I’ve never had a fish taco. There was a fish taco restaurant that opened near us a couple of years ago. We went in, but walked out. My concern with Mexican food is always that it is going to be too spicy. So, I was excited to see that Martha had a recipe for grilled-fish tacos with radish-cabbage slaw (again, the recipe doesn’t seem to up on the Martha web site yet) in May Living.  I had some ocean perch in the freezer, so I grilled that, after rubbing it with the spice mixture in the recipe. I mashed up an avocado and used some bagged slaw (I don’t like radishes so they weren’t missed). I kept the remaining oil, lime and seasoning mixture separate so we could drizzle on the amount each person wanted. I also served this with some sour cream.

This made nice tacos – just enough in them. I loved the taste of the fish in it and anything with avocado is bound to be a hit in my book.  I was all set to chalk this up as a big hit until later that night.

Do you remember a few weeks ago, when I made Martha’s pan sauteed sole? I had an allergic reaction later that night to the sole, which is a fish I’ve been eating regularly all my life. It seemed quite odd to me. Well, the same thing happened with the ocean perch, except it was more severe this time.  Here’s the interesting thing – I bought the perch and sole on the same day at the same fish market. These are both fishes that have never bothered me. I think something happened to this fish in transit or in storage  that caused the reaction I had. Maybe bacteria? I don’t know. But I refuse to believe I am suddenly allergic to fish. So I have to say that although I enjoyed the fish taco at the time, I’m not too fond of it in retrospect!

I’ve never had a fish taco. There was a fish taco restaurant that opened near us a couple of years ago. We went in, but walked out. My concern with Mexican food is always that it is going to be too spicy. So, I was excited to see that Martha had a recipe for grilled-fish … Read more →

The section in May Martha Stewart Living with pizzas was enticing, so I made Heirloom Tomato Pizza. I must confess though that I deviated drastically from this recipe. First, I didn’t make my own dough. I was going to, but ran out of time so I just used store bought dough. Next, there are no heirloom tomatoes to be had in April in Buffalo, so I used tomatoes off the vine from my grocery store. I did not order the Pecorino Pepato cheese you are supposed to for this and instead used parmesan. I also did not order the guanciale and instead used prosciutto. In my mind, those are reasonable substitutions.  In Martha’s mind,they are probably unacceptable.

I put this together and baked it. It was quite good. I like white pizza like this. I used wheat dough which makes me happy. My tomatoes were ok  – I’ll have to make this again in August when I am overrun with local tomatoes. I liked the sliced parmesan on this and the prosciutto got crispy and it was really good. So, whether or not this counts as a Martha dish, we liked it!

The section in May Martha Stewart Living with pizzas was enticing, so I made Heirloom Tomato Pizza. I must confess though that I deviated drastically from this recipe. First, I didn’t make my own dough. I was going to, but ran out of time so I just used store bought dough. Next, there are no … Read more →

Martha’s Honey Teriyaki Chicken (May Martha Stewart Everyday Food) survived a very bumpy ride at my house, but was still good! Here’s the low down. I whipped this up on a weeknight. Very simple to construct – garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey and rice wine vinegar. No problem. I substituted boneless chicken breasts for thighs.

Poor little Teen Martha had to leave for an evening school event and I was feeling guilty because Mr. MarthaandMe has been working so late the past few weeks that it seems she never gets to eat dinner with us. So I stuck this in the oven and cooked it up for her, thinking I could just warm it up for our dinner later.

She liked it and even came back for more, which is unusual. Later, Mr. MarthaandMe called to alert me he was on his way home, so I stuck it back in the oven and heated up the rest of the food (some wild rice and vegetables). Everything was ready when he pulled in the driveway. But then he sat in the car for 20 minutes on a phone call. The chicken was looking a little dark by this point, but I pulled it out and was ready to serve when someone showed up at the door to talk to him about an estimate on some work we need done around the house. So the chicken was on hold again. By the time we finally ate, it was almost 8 pm and poor little Dude Martha was doubled over in agony.

I had little hope that the chicken would be edible at this point- but it was! And it was good! My only suggestion would be that this really needs to marinate before you cook it. We dipped each bite in the sauce since nothing really soaked in. Dude Martha ate his chicken nuggets (his request) but then at the end of dinner asked if he could taste this. He loved it and scarfed down an entire piece. I’ll definitely be making this one again.

Martha’s Honey Teriyaki Chicken (May Martha Stewart Everyday Food) survived a very bumpy ride at my house, but was still good! Here’s the low down. I whipped this up on a weeknight. Very simple to construct – garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey and rice wine vinegar. No problem. I substituted boneless chicken breasts for thighs. … Read more →

Roasted Mushrooms from May Living sounded like it would an easy side dish to make for dinner, and I happened to have some mushrooms I needed to use up.  Assembly was simple – you dump the mushrooms with pancetta, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper and oil on a baking sheet and roast it. At the end you add some white wine and lemon zest. It smelled great as it was cooking. It tasted horrible. Inedible. I generally love mushrooms, but this dish tasted far too earthy for me – really, it tasted like dirt. It was truly awful.

Roasted Mushrooms from May Living sounded like it would an easy side dish to make for dinner, and I happened to have some mushrooms I needed to use up.  Assembly was simple – you dump the mushrooms with pancetta, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper and oil on a baking sheet and roast … Read more →

Pancakes are a tradition in our house. When our kids were younger, we used to make them every Sunday. I made them so much, I know the recipe by heart. In recent years, we’ve expanded our Sunday breakfasts and pancakes only happen once every month or every two month. I knew I had to make Martha’s Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes as soon as I turned the page in my May Everyday Food.

This recipe was easy to make, but that being said, I managed to goof it up. You use two cups of rolled oats. One cup you put in the Cuisinart with the other dry ingredients and grind. The other cup you are supposed to leave whole and add to the dough. I didn’t read the recipe carefully enough, so it all went in the Cuisinart. The usual suspects are added to this – milk, egg, oil, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt, as well as cinnamon.

The batter was quite thick and this made a LOT of pancakes. The recipe says it serves 4, but I think it would easily feed 6, especially if you have other food with it.

These pancakes were very heavy and filling. They tasted like oatmeal, which was interesting. I think they would be better with some chopped apple in them. I tend to like fruit in my pancakes. I almost always add blueberries to pancakes when I make them. These are tasty, hearty pancakes though and will definitely fill your family up. In the recipe, Martha suggests freezing them and then heating them up for weekday mornings. My kids refuse to eat frozen pancakes, so that’s not an option here.

Pancakes are a tradition in our house. When our kids were younger, we used to make them every Sunday. I made them so much, I know the recipe by heart. In recent years, we’ve expanded our Sunday breakfasts and pancakes only happen once every month or every two month. I knew I had to make … Read more →

I made Martha’s Mexican Shrimp Salad (May Living – the link is not up yet on Martha’s site, I’ll post it once it is) thinking it would make a great, light dinner. This was pretty easy to make. You put lime juice, lime rinds, allspice (no I didn’t have berries so I used ground), pepper, salt, orange juice, orange zest and water in a pot and boil then simmer it. Add your unpeeled shrimp and cook quickly. Dump the shrimp in an ice bath and then peel them. Then you marinate them in tomato paste, orange juice, lime juice, lime zest and red pepper with some tomato and red onion mixed. I served it on lettuce leaves wtih sliced avocado as directed.

My first mouthful was bland. It didn’t taste like anything. My second mouthful was more lime flavor. By the third it tasted quite strong. Now, I was ok eating this, but Mr. MarthaandMe was picking at his eating large quantities of bread. I asked him if he liked it and he said it was too much lime flavor for him and he just didn’t care for it. Sigh. So I ended up saving his portion which I will have for lunch.

Overall I would say this was ok, but not great. It mostly tasted like a mouthful of lime and not much else.  It had avocado though and I will eat almost anything that has avocado since I love it so much, so I was able to eat this.

I made Martha’s Mexican Shrimp Salad (May Living – the link is not up yet on Martha’s site, I’ll post it once it is) thinking it would make a great, light dinner. This was pretty easy to make. You put lime juice, lime rinds, allspice (no I didn’t have berries so I used ground), pepper, … Read more →

I’m still anxiously checking my mailbox for my May issues of Martha’s magazines and I must say I am really sick of the April ones now – I’ve cooked everything I want to cook and crafted everything I am interested in.  So I thought I would tie together a few odds and ends from April while I’m waiting.

I got the book Egg & Nest (page 40 of April Living)  from my library this week, after being on a wait list for it for a few weeks. It really is a gorgeous book. It is amazing how many colors and designs (yes, designs!) eggs come in. The nests in the book are also beautiful. This would be a great coffee table book to put out around Easter. I love the fact that the magazine is now including books that are recommended by the editors.

Beginning on page 25, there is an interesting section about Martha’s trip to Prague. Now, I must admit, Prague is not very high on my travel list, but I found it fun to read. I’m looking forward to Martha’s travels in future issues and hope they feature some places that I want to go to.

I found the section on jackets (page 61) to be really weird and out of place.  I’m not a big fan of fashion magazines (I would rather look at a catalog, so if I see something I like I can actually buy it). And I have to say, since when are jackets big news? Big MarthaandMe has had jackets as part of her essential wardrobe for years and I too find that it is an easy way to create a pulled together look. I didn’t find this section inspiring in any way.

The fact that Martha’s calendar is back in the magazine is big news apparently. Let’s be honest about this. First of all, the magazine has to be ready to go to print months in advance, so there’s no way this is an accurate calendar. Also, if you own your own horses, do you really put riding on your calendar? Don’t you just do it when you happen to have a few free hours and the weather is good? I also do not believe Martha actually performs all the tasks that are on this calendar herself – we all know she has a giant staff. Not to mention that Martha is out at dinners, events, and social gatherings almost every single night. I also wish to point out that Martha said on her show she was hosting an Easter dinner, yet the calendar says it is an Easter brunch. For April 20, Martha says she will be setting out cabbages into the garden, yet on the show she already did this and showed us the little paper hats her gardeners put over them.

I’m still anxiously checking my mailbox for my May issues of Martha’s magazines and I must say I am really sick of the April ones now – I’ve cooked everything I want to cook and crafted everything I am interested in.  So I thought I would tie together a few odds and ends from April … Read more →

I’m a sucker for satay, so I made Chicken Satay Skewers from April Martha Stewart Everyday Food.  Some of you might remember the last time I used skewers for a Martha recipe – the skewers burned and fell apart. This time I soaked my skewers for several hours before using them. Aren’t I clever? Well, we’ll see….

I sliced my chicken and marinated it in the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper.  I actually let it sit in the fridge a few hours even though the recipe does not say to do so. I made the peanut sauce – peanut butter, salt, pepper, red pepper, rice vinegar and red pepper. This was more of a paste than a dipping sauce. I actually ended up adding a little more water to try to get it to loosen up.

I threaded the chicken onto the skewers and cooked it on the Jenn-Air (outdoor grilling season isn’t here yet!). Even though I soaked the skewers, they still turned black and fell apart. What the heck! That really annoyed me, I must say! Next time I’m just going to cook the chicken strips without skewers.

The chicken was good, but I would have liked it to have a more Asian flavor – maybe some ginger or more soy sauce. The dipping sauce (paste!) was good, but if I made that again I would put some chopped green onion in  it and some soy sauce too.

This was a nice quick weekday dinner that didn’t take a lot of work. I would definitely make it again. Even Mini-Martha liked the chicken (but wouldn’t taste the dipping sauce).

I’m a sucker for satay, so I made Chicken Satay Skewers from April Martha Stewart Everyday Food.  Some of you might remember the last time I used skewers for a Martha recipe – the skewers burned and fell apart. This time I soaked my skewers for several hours before using them. Aren’t I clever? Well, … Read more →

Since I am overwhelmed with just too much leftover Easter ham, I made Martha’s Ham and Egg Fried Rice for dinner (April Everyday Food).  I love fried rice, especially when I make it at home, so this sounded good.

The recipe was easy to put together. You cook up some garlic, ginger and the white parts of scallions. Then you add soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice, ham and the green parts of scallions. Once it’s cooked, you put it in a bowl and put a sunny side up egg on top of it.

I made mine all in one bowl instead of individual bowls and we just put it on plates. The fried rice was good and I loved the big pieces of scallions, along with the ginger, garlic, soy and vinegar tastes. I must admit I was not wild about the ham in this. Maybe I’m just tired of ham, but it was too strong a flavor. I usually make my fried rice without any meat.

As for the egg? I have a friend whose kids regularly eat rice with a fried egg and soy sauce so it wasn’t a foreign concept and I do usually incorporated some scrambled eggs into my fried rice.  Even with all of that in my head, I still couldn’t get into the egg. Maybe I’m off eggs since the asparagus quiche episode that made me so sick. Everyone else thought it was ok though. I wouldn’t make this again though since it wasn’t anything to write home about (although apparently it is enough to write on a blog about).

Since I am overwhelmed with just too much leftover Easter ham, I made Martha’s Ham and Egg Fried Rice for dinner (April Everyday Food).  I love fried rice, especially when I make it at home, so this sounded good. The recipe was easy to put together. You cook up some garlic, ginger and the white … Read more →

I gave Martha’s Tortilla Pie with Chicken a try (from April Everyday Food). I have thrown together tortilla pies in the past, but never followed any particular recipe. Usually I layered ground turkey (that I seasoned with taco seasoning), cheese, beans, chopped tomato, salsa, and tortillas and served with sour cream, lettuce, and avocado on the side.

Martha’s recipe was easy because you put 4 tortillas on the bottom, put in your filling, add 4 more tortillas and top with leftover ingredients. Very simple to assemble with only a few layers. I used shredded chicken breast (which I poached) instead of dark meat as the recipe says. I also cheated and used a jar of salsa instead of making my own.

This was terrific. I loved the shredded chicken in it as opposed to the ground turkey I usually use. I served it with some chopped lettuce and sliced avocado and it made a great meal. I will definitely make this one again. It was great as leftovers also.

I gave Martha’s Tortilla Pie with Chicken a try (from April Everyday Food). I have thrown together tortilla pies in the past, but never followed any particular recipe. Usually I layered ground turkey (that I seasoned with taco seasoning), cheese, beans, chopped tomato, salsa, and tortillas and served with sour cream, lettuce, and avocado on … Read more →