Skillet Strata

Before I share this delicious recipe, I wanted to point out that I've added a couple of things to my sidebar. I've added a search feature, so that you can search this blog and I've added a cookbook library. I know I've said that I'm not really big on cookbooks and don't have very many, but I've found that I'm using them more and more lately. I'm also adding labels to my sidebar for any cookbooks I post recipes for.

On to the recipe.....

I got 2 cookbooks for Christmas and one was Cook's Illustrated's The Best 30-Minute Recipe. I had not had a chance to hit the store since we returned from our Christmas trip, so when I flipped through it on Thursday, I was pleased to find a recipe that not only sounded yummy, but we had everything we needed on hand.

I love stratas, but you usually need to plan ahead since most require a soaking period. This recipe intrigued me because it's a strata that does not require an overnight stay in the fridge and because you start it and finish it in the skillet. So not only is it quick, it's a one dish meal - bonus!

The Cook's Illustrated recipe lists several variations to their skillet strata - it was the spinach variation that caught my eye. The recipe calls for 5 slices of quality sandwich bread - we used leftover sourdough scraps.

Digression alert! (Side story: On our way home from Virginia on Wednesday, we stopped at Panera for lunch. Panera serves a piece of sourdough baguette as a side to most of their sandwiches, salads and soups. We often don't have room to eat this yummy bread, so I told everyone to save their bits of leftovers, knowing I'd be able to use them for something - even if it was just to make breadcrumbs. Then this recipe popped up the next day. So, save those scraps of bread - you never know what you might be able to do with them.) End of digression.

Skillet Strata with Spinach and Smoked Mozzarella

The other changes I made were to substitute skim milk for whole, sub scallions for onion, cut down on the butter, and to use smoked mozzarella instead of smoked Gouda. No problem. That's the beauty of recipes like these - you can use whatever breads, cheeses, vegetables or meats you have on hand. The cookbook also recommends several variations, leaving out the spinach and using 1 small onion, chopped: sub 1 cup of cheddar for the mozzarella; 4 slices of bacon, omit thyme, use pepperjack cheese and 2 scallions; 8 ounces of sausage and 1 cup Gruyere.

The results were quick and tasty. It's so nice to know that we can have strata on a last minute impulse.

Weekly Recap 12/30/07

I tried to do this a few times in the past, but never kept up with it. I'd like to try again because I think it's interesting to see what families have each night for dinner - or how people cook "in the real world". How many times to they eat out each week? Do they make fancy meals every night? What kinds of side dishes do they make? And not just dinner - how much do they bake each week? Do they make desserts often? Inquiring minds want to know!

And even though I keep a blog of a lot of my cooking, it doesn't necessarily reflect what I cook on a daily basis since I usually only post new recipes. Sometimes I cook a lot of new recipes, sometimes I just throw things together, and sometimes I might cook an old favorite.

Now that we live far enough from town that ordering out, take out and even going out to eat aren't all that convenient, I tend to cook almost every night. Though I would certainly use the term "cook" loosely many nights - on busy nights, it might be something as simple as canned tomato soup and Wegmans pierogies sauteed in onion and butter. Nothing fancy, but in most cases, still better than what we'd eat if we were ordering or eating out.

No time like the present to get started, so here goes (we were out of town Sun-Weds):

Wednesday
pizza take out

Thursday
Skillet Strata with Spinach and Smoked Mozzarella (new)
orange slices

Friday
Curried Tempeh with Brown Rice and Peas (new)
baby carrots

Saturday
Breakfast:
Alysha's Pumpkin Waffles (t&t)
Dinner:
Classic Beef Pot Roast (new)
mashed potatoes
green beans

I will have the recipes for the strata, the tempeh and the pot roast up shortly.

Coming up soon, the recap for 2007!

Christmas Cookies 2007: Pecan Logs

Okay, this is the last one I promise. Here I am still posting about cookies when everyone else is probably focused on how to work off all the cookies they ate over the holidays. I'm even getting tired of cookies. But I'm sure that will only last a day or two....

Pecan Logs

This cookie (and yes, it's another one from Martha Stewart) was probably my favorite of this season; or maybe it was the Iced Hermits. If I can't have a chewy cookie, then my second favorite is a buttery shortbread-type cookie. These pecan logs aren't as melt-in-your-mouth-tender as the Russian Tea Cakes, but they are very good. Like other shortbread-type cookies, they taste better as they age.

Next up, lots of savory recipe, I promise!!

Christmas Cookies 2007: Chocolate Sandwiches

As I said before, I'm still trying to catch up with my recipes - I haven't even finished posting the holiday cookie recipes yet!

This cookie is from, shockingly enough, Martha Stewart. It's a time-consuming cookie that involves lots of rolling, cutting, chilling, icing and assembling. In other words, not something I would normally pick to make so you can be sure that this was chosen by one of my sons.

Although they turned out to be one of the prettier cookies we made this year, it was my least favorite. I thought the chocolate cookie part was uninteresting and I didn't really care for the white chocolate filling either (but I don't care for white chocolate in general, except on the Oreo Truffles). DH, however, thought the cookies had great chocolate flavor while one son agreed with me, so I guess it's a draw.

Chocolate Sandwiches

The recipe calls for cutting the dough into little squares, but I found it much easier to use a cookie cutter, so we ended up with round cookies and scalloped edges - cut them however you please, it's all good.

Many more recipes to come - more cookies and several vegetarian recipes from the Jack Bishop cookbook - but it will be hard to catch up because I'm also cooking new recipes almost every day!

Cranberry Walnut Pancakes: Why didn't I think of that?

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday! I had hoped to get a little blogging done over the holidays, but we were away from home and it just didn't happen.

I am always running across recipes that make me want to smack myself and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" They are humbling moments that make me realize that while I might be a decent cook, I'm really not a chef.

I've made blueberry-pecan pancakes many times, so it's a bit befuddling that cranberry-walnut pancakes would never even cross my mind. Fortunately, I stumbled on Joe's blog where he recently posted a recipe for cranberry-walnut pancakes (though he skipped the walnuts). We used to get cranberry-walnut bagels from Panera, but we no longer live near one, so I miss this seasonal treat. We did manage to snag 4 - yes, only 4 - from Panera this weekend on our way back from Virginia. Fortunately for me, Wegmans made an organic, whole grain cranberry-walnut bread this year and it's quite good. But back to the pancakes.....

Cranberry-Orange Pancakes with Toasted Walnuts

Instead of trying the recipe Joe posted, I decided to go back to our favorite homemade whole grain pancake mix from King Arthur. I did boil the cranberries for a bit and then chopped them, as instructed in Joe's recipe. At the last minute, I decided to add the zest of one orange - orange is a classic pairing with cranberry and walnuts and it worked really well for this recipe. I did not measure the cranberries or walnuts - I just sprinkled them on the pancakes as I cooked them, rather than mixing them into the batter. They turned out fantastically! This recipe will allow me to satisfy that cranberry-walnut craving pretty easily here at home.

I hope to have quite a bit of time to get more posts up this coming weekend. I really need to get posting - the pictures are piling up!