Kate Cooks The Books
Kate Sheehan
Like you, I have a “real” job that has nothing to do with food and a more than full-time child so I cook in my so-called free time. Fortunately for all of us, cooking is my golf and I don’t mind spending hours doing it in order to help find the cookbooks worth having.
Off Topic: Pasta, Sausage and Bean Soup
One of the reasons I started a blog was that I would sometimes find an absolutely wonderful recipe and there were only so many people I could button-hole about it at work without getting the feeling that they were starting to avoid me in the hallways. This soup…
Off Topic: Sauted Chicken Breasts with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Once again from my favorite week night cookbook comes an amazing dish that is reliably accomplished in 30 minutes and is nice enough to serve at a dinner party. Chicken breasts, in my opinion, are over-rated. They became so popular during one of our many…
Baked Explorations: Speculaas
I knew I was in trouble with these cookies when I couldn’t stop eating the dough scraps. The story behind them is the author’s obsession with Delta Airline’s Biscoff cookies. I can’t remember the last time I flew Delta and the notion of an…
Open-Faced Beef Wellington
I made “real” Beef Wellington once. And it took days. Even without making the puff pastry or the pate from scratch, it was quite a project: a scrumptious and complicated red wine sauce made with oxtails, the Duxelles, the proper cooking of an…
Off Topic: Spanakopita
I had never made Spanakopita before despite the fact that everything about it sounds good: feta, phyllo, pecorino-romano, butter. And I was even able to get phyllo dough, in the correct size, at my local Jewel; a store committed to the idea that all people want to eat…
Off Topic: Pasta Al Forno
This is from the latest (February 2011) issue of Cook’s Country and it is incredibly delicious and just different enough from every other pasta dish you probably make often to get your attention. And I love that the vegetables (in this case, eggplant) play a…
Baked Explorations: Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts
I know, right? Shall we just look at them for a while? I think a wise diet plan is to not eat any doughnuts you don’t make yourself. And then don’t make any doughnuts. Seriously though, when people ask me why I’m not fat, part of the reason is that…
Baked Explorations: Nutella Scones
How is it that I’d never tried Nutella before making these scones? I really can’t figure that out. Anyway, it’s lovely stuff, although kind of like eating straight frosting so don’t be misled by the “made with skim milk” statement…
Baked Explorations: Maple Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Holy smokes these are good. And I’m not just saying that as someone who is powerless in the face of maple syrup. They are objectively, insanely, ridiculously good. How do I know? I taste-tested them on a focus group. Ok, so it was people at work who are so nice…
Off Topic: Vegetable Lo Mein
Don’t you just love the holidays? And don’t you just love when they’re over? I adore all of the carb-heavy, fat-laden, coma-inducing foods I make around Christmas but when it’s over I am always left craving something that cuts through the…
Baked Explorations: Buckeyes
Living next door to Ohio, I had heard of Buckeyes before. I had eaten them in their natural habitat and even made them. They are meant to resemble the nuts of the buckeye tree and, trust me, they do. I don’t know how old they are but I suspect they…
Guest Recipe: Mo’s Holiday Cookies
Mo and I met at my very first job (I won’t say what year that was but I will give you a hint: we did not have computers and people smoked with abandon right in their offices). We were young and single together and did lots of young, single things. Like go to…
Off Topic: Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil
This is from the most recent (Jan/Feb 2011) Cook’s Illustrated. With a vegetarian among us I’m always looking for something meat-free that will appeal to all three of us. And quick recipes are never unwelcome. Tonight cooking was hastily wedged between…
Baked Explorations: Mississippi Mud Pie (B), aka Muddy Mississippi Cake
As much as I like this cake I have to say, I think it’s trying too hard. Isn’t combining an Oreo-cookie crust, a flourless chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and whipped cream pandering, just a little? If I had to leave one of those elements out it would be…
Baked Explorations: Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies
If you already know what a sucker I am for chocolate+mint it will come as no surprise that I adore these cookies all out of proportion. They are a little like French sables, (“sable” meaning sand but no, of course they don’t taste like sand….
Off Topic: Hot and Sour Ramen with Tofu, Shiitakes and Spinach
Another favorite from Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best 30-Minute Recipes and another great option for vegetarians, or flexitarians having a meat-free night. And, with the exception of the shiitakes, a good choice for Cheapetarians (thanks to the brilliant…
Off Topic: Scrambled Eggs with Red Pepper and Gruyere
I promise you that when I left work tonight I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. And that’s not like me. Typically, I plan all our meals for the week and shop on Saturday and from these formidable planning skills seven meals appear effortlessly…
Off Topic: White Bean Soup with Rosemary Croutons
It’s a rainy Monday here and while not exactly cold by the standards we will soon be numbly familiar with, it’s not pleasant either. It’s the kind of night when you take the dogs for a walk and they get down to business quickly and turn right back…
Off Topic: Enchiladas Verde
It’s hard to say what I love most about this dish. We are very partial to Mexican food, especially my husband to the point where I suspect he might be a Mexican trapped in the body of an ancestral German. Although he doesn’t cook much he has embraced Rick…
Off Topic: Paprika Roasted Chicken and Onions
File this under: I have a chicken and some onions and need to have dinner on the table in 38 minutes. I adapted this from an old Gourmet recipe and one of the things I changed was to triple the amount of onions because they are the best part of this dish. Seriously, a…
Baked Explorations: Sweet and Salty Brownies
My dear friend Susan (of kugel fame) was just telling me that she does not like this trend of salty+sweet. She also doesn’t like things like cayenne pepper in her chocolate dessert. Just can’t get into this particular culinary movement. What can you…
Off Topic: Thanksgiving
For the last 18 years we have spent Thanksgiving with my husband’s family in Ohio, so I have not made a Thanksgiving dinner since 1992. And, truth be told, I wouldn’t have been very good at it back then anyway. To make up for not getting to make this…
Baked Explorations: Chocolate Coffee Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Have I got a cake for you. This is absolutely one of the most satisfying cakes — both for eating and for gazing at fondly — I’ve ever made. For that reason I forgive it for taking up my entire Sunday afternoon. And making me half-watch “The…
Review: Around My French Table
Recommending this book is a no-brainer and I predict that it will become a classic. It will earn coveted real-estate in many bookshelves and will be a cookbook today’s children will remember as one of the ones that was out on the countertop often during their…