Chicken Confit

This recipe almost didn't get made, because it is one of those recipes you tear out of the paper because it sounds so lovely and elegant, and then every time you come across the clipping it just sounds too fancy and complicated, but there's something about it that makes you hang on to the clipping...repeat as needed. But one day I got up the energy, and decided it was Chicken Confit Day.

What is confit, you may ask? (I definitely had to ask.) "In the savory kitchen, it historically refers to a meat submerged in flavorful rendered fat and cooked slowly until very tender. Confit has recently been expanded to include interpretations such as slowly cooking meat, fish or vegetables in a flavorful oil such as olive oil (which may or may not be infused with secondary flavors)." I got this helpful info from CD Kitchen, which is a great place to go for cooking info, along with some pretty cool recipes (right now they have a recipe up for something called "Death by Garlic Penne." I guess if you gotta go, that's as good a way as any.)

But I digress. So, in this case chicken confit turned out to mean heating up a LOT of olive oil with garlic, shallots, rosemary, thyme and red pepper flakes, and then slowly cooking boneless chicken cutlets in the oil until they are tender. In the meantime you make a simple dressing out of minced anchovies, garlic, parmesan cheese and lemon juice (think Caesar salad-taste) that gets drizzled over the chicken, and I served the whole thing over Bibb lettuce.

I found this recipe in the New York Times and the original link is below, but I did adapt the cooking method here. Their approach was to heat the oil up, drop in the chicken, turn it off and let the chicken cook in the off-the-heat oil. I found that this method did not cook the chicken completely, so MY approach was to leave the heat on medium. But with that change, this recipe makes a very interesting, different and delicious chicken dish.

CHICKEN CONFIT, adapted from The New York Times

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cutlets

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 cups extra virgin olive oil, more if needed

4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

2 shallots, thinly sliced

3 rosemary sprigs

1/2 bunch thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

5 anchovy fillets

3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste

Salad greens, for serving.

1. Season chicken well with salt and pepper. In a very large skillet or stock pot with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat with half the garlic and all the shallots, rosemary, thyme and crushed red pepper flakes until there are small bubbles on surface and around garlic.

2. Carefully slip in the chicken cutlets, making sure they are submerged in oil (add more oil if necessary.) Cover skillet or pot and turn heat to medium.

3 Cook chicken for 10 minutes. Make a small cut into middle of a cutlet. If chicken is not done, return to pot for another 2 minutes and check again. When cooked through, drain chicken on paper towels; remove cooked garlic, shallots, herbs and red pepper flakes from oil and discard, reserving oil itself for dressing.

4. Prepare dressing by mincing anchovies and remaining garlic and mixing them together with a large pinch of salt until you get a rough paste. Put paste in bowl and whisk in the parmesan, lemon juice and another pinch of salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in 7 tablespoons olive oil from pan. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, or both, if needed.

5. Serve chicken over a bed of greens drizzled with anchovy dressing.

Yields: 4 servings.

Click here for printable recipe

Tomato Gorgonzola Soup

This soup is the single best way I know to use up that piece of blue cheese that you bought for something else but still have a little piece of. The Southern husband and I are currently trying to train ourselves to use up all of whatever ingredients we bring home...so if we bring home a half pound of Swiss cheese, for example, and we don't use it all up in the cheese fondue that we had the other night, we figure out what we can make next that calls for Swiss cheese. (You will hear more about our adventures in Swiss cheese in the days to come, assuming all goes well).

So after I made shrimp in gorgonzola sauce a little while ago, I still had a little hunk of the gorgonzola left. Just enough to make this scrumptious soup, which has chunks of chopped tomato in it and gets its creamy goodness not only from the gorgonzola but also from a little cream cheese and heavy cream and milk tossed in as well. I know...but if you are going to make homemade soup, you might as well go for the gusto, right?

The only TINY drawback to this recipe is that in order to use up the gorgonzola, I had to buy a largish container of tomato juice (another key ingredient) because apparently they do not sell smallish containers of tomato juice. So there it is in my fridge. Sitting there. Mocking me.

Anybody got any good recipes that call for tomato juice, or do I need to buy more gorgonzola and start the cycle anew?

TOMATO GORGONZOLA SOUP, adapted from Allrecipes

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 minced cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1/4 heavy cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups tomato juice
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1. Heat oil in medium pot over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for 2 minutes.

2. Add cheeses, cream and milk and heat until cheeses are melted and mixture is simmering

3. Stir in tomatoes with their liquid, tomato juice, basil, sugar and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often, and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Spaghetti with Garlic Bread Crumb Wine Sauce

This is one of my favorite pasta recipes ever, and every time I make this one the Southern husband and I look at each other and say, why don't we make this more often? But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I am VERY fond of how this looks, tastes, and is so very easy to throw together at the end of a long day.

And even better, odds are you have everything you need to make it at the spur of the moment. Any long strand pasta will do, although I think good old spaghetti works best. Bread for the bread crumbs -- any kind you have on hand. Butter. White wine. Fresh parsley. Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper. All stuff I highly recommend having in your kitchen at all times...and if you don't, I recommend going out to get whatever is missing JUST to make this delicious little dish, which is great on its own or as a side dish for grilled chicken or fish.

The sauce is made by melting up butter, garlic, white wine and a little salt. Meantime, you make the breadcrumbs by whirling whatever bread you have on hand in the food processor, adding a little butter and white wine, laying it all out on a cookie sheet and toasting it in the oven. Don't worry if your crumbs are a little mushy before they are toasted, I promise they will cook up to be golden and crispy, and you will have to have a stern talk with yourself about snacking on them before they go in the sauce.

Then all you have to do is cook the pasta and toss it with the sauce, some parsley and grated parmesan and those perfect little crumbs. Save some of the crumbs to sprinkle on top and give the whole thing a good grinding of black pepper. Comfort Food Extraordinaire.

SPAGHETTI WITH GARLIC BREAD CRUMB WINE SAUCE

• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (2 slices bread chopped in food processor)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with foil.

2. Mix bread crumbs, melted butter and 2 tablespoons wine with salt in small bowl and spread in one layer on cookie sheet. (Don't worry if it's mushy).

3. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente.

5. Meanwhile again, heat butter, garlic, 1 tablespoon water and one teaspoon salt in small skillet for about 3 minutes until butter is melted and garlic is starting to turn golden. Stir in wine and simmer two minutes.

6. Toss together pasta, wine sauce, crumbs, parsley and cheese. Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe

Pineapple Chicken

Today I need to give a shout-out to one of my favorite cooking magazines, and that is Taste of Home. I do love my share of the fancy ones, like Saveur and Bon Appetit, and I get tons of recipes and ideas from fancy cooking experts like Mark Bittman and all the fabulous blogs that I read. But Taste of Home is kind of in its own category. It is a collection of recipes and cooking tips and ideas from home cooks across the country, and while you won't find too much fancy stuff in there, you will find recipe after recipe for good old-fashioned home-cooked dishes.

This pineapple chicken is one of my favorites. Like most of the Taste of Home recipes, it is pretty fast and simple, and the mix of pineapple and mustard and honey and herbs...YUM. I did swap out fresh thyme for the dried thyme called for in the recipe just because I had some hanging around, and it worked just wonderfully. I also threw on some chopped cashews because I also had those hanging around, and they added a nice salty crunch. (I am trying to get better about completely using up whatever ingredients I happen to buy. I have two unused leeks lurking in the refrigerator right this second waiting for inspiration to strike. Send suggestions.)

Anyway, if you, like me, are always looking for a new spin on chicken, give this recipe and try, and check out Taste of Home when you get a second, too.

PINEAPPLE CHICKEN, from Taste of Home

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 can (20 ounces) unsweetened sliced pineapple
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Hot cooked rice

1. Sprinkle chicken with the thyme, salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil. Meanwhile, drain pineapple, reserving the juice. Cut pineapple rings in half and set aside.
2. Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons juice until smooth; set aside. Combine the mustard, honey, garlic and remaining pineapple juice. Add to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken and keep warm.
3. Stir cornstarch mixture. Gradually add to pan; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Return chicken to pan. Top with pineapple; heat through. Serve with rice. Yield: 4 servings.

Click here for printable recipe

Snickerdoodles

I have a warm and fuzzy place in my heart for snickerdoodles, because aside from the fact that they have the best cookie name ever, they also remind me of my free-wheeling college days.

Go Hoyas!!

Excuse me. Yes, I realize they are already out of the tournament. It's an involuntary reaction.

Anyway, when I was a sophomore I got an on-campus apartment with three of my good friends, and with that apartment came the very first stove any of us had ever had. We cooked up some alarming meals on that stove. Fun, but alarming. Anyway, there was one of us (you know who you are!) who periodically would have the overwhelming need to bake cookies. Not to eat them, just to bake them, sometimes at interesting hours of the day and night, and she always made the same kind: Snickerdoodles. Not sure why, but we weren't arguing. The apartment was always full of us girls and whomever our boyfriends of the moment were, and the cookies never lasted long.

So every once in a while, lo these many years later, I get the overwhelming desire to make snickerdoodles, and it always zaps me right back to those days of fun and friends and having to wait on line for hours for a clothes dryer. Cookie memories, they're the best.

SNICKERDOODLES

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes and cool on racks.

Click here for printable recipe

Mediterranean Tuna Casserole

Okay, so this is NOT your grandmother's tuna casserole. Yes, there is tuna, and yes, there are noodles. But there are also artichoke hearts and there is also feta cheese, and there is absolutely no cream-of-anything soup. The teenager still ran screaming from the room, but the Southern husband and I loved it.

You really must use tuna packed in oil for this one. I think we have all been so brainwashed into using the packed in water variety that you now have to look hard for the packed in oil kind, but it really does make a big difference. (It's also great in this recipe for tuna salad, by the way.) The packed in oil kind has a rich, delicious flavor that the water kind just doesn't have. In this recipe it blends with the feta cheese and the artichokes to give it a little bit of an exotic Greek flavor.

So the next time you get that longing for a warm, comforting tuna casserole (and don't we all get those?), give this one a try. It makes great leftovers, too.

MEDITERRANEAN TUNA CASSEROLE, adapted from Everyday Food

• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound wide egg noodles
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 cups whole milk
• 4 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained
• 1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and thickly sliced
• 5 scallions, thinly sliced
• 4 ounces feta cheese
  
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain, and return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.
3. Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, artichoke hearts, feta cheese and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Divide between prepared baking dishes, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Click here for printable recipe

Corned Beef Burgers

Now, if I was REALLY organized, I would have gotten this out to you last week when you still had all that leftover corned beef from Pt. Patrick's Day still in your fridge (maybe you still have some?). And while we just loved the little salty hit that the corned beef gave to this recipe, if you are fresh out of corned beef using all ground beef will still work just fine.

If you don't count the episode where I sent the Southern husband out into a raging snowstorm to grill tomatoes for me, this was the first time we cranked up the grill for the 2010 grilling season. All of the sudden it is sunny and gorgeous and 70 degrees here in northern New Jersey, and around my house that means Hamburger Season. We found this creative approach in the Costco Connection magazine -- same place that I found the outrageously wonderful Caramel Apple Cake. The recipe comes from a blog that Costco features from time to time called Amazing Sandwiches, and there are quite a few on that blog that are pretty dang amazing for sure. They have something up there right now that calls for blueberry guacamole, which is a little too exotic for me, but if you like to walk on the wild side sandwich-wise, go check them out.

In the meantime, here's their recipe for Corned Beef Burgers, and here's hoping that wherever you are, spring has sprung.

CORNED BEEF BURGERS, from Amazing Sandwiches

• 8 oz corned beef
• 8 oz ground chuck
  
• 1 ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• olive oil
• 4 hamburger buns
• 8 slices Swiss cheese
• 1 medium sized Haas avocado, thinly sliced
• Horseradish Mayo (recipe follows)

Preheat the grill or cast iron skillet on medium high.
Place corned beef slices in food processor and pulse for 2 seconds to shred. In a medium sized bowl, combine the shredded corned beef, ground chuck, pepper, salt, cayenne peper and parsley. Divide the mix into four equal portions and form four (1/4 – 1/3 inch thick) burgers. Spray or brush each side with olive oil. Grill (or cook in skillet) for 3 – 4 minutes per side to achieve a medium-well done burger. In the final minute of cooking, place two slices of Swiss cheese on each burger. Cover the grill (skillet) and continue to cook for another minute.
To serve, place 1 tablespoon horseradish mayo on the bottom half of each hamburger bun. Add the burger. Top with one teaspoon more of the horseradish mayo, and a few thin slices of avocado.

Horseradish Mayo

• 8 tbs mayonnaise
• 4 tsp freshly grated horseradish root

Mix mayonnaise and horseradish in small bowl.
Note: Grated horseradish root loses it’s potency, so make just enough to use immediately.

Click here for printable recipe

Shredded Pot Roast

This is another one of those AWESOME recipes from the Pioneer Woman (go buy her cookbook! Runrunrun!!) that takes something you think you already know how to make pretty well -- in this case, pot roast -- and shakes it up just enough to make it the best version of pot roast you have ever made. All the usual players are here in this recipe -- the beef roast, the carrots, the onions, etc. This version does not cook the usual potatoes in with the roast, but calls for serving the pot roast with mashed potatoes on the side. As far as I am concerned, anything tastes better with mashed potatoes on the side, so I was good with that.

But that's not the game-changer here. The two things that put this pot roast over the top for me were first that you cook it with just enough fresh herbs (fresh thyme and rosemary) to infuse it with a gorgeous, herby flavor. About one hour into this my kitchen smelled like...I don't know how to describe it. I could have bottled and sold that aroma. Eau du Pot Roast With Herbs -- it was crazy.

The second thing was the shredding. The meat comes out of the pot so tender that it almost falls apart anyway, but I took it to the next step and shredded it, and then dunked the shredded meat back into the pot roast juices until it was thoroughly soaked through with the herb-infused liquid. On to the plate with some of the carrots it cooked with on one side, some mashed potatoes on the other. Oh my. You know you have hit a pot roast home run when the dinner table is completely quiet because any talking would interfere with the EATING.

From now on, I think I will shred everything we eat.

SHREDDED POT ROAST, adapted from The Pioneer Woman

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 5 pound chuck roast
• 2 onions, peeled and halved
• 6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup red wine
• 2-3 cups beef broth
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1. Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast.

2. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat and add the olive oil. When it is very hot, add the onions and brown them on both sides. Remove to plate. Add the carrots and toss them around for a minute until they are browned, and then remove.

3. Place the meat in the pan, adding more oil if needed, and sear on all sides until brown, about a minute per side. Remove the roast.

4. With the heat still on high, add the red wine and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the browned bits off. Place the roast back in the pan, add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway and add the carrots and the onions. Toss in the fresh herbs, tucking them around the meat.

5. Put the lid on the pot and put in 275 oven for one hour per pound -- so 5 hours for a 5 pound roast, 3 hours for a three pound roast, etc.

6. When the roast is fork-tender, remove it from the pan and shred it with two forks. Dunk the shreds back in the pan juice until they are soaked through, and then put on plate with carrots, onions, and mashed potatoes.

Click here for printable recipe

Barbecue Casserole

This one falls into the same category as my Chili Dog recipe...in other words, it is, um, not the healthiest recipe in the world. But as with the Chili Dogs, it is guiltily delicious, and as long as you only make it once in a blue moon, you are probably safe.

The key to this one is using your very favorite barbecue sauce. In our house we like Stubbs, which comes in all sorts of flavors.

And now that I look at the picture, I see that the correct spelling is Bar-B-Q sauce.

Anyway, here's the deal. Cook up some ground beef and onion and drench it in the Bar-B-Q sauce. Throw in a little Tabasco too, since we are going for broke here. Then take a can of refrigerated biscuits -- you know the ones I mean? The ones in the exploding can that we all secretly could eat 10 of if nobody was looking? Peel them apart and lay them in a casserole dish. Pour the beef mixture over it, then top the whole thing with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake until the biscuits are cooked through, the cheese is melted and the kitchen smells like Bar-B-Q Paradise.

Happy Bar-B-Q, everyone...you only go around once, after all.

BARBECUE CASSEROLE

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1 large can refrigerated biscuits
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease 9x13 baking dish.

2. Cook ground beef in a large skillet until it begins to brown, and then add onion. Cook until beef is fully browned. Stir in barbecue sauce and Tabasco.

3. Lay biscuits in single layer in the baking dish. Top with beef mixture. Sprinkle cheddar cheese evenly over all.

4. Bake until biscuits are cooked and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then serve.

Click here for printable recipe.

Fettuccine with Asparagus and the Best Goat Cheese Ever!

Okay, this scrumptious recipe comes with a history lesson and a lead on the some of the most delicious goat cheese I've ever eaten. Ready? Here goes.

As those of you who have been reading this blog for a while already know, my favorite place on this earth is the beautiful state of Vermont, where I spent a happy childhood disobediently running through corn fields, putting on plays with my cousins in my grandparent's horse barn and otherwise frolicking around.



Yep, that's yours truly on the hay cart, dressed very appropriately in the green flowered dress. Thank God I'm A Country Girl.

Anyway, I escape back up there whenever possible, and one of the places we always love to visit is Hildene Farm in Manchester. (Here comes the history lesson.)

I bet you did not know that Robert Todd Lincoln (only child of Abraham and Mary Todd to survive to adulthood) had a summer home in Vermont, did you? He did, and it is gorgeous Hildene Farm, where you can tour the historic home...

And wander through the beautiful gardens...

where thousands of peonies are in full gorgeous bloom each summer...

...and take in the spectacular views of the Battenkill Valley. Even the teenager got a little inner peace here, while feverishly looking for cell phone reception. (Southern Vermont...not so great on the whole cell phone reception thing, which is panic-inducing to teenagers. Mine, anyway.) I just love this place. So imagine my delight when my aunt and uncle came down from Vermont for the weekend recently and dropped this off for me.

As it turns out, for the last three years Hildene has been developing a cheesemaking operation, using cow's milk from local farms and milk from their own herd of Nubian goats. This round of cheese was one of the first samples created last January. And oh, my goodness.

Is it the sweet Vermont air? Is it the Nubian goats? Is it the benevolent spirit of Robert Todd Lincoln? Whatever it is, it made for one of the most creamy and delicious goat cheese I have ever eaten. We started out with just some of it on crackers...

And then used the rest of it in a fettuccine dish that used chopped fresh asparagus, some grainy mustard and a good helping of this spectacular cheese. Heaven, heaven, heaven.

This summer the nice folks at Hildene have promised me a behind the scenes peek at the cheese-making operation, and my Nikon and I will be back with a full report (I can hardly wait to see what a Nubian goat looks like!). In the meantime, if you are ever in the area, you MUST stop in and visit beautiful Hildene - click here for more info. The plan is to make cheese all year round, from this delicious goat cheese to Edam, Havarti, Gouda and Feta, so you can pick yourself up some cheese while you are there.

And if you can't make it to beautiful Vermont, you can still pick up some nice goat cheese at your own market and try out this quick and elegant recipe.

FETTUCCINE WITH ASPARAGUS AND GOAT CHEESE, adapted from Everyday Food

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3/4 pound fettuccine
• 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 ounces goat cheese, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1. Toast pine nuts in a small skillet until golden, about 2-3 minutes

2. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente, adding asparagus in last 5 minutes of cooking time. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain.

3. Return pasta, asparagus and reserved pasta water to pot and toss with goat cheese, mustard, dill and pine nuts. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Polenta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

I was pretty sure I knew everything there was to know about making polenta (or as the Southern husband calls it, fancy grits). Some coarse cornmeal, some boiling water, some salt, a little butter and you are in business, right?

It turns out there is a better way. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I learned that the secret to really amazing, creamy polenta is...baking soda. It has something to do with the cell walls of the cornmeal and breaking them down faster, and pectin, and starch granules...I am a little fuzzy on the whole thing. But Cooks Illustrated told me to make it this way, and since they are basically the Holy Grail when it comes to cooking just about anything, I tried it...and they were (as usual) absolutely right. The polenta cooked up faster and was incredibly smooth and creamy. I mixed in a little butter and Parmesan cheese, and topped the whole thing with a quick saute of garlic, cherry tomatoes, basil and chopped fresh mozzarella. It was speedy and comforting and wonderful. Old dog. New tricks. Woof.

POLENTA WITH TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA, adapted from Cooks Illustrated

• 7 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Pinch of baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup cubed fresh mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. Bring water to boil, stir in salt and baking soda. Slowly pour in cornmeal in steady stream, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover.

2. After 5 minutes, whisk polenta to smooth out lumps, cover and cook without stirring until polenta is tender, about 20-25 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in butter and Parmesan, season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Meanwhile, make sauce by heating oil, garlic, pepper flakes and sugar in skillet over medium high heat for one minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook until they soften, about one more minute.

5. Season to taste and remove from heat.

6. Spoon tomato mixture with any accumulated juices over polenta, top with mozzarella and sprinkle with basil before serving.

Click here for printable recipe

Linguine with Clam Sauce

Here is another one from my current favorite cookbook, THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS by the amazing and tireless Ree Drummond. If you don't yet have a copy of this cookbook, run...do not walk...to your nearest bookstore and get it. I have now worked my way through about half the recipes in this book and they all ROCK.

What I love most about this cookbook is that it takes dishes you have probably made 100 times before and tweaks them just enough to make them special and delicious, but not so far that you don't recognize them. Take this linguine with clam sauce, for example. All the usual, comfortingly familiar ingredients...the pasta, the chopped clams, the parsley...and then this recipe adds heavy cream and lemon. Not a huge change, but man, does it make a difference. All those other linguine with clam sauce recipes I have got tossed out the window.

So if you, like I, are a die-hard lover of linguine with clam sauce and think you have seen it all, give this one a try. And even if you aren't, give this one a try. Trust me!

LINGUINE WITH CLAM SAUCE, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

• 1 pound linguine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 ten ounce cans chopped clams, drained and juice reserved
• 3/4 cup white wine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus lemon slices for garnish
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt and fresh ground pepper
• Grated parmesan

1. Cook the linguine according to package directions until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and one tablespoon butter over high heat. Add garlic and clams and cook for 3 minutes.

3. Pour in the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with spoon. Cook for 3-4 minutes until sauce is reduced. Add remaining butter and stir to melt.

4. Reduce heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Sprinkle in parsley and add the cream.

5. Add salt and pepper. Thin sauce with clam juice if needed.

6. Pour pasta into heated bowl. Pour the sauce on straight from the skillet. Toss to combine, and garnish with lemon slices and parmesan cheese.

Click here for printable recipe

Shrimp in Gorgonzola Sauce

Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp....what else can I tell you about shrimp that I haven't said a hundred times before?

Here's my shrimp video, in case you missed it last time...

I kind of can't believe I made this whole shrimp slideshow extravaganza without including this recipe, which I love with a passion and which I have been making ever since the Southern husband and I were first engaged, lo those many years ago. It is still as scrumptious as it was back then, and is one of those easy, reliable, elegant recipes that you will go to again and again...at least, I do. So for all you shrimp-lovers out there, here's one of my all-time favorites.

SHRIMP IN GORGONZOLA SAUCE

• 10 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• Chopped fresh parsley
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Melt butter with garlic in large pan over medium high heat, and saute shrimp until opaque. Add cheese and lemon juice and stir until cheese is just melted.

2. Serve over rice, garnished with parsley and fresh ground pepper

Click here for printable recipe

Apple Bacon Pizza

Now, I am not usually someone who likes her pizza messed with. As a matter of fact, whenever we order pizza, I am the one that insists that at least half of it has to be plain -- none of this sausage or meatball or pineapple nonsense. So why on earth I decided to try this one, I have no idea. Maybe because I had an open jar of apple butter in the fridge? Maybe because it involved bacon? Maybe because the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter was aligned with Mars?

At any rate, I heard about this from my friend P, who (I think) just made it up off the top of his head, and after he described it to me I just kept thinking about it. It does have the whole sweet and salty thing going on, which of course I adore. And so one day when I happened to have all the components in my kitchen, I took the plunge and made it.

YUM.

It was just the right balance of the sweet apple and apple butter and the salty bacon and cheese, and the red onion gave it just that little kick. I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for pizza dough which you can find by clicking here, and I actually made it the night before -- by the next evening it was still perfect, and I just stretched it right out into a thin rectangle. You can also use store-bought pizza dough if you want to, but the home-made kind is a snap to make, just so you know. Spread on some apple butter, sprinkle on the toppings, bake at 500 for about 10 minutes and then dig in.

I still don't think I can cope with bacon cheeseburger pizza though.

APPLE BACON PIZZA

• Pizza dough, enough for one pizza
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup chopped cooked bacon
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
• 2 cups shredded fontina cheese

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Put dough on tray and stretch into a rectangle shape, making sure the dough is nice and thin.

3. Spread apple butter on dough. Sprinkle cheese on top, followed by other toppings.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

5. Cook for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe.

Butternut Chai Soup

I fell head over heels in love with chai tea several years ago when my friend S took me by the hand, led me into Starbucks, bought me a chai tea latte, put it in my hands and said, "Trust me." Ever since then I have been a complete sucker for anything with the word "chai" in the title. And so when I ran across this recipe for butternut soup cooked with chai spices...well, they had me at hello. When you think about it, it is kind of genius...butternut is a close cousin to pumpkin, chai spices include a lot of the sweet and spicy flavors you find in pumpkin pie...so it kind of was a match made in heaven.

And to (literally) top it all off, the recipe also calls for a quick and wonderful topping that you make by stirring together a little creme fraiche, a little apple cider and a little cinnamon. Creme fraiche is usually in whatever part of your supermarket where they keep the refrigerated fancy things, but if you have trouble finding it, sour cream will work for this too. You drizzle a little bit on the top of your soup just before serving it, and if you want to get super elegant you can take the tip of a knife and swirl it gently through the creme to make a little design. It's kind of like Spin Art (remember that, all you children of the 70's?).

Anyway, I found this delicious little recipe at the Whole Foods website. Whole Foods used to be my supermarket of choice before Fairway moved to town, and then I heartlessly deserted them without so much as a backwards glance. But I still do love their website, which has a load of creative and healthy recipes. And if you don't have a Fairway near you, Whole Foods is definitely the next best thing.

So there you go, butternut chai soup. If anyone comes across a recipe for chai pizza, call me.

BUTTERNUT CHAI SOUP

• 1/2 cup crème fraîche
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 cups (1-inch cubes) butternut squash
• 3/4 cup chopped fennel
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. First, make the apple cream: combine crème fraîche, apple cider and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate to allow the flavors to combine.

2. For the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and cardamom. Cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.

3. Stir in butternut squash, fennel, chicken stock and apple cider. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until the butternut squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Take from heat and let cool.

4. Blend the soup in small batches until a smooth purée is obtained. Return to pot and stir in milk and salt. Bring soup to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more spice if desired.

5. Serve soup with a generous drizzle of apple cream.

Baked Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Pistou

I made this particular recipe because I found these adorable baby ravioli at the supermarket and they were just PERFECT for this dish, which is basically little individual ravioli and goat cheese casseroles. You could absolutely use the big ravioli, but the little ones mean you can get more raviolis in there, and I am all about as much ravioli as possible in life.

I also learned what the word "pistou" means: it is a sauce made of basil leaves, oil oil and garlic. I bet you thought that was pesto, but no -- pesto means there are ground up nuts in the sauce as well. Pistou has no nuts in it. See that? You learn something new every day. Unless I was the only one who didn't already know what pistou was, which is entirely possible. I should warn you that aside from being very delicious, pistou is also extremely garlicky. Which I personally love, but you gotta love garlic to like this one. If you do, we are all set.

So the first thing you do is make that pistou, which entails whirling fresh basil in your food processor with garlic and just enough olive oil to make a thick sauce. Cook the ravioli halfway and toss them in olive oil, and then you are ready to assemble. Pull out your favorite single serving baking dishes (although if you want to make this in one big casserole I am sure that would be perfectly fine) and layer in ravioli, some crumbled goat cheese and a spoonful of pistou. One more layer of ravioli, drizzle with cream, a generous layer of grated Parmesan and pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Take them out, scatter some pine nuts and chopped fresh basil on top, and there you go. Yum, right??

BAKED RAVIOLI WITH GOAT CHEESE AND PISTOU

• 1 large bunch fresh basil (save a few leaves for garnish)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 8 ounce package fresh ravioli
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Pine nuts for garnish

1. Process basil and garlic in food processor until minced very fine. Add enough olive oil to make a thick sauce. This is the pistou

2. Cook ravioli for half the package cooking time. Drain and toss with remaining oil.

3. Butter 4 individual serving dishes and layer ingredients as follows, dividing ingredients into quarters: layer of ravioli, goat cheese, pistou, remaining ravioli, cream and parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until ravioli starts to turn golden at the edges.

5. Serve garnished with pine nuts and chopped basil.

Click here for printable recipe

Cheddar Cheese Soup

If this isn't soup season I don't know what is. I know I have been all about the snow the last few days, but when your driveway looks like this...

...it's hard to discuss anything else. So now is the time to break out the warm and comforting soup recipes, and this one is one of my old favorites. It is a creamy, cheesy soup that is spiced up just a little bit by shaking some paprika and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce on top. As usual, I highly recommend Cabot Vermont cheddar, and for me, the sharper the better...but you decide how sharp you want to go.

Some warm crusty bread, a glass of red wine, some cheddar cheese soup, and we all might just make it through to spring.

Here's the recipe!

CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP

• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar
• Worcestershire sauce

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium high heat and add onions, celery and garlic. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Mix in flour and spices and stir. Stir in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Strain solids out and return liquid to pot.

3. Add half and half to soup and bring to simmer. Add cheese in handfuls and stir until each addtion is melted. Season to take with salt and pepper. Serve with Worcestershire sauce drizzled on top.

Click here for printable recipe

Indoor Clambake!

Right now, at this very moment, this is what my mailbox looks like:

I mention this because it is usually right at this time of year that I start getting this deep yearning for a clambake. Not in the middle of July and August, when a clambake is a reasonable thing to yearn for. No, not me, I am a "need to have a clambake in February" kind of girl. I know, I know. But where there's a will, there's a way, and so....

INDOOR CLAMBAKE!!!

Honestly, it's one of the easiest dinners you can make, assuming you can handle the trauma of putting the lobster in the pot. (I can't. I tried. But as usual, I ran out of the kitchen like the coward that I am and left that part to the Southern husband.) Here's what you need: Lobsters. Clams. Mussels. Baby red potatoes. Sausage - I like andouille sausage, but keilbasa or any other hearty, good-sized sausage will do. Corn on the cob, if you can find it. A couple of onions. Garlic. Lemons. A really, really, really big pot. Some Jimmy Buffett music. Ready?

OK, take that big old pot and layer (in order) the onions, the garlic, the lobsters, the clams, the mussels, the potatoes, the corn and the sausage. At this point the lobster will start waving at you from the pot and you will need to run out of the kitchen while braver people settle them back in there where they belong. If you are me. Then add about 5 inches or so of water or chicken broth. Cover the pot and turn the heat on high. Check it after 20 minutes or so, and if the lobsters are bright red and the clams and mussels are open, you're done! Melt some butter, cut up some lemon wedges, line your table with newspaper and you are ready to roll. I usually put the whole lot into one big bowl, scatter some lobster crackers around, and let the games begin. If you use a pretty thick layer of newspaper you can just let folks drop the shells right onto the table, and then clean-up is as easy as rolling up the paper with the shells inside.

It's almost like summer.



Only four months to go....in the meantime, recipe below.

INDOOR CLAMBAKE!

• 3 onions, peeled and quartered
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 4 lobsters
• 2 dozen clams, cleaned
• 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed
• 16 small red potatoes, halved
• 4 ears corn, husked
• 1 pound cooked sausage, cut into chunks
• Melted butter for dipping
• Lemon wedges for serving

1. In a very large pot, layer from bottom to top: onions, garlic, lobsters, clams, mussels, potatoes, corn, sausage.

2. Add 5-6 inches of water or chicken stock

3. Cover and cook over high heat for 20-30 minutes until lobster is red, clams and mussels are open and potatoes are tender. Serve with butter and lemon.

Click here for printable recipe