Category Archives: Food & Wine

I’m about to head to the grocery store to fill in on some staples (actually I was supposed to be out the door an hour ago), but first I’m posting this week’s menus

Monday: Grilled filet mignon with scallion butter, asparagus
Tuesday: Cranberry chicken, mashed white beans with roasted garlic
Wednesday: Burritoes or tacos
Thursday: Onion soup breaded chicken, green beans
Friday: Greek chicken pitas, salad
Saturday: Fish taco salad

If you watch the flyers you can sometimes find filet mignon on sale for a great price. About a month ago, Shop-Rite (a Northeast chain), had it for $4.99/lb. I think we bought like $40 worth of it and had the butcher cut it into individual steaks. We’ve already had it four times I think, and there’s probably at least another four dinners in the freezer. I always feel so extravagent when I eat it, but the cheapskate side of me knows the truth 😉

The cranberry chicken recipe is from “Don’t Panic – Dinner’s in the Freezer.” I’ll be freezing half the batch, and eating half for dinner on Tuesday. The recipe for mashed white beans if from “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.”

You can find the recipe for Greek Chicken Pitas here.

And the fish taco salad? I have to figure that out, but basically it’s just going to be fish tacos without the tortillas. What are you making?

The plan: Spaghetti Abruzzi (no rigatoni, sigh); garden salad; garlic bread; Bigi Vipra Rossa 2005; and watching “Zodiac.”

I can’t wait to crack open that wine and relax for the rest of the evening.

Although I don’t remember every week, I like to participate in Sandra’s “Slow Cooking Thursday” when I can. And today is the perfect opportunity because I have something simmering in the old Crock Pot as I type, so of course it only makes sense to submit the recipe! I’ve been craving butternut squash soup lately. The first time I had it was at a friend’s wedding on the Cape several years ago. I lost the recipe I used to use, but found one in a cookbook I bought last Spring. Then yesterday, when one of my customers started telling me about the butternut squash soup she had made this week, I decided to just make some today. Now, as with any recipe I’ve adjusted it for my own tastes and needs. I cut down on the ingredients because I didn’t want to make quite that much, so I kind of eyeballed everything. I also used fresh, grated ginger instead of the dried, and poultry seasoning because I didn’t have any sage. Close enough, right? I may or may not stir the cream in, I haven’t decided. Might just use it as a garnish, we’ll see. At any rate, here you go:

Butternut Squash Soup

• 3 packages (12 oz. each) frozen cooked winter squash, thawed and drained OR about 4.5 cups mashed cooked butternut squash.
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth (3-4 cups)
• 1 medium Golden Delicious apple, peeled and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. minced onion
• 1 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. minced fresh sage OR 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 cup heavy cream OR half-and-half

1. Combine all ingredients except cream in slow cooker. Cover; cook on HIGH about 3 hours or on LOW about 6 hours.
2. Puree soup in blender, food processor, or with electric mixer. Return to slow cooker; keep warm. Stir in cream just before serving.
Makes 6-8 servings

First, I just want to thank you all for your great suggestions! Seems most people were leaning toward a subscription to Everyday Food, and I ended up purchasing the Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook. I also ordered Don’t Panic – Dinner’s In the Freezer. Ever since that Top Chef challenge (Okay, yeah, Top Chef is the exception to my rule against reality shows) where they had to create a meal to go from freezer to stove I’ve been thinking a lot about freezer cooking. Perhaps where my slow cooker is failing me, this method might work out better. We’ll see. The book got mostly favorable reviews. I’ll let you know what I think when I get them!

Yesterday was delurking day, apparently, and had I known I would have mentioned it on my blog here. I know I have more people reading than my usual commenters — I’m especially interested to know who certain readers are from certain areas of New York and Massachusetts. They can’t all be my family (and my friend Dara!). So here’s your chance to delurk, comment, and help me out.

I have a gift certificate burning a hole in my Amazon account. And it’s almost my birthday. So I thought I’d use it to buy myself a new cookbook. What would you suggest? Keep in mind that I do like quick and easy recipes, but I’m quite adept at cooking and not afraid of a challenge. I also like to stay away from anything involving multiple cans of condensed soup, LOL… So, what are your favorites? Give me some ideas!

ETA: Oooor, should I subscribe to one of the following: Cooking Light, Everyday Food, or Food & Wine?

I love eggs. I just have to say that. I love eggs sooo much! I just made myself a near-perfect omelette for lunch and it made me very happy. The veggies could have sauteed a bit longer, but… it was still quite yummy. Eggs are so overlooked these days, aren’t they? My copy of The Great Book of French Cuisine has an entire chapter on eggs. Forty-two pages of why they are important, the proper cooking methods, and dozens and dozens of egg recipes. This is one more reason why I love the French: they appreciate eggs.

The other day I was at Big Lots (of all places) and saw this candy bar at the check-out. It is Hershey’s Whole Bean Chocolate and is made with 40% less sugar than “the leading milk chocolate.” They count the entire bar as a serving, and it’s 180 calories. Half of the bar is plenty to crush that chocolate fix, though. The taste is really good. It is not as sweet as a regular Hershey’s bar, but it has more sweetness to it than dark chocolate. It has kind of a weird aftertaste to it, though. That’s the only bad thing. But apparently it has more flavanol antioxidants than some other dark chocolate bars. Interesting!