A Menu of Menus

Hello there, and apologies for not writing the past few days. It's been a bit hectic with dinners out, working early and through lunch, and lots of other things in between, but I've finally gotten the next menu together! I sat down to go through my cookbooks, waiting for something to inspire me about this menu, and it finally hit me! A menu of menus!

A lot of cookbooks sort their recipes by meals the reader can cook, including appetizers, side dishes, and desserts...not just one entree dish. There are times when I like to take recipes from different places to make my own menus, but there are other times that a ready-made menu comes in very handy. I decided to feature full menus this time around, and you can check out the upcoming meals here! (Or, just click on the current menu tab at the top of the page!)

I don't think I'll be doing a huge shopping for everything at once since I know of quite a few days coming up where we won't be home for dinner, and I don't want to see all of those beautiful ingredients go bad. Having said that, I see a few smaller trips to the grocery store and farmers market in my near future. Bringing home the ingredients for one or two meals at a time can be useful when there are lots of intermittent plans and you want to limit the amount of waste in your kitchen!

Tonight, we'll be out at Masa for a birthday celebration, but tomorrow marks the start of the new menu. Which meal should I start with? Does anyone have a suggestion? They all look so good...I can't wait to start cooking!

I've got an idea!

I've got a crazy idea! It's time to make a new menu so we can go food shopping on Friday evening - our new night of choice for this task since the stores are empty! I started browsing through my recipes, preparing to start my list when I thought, wait a minute! Maybe my readers can help!

So, here's what I'm proposing...

• Is there an ingredient that you would like to learn more about in the coming weeks?
• Have you seen a cookbook that you'd like to hear more about?
• Do you have a recipe that you've been dying to try...but you're still just a little intimidated?
• Interested in learning a specific technique?

I would love to help! Comment on this post to leave me your ideas and I will try to incorporate them into my menu this time around. If it works out well, we'll do this from now on, and if I get too many requests (ooo, I hope that happens!!) then whatever I don't get to this time around will certainly roll over into the next list, I promise. And, I will definitely mention you in my post if it was your suggestion - I'm all about giving credit where credit is due. 

If you feel strange commenting on the post to let me know what you'd like to see on the menu, feel free to shoot me an email, instead. 

Contact me.

Eyeball it!

First, let me apologize for not writing yesterday! I didn't get home until really late last night because I spent my evening listening to Bon Jovi croon his greatest hits! There are few things that could keep me from writing, but Bon Jovi...he's one of them! :)

And now, on to the culinary wanderings for today!

There's something to be said for following a recipe to the letter, especially if you are still getting your "kitchen-legs." Measuring spices and oils to the exact amount can prove helpful if you don't have a lot of experience, but once you get a slight grasp of the concepts, try branching out, and put that 1/2 teaspoon measurement spoon away. You can usually see, as you pour, when you've used the correct amount.

From Flickr - by chef@isimmer

A lot of people get scared that they are going to over-season, or mess up the balance of flavors in a dish by eyeballing the measurements. If you have that concern, start off with a timid pour. You can ALWAYS add more, but it's a lot more difficult to take away, so pour a little of all the spices necessary for a dish, and then taste it. Add some more and taste it again! The key is to always taste your food, at every step of the way. If you taste the flavors as they are melding, you can certainly tell when you need to add more.

If you watch any of those cooking competition shows, you know that people are always getting burned for not tasting their food, and that's not just on tv! I wouldn't want to eat a meal in a restaurant, knowing that no one tasted it along the way. And the same goes for your kitchen - don't send anything out of it without tasting it, and adjusting the flavors to your liking. The more you use certain spices and herbs, you'll learn the specific tastes and will be able to recognize when your dish is missing one thing, or has too much of another.

From Flickr - by TiGeRwInGs

If you still feel hesitant to try the eyeballing method, try this. Take a recipe you want to try and make it to the letter. Measure every single ingredient. Enjoy your meal but concentrate on remembering the tastes. In the coming weeks, try making the recipe again, using the eyeball method. Can you recreate the dish, or even, make it better!?

Go-Go Gadget: Mandoline

I have to say that the mandoline is one of my favorite gadgets, and I'm not talking about the musical instrument! So many recipes call for thinly sliced vegetables, but it's so difficult to do that with a knife. Either they aren't all the same thickness (which means they don't all cook at the same rate) or you've sliced up your fingers trying to get the whole piece cut! But I have the solution to all of your woes, and then some!

There are many versions of mandonline slicers out there, and depending on how much you want to spend will determine what you get for your money. The OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer that I have is a mid-range choice, and has lots of great features. The slicing guard is key for getting those small pieces sliced. The blade, which I find to be perfectly sharp for the jobs at hand, can be raised or lowered depending on the thickness you're looking for.

This gadget also allows for julienne cuts! What's a julienne, you ask? This is a knife technique that results in "matchstick" pieces of whatever you are slicing. This can be quite time consuming with a knife (although I find knife work strangely calming), but the mandoline can help you save time in this department as well. You'll quickly have a growing pile of matchstick veggies to throw into whatever recipe you're following!

From Flickr - by Gino LoCascio

Lastly, I like that this particular mandoline has rubber feet and a little prop stand so I don't have to hold it while it's in use. I can place a cutting board underneath to catch my slices and have my hands free to concentrate on the task at hand. There are quite a few handheld mandolines out there, but I can only imagine that they are a bit unwieldy.

Now, what can you MAKE with a mandoline? Homemade potato chips, marinated cucumber salads, and of course, a quicker mise en place are only a few of the uses for this wonderful invention. I find it easy to use and easy to clean! This gadget is one of my favorite things that I registered for when I got married, and it came from two of my favorite people! xoxo Lauren and Sara! :)

From Flickr - by SmithsEdgeWare

From Flickr - by Paula.X

Top 10 : Pantry Items You Should Always Have on Hand

Happy Friday, my culinary cuties! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that's reading this blog. The response has been tremendous thus far, and I'm extremely excited to see where this takes me. It's so encouraging to see that there are so many readers, and that you are leaving comments and asking questions. Keep it coming, and I promise I will too!



Today, I wanted to touch base on some ingredients that should ALWAYS be in your pantry. If I run out of one of these things, it immediately goes on my shopping list for next time.

1. Olive Oil is used in almost every recipe. If you don't have olive oil, don't start cooking.

2. Balsamic Vinegar can be used in a lot of ways. If you have this and olive oil, you've got salad dressing! Additionally, you can reduce balsamic vinegar to make a glaze for meats or vegetables.

3. Soy Sauce is a staple in any Asian-inspired meal. If you have stuff to throw in a stir-fry, you better have soy sauce. I recommend the low-sodium variety, as its a bit less salty, and also a little better for you.

4. Red/White Wine Vinegar is a handy condiment for salad dressings as well as marinades. Many recipes call for it and it's good to have on hand in the event of a last minute dinner choice.

5. Arborio Rice is what we use to make risotto, along with the chicken stock below. A dinner made of leftover veggies thrown into a risotto dish is an instant success. 

6. Chicken Stock is an essential part of soups, sauces, and as I just mentioned, risotto! Keep it on hand for all of the above! (Again, if you can find low-sodium varieties, I recommend them.)

7. Canned Tomatoes (diced, crushed, whole, and paste) are a must-have! I keep a few cans of each of these in the pantry at all times. They make great sauces for a quick pasta, as well as a wonderful base for stews and chilis. 

8. Flour ... what is there to say about flour. You can make cookies with it, you can bread chicken with it, you can fry stuff coated in it, along with eggs you've got fresh pasta...always have flour in your house.

9. Breadcrumbs (or Panko) have many uses. If you are making burgers, you need breadcrumbs to hold the meat together, if you are making chicken or pork, you can coat it in breadcrumbs before baking, broiling or sautéing it, and they also make a great topping for a baked pasta dish. Panko is a Japanese bread crumb that adds a little bit more of a crunch than generic breadcrumbs. I prefer them.

10. Kosher Salt is a wonderful way to season your food. It's a bit less harsh than table salt and because it comes in a large box, is easier to measure amounts with as well. If you find that you're not getting the whole seasoning aspect of cooking, and want to follow a recipe TO-THE-LETTER, this is a good way to measure your salt before putting it into a dish.



This should get you started on building a pantry full of usable ingredients. I'll try and provide more of these top-ten type lists to give you hints into what you should be buying when you go to the grocery store. If you have a stocked pantry, you'll actually end up spending less each week at the grocery store because half of the ingredients will already be in your possession. That prepared feeling you'll get is priceless!