflé, Suppers p. 133
Wine-Braised Lentils with Spinach, Suppers p. 195
Ben: The soufflé turned out very well -- light and flavorful -- and matched well with the rich lentils.
Tuesday:
Ben: We ate something, I'm sure of that, but didn't write it down, so of course by now I've forgotten.
Wednesday:
Four Cheese Risotto, Silver Spoon p. 337
Ben: Perhaps treating this recipe as a "stone soup" (or stone risotto) to use up the odds and ends of cheese and the last bits of various bags of rice (mostly not arborio) wasn't such a grand plan: the results were disappointing, though I think it had more to do with the quality of ingredients than with the recipe itself.
Thursday: Event - Thanksgiving with Anne and Bruno
Our Contributions
Three Sisters Casserole, Vegetarian Times Nov/Dec 2006 p. 61
Celery Root and Apple Salad w/Mustard Vinaigrette, Deborah's Everyone, p. 156
Apple-Port-Cheese Pie, Broccoli p. 246
Friday:
Red Sweet Potato Curry with Tofu, Bok Choy & Carmelized Shallots, Suppers p. 104
Brussels Sprouts with Almonds, Silver Spoon p. 448
Ben: The gratin was rich and flavorful, though it was more like comfort food than culinary adventure. The brussels sprouts dish was a lot of work for something that in the end didn't really come together: it tasted fine, but I don't know that I'd go to the trouble again.
Sunday: Event - Bettye LaVette at the Dakota
Garbanzo Bean and Spinach Soup, Silver Spoon p. 230
French Bread
Ben: This was an easy, tasty soup -- even got an unprompted compliment from Nathan! And Betty LaVette totally rocked.
Monday:
Eggs over Smoky Potatoes, Suppers p. 122
Salad
Ben: This one had promise, but I'd want to experiment with some alternative techniques when making this again. We tried prepping the potatoes on the stove top, then adding the eggs on top and baking, which worked OK, but I thought the eggs came out a bit dry (while looking undercooked, a strange combo). Next time, I'd try the stove top method for the egg step as well.
Tuesday:
Pasta and Chickpeas with plenty of parsley and garlic, Suppers p. 67
Broccoli
Wednesday:
Green Rice with Chiles and Leeks and Avocado slices, Suppers p. 152
Ben: Very tasty -- just the right amount of zing from the anaheim chiles.
Thursday:
Mashed Potatoes and Turnips with Onions and Greens, Suppers p. 141
Friday:
Tofu and Edamame in Lemongrass Broth, Suppers p. 102
Ben: Very flavorful sauce, though perhaps more veggies and less tofu next time.
Saturday: Event - Overnight in Madison to visit Emily
Dinner at the Vientiane Restaurant (Thai)
Ben: Nice, but not exceptional, though the loop of Thai pop music videos projected on the back wall was a nice touch.
Sunday:
Minestrone Soup (inspired by the Marcella Hazan recipe in Classic Italian Cookbook)
French Bread
Carrie: Fabuloso! I had leftovers of this soup just about every day this week and didn't get tired of it.
Monday:
Burritos
Corn
Tuesday: Event - Ben in Boston
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Green Beans
Wednesday: Event - Ben stuck in Detroit!
Frozen pizza
Edamame
Carrie: Since it was just me this night :( I decided to finally make the small frozen pizza that had been in the freezer for half a year. I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up one of my favorites to accompany it: edamame! Yum! Also, this meal christened our new toaster oven. A Krups model that has fantastically fast and hot heating elements. We said goodbye to the old Russell Hobbs brand, but I'm quite inclined to call the new one Russell as well.
Thursday:
Jalepeno and cheese tamales
Spinach
Ben: This was a store-bought meal, so the only cooking excitement was the inauguration of our new pressure cooker, which we used to cook the frozen spinach: not a bold culinary adventure, but actually a task that we'd never used our old cooker for. With our microwave barely functional, this may be the best way to quickly thaw and cook frozen veggies.
Friday:
Stir-fry Noodles with Seitan, Ginger, and Scallions, Sass p. 168
Ben: Used soba noodles instead of the udon called for in the recipe, and also added snow peas and sprouts. Very tasty.
Three Sister's casserole, Veg Times Nov/Dec 2006 p. 61
Pumpkin Seed Pesto, Veg Times Nov/Dec 2006 p. 62
Ben: Outstanding! This makes two polenta dishes in two weeks that have turned out winners. This could be an excellent Thanksgiving dish.
Sunday:
Eggplant & Potato stewed with Cumin Seeds & Fresh Ginger, Savory p. 126
Jasmine Rice
Sliced Melon with Lime Juice
Ben: Tasty, but much milder than I'd anticipated.
Monday:
Spinach Deep-dish Pizza from the Italian Pie Shoppe
Salad
Tuesday:
Penne with Roasted Peppers, Basil & Saffron Cream, Savory p. 146
Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday:
Leftovers
Thursday:
Indian night!
Friday: Event -- Minnesota Orchestra plays Bruckner at the Saint Paul Cathedral
Crema di Ceci al Gratin, The Silver Spoon p. 217
Patatine Novelle al Rosmarino, The Silver Spoon p. 526
Ben: We didn't make it to the concert since I started feeling sick, and this affected my enjoyment of dinner as well, but the smooth soup and the crispy sautéd potatoes made a good combination, one I'd like to try again when I was feeling better. Strangely, though both dishes were made with fresh rosemary, the rosemary flavor was barely noticeable.
Carrie: FYI, The cook book we used, The Silver Spoon, is one I checked out from the Highland Park library last Saturday on a whim. It's a behemoth of a book, but it has several excellent recipes. The book was a bit of a sensation when it first came out in book stores here a year or so ago because it was the first English translation of a traditional and very popular Italian cook book.
Polenta Squares w/gorgonzola cream with braised greens and cannellini beans, Suppers, p. 145
Ben: This was delicious! The polenta was straightforward to make despite our lack of a double-boiler, and the spring-form pan worked very nicely for cooling it off. Served with the gorgonzola sauce and the greens dish (we used a combo of kale and broccoli rabe), it was a quick and satisfying meal.
Salad (Napa cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, pecans) with home-made dressing
Monday: Carrie out to dinner as part of AFDO site visit
Burger night (salmon for carnivores, black bean for herbivores)
Corn
Tuesday:
Stracciatella (Italian Egg Drop) Soup, AllRecipes (originally Veg Times Nov/Dec 2006, p. 46)
Ricotta salata cheese
French bread
Wednesday:
Indian!
Thursday:
Vegetarian Fried Rice
Friday:
Tempeh Bourgignon, AllRecipes (Veg Times, Nov/Dec 2006, p. 83)
Note: requires marinating for 1 hour prior to cooking.
Rice
Ben: I'd be game to try other variations on the "bourgignon" theme, but probably not with tempeh, which has a grainy texture that I'm not wild about. Seitan might work better, though all the meat substitutes share the same problem: they may carry the flavors of the sauce well, but don't really contribute anything of their own, unlike the beef in the original dish. Perhaps "vegetable stew bourgignon" would be the direction to try.
Ben: First things first: the samosas were good, though the shell was more bready and less crispy than we're used to. These would be worth trying again. The curry, however, would not. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I picked out the recipe -- somehow I convinced myself that mushrooms, apples, coconut and curry spices would magically fuse into a delectable concoction. As I began cooking, though, I got a sinking feeling that the results might not even be edible. Fortunately the outcome was not so dire: the flavors were 'interesting', but too sweet and too fruity for my tastes.
Carrie: Samosas were yummy! They took some time to make, but they weren't complicated at all. The dough was really nice -- I could see using it for other dumpling types, too. Yes, the curry was kind of odd -- mostly an apple flavor. We might want to consider a Thai curry with samosas next time, or something more Indian -- something with more sauce for dipping.
Sunday:
Souffléed Bread Crumb Pudding, Everyone p. 294
Marinated Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli, Moosewood p. 71
Ben: The bread pudding is an old stand-by recipe and turned out as tasty as ever. The marinated veggies, though, was a recipe we were trying for the first time and came out superbly.
Carrie: The marinated salad was excellent! I would consider this as a replacement to the "traditional" sweet potato dish at Thanksgiving -- it would add a flavorful dish that was cool and crisp, which would balance out the traditional hot dishes.
Monday:
Leftovers!
Tuesday:
Tacos
Wednesday:
Cauliflower-Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust, Moosewood p. 159
Salad
Carrie: The cauliflower-cheese pie was yummy! It really hit the spot. For future reference: may want to oil the pie plate a bit better and use a pie edge saver-type ring to keep the edges of the potato crust from getting over-baked.
Thursday:
Pinto Bean Soup, Savory p. 113
Mustard Greens with Tomatoes, Onions and Chilies, Savory p. 199
Carrie: The soup was quite thin, which was a surprise. But it tasted good and the toppings really worked well together: green onions, pine nuts, and a bit of mint. The mustard greens were yummy (not quite as good as the kale with olives, though).
Ben: Taste is paramount, but appearances do matter in food. The pinto bean soup had a pleasant flavor, but something about its color and consistency made me think of dishwater. When I tried pushing that image out of mind, what slipped in behind it was the movie scene where Oliver asks the heartless orphanage headmaster for "more gruel please". Neither association did much for my enjoyment of the soup.
Friday:
Swiss Rarebit, Enchanted p. 120
Green Beans
Carrie: The rarebit was tasty! We added a bit more cheese than the recipe called for and that made it thicker and harder to serve. The rye bread had a good flavor but a bit too soft -- a heartier bread would be even better.
Ben: Dinner was a bit rushed (in fact, we switched our weekly plan around so we could fit dinner in before the show) but the concert was excellent. We'd seen Willy Porter solo at the Minnesota Zoo and he put on a great show, but with a three-piece band (drummer, basist, keyboardist) the arrrangements were much richer and there was an added element of musical interplay. Neither of us had been to the Cedar Cultural Center before: I was somewhat dismayed at first to find folding chairs rather than permanent seating, but the acoustics were good and there isn't a seat in the house farther than 40 feet from the stage.
Felafel with Walnut Sauce & Garnishes, Savory p. 274
Carrie: I thought the felafel was yummy, but the sauce wasn't worth the trouble, as far as I'm concerned. It was a good sauce, but I thought a creamier sauce would be better. The concert was awesome! As Ben said, the venue is very basic, but nicely intimate and good viewing. The Summit on draft and various other drinks were a bonus!
Sunday: ✓
Soupe a l'Oignon, Mastering I p. 43 (takes 2 1/2 hours)
Endive Quiche, Mastering I p. 152
Ben: Both elements of the meal turned out very nicely, but the surprise for me -- simply because I'd never made it from scratch before -- was the Onion Soup, which had a wonderful complex flavor. We couldn't find endive for the quiche, as we'd originally planned, so we substituted mustard greens and leeks, with excellent results.
Carrie: Fantastic! The soup had none of the over-the-top richness that you get when you order it in restaurants. It was nicely complex, as Ben says. The quiche turned out quite well -- even the crust, which I made from scratch and was a bit uncertain of as I was making it. The quiche wasn't overly heavy or rich either. It makes me wonder what restarurants are doing to these recipes that make you feel uncomfortably full after you eat their versions.
Monday: ✓
Baked Rigatoni with Eggplant & Garlic Sauce, Savory p. 152
Carrie: This would be a great meal for a crowd! We doubled the recipe and made it in our gratin dish and it came out wonderfully.
Green Salad
Tuesday:Note— Ben in Racine✓
Burgers
Green beans
Wednesday: ✓
Indian!
Thursday: ✓
Tofu & Steamed Cabbage with Rice & Peanut Sauce, Everyone p. 604
Friday: ✓
Bean, Corn & Barley Soup, Savory p. 102
Ricotta Salata Cheese
Crusty bread
Ben: The soup was a hearty, satisfying meal: a bit of a chewing workout, but tasty. I might look for a more tender bean than red kidney to try with this if we were to make it again.
