Eating Dinner With My Family

While I can't say anyone was wowed by the dish, it wasn't bad, and it seems like it would be pretty healthy and waistline friendly.  I love savory bread puddings, but I would switch up the fillings next time and see if it was the ingredients or perhaps it is just the lack of egg yolks:).  This recipe is worth doing just to learn the basic savory bread pudding technique because it is a great way to use up a bunch of cooked meat or veggies and because it makes a great (and easy) breakfast. Arugula & Chicken Sausage Bread Pudding 4 large egg whites 4 large eggs 1 cup skim milk 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1/2 cup sliced fresh basil 4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices) 5 cups chopped arugula, wilted (see Tip) 3/4 cup chopped artichoke hearts, frozen (thawed) or canned 1 cup diced cooked chicken sausage, (5 ounces) 1. ...

I was so very excited to have delicata squash in my Front Porch Pickings Basket.  I love squash but have never had delicata before.  (refer to my many previous posts advocating being in a csa or finding a purveyor of local/organic produce)  I knew going in however, that this dish was about as far out of the zone of types of food I like as you can get and I was worried a bit.  I say all the time I do not like sweet and savory together. (I do not like them Sam I am)  I am constantly being pointed out to, by my husband, that, that isn't true, I have found plenty of dishes I like that have both. (like the lamb and date tagine ) However, that doesn't stop me from having a prejudice and an inherent dislike of them mixed.  I did object to the flavor and texture to the apples, and I thought the over all dish was too sweet for me, personally.  (the delicata was very sweet and delicious all by it's self)  That being the said, I like the dish way more ...

Looking through my meatless recipes for tonight's Meatless Monday dinner, I decided to try this pasta dish I have been looking at and putting off because it is just so simple, I was afraid we wouldn't enjoy it as much as some if the more complicated dishes. I was right and wrong. We all liked it a lot, but we didn't adore it. I did make one change. The original recipe called for only one cup of arugula, I doubled that and used 2 cups.  Personally I think I would like even more, but two cups were a pretty good amount.  It was strong on the black pepper flavor which was nice, as everything else in the dish (well except the arugula) was in the plain side. Oh the plus side, fast and easy. Down side not an omg dish. I liked it better than some dishes I have rated a 3.5 but that's still what I'm going with. Linguine With Butter, Pecorino, Arugula And Black Pepper Salt 1 Lb linguine 1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) butter room temperature 1 1/4 Cup very finely grated Pecorino ...

My family was not happy about this dish! I had some beets to use and have been wanting to try this, so they were out of luck tonight. My son hates beets but deemed this acceptable. My husband, who was cringing at the thought of tonight's dinner was pleasantly surprised! I liked them a lot. 4 stars for me, 3.5 for the boys. They were super quick, as I roasted and made the cheese mixture earlier, so when dinner time came, I needed only to toast the bread.  Roasted Beet Sandwiches With Herbed Goat Cheese 8 medium beets trimmed 1 Tbs. vegetable oil 1/4 Cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 small cloves garlic minced 1/4 Cup thinly sliced chives 1 -1/2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh tarragon Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 Oz fresh goat cheese softened 3/4 Cup (one 7.5 oz. container) crème fraîche 1 Tsp chopped pink peppercorns 6 Four-inch pieces soft-crusted ciabatta bread 3 Cup baby arugula Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375F. Arran...

My husband wants to know what's up with this putting salad on pizza.  We have only done a few, and most of the time they are topped with arugula.  I don't really consider arugula a "salad".   I love arugula and it make my salad but it is more like spinach to me.  This pizza was very good!  I was afraid there wasn't enough of the garlic paste (and truth be told I would have liked a bit more) but it was really great.  The dough rolled that thin made it almost like a cracker, the garlic paste was heaven and I plan on figuring out other ways to use it so we can have it often, and every bite made me happy.  Even the boy loved it. (he ate 6 pieces!!) Roasted-Garlic Pizza With Bacon And Arugula   1 head of garlic separated into unpeeled cloves 3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 4 anchovy fillets 1 Tbl oregano leaves 1/4 Tsp crushed red pepper 3 ounces thickly sliced bacon cut into 1/4-inch dice All-purpose flour for dusting 1 Lb fresh or...

So, if you follow the link to the original recipe, you will see I changed it a bit.  Biggest change, was that I cooked it the way I cook pizza, and not for 20 minutes at a lower temperature.  Also I changed the  frisée to mixed salad greens.  (because I don't care much for it, it is pricey and they didn't have it at publix)  I also tweaked the amounts a bit.  I increased the dough by 1/4 lb and used less mustard than they recommended for the 3/4 lb pizza.  I also added a pinch of the mustard to the dressing but still had about 1.5 tsp. left that I didn't use. Oh and I used garden variety Swiss cheese instead of Jarlsberg.  My husband was looking at me like I was crazy while I was making this, but he had to admit that the smell of bacon cooking and then shallots was pretty wonderful.  I thought  the 1/4 cup mustard called for was a bit excessive, but I measured out that amount and then spread it on the dough from...

I had this one in the to try file because I adore arugula, pasta and avocado.  The men in the family are not the avocado lovers, and I was worried that they wouldn't like this dish.  Also, upon initial perusal, it seems like a lot of different flavors to handle.  However, just like when I make something just for them, they need to occasionally eat a recipe that was just for me.  And since I had some perfectly ripe avocados from my Front Porch Pickings basket, tonight was my night.  The recipe was a snap to make.  The only shortcut I took was that I used the green tube pre grated Parmesan that I keep on hand for the girl, rather than grate my own.  Even with squeezing the lime juice my self, making the sauce took less time than it took to heat the water and boil the pasta.  If you don't know how easy it is to get out some avocado slices, just click here  for a helpful video.  It was an amazing pesto; even more amazing since it uses avoc...

Day 7 of the war on food clutter, and today's recipe doesn't even count as hit.  I decide to tackle the newly promoted fridge combatant, harissa, again.  Why isn't this really an effective attack?  Well, the harissa is like a hot sauce, and will keep in there a while, and we eat hot sauce on a lot of things and this is a tasty one.  So, I am not really getting rid of anything I am letting clutter up my kitchen as a useless ingredient.  I refuse to say it wasn't a clean up recipe, just not an effective one.  I like the pizza tonight, but I wasn't really wowed.  It might be that I am not the biggest fan of sausage.  The boys seemed to like it.  The BLT last night was so much better.  I like the topping of the pizza with the arugula.  It was nice.  I don't think this really qualifies as pizza.  There is no, cheese.  It looked like a pizza but it is really more of an open face sandwich.  I feel a little cruel....

The war on clutter continues.  Victory is in sight but still about a week away.  Tonight, I deliver a blow that I consider more of a stalemate.  I used a jar of harissa from the pantry I bought a while ago, but since I didn't finish it, it moved from a pantry combatant to a refrigerator combatant.  But I do not despair, one day soon, I will finish him off!  I did deviate a bit on this one.  I don't care much for the frisee or radicchio called for, and I had arugula so I used it.  I think I will use arugula for all future BLTs.  It was yummy!  I also used an extra tsp of the harissa.  My jar was not very hot, and I thought it could use some extra.  In fact we spooned some of the straight harissa on to the sandwich,  but I was under the impression it was pretty fiery usually.  I haven't cooked with it before, but I have had it in restaurants; sometimes the dish was hot, sometimes not.   I also forgot the ...

I love, love, love arugula, so it is no surprise that I loved this dish.  My family, ate everything on their plate, but didn't rave like I did.  The only criticism I had was the tomatoes.  Tomatoes are another favorite of mine, but they seemed odd in the dish.  Maybe because they weren't part of every bite?  I would for sure cut them smaller next time.  The original recipe (which as always is linked from the recipe title) has homemade pasta.  My pasta machine has lost a couple parts and is not an option.  I know I need to replace it but since I hate dough making...  Oh and this dish is lightning fast!  I bought whole wheat spaghetti, oops:)  but despite the fact that the wider would have held the pesto better the spaghetti worked fine. Whole-Wheat Fettuccine With Arugula Pesto 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 T  pine nuts 2    packed cups baby arugula (2 ounces) 1/4 c  freshly grated Parmigiano-R...

With a moniker with all the doubles, this burger was not as amazing as one would think.  Not bad mind you, but it didn't make want to, as they say in the colorful vernacular of the south, "slap your mama!"  I have to say, while I am trying to make every recipe exactly following instructions, (for learning the process and giving me a starting place to work on the recipe for my family's tastes) I am really getting tired of a recipe for four burgers calling for a pound and a half of meat!  These burgers were monsters! I would never make larger than 1/4 pound burger for myself.  Often when I make burgers of my own creation, I make the pound in to different size burgers based on the person. (think like papa bear, mama bear and baby bear) The absolute best thing about these burgers was the Camembert!  I love Camembert, but it is just amazing on a burger.  It melts in to almost a sauce.  It was also perfect in that it mellowed the Gorgonzola.  Double-P...