In an effort to prepare for the snow storm, Sunday was spent making a slew of recipes from the March edition of Food & Wine. After leafing through the magazine for a few hours last week, I finally whittled it down to 5 recipes: Tofu Casserole (à la Takashi Yagihashi), Root Vegetable Gratin, Shrimp Saganaki, Baked Potatoes with Wild Mushroom Ragù, and Creamy Caramel Pudding. The idea was to have enough dishes that, with the addition of a simple salad made à la minute, we could have enough food to last us a few meals a day, for a few days. Sound familiar?
Root Vegetable Gratin
A mandoline is paramount in this recipe - you'll be slicing root veggies for a while. Also, try to get someone else to peel the butternut squash - it's the worst part! The recipe, while it takes a while, is really, really easy. Plus, it's massive. We will be eating it for a few days. The result were delicious - AND it's tremendously healthy. Just a little cream, which, quite honestly, isn't even necessary at all. In the second half of cooking, they don't specify to leave foil on or take it off the casserole - I kept it on. The addition of the panko crumbs as topping is brilliant. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and the results were superb. If I had a star system, I think I'd say 3 out of 4.
Baked Potatoes with Mushroom Ragout
Making the ragù is really simple as well. It's my kind of cooking - just keep adding stuff to a pot. I cut the recipe in half but I wish I hadn't - I wish I had just purchased four potatoes (vs eight) but still made the whole ragù because I can tell after making it that this will be delicious repurposed in some whole wheat pasta. It will also be great as a crusty grilled cheese (compte?) sandwich. That'd be a lunch for today! I realize now that I could've waited to roast the potatoes until the day we decide to eat the full dish. I also used just veggie broth for this one since I already had it on hand. No problems. I have only had a taste of the components of the dish so I can't rate it. But it was pretty easy although it did demand constant attention (ish) for about 3o minutes. I think you could make a salad while the mushrooms are sauteeing, but that's about it.
Tofu Casserole
This was super duper easy. Simple! I will make this a lot, I know it. You literally boil water and then add stuff to it. It takes about 5 minutes. Just make sure that you prep everything first because the actual cooking time is really fast. I love ginger but felt as though this had a little bit too much. Also, I added more spinach - I think you can never had too much spinach. This is a recipe I will travel with.
Shrimp Saganaki
This was our main dish last night - and I think my favorite! This was a real surprise because it's just so outside of my typical flavor profile. It's a simple recipe but the idea of adding dill and olives to a dish is never my go-to. I am more of an Asian-y, spicy chef. But this recipe offered a perfect balance of flavors - it was sweet and smooth. The olives gave it a little tang. I was really shocked by how good this was and that I'd actually made it. This is another recipe that I know I'll travel with. I did everything exactly as it says, except I didn't add as much feta. It was still creamy and I served the remainder on the side. Mine came out a little soupier than the photo but I didn't mind - there was more stuff to sop up with our bread. This was also my first time actually slicing the shrimp down the back ( I am always too lazy and never see the point) and it made a big difference! It was as if the shrimp were celebrating the dish! They just popped! I think I am going to have to say four stars to this dish. It was easy and tasted really complicated and great!
Creamy Caramel Pudding
I screwed this recipe up. A million different ways. The result is more like caramel sauce. I mean, it tastes good - how could it not? It's sugar and cream and REAL VANILLA I brought from Madagascar. But I definitely did not succeed. I think I am going to try it again today if I have time. I also don't have a chinoise, which I am pretty sure you need for this. Ugh. But it looks so good!
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