Everyday Dorie: Meatballs and Spaghetti
January 22, 2021 at 9:11 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, pasta, savory things, veggies | 7 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, pasta, savory
Meatballs and Spaghetti. Yeah, that’s right. We all know who the star of the show is here. Meatballs, browned, then simmered in a long-cooked tomato sauce, served on a nest of spaghetti…this is classic comfort food, but it’s also a really special dinner. Cooking for just two, I’m usually scaling things way down, but for these, I made the full batch. We got two night’s worth of dinners and a day’s lunch, and I even had a few meatballs left to slice and top a pizza!
I don’t eat beef or pork, so I swapped a mix ground turkey and spicy turkey sausage meat here. I’m used to making meatballs with breadcrumbs or a panade, but instead these meatballs use two surprising “filler” ingredients– walnuts and oats. TBH, I couldn’t detect the oats at all in the finished meatballs, but the little walnut bits were quite nice (although my husband didn’t notice them at all until I pointed them out). The meatballs are first browned in a skillet and then simmered in an easy tomato sauce for up to an hour and a half. I only let mine bubble away for about an hour, since turkey is leaner than read meat, and the sauce was a nice consistency at that point anyway.
The meatballs and sauce were delicious, and it’s always fun to twirl a fork through long spaghetti noodles. I’ll make this again for sure!
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Everyday Dorie: Butter-Glazed Turnips
January 8, 2021 at 5:22 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, veggies | 8 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables, vegetarian
Turnip time often represents a low point on the “what’s in season” calendar. You rarely hear people talk about how excited they are to have turnips with dinner. This recipe for Butter-Glazed Turnips is an easy way to coax the best out of them. “Everything’s better with butter” is totally true, IMO, and a bit of honey and black pepper finishes a glaze that clings to the turnips and plays up their natural flavors.
I used Japanese Hakurei turnips here. They are so cute and small, and a bit sweet to begin with. Often, I buy them to eat raw in salads (and they usually have pretty green tops to sautée, too). I trimmed their tops and left them whole for this, and they were steamed through pretty quickly. I didn’t go further and caramelize them after they were cooked (although if I’d been using a larger variety that I’d cubed up, I definitely would have)…just rolled them around in the butter-honey glaze, gave them a grind of pepper, and ate them ate as a snack.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all that the group made this week.
Everyday Dorie: Roasted Acorn Squash Wedges
November 13, 2020 at 7:51 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, veggies | 6 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables, vegetarian
I eat a lot of roasted orange stuff in the colder months– squash, sweet potatoes, carrots– and I’m always looking for new things to do with them. These Roasted Acorn Squash Wedges are brushed with a dressing of olive oil, pomegranate molasses, za’atar, lemon juice, cayenne and, of course, salt before they go into the oven. While they roasted, I stirred together the harissa yogurt Dorie suggests serving alongside, and I’m glad I did, because I thought the squash really needed it. I told my dining companion that I thought that this preparation was okay but not great. I thought maybe the squash I bought just wasn’t sweet enough for the tart dressing, but after reading the group’s reviews, I saw that I wasn’t alone. Perhaps I don’t really need to find a new thing to do with acorn squash…the “classic” butter and brown sugar schmear with a hint of salt and spice is just what I like. I think the pomegranate molasses dressing would be a better coating for already-roasted sweet potatoes, or actually even salad greens.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all that the group made this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Cheddar-Seed Wafers
November 3, 2020 at 6:31 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory, snacks
Cheddar Seed Wafers, full of cheese and poppy seeds, have a highbrow Cheez-It thing going on. They’re rolled really thin and they bake up delicate, salty, savory and a bit flaky. These are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book, and they would certainly be an excellent sidekick for a glass of crisp white wine, but I actually had my extra-large wafer broken up into shards with a roasted veggie dish that was heavy on the tomatoes.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us anytime!
Everyday Dorie: Bean and Tortilla Soup
October 23, 2020 at 9:19 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups | 10 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
It’s sweater weather but not yet parka weather, so if you’re you’re looking for a soup that manages to be light and fresh and warm and satisfying all at the same time, then this Bean and Tortilla Soup is for you. As written, this recipe is for a vegetarian soup with a spicy, tomatoey base broth with carrots, bell pepper, onions and whatever beans you want bobbing around in it (I used tinned black beans). Then you can go nuts with the toppings— load it up with whatever you’d like. I went with cherry tomatoes, scallions, tons of cilantro, avocado, crumbled feta and lime juice. Your soup bowl is the perfect landing spot for those lingering bits and pieces of cooked stuff in the fridge, too, even if that stuff is something like chicken, sausage or shrimp. Of course this is tortilla soup, so don’t forget some chips to go with! I sprinkled over those broken bits at the bottom of the bag that are too small to hold salsa or guac but make perfect soup crunchies.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Everyday Dorie: Miso-Maple-Jammed Sweet Potatoes
October 9, 2020 at 8:18 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, veggies | 10 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables, vegetarian
Okay, it’s fall. Time to roast up squash and root veggies. Time to make Miso-Maple-Jammed Sweet Potatoes! Here, a roasted sweet potato gets slathered with a “jam” of butter, miso, maple syrup, ponzu and Sriracha. It’s really more of a soft flavored butter than a jam (maybe that just refers to the consistency?), but it’s sweet and salty and a little funky and great match for a sweet potato. Leftover jam is also really nice on a piece of broiled salmon…I just had that for dinner, so I speak from experience. Dorie gives options for serving these sweet potatoes whole, in chunks or mashed. The only way I haven’t tried them is mashed, but why wouldn’t that be great?
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all that the group made this week.
Everyday Dorie: So-Good Miso Corn
September 11, 2020 at 7:44 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, veggies | 5 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables
In peak corn season, I’m always looking for fun things to do with the ears I bring home from the market. This So-Good Miso Corn went over well here, especially with the guy in the house who prefers his corn to be cut from the cob. Fresh kernels are sautéed with butter and miso and sprinkled with za’atar and cayenne. On paper, it kind of seems like a mash-up of flavors, but I used a very light miso and it all worked nicely. Dorie suggests a variation with seared squid to make it into more of a main course…while I wanted to keep the corn as a side dish, she did spark an idea. I have a packet of dried shredded squid, a sweet and savory snack that I got at a local Japanese market, and put a little floof of it on top of the corn.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our beet bowls this week.
Everyday Dorie: Ricotta Spoonable
August 14, 2020 at 11:32 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, snacks | 8 CommentsTags: cheese, everyday dorie, savory, snacks
This Ricotta Spoonable can be many things– a spread for bread, a dip for crunchy things (like pita chips), a garnish for a bowl of soup or a plate of pasta, probably even a white pizza base. It’s easy enough to stir together some ricotta, lemon, herbs and alliums and see what you’re inspired to do with it. No judgements if you just want to eat it with a spoon…it’s spoonable, after all.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our spoonables this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Parm Toasts
August 4, 2020 at 12:13 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory, snacks
Parm Toasts really do look like tiny toasts, although no bread was harmed in the making of these. They are cheese biscotti…a simple to make dough loaded with shredded parmesan cheese that’s twice baked. These are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book, and I can confirm that they do go nicely with a white wine spritz. They also make good croutons for salad (Dorie says ditto for crunchy soup floaters, but I’m holding off on that taste test till fall).
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us anytime!
Everyday Dorie: Ginger-Beet Salad Bowls
July 24, 2020 at 9:12 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, salads, savory things | 6 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, salad, savory, vegetables, vegetarian
Oops- I almost forgot about this posting, but luckily I made my Ginger-Beet Salad Bowls a while back, so my photos and my thoughts were ready to go. It was a recipe I jumped the gun on last year, but I should make this cooked beet salad again because I really liked it, and also because the beets are looking pretty sweet at the greenmarket right now. I actually make a lot of composed salad “bowls” all year round. If I have a bit of leftover roasted or steamed veggies from dinner, they find their way into my lunch salad the next day. When I cook quinoa or brown rice, I always make double to keep for the rest of the week. I have a tough crowd here, but I can even get away with salad bowls for dinner if I have a bit of protein to add to the veg and grains.
I really like/need interesting ideas for vinaigrette, and this one’s spiced with ginger and harissa and is sweetened with honey. I have to admit though that it is apparently impossible for me to measure out anything for a salad dressing. I eyeball, I substitute and I adjust according to what I have and what I want the dressing to taste like. This one, for example, calls for both white wine and white balsamic vinegars. I will probably never buy white balsamic vin, so I went with all white wine here, and the flavorings I did to taste. So I guess I’m saying that I don’t know how Dorie’s dressing tastes as written, but I liked what I made using it as a guideline!
I steamed red, yellow and pink beets and added them along with radicchio to quinoa mixed with pomegranate seeds (aka rubies), scallions and herbs. There’s a swoop of Greek yogurt in the bowl, too, and spoonfuls of dressing drizzled about….a very good summer lunch.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our beet bowls this week.
Baked Fresh Weekly
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
a whisk and a spoon 