The June/July book selection @ Cook The Books is Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy

I’ve never read this author before so I was excited to read this book.

The book is about Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather who are starting a catering business in Dublin. Add some relatives, friends, and some minor characters here and there and well, I thought there was just too many characters.

It’s a bit longer than what I prefer, and I do think it could have been a shorter and still had the same impact on the reader, but it did flow along well enough to keep my interest.

The book ended rather abruptly I thought, and kind of left me wondering what was next. Overall, this was a good book and I’m glad I read it.

There were so many foods mentioned in the book, and I wrote the name and page number of all the ones that I thought I might make. I finally narrowed it down to  two, Paella, which is mentioned on page 156 and Irish Stew which is mentioned on page 480.  I finally settled on Paella since I’ve never had it.

Here is what is said when the Paella is mentioned:

I found a recipe here, and adapted it a bit:
Quick Chicken & Chorizo Paella
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
14 ounces chorizo, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pimenton or paprika (I used pimenton, which is just smokier)
2 cups short- or medium-grain rice
1 pinch saffron threads
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 pounds chicken, cut into chunks (didn’t use)
1/2 cup frozen peas (I used a cup)
1 tomato, chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oven to 400°F.
Heat oil in a large casserole or paella pan over high heat.
Add chorizo and cook until browned and fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add onion, red bell pepper, and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.
Add rice (medium or short grain rice), pimenton, saffron, and bay leaves.
Stir to combine and coat the rice, about 1 minute.
Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Add roast chicken, frozen peas, and tomato; stir to combine.
Transfer skillet to oven.
Cook uncovered until rice is tender and no liquid remains, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven.
Fluff with a fork and serve immediately.

I had both the chicken and chorizo on the counter to use, but decided to go with just the chorizo. The next time I make it I’ll use just the chicken, then both.

This was really good and very easy to make. The paella was full of flavor and was all I needed as a main dish. The recipe made enough for 6 bowls, so there’s plenty leftovers, saving you from having to cook the next night and/or trying to figure out what to take for lunch.

Cook The Books

Weekend Cooking

When I posted about my Mary Kay Andrews win @ Karen’s Korner , I took these photos of the recipes that were included but forgot to put them in the post. So here they are:

I plan on making both, but think I’ll start with Colcannon

Weekend Cooking is hosted @ Beth Fish Reads

This week at I ♥ Cooking Clubs, we are saying G’day to Curtis Stone. We can make any recipe from online or one of his cookbooks to welcome him to IHCC.

Since I LOVE Brussels Sprouts and am always looking for new ways to make them, I decided to try this recipe but adapted it a bit:

Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved and tough outer leaves removed
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/3 cup diced Spanish chorizo
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small heavy skillet, stir the caraway seeds over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until toasted and fragrant. Transfer the seeds to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder.

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, then add the Brussels sprouts, scallions, and chorizo and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the Brussels sprouts are tender and beginning to caramelize. Mix in the ground caraway. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

I can’t tell you how much I love Brussels Sprouts. Yes I can, a lot. A whole lot. A bunch.

So, I didn’t have any caraway seeds so I substituted curry. Yum! I also couldn’t find any fresh Brussels Sprouts so I used a bag of frozen, and I couldn’t find any bulk chorizo so I used chorizo sausage. I probably could have found these ingredients if I had wanted to store hop, but I didn’t. And I don’t think this could have tasted any better if I’d followed the recipe exactly as it’s written. It was yummy.

I had never had Chorizo before and wasn’t sure if I’d like it, especially with Brussels Sprouts, but this was so good. My son doesn’t like Brussels Sprouts at all and I couldn’t get him to try them, but he did try the chorizo. He liked it, said it was good other than it was tainted by Brussels Sprouts 🙂

I’ll be making this again, but will cut the recipe in half, maybe even in thirds, since I’m the only one that eats it. This was a win!

Also linking to
Weekend Cooking is hosted @ Beth Fish Reads

Kung Pao Pork Stir Fry

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
About 1 lb of boneless pork chops, sliced into chunks
10 tbsp Panda Express Kung Pao sauce
Half a bag of Sugar Snap Pea Stir Fry frozen vegetables (2.25 cups)
1/2 onion cut in chunks

Put olive oil, garlic and a small part of the chopped onion in a large frying pan or wok to heat on medium.

Chop pork into chunks, removing large parts of fat as necessary.

Add to pan with olive oil and 2 tbsp of Kung Pao Sauce.

Once pork is cooked through, add remaining onions, frozen vegetables and remaining Kung Pao Sauce.

Stir and fry until vegetables are cooked and sauce is bubbly.

Serve with brown rice or noodles as desired.

We thought this was just ok. It didn’t have the kick we thought it would, the sauce was a bit too runny, and it didn’t have enough veggies. If I make it again, I think I’ll use chicken (just because I love chicken), use a thicker sauce, and double the veggies. Overall it was ok, but I think these changes will make it even better.

I know the photo makes it look like there was plenty of veggies, but that’s because I didn’t put many pork chop chunks in my bowl.

Weekend Cooking is hosted @ Beth Fish Reads

This week at I ♥ Cooking Clubs we’re making Oodles Of Noodles with Ellie Krieger. After doing quite a bit of searching, I decided to make an adapted version of her Family Favorite Minestrone.

Family Favorite Minestrone
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot, scrubbed well, then diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces), diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
28 ounces canned, no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
48 ounces (6 cups) no-salt-added vegetable broth or chicken broth
15 ounces canned, no-salt-added small red beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup dried, whole-grain elbow pasta
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper; cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.

Add the zucchini, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and broth; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Partially cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, then add the beans and pasta.

Uncover; increase the heat to medium-high just long enough to return the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the pasta and vegetables are tender.

Divide among individual bowls; garnish each portion with the cheese.

Serves 6

So yummy!

I’ve only eaten Minestrone a few times, and that was canned. This recipe was so much better. I loved it. It was easy to make and didn’t take much time and it tasted so good! The next time I make it I think I’ll add garbanzo beans, corn and baby spinach. We had a French Baguette (you can see it in the first photo behind all the ingredients) to go with it and it was a very satisfying meal. I took the photo before adding the cheese, just so you could get a good look at the soup. I adjusted the recipe a bit by adding 2 cans of un-rinsed beans instead of one rinsed (I added the other can after the picture), and used plain Parmesan cheese. Also, I was going to use vegetable broth but the store only had chicken and beef with no-salt added.

This recipe is from Nestle’ Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels Best Loved Recipes

*Photo from the book*

Layers Of Love Chocolate Brownies
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Nestle Toll House Baking Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut in pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet White Morsels
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
3/4 cup Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease an 8 inch baking pan
Combine flour, cocoa and salt in a small bowl
Beat butter, granulated sugar & brown sugar in a large mixer bowl until creamy
Add two eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Add vanilla extract and mix well
Gradually beat in flour mixture
Reserve 3/4 cup batter
Spread remaining batter into prepared baking pan
Sprinkle pecans and white morsels over batter
Drizzle caramel topping over top
Beat remaining egg and reserved batter in same large bowl until light in color
Stir in semi-sweet morsels
Spread evenly over caramel topping
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until center is set
Cool completely in pan on wire rack
Cut into squares
Makes 16 brownies

Weekend Cooking is hosted @ Beth Fish Reads