Tortilla casserole

I have actually made this dish (page 337) once before on Christmas Eve 2007. Both occasions had a similar result. Good but not enough heat. This dish layers corn tortillas with a mixture of onions, poblano chiles, spinach, cream cheese, and black beans. It is supposed to be accompanied by tomatillo salsa, but for some reason I always make it in the dead of winter when there is not a tomatillo to be found. I replaced the tomatillo salsa with a topping of regular salsa and pico de gallo, but I think something is still missing. I have come to respect dishes that require baking before they are done. This gives me time to do dishes and clean the kitchen before dinner is ready, making cleanup after the final reveal less work in the end.

Chicken and dumplings

Before Monday, I had never eaten chicken and dumplings (page 280). I actually don’t think I had ever tasted any dish with dumplings. The mystery of a dumpling was a challenge. I didn’t know how a dumpling was supposed to taste or look. In the end, I think I executed this dish fairly well on a technical level, although Mike says the dumplings were a little too dense. All tasted fine, but I have to say I am not a huge fan of the dairy taste accompanying meat dishes. The two cups of milk used in the dish comes through in the flavor. I cut the amount of chicken called for in half and we still had tons of leftovers, which is always a plus. All the effort and related mess felt a little much for a weeknight dinner, but we decided it was actually a special occasion with Martin Luther King, Jr. day and all.

Classic panino

You can’t really go wrong here. I busted out the George Forman for this one. This is a simple, quick sandwich, and all the ingredients are fresh. Ciabatta, basil, prosciutto, and buffalo mozzarella. I took the leftovers to work and made more paninos for lunch on Mondays and Tuesday in the toaster oven.

Cold sesame noodles

Still on my Asian kick, I wanted to make the cold sesame noodles (page 238) for a few weeks before I actually got around to it. I highly recommend this recipe. It’s quick, easy, low on dishes, and tasty. My only variation on this peanut sauce/udon noodle classic was adding lemon to the peanut sauce. I ate the first batch warm, following up on the true intent of the cold noodle recipe with the leftovers eaten straight out of the fridge. I also give the crisp baby bok choy two thumbs up. I can see making this dish on a Sunday to take to work for lunches throughout the week. Very practical.

Soba noodles with tofu, avocado, and snow peas

Seeking a healthier start to the New Year, this recipe on page 218 caught my eye. I didn’t have a lot of faith that Martha could really pull off the whole zen vegetarian vibe, but she did. This may be the first Martha dish I have ever made that didn’t call for any butter. The soba noodles were actually quite good. Refreshing. Healthy and light, yet substantial. The jalepeno ginger syrup was fabulous and not something I would have come up with on my own. Martha called for raw tofu— a testament to the fact that Martha herself has likely never had this dish…or possibly she has never had tofu. Raw tofu was clearly a bad idea. Instead, I fried mine up with jalepeno, lime, soy sauce, and chili powder. The raw English cucumber and avocado was a nice touch. The only real downside of this dish was all the pots to wash—one for the syrup, another for the soba noodles, and a third for the tofu. I can actually see making this Martha recipe more than once.

Cinnamon-Raisen French Toast and Applesauce Coffee Cake

For brunch, we feasted on cinnamon-raisin french toast (page 594). This was really a straight forward classic recipe...I wonder what makes it worthy of the cook book at all. Martha insisted on using buttermilk, as opposed to regular milk, for the egg bath. I don't usually keep buttermilk around, so I bought a pint, thankfully only an expense of $1.39. The french toast came out tasty, although Melissa (visiting friend of southern descent) attested to the fact that the buttermilk subtly could not be detected...thus use of regular milk would likely work just fine.

To my surprise, we only had a whopping tablespoon of maple syrup left, requiring me to open a jar of applesauce for a suitable french toast topping. Mike opted for yogurt, and Melissa, in true southern fashion, took charge of the remaining tablespoon of real maple syrup.

Given I now had a huge vat of applesauce commencing to rot in my fridge, destined for a layer of blue mold once forgotten in the far rear corner of the bottom shelf, I took advantage of the applesauce coffee cake (page 599). The coffee cake came out lovely, although next time (as if there will ever be a next time), I would double the recipe for the crumb topping.

New Year's Eve 2008

In the front of her cookbook, Martha provides a variety of sample menus for a variety of occasions (e.g. Easter) and seasons (spring, fall, etc.). For New Year’s Eve, Martha recommends the following, which serves an army of six to eight:

· Spicy seared scallop canapés
· Chicken liver pate
· Red and golden beet cheese tart
· Roasted duck breasts with wild mushroom stuffing and red wine sauce
· Tarragon green beans
· Glazed baby turnips and cipollini onions
· Mixed green salad with date-walnut vinaigrette
· Blood-orange pavlovas with grand marnier
· Cream cheese-walnut cookies

This menu honestly didn’t appeal to me, plus it would be way too much food for just the two us…not to mention a ton of work and dishes in my mini-kitchen. Instead, I selected the following menu from the pages of Martha, catering instead to our two dogs and their palette for the main dishes.

· For an appetizer, avocado with grapefruit and sweet onion salsa (page 68)
· Fresh spinach salad (no recipe needed)
· Because we love our dogs, porterhouse with jalapeño butter (page 256)
· Also because we love our dogs, baby red potatoes with cilantro (page 382)

The avocado and grapefruit salsa came out great. I was a little worried because the grapefruits at Willow Creek Ray’s were hard as rocks and seemed like they had been sitting on the shelf since the days of the Carter administration, but it was actually fairly juicy after all. We like spicy food, so we ended up adding in some habañero pepper and eating the salsa with regular old tortilla chips.

For the steak, Mike couldn’t find a porterhouse cut, so he brought home a rib eye instead. Fair enough. Our neighbor Catfish received a brand new extra large George Forman grill for Christmas, which means we inherited his old George Forman grill. I have never used a George Forman grill before, but it seemed simple enough. I aspired to take ol’ George for a spin to ensure Catfish knew we appreciated his generous gift.

The steaks ended up a little overcooked (what do I know about cooking meat…I survived on tofu for nearly a decade…) and the jalapeno butter was tasty but too greasy on an already rich steak. I say Martha errs with this one…Best to put the jalapeño and garlic directly on the meat or perhaps in a soft cheese instead of drenching the steak in butter. Mike ditched the butter and went for the horseradish. I will save the jalapeño butter in the fridge for the next time we make garlic bread or baked potatoes. Also, I don't think cooking the steak on the George Foreman grill was really the best idea either. Live and learn.

The potatoes came out fabulous, although I baked them on a cookie sheet with olive oil instead of boiling them, as Martha advised. I was hoping for an oven fry experience, so I went my own way. I also added some romano cheese to the cilantro, mostly to get rid of it from last week’s chicken recipe leftovers. I tossed the hot potatoes in a bowl of fresh cilantro and cheese as soon as they came out of the oven.

In the end, we are happy and of course the dogs are happy. Happy New Year to all the fuzzy critters in the world…and our friends and family too.