I think my family has figured out that Daniel and I like to cook - at least my parents and mother-in-law have. Xmas breakfast didn't look quite like this. I attempted Huevos Rancheros with mixed results. I think I'm going to have to find a better recipe for the salsa/red sauce.
My parents gave us a cooler of meat and goodies from Omaha Meats and a subscription to a great cooking magazine called "Cooks Country" - it's not as "country" as it sounds, trust me. Ok, it's not full of "fine dining" recipes but it's not Betty Crocker, either. When we visited my parents over Thanksgiving I went through her backlog of magazines and made copies of all kinds of great recipes - she wouldn't let me take them with me so you know it's a good magazine! There is another publication that I'd like to try one day called "Cooks Illustrated" - I think it's more what I'm looking for (tips, tricks, gadget reviews as well as recipes) but I picked the one with lots of color pictures to start. Don't you just hate it when a cookbook doesn't have pictures?!
My mother-in-law, Elin, gave us a glycemic index cookbook and a great pot - a 7 quart non-stick casserole. I'm super excited to make soup or a roast in that pot. My dutch oven is only 4 quarts and sometimes it just isn't big enough. I do need to read the directions before I use it because I've already killed one pan (cast iron) in my short cooking life and I certainly don't want to do that again.
For Xmas dinner, I made the usual - lasagna. I've made a homemade sauce (crushed tomatoes, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, parsley) the last few times but I was feeling off (come to find out I was incubating quite a cold) and used a jar sauce - Ragu "Mama's Garden" chunky. I know...Ragu, but really it's pretty good. It has lots of chunks of veggies, maybe a few too many for a lasagna, and it might be a bit sweet for some people, but it is a good, inexpensive sauce in a pinch. Luckily I don't have an Italian Grandmother to spin in her grave.
http://www.blogger.com/www.cookscountry.com
My mother-in-law, Elin, gave us a glycemic index cookbook and a great pot - a 7 quart non-stick casserole. I'm super excited to make soup or a roast in that pot. My dutch oven is only 4 quarts and sometimes it just isn't big enough. I do need to read the directions before I use it because I've already killed one pan (cast iron) in my short cooking life and I certainly don't want to do that again.
For Xmas dinner, I made the usual - lasagna. I've made a homemade sauce (crushed tomatoes, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, parsley) the last few times but I was feeling off (come to find out I was incubating quite a cold) and used a jar sauce - Ragu "Mama's Garden" chunky. I know...Ragu, but really it's pretty good. It has lots of chunks of veggies, maybe a few too many for a lasagna, and it might be a bit sweet for some people, but it is a good, inexpensive sauce in a pinch. Luckily I don't have an Italian Grandmother to spin in her grave.
http://www.blogger.com/www.cookscountry.com
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