Martha Stewart's One Pot Pasta Meal

Like most people, who love to cook and bake, I have a serious addiction to cookbooks. I especially love cookbooks with full-color photos of each recipe.
 
I've done a fairly good job of controlling my impulsive buying of said cookbooks. But, once in a while, a clever placed internet ad will lure me to "click" and read what's in it.  That's how I discovered this cookbook. Sigh.

Martha Stewart's most recent cookbook, "One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals from Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More" became my most recent kindle download to my iPad (which saves a lot of bookshelf space for me).  I bookmarked a few recipes that I wanted to add to my cooking repertoire. Then, I promptly forgot about the cookbook. (Am I the only one who does that?)

Recently, I was doing my weekly shopping at Trader Joe's, and I spotted some fresh basil plants for less than $3.00. Seeing bright green basil and bright red cherry tomatoes, in January, lifted my spirits.  Then, I remembered the Martha Stewart pasta recipe that I had bookmarked.

Assembling this dinner took less than 10 minutes.  It's so simple-- linguine pasta, fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil, and thinly sliced onion-- and water.

Mardis Gras King Cake (with cream cheese filling)

I've  been to New Orleans, several times, but never during the Mardis Gras season.  (I'm not so sure I could handle the crowds and craziness.) Mardi Gras season begins on January 6, of each year and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent. One of the wonderful traditions of Mardi Gras, and probably the most delicious, is the King Cake. The "traditional" King Cake is made from twisted strands of cinnamon dough.
 

A few years ago, I was handed a slice of "King Cake" from a local bakery.  It was bone-dry, and didn't have a whole lot of flavor, and so I made it my personal mission to try baking my own King Cake.   I really enjoy baking sweet rolls, and once I searched various recipes, I decided to make a brioche-type dough, with a cream cheese filling.

 

Each cake is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors - purple representing justice, green representing faith, and gold representing power-- and I think they look so festive.

Working with yeast is a fear that I have successfully overcome.  I just remind myself that yeast likes to be warm (not hot) and likes to be fed something "sweet".

In this case, warm water and sugar makes the active dry yeast bubbly and creamy.  To the dough, I'll be adding some freshly grated nutmeg as well.

The Best Vegetarian Chili - Thick and Hearty and Healthy!

For as long as I can remember, I always make a big pot of my Chile Con Carne recipe for Super Bowl Sunday.  I've been making this for so long, that I don't need a recipe. It's hearty, and not too spicy. With a pile of warm flour tortillas, my men ladle bowls of this to watch the game.

I'm also a fan of vegetarian dishes, but so far most vegetarian chili recipes I've seen, or tried, are most like a bean and vegetable stew.  America's Test Kitchen agrees, and so they decided to create a vegetarian recipe that has plenty of beans, and a good meaty flavor-- obviously, without using meat. My husband and I watched their television episode, and we both commented that this would be a good version to try-- for our health's sake, and for variety.

To accomplish making a hearty vegetarian chili, ATK uses a few unlikely ingredients for this chili recipe.

The first one, is 1/2 ounce of dried shiitaki mushrooms.  Per ATK, "These nucleotide-rich dried mushrooms have a synergistic effect when combined with glutamates, cranking up savory umami flavor even more.  Interesting...

Another ingredient-- walnuts. Per ATK: "Ground toasted walnuts add richness and body as well as tons of flavor-boosting glutamates."

Healthy and Flavorful Mushroom Barley Soup

Like so many other folks, I overdosed on sugar during the holidays. Making three flavors of homemade caramels, and being surrounded by boxes of See's chocolates and cookies, at my office,  made my pancrease work overtime. By the time I packed up our Christmas decorations, I was craving vegetables.

 I had a package of cremini mushrooms, and I was trying to decide on what to make with them. I was looking for a healthier way of using them, other than on top of a cheese laden pizza...

A year ago, I won a copy of America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, signed by Christopher Kimball.   If you look at my recipe index, you will see that I have made any of their recipes (including Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country).   I decided to revisit the recipes in this book, and the Mushroom-Barley Soup sounded perfect, given that we were in the middle of a California "cold snap" (which is nothing compared to those of you who live in the Chicago area).

The key ingredient that makes this soup so flavorful are the dried porcini mushrooms.  This might be an elusive ingredient to find, and it can cost up to $80.00 a pound!  I was able to buy a 2 ounce bag for just under $10.00.  I didn't take my usual  step-by-step photos because winter deprives me of natural lighting during the dinner hour.  I think anyone can make this recipe, by just following the recipe.  This recipe includes cremini and Portobello mushrooms.  I decided to substitute the Portobello mushrooms for shiitakes-- which is one of the few mushrooms that my husband really likes. I think it's fine to interchange what mushrooms you prefer, but don't skip using the porcini mushrooms! 

The soup is pretty straightforward to make.  Cooking time is about 50 minutes, because barley can take that long to cook.  I decided to shave off 30 minutes of the cooking time, by using my pressure cooker to prepare the barley-- which took a total of 20 minutes.  While the barley was cooking, I prepped the onion, carrots and mushrooms.