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This bread was the winning recipe in the 2009 National Festival of Breads, which is sponsored by the Kansas Wheat Commission. I first saw the bread on the King Arthur Flour site. I loved the flavors... garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and shredded cheese and knew I just had to make this loaf!The dough was easy to work with and the baked bread has a soft center and a crunchy top. It is just wonde
A friend ventured into San Francisco the other day and posted a picture on her Facebook page of a bowl of Wonton Soup that she ate while there. It looked so good, I knew I needed to make something like it... and soon!I googled several different recipes and they were pretty basic... broth, noodles, green onions, soy sauce, etc. I thought some sliced mushrooms and bok choy would be nice in it. The m
This is a slightly sweet bread that makes delicious toast. The dough can be put into a couple of loaf pans, or braided as shown here.It's so much fun to make bread - I just love it. I've heard people say that they find it so satisfying to knead bread dough by hand while waiting for the moment it turns from being a fitful glob of flour and water into a smooth, puffy piece of dough. I can't speak to
Several months ago, our local meat market advertised a new product... leg of goat. I bought one and put it in the freezer. Some months later I was in the store and asked if they were still offering goat meat and the woman said they weren't because they'd only sold one leg. Well, I'm glad I got it when I did!Read more »
My love of cooking began when I started watching Jeff Smith on a PBS show called The Frugal Gourmet. Every Saturday morning from 1983-1997, "The Frug" would have themed shows that would later be compiled into a cookbook. Usually the first part of the show was taken up with the history of the food he was going to prepare on the show and he cooked during the second half of the show. Like J
Bake this breakfast dish one day and pop some in the microwave during the rest of the week for a healthy, nutritious breakfast. Couldn't be easier, or more delicious on a wintry day.Read more »
King's Hawaiian dinner rolls are my daughter's favorite rolls. I wanted to give this copycat recipe a try, and I'm glad I did. These rolls bake up fluffy and light and there's a secret ingredient... pineapple juice!Read more »
Remember the part in the movie where Forrest Gump met Jenny for the first time?As it turns out, Forrest was onto something. Just as he and Jenny were inseparable, so should peas and carrots be, because they're a perfect match, too! Read more »
Fougasse (foo-gahss) is a traditional Provencal herbed bread, that is formed and slashed before baking to resemble a leaf- or tree-shape.I used sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives for this recipe, along with rosemary. It makes wonderful, savory bread that's great to serve with soup, or as I've discovered, as a snack after slicing a piece in half and filling it with a few slices of chees
A chile relleno (CHEE-leh rrehYEH-noh) is simply a stuffed chili. Although Anaheim and Poblano chilies are used most commonly for this dish, you can choose your chili (Bell, Banana, Cherry, Peperonicini), depending on the heat you like. Anaheims are pretty mild, although I'll admit to biting into a few over the years that had some heat. Poblanos are a little hotter than Anaheims.Read more »
If you're looking for cheesy scalloped potatoes, go here, but if you're looking for potatoes that are creamy and buttery with no cheese in sight, you're in the right place.Read more »
This granola would be the perfect thing to put into a cute container to give to people you'd like to recognize this time of year. Your hairdresser, neighbors, teachers, or co-workers. This recipe makes a lot - about 16 cups.Read more »
Pumpkin. This time of the year, especially, we just can't seem to get enough of it. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger spice these scones up deliciously. Then, to put them over the top, a plain sugar glaze drizzled with a spiced sugar glaze.Read more »
It's been a short summer, but as usual, we've been long on zucchini. Next year, we're going to sacrifice one zucchini and just let it go to see how big it gets. You can bet there will be pictures!We've enjoyed most of the zucchini straight from the grill... just cooked enough so it's still has some crunch. I've been busy canning, too... making zucchini salsa, and all things
I spatchcocked and roasted a chicken the other night. I like to roast a whole chicken mostly for the leftovers to make chicken pasta salad, chicken sandwiches, chicken burritos, chicken tacos, chicken and rice... it's just so handy to have the cooked chicken on hand!Read more »
Today is Group B's reveal for The Secret Recipe Club. My assignment blog is Debbi Does Dinner. Debbi's approach to cooking is preparing healthy and satisfying meals that are generally under 500 calories.Her recipe for General Tso's Chicken jumped out at me, so I knew right away that's what I'd be making.I used some leftover broccoli from dinner one night and added a sliced sweet cherry pepper for
My gardener's been gardening and of course we put in some zucchini. I knew I still had some left from last summer, so thought I better use it up. I grated the zucchini last summer and froze it in 4 cup portions to use in breads.I've made Zucchini-Nutella Bread and my standby regular Zucchini Bread, so when I found this lovely lemon loaf at Lea Ann's blog, Cooking on the Ranch, and after he great r
We enjoy soup often during the winter. Yes, I'm one of those people who would rather have soup on a cold day than in the middle of summer. Summer in north central Montana has arrived. The grass is green, the garden is growing, the lilacs are blooming, and I'm wearing flip-flops. It's beautiful.Having said that, today's high was only 56. Still beautiful... the sun is shining and the
This is reveal day for The Secret Recipe Club's Group B!My assignment this month was Melissa's blog, Smells Like Brownies. Before I visited Melissa's blog, I thought I was in for a lot of sweet treats. Well, I can attest that Melissa's kitchen smells like more than brownies. It also smells like Garlic-Chili-Lime Acorn Sqaush, Boozy Mushroom Ragu, Pan-Seared Citrus Salmon, and, (oka
I chose Rick Bayless's Flan de Cafe with Cajeta for this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs.Can you say time consuming? This was. I used whole milk in place of goat's milk for the cajeta and stood for a little over an hour at the stove, stirring. The cajeta is delicious. The recipe asks you to strain the cajeta after cooking and I just don't see how that would be possible. Maybe I made m
It's Cinco de Mayo with Rick Bayless, our chef this go-round at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I wanted to make something a little over the top this week, and couldn't find anything better than Rick's Melted Mozzarella Casserole with Mushrooms and Smoky Chipotle Chile (Queso Fundido). Read more »
This recipe didn't start out with my yen for a bowl of beans. Oh, no. It started with a hunger for my newly discovered favorite thing. Amish Butter. A 2# hand-rolled log of this butter - not made by the Amish - but made in Amish Country, will set you back about $8, but it is so totally worth it. If you can find it in your area, you must give it a try!Read more »
I Heart Cooking Clubs theme this week is from the earth and our Chef is Rick Bayless. I don't own any of Rick's cookbooks, so I went to our local library to check them out. Ahem. Our local library doesn't even have one of his books. So, I've been finding recipes on the internet and this one from Season 5, Mexico-One Plate at a Time sounded good. I thought about ordering one of his
I saw a recipe for this at Debbie's The Friday Friends. She made it for the I Heart Cooking Clubs Rick Bayless recipe of the week. She put her dressing over some sliced cucumbers and her beautiful picture looked so refreshing. Read more »
Horchata (or-CHA-tah) is a sweet rice beverage, often seen in big jars beside other agua frescas like tamarindo, melon, strawberry, cucumber, etc. Agua Fresca translates to fresh water in Spanish and makes for a refreshing drink on warm summer days.Read more »
Today is National Garlic Day!Garlic. Is there anybody who doesn't like it? It's good for you and has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Eat it fresh and it has a distinct fiery taste... roast it and it becomes buttery and mellow. I use garlic in a lot of the meals that I cook.Read more »
Buttery. Salty. Flaky. Cheesy. Addictive. I could end this post right here because that's all you really need to know about these crackers. Oh, you want the recipe? Okay, then.This is Mark Bittman's recipe, but I first saw them at Diane's blog, Stylish Cuisine. I had everything in the house that is needed to make them, so I got up and did just that. These come together quickly and easily
It's Secret Recipe Reveal Day for Group B. I was assigned to Meagan from A Zesty Bite in Houston, TX. Meagan has an official taste-tester and a professional dishwasher! You'll have to go to her blog to see who it is. Read more »
When I worked in an office, once a month we'd get a bakery-made cake and celebrate everyone who had birthdays that month. You know the cakes... the ones with tons of too-sweet frosting and big gloppy roses on the corners. There was always somebody who wanted the corners so they could have more frosting. Then there were the people who wanted a middle piece without too much frosting, and even th
I bought some Brats the other day at the store. The next logical step would be to make some rolls, right?! I've used this recipe in the past, but thought I'd try one that I found on Tasty Kitchen. Read more »
If you like spicy, you're going to love the combination of flavors in this pizza. Chorizo, fresh jalapenos, fire roasted tomatoes, onions, and a blend of cheeses made for one tasty pizza!Read more »
Are you familiar with the I Heart Cooking Clubs? Twice a year, a celebrity chef is featured and entrants cook something each week from the chef's recipe collection. The chef this time is Rick Bayless. I love Mexican food, so I had to join this time.Read more »
My Portuguese grandfather was a farmer. Not on a grand scale. He grew sweet corn on some land across the street from their house that he sold from a roadside stand. He was a big man... tall, about 6-2 and he wore bib overalls when he worked. He had a big walrus mustache that would tickle our cheeks when he kissed us.When he wasn't out working or selling corn, he'd sit in a straight chair in the ki
After discovering that making and keeping a sourdough starter was a heckuva lot easier than most people make it out to be, I've been having fun experimenting with bread.Read more »
Meet Miz Helen from Miz Helen's Country Cottage. Miz Helen hails from Texas and in addition to blogging about food, she also blogs about gardening and her spiritual life. She hosts a weekly linkup called Full Plate Thursday.Read more »
Pin ItThis is bread I made using a sourdough starter that I made on January 10 of this year. It was delicious, but this post isn’t about the bread, it’s about the starter. I’ll have the recipe for the bread in a different post. In the meantime, if you’ve been contemplating making a sourdough starter of your own, I hope this post will encourage you to do just that.I read so many different sites abo
Pin ItWhen I read that Debbie thought this dish was so good it was "to die for", I knew I wanted to try it. Debbie has over 200 cookbooks and this recipe is from The Homesick Texan Cookbook.Read more »
SRC Reveal Day for Group B!The recipe today comes from Claire at The Realistic Nutritionist. Claire is passionate about health and fitness and uses whole and organic foods. She's also working on her Masters in Dietetics. You can get the list of Claire's delicious "Eat Skinny Be Skinny" recipes here. Read more »
On our first (blind) date, when my gardener took me home, I invited him in and offered him some homemade cranberry liqueur. Over the years, we've made a few different liqueurs - irish cream, creme de menthe, cranberry and, coffee liqueur being the one we make most often. Read more »
Pin ItMy sister made this recipe around Christmastime and she said it was delicious and everyone who ate it raved about it. I invited friends over for dinner and cake for one of their birthdays and asked what kind of cake he wanted. He requested anything but chocolate, so I decided to make this.Read more »
Homemade pizza is so easy and so inexpensive, it's a wonder why more people don't make it themselves. We like a thin crust pizza, but when I saw this at Brenda's blog, I wanted to give it a try. Read more »
Definition of Mojo: a magic spell, hex, or charm; broadly: magical power Read more »
Thank you for reading Karen Cooks this past year. I appreciate all of your comments and look forward to reading your blogs in 2012!The 10 recipes shown today are the ones that had the most views throughout the year - here's the countdown, beginning with Portuguese Rice Pudding, which had the most views.Read more »
Q: What do you get when you mix milk, honey, vanilla bean, yeast, flour, salt, a stick-and-a-half of butter, 10 egg yolks and takes three days to make?A: Milk and Honey BriocheRead more »
Soft pretzels, hot out of the oven. I ate two.This is a really good recipe. They don't taste like the pretzels you can buy at the mall. You know the place. (Psst! They're better!)Read more »
Antipasto, aperitif, canapé, cocktail, chips & dip, fingerfood, finger sandwich, samples, starters, hors d’oeuvres or munchies. Whatever you call them, ‘tis the season!Read more »
This is my first month in the Secret Recipe Club! Each member is assigned a blog and from there you choose a recipe to make yourself. This recipe comes from Julie at A Little Bit of Everything. (Hi Julie!) Julie lives in Omaha and as I was going through her recipes, I was surprised at how many I had either made myself or saw a recipe that I'd been wanting to try. I'd been wanting to make the
I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving with family, friends and too much food! My gardener and I have been busy the last few weeks. We had five guests from California who came up for deer season. Early mornings, hunting nearly every day, cooking, butchering deer, packaging meat, lively dart games, lots of laughs and staying up too late made for an enjoyable, if not tiring, two weeks. Everyone we
Most people who refer to venison are talking about deer meat, but the term actually includes elk and antelope, among others. I found a recipe for Deer Liver Paté on Rhonda's blog and adapted the recipe using antelope liver. This paté was delicious. We ate it on smeared on toasted bread with a glass of wine. It's not for sissies, though, especially after it aged a few days. This recipe used a
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, a dish called Paprika Hendl is featured. This dish has Hungarian, German and Translyvanian origins. In researching it, I found that it is very similar to Chicken Paprikash. This recipe gave me a deep, rich sauce, which I served with boiled potatoes.I'm linking this recipe up with Foods of the World Forums and a post by another Montana foodie who only lives a sho
