new cookbook!

I saw a deal on Groupon the other day (I love that site! and living social) for the 75th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking for $12 + shipping ($6), and I thought I just couldn't pass it up. I have definitely used the internet much more than the couple of cookbooks I have, but I thought a standard like this should definitely have a place on my shelf. I've made one cookie recipe from it so far (an interpreted version of snickerdoodles thanks to poor reading skills on my part), and I do like it. I think the format is a bit different, what with the ingredients listed as you use them and amongst the direction text, but I'm adjusting to it and I'll let you know my thoughts on it after more time with it. I'm excited to read more about different things and learn about food from it.

christmas: standing rib roast

For Christmas Day this year, my sister and I were at our Dad and Dana's house. My sister and Dana are not meat eaters (just fish, pescaterians), but Dana still makes meat sometimes for Dad and me. She did a recipe from Emeril Lagasse for a standing rib roast for Christmas dinner, and it was really good. It also looked fancy to cook with its tied string and etc. Since I didn't actually help with the recipe, I don't know if she followed it exactly or what, but I think so. I don't think we had the au just version.

2 heads roasted garlic
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 standing rib roast of beef (about 6 1/2 pounds), fat trimmed in 1 strip and reserved
1 1/2 cups red wine, plus 1 more cup if making au jus, optional
1/2 cup beef stock, plus 2 more cups if making au jus, optional

[Total cook time is appx 3 hours, I believe]

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Separate the heads of roasted garlic into cloves and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the peels. Place the garlic in a small bowl and mash with the back of a fork until mostly smooth. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the rosemary and thyme, and stir to blend. Pat this mixture evenly over the top and sides of the roast. Place the trimmed strip of fat over the garlic-herb mixture and tie with kitchen string in several places to secure the fat onto the top of the roast.

Season the roast all over with the remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Place the roast in a roasting pan and add 1 1/2 cups red wine and 1/2 cup beef stock to the bottom of the pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue to roast to the desired degree of doneness, about 18 minutes per pound for rare and 22 minutes per pound for medium. Let stand at least 5 minutes before carving. De-fat the pan juices and serve alongside the beef.

If making au jus, place the roasting pan on the stove burners over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup red wine and scrape the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add 2 cups beef stock and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the solids before serving. De-grease, if necessary.

christmas party: baked brie + mulled wine

My mom had a little Christmas shindig while I was home, and it was super fun. I helped out with the grocery shopping (mainly to help her from buying everything; I was mostly unsuccessful) and making the baked brie and mulled wine. Both were really simple and easy, but they made me feel like I was making a fancy contribution.

I looked up the baked brie recipe on a couple different sites and they all said pretty much the same thing. The mulled wine recipe was also really basic, and I followed one that my mom set out in a magazine for me.

Baked Brie


1 (8 ounce) wheel Brie cheese
3 tablespoons apricot preserves [whatever flavor you want]
1/2 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed [we used crescent rolls, as in Pillsbury]
1 egg white [oops, I used the whole egg I think]


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

I didn't really follow this recipe very well, so I'm just going to write down what I actually did. First of all, take out the crescent rolls (or have your step-dad do it if you are a weenie with things that pop). Divide it into two square pieces. Press the seams together so that they don't separate when cooking (you can see that I was lazy in my seam-securing). Place the brie on the center of one of the squares on the cooking sheet. Spread the preserves on top. Place the second square on top of the brie and press the pieces together, tucking the top piece under the brie a bit. Use a knife to cut off the excess pastry. You can be creative and make a design on top or eat it raw, like I chose to.

Beat the egg white, or whole egg if you're me, and brush it on the pastry. Pop that baby in the oven! Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry in golden brown. Serve immediately. Eat all of it. What, just me?

Mulled Wine
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 lemon, sliced
zest of 1 orange
3 cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1 bottle cabernet sauvignon

Bring water to a boil. Add all ingredients except wine. Stir until sugar dissolves.

Add wine and bring mixture to a simmer for 20 minutes. Do not boil. Because I was serving it hot, I picked out the cloves and then just served it from the saucepan. If you are giving it away (as suggested by the magazine), strain it and let it cool before pouring into gift bottles.

broccoli soup

I've been sickly for the past week or so. Last week, I started to feel less than well, and one day I really wanted soup. I didn't want to go buy any or bother with the grocery store, and my mental catalogue of ingredients in my kitchen largely seemed blank other than frozen broccoli. Broccoli soup seemed like it would work, and this recipe either had ingredients I felt comfortable leaving out or had on hand (or a reasonable substitute). It was quick, easy, and gave me something warm and soothing to eat in bed. Then I went home for the weekend and got to have my mom take care of me (including a broccoli soup of her own!).

This is how much I made, which gave me two bowls of soup.

2 teaspoons butter
1 clove garlic [I added this, who doesn't want garlic?]
3/8 onion, chopped [omitted, but would have helped]
3/8 stalk celery, chopped [omitted, but would have been good]
1 cup chicken broth
2-3 cups broccoli florets [mine were frozen]
1 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour [this is for thickening, I substituted 1/2 tbsp corn starch + water]
2/3 cup milk [I just used a bit of yogurt; creme fraiche also works]
ground black pepper to taste
grated parmesan [I added this, I love cheese]

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery until tender. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full [I used my immersion blender in the soup, keeping it in the pot]. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour [or mix cornstarch and water together and then stir that in] and add milk [or yogurt]. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. [If you are going the cornstarch route, you just mix that separately, cold, and stir it into the soup and can mix the milk/yogurt directly in.] Season with pepper and parmesan and serve.

Nutritional information (for 1/2 of recipe, including grated parmesan)
183 total calories
10g total fat [from butter and parmesan]
11g total carbs
12g protein

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

All right, I'm semiconverted. My boyfriend loves allrecipes and now I'm starting to become a fan, too, since searching for a recipe that is exactly what I want to make (or what I have on hand) is pretty easy. I still love SK, but I have ventured to allrecipes for quite a few things lately. I decided to make these cookies because I'm babysitting/chauffeuring the kids my sister watches while she is out of town, and who doesn't like a babysitter who brings you homemade cookies? Well, one of the kids didn't because she refuses to eat oatmeal, but things like that happen. I found this recipe and did a half-batch, which made 18 relatively big cookies (plus lots of batter snacks for me).

Evidently I did not take any pictures. Or maybe I took some on my phone, but then I had to restore it and  all the jazz, so it's a clean slate. Whatever, they looked like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. *Edit: I just can't distinguish my various baked goods in my iphoto.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets [I always use parchment paper]. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Nutritional information (for 1/18 of this recipe)
162 calories
8g total fat
23g total carbs
2g protein

quick note

I've been rather MIA lately with the holidays, but I'll be back soon. I have a few little recipes to post from Christmas, and I'll get them up this week.

I made beer bread yesterday, and this time I used the Shiner Light Blonde beer. I think it was my favorite beer bread that I've made. The beer's flavor lingers a bit and dictates the taste of the bread a bit, and I thought the Shiner Light Blonde was pretty unobtrusive and let it taste more like really good bread than flavored beer bread, if that makes sense. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Be back soon! Hope everyone had happy holidays and have a happy new year!

rainbow trout + asparagus + couscous

We made dinner the other night and, yet again, it was super delicious. We didn't use any recipes this time, but everything still came out really well. I LOVED the asparagus, and I think I would seriously forego most cookies to eat more of these asparagus. It's probably my favorite green vegetable, and adding cheese just seals the deal.

Rainbow Trout
2 filets rainbow trout
1 lemon
chopped walnuts
spices
olive oil
aluminum foil

I wasn't in charge of the rainbow trout, but I think I have a decent idea of what he did. The fish got olive oil, salt, pepper, dill, probably some other spices, chopped walnuts, and some lemon zest and juice. We put it in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, I believe, until it was flaky.

Parmesan Asparagus
I made these, so I'm a slightly more reliable source for their recipe. I broke off the bottom of the asparagus spears and then put them in a bowl to mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some chopped garlic. I spread them on aluminum foil on a cooking sheet and then drizzled the rest of the mixture over it. I grated some parmesan cheese on top. That went in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. How long you cook this for really just depends on what texture you prefer.

Walnut Parsley Couscous
This isn't really a recipe, but I'll still tell you how it went. We made couscous (boil water, mix couscous and water in bowl, cover, and wait 5 minutes) and then mixed in some chopped parsley and walnuts (and salt because otherwise it doesn't taste like anything).