Well that title dates me doesn’t it? It sounds like something a 70’s DJ would have said to describe something he was about to spin on his stacks of wax.

Coming back to the current era, I made Martha’s Smoky Beef Tacos (March Everyday Food).  First I had to make a trip to the store. I needed a chuck roast. I’ve never made tacos with anything other than ground beef, ground turkey or sliced chicken breast, so this was a departure already. I also had to buy chipotles in adobo sauce. I am not wild about super hot things, so I was a little frightened by that. My grocery store also had only one can, teetering on the edge between the Mexican and Asian sections, which I thought a to be little dysfunctional.

Fortunately, I read this recipe the day before and knew I needed 2  1/2 hours for the meat to cook! This is not a quick last minute meal like most tacos are.

Ready to cook

This was very easy to put together. Cut the meat into 4 pieces and add it to a pot with ketchup, the chipotles, 8 garlic cloves, oregano and salt and pepper. That’s it! You cook it on the stove until it boils then stick it in the oven.

I assembled my tortillas, cheese, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce and sour cream as toppings. When I took the meat out of the oven, it was not what I expected. I thought it would fall apart more as it cooked. No problem though – I put Mr. MarthaAndMe on it with a fork and it shredded nicely. I kept the sauce separate and served it in a bowl on the side.

This was really, really good. I loved having pieces of meat rather than ground meat. It had a nice flavor by itself, but I did sprinkle a little sauce on (Mr. MarthaAndMe dumped some on and said it made it very spicy – no kisses for his chipotle breath tonight). I have a lot leftover, so I’m going to freeze it for

Shredded

another meal.

The worst part of this? The pot! It came out of the oven totally gross, with sauce burnt all around the edges. I have not even attempted to scrub it – I’ve got it soaking. It’s going to be ugly. Mr. MarthaandMe wanted to know if Martha would come over to do the dishes.  I should get him to watch that Whatever Martha episode where she teaches how to load the dishwasher and how to wash dishes.  I think his head would explode!

My taco

Well that title dates me doesn’t it? It sounds like something a 70’s DJ would have said to describe something he was about to spin on his stacks of wax. Coming back to the current era, I made Martha’s Smoky Beef Tacos (March Everyday Food).  First I had to make a trip to the store. … Read more →

I love spinach, so I was happy to see Sauteed Spinach with Crisp Pancetta in the March issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. This is super simple. You cook up some pancetta, then remove it from the pan. You cook your spinach in the grease, salt and pepper it, add the pancetta and squeeze some lemon juice on top. Quick, simple and very tasty!

I love spinach, so I was happy to see Sauteed Spinach with Crisp Pancetta in the March issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. This is super simple. You cook up some pancetta, then remove it from the pan. You cook your spinach in the grease, salt and pepper it, add the pancetta and squeeze some … Read more →

In the March issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food, there is a recipe for Irish Beef Hand Pies.  These are little pastry pockets with a meat and veg filling. They reminded a lot of Cornish Pasties which a family friend used to serve at his New Orleans restaurant and of which  I have fond memories.

This recipe sounded pretty easy, so I was eager to give a go on a busy weeknight. Silly me.

The Filling

I cut this recipe in half, so keep that in mind as you read. First, you cook potatoes and cabbage with a little oil. I really, really think it needs some onion, so if you make it, add some onion at this stage. Once that is cooked, you add ground beef. Then some tomato paste, Worchestershire, thyme, water and salt and pepper. You cook it for about 15 minutes.

Ugly mess for the oven

Next you are supposed to roll out a pie crust into a 14 inch square. The recipe says to use homemade or store-bought. I had a store bought pie crust and I attempted to roll it out and it ripped and shredded and was quite thin. I ended up tossing that in the garbage and making one from scratch. This should have been no problem – I’ve been making pie crust with the same recipe since I was about 10. However, this time, something was wrong with it. It did not form a ball in the Cuisinart like it is supposed to. At this point, I was not going to start over yet again, so I decided to just go with it. I did get it rolled out to about the right size, but after I put my filling on it and tried to fold it, it simply shredded. Complete disaster.  I made it work though since I had to get dinner on the table.

On the plate

As you can see, they were not pretty looking. As for taste? Well, onion is definitely missing. I felt that in general they were kind of bland and dry. I would like the filling to be moister. However, if that’s the case, then the dough needs to be thicker so it doesn’t get soggy.

Overall, I was not impressed with these at all.

In the March issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food, there is a recipe for Irish Beef Hand Pies.  These are little pastry pockets with a meat and veg filling. They reminded a lot of Cornish Pasties which a family friend used to serve at his New Orleans restaurant and of which  I have fond memories. … Read more →

We love Dutch baby pancakes in this house. We first had them at the Original Pancake House, where they are truly fabulous. A few years ago, I began requesting them for Mother’s Day breakfast. There’s a recipe for a Dutch Baby Pancake in the March Martha Stewart Everyday Food, so I woke up on a weekend morning and decided to whip it up.

I saw Martha make this on the Today show last week and may I just say, she completely and totally burned it! This recipe is part of a section on skillet cooking. I find this concept silly. It doesn’t save you any pots and pans and there is nothing easier about it at all, so I don’t quite see why it is so exciting. I don’t have a cast iron skillet, so I had to cheat and use round baking pans for this recipe (that’s how we normally make our own Dutch Baby recipe anyhow).

In the Blender

Martha says to mix the entire recipe in the blender. I don’t know what her fascination is with the blender, but she’s had a lot of blender recipes lately too. I’m not wild about the blender. It always oozes down the side and is not easy to clean.  I’m much happier with a bowl and a spoon I think.

Ok, so you dump in your eggs, sugar, salt, flour and milk and whizz it up. You melt butter in your skillet (cake pans for me) and put it in the oven.

Martha says one Dutch baby

Pouring

pancake feeds four. I doubled this for 4 people and it wasn’t enough! I also cooked mine on convection since everyone was VERY HUNGRY and did not want to wait.

Once they come out of the oven, Martha says to put powdered sugar and lemon juice on them. That is how we make our Dutch babies, but we also add sliced strawberries and maple syrup.

The end result was a lot like Yorkshire pudding in my opinion. It’s very eggy. Everyone agreed it was not very filling at all. It was good, but I think I am going to stick with my

Done

own Dutch Baby recipe. Here it is if you want to try it:

– 3 eggs

– 1/2 c. flour

– 1/2 tsp salt

– 1/2 c. milk

– 2 tbsp melted butter

Whisk eggs until blended. Stir in flour and salt, then add milk and melted butter. Pour into a 9 inch greased pan and bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temp to 350, and prick the edges of the pancake with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve with butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and syrup.

We love Dutch baby pancakes in this house. We first had them at the Original Pancake House, where they are truly fabulous. A few years ago, I began requesting them for Mother’s Day breakfast. There’s a recipe for a Dutch Baby Pancake in the March Martha Stewart Everyday Food, so I woke up on a … Read more →

In the March issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food, you will find a recipe for Spinach Salad with Salmon. This is part of the balsamic viniagrette trio of recipes. The idea is you make the viniagrette and use it on pork chops one night and this salad another. As you may remember, I wasn’t wild about the pork chops, so I did not have high hopes for this recipe either.

I broiled the salmon and prepared my salad of spinach, halved cherry tomatoes and goat cheese. I am not normally a fan of goat cheese, so I was a little wary. I flaked the salmon onto the salad and then drizzled with the viniagrette.

Folks, we have a winner! This was SO good. Oh my gosh, I loved it. The flavors went together perfectly. I even liked the goat cheese in it. I will make this one again for sure!

In the March issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food, you will find a recipe for Spinach Salad with Salmon. This is part of the balsamic viniagrette trio of recipes. The idea is you make the viniagrette and use it on pork chops one night and this salad another. As you may remember, I wasn’t wild … Read more →

It sounded simple enough to whip up the Balsamic-Rosemary Viniagrette in March Martha Stewart Everyday Food and marinate some pork chops in it for Balsamic Glased Pork Chops.After all, Lucinda Scala Quinn made it look very easy and tasty when she appeared on the Martha Stewart Show.  Silly me.

This is another one of those blender recipes Martha is so fond of lately. You dump in your balsamic, water, garlic clove, salt, pepper, rosemary and mustard and whizz it up. Then you drizzle your olive oil in and presto it is supposed to be done.

Not so fast! As I was pouring it out into a container, the big lump of garlic clove came plopping out. The blender didn’t even touch it. So I dumped it all back in and pulsed it. Still nothing. So next I fished it out and put it in the mini- Cuisinart. No luck there either – it just hung out on the sides and refused to chop. Finally I pulled out a cutting board and minced it by hand. By this point, I had a counter full of dirty dishes for a recipe that was supposed to be simple! This not a happy Martha moment.

I poured some over the chops and let them sit in the fridge a couple of hours. Then I grilled them on the Jenn-Air.

I wasn’t excited about these at all. I think they really need to marinate overnight to get any flavor. I could barely taste the viniagrette. There wasn’t anything special about this, and after all the work it was to make, I was annoyed!

It sounded simple enough to whip up the Balsamic-Rosemary Viniagrette in March Martha Stewart Everyday Food and marinate some pork chops in it for Balsamic Glased Pork Chops.After all, Lucinda Scala Quinn made it look very easy and tasty when she appeared on the Martha Stewart Show.  Silly me. This is another one of those … Read more →

On the Feb 17 Martha Stewart Show, Lucinda Scala Quinn made two vegetable dishes from Everyday Food I was dying to try – Carmelized Green Beanswith Nuts and Buttery Broccoli with Parsley. Can I just say that I love Lucinda? When she comes on the show it is like a breath of fresh air. She is so calm and controlled and she is also beautiful. I like Sarah Carey, but Sarah always seems a little ill at ease with Martha. She’s always apologizing for making a mess or not doing it Martha’s way, but Lucinda and Martha act like they are equals and are very comfortable with each other and in tune. I also think Lucinda has very good taste, so I was excited to give these a try.

We eat a lot of broccoli in this house. It’s one of the few vegetables everyone will eat. Also, Teen Martha’s boyfriend (Shorty) is mad about my broccoli. He just loves it, so whenever Shorty stays for dinner, I try to make it. Usually I boil or steam my broccoli, similar to the method Lucinda uses. This recipe then says to add butter, parsley and some white vinegar to the broccoli. I really did not feel the parsley did much at all. And I was not wild about the vinegar, and in fact didn’t feel you could really taste it very much. I’ll stick with my regular broccoli I think. When I want to dress up my broccoli, I add some toasted pecans and brown butter.

Now, the carmelized green beans are another story. This is a completely new method for me. Lucinda says to heat some oil and then add your beans and cook on medium low, partly covered, for 30 min. At the end, you add some pine nuts. The beans become sliglty brown on the outside and very soft. The process really did make them sweeter and easier to eat. I loved it! Teen Martha even liked it and she normally does not like beans. This was a true hit and I will be making it again. Thanks Lucinda.

On the Feb 17 Martha Stewart Show, Lucinda Scala Quinn made two vegetable dishes from Everyday Food I was dying to try – Carmelized Green Beanswith Nuts and Buttery Broccoli with Parsley. Can I just say that I love Lucinda? When she comes on the show it is like a breath of fresh air. She … Read more →

On the Feb 17 Martha Stewart Show, Lucinda Scala Quinn made two vegetable dishes from Everyday Food I was dying to try – Carmelized Green Beanswith Nuts and Buttery Broccoli with Parsley. Can I just say that I love Lucinda? When she comes on the show it is like a breath of fresh air. She is so calm and controlled and she is also beautiful. I like Sarah Carey, but Sarah always seems a little ill at ease with Martha. She’s always apologizing for making a mess or not doing it Martha’s way, but Lucinda and Martha act like they are equals and are very comfortable with each other and in tune. I also think Lucinda has very good taste, so I was excited to give these a try.

We eat a lot of broccoli in this house. It’s one of the few vegetables everyone will eat. Also, Teen Martha’s boyfriend (Shorty) is mad about my broccoli. He just loves it, so whenever Shorty stays for dinner, I try to make it. Usually I boil or steam my broccoli, similar to the method Lucinda uses. This recipe then says to add butter, parsley and some white vinegar to the broccoli. I really did not feel the parsley did much at all. And I was not wild about the vinegar, and in fact didn’t feel you could really taste it very much. I’ll stick with my regular broccoli I think. When I want to dress up my broccoli, I add some toasted pecans and brown butter.

Now, the carmelized green beans are another story. This is a completely new method for me. Lucinda says to heat some oil and then add your beans and cook on medium low, partly covered, for 30 min. At the end, you add some pine nuts. The beans become sliglty brown on the outside and very soft. The process really did make them sweeter and easier to eat. I loved it! Teen Martha even liked it and she normally does not like beans. This was a true hit and I will be making it again. Thanks Lucinda.

On the Feb 17 Martha Stewart Show, Lucinda Scala Quinn made two vegetable dishes from Everyday Food I was dying to try – Carmelized Green Beanswith Nuts and Buttery Broccoli with Parsley. Can I just say that I love Lucinda? When she comes on the show it is like a breath of fresh air. She … Read more →

My teenage daughter eagerly awaits the delivery of each issue of Martha Stewart Living. She goes through the magazine and makes a list of all the things she wants to make from it, then never has time. Yesterday, though, she wanted to make cookies, so I suggested she try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookies in March Everyday Food.

She mixed up the sugar, peanut butter, and butter then added eggs, vanilla and dry ingredients. The dough was very crumbly and did not come together at all. She stirred in the chocolate chips (we didn’t have any chocolate to chop) and then tried to use the little cookie scoop we have to make the cookies, but it would not form. Finally she ended up forming them by hand, but as you can see in the photo, they were very crumbly.

She made them larger than the recipe called for, because it was nearly impossible to get smaller ones to stay together. They took longer to bake than the recipe said because they were so large.

As they baked, they did not spread at all, which we thought to be surprising. The end result was a very nice cookie. Since they didn’t spread, they remained nicely formed. The peanut butter flavor was very mild and you might not realize it was a peanut butter dough right away. They were just the right mix of crunch and softness. A good thing! Nice job Teen Martha!

My teenage daughter eagerly awaits the delivery of each issue of Martha Stewart Living. She goes through the magazine and makes a list of all the things she wants to make from it, then never has time. Yesterday, though, she wanted to make cookies, so I suggested she try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookies … Read more →

I’ve been through March Martha Stewart Living and this issue is primarily about gardening. I’m not a great gardener by any means, so I do want to learn from it, but it’s winter in Buffalo with snow on the ground. There isn’t going to be any gardening to be done around here for months yet, so Martha has left me with not much to do in this issue! Therefore, I have turned to Everyday Food and will be making several recipes from there this month.

The recipe for Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes looked good and it looked pretty easy. That is until I went to the pantry and discovered the box of penne I have is more than half empty, so I substituted rigatoni. A small cheat.

Now, can I just say that my definition of easy, everyday cooking does not involve three pots for one dish? In this recipe you’re supposed to cook the pasta in one, cook the chicken breast in another, and make the sauce in a third. That’s a lot of clean up in my opinion.

Despite that, this was a snap to make. I boiled the noodles and while they drained, I made the sauce in that pot (thus getting down to 2 pots which definitely made me happier!). The sauce was quite easy to make – cook garlic and flour in butter ( used half olive oil and half butter – trying to be heart healthy!). Then whisk in milk (I always use skim milk instead of the whole milk Martha uses in every recipe and never have a problem). Next you add mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, then cheese. Add the chicken and pasta, put it in a dish, sprinkle some cheese over it, and in it goes into the oven.

I cut this recipe in half – Martha wants you to make two pans of it and freeze one. I love doing that, but I won’t do it with a new recipe because then you could end up with double the amount of inedible food!

I regretted that decision though because this was DELICIOUS! Really, truly fabulous. I was a little nervous when I scooped the first spoonful out (which is when I remembered to take the photo, so pardon the messy area), because at first it seemed like it might be a little runny, but it actually was not.

This was creamy, cheesy and just perfect. I usually do not like sundried tomatoes, but in this recipe they worked wonderfully. I think I might like a little more chicken than it contains. There is only one chicken breast in the whole pan, so increasing that would make this feel a little more like a main dish. I cannot wait to have leftovers for lunch today.

So now kids, this is what I’m wondering. This is one of my first forays into Everyday Food and it was a home run (truly a “good thing”). Do we think maybe those recipes are better in general? What are your thoughts?

I’ve been through March Martha Stewart Living and this issue is primarily about gardening. I’m not a great gardener by any means, so I do want to learn from it, but it’s winter in Buffalo with snow on the ground. There isn’t going to be any gardening to be done around here for months yet, … Read more →