I've been to the market…

(Beet Greens, Broccoli, basil leaves and Kale peeking
out of my pink market basket)

and at the market I smelled in the beautiful earthy smells of vegetables and dirt. I watched loads of smiling people swirl around all the market stands, picking and choosing food for the week. I love to listen to the questions others ask; “what is this?”, “what do I do with this?”, and “how do I cook this?” I listen to the farmer’s answers, learning myself and sometimes I answer…I love the sense of community a farmer’s market creates.

Myself, I picked a bouquet of kale, a bundle of beets, a small forest of “trees” (broccoli, in our family), and a bag of basil. I plan to roast the beets and steam the head of broccoli for a nice veggie dinner tonight. We also have okra growing in our own garden and I will use my mother-in-law’s recipe for okra mixed with potato to add to our meal.

I look forward to paging through some of my recipe books to figure out something new to do with these beautiful kale leaves. I’ve yet to hit upon a stunning recipe for this healthy vegetable. Any suggestions?

I do have basil growing in our garden but it is not at the BIG leaf stage, which is just how I like it sprinkled on my pasta, sandwich or grains. We planted late after our vacation and I hope to have basil well into September when I can heap it into the food processor and make jars and bags of pesto to help me through the winter season.

What’s selling at your local market? Have you been yet? I encourage everyone to find their local Farmer’s Market and shop their at least once a week. There’s a handy website to locate a market near you: Local Harvest offers lots of information.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Anyone with a food-related post can play along; click on her link to see her review of Gloria Whelan’s book, The Boy Who Wanted To Cook.

Weekend Cooking; Grow It, Cook It

Grow It, Cook It;
Simple Gardening Projects and Delicious Recipes

DK Publishing

Consulting Editor: Jill Bloomfield

2008

80 pages

This is one from my own collection; my mom gave it to Groovy Girl two years ago and we’ve made nothing from it in all that time. Shame on me! This summer that is going to change as G.G. is taking over the garden space in back and has very definite ideas about planting….and she has my mom in her back pocket. I thought I should highlight this book so we can challenge ourselves to use it more frequently.

It’s kind of amazing the wonderful books that already reside in my cookbook cupboard-yes, they reside in a cupboard or two and it makes them a little out of sight out of mind. I go to specific cookbooks for specific recipes and I need to learn to mingle a bit more in different books. I pulled this one out a few days ago and started reading. The first twelve pages give an excellent overview on gardening-everything from tools to making your own compost. The two pages on “pots and plots” gave me great ideas on using a variety of everyday items (like a laundry basket) that could be used for a planter.

There are two pages on “Kitchen know-how,” which includes an easy vocabulary list with pictures to match. The remaining pages are filled with how to grow a vegetable or fruit plant with a companion recipe; each spread takes about four pages. Bloomfield begins with tomato and most of the planting directions involve container gardening but could easily be translated to an actual garden plot.

Nestled in are big tips like “grow marigolds in the same pot as your tomato plant. These flowers can keep away aphids, which might otherwise infest your tomato plant. This is called companion gardening.” (19) I didn’t know this and it makes me want to run out and buy a few marigold plants as my tomato plants often suffer from buggy yuck! The tomato recipe follows eggplant growing directions and combines the two veggies in a Tomato and Eggplant Tower (23) Yay. Yum. Groovy Girl has an eggplant growing in the back garden. Recipes range from mini pumpkin pies, giant beanstalk stir-fry, mashed potato fishcakes, onion and leek soup, chocolate and mint mousse and lemonade ice-pops. All very yummy looking with eye-catching photographs.

My personal favorites are the Sunflowerpot loaves (aren’t they cute!) and Green leaf tarts (spinach). We didn’t plant any spinach this year but if I can find some at the Farmer’s Market today I may try to make these over the weekend. The sunflower link above will take you to google books where you can browse a few pages of this fabulous kid-friendly book.

Buy it from an indie bookstore here. Find Jill Bloomfield at her website…teachkidstocook.com.

I was up early this morning, waiting for my chicken man-doesn’t everyone have one? Tim Daley of Daley’s Shamrock Acres delivered 6 homegrown chickens to me and they are now in my freezer. For an ex-vegetarian who still thinks like a vegetarian it seems strange to get so excited about six beautiful chickens but I am. I can’t wait to slather them with herbs and a little butter and cook them up for my family.

Happy Cooking over the long holiday weekend! This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her post to see what everyone else is cooking up! Anyone with a food-related post can play along.

Weekend Cooking; Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker

Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme over at Beth Fish Reads. Pop over and see what she’s talking about.
This week I’ve been on the North Carolina coast (the Outer Banks) and I’ve done a fair amount of reading (5 books) but only a minimal amount of cooking as we’ve shared kitchen duties and handsome husband and I only had one night to cook. We made a variation of fish tacos after visiting a local fish market. Oooh, I loved picking out fresh caught fish and after thinking about mahi-mahi we choose sheepshead at the recomendation of the fish guy. We also bought a pound of fresh prawns, deveined them, sauteed them in butter and white wine and gobbled them up for an appetizer.

Another night we headed into town and on a friend’s recommendation and ate at Owens’ Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills. It was a culinary delight. The calamari appetizer was yummy as was the bottle of white wine we shared and toasted with to celebrate my in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary. I had the grouper and shrimp special with delicious sea breeze mashed potatoes! All ten family members loved their meals, except Teenage Boy who deemed his clam linguine a little too “saucy.” He didn’t leave unhappy though and I would recommend this excellent restaurant to anyone traveling to the Outer Banks.

One morning I made these banana pancakes thanks to Janssen at Everyday Reading-they were a huge hit. Thank you Janssen for sharing this recipe.

Our vacation is winding down (only one more day-aaaggg), we’ve had a great time and I’ll be sad, sad to leave the beach behind. I did read several fantastic books on this trip and one of them was… Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker.

I adore this little book and will recommend it to everyone this year. One chapter in particular whispered “weekend cooking post”–Recipe for Sleep. It’s dear. Harold Sylvester George Klein is the smallest Klein boy surrounded by three older brothers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and an exhausted but nurturing mother. Little Klein’s mother worries and doesn’t like him to be out on his own-she’s keeping him her baby as her last little one. (I can relate) LeRoy, a stray dog with his own sweet character voice in the book, finds the Klein boys and loves the smell of them. Everybody should read this book.

Recipe for Sleep is one of the sweetest chapters I’ve ever read in a book. Little Klein is having trouble sleeping while his older brothers are gone and he’s plagued by nightmares and worry. He begs Mother Klein to let LeRoy sleep with him but she resists. Instead she reads to him, sings to him, tells him stories but nothing much works.

“Would you read to me about cake?” called Little Klein from the bedroom one night.
Mother Klein shrugged. “What do you mean?” she called back.
“I mean, will you read to me about cake? You know, crack an egg, one cup of flour, like that.”
Mother pondered.
Though he was small for his age, Little Klein had the appetite of one of the Bigs. He was transfixed by the magic with which water and heat turned crisp dry oats into warm mush for breakfast and the way an unappetizing lump of raw eggs and flour and cocoa could turn into a cake with the texture of a spring meadow. Even the power of butter to fuse two pieces of bread together delighted Little Klein.
“Well, excitement is in the mind of the beholder,” said Mother Klein. She pulled her worn cookbook off the shelf and opened it. “It’s worth a try.”
“What kind of cake?” she asked.
“Chocolate,” said Little Klein, snuggling down into his blanket. (199-120)

Charming and beyond. This chapter’s close connection to comfort food make me think Ysvisaker probably is no stranger to the kitchen! Mother Klein goes on to read recipe after recipe to Little Klein.

What a great book!!
Click for Anne Ylvisaker website.

Weekend Cooking; Heidi Swanson

Things happen in interesting ways, don’t you think. I had a meeting at Barnes and Noble just a few days before we left town for DC. I called my husband to tell him the meeting was over and we were on our way to see him and he said…

“There was a cookbook I heard about on NPR and I thought it would be great to bring to my mom.” Really. My ears perked. My interest piqued.

“What’s the name of the book, honey, I’d be happy to take a quick peek.”
“Super Natural Every Day, I think-something like that by someone Swanson…[he stops a minute and looks at his note] Heidi Swanson-yes, that’s it.”

And just like that Heidi Swanson came into my life. Many of you probably already know of her-this is her second cookbook and she runs the blog, 101 cookbooks.

I’ve perused the cookbook a bit (lie) and am now suffering from cookbook envy. I want my own.

In her introduction (19 pages long) she talks about her neighborhood, her love of cooking, pantry staples and why she chooses the ingredients she does. I liked this paragraph in particular because it takes back that word “natural” to what it should mean, not what it’s become (a fake word for not really natural).

“Some of you might be confused by the term “natural foods.” It is used in many different contexts, and it means different thiings to different people. By “natural foods,” I mean ingredients that are straight from the plant or animal. Or that are made with as little processing and as few added flavorings, stabilizers, and preservatives as possible, keeping nutrients and original flavors intact.” (3)
Exactly.

Natual Cooking Every Day is divided into 7 sections after the introduction; Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Treats, and Accompaniments. Easily I found several in each category that I would like to try and while I’m still “with the book” I may copy a few down into my google docs cookbook.

Top Ten Recipes:

1.Baked Oatmeal (oats, huckleberries, walnuts)
2. Ravioli Salad (Black olives and pepitas)
3. White Bean Spread (rosemary and toasted almonds)
4. Little Quinoa Patties (goat cheese, herbs)
5. Chickpea Stew (saffron, yogurt, garlic)
6. Weeknight Curry (Tofu, coconut milk, seasonal vegetables)
7. Cauliflower Soup (aged cheddar and mustard croutons)
8. Cucumber Cooler (honey, fresh lime, cucumber)
9. Macaroon Tart (white whole wheat flour, blackberries, coconut pistachios)
10.Whole Grain Mustard (using a mortar and pestle)

Oh, so many more to share but this is it for today. I’m hungry-how ’bout you?
This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads; Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her to play along or just read what she has to write about.

Weekend Cooking; Quinoa Salad with Fennel-Yes, Fennel.

Fragrant Fennel Bulb

I googled quinoa the other day looking for a recipe idea and this is what I found:

Quinoa Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Gouda

by Anne Thomas

1-1/2 cups quinoa, preferably red

Sea salt

5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed

1 large red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

4 oz. arugula, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

4 oz. aged Gouda, finely diced (about 1 cup)

3 medium celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 large, crisp apple, such as Fuji or Pink Lady, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup finely diced fennel

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3 Tbs. sherry vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl, rinse the quinoa with water, rubbing it between your fingers for about 10 seconds. Drain and transfer it to a 3-quart pot. Add 2-1/2 cups water and 1/2 tsp. sea salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is tender but still delicately crunchy, about 15 minutes.

Drain the quinoa and return it to the pot. Cover and let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes; then fluff it with a fork. Let cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa cooks, heat 2 Tbs. of the olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring frequently, until tender and brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and toss with the onions until the vinegar cooks away, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, onions, arugula, cheese, celery, apple, walnuts, fennel, and cranberries.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil with the sherry vinegar, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Add the dressing to the salad and gently mix it in. Let rest a moment; then season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil if the salad seems dry.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I meant to make it for a church picnic but found in my dry storage jar cupboard-No Quinoa…No Quinoa! I did have two different types of couscous but that wouldn’t do so instead of running to the grocery store at 8:30 on a Saturday night I made something else.

I made the salad on Monday…my first official day off from teaching. The salad combined many of my favorite flavors such as Gouda, apples and arugula. What was unexpected was the fennel. I’ve never, ever made a recipe with fennel in it! I loved cutting into it though as I am a HUGE fan of black jelly beans and that sort of dark licorice smell wafted up at me, I took a nibble and it hinted of it. Wow. My first fennel foray. Anybody else out there been afraid of fennel? Or is it something you use frequently?

Library Loot

I had a lovely weekend cooking idea all about my attempt to bring less packaging into our home. The project is actually going quite well and I had photos to share but I cannot find our camera anywhere in the house!?! While I attempt to think back, back, backwards in my brain until the last moment I remember touching the tiny camera bag that post will just have to wait. We are a one camera family and my phone does take pictures but that is where they stay…on my phone…because I don’t have a connecting cable.

Instead we have Library Loot as we did make it to the library yesterday with Groovy Girl in tow and we found lots of amazing books and DVDs.

Sister’s Gimm Books #’s 3 and 4. We read 1, 2 and up to Chapter 5 of 3 but had to return it to her school library but they cut us off and she had to return it on Friday. (of course I get this as I’m a school librarian as well but it still felt a little like getting a book ripped out of my hands) Have you read this series yet? I tried a few years back and didn’t get into it on my own but reading it with her has made all the difference.

Newsgirl by Liza Ketchum. (2009) This one’s been getting a lot of press but I was drawn to it just from reading the flap. My dad was a newspaper man and I love historical fiction making this a great combination. Sadly, this morning while updating my status on Goodreads I read quite a few ho-hum reviews on this title. How much do other reviews influence your take on a book? I can’t say for sure but I feel a little less excitement over this book. I’ll forge ahead and form my own opinion.

Groovy Girl’s picks from the “NEW” shelf in the library:

Welcome to Italy by Mary Berendes. (2008)

Welcome to Russia by Elma Schemenauer (2008).

Brava, Mimi! by Helga Bansch (2010)

Hide and Squeak by Heather Vogel Frederick. (2011)

Dotty by Erica S. Pearl (2010)

Everything but the Horse by Holly Hobbie(2010)

I can easily do a personality profile on Groovy Girl just by her library picks! What do you think? A girl who loves travel, learning, animals and bright covers!

Weekend Cooking: Highlights of the week.

Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Anyone with a food-related post can play along. Click to her blog and read about Man with a Pan.

I made several great recipes this week, amid the chaos of going in many different directions, that I’d like to share. I have three categories:

Adult Favorite: Pearl Couscous Gratin with Goat Cheese and Spinach. This was so refreshing and light. My husband and I loved it plus I shared it with a friend at work and she ate it cold right out of the container-she liked it so much! It was easy to make and I’d never toasted couscous first. I write in my cookbooks and this one I starred. Loved the flavor combination of lemon, goat cheese, and fresh spinach.

Kid Favorite: Micah’s Mac and Cheese. This was a huge hit which is saying a lot as my kids like one type of mac and cheese…box after box of Annie’s. For years I’ve only had Annie’s in my cupboard which has been okay except for the children who chose to spend time with my children over the years! When that bowl of mac and cheese arrives in front of them and it is not bright orange, they are truly confused and more than a little disappointed. This mac and cheese is pleasantly creamy, white and flavorful. Husband and I added more freshly ground pepper on ours.

Best Hot-Hot Bites: I also made these Rachel Ray baked poppers tonight. A friend made them, said they were good and passed on the recipe. I followed the directions to a T except for that one important line that said to scrape the seeds out using a spoon…I used my hands! I’ve done it before but then again I have never scraped 12 JALAPENOS @ one time!!!! Note to self…use the spoon next time. The poppers though were cheesy yummy spicy bites. I burn myself frequently and I found the solution by tweeting about my pain. @joellewrites told me to make a paste out of cayenne and water and apply it to my hand. It worked. Really. It. Worked. This was the very first Rachel Ray recipe I’ve ever made and I liked it. I’ve never been a big fan because I like making things from ingredients not boxes. This one, other than my hand burns, was a winner. And the burns, of course, are my own dang fault.

And last but not least I set a food-related goal for my summer. A free summer is one of the MAJOR reasons I was drawn to teaching because I love love to spend all that quiet time with my children.(At least I used to feel that way until peaceful boy became teenage cranky) Standing in my kitchen at the end of a long teaching day and wondering what in the dickens to cook is one of my least favorite feelings. Summertime is the perfect time to implement menu planning so we can all get adjusted-the kids will have two days to plan as well. I found these fabulous menu plans at The Sister’s Cafe blog…through Mel and the Boys. If you haven’t stopped by their foodie family blog-you must give it a try.

Happy Eating and Reading this rainy Saturday. We’re eating our cereal, watching the 1st Harry Potter.

Weekend Cooking; I'm not actually cooking …but stop by anyway!

I haven’t cooked it yet but in a moment of relaxing after school I found this recipe while paging through my new Vegetarian Times magazine. I’m plan to cook it; maybe just not this weekend. My plan is to put my feet up a lot this weekend. Starting now.

Potato and Cauliflower Burrito

1 15-oz can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp. canola oil

1 small onion, halved and sliced (1 cup)

1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 cups small cauliflower florets
1 medium Yukon Gold or russet potato (6 ozs), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 T. chopped cilantro
4 8-inch flour or whole-wheat tortillas, warmed
1 cup cooked brown rice, warmed
1 cup grated vegan Monteray Jack cheese

1. Pulse tomatoes, chipotle chile, and garlic in food processor until coarse puree forms.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and oregano; saute 2 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, potato, and tomato mixture, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover, and simmer 5 more minutes, or until cauliflower and potato are tender. Stir in cilantro.

3. Divide cauliflower mixture among tortillas, top with rice, and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortillas, leaving one end open.

***I’m going to use regular (real) cheese when I make this.

This burrito is only 360 calories with 10 g. of protein. There are 4 other burrito recipes included in this article, Better Burritos which states “forget those monster restaurant burritos that may be yummy, but are anything but low-cal. (A typical veggie burrito from a chain offering fresh ingredients clocks in around 750 calories-and that’s without guacamole.) (35-VT, June)

Golly, that’s a lot of calories for a veggie burrito!! I do love Chipolte’s burritos-not so much knowing this. I’m not much of a calorie counter but that’s a large number for one item. Perusing Chipotle’s website I have to say I’m still a fan as they do use good ingredients and they have a handy nutritional guide-I rounded up and only got about 500 calories so I wonder which big burrito VT is talking about.

Hope your weekend is lovely. Happy Mother’s Day to all. I dropped hints to Groovy Girl and Teenage Boy about taking me for a long walk at our local nature reserve, if its not raining that is. Either way it will be a beautiful day.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Everyone can play along with any food related post. Click over and see what she’s cooking up-it’s always informative.

Weekend Cooking; Beautiful Bread

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click over to check out her post where she shares two recipes from her grandparents.

Bread is a life force at our house. We toast it, we dunk it in soup, we make fat vegetarian sandwiches with it. I love to bake it as well. Not one person in our 5-member family doesn’t love bread. My husband enjoys bread at dinner so if there isn’t any fresh baked he will just take sandwich bread and toast it, asking everyone “Who wants toast?” Everyone will say “YES”, except for me-I only eat bread when its the good stuff. Sometimes we have this wonderful sourdough from a local Bosnian bakery-ahhhh! I can smell it toasting. Can’t really-my nose is too stuffed up from this cold but I can mentally smell bread so deep is our connection.

Recently we’ve started rethinking, just maybe, we eat too much bread. My husband is a runner and gets plenty of excercise, I do yoga and both our kids are active and thin but still we think cutting back could help our waistlines. Groovy Girl, suffers from tummy aches, takes her lunch almost everyday (thankfully) and she relies on a sandwich as the main part of her lunch. We’ve had to get creative on how to make her a healthy lunch without two pieces of bread as her main course. Any suggestions??

But for Easter we have to have bread what with family coming and all…

In the middle of this “bread heavy conversation” I knew I still had a bread recipe to try from Faith Durand’s cookbook, Not Your Mother’s Casseroles. I’ve now made it four times, it is super easy and each time the loaves turn out very similar, which is a win for me. If you are making a big Easter meal or need something to bring to a big Easter meal…this bread would be wonderful to share. I made an extra loaf and I’m going to drop it off this morning in its own Easter basket for friends.

Simple Pot Bread

Baking Dish: 5- or 6- inch Dutch oven or other stovetop-to-oven pot with a lid
Bake Time: 45 minutes

3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
¾ tsp regular yeast or ½ tsp instant yeast
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups water

1. Make the dough in the morning, before you eat breakfast or go to work. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. The dough will be sticky and wet; slightly goopy. Spray the dough lightly with nonstick cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in the warmest spot in your kitchen. Let it rise for at least 6 hours, although up to 12 hours will be fine.

2. About 3 hours before dinner, lightly spray a work space with nonstick cooking spray or a little oil. By now the dough will have expanded into a wet, dimpled mass. Dump the whole thing out onto the oiled surface. Push it roughly into a ball and cover it again with a clean kitchen towel. Let it sit for 2 more hours. (this step could be skipped it needed but will add more air to your loaf)

3. When you’re ready to bake the bread, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the Dutch oven in the oven to get hot.

4. Pour or roll the dough into the hot pot. You may have to pry it or peel it off the countertop. [I used my nice silicone dough mat from Pampered Chef and it popped right off] Cover the pot with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes to brown.

5. Remove the bread from the oven and immediately take it out of the pot, using potholders or a thick kitchen towel to handle it. If you have the time, let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing so it can set.

Adapted from Faith Durand’s Not Your Mother’s Casseroles (2010)

I don’t have a Dutch Oven-my mother says she’ll pass hers on to me when she’s done (which means dead) with it-that could be years but I just used my largest Corning Ware pot. The bread came out square and it turned out beautiful. There is something so delightful about fresh bread that makes it hard to give up. I loved that step #2 gives me the opportunity to knead it a little. I love watching the bread come together under my hands. Adding the cold water to the flour mixture surprised me as the yeast doesn’t get to “proof” but it rises just fine.

Yummy with fresh unsalted butter.
I served this to my book club on 4-18-2011 with bleu cheese crumbles. We discussed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls-the bleu cheese represented mold.

None of the pictures do it justice-I think photographing food is hard but look the bread has airy holes in it.
If you want to easily print the recipe off here it as a Google Doc…Simple Pot Bread (yes, the name cracks us up also).
Happy Easter!

Weekend Cooking; Not Your Mother's Casseroles

by Faith Durand

(2010)

My friend, Janice, found this cookbook at the public library read it a bit then passed it to me so I could check it out. She was impressed by it and thought she would buy it. I’ve browsed it and love it; am also thinking about buying it. My mom came yesterday to watch Groovy Girl’s Strut Your Stuff skating program and lo and behold; she spotted it on my library shelf, browsed through it and wants a copy as well! I’m pretty sure that is not exactly why we borrow books from the library but oh, well. At least when we purchase it we know what we are getting.

This book is packed full of awesome recipes and the title is correct-they aren’t the gloppy soup-laden casseroles of my youth. Luckily, my mother cooked with lots of variety but I did attend many church potlucks and one of my grandmother’s was in love with a particular green bean casserole. That memory makes me laugh as she would say “Your a vegetarian, you can eat the green beans.” Yah, grandma, except they are swimming in a weird bacon gravy. Thanks for thiinking of me. Oh. She. Just. Didn’t. Know.

The first great thing about this book is the introduction. Durand explains the philosophy of casseroles, supplies, pans, filling your pantry and her preference for organic.

My top ten favorite recipes (haven’t tried them yet but they sound delicious)

1. Baked Cheesy Chile Grits
2. Breakfast Brown Rice with Blueberries and Almonds
3. Lemon Brioche French Toast
4. Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Break
5. Gruyere and Spinach Egg Puff
6. Baked Avocados with Tomato and Crab
7. Baked Eggplant Parmesan
8. Luscious Oven Creamed Corn
9. Summer Vegetable and Fresh Mozzaella Gratin
10. Sweet and Spicy Parsnip Bake

This list culls from only the first half of the book and I’ve chosen just vegetarian choices but there are many which include meat. Durand includes helpful hints throughout the book like this one:

The Useful Mandoline

I am not a big proponent of owning a lot of fancy kitchen equipment. Most recipes in this book can be made with a good knife, a few spoons, a bowl, and a peeler (and a casserole dish, of course). but I do think that a mandoline or Japanese slicer is a huge help in preparing some of these casseroles-especially ones like this vegetable gratin, which calls for very thin, even slices of vegetables. You can find a Benriner Japanese mandoline for about $25.00 online. It will massively speed up your slicing. After I got one, I wondered what I ever did without it.(115)

I don’t have a mandolin but I’m thinking about it now! I could easily have picked ten recipes from the dessert section as well.

I have made one recipe from the book and it turned out okay. My kids ate them up but next time I would make them in a regular 13 x 9 pan instead of the jelly roll pan the recipe called for. Here it is:

Baked Buttermilk Pancakes

Casserole dish: 10 1/2-in x 15 1/2 jelly roll pan
Bake time: 15 minutes (Yeah!)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 T. sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/1 tsp vanilla extract
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
Pure maple syrup, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a med.-sized bowl. Add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, and butter. Whisk to combine. Do not overmix; the batter will have small lumps.
3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until light golden brown.
4. Slice into long strips and serve hot, with warm maple syrup.
(17-18)

Then she gives a nice little snippet of advice about why it’s best to use real maple syrup. Our household agrees. We also love pancakes. When I made these they were flatter than I expected. I whipped them up the night before and baked them in the morning in a stone jelly roll pan. This made me wonder if I could make pancake muffins with this recipe?

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme-click over there and check out all the other really excellent food-related posts.

Faith Durand can be found at Apartment Therapy; The Kitchn.