it's sounds so cliche, but really, winter is for eating. it's so damn cold that there's nothing like some glorious food to warm and fatten you up. so here's what i and my family have been eating:
barefoot contessa lemon fusilli with arugula. this is some lovely lemony goodness. so what if it's more summery than wintery - it just reminds you that warmer times are still to come. also, there was a hilarious new yorker cartoon once with two different pastas and the elbow pasta says to the fusilli pasta "fusilli, you bastard! how are you?" or something like that.
also, from barefoot contessa: turkey lasagna. the ricotta mixture has goat cheese in it which is divine. the sauce that you make for the lasagna is so delish that i'm going to make it just for pasta after i use up my freezer stash of sauce.
if you aren't getting the splendid tables weeknight kitchen newsletter, you're seriously missing out on some awesome recipes. i print out the newsletter almost every week because it's always such delectable food. for some reason, they don't archive the newsletters so i can't post each of my favorite recipes but the one i make the most is tortilla pizza. it's so easy. crank your oven to 450 and put your rack (heh) at the highest level. brush some olive oil on both sides of a flour tortilla (if you're lucky enough to get homemade ones, use those. i get mine from stew leonard's) and place on a cookie sheet. top with sauce, cheese and whatever topping your little heart desires. i use meatballs and banana peppers. throw in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the tortilla is cripsy and cheese is melty. make 5 per person. you won't regret it.
i have a long, detailed recipe for freezer chicken pot pies (word document copied from a password protected magazine site). it's the kind of thing you spend a day cooking and wind up with 6 nice mini-loaf pan sized pies for the freezer to heat and eat with a salad. i served them to rich and rachel when they visited. you can ask them if they were good. i think they are deelish.
i make frittata with potato at least once a week. i made it one time with the suggested prosciutto but i wasn't crazy about it. sometimes i make it with just plain old ham or bacon or sausage. whatever floats your boat. you can change up the herbs and cheese too. i serve it with toasted french bread and a salad. it's good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. perfect.
speaking of perfect. we eat a lot of popcorn in my house. the real stuff. none of this microwave crap. simple recipe's perfect popcorn is excellent as are all the topping suggestions. i love adding salt to the oil so it distributes evenly and even a pat of butter in there gives the popcorn a nice finish.
we eat a lot of oatmeal here too. i've been searching for an oatmeal/breakfast bar recipe to replace the ones i like from the store that have too much sugar in them. these granola bars are superb. you have to cut the sugar back to 1/3 cup and i use craisins instead of raisins but apricots would be nice too. and some pecans or almonds. ella ate two of these already so i consider the recipe to be a success.
finally, it's easter time which means time to stock up on once a year candy. like cadbury mini-eggs. and russell stover maple cream eggs. i know, sounds gross and russell stover? old lady candy, right? last year ella had a maple cream egg in her easter basket from her aunt and a few weeks after easter i was all like "okay, i'll try it" (because i would never throw away chocolate) and it was so good. the mapley marshmallow is covered in dark chocolate and it's just a nice tasting treat. also, it only has 3.5 grams of fat because it's so airy and light. so, as i said, it was a few weeks after easter and no maple cream eggs were to be found anywhere. so i've started a stock pile. they also have marshmallow caramel eggs and chocolate marshmallow eggs. who knew?
happy eating!
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