Gourmet Veggie Mama

Tag Archives: Potatoes

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

April 7, 2013 2:37 pm / 6 Comments /

I am starting to love twice-baked potatoes. Not the smallest reason is that they are easy to make ahead and then finish off right before dinner time. When I saw Kitchen Treaty’s recipe for Greek yogurt and chive twice-baked potatoes, I wanted to try them ASAP, and then I stumbled on a baked potato casserole recipe on Pinterest, and the rest is history. I made my very own Frankenstein version combining these dishes, and it was perfect.

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

The Greek yogurt, aside from adding creaminess to the filling, also packs a protein punch, and it’s tasty to boot. Add some sharp cheddar (I used Dubliner cheese leftover from my last twice-baked potato adventure, but any good sharp cheese will do), sautéed mushrooms and onions, and broccoli, and we’re in business. I would love to say that I served this as a put-together meal with a side salad or some roasted kale, but, alas, it was a busy night, and the fact that the potatoes already had veggies in the filling won out, and I just called it a complete meal in itself.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 4 baking potatoes
  • 3 Tbsp butter, divided
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus additional for oiling pan
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • ½ cup mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1½ cups sharp cheddar, divided
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly oil a large casserole dish, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, and arrange then cut-side down in the dish. Bake for 15 minutes.
  2. Flip the potatoes, pierce them with a fork and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 350°.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, caramelize the onion. In a large sauté pan, melt 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil and cook the onion over medium heat for until soft and translucent. Lower the heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
  4. Return the heat to medium and add the garlic and mushrooms. Sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the broccoli and saute for a minute or two more.
  5. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop most of the flesh out, leaving about ¼ inch so that the potato skin holds its shape, and place the insides in a large bowl. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and the Greek yogurt and mash well.
  6. Stir in 1 cup of the cheddar and the onion-mushroom-broccoli mixture and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Scoop the potato mixture back into the potato skins, mounding over. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar and arrange the potatoes in the same casserole dish.*
  8. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through and the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Serve warm.

Notes
* If you want to make these ahead and finish baking them right before dinner, stop here and refrigerate the potatoes. Simply add about 5 minutes to the cooking time.

 

Posted in: cooking, make-ahead meals, vegetarian, weeknight meals / Tagged: , , , ,

Potatoes Stuffed with Caramelized Onions and Dubliner Cheese

March 8, 2013 11:43 am / 4 Comments /

I haven’t made twice-baked potatoes in ages. I remembered them taking lots of time, even if the results are tasty. If I’m in a potatoes-for-dinner kind of mood, I save myself the work and just make fill-your-own baked potatoes instead. But then I tried Potatoes Stuffed with Caramelized Onions and Dubliner Cheese, and I was glad I didn’t just make plain ol’ baked potatoes.

Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Dubliner Cheese

These potatoes marry a sharp Irish cheese (just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!) with sweet caramelized onions, and the results are delicious and even kid-approved! Plus they aren’t nearly as time-intensive as I remembered. Hop on over to LiveMom and check out my Thursday’s Dish post for the recipe (and for a chance to win a set of two Not Your Mother’s cookbooks).

I received a review copy of Not Your Mother’s Make Ahead and Freeze Cookbook to review for the LiveMom piece. I was a little skeptical that freezer meals could be actually, you know, good, but we all know how much I like make-ahead meals to avoid the dinnertime rush. I have to say, I have discovered a few gems in this book (my family spent the better part of this week eating from it) and now I’m a believer.

I think I’ll start trying to cook one extra freezer meal each weekend, just so I have a stash of healthy and delicious homemade meals in the freezer for a rainy day. I’ll be sure to share more of my favorite recipes, perhaps in round-up form, as I discover them!

Posted in: cooking, giveaways, make-ahead meals, meal planning, weeknight meals / Tagged: , , , ,

Leftover Extravaganza

November 25, 2012 7:53 am / 8 Comments /

“Tis the season. You know, the season of lots and lots of leftovers. Do you have them? At this point, they are just hanging out in the fridge, begging to be used ASAP or tossed. Here are a few tasty ideas that will hopefully help keep you from feeding a post-feast feast to your compost pile.

  • Sweet potato waffles. We added a nice hefty scoop of leftover sweet potato casserole (topping and all) to our favorite waffle batter.
    sweet potato waffles

    Breakfast time!

    Not only were they excellent,  the leftover waffles freeze well so that you have quick breakfast for mornings to come!

  • Bon Appétit’s Thanksgiving leftovers slideshow has a bunch of excellent-sounding recipes, including pumpkin flan (a great use for that partial can of pumpkin you have in the fridge).
  • Brussels sprouts pizza. Yeah, seriously. We had this for dinner the other night and it was so good. We already had some leftover grilled pizza crusts in the freezer, so it was quick and easy to throw together (the hubby finished them off on the grill).
    brussels sprouts pizza

    Eat your veggies!

    My vegetarian version included halved roasted Brussels sprouts, mozzarella and manchego cheeses, sautéed spinach and a sprinkle of fleur de sel and crushed red pepper. The hubby’s version included Brussels sprouts, bacon and mozzarella. Both were delicious (or at least so I hear).

  • Cranberry brie bites. I stumbled across these on Rufus’ Guide to Food and Spirits, and I must have them now. What an awesome use of leftover cranberry sauce (which is plentiful in my fridge right now).
  • Mashed potato cakes. Obvs. I wrote about this one yesterday, and it was tasty.
  • Stuffing stuffed mushrooms? Yes please!
  • Last but not least, here are a bunch of ideas for all that leftover turkey from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and A is for Austin.
Posted in: cooking, vegetarian, weeknight meals / Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Thankful… and a use for all those leftover mashed potatoes!

November 24, 2012 12:43 pm / 6 Comments /

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, laughter and delicious food! I was going to write a big Thanksgiving post this year, but, when it came down to it, I was just too busy cooking and enjoying time with my family to do it. No apologies here — that’s what this holiday is all about isn’t it? I was just too busy being thankful and enjoying the things I have to be thankful for to sit down and write about it.

thanksgiving meal

Thankful.

But I certainly am thankful. There is so much I am thankful for, it’s hard to know where to begin, but the thing I keep coming back to is that I am thankful for where I am. I wouldn’t have chosen the road that led me here, particularly, but here I am! Don’t get me wrong… I am still traveling that road, and I am not sure where it’s leading, but now I know it’s the journey, not the destination. I am comfortable with a little uncertainty, which is something I have ever really been able to embrace before now. I went from high school to college to law school to law firm without ever not knowing what the next step was… and then I had to take a huge step into the unknown. It was terrifying at the time, but it turned out to be so right. I just had to close my eyes and jump, without knowing where or when I would land. I am still falling, but my parachute is open, and I’m enjoying the ride.

I went to prenatal yoga weekly when I was pregnant with Nora. During savasana the instructor would always tell us to think about something for which we were truly grateful. What would always come to mind, immediately, was “this time.” I was (and am) grateful to be a position to step back and explore, to find my passion, to take care of my child full-time. I appreciate that’s a choice that many people don’t have, just from the pressures of day-to-day living, and I’m so glad that my crooked path led me to this place.

You know the question career counselors ask: What would you do if you were independently wealthy? It’s supposed to lead you to your perfect career. It seems like it should be easy an easy question, but I never had a great answer for it. I spent a couple of years putzing around (okay, there was some parenting involved, too) before I finally got relaxed and clear and wound-down enough to see it: I like to write. I like to cook. I like my family. So, I write about cooking and my family. This blog, which I started as just a fun thing to do, to keep my mind entertained while spending the lion’s share of my time as a mommy and homemaker.* As it turns out, this is it — the thing I would do if I didn’t have to work. So I’ve started picking up freelance writing assignments here and there, and doing some editing. Nora gets to go to preschool a couple of days a week (which she loves), and I get a little time away to flex my brain muscles. It doesn’t feel like work. I’m certainly not getting paid much, but maybe someday!

* It’s interesting trying to come up with a neutral term for that occupation.

So, basically, I am thankful I’m now at a place where I have figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Not that I’m there yet — it’s the journey — but I feel like that was really the hard part.

Anyway, that’s enough introspection for one day. Let’s get down to business. Thanksgiving is over, and that means leftovers! I don’t know about you, but I ended up with lots of delicious mashed potatoes left over (I always make more than necessary because I love them so much). I recently discovered a brilliant (in a “why have I never thought of that?” kind of way) use for leftover mashed potatoes: Mashed potato cakes! They made a great dinner last night.

mashed potato cakes

Dinner!

Even Nora loved them, although she was a bit disappointed that we weren’t really having “cakes” for dinner.

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Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes
Author: 
 

Ingredients
  • Leftover mashed potatoes
  • 1-2 eggs, beaten
  • ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese**
  • 2 Tbs canola oil
  • chopped fresh parsley or chives for serving (optional)
  • sour cream for serving (optional)

Instructions
  1. Roll a nice spoonful of the mashed potatoes into a ball using your hands. Roll in a shallow dish with the eggs, and then in another shallow dish to coat with the panko.
  2. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the coated potato balls in the skillet and gently flatten them with a spatula. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 3-5 minutes. Flip over and cook until golden brown and crispy on the other side.
  3. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Serve sprinkled with the parsley or chives and a dollop of sour cream on the side.

Notes
** Optional. Otherwise, just use more panko… but the parmesan is tasty.

 

Posted in: cooking, motherhood, thanksgiving, vegetarian, writing / Tagged: , ,

Our Thanksgiving Table… and a Giveaway (CLOSED)!

November 21, 2012 1:40 pm / 12 Comments /

We have just finished a terrible round of the pukies here at our house. Thankfully Nora seems to have skipped the worst of it (fingers crossed), but being sick with a toddler is no fun. Even less fun is being sick with a toddler when your spouse and co-parent is also sick. But, the worst is over now, so onward and upward. It’s time to sanitize the kitchen and start thinking about Thanksgiving!

Here’s what will be on our table this year:

  • Turkey - I defer to my omnivore guests on the centerpiece of the meal. Hubby is in charge of the turkey business this year (as always), and he decided to order a smoked turkey breast from Rudy’s.
  • Green Beans with Creamy Mushrooms – I tested this recipe last week, and it was far too delicious not to make again. It’s like green bean casserole without all the processed junk!
  • Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole – This is another of my “dress rehearsal” recipes, and although I planned to revert to my traditional sweet potatoes with honey, pecans and cinnamon, I have been outvoted. That’s okay — it’s good stuff, man.
  • Stuffing – TBD. I think I’ll make cornbread stuffing with pecans and jalapeños. Stuffing (or dressing, as my mother would implore me to call it) is not really my thing, but I think it’s required.
  • Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes – Love. These. Potatoes. I think I have a new go-to recipe… but for holidays only, since I’m sure they are terrrrrrible for you.
  • Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts – This is a new recipe, but it’s similar to several others I make, so it should be a snap. Plus I have beets and goat cheese, so why not?
  • Spiced Cranberry Sauce – Fresh is so much better, people. Are you still using the canned stuff? Please tell me no. If you want a processed sugar-free version, use the recipe at the link, but substitute coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar. Done and done.
  • Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie – You knew this was going to make the cut again, didn’t you? I’m pretty sure we’ll never have another Thanksgiving without it.
  • Bread Pudding – I seize on any excuse to make a good bread pudding, and Thanksgiving certainly is one! I’m not sure yet if I’ll be making White and Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding or another variation (maybe chocolate bread pudding with walnuts?), but it’s happening.

In general, I like to overdo it, but this year, just coming off of feeling like death for a few days, I got responsible and pared back a bit. What’s on your Thanksgiving table this year? Are you trying anything new, or sticking with the tried-and-true?

***GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED  – CONGRATS TO WINNER ALI!***

Now, for what you’re all really interested in: the giveaway! I’ve never done one before, but when Cooking Planit gave me the opportunity to offer you one of my favorite kitchen gadgets on their dime, it sounded like a win-win to me. Just in time to help with all your holiday cooking this year, how about a Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor?

Hello, beautiful.

Not only is it lovely, it does a bang-up job with small tasks like making dressing, chopping onions and more. All you have to do to win is visit Cooking Planit and let me know which of their featured “Alternative Thanksgiving” meals looks yummiest to you! Check out the Rafflecopter for more details and ways to get more entries.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy hunting (errr… you know). Good luck with your Thanksgiving prep, and have a wonderful holiday!

P.S. You have to comment letting me know your answer for the first two entries. Anyone who doesn’t will be disqualified!

 

Posted in: baking, cooking, desserts, pies, thanksgiving, vegetarian / Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Thanksgiving Dress Rehearsal: Part 1

November 16, 2012 12:51 pm / 11 Comments /

Thanksgiving is kind of the Super Bowl of the foodie world. I’m only hosting a small dinner this year (the three of us plus my dad and his wife), but that certainly will not stop me from planning a fabulous menu. Enter Cooking Planit, a new online tool for home cooks that started up right here in Austin.

Cooking Planit has a wide variety of meals and sides in its database, but there’s a twist that makes it better than any old recipe site. Once you pick your recipes, it generates a grocery list for you, and then helps you organize what to do when, so that your meal gets ready right on time. I love the grocery list feature, but I will say that I am far too entrenched in my haphazard ways in the kitchen to change now. I like my haphazard style. It works for me… but that’s just me.

But, onto the real deal: the side dishes. Over the next few days, I’ll be cooking my way through several of Cooking Planit’s chef-created sides as a trial for the main event. Who will make the cut? Can you feel the tension in the air? I’ll also be providing a few of my own tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes in the hope that they may find their way to your Thanksgiving table. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started!

1. Kale Salad with Parmesan and Balsamic Syrup

With our kale going like gangbusters out in the garden, it was a no-brainer to try this deliciously simple kale salad recipe first. I cooked it up with ingredients I already had on hand, and it was ready in about 5 minutes flat, no joke.

Kale Salad with Parmesan and Balsamic Syrup

Delicious.

I served it alongside a quinoa-stuffed acorn squash for dinner one night this week, and it was delightful. I didn’t have pine nuts on hand, so I substituted walnuts, and it was fine (though I do think the pine nuts would be better).

Does it make the cut for Thanksgiving? The jury is still out. I love the idea of using our garden’s bounty on our Thanksgiving table, but a salad just seems a little non-Thanksgiving-ish for some reason. We shall see.

2. Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Next I decided to try out a recipe for cream cheese mashed potatoes. Hey, I like cream cheese, I like potatoes — what could go wrong? Turns out, not much.

Cream cheese mashed potatoes

Yum.

These are fluffiest, creamiest, richest mashed potatoes I’ve ever had. Plus they’re a snap to throw together. Hey, if I can pull it off while my kid is watching Signing Time, anyone can do it. Speaking of kids, Nora couldn’t get enough of these potatoes. She kept stealing them off my plate.

I think the picture says it all, really.

Do they make the cut? Absolutely.

Print
Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Author: 
 

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 3-4 green onions, chopped
  • 6 oz cream cheese, cut into pieces
  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 2 Tbs sour cream
  • ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Scrub the potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Cover with cold water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
  2. Drain the water and place the saucepan back on the stove for a couple of minutes to cook off any excess water, stirring frequently. Remove the potatoes from the heat and mash them in the pan.
  3. Return the saucepan with the potatoes to the stove over low heat and add the cream cheese, butter, sour cream and parmesan cheese, stirring to combine well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

As for turkey? Yes, there will be one. I won’t be eating it, of course, but the hubby ordered one from Rudy’s. We’ll just have to send our guests home with lots of leftovers.

I’ll be having my holiday standby, quinoa-stuffed acorn squash, as a main course. Check out my post on LiveMom for details and the recipe!

Note: I received a small grocery stipend from Cooking Planit in exchange for reviewing these meals, but I was not otherwise compensated, and my opinions are my own.

Posted in: cooking, meal planning, thanksgiving, vegetarian / Tagged: , , , ,

Pasta with pesto, potatoes, and green beans

May 8, 2012 1:03 pm / 10 Comments /

Yep, pasta with potatoes. Make no mistake: this is one carb-o-licious meal. I first tried pasta with pesto, potatoes, and green beans out during marathon training, and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s not just for carb-loading, though — it’s a great meal in its own right!

Yes, please.

I certainly wasn’t training for anything when we made this last week, but we got a bunch of basil in the CSA box, and that means pesto! We got another bunch this week, so I’ll be trying out a new use for pesto this evening. Stay tuned for the report, and try this one out in the meantime.

Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans
Original recipe from No Meat Athlete, with my modifications

1 large bunch of basil
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts, toasted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving
1 lb whole wheat pasta
5-7 medium-small boiling potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into one-inch lengths

Combine the basil, garlic, nuts, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until it forms a coarse paste. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil and let it process until the mixture is relatively smooth. Add the grated cheese and process once more to incorporate.

Place the potatoes in a large pasta pot and fill with as much water as you will need to make the pasta. Bring to a boil and salt the water. After 8-10 minutes, when the potatoes are close to being tender, add the green beans and cook for a couple more minutes. When the green beans and potatoes are tender, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer to a separate bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm. Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.

Add the pasta to the bowl with the potatoes and green beans, and toss with the pesto to coat. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.

Posted in: cooking, vegetarian / Tagged: , , ,

Broccoli-cheddar skillet flan

February 10, 2012 9:58 am / 9 Comments /

I was rushing around the other day trying to come up with dinner for the evening (plan ahead, you fool!), and realized I had all the ingredients for broccoli-cheddar skillet flan. Well, all the ingredients but one — frozen hash browns. That was fine, though. The hubby said he could use a walk anyway, so he headed down to the corner market and picked up some potatoes. Fresh is always better, right?

Yes indeed.

Rather than use the frozen hash browns the original recipe called for, I just mandolined (or actually, had my sous chef/spouse mandoline) the potatoes. I used plenty of fresh broccoli and green cauliflower from our CSA share, plus some great sharp cheddar I had left over from my kale and delicata salad, and the result was delicious.

I always love a good excuse to use my cast iron skillet, in any case. Best purchase ever.

Besides being a lovely dinner for the grown-ups, Nora loved the leftovers for her dinner the next night, too. I think it’s pretty much the perfect baby dinner — plenty of healthy protein, veggies and carbs. On second thought, that makes it a pretty good grown-up dinner, too!

Broccoli-Cheddar Skillet Flan
Based on this recipe

6 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/3 cup grated parmesan
3 Tbs olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped
1 lb potatoes,* mandolined or thinly sliced
2 heads broccoli, cauliflower, and/or romanesco, cut into small florets

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Whisk together the eggs, milk, pepper, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until combined, then whisk in cheddar.

Heat the oil in a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté shallot, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the sliced potatoes and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Spread the potatoes evenly in the bottom of the skillet and cook, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and spread the broccoli evenly over the potatoes, then pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the parmesan. Bake until set 2 inches from the edge but still slightly wobbly in center, 12 to 15 minutes.

Turn on the broiler and broil 6 inches from the heat until the top is set, puffed, and golden brown.

* Use small, thin-skinned potatoes, well-scrubbed, or otherwise peel them.

Posted in: cooking, vegetarian / Tagged: , , , ,

Potato curry soup

January 27, 2012 9:30 am / 1 Comment /

I do love a good winter soup, and this one is a new favorite. I had a bag of potatoes from our CSA that needed to be put to good use, and potato curry soup was just the ticket.

Yum.

I got the recipe from a cookbook I picked up at Eastside Cafe, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin. It was quick and easy to make, it gave me an excuse to use my shiny new immersion blender, and even Nora thought it was awesome.

Curry 'stache.

What’s not to like?

Potato Curry Soup
Originally from Soup Yourself: 50 Simple Yet Sublime Soup Recipes from the Eastside Cafe

6 Tbs butter, divided
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
5 cups vegetable stock
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
4 Tbs flour
2 cups milk
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley

In a large soup pot, sauté onions and garlic in 2 Tbs butter over low heat for about 15 minutes, until browned. Add ginger and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Add potatoes, vegetable stock, curry, chili powder, turmeric, and cumin. Cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Transfer mixture to a blender or use an immersion blender to purée.

In a separate saucepan, melt the remaining 4 Tbs butter over medium heat and stir in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until bubbly and light brown. Gradually add the milk, stirring to incorporate.

Return the potato mixture to the soup pot, and whisk in the milk mixture and the parsley, reserving some for garnish. Return to hot, but not boiling, and stir until soup has thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with additional parsley as a garnish.

Posted in: cooking, vegetarian / Tagged: , ,

They can’t all be winners…

September 28, 2011 2:02 pm / 3 Comments /

Sometimes, my cooking adventures fail. On occasion, the failure is spectacular, but usually it’s more of a quiet dud. Oh well — can’t win if you don’t try!

Last week, we ended up with a veggie in our CSA box that I’d never heard of before: couve tronchuda. The newsletter said it was a type of cabbage, but more like a cross between cabbage and kale. I Googled it and came up with a whole lotta nothing, except some references to a traditional Portuguese stew made with it. I thought about trying that, but it called for sausage, and it seemed like it would be central to the flavor, so I was worried it would be bland without it. I could have done cabbage rolls, but the hubby isn’t the biggest fan, and that also sounded kind of blah, so I kept looking.

I decided to go with the pasta mentioned in this article, which included a link to a recipe, which unfortunately was dead. So, I played it by ear. How hard could it be to throw together penne with a sauce of tomato purée, garlic, sautéed couve tronchuda and diced potatoes? Plus, I already had a few peeled tomatoes in a bag in the fridge waiting to be used, leftover from pasta sauce I made earlier in the week.

Eh.

It looked nice, but it was really bland. Of course, pretty much anything can be saved with enough parmesan. Win some, lose some. If I had it to do over, I’d add more garlic, about twice as many tomatoes and some crushed red pepper.

At least we had a nice bottle of wine, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert!

Evening saved.

I’d rather be an adventurous cook who fails sometimes than an uninventive one who always succeeds… blandly. There’s definitely a lesson in there that I’d like to impart to Nora as she grows up.

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