This site started out as MarthaAndMe, where I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart for a year. I learned a lot in that year and still have an appreciation for all things Martha. In the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, there’s a recipe for One-Pan Pasta.  The article that accompanied it explained that the editors came across a chef in Italy who made pasta dishes in just one pan, cooking pasta, vegetables, seasonings, etc. all together at the same time – no boiling pasta and making a separate sauce. The water cooks out, the pasta cooks and the sauce is created. It sounded too good to be true.

I halved the recipe and I also substituted gluten-free rotini for the linguine. It worked. It was magical. No testing the pasta to see if it’s done. No draining of hot water. No attempts to combine sauce and pasta. It was just as easy as was promised. The pasta was perfectly cooked (and I knew I was taking a risk using gluten-free pasta in this!). The sauce was really creamy and flavorful. I would add more basil next time and some oregano. Other than that, it was truly perfect.

This site started out as MarthaAndMe, where I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart for a year. I learned a lot in that year and still have an appreciation for all things Martha. In the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, there’s a recipe for One-Pan Pasta.  The article that accompanied it explained that the … Read more →

Our project this month was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers and was in Oct Living – Orecchiette. I remember when the magazine came I paged past this and thought “yeah, right.” Then it was chosen as our project. And, as I posted last week, I learned I am gluten intolerant. I almost didn’t make it, but I decided that I really have to be brave when it comes to gluten-free substitutions, so I went for it. The recipe is really basic. It uses semolina flour, all purpose flour, salt and water. I thought long and hard about this and poked around on the internet to see how to make GF pasta at home. So I ended up substituting Bob’s Red Mill GF flour for the semolina. It’s a really yellow flour and has things like chickpea flour in it. I used Cup4Cup GF flour for the AP flour and I added an egg to the recipe to hold it all together (and reduced the water to compensate). It worked!

I made half a batch and had no problems working with the dough at all. I made this on a Sunday morning. I was so sure it would be a disaster, I didn’t save the pasta for dinner and had about half of it myself for lunch. I made a simple preparation to dress it: I cooked one piece of chopped bacon. I removed the cooked bacon and added one chopped scallion, salt and pepper, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1/4 cup peas to it. I had some leftover cooked winter squash, so I scooped out a couple of tablespoons of that and mixed it in. I tossed it with the pasta and added Parmesan cheese. It was really, really, really good!

I have made fresh pasta myself only once (see Pici of You Know Whatti) and it was a total disaster. This was easy and I can actually see making it again in the future!

December’s project was chosen by Pru and is Golden Pear Cream Puffs.

Our project this month was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers and was in Oct Living – Orecchiette. I remember when the magazine came I paged past this and thought “yeah, right.” Then it was chosen as our project. And, as I posted last week, I learned I am gluten intolerant. I almost didn’t make … Read more →

Martha Mondays is back and we’ve retooled it a bit. We’ll now be making a recipe the first Monday of each month and it will be a somewhat challenging or interesting recipe. We welcome new members, so if you would like to participate let me know.

This month’s recipe is Caramel Chocolate Cake, chosen by Megan’s Cookin’.

You make this on a jelly roll pan, then cut it in half and layer it with the buttercream frosting. I found it a bit hard to maneuver around. The cake was too big for any platter I had and it wanted to break when I lifted it. I ended up using a cutting board to transfer it and to serve it.

I also had some trouble with the frosting. Mine was pretty runny. I should have refrigerated it before I tried to assemble it. I eventually got it together and we enjoyed this cake very much! The cake is moist and delicious. The frosting has WAY too much butter in it (a whole pound) and I thought it was a bit light on the caramel flavor, but it was still good. I did not make little spiderwebs on the top like you are supposed to: cake decorating is just not my thing.  I liked this cake a lot though and would probably make it again with a different icing, and in a different pan.

Martha Mondays is back and we’ve retooled it a bit. We’ll now be making a recipe the first Monday of each month and it will be a somewhat challenging or interesting recipe. We welcome new members, so if you would like to participate let me know. This month’s recipe is Caramel Chocolate Cake, chosen by … Read more →

I have to admit, I’m really liking Martha’s new cookbook, Martha’s American Food (disclosure: the publisher sent me a review copy after I asked for it – I looked at it in the library and really, really liked it). I’ve got lots of pages marked. Spicy peach-glazed chicken sounded really good, and it was grilled, which is even better on a hot summer day. I left out the cayenne when I made it since I don’t like really spicy foods, but the garlic definitely gave this plenty of zing. It was quick, simple and no marinating was required which meant it worked when I realized I needed to get something on the table in an hour.

1 cup peach jam or preserves

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp cayenne

salt and pepper

4 skin on chicken breasts

4 ripe but firm peaches

Heat grill to medium. Mix preserves, garlic, oil, soy sauce, dry mustard, and cayenne and season with salt and pepper.

Brush grill with vegetable oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place skin side down on the grill. Cook about 10 minutes on each side before brushing with glaze. Cook another 10-12 minutes turning every 3-5 minutes. While chicken is cooking, place peach halves on the grill cut side down and brush with glaze and cook 2 minutes. Turn them and cook 3-4 minutes until the cavities fill with juices.

I used chicken leg quarters for this, left out the cayenne, whizzed up all the glaze ingredients in the food processor, and did not have any peaches to grill, but it was really tasty and delicious! I will definitely make this again and again.

I have to admit, I’m really liking Martha’s new cookbook, Martha’s American Food (disclosure: the publisher sent me a review copy after I asked for it – I looked at it in the library and really, really liked it). I’ve got lots of pages marked. Spicy peach-glazed chicken sounded really good, and it was grilled, which … Read more →

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The  blueberry crisp was very easy to put together and turned out nicely. I served it with vanilla ice cream. I modified the recipe to include cinnamon in the filling and the topping (a pinch in the topping and about 1/2 tsp in the filling) and I also increased the amount of sugar in the blueberries by about 1/3 cup. Also, as I was typing in the recipe below, it hit me that I forgot to add in the baking powder, so the recipe works even if you forget that! I loved the bit of crunch this gets from the oats. This is the perfect summer dessert. We really enjoyed this, and my in-laws whom I served it to loved it!

A note about Martha Mondays: We’re going to take a break for a couple of weeks. I was going to suggest resuming on 8/20, but Pru is taking a blogging break for August and I thought maybe everyone would like a break during the hottest part of the summer as well.  How does getting started again on Sept 3  with a pick from Megan sound?

Blueberry Crisp

For the filling:

6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp coarse salt

 

For the topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional – I did not use this)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Make the filling: Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking dish.

Make the topping: In a medium bowl stir together flour, oats, nuts, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer on medium, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir flour mixture into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together to form clumps.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until filling is bubbling in center and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

 

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The … Read more →

Usually I like to have my Martha Mondays post up in the morning, but I didn’t get to make this until just now. Greek Chicken Cutlets was chosen by Tiny Skillet. Greek food is always a winner in this house.

I liked this – especially how easy it was. I served mine over orzo, which was good. I don’t cook with mint often. But I did plant some in the herb garden this year, so I was happy to have an excuse to use it. I like no-cook tomato sauces like this in the summer. I made the chicken on the grill which made it even easier to put together. A great weeknight dinner.

Usually I like to have my Martha Mondays post up in the morning, but I didn’t get to make this until just now. Greek Chicken Cutlets was chosen by Tiny Skillet. Greek food is always a winner in this house. I liked this – especially how easy it was. I served mine over orzo, which … Read more →

Pru at Perfecting Pru chose this week’s recipe, cabinets. I had never heard of these before! They are essentially a milkshake on top of a sweetened, cooked fruit puree.syrup. Martha says they are from Rhode Island. I visited Rhode Island only once, when I was looking at Brown University (it’s probably where I would have gone had I not met my husband and decided to stay local to be with him). I didn’t have a cabinet when there. About the only thing I remember about Providence was my mom complaining that there was no place nice to stay or eat when we were there, which she found hard to believe with such a prestigious university in town.

I was intrigued at the idea of this drink I had never heard of and did some Googling. From what I read, Martha’s recipe is not really a cabinet at all. A Rhode Island cabinet is actually called a coffee cabinet. They make a drink called “coffee milk,” which is milk with coffee syrup. When you add ice cream to this to make it a milkshake, it’s a coffee cabinet. Fascinating. Now I will have to go to RI to sample one!

Anyway, I’m always excited to try something new and this was definitely new! I made the raspberry/strawberry/cherry fruit mix. I really don’t like raspberry seeds though. I am unsure how you are supposed to eat this. Spoon? Straw? Both? Some of the fruit was too big to make it up the straw. I liked it best when I mixed the fruit in completely because then it tasted like a smoothie and it wasn’t so tart (the fruit on its own just tart compared with the sweetness of the milkshake).

This was really pretty when put together and is a fun way to make a milkshake something classier or more grown up!

Pru at Perfecting Pru chose this week’s recipe, cabinets. I had never heard of these before! They are essentially a milkshake on top of a sweetened, cooked fruit puree.syrup. Martha says they are from Rhode Island. I visited Rhode Island only once, when I was looking at Brown University (it’s probably where I would have … Read more →

Thanks to Sassy Suppers for choosing bruschetta for today’s project. I cheated and used pita bread for this. I have to say I am not much of a fan of bruschetta because I always feel like it needs something else – cheese, or some other vegetables or just something. It was good, but in general I just don’t find it too exciting. I would rather slice the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and eat with some fresh mozzarella than this way I think.

This photo is a total cheat by the way. I completely forgot to take the pic, then when I remembered the grill was off so I just recreated it on an ungrilled piece.

Thanks to Sassy Suppers for choosing bruschetta for today’s project. I cheated and used pita bread for this. I have to say I am not much of a fan of bruschetta because I always feel like it needs something else – cheese, or some other vegetables or just something. It was good, but in general … Read more →

It must be my Irish blood, but I love potatoes. On nights when I’m alone, a baked potato is my go-to dinner. I love potatoes made just about any way you can think of. So of course I had to try the Smashed Potatoes recipe from May Everyday Food.

Here’s the deal: you boil some small potatoes (I used baby red) until just fork tender. Drain. Put them on a greased baking sheet and smash them with your hand, or as I did, with the bottom of a measuring cup. Drizzle them with olive oil and salt and pepper them and bake at 450 for about 35 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are brown and crunchy.  Amazing. I would have cooked mine a bit longer if I had had the time, but these were really good. I might use butter next time instead of olive oil. I served them with sour cream. It was like having French fries but without so much grease.

It must be my Irish blood, but I love potatoes. On nights when I’m alone, a baked potato is my go-to dinner. I love potatoes made just about any way you can think of. So of course I had to try the Smashed Potatoes recipe from May Everyday Food. Here’s the deal: you boil some … Read more →

Perfecting Pru chose Hot Cross Buns with Dried Cherries for this week. I’ve made hot cross buns once before, a Martha recipe, but I liked that this recipe had dried cherries since I don’t like raisins. The recipe actually has half cherries and half raisins. I thought that this did not rise quite as much as I would have liked it to, but other than it turned out well. I cheated and did not use a pastry bag for the frosting, thus the messy look. We all shared one here and enjoyed it, then I sent the rest away since we also had cake to eat from Teen Martha’s birthday (she turned 20 so from now on, we’ll be referring to her as College Martha). We’re taking a break for the next two Mondays and will get going again with a new project after that.

 

Perfecting Pru chose Hot Cross Buns with Dried Cherries for this week. I’ve made hot cross buns once before, a Martha recipe, but I liked that this recipe had dried cherries since I don’t like raisins. The recipe actually has half cherries and half raisins. I thought that this did not rise quite as much … Read more →