What’s Cooking?

March 30, 2016 By Carole

We’ve been eating some really good food lately and I thought I’d take a moment today to share some of it with you.

First up an appetizer that is so simple it doesn’t even have a recipe:

Sliced cucumber rounds topped with Boursin and sprinkled with parsley. It takes longer to clean the pastry applicator than it does to make these.

Next up, a perfect Easter appetizer:

Pimiento cheese in the shape of a carrot, topped with shredded cheddar and with some parsley stuck in the top. I saw it on Pinterest and totally nailed it.

And another simple appetizer:

Found over on Pioneer Woman, it’s simply puffed pastry, fontina cheese and fresh asparagus. I made it for Dale and I as a prototype on Friday and then made it again on Easter. Devoured by all.

Finally, our dinner from last Saturday night:

Superb oven roasted cod with tomatoes. The recipe is here. I served it with fresh green beans and baked potatoes and it was colorful and delicious and I think this will be my new go-to fish recipe.

What have you been cooking lately?

February Vacation: A Restaurant Review

March 24, 2016 By Carole

It dawned on me yesterday, when I was trying to figure out what to post about today, that I never finished telling you about our New York City adventures. I gave you a quick list of the places we visited and I told you about the Tenement Museum. But I think I have more to say. I’m going to give it a shot, anyway.

One of my favorite places that we ate was a little restaurant called The Hourglass Tavern. I found it on Yelp and the reviews were excellent. Almost as important as those reviews was the fact that it was only 2 blocks from our hotel. Since my feet were absolutely killing me this sounded just right. As an aside, let me just say that our hotel was located on the edge of Hell’s Kitchen and that turned out to be a very excellent location.

Anyway. The Hourglass is known for getting diners in and out in under an hour, perfect for those who are dining before heading to the theater. We waited until after 7:30 to walk over, figuring the theater crowd would be situated in the theater and the restaurant would be quiet. And we were right. We didn’t have a reservation since this was a spur of the moment decision but they couldn’t have been more gracious and accommodating.

This is a very tiny restaurant and we had a little table in the front window – they had to pull the table out for me to slide in behind it. I had a delicious Manhattan and Dale had some bourbon and we both perused the menu.

Dale ordered pasta bolognese and I went with the short ribs and both meals were fantastic. The prices were terrific and the service was perfect. Our waitress was right there when we wanted her but she didn’t hover or rush us along and she had the most lovely Italian accent.

If you’re in the neighborhood I highly recommend giving this place a try. It is perfectly charming and and romantic and exactly the right spot for us on this particular evening.

Pressure Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage

March 16, 2016 By Carole

Can we talk about food again today? I know. But tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and some of you may be planning on cooking corned beef and cabbage and I want to tell you about the great version of it that I made on Monday night.

The recipe is here and yes, it uses an electric pressure cooker. Mine continues to be a frequent flyer in my kitchen, completely worth every penny I paid for it.

It’s not the prettiest of dinners but it sure is one of the tastiest.

Happy Almost St. Patrick’s Day from this Swedish/English girl.

Eye Candy Friday

January 15, 2016 By Carole

Actually, it’s Eye Cupcake Friday. Or maybe Cupcake Candy Friday? Yeah. That’s better. In any case, feast your eyes on those beeee-ay-uuu-tiful Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes. To be more precise, and to use the description from my friend Caroline of Buttercup’s Bakery, who baked these, dark chocolate cupcakes, filled with home made salted caramel, signature buttercream and caramel drizzle. Ohhhhh yesssssss.

Eat something delicious this weekend, won’t you? And then go to the gym and work it off! That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it. Have a good one, my friends.

P.S. Go Pats!

P.P.S. I almost forgot, Monday is a holiday. And that means I will see you back here on Tuesday.

P.P.P.S. Love ya.

Hullo, Bandwagon

January 13, 2016 By Carole

I’m not exactly sure when I first became aware of the Instant Pot. It was sometime around the middle of December. Or maybe earlier. I started seeing it mentioned now and again by a friend or two on Facebook. You know the posts, “hey, I made this for dinner and it was fantastic.” I paid little attention because a pressure cooker? Me? Nah.

But those posts became more frequent and harder to ignore. Suddenly it seemed like every knitter I knew had an Instant Pot. Okay, so it was like 3 or 4. Still. I started researching. And thinking. I even mentioned to Dale that perhaps I’d like one of these for Christmas. He did not take the bait.

However, within a day or two after Christmas it became apparent that everyone else got one for Christmas. Okay, so it was like 3 or 4. Still. I really started jonesing for an Instant Pot. And before you could say what-the-hell-are-you-buying-another-appliance-for I had spent 2 Amazon gift cards and some Amazon Visa points and ordered one for my own self.

I have not regretted this decision for a second. I have used it a bunch of times already. Hard boiled eggs? Worth the cost right there – they peel like a dream. I’ve also made some great dinners.

Beef with broccoli.

Lentil soup.

And also – not pictured because some food stuffs just aren’t that photogenic – pork tenderloin and pork chops with mushroom gravy. I also plan on trying a whole chicken and making my own yogurt.

Am I a lemming? Perhaps. But I’m a lemming who can now make really great food really fast.