Follow that Blog

I love my cookbooks, but lately many of the dinners and baked goods I make at home are inspired by or derived from recipes I find on blogs.  Below is a sampling of some recent successes.  I should have been better about taking pictures, but sometimes I just forget, so there aren't many to share.




Ginger Muffins from Orangette: These muffins are slightly sweet but with a spicy bite from the ginger root.  Next time I'm going to follow Molly's advice and add more than the recipe calls for.  There's a gentle citrusy undertone from the lemon zest that makes these taste very fresh and light.


BBQ Chicken Tenders from How Sweet It Is: I recently discovered Jessica's hilarious blog, and she has a ton of great ideas.  She makes several variations of chicken fingers, and I used this recipe one night last week.  It's a simple method that can be modified in many different ways, and I'm definitely going to fall back on it when I need a quick dinner.


Cookies and Cream Brownies from How Sweet It Is: Originally I found this blog because of the Cookie Dough Dip (which I still haven't made), but I felt the need to try these cookie bar brownies immediately when I saw the post.  I made the original as well as a batch with thin mints instead of oreos, and leftover chocolate whiskey ganache instead of the peanut butter mixture.  Both were divine, and very popular at a party.


Pressed Sandwiches from Crepes of Wrath: I never would have thought to do this myself, but making one big sandwich and then cutting it into pieces to serve to a group is a brilliant idea.  I was really excited to make these because it gave me an excuse to go to the butcher for prosciutto and mortadella.  Bonus: I was able to use up the remaining homemade pesto I froze last summer.


Irish Car Bomb Cake inspired by the Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen: I've been trying to find a way to make this recipe again since I made the lucky cupcakes last year.  It wasn't a pretty cake, but it was so good that no one really noticed.  The Bailey's buttercream frosting is to die for.

Layer Cake

This is a picture of my very favorite store bought cake.  It's made by the Ukrop's bakery, and has five layers of light white cake and their rich, signature chocolate frosting.  Last week it was on sale for $2 off the normal price, and I couldn't resist.  Actually, if I decide I want it, it doesn't really matter what the price is. The "bar cake," as Ukrop's calls it, is best served on its original platter with a single fork.

Cooking for One

Davy went out of town for work a few weeks ago, and I seized the opportunity to make a few meals with ingredients he's not especially fond of.  In the process, I also managed to clean out some of the odds and ends in our fridge. 

The first order of business was pasta, and lots of it.  Davy eats pasta, but he doesn't like to eat it more than once or twice a week.  I, on the other hand, would eat noodles multiple times a day given the opportunity.  Butternut squash is another food that I love and Davy could do without.  My parents gave me a nice jar of butternut squash sauce, and I decided to try it out with baked pasta.  

I browned three links of spicy Italian turkey sausage (casings removed), mixed it with about a half pound of cavatappi, 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella, and a cup or so of the sauce.  I spread the mixture into a baking dish, sprinkled more cheese on top, and let it sit in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  The creaminess of the squash sauce almost made me feel like I was eating a decadent variation of macaroni and cheese with spicy morsels of sausage throughout.  

Next up: mushrooms.  I was the weird kid who chose to eat mushrooms on my pizza when I was little, and I still love them.  The giant container of dried mushrooms, below, was recent purchase from Costco.  I'm thrilled to have them, because it means I don't have to buy fresh mushrooms just for myself if I want to add them into my cooking.

I'd found some beautiful organic rainbow chard and gigantic leeks at the grocery store and decided to take them home.  I thought for a few days about what I could do with them, and decided to combine them with the mushrooms to make an earthy spring soup.

I rinsed, chopped, and browned the leeks with some salt and pepper, and then added a rosemary sprig, parmesan rind, and some homemade stock from my latest roast chicken.  

After the broth came to a simmer, I threw in the mushrooms, which I had rinsed under hot water for a minute.  Once the soup had bubbled for about five minutes (the recommended cooking time for the mushrooms), I added the chard and let it soften a bit.   

Up until the moment that I started making the soup, I knew I wanted something else in the pot, but couldn't figure out what.  I had a can of chickpeas, but they didn't seem quite right.  The last of my frozen corn from the summer wasn't going to mesh well with the greens and leeks either.  Pasta would have tasted great, but it gets mushy if you're eating soup over several days.  I looked for barley in my cabinets, but didn't have any.  


Then I spotted a bag of brown rice, which I knew it would keep its shape when I wanted to eat the soup as leftovers.  I steamed the rice in a separate pot, and dumped it all in after it was almost done cooking.   

I ate many bowls of the soup with freshly grated parmesan and black pepper on top, and even though the combination was somewhat random, I thoroughly enjoyed the results.  Not only was it an extremely healthy creation, I also had it all to myself.

Tastebuds American Bistro

If Vietnamese, Tex-Mex, and Mediterranean fare are all featured on the same menu, it often means that at least one of them isn't worth eating.  The opposite is true at Tastebuds, which I tried for the first time a couple weeks ago.  The diverse menu was beautifully executed and affordable, especially for the quality of each dish.  


On Tuesday-Thursday, Tastebuds offers a three-course, Prix Fixe menu for $18.  A glass of house wine is only $3.50 if you order a Prix Fixe dinner, and the red that I tried was very drinkable.  


In addition to the fixed meal, three of the four people in our group also ordered a small plate to start.  We sampled the "Duck-Leek Spring Roll with Ginger-Pear Dipping Sauce, " "Pork Adobo Taco with Mole Sauce and Corn & Black Bean Salad," and "Mozzarella & Basil Risotto Croquettes with Fra Diavolo."  All three had a satisfying burst of flavors and textures, and were prepared with fresh ingredients.  


I don't think I've ever been noticeably impressed by a salad, however, the "Spinach, Shaved Red Onion, Goat Cheese Crumble & Lemon-Parsley Dressing " salad was basic and perfectly balanced.  


For my entree, which could have been any off the regular menu, I chose "Crispy Salmon Pho with Rice Noodles, Snow Peas & Mushrooms in Lemongrass Broth."  The server warned us that there wouldn't actually be a lot of broth in the bottom of the bowl, so it wasn't so much a soup, but it was delicious.  I didn't detect a lot of lemongrass, but  I took about half of it home for dinner the next night, and added a little soy sauce and Sriracha to enhance the other flavors.  If I ordered it again, I think I would at least ask for a little hot sauce to wake everything up.  The salmon was tender and the snow peas were crisp, and everything was light and healthy tasting.    


I also sampled Davy's "8 oz. Organic Beef Burger with Yukon Gold Potato Hash, Sweet Onion Relish," which was heavenly, and the "Greek Sirloin & Shrimp Skewers, Cucumber Crema, Feta & Red Bliss Potato Cake, Sautéed Haricot Vert & Tomatoes."  The skewers were definitely the highlight of the meal.  The potato cake and cucumber crema provided an ideal complement for the succulent, well-seasoned meat.  


A chocolate crepe was the third course of the Prix Fixe, and when it arrived, I was so pleased with all of the food that I didn't think I could fit anything else in.  That didn't last long, of course.  It only took one bite of the thin chocolate crepe, with its warm chocolate filling, for me to switch gears into defending my dessert territory.  


Tastebuds won me over in just one visit, and maybe even with a simple spinach salad.  My advice is that you try it soon, and go with friends to sample as many types of cuisine as possible.  No matter the origin, you won't be disappointed.