What I've Been Cooking Lately

I don't know how I've mustered up the energy to keep cooking in these last weeks before baby, but I have. I've had medium results. I picked up the new Cooks Illustrated Soups & Stews special issue and it had a ton of interesting recipes in it. Unfortunately, you can't get much for free online. I love this magazine, but it's really expensive to subscribe to and not all issues have enough in it to justify it. Plus, they have a show on TV that covers some of the same stuff. Here are some of the things I've done lately:

Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy
(Cooks Illustrated Soups & Stews 2009)

The interesting thing about this recipe is the use of instant Tapioca as a thickener instead of flour or cornstarch. The sauce and general flavor was great, but the chuck parts weren't marbled enough and it came out a little dry. Next time, I'll pick a fattier roast and cut it up myself.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Shallot and Vermouth Sauce
(Cooks Illustrated Sept/Oct 2002)

Found this in my files...basically I had a whole chicken that I had to cook, but I got home late and didn't have the hour to roast it whole. This was really yummy...I cut up the chicken into 8 parts and browned it stovetop in oil about 5-7 minutes per side. Then I put the whole pan in the oven at 450 for about 10 more minutes.

When it came out, I moved the chicken and made the sauce in the same pan.

1) Pour off most, but not all of the fat

2) Saute 1 large minced shallot for about 2 minutes

3) Add 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup vermouth, a tsp of dried thyme, turn to high heat and simmer rapidly scraping up bottom bits.

4) Simmer about 5 minutes, add chicken and juices back in along with 3 Tbl butter. Warm for a minute or 2 and serve.

Garlic-Potato Soup

(Cooks Illustrated Soups & Stews 2009)

This was really good, but I would add some bacon next time.

3 Tbl unsalted butter

1 medium leek, halved lengthwise, washed and white/light green parts chopped small (1 cup)

3 medium garlic cloves, crushed

2 whole heads garlic, rinsed, outer skins removed and top 3rd cut off and discarded

6 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes (about 4 cups)

1 lb red skin potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes (about 3 cups)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme

1/4 minced fresh chives

1) Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and cook to soft (not brown) for 5-8 minutes. Stir in crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.

2) Add garlic heads, broth, boay leaves, and 3/4 tsp salt. Partially cover pot and simmer over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic is tender, 30-40 minutes.

3) Add potatoes and continue to simmer, partially cover, until potatoes tender, 15-20 minutes more.

4) Discard bay leaves. Remove garlic heads and squeeze garlic into bowl to mash.

5) Stir cream, thyme and mashed garlic into soup. Heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Taste and add salt to taste. Use an immersion blender to process until soup is creamy and thick, but there are still some chunks remaining.

6) Serve with chives on top.

I would cook some chopped bacon before step 1 in the Dutch Oven and then add it in with the cream in Step 5 probably.

I also made a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting for my sisters in law and brother in laws bdays in January that we celebrated, along with Rorys and 3 other boy nephews bdays all at one family party. I love my carrot cake recipes - one for the cake and one for the frosting. Warning: do not lick the frosting bowl at night before bed. It will keep you up all night since it is made with 4 cups of confectioners sugar.