Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ah, spaghetti and meatballs.  Just the name makes me feel all warm and cozy.  It is my quintessential comfort food.  Hand me a fork and a big bowl of al dente pasta, topped with a garlic and basil flecked pasta sauce, juicy meatballs, and a flurry of freshly grated parmesan, and I will love you forever.  I will love you even more if you also pour me a glass of wine, but that part is optional (most days).

Spaghetti Risotto with Porcini and Thyme

If you were to ask my family what food I don't like, the universal answer would be "mushrooms."  It is true, I have been an active member of the anti-mushroom camp for, well, ever.  But, because I am a rather strange individual, I see that distaste as a personal challenge and I have set out to try and change my own mind.  This mushroom mission is motivated by a (not-so-attractive) haughtiness about my own open-mindedness toward food.  I figure that if I am going to talk a big game about my lack of food phobias, I better be able to back it up with some fungus consumption.

French Fridays with Dorie: Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

This week, I really did have a French Friday with Dorie.  I had planned on making this Vietnamese chicken noodle soup yesterday, but there was a certain ill-timed nap before my dance class (which I signed up for in a moment of temporary insanity in which I forgot that I am terrible dancer), and I never got to it.  As it turns out, I probably could have thrown this together last night.  This soup, which has a surprisingly deep, complex flavor, came together very quickly and easily.

French Fridays with Dorie: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I first saw that we would be making a "mustard tart" for this week's installment of French Fridays with Dorie, I wasn't sure what to think.  A tart, with a predominant mustard flavor?  My brief moment of doubt was put to rest when I scanned the ingredient list.  Two kinds of mustard, dijon and whole grain, and copious amounts of creme fraiche are nestled into a tart shell (and oh, how I do love food that uses pie crust as a vehicle) with leeks and carrots.  How could that be anything but delicious?

French Fridays with Dorie: Gougeres

So, I disappeared again.  I had all these grand plans for more frequent posting, but you know what they say about that whole "best laid plans" thing.  At least this time I have a decent excuse: we moved to Boston!  That's right, I am a city girl now.  I am still cooking (constantly), only now it is in a tiny apartment kitchen on a correspondingly small apartment stove.  A miniature stove, however, is a small price to pay for high ceilings and hardwood floors (and I can't forget the Whole Foods within walking distance).

Now that we are (kinda, sorta) settled in our new place, I really am going to be posting more often.  To give myself a bit more motivation, I have decided to participate in French Fridays with Dorie.  We are going to be cooking along with Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook, Around my French Table.  I am really excited about this because I haven't cooked much French food, and I am always looking to expand my culinary horizons.  Also, it gives me an excuse to buy a new cookbook; something that makes my boyfriend and our overstuffed bookcases groan and also something I (kinda, sorta) promised myself that I wouldn't do.  But come on, this is Dorie, and my copy of Baking: From my Home to Yours was looking rather lonely.

Garlic Shrimp with White Beans and Roasted Tomatoes

I had planned on taking today to write up a long overdue entry about a delicious sandwich that we ate weeks months ago, but I am too excited about last night's dinner to think about any other dish.  So tomorrow I will talk about sandwiches, but today I am going to discuss garlicky shrimp and sweet caramelized tomatoes, all tossed together with creamy cannellini beans and tons of basil (my how I wish we had some leftovers).

Caprese Panzanella

I remember the first time that I heard of a panzanella salad.  It was in my 30-Minute Meals 2 cookbook, and the recipe called for soaking stale bread in water, then wringing it out.  My response can be summed up as "yuck."  At that point I was still new to cooking, and even though I was becoming more and more open-minded about food, I couldn't get past the idea of panzanella being synonymous with soggy bread.