rockbirthedme's Blog

It’s been a while, but I’m starting to get bored with my own cooking again.  Out come the cookbooks, and I’m off to the races. This time, it was obvious exactly what I had to cook.  With a name like “Green Eggs and Ham,” this Seuss fan must try it, Sam-I-Am.  Besides, it has basil and fresh ...

My latest adventure, in a series of really lack-luster recipes, was eggplant spaghetti sauce, from Not Your Mother’s Slow-Cooker Cookbook.  This was attractive for three reasons.  One, my husband and I adore eggplant.  Two, eggplant can be a pain to cook, and the idea of popping it into the slow-cooker ...

Like many Americans, I rarely eat organ meat.  This is partly because it doesn’t occur to me; say “organ” and I think “Wanamakers.”  (If you’re not from Philadelphia, feel free to think “church” or some variation thereof.)  It is partly because I don’t like liver; hate one, hate ...

The following is a public service announcement.  Asking the one person in the house who is not allowed to eat sugar to supervise the baking of chocolate chip cookies is not a smart idea if you want to live to see sixteen.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. At any rate.  This week's ...

This week I decided to take the bull by the horns and cook a whole meal from new recipes.  I picked a menu – Roasted Squash Potage with Spiced Crème Fraiche, Ricotta Dumplings over French Lentils, and Sautéed Escarole with Red Pepper and Garlic – from The Flexitarian Table.Knowing better than ...

It's not that I can’t cook innovatively on vacation.  It’s more that I can think of better things to do on vacation, like sitting on the porch with a book, or eating forbidden foods like Oreos and brownies.  So when I fled to the East Coast I left every last cookbook behind. But I’m back.  ...

This is actually last week’s experiment.  It took forever to write up because vacation interfered.   I do mean, “interfered.”  The trouble with taking a job halfway across the country from the family is that they expect you to come back and visit.  I ...

I’m going to take a pass on Victory Garden Vegetable Stew, from a cookbook which shall remain nameless.  It was an absolutely stunningly dull end to an awful lot of work shelling edamame.  Next time I’m just going to eat the soybeans and be done with it. This week’s masterpiece ...

This week’s recipe was Spaghettini with Spinach Ricotta Pesto, from The Long Life Cookbook:  Delectable Recipes For Two.   Naturally, since I’m cooking for a crowd, I had to mess with amounts on this one.  I was very interested that the recipe seemed to think that four ounces ...

This week’s dish was acquacotta.  “Acquacotta” means “boiled water,” and this soup is so simple you really don’t need to know much more than how to boil water to pull it off. Recipes for acquacotta vary a lot, mostly because it’s a dish based on what’s ...

This week’s new dish is Vegetarian Feijoada from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites.  You’re probably wondering how on earth to pronounce that name; according to the book, it’s fey-ZWAH-da.  It’s a traditional Brazilian dish. Actually, I don’t ...

This week’s recipe is Red Bean Enchiladas, from Not a Real Guru’s blog, Frugal Fu (frugal-fu.blogspot.com).  Not a Real Guru isn’t just a penny-pincher, she’s an extremely busy person, so her recipes are usually not only cheap, but simple.  For someone who has ...

This week’s experiment was samosas, from Vegetarian Dishes From Around the World, by Rose Elliot.  Samosas are little fried pastries, full of spicy (not spicy hot) vegetables.  I’ve had them before, and enjoyed them, so I figured I’d have a whack at them. “You ...

This week’s recipe was Salmon and Chive Cakes, from Trade Secrets from a Three-Star Chef.  I broke a couple of rules with this recipe.  First of all, the smart cook does not serve a first-time recipe to guests.  Second, cooking already-cooked canned fish can only lead to trouble. ...

Tonight I made Forty Garlic Chicken, from Recipes Retold. The first time I was told about Forty Garlic Chicken, I said I’d never make it. Peeling all that garlic was too much work. I was assured that I must be peeling garlic the hard way. Put it on the counter and whack it with the side of a knife; the skin ...

This week I left Greece in favor of the Indian sub-continent.  My experimental dish was kitchari, from The Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book.  Kitchari, according to the book, is the word that was eventually corrupted into the English “kedgeree,” but unlike the English dish, which contains ...

My family, who can no more resist playing with language than I can resist messing about in the kitchen, insists on calling it “fated cheese,” no matter how many beatings I threaten.  They eat feta cheese happily, however, so I don’t argue too much. Tonight’s new dish was Stuffed Spinach ...

Recently I've decided I'm getting bored with the home cooking, which is a dangerous sign.  If I get bored, I don't eat.  And if I don't eat Trouble of the Worst Sort invariably follows.  Think hungry bear awakened from hibernation. So I've decided to test-run one new recipe a week.  ...