Tiny Skillet chose this week’s project – Whole Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard, and Artichoke Hearts. This is something I never would have made on my own, so I enjoyed trying something new. It was easy to make. I’ve never used Swiss chard in pasta, so that was different. I am not a fan of sausage, so I ended up picking it out of mine mostly. I almost never use sun-dried tomatoes because I usually find them to be bitter, but they were good in this. I liked the artichoke hearts in it. This did not have much sauce at all, even after I added the pasta water to it.  I thought it was pretty good,but probably not something I would make again. Although now I might try using chard in some other pasta dishes. My picture is horrible – it was not this red looking at all.

Tiny Skillet chose this week’s project – Whole Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard, and Artichoke Hearts. This is something I never would have made on my own, so I enjoyed trying something new. It was easy to make. I’ve never used Swiss chard in pasta, so that was different. I am not a fan of … Read more →

This recipe is from March Everyday Food.

1 tbsp olive oil

7 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces

salt and pepper

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves

2 c heavy cream

1 lb pappardelle

Cook chicken with oil after seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for 7 minutes. Add onion and cook 6 min. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add cream and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook about 15 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper.

Boil pappardelle. Reserve 1 cup cooking water. Add to sauce and toss pasta with sauce.

Ok, so that is Martha’s recipe. I used chicken breasts and substituted broccoli for half. I also added Parmesan cheese because pasta without cheese is like air without oxygen. This was good. I haven’t used pappardelle in a long time and I do like it. It definitely needed cheese though!

This recipe is from March Everyday Food. 1 tbsp olive oil 7 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces salt and pepper 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 garlic cloves 2 c heavy cream 1 lb pappardelle Cook chicken with oil after seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for 7 minutes. Add onion … Read more →

Thanks to Steak and Potato Kinda Gurl for choosing today’s recipe. We actually ate this hot, but it would lovely chilled in the summer. I’ve never made a sauce with mayo and mustard like this and liked it. Very easy and flavorful.

Thanks to Steak and Potato Kinda Gurl for choosing today’s recipe. We actually ate this hot, but it would lovely chilled in the summer. I’ve never made a sauce with mayo and mustard like this and liked it. Very easy and flavorful.

This recipe is in March Everyday food. Like a lot of you, I’m looking for a good veggie burger to make at home. This recipe caught my eye because it has some beef in it, but also has barley and chickpeas. I thought maybe this would be a good compromise. Sorry, Martha. This one was a loser. It was completely flavorless, even though it had fresh mint in it. I was really disappointed. It needed garlic I think. I don’t even know if that could save it though. A total thumbs down.

2 oz feta

1/4 c plain yogurt

salt and pepper

1/4 c bulgur

15.5 oz can chickpeas rinsed

1/2 lb ground chuck

1/3 c roughly chopped mint leaves

4 buns

1 small cucumber

1 large tomato

Mash feta, stir in yogurt and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Combine bulgur with 1/2 c boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap for 10 min. Pulse chickpeas in food processor, mix with beef and mint. Drain bulgur and add to mixture. Mix with your hands until combined. Divide into 4 1 inch thick patties and season with salt and pepper. Spray a pan with cooking spray, heat over medium high. Add patties and cook 8-10 min, flipping once. Serve on buns with cucumber, tomato and yogurt sauce.

This recipe is in March Everyday food. Like a lot of you, I’m looking for a good veggie burger to make at home. This recipe caught my eye because it has some beef in it, but also has barley and chickpeas. I thought maybe this would be a good compromise. Sorry, Martha. This one was … Read more →

My pick for Martha Mondays was the New York Crumb Cake from March Living. OMG. This was amazing, I thought! I forgot to sprinkle powdered sugar on top, but it was good anyhow. Here’s the recipe:
Topping:

3 1/2 c cake flour

2/3 c sugar

2/3 c brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 sticks butter, melted

Cake:

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c sugar

2 eggs and 2 yolks

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 c buttermilk

powdered sugar for dusting

optional 1 cup blueberry jam (I used this)

Mix dry crumb topping ingredients together. Pour butter over it and mix with hands until it makes large clumps.

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9×13 pan. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolks and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk. Pour batter in pan. Top with jam (if desired) then crumb topping. Bake for 1 hour.

Yum. The amazing part is this thing sat on the counter at my house for 5 days (covered) and did not diminish in moisture or texture, which I cannot believe. Everyone here loved this. I am saving this recipe and it goes on my “Martha’s Best of” list for sure. Super easy to make and moist, delicious and gorgeous.  It was incredible.

My pick for Martha Mondays was the New York Crumb Cake from March Living. OMG. This was amazing, I thought! I forgot to sprinkle powdered sugar on top, but it was good anyhow. Here’s the recipe: Topping: 3 1/2 c cake flour 2/3 c sugar 2/3 c brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp … Read more →

I spent a lot of time in restaurants as a kid. My parents were major foodies back when it was called being a “gourmet.” Creme brulee is one of my dad’s favorite desserts, so I’ve had more than my share of it even though it’s just not a favorite on my own list. He orders it a lot in restaurants. It was everywhere back in the 70s and 80s and seems to be everywhere yet again. The textures are great – crunchy top with cool creamy pudding, but I am a chocolate girl through and through.

Martha to rescue. Martha recently whipped up chocolate creme brulee on her show (this is also in February Living) and I was hooked. Had to try it! And I rationalized, it could be my Valentine’s present to myself since Mr. MarthaAndMe and I don’t really go overboard for this holiday.

The pudding was easy to whip up and it cooked nicely in the water bath. So far so good. I was nervous about making the top though. I don’t have a torch, so I had to broil it. The sugar sort of melted and then hardened. It had the right texture, but not the right color. And a lot of the pudding itself got kind of warm – it only stayed cold down at the bottom.

Despite that, this was good and if you have a torch, it would really be a snap to make. I liked it, but I think I’ve just had too much creme brulee in my life maybe. I would rather just have chocolate pudding!

I spent a lot of time in restaurants as a kid. My parents were major foodies back when it was called being a “gourmet.” Creme brulee is one of my dad’s favorite desserts, so I’ve had more than my share of it even though it’s just not a favorite on my own list. He orders … Read more →

I called this post Martha Momdays instead of Martha Mondays because the recipe chosen for today by Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet, sauteed sole, is exactly how my mom used to make it, or almost. The only difference is that this recipe uses a lot more butter and oil. I doubled this recipe so I could feed four with it. I put the butter and oil in the pan and melted it and it was just too much to my eye. So I scooped out about 2 tbsp. Much better. When we were in Seattle over the summer I had sole at a restaurant there and it was supposed to be sauteed, but it arrived fried to a crisp and I didn’t want to relive that experience!

The sole cooks really quickly  (after being dusted with flour) and then you mix up the quick sauce of pan juice, lemon juice, zest, sliced almonds and parsley. Quick and perfect.

I haven’t had sole in a long time, so this was a treat. I am still trying to work my way through the salmon Mr. MarthaAndMe and DudeMartha caught in Alaska and haven’t been buying much seafood, other then shrimp. I was eyeing up the grouper in the fish store, so I may have to go back and buy some of that for another night.

This is a perfect recipe for a week night when you don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but want something delicious and full of flavor.Mr. MarthaAndMe is an especially big fan of this one.

Interested in joining Martha Mondays? Just leave a comment letting me know and I’ll add you to roster. You’ll get a turn to choose a project every couple of months and can cook or craft along with us, posting your results.

I called this post Martha Momdays instead of Martha Mondays because the recipe chosen for today by Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet, sauteed sole, is exactly how my mom used to make it, or almost. The only difference is that this recipe uses a lot more butter and oil. I doubled this recipe so I could … Read more →

I’ve lived in the Buffalo, NY area all of my life, so I know my wings. Wings are a staple of parties and nights you don’t feel like cooking in this neck of the woods (which may explain the average waistband around here too). We have a yearly festival and locals hotly contend who makes the best wings. A lot of us also make our wings. In this post, I shared a recipe I like to use for baked wings. Nothing compares to hot and fresh wings right out of the fryer at the Anchor Bar or Duff’s (where President Obama made a stop here when he was in town last year. We locals analyzed his order for weeks and weeks) though.

Last week, Martha did a show about meatballs. Oh, how my family loves meatballs. I make Asian meatballs, Greek meatballs, and I almost always have a bag of my turkey meatballs in the freezer. Meatballs sub are a favorite for leftover meatballs here. So the idea of a meatball show had me quite excited. I was even more excited to see Martha and guests make Buffalo Chicken Wing Meatballs.  I HAD to give this one a try. I followed the recipe, however instead of using 3/4 cup of hot sauce, I reduced it to 1/4 cup – and this was still almost too hot for me (I am very sensitive to spicy foods – but the rest of the family did not think it was too spicy at all). This was very easy to make and they turned out perfectly. I did not make the bleu cheese dip recipe and instead used Marie’s light bleu cheese dressing, which is always in our fridge. This was a total home run. They tasted exactly like wings, but without the mess, high fat, or bones. This is absolutely a MUST make for Superbowl Sunday. We had this for dinner, but it’s really supposed to be a party food and it would work perfectly as that. This recipe is getting the highest rating from these chicken wing lovers!

I’ve lived in the Buffalo, NY area all of my life, so I know my wings. Wings are a staple of parties and nights you don’t feel like cooking in this neck of the woods (which may explain the average waistband around here too). We have a yearly festival and locals hotly contend who makes … Read more →

Artichoke Parmesan Crostini was a quick and easy recipe that would make a great hors d’oeuvre or party food. I put all the ingredients in the food procesor and whizzed them up. It was ready literally in minutes. I think I might add a little more cheese next time. Thanks to Megan’s Cookin’ for selecting this.

Next week’s project is chocolate cups from p. 56 of Feb. Living. Let me know if you need the recipe.

Artichoke Parmesan Crostini was a quick and easy recipe that would make a great hors d’oeuvre or party food. I put all the ingredients in the food procesor and whizzed them up. It was ready literally in minutes. I think I might add a little more cheese next time. Thanks to Megan’s Cookin’ for selecting … Read more →

Chili with no tomatoes and no beans? Really? Yup. That’s what the real deal chili recipe is, the project chosen for today’s Martha Mondays by Steak and Potato Kinda Gurl.

I seriously contemplated dumping some tomatoes or kidney beans into this because I was worried it wasn’t going to be any good. It has paprika, cayenne, cumin, and oregano in it (no chilis you’ll notice). But after I got it going, I tasted it and it was pretty good. Plus DudeMartha is not a fan of tomatoes or beans and when I described it to him he was excited. So we went with it. It was good. I put cheese and sour cream on mine. DudeMartha added Tabasco. Mr. MarthaAndMe had just cheese. They gave it the thumbs up. I thought it was good, but it’s not the kind of thing I get nutty over.  How did everyone else make out?

Chili with no tomatoes and no beans? Really? Yup. That’s what the real deal chili recipe is, the project chosen for today’s Martha Mondays by Steak and Potato Kinda Gurl. I seriously contemplated dumping some tomatoes or kidney beans into this because I was worried it wasn’t going to be any good. It has paprika, … Read more →