New Recipes

Recently, I started cooking again and while I haven't been great about writing about it on the Brooklyn Forager (or tracking it here), I'm hoping to make sure everything gets logged appropriately more frequently.

For now, I've tried a couple of new recipes that are fitting the bill for this challenge:

• Curry Roast Chicken with Tomato Leek Gravy
• Pear Ginger Muffins
• Butternut Squash, Apple and Leek Casserole

I only wrote about the chicken so far, but the other two recipes will be going up on the blog as soon as I can get all the pictures in order and the recipes together.

Brooklyn Forager Round-Up

It has been a ridiculously long time since I checked in with my Brooklyn Forager posts.  The point was, of course, to track this more regularly, but, alas, this is an easy one to let slip for me.  Here's what has been cooking:

• Harvest Season in the Brooklyn Forager Garden
• Walnut Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken
• October Daring Cooks Challenge: Stuffed Grape Leaves (This is also my first one back after some time off! I need to get back on my challenges.)
• Late Summer BLT Salad
• Changing Seasons: Swiss Chard and Bacon Risotto
• Summer Weeknight Supper: Zucchini, Tomato and Ricotta Tart
• Bento Lunch Special: Sesame Balsamic Chicken, Pineapple Fried Rice and Roasted Broccoli 

This round-up also highlights the need to get posting! I have a couple of posts lined up, so that's great.  I also need to really figure out how and when to write.  I seem to write in fits and starts and can generally get 3-4 posts up a month, but I'd really like to be blogging (whether here, Brooklyn Forager or my other blogs) every day.  

Brooklyn Forager: Rainbow Swiss Chard with Anchovies, Pine Nuts and Cranberries over Polenta

I'm not sure where I left off with blog posts over at the Brooklyn Forager, but I do know that it's been awhile since I posted anything.  As I'm getting my energy back, I'm trying to get a bunch written so I can automate my posts more during the week and I won't fall quite so far behind.

On that note, I just posted about a really tasty Rainbow Swiss Chard with Anchovies, Pine Nuts and Cranberries over Polenta.  It was a new recipe to me as well! I can definitely see this one coming up again since we both enjoyed it and you can't deny that it is nice and healthy.

New Recipe Round-Up

I've been tracking my new recipes in a list, but not so diligently.  I am going to catch up with a quick list of a couple and then I'll probably do a monthly round-up going forward.

For now, the recipes I've tried in the recent past include:
Tofu Basil Noodles with Mint Dressing
Broiled Five Spice Salmon with Sesame Black Bean Sauce
Crunchy Chickpea Salad
Sesame Balsamic Chicken

They each turned out well, but I haven't blogged about them yet.  I will try to remember and update this post with links or else they will get included in a Brooklyn Forager round-up when I get organized enough to put one together.

Cauliflower Curry Soup or Aloo Gobi Soup

Last night I tried a recipe that I had been holding onto for awhile - Curried Cauliflower Cream Soup from The Splendid Table Weeknight Dinner emails.  It really couldn't be easier - garlic, onions, potatoes, cauliflower, curry powder and broth cooked together for a total of 35 minutes (there are a couple of steps in there, but minimal chopping and mostly inactive time) and then blended with an immersion blender.  Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of yogurt and you've got a great light creamy soup.  The best part is the cheddar tartines (let's be honest, it's cheesy bread) to dip in the soup.

I refer to it as Aloo Gobi Soup or Cauliflower Curry Soup mainly because there is no cream and I love aloo gobi.  I also figured it was a way to get Austin a little more excited about cauliflower.  I would definitely make this again, perhaps tweaking the spices to make it a bit more complex.  For dinner in a hurry, though, it's a winner.

Look for the recipe at Brooklyn Forager when I get back on track posting over there. 

Crockpot Pulled Pork and Crab Cakes

This weekend, I tried out two new recipes which are worth noting and will definitely count as food blog entries once I get around to writing about them and putting them up on Brooklyn Forager.

The first was Ina Garten's crabcakes with remoulade.  I was nervous about these since the first few turned out crumbly and not quite browned enough.  My husband thanked me for the early errors since he got to try them out and once I got in my groove, the recipe got the Austin seal of approval. 

The second was pulled pork sandwiches.  I have actually debated using this one in the challenge because the whole recipe called for making biscuits from scratch.  I was traveling with my food and didn't want to cram too much into the morning before I headed to the party I was cooking for and also wasn't sure how the biscuits would keep.  The pork itself turned out very well and was such an easy crockpot recipe that I will be making it again.  I figured that's enough to count it as a new recipe even without the biscuits!

When life gives you lemons...and oranges...

I have been given the gift of more free time these days which makes achieving some of these tasks a whole lot easier (and of course some a lot harder).  This week, I made my first solo attempt at jam - a Meyer lemon and Cara Cara orange marmalade for my canning project.  It almost feels like cheating because this task fulfills another blog post, a new recipe, the first of 12 canning challenges, jams from scratch (this fueled the fire so much that I'll be making a Raspberry Lime jam soon which will more completely fulfill "jams" and of course more jams to come in the canning project), and now I've blogged about it and am putting the cash in my special fund.  That's a whole lot of mileage out of one task, but it actually felt so great to set my mind to it and get it done.  So I'm going to just appreciate that I was successful and will go on to try more canning recipes. 

Of course, I never really liked marmalade, so the next challenge will be using it up, but I think it'll have a lot of good uses and I'll learn to like it!

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1. Write a food blog post once a week.

Another food blog post up.  This one is about the Daring Cooks Challenge for January - making satay and peanut sauce. Both are new recipes for me, but I'm going to count it as one since it was sort of a two-part deal.  So that's my third new recipe for the month! 

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Cooking up a storm

To start out the 101 things challenge, I got a number of things started today.

Tried 2 new recipes: southwestern beef brisket from smitten kitchen (will post soon) and Chinese marbled tea eggs from Steamy kitchen (another post to come).  I haven't eaten them yet, but will be tasting them later tonight. 

Use the crockpot: the beef brisket is a crockpot recipe.  Two birds, meet my one stone!

Took a yoga class at Yoga People in Brooklyn - gentle restorative yoga which was a great way to ease into the new year.  I'm finding a bit of back discomfort when I am done, so I have to figure out what exactly is going on. In general, it's a great class though, so it will be repeated in the future.

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