A while ago I made the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from the Nov issue of Everyday Food. My kids love cornbread. Last year I experimented with cornbread stuffing for the first time at Thanksgiving and they liked that too. I was interested to try Martha’s recipe for buttermilk cornbread. I don’t have one recipe I rely on for this. I haven’t yet found one I love. I like my cornbread soft and sweet.

Martha’s cornbread was easy to make. I thought it was done when I took it out of the oven, but when we sat down to dinner, we discovered it was only cooked around the edges and the middle was mush. So, we picked around the edges. The pieces I had were quite good. Soft and sweet enough. The buttermilk is definitely a must in this.  I think this recipe was a winner, but it was hard to tell since not much was edible.

I stuck it back in the oven as I was doing the dishes – and then promptly forgot about it! As you can see, that had a bad outcome! Into the trash it went. Sigh. I think I might make this again to make my cornbread stuffing though – and this time I’ll cook it longer.

A while ago I made the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from the Nov issue of Everyday Food. My kids love cornbread. Last year I experimented with cornbread stuffing for the first time at Thanksgiving and they liked that too. I was interested to try Martha’s recipe for buttermilk cornbread. I don’t have one recipe I rely … Read more →

I must be totally in the minority, but I’ve never had potatoes au gratin. I’ve had very similar dishes, but they always include cheese! Martha has a recipe for Potato Gratin in the November Everyday Food.  I gave it a try, not expecting to be too excited about it.

This was incredibly easy to make and it has very few ingredients. You rub the baking dish with garlic. You boil cream (2 1/2 cups) with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. You peel and slice your potatoes (3 lbs) thinly and layer them in the dish. Then you pour the cream mixture over it and bake it covered for 45 minutes at 375. You remove the cover and cook for another 40 minutes. I cut this recipe about in half since it says it feeds 12.

The only problem I had was the dish bubbled over in the oven and filled the house with smoke.  Other than that, it was a snap.

And I really liked it! I thought it was going to be pretty bad considering it’s basically potatoes and cream and not much else. I was also sure I was going to long for cheese (because don’t I always?). I didn’t. The potatoes turned out so tender and delicious and it really was a great accompaniment to the organic steak we had. I’m still surprised at how good it really was. I wouldn’t make this for Thanksgiving though – give me mashed potatoes any day!

I must be totally in the minority, but I’ve never had potatoes au gratin. I’ve had very similar dishes, but they always include cheese! Martha has a recipe for Potato Gratin in the November Everyday Food.  I gave it a try, not expecting to be too excited about it. This was incredibly easy to make … Read more →

I was paging through November Everyday Food looking for something to make for dinner and feeling pretty unmotivated. It’s been a rough week or two at the MarthaAndMe house with H1N1 knocking Teen Martha off her feet and me still fighting a long-term low-grade infection (3 mos and counting). We had an incident with a Bobcat (not the animal, the machine) getting stuck in the mud in our backyard as part of a large fence installation project and then Mr. MarthaAndMe and I have been dealing with our own individual work stresses. I’m tired. And I’ve got this big Halloween party on Saturday to get ready for. An easy dinner was definitely necessary.

I happened upon Tomato and Shrimp Pasta with Feta (page 47). It’s similar to a tried and true recipe I make called Greek Spaghetti, which is made with chicken. I had a bag of shrimp in the freezer and decided to put this together. You start by making the tomato sauce – onions and garlic, tomato paste, oregano, tomato sauce and then I used some stewed tomatoes. Cook that until it thickens a bit. Boil your pasta (I used whole wheat penne). Martha wants you to cook the shrimp in a separate pan- I just dumped it into the tomato sauce and added the capers and feta (olives were optional but I don’t like them). This was quick and good.

If I made it again, I would definitely add some spinach to it. And although I usually like whole wheat pasta, I just don’t like whole wheat penne. It’s too chewy and heavy somehow. So try another kind of whole wheat pasta if you’re into whole grains.

I still prefer Greek Spaghetti. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it:

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 lb cooked  spaghetti

2 cans stewed tomato

1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 chicken breasts cut into one inch pieces

6 oz feta cheese

1 tsp Greek herb mix (or use oregano)

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, cut into smaller pieces

Pour a few teaspoons of oil from the jar of artichoke in a large pan and cook the garlic quickly. Add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, herbs and green onions and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add in chicken. Break up the tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer and let it cook until it thickens and the chicken is cooked through.  Toss with spaghetti and feta cheese.

I was paging through November Everyday Food looking for something to make for dinner and feeling pretty unmotivated. It’s been a rough week or two at the MarthaAndMe house with H1N1 knocking Teen Martha off her feet and me still fighting a long-term low-grade infection (3 mos and counting). We had an incident with a … Read more →

I’ve only had lamb prepared two ways – grilled or roasted. I’ve never pan fried it. I’m not a big fan of pan frying in general, but Lamb Chops with Mustard Herb Crust (Nov Everyday Food) proved me wrong. This was a very quick (albeit expensive) weeknight meal. I spent $30 on enough lamb for the four of us. Eek. You brush the lamb with dijon mustard that’s been mixed with garlic, then bread it with breadcrumbs, rosemary, Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese. Pan fry it and that’s it. Wow. So simple, yet so flavorful. I would skip the cheese since I don’t think it really added anything. And I think I might whip up a quick little pan sauce to go with it next time. But this was a real winner! The lamb was tender and I could carefully monitor the doneness. The breadcrumbs stuck and the mustard and herbs gave it a really nice taste. They were crunchy on the outside and beautifully done on the inside.

I’ve only had lamb prepared two ways – grilled or roasted. I’ve never pan fried it. I’m not a big fan of pan frying in general, but Lamb Chops with Mustard Herb Crust (Nov Everyday Food) proved me wrong. This was a very quick (albeit expensive) weeknight meal. I spent $30 on enough lamb for … Read more →

Thank you Martha. This dish was just what I needed in the middle of work craziness, possible H1N1 in the house, and a million things all happening at once, I needed something I could stuff in the oven and not think about. This was wonderful.

To make this dish (from Nov Martha Stewart Everyday Food), you mix together chicken chunks, orzo, feta, dill, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt and pepper. You boil some broth and water and pour it over, mix it then, put it in a casserole dish and bake it. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top. That’s it. Now, I did add a can of stewed tomatoes to this and reduced the broth/water amount to compensate. I also added some Greek seasoning.

This was quick, simple and delicious. I froze the leftovers and we’ll have it another night as well. Bravo. This is what Everyday Food should be.

Thank you Martha. This dish was just what I needed in the middle of work craziness, possible H1N1 in the house, and a million things all happening at once, I needed something I could stuff in the oven and not think about. This was wonderful. To make this dish (from Nov Martha Stewart Everyday Food), … Read more →

I bought a package of two portobello mushrooms, intending to make Roasted Portobellos with Rosemary (Oct Everyday Food). I liked the sound of this recipe, but I admit I wasn’t quite sure how to fit it into a meal. A note at the bottom of the page suggests using them in a veggie burger, which would have been good.

I ended up making this on a crazy night and we just had some salad and bread with it. I say “it” because we only ended up with one mushroom. I cleaned them and left them on the counter. One of our dogs helped himself to one of the mushrooms, leaving me with just one!

I chopped up a tiny clove of garlic and added some dried rosemary, olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted this in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes. It turned out quite nicely. Mr. MarthaAndMe and I split it and ate it with our salads. It had a nice flavor and was very juicy. The garlic and rosemary gave it a nice depth of flavor.  I just hate how portobellos always have juice that runs all over the plate, turning everything brown.

I bought a package of two portobello mushrooms, intending to make Roasted Portobellos with Rosemary (Oct Everyday Food). I liked the sound of this recipe, but I admit I wasn’t quite sure how to fit it into a meal. A note at the bottom of the page suggests using them in a veggie burger, which … Read more →

Lucinda Scala Quinn recently appeared on Martha’s show to demonstrate some recipes from October Everyday Food – one of which was Broccoli with Oyster Sauce. The magazine also included a recipe for Cashew Chicken. I made them together one night with some brown rice. I like making Chinese at home, but it’s always so much prep work. The actual cooking is always very quick, but I end up with piles of dishes and opened bottles all over the counter. And I’m always exhausted at the end.

The broccoli dish was very easy.  You cook some garlic and then add your broccoli to the pan where you saute it until it is bright green. Then you add a little water and cover until it’s cooked and then  stir in the sauce. I’ve never cooked broccoli like this; I usually steam it. It did turn a very pretty green color and it was a very quick method. I loved the oyster sauce, which has a nice deep flavor to it.

The cashew chicken was a little more involved. You mix the chicken with ginger, sherry, salt and cornstarch and let it sit for half an hour in the fridge. Then you cook it, remove it and cook your garlic, cashews, and scallions. Then you add the chicken back in and the mixture you’ve made up for the sauce (chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch) and the cashews.

My chicken did not really brown – there was a lot of liquid in it. I should have poured some off and tried to get a better sear on it. The end result was ok, but not great. It all just looked too pale to me and I also felt it was lacking flavor. I think it needed some vegetables to liven it up a little and I also would have increased the amount of ginger and garlic. It just needed some oomph. We ended up mixing the broccoli and chicken together with the rice to get it to taste like something. Other than that, it was a decent dish and much cheaper than take out.

Lucinda Scala Quinn recently appeared on Martha’s show to demonstrate some recipes from October Everyday Food – one of which was Broccoli with Oyster Sauce. The magazine also included a recipe for Cashew Chicken. I made them together one night with some brown rice. I like making Chinese at home, but it’s always so much … Read more →

We are big on chocolate chip cookies in this family, so the recipe in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food for Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies was like a gauntlet being thrown.

The recipe isn’t very different from your typical chocolate chip cookie recipe, except for the fact that it includes semisweet and milk chocolate. Nuts are optional according to the recipe. Dude Martha helped me whip these up on a weekend afternoon recently. I substituted whole wheat flour for one cup of the flour. Martha says to make these cookies big – 1/4 cup of dough for each. We made ours a little bit smaller. We made some with nuts and some without.

I was very happy with the cookie itself, but I don’t like the milk chocolate chips. I’ll stick with semisweet in the future. These cookies are very crispy, which wins points with me. If you like your cookies soft, this recipe isn’t for you. Overall it was very good.

We are big on chocolate chip cookies in this family, so the recipe in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food for Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies was like a gauntlet being thrown. The recipe isn’t very different from your typical chocolate chip cookie recipe, except for the fact that it includes semisweet and milk chocolate. Nuts are … Read more →

I like apples and I like turkey but I never thought to put them together until I saw Apple Braised Turkey Thighs in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

This recipe takes about 2 hours to cook, so it’s a nice thing to make on a fall Sunday. I used a turkey breast instead of turkey thighs with this. It was very easy to make. You start by quickly searing the turkey breast to brown the skin side. Remove it and cook some shallots and then add in some peeled, cored and quartered apples. Put the turkey back in, add apple cider and chicken stock and bring to a boil, then stick in the oven for an hour covered and a half hour uncovered.

When mine was done, I took out the turkey and apples and cooked down the remaining liquid (with the added teaspoon of apple cider vinegar), then I added some Wondra to make it thick like a gravy. This was delicious! It wasn’t as sweet as you might think and the apples and turkey went together perfectly. We had some turkey leftover and I used it in my lunchtime salads for the rest of the week and it was incredibly tender and flavorful. Even the kids liked this one.

I like apples and I like turkey but I never thought to put them together until I saw Apple Braised Turkey Thighs in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food. This recipe takes about 2 hours to cook, so it’s a nice thing to make on a fall Sunday. I used a turkey breast instead of turkey … Read more →

Twice baked potatoes are something I make often and which I learned from my mom. Martha has a recipe for Twice-Baked Sour Cream and Chive Potatoes in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food, so I was ready to give hers a try to see how they compare.

Martha wants you to oven bake your potatoes. I was pressed for time, so I did mine in the microwave as I usually do. This recipe includes butter, sour cream (I used light), milk (I skipped this – I think it makes the potatoes too thin), chives and salt and pepper. You mix this with the insides of the potatoes which you’ve scooped out and then put it back in the shells.

I couldn’t help myself. I had to doctor this up a bit. I added cheese, which is an essential component in my mind. I also sprinkled the tops with paprika which is another essential component.

I liked these with the chives – very tasty. They were creamy and smooth and very filling and comforting. Some variations on twice baked potatoes that I’ve made in the past have included onions, garlic, various types of cheeses, thyme, or bacon. What’s nice about this recipe is that you can adjust it to your tastes and you don’t have to worry about whether it’s going to turn out.

Twice baked potatoes are something I make often and which I learned from my mom. Martha has a recipe for Twice-Baked Sour Cream and Chive Potatoes in October Martha Stewart Everyday Food, so I was ready to give hers a try to see how they compare. Martha wants you to oven bake your potatoes. I … Read more →