unbelievable rice pudding

It doesn't seem possible that this is enough rice - but it is!

http://www.dinneralovestory.com/come-and-get-it/ <-- almond="" also="" and="" br="" coconut="" full-fat="" great="" in="" light="" milk="" of="" place="" whole="" with="">

Some other delicious things we've made recently:
pork braised in milk
leek fritters
veggie stir-fry

shredding chicken

I've had this pulled chicken recipe bookmarked for ages, but hadn't made it because I loathe shredding chicken (or any other meat). Is there a more tedious, thankless kitchen task? I even hate it more than I hate trimming brussels sprouts.  

However. A comment on the recipe mentioned using a Kitchen Aid to shred the breasts. That comment led me to this life-changing blog post. I haven't tried it on other meats yet, but I think pulled pork will be my next experiment - it works astonishingly well on warm chicken breasts, and I suspect freshly-cooked pork will be even easier.

Also the pulled chicken recipe is fantastic (I use this delicious local BBQ sauce instead of making my own).

it's hot, but these noodles aren't the answer

My love of miso & soba noodles led me to this dish, but unfortunately it was a complete "never again" for us. It's possible that our choice of vegetables (there were a lot of radishes) or the previously-frozen ginger were to blame, but the dish was bitter and not very interesting. I could see something similar working, perhaps with some herbs (thai basil and mint?) and with 'sweeter' veggies (carrots and snap peas?).

the perfect gazpacho for right now

At least, if your "right now" includes an early-August trip to a Minneapolis farmer's market where you can buy not-quite-overripe strawberries and perfectly ripe tomatoes. (Some really good olive oil helps, too. And we might end up adding a diced jalapeno, not sure yet.)

I'm looking forward to making more of these recipes, but for today the "tomato, strawberry, and basil" one was perfect: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/03/magazine/bittman-gazpacho-the-simple-chilled-soup.htm

(We'll be eating it for dinner with some grilled corn. Because summer!)

Greenery

Here are two things we made recently:

http://fiveandspice.com/2013/03/05/broccoli-salad-with-bacon-and-pecans/
This broccoli salad was delicious... but ended up being too watery. I think a spin in the salad spinner after cooking the broccoli would have helped tremendously. The dressing was tasty enough that I'll be trying that pretty soon here. (I love broccoli salad!)

http://backtoherroots.com/2011/11/21/heat-and-eat-quiche-breakfast-sandwiches/
I omitted the mushrooms when I made this (I hate cleaning mushrooms, and they seemed like they'd add extra moisture here w/o contributing a ton of flavor). The sandwiches are great, but they are incredibly soggy (yes, I did squeeze a ton of moisture out of the spinach and also cooked more out). Not sure if that's just the nature of reheated eggs, or what.

Garlicky Chicken

Not sure how I missed posting this before, but Melissa Clark's Garlicky Chicken is a new favorite in our house. Delicious and easy, I like to serve it with baked potatoes or oven fries.

Braised Chicken & Shallots

When we were shopping for this recipe, we briefly had a conversation about exactly how many shallots we should get (the recipe has a range, and though it calls for "medium shallots," the ones our co-op had were quite large). There was a woman next to us apparently filling her shopping cart with shallots. She overheard us talking and leaned in to ask whether we were making "the New York Times recipe." "The one with the cherry tomatoes," I said, nodding. She was delighted and told us to get more rather than fewer shallots. One of her friends had recommended the recipe to her and specifically said that the shallots were fabulous. Her friend's advice was solid - the shallots really are excellent here - and I hope that her dinner was as wonderful as ours.

Although the recipe calls for using the shallots whole, because ours were so large I halved them length-wise before cooking. (For the wine, I used Monkey Bay's Sauvignon Blanc - a gift from our lovely neighbors). We had the chicken and sauce over baked potatoes.

Rishia Zimmern's Chicken with Shallots

Chicken & Leek Stir-Fry

I made this stir-fry, then realised I picked up the cookbook it's from at a library sale a few years ago. Many other tasty-looking recipes there as well.

Bacony PB Cookies

Made following this recipe from the brown-eyed baker; substituting bacon drippings for the shortening gives them a subtle bacony flavor.

Glazed Sausages

Made this recipe from the kitchn for glazed sausages with cabbage last night. I made it as written (though we used pork sausages), and it was delicious.

One note for the future: any extra glaze is delicious mixed into the cabbage. Oh, and I made it with mashed potatoes.

crispy leeks - the return!

In an effort to bring more crispy leeks into our lives, I've been googling around for other recipes that use 'em (because we're not going to eat steak every week nor am I going to eat fried leeks for lunch, tempting though those ideas are).

I tried this egg salad Saturday; it was good, but not great, and definitely not the best use of the salty deliciousness of the leeks. I wish I'd fried some up to top the mac & cheese earlier in the week - I think they'd have been a yummy addition. Also, Victor made hamburgers the other day - next time we have those, I'm definitely going to try topping the burgers with fried leeks. They're a great pairing for beef, and could top most casseroles. Or maybe I'll just give in to temptation and make some as a snack.

"Startlingly Good"

No idea when I made this, but Victor's review was that it was a "startlingly good" combination:
Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts, Cranberries, and Caramelized Onions

Bubbie's Sponge Cake

Direct quote of my grandmother's email to me:

Bubbie's Sponge Cake  (Bubbie is Yiddish for grandma):  6 eggs separated    1/2 cup cold water   1 1/2 C sugar   1 tsp vanilla  1 1/2 C Cake flour ( 1 C of cake flour=7/8 C all purpose flour sifted)   1/4 t salt   1 t baking powder   3/4 t cream of tartar

         Separate eggs. Beat yolks 10 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.  Add water slowly and continue beating then add vanilla and sugar slowly while beating.  By hand fold in dry ingredients  (except Cream of Tartar) into yolk mixture.  Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff but not dry.  Fold into yolk mixture. Bake at 325 1 hour in an ungreased angel cake pan.  Test with a toothpick.  Cake should be nicely tan and the toothpick dry.  Invert pan on the neck of a empty wine or soda bottle.   Carefully remove cake when the pan is cool to the touch.  Use a table knife to very gently loosen  around the perimeter and around the center cone.  If your pan comes in 2 sections loosen around the perimeter and separate the pan from the interior section.  Use the table knife to loosen the bottom of the cake and around the cone. It should slide out. Let me know how it comes out.  Bake your cake when there are no guests in the house. Banging a door or the oven door can cause a cake to collapse.  I seldom baked this cake when the kids were little because they just did not understand the dynamics.  Have fun.  Much love,  Grandma  (Bubbie)

all greens, all the time

I'd planned to make a bit more for dinner, but Monday night's nosh ended up being very light: just this kale salad. I didn't really measure any of the ingredients, but it came out very well. V kept saying "This is DELICIOUS" in an incredulous voice - I don't think he'd had very high hopes for a raw kale salad (truth be told, I was a little dubious too). We ate most of it last night; I had the rest for breakfast.