Breakfast. Growing up, this was my favorite meal of the day. Grandma making thin pancakes with jam, honey or syrup. Savory crepes with sour cream and lox. Cereal with berries. Omelets or over easy eggs.   That first meal in the morning really set the tone for how I felt throughout the rest of the day. At some point between high school and now, all of that went away. Mornings became hurried and hectic; and there was no time to do anything more then make a quick cup of tea and run out of the door to start the work day.

I’ve been told many times over the years that my approach to cooking is weird. Namely, I view recipes the way the Pirate’s Code is viewed in Pirates of the Caribbean — I think of it more as a set of guidelines. When I’m in the mood to make something new, my method is to look up as many different variations on that recipe I can find, pick and choose the ones I like, and make the rest up. Consequently, I don’t actually have solid recipes so much as basic concepts I re-use and tweak based on what’s in my refrigerator and what I feel like eating that day. I have tried submitting these as recipes with notes like “improvise here!” and “change this for this new form of the same thing!”, but I have been roundly told that that is not how recipes work. Which, as far as I’m concerned, sucks.

One of my favorite bases is something I found online that was called “bread pudding muffins.” The idea was that you took a cupcake liner, filled it with stale bread and half an egg, and baked it. And that’s a cool enough idea, but it’s super boring and clearly demands improvisation. But after two years of using this idea as a base, it has become my favorite thing ever. I eagerly await us having enough stale bread to make this. I’ve tried every variation under the sun. Sometimes I make it in cupcake tins. Sometimes I make it in a pan as a bake. I’ll add veggies, fruits, beans, spices, bacon, or pretty much whatever I can find hiding in my refrigerator. You can do anything with this. The sky is your limit. These two years of bread pudding experimentation have been delicious ones, and I have desperately wanted to write about this, only to realize that “get bread, eggs, and improvise!” did not pass muster as a recipe. And so I held off until I found one variation on it I loved enough to post.

I am proud to announce that I have found that variation.

Julia’s French Toast Pudding

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• ½ loaf of bread, cut in bite-sized cubes
• 7 eggs
• 1 heaping cup of strawberries, diced
• ½ cup raisins
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F.
2. Mix the bread, strawberries, and raisins together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Hint: use actual maple syrup. I was, as a born and raised New Englander, distressed to learn that when most people say “maple syrup,” they mean “corn syrup that is flavored in a maple-like fashion.” Don’t subject yourself to such indignities. Go for the real stuff. Life is too short for fake maple syrup.
4. Pour the egg mixture over your dry ingredients, mix with a spoon until the egg has coated all the bread bits.
5. Grease a 12″x12″ pan. Do not go lightly on the grease (I’ve found that canola oil works best, but Crisco will do). Eggs are sticky. You’ll thank me later.
6. Pour your egg and bread mixture into the greased pan, spread evenly.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the egg mixture is solid and no liquid runs if you tilt the pan.

Suggestions: While this is good at any time, and I did eat it for basically every meal of my day, it’s best for breakfast and it’s best fresh. The bulk of prep time comes from cutting the bread and strawberries, so do that the night before and throw the rest together in the morning.

Like everybody else on the face of the earth, I’m ridiculously obsessed with Pinterest. Sure, I could do without the proliferation of twee inspirational quotes in interesting typefaces and living rooms that I’ll never be able to afford, but there is no better website out there right now for random dinner inspiration.

I saw this pin for baked spaghetti, and immediately knew that I wanted to try it. Cooper, like most three-year-olds, loves pasta, so I’m always looking for new recipes. This particular baked spaghetti recipe involves ground beef, which I don’t eat, and canned tomato sauce, which I don’t have. However, the best thing about pasta is that it’s infinitely customizable, so I took the basic idea and just went with it.

Baked Spaghetti

• 8 oz. Spaghetti
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 diced onion
• 1 tbs Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups mozzarella
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook your spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, quarter your onion and dice it along with the garlic in the food processor. Put diced onion in a large bowl. Put diced tomatoes and italian seasoning in food processor and process until you get most of the chunks out. Add the tomato and spice mixture to the diced onion. Add tomato sauce and mix everything together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked spaghetti to sauce and stir, making sure to coat spaghetti evenly.

Transfer mixture into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

Kid Tip: Since you’re using a food processor, this is a great opportunity to get some extra veggies into your kid without them noticing. Throw some baby spinach, zucchini, and/or broccoli in the food processor along with the diced tomatoes for some extra nutrition.

Sole, I’ve decided, is a very forgiving fish to cook with. Though I would likely heed warnings that it might not be the best thing to grill, it’s certainly pliable. Because of its pliability, I decided I wanted to attempt rolling it with some sort of stuffing and baking it.

The first recipe I found was one that called for stuffing the sole with crab meat, from Epicurious. At first this sounded really, really good, but then I ran into a couple of issues. Firstly, we didn’t have any crab meat in the house which, OK, could have been easily remedied by a trip to the grocery store. Secondly, though: the reviews weren’t all that comforting. Many said the crab was just OK or needed some “spiking” to get to be tasty enough with the sole. Then there was the breadcrumbs with the stuffing … I just wasn’t feeling it.

Then I found the recipe noted here: Sole wrapped around asparagus, topped with a beurre blanc sauce. It sounded easy; it sounded delicious; and it looked awesome.

Putting it all together was just as easy as it sounded from the recipe, and though the fish was skinless, it rolled easily around the asparagus without breaking apart. The beurre blanc was also incredibly simple, and was made even easier by the fact that it can be be quickly done during or anytime after the fish is finished cooking.

As you can see from the photo I took above, it really is a beautiful dish. The tangerine juice added to the beurre blanc appears to be more for a colorful accent to the sauce rather than for taste. Sure, it’s flavorful enough, but not as much as I’d have expected. During the steps for making the sauce, it instructs one to add the pan juices from the cooked fish to the beurre blanc; I’m not sure what this added, if anything, so it could likely be skipped.

The rest of the recipe’s instructions were spot on. The fish and asparagus were cooked to perfection. If I had to change anything, I’d look for a way to give the sauce a bit more of a kick in some way, as the most flavorful part of the dish was the asparagus — that just doesn’t seem right.

While not the most flavorful of dishes, I can’t say I won’t ever try this one again. It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s not necessarily what I’d call company food. So why would you bother with it again if only you are enjoying how it looks more than how it tastes? To post photos for everyone to admire, of course.

Leave it to me to get this post in on the last day of the year when all the festivities and holiday frolickry are coming to a close. But sometimes you save the best for last … and that, folks, is what I’m doing right here.

Hokay … !!! Here’s my “tweaked” recipe for eggnog, miles better than anything you can pour out of a carton.

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen fresh eggs
• 2 pints heavy whipping cream
• 12 small “handfuls” of cane sugar
• 6-8 oz. whiskey (Southern Comfort or other? Cheeeeeeap. Jack Daniels? Betterer. Use whatever trips your trigger. Rum may be substituted for whiskey.)
• nutmeg (fresh is better)

Simple Procedure:

• Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, whipping the whites ’til they are good and stiff. (I usually do this by hand. What? Am I goofy? No … I recommend doing so the first time around so you can figure out what you’re comfortable with down the line, thus tweaking the recipe. But … that’s just me.) Set aside whipped egg whites.
• In a separate container, mix egg yolks well. Gradually add sugar, a little at a time, while mixing (The recipe calls for “a handful” of sugar per egg, but I think this is a bit too much. I’ve used 1/3 less sugar and my nog comes out terrifical. Granted: This isn’t anything akin to a recipe courtesy of Weight Watchers, but you don’t need to go overboard, either.) Mix sugar granules until completely dissolved.
• Add whiskey to the egg yolks. Stir well.
• Add the stiffly beaten egg whites to the yolky mixture. Stir well once more.
• Fold in 2 pints of heavy whipping cream that also has been whipped. Stir well. (“But Michael: The photo above shows regular whipping cream, not heavy whipping cream! What gives?” Glad you asked. I wanted to see if you were paying attention. You get a gold star for noticing. Heavy whipping cream should be used as it makes a richer, tastier recipe.)
• Refrigerate for two hours.
• Re-stir if foamy head has formed from refrigeration, serve in small, dainty glass cups with a dusting of fresh nutmeg sprinkled on top and realize no other eggnog compares. (Yes, you can use nutmeg out of a container, you rebel you. *sigh*)

Share with your friends during tonight’s New Year’s Eve party, during 2012’s holiday season or whenever the urge strikes you. Makes an excellent nightcap and creamer for your coffee as well.

Now … experiment. Adjust to your own taste. Regardless of how you tweak the recipe, it will be far superior to anything store-bought … and your guests will heap praise upon you. Especially the ones who didn’t think they liked eggnog.

What? You marvel at the fact there is no cooking of the eggs whatsoever? You are correct, Mombassa! The alcohol will counteract any suspect monkey business. But I do suggest you use freshly bought eggs for your nog. Fresher is better.

Please let me know how yours turns out!

Bea’s radish salad with apple, egg, avocado, egg and shaved Manchego is the most delectable combination. With a light honey-mustard vinaigrette, it’s the perfect healthy summer treat.

I love everything about raw fennel in a salad, but you pair it with arugula and you’ve won me over tenfold. Thinly sliced zucchini, honey, pine nuts and feta and I’m swooning.

Celery, apple and fennel slaw might just be the perfect medium for celery … other than potato salad and soups of course. It’s fairly simple but would accompany many main dishes well.

I enjoyed the sugar snap peas from our CSA Farm so much that they didn’t even last long enough to make them into this sugar snap salad (and we had plenty!). It still tempts me, though, with its radishes, feta, mint and sumac (a lemony Middle Eastern spice).

As much as I love Heidi Swanson, I’m just not sure about this raw corn salad. Raw corn and shallots, tossed with a lemonade vinaigrette and fresh oregano and seeds. I just don’t have much more to say beyond I’m not so sure about that. However she more than makes up for the questionable-ness of that one with her to-die-for sounding macaroni salad. You had me at arugula, Heidi, but the apples and parmesan sealed the deal. Add this sesame yogurt pasta salad and Heidi’s back on track!

With just a few alterations, this salmon cakes recipe could become a stand-by for me, using what we have hanging around in the pantry and fridge. I’d just throw in a 16-oz. ounce can of wild-caught salmon with skin and bones — so healthy and sitting on the second-to-top shelf of my pantry closet at any given time. There are capers right in the cakes, which is pretty close to a perfect idea. You all probably know me well enough by now to know that the sauce will be made with plain goat’s milk yogurt and no mayonnaise. Throw these babies down on a bed of greens and you’ve just prepared a dinner I’d be happy to eat.

These low and slow oven-baked ribs I have made, and don’t let the simplicity fool you — this recipe has everything you could want in a non-smoked rib recipe. We served them with lots of BBQ sauce and this coleslaw and some oven-roasted fries.

The reason this recipe for sea salt-baked potatoes intrigues me is not just because it’s Heidi Swanson’s. It’s because the potatoes are stuffed with arugula and then slathered in a dressing-like sauce and I just think that’s a fine way to serve a baked potato. The only thing missing for me would be a ton of fresh chopped chives.

It’s not like food hasn’t been first and foremost in my mind at least three times a day, what with the meal-eating and all. I’ve even been doing a bit of cooking. It’s the writing part that hasn’t been happening.

The scallop dish I threw together tonight was so good that I dusted off the old laptop so I could share it with you. Let me warn you, though, it won’t be my usual organized recipe format, because I simply didn’t measure (what else is new really) and I couldn’t begin to guess. I can share with the the ingredients and technique, and beyond that, it’s all about what you like anyway. Do everything to your own taste and it will come out a winner. OK, and I’ll try to estimate.

 Scallops with Summer Squash and Peas

Ingredients:

• 1 pound scallops
• lemon juice, orange juice concentrate, tamari
• 1 medium to large summer squash, thinly sliced
• about 1 cup peas
• 2 large scallions, sliced
• ground coriander to taste
• whole cumin seeds to taste
• capers to taste
• 3/4 cup dry quinoa, cooked to package directions

Cook scallops in butter for 30 seconds, then add 1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate, about 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce. Simmer until cooked and mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes for medium-sized scallops. Do not overcook. Remove from pan.

Add squash to pan and braise in liquid, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until done. Add ground coriander and whole cumin seeds to taste (I probably used 1/2 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon, respectively). Mixture will thicken slightly. Add peas and scallions and heat through.

Meanwhile, cook 3/4 cup quinoa in 1.5 cups water. Dress with lemon juice, tamari, rice vinegar and olive oil.

Pour vegetables and pan liquid over quinoa, add scallops and toss. Sprinkle with capers. Add some chopped fresh basil or parsley if you like.

Serve over grilled romaine, wilted baby spinach or the greens of your choice. I’d stay away from arugula for this one, though; you don’t need to add another strong flavor to the mix.

Every spring/summer I seem to become obsessed with grape tomatoes. I put them in everything, whether they’re called for or not. So naturally, when I see a recipe that actually calls for them, my interest is immediately piqued. So that’s why when friend of CliqueClack and noted vegetarian Wil Wheaton tweeted a recipe for Quinoa-stuffed portobellos and the picture showed delicious grape tomatoes, I immediately hit the grocery store.

In addition to my grape tomato obsession, I’m also always looking for new uses for quinoa. In fact, I took some of the left over cream sauce from last week’s recipe and replaced the pasta with quinoa. It was pretty delightful. I modified this recipe as well, because I do not enjoy fruit in non-fruit or dessert dishes, so putting raisins in this would have really bummed me out. However, if that’s your bag, then follow the original recipe as she has it.

This recipe is both vegan and gluten-free, but I made it non-vegan by adding delicious, delicious cheese. With that said, I do not recommend what I did with the first one, which was add gorgonzola. As much as I love it, it was just too overpowering for this dish. For the second, I added goat cheese and baked that on, which was 100% perfect.

She also says to add either basil, mint or parsley. I chose basil, which again, went wonderfully with the grape tomatoes. I also added more garlic than is called for, but I do that with everything I cook. I also left out the scallions, because they’re gross. With or without the recipe modifications, this is a delicious, light summer dinner.

I don’t remember if it was on Facebook or on Twitter, but I came across The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for pasta with pesto cream sauce and I was inspired. I’m a total brown thumb, but each year I try to convince myself that this year’s the year I’m going to grow something awesome. I bought some basil plants from the farmer’s market a few months ago, and lo and behold: they’re not dead yet. In fact they’re thriving so much, that I need to start using some of it before I’m overwhelmed by a basil forest.

The thing is, I’m also in the middle of a Sons of Anarchy marathon on Netflix Instant, so I didn’t want to go to the grocery store. That meant that actually making her cream sauce was out, since I don’t have heavy cream on hand. So I searched around and after many weird and unappetizing recipes, found this one for a low-fat cream sauce. It’s great because the ingredients are pretty common, but it’s also hilarious because I’m not entirely sure you can count anything that has flour, butter, Parmesan cheese and an egg as “low fat.”

My pesto recipe was similarly ad-hoc. Although it’s close to Deb’s classic pesto recipe, I didn’t actually measure anything. I also added some spinach instead of parsley, which I never really use for anything. The key though, is the lemon. I used an entire half — I love the tang it adds.

I also toasted the pine nuts first, which gave it a delightfully nutty flavor.

The spinach also makes the pesto a little bit milder and obviously gives it the added benefit of all of those spinachy nutrients.

After you’re finished with the pesto, try to restrain yourself from digging out a loaf of bread and eating it all right there. It’ll be hard, because it’s SO GOOD. Instead, boil a pot of water for the pasta. and follow the directions for the cream sauce — I was impressed with how thick it actually got.

While you’re waiting for that to thicken, slice some grape tomatoes in half and saute them. They’ll add a little burst of sweetness to the finished product.

Once the cream sauce is finished, add the tomatoes and the pesto and mix together.

Toss with your choice of pasta. I used ziti because short pasta is easy for a toddler (Cooper loved this, by the way), but if it were just me, I’d use angel hair.

Word of warning: this recipe yields a crapload of cream sauce. Either be prepared to make a lot of pasta, or dust off those math skills and halve the recipe.

(Please … I know that top picture is horrible. Keith took it with his phone because the dish wasn’t all the way cooked until we got to my in-laws. As if we would have thought ahead and brought the camera….)

Every year, we celebrate Easter dinner with Keith’s parents. It’s always a lovely visit: Owen gets to play with his cousins, we all get to chat with Keith’s aunt and grandmother and we linger around the dining room table, wondering when the 37 people will arrive to help us eat the absurd amount of dessert that is crowding us.

This year, I was asked to bring a not-green-beans-or-potatoes-vegetable. It’s really rare that I cook just carrots as a side dish; they are usually part of a stir-fry or medley. But when I asked both Keith and Owen what vegetable they would like me to make, they both said, “Carrots!” So carrots it was. I had some leftover scallions in the fridge, so I immediately thought of using soy sauce in a glaze.

There are about a million soy-glazed carrot recipes floating around the internet. Some have honey, some have ginger, all sound delicious. I wanted mine to be a bit different. I used Rachel Ray’s recipe for honey-soy oven-glazed carrots to help with ratios and cooking times, then I went to town with my scallions, added some garlic for a bite and substituted agave syrup for the honey — all sprinkled with more scallions and some slivered almonds for crunch.

The best part is that these are gluten-free, since we used wheat-free tamari instead of soy sauce, and are very friendly for anyone who has issues with refined sugar. The only sugars that my son can tolerate are raw agave syrup, grade B maple syrup and palm sugar, and even those we use in very strict moderation. These carrots made everyone happy, and got rave reviews even from the folks who will eat anything (I’m looking at you, Rich).

Soy-Agave Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

• about 12 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into chunks
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 scallions, sliced, with green and white parts separated
• sliced or slivered almonds

Whisk together the olive oil, tamari, agave syrup and garlic. Toss with carrots and white parts of scallions. Arrange in an oven-safe pan and cook at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, stirring every so often.

Sprinkle with green parts of scallions and slivered almonds before serving. I think sliced almonds would look prettier, but I didn’t have any in the house. You could also sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro, parsley or basil … any of those herbs would be delicious.

Oh, how I love Mark Bittman and everything he stands for. Simple, real food that tastes fabulous. Make perfect sense, really. One of his recipes just worked for me this week — I had all of the ingredients either in the fridge or freezer, so multi-grain pasta with butternut squash, ground lamb and kasseri was officially on the menu. Well, not quite officially, since my version was more of a brown rice pasta with pumpkin, double the ground lamb and feta. But close enough. There is not a doubt in my mind that we will make this recipe again. It was really, really tasty, easy to prepare and hearty and healthy and the kind of meal that makes you happy there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Jump from the classy Mark Bittman to this Good Housekeeping recipe for red-cooked chicken with stir-fry vegetables, clearly devised to make the average housewife feel like she was cooking something classy. Perhaps not exotic enough to serve at the royal wedding or even to guests, it was a delicious middle-of-the-week meal … pretty much just dump everything into your slow cooker, add some vegetables at the end, sprinkle with chopped scallions (see, now there’s that classy touch again) and enjoy. I did serve it with some brown rice which sopped up the sauce in a most lovely, if not classy, way.

I’ve got to be honest — as far as recipe test drives go, this one had to be the worst effort ever. I didn’t have a whole lot of the ingredients in this crock pot Asian beef with mandarin oranges — including the oranges — but I persevered anyway. No beef broth, so I mixed chicken broth and red wine 50/50. I tossed a little orange juice concentrate into the liquid since I didn’t have the mandarin oranges. Several other omissions or substitutions later and … it was delicious! I know it would be better with bok choy instead of broccoli (which got mushy in the slow cooker even though I added it toward the end) and the crunch from the water chestnuts would be most welcome, but all in all, this one’s a keeper.

By now, if you’ve been reading CliqueClack Food for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out that in the McDuffee household, we eat slightly … how shall we say … off center. No refined sugars, no wheat, no cow dairy — that can put a damper on desserts. Somehow we do just fine, as evidenced in the above picture of a gorgeous coconut milk flan that has become one of our favorite go-tos.

We use this recipe for coconut milk flan from a blog with an awesome name: Spilt Wine and Sticky Rice. Actually, it’s mostly awesome, but the part about the wine being spilt is a little bit sad.

Regardless, this recipe is wonderful in its simple perfection. Perfect except for one little thing — the refined sugar. We went out on a limb and tried the recipe using the amazing coconut palm sugar that has completely changed desserts for us. Imagine, a truly unrefined sugar that won’t wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels, that’s full of nutrients and tastes great. Palm sugar is it and leaves Sucanat in the dust. My nutritional kinesthiologist says so, and that’s all you really have to know about it.

The caramel comes out so thick and syrupy, it’s almost as if you used molasses, yet the taste isn’t quite so overpowering. We’ve actually made this recipe with evaporated cane juice in the past (shhh … don’t tell), thinking that it wouldn’t work with palm sugar, and we were wrong: it is infinitely better with palm sugar.

I just ate the last one … no more leftovers. The sun somehow shines not quite as brightly today.

As the numbers on the thermometer rise (high today in my part of the F-L-A is 85 degrees!) and thoughts turn to lighter, healthier (and cooler) eating, I’ve been searching out new culinary pals to liven up my spring and summer meals. Right off the bat, I made a fast food friend: farro.

A whole grain that’s loaded with protein, farro looks like a cousin to brown rice but has more of a chewy, slightly creamy bite. It also packs a nutrition punch, containing fiber, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C and E.

What’s not to love?

Well, my experience trying to actually find this great grain was not terribly easy. I understand it’s available at establishments like Whole Foods, but if you are like me and this culinary Mecca isn’t anywhere close to you, places like Amazon.com can come to the rescue. That’s the route I took and now my pantry is locked and loaded with farro for my dining and experimenting pleasure.

This recipe, adapted from one on epicurious.com, is a terrific place to start getting acquainted with farro. Easy and quick, it’s delicious as is but also lends itself nicely to substitutions to suit personal preferences. It’s one I’m going to enjoy (tonight, actually) and all through the hot season.

Chicken Farro Salad

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup semi-pearled farro
• 12 ounces green beans, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups yellow corn kernels (if fresh, cut from 2 to 3 ears of corn)
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Cut chicken into even bite-sized pieces. Toss with lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. Mix so that chicken is covered with marinade. Let sit in fridge for at least an hour.

Cook farro in medium saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain; cool.

Meanwhile, heat heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and marinade to skillet; saute until golden brown and cooked through.

Cook green beans in large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Rinse under cold water to cool; drain. Transfer beans to kitchen towel; pat dry.

Mix farro, chicken, and green beans in large bowl; add corn and green onions.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil, marjoram, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in small bowl. Press with back of spoon to release flavor. Whisk in vinegar, shallot, and mustard. Pour over salad in bowl; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

DO AHEAD: Salad can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Divide chilled or room-temperature salad among plates. Sprinkle with goat cheese. Enjoy!

I’m really not sure what is possessing me to make all of these quinoa recipes lately. Probably because they are easy and I can toss in whatever is sitting in my fridge or freezer which works since I’ve been an extremely lazy grocery shopper lately. Regardless, quinoa is delicious and this latest incarnation got the highest raves from a semi-picky husband, or at least one who is not always forthcoming with his meal compliments.

I served this one with some roasted chicken parts, meaning we really only wanted half of a chicken so Keith wielded his cleaver (so macho) and chopped the sucker into about eight parts and we cooked half. I rubbed them with paprika, onion and garlic powders, sea salt, black pepper and thyme, and roasted them on 350 convection roast, flipping once, until done. Please don’t ask me how long that was because I never time things, I just keep peeking. Somewhere between 30-45 minutes would be my best guess, and we cooked the dark meat a little longer than the white meat.

I regret to inform you that I really didn’t measure the dressing ingredients for the quinoa recipe very well. I’m a drizzle-taste-redrizzle kind of gal, but it’s really all to taste anyway; there’s no exact recipe. I think this would be a wonderful vegetarian main dish with some chick peas added, or even some pan-fried tempeh chunks.

The perfect addition to this would be some crumbled bacon; the next time I make it I will unquestionably add bacon, turkey bacon or crispy prosciutto.

Quinoa with Corn, Spinach and Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 2 good handfuls baby spinach
• 1/4 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
• about 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• about 1.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• about 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• seas salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bring the quinoa, garlic and water to a boil, then lower to a simmer, cover and cook until water is absorbed. This might be about 15 minutes, or you might check a couple of times and never time it, like I do.

Meanwhile, toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. You can wait until they pop if you like, but there’s plenty of flavor released before that. Do the same for the pine nuts.

When the quinoa is finished cooking, add the corn and pine nuts and cover for a few minutes to let the corn warm. Then add the spinach and cilantro. Next, drizzle the oil, vinegar and lemon juice and taste until you get the ratio you like best. Season and serve.

Writing this column while hungry is not an easy task. Any potential themes get tossed out the window and whatever would satisfy my appetite gets written down. Instead of a lovely brunch menu, which definitely could have happened, I ended up with this mish-mash of recipes … and I’m still hungry.

Believe it or not, our green bean harvest was so good this year that we still have a couple of bags left in the freezer. That’s with about several thousand batches of my minestrone soup too! I’ve been looking for other things to do with the green beans, and I came across this recipe for sweet potato soup with green beans and cilantro. So simple, but a really interesting combination of flavors that I think will taste fabulous with something grilled … I’m thinking sausages or pork tenderloin.

Get a load of the cutest little gluten-free tartelettes in all the world! Zucchini, coriander, leeks and cheese stuff these egg-y babies.

I love frittatas … I love them because I can basically throw whatever I have in my fridge into them and they taste fabulous. This salmon and asparagus frittata sounds like a good one for this time of year, as the asparagus comes into season and is plentiful locally.

Is it weird that this rather unappealing crock pot recipe for a Cantonese dinner makes me want to cook it? There’s nothing special in it and I don’t like how a lot of meats even come out in the slow cooker, so why would I be attracted to this recipe? I’ll try it, though, because the kid loves Chinese food and it sounds easy. My, how my standards have regressed as this column progresses.

Now here’s another curious recipe for me, because I’m trying to stay away from excessive carbs and baked goods, yet scones come across my screen. Better yet, ginger pecan scones, with lots of crystalized ginger and butter … maybe it’s time for a brunch with the frittata and scones. …

One of the easiest recipes I’ve made lately is this chilaquiles casserole. I made it pretty close to the directions, only I substituted goat cheddar for the regular. My only real complaint is that I didn’t love the enchilada sauce. Maybe it’s the brand I bought, but the next time I make this, I’m inclined to use chopped tomato instead and a can of fire-roasted chiles. Maybe it would need some cumin and a little lime juice as well, but I’m definitely playing around a bit the next time.

This slow cooker Turkish lamb stew was delicious in every way and even better the next day. What I like about it is that it wasn’t all about the lamb. You could probably substitute any meat and have it be wonderful, or leave it out altogether for a fabulous vegetarian dish. I also love that there’s potato in it so it is a really hearty one-pot meal — you don’t even need to make rice or quinoa or anything. Lazy cooks, rejoice!

Another easy and delicious dinner was this pork tenderloin with apples. I used Pink Lady apples (our very favorite), but I’d definitely use more than the recipe called for the next time, since the 6-year-old gobbled them all up! The gravy didn’t turn out well at all, though. When I cooked the apples, they didn’t leave many pan juices and the broth and wine never reached boiling in the oven, so I think those two things may have been a factor in my watery gravy. It tasted fine but was really nothing more than pan juice; it never got thick like melted ice cream, as the recipe says. I served it with sweet and sour cabbage wedges and it was a lovely meal.

I used this recipe for Nat’s oven baked zucchini sticks on zucchini and eggplant and it was a wonderful flavor. However, I really can’t believe that I’m the only person (out of the reviews anyway) who had trouble making the crumbs stick. I ended up dipping the veggies in egg and then it worked great, so the next time I make this, the egg’s a must. No, it didn’t get my zucchini-hating 6-year-old to eat it like I thought it would, but we’re definitely trying it with a vegetable he does like, just for fun. It’s a great substitute for tempura and I’m all over broccoli and cauliflower the next time.

These spelt flour tortillas really are as good as all the reviews say. We used them to make Italian quesadillas and when I finally get around to trying Jamie Oliver’s Sloppy Joes recipe, I’ll use there tortillas.

We made these pear wedges with prosciutto and mint as an appetizer one night when we entertained my parents. I diverged slightly from the recipe, using pureed fresh pear instead of pear nectar and adding some salad greens. We all really liked the combination of the flavors and it was such a fresh, simple recipe.

This Tuscan salmon with rosemary orzo was easy enough for a weeknight meal, yet special enough to serve to company. Since we don’t eat wheat, I made the rosemary orzo with brown rice instead, and I can tell you that I will definitely use this simple, flavorful technique for sprucing up rice often. Another tip about this recipe — you don’t have to pan sear the salmon. There’s no need to cook the fish in the same skillet as the sauce, so if you’d rather grill it (or George Foreman it!) then go for it. All of the fresh herbs mixed with the sweet grape tomatoes and salty olives made the perfect sauce, and since we don’t often serve salmon this way, a special treat.

It all started with a craving. Keith wanted something “stuffed” for dinner; he wasn’t picky, which actually made it harder, but he finally decided that he wanted stuffed Cornish game hens. Once I talked him out of actually stuffing them (since about a tablespoon of stuffing would fit into that tiny little cavity) then we really had something.

Instead of preparing a traditional bread stuffing, I decided to play with my red quinoa, bought some time ago yet never used. All of my favorite stuffing ingredients went into this inventive side dish: apples, currants, celery, sage, onion and fresh parsley.

I loved everything about this concoction, though Keith and I decided that to make it truly restaurant quality, we’d have to throw in a pat or two of butter to finish it off (which I’ve included in the recipe). What really made it better than average, though, was the red quinoa. I like it so much better than regular quinoa, and I’m so sorry I’ve had it sitting on my pantry shelf for months. It’s hearty and nutty and rich; I’ll definitely be cooking with it more often.

Red Quinoa Stuffing with Apples and Currants

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon chicken Better than Bouillon
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1-2 apples, chopped
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 1 very small onion chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 tsp each dried sage, rosemary, thyme
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 4 chopped scallions
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup currants
• a tablespoon or two of butter, optional

Add the quinoa, water and chicken bouillon to a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and turn a bit of olive oil into the pan. Add the celery, apples, garlic and onions and saute until tender. Add the sunflower seeds, currants and dried herbs and saute a few minutes more. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Add the quinoa to the skillet and heat through, then remove from heat and add the parsley, scallions and the butter (if you choose). Season again to taste.

We served this with the Cornish games hens, of course, stuffed with onions, garlic and herbs, with some roasted Brussels sprouts on the side and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc we’d never tried before. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday night.

No, I don’t have any time to be posting. None. But if I don’t I’ll lose track of all the wonderful recipes I’ve been collecting over the weeks … I’ve got to close those browser windows at some point. …

I love potatoes gratin. I love fennel. Every ounce of my being has been crying out, begging for this fennel gratin to make it to my plate. It’s got pecorino romano and lemon — c’mon! I’m thinking with rack of lamb …

… or maybe these braised lamb shanks with Swiss chard. Garlic, golden raisins and saffron make this recipe extra-special.

Speaking of braised (one of my favorite ways to cook in the cold weather), these braised short ribs with potatoes and apples, risotto style, may be just the dish for a cozy weekend staying in by the fire.

Am I ever going to make this recipe for Scottish salmon with Shallot-Truffle Honey Glaze, Lump Crab and Green Apple Risotto, and Quince Jam? Yeah, probably not, but it sounds so perfect that I need to stock it away for a day I’m feeling ambitious, just in case. So. Many. Steps.

Ditto for this crispy tilapia fillet with fennel-mint tzatziki. I’ve cooked tilapia many times, but I think I may have to defer to the sister who married the Greek to prepare any and all tzatziki sauces in the family. I don’t know, I just looked again and it’s a farily straightforward recipe. Maybe on a weekend night when I can rope Keith into helping. …

This Portuguese chicken I’ll definitely make. It’s rare these days that we’ll make anything that’s skinless boneless. I love the flavors the bones and skin impart to any chicken dish … and it’s much cheaper too. Stewing the chicken pieces in the tomato, with prosciutto, wine, garlic, roasted red peppers, port and mustard — how good does that sound?

I cannot tell a lie: I think I’ve had a Sloppy Joe maybe twice in my lifetime, vague childhood memories of my mother trying out something from a jar (which almost never happened, must have been a very busy day!). However, these Jamie Oliver Sloppy Joes, complete with their tortilla wraps, look absolutely scrumptious. With lettuce, beans, honey and mustard added to the standard ground beef and tomato (amongst other ingredients), he’s got something very special going on here.

Really? Black sesame Otsu is sure a fancy name for noodles with sesame paste, but with pine nuts, sunflower seeds and Heidi Swanson, they’re sure to be better than your average noodle.

For weeks — weeks, I tell you — I’ve been craving custard. A custard pie, to be exact.

If I need one on the fly, a good alternative comes from Marie Callendar’s … but I have issues with the place. And those issues crop up when my wife and I visit. Each time we’ve gone into one, someone’s usually cleaning … with vinegar. I kid you not.

You know what a whiff of vinegar will do to your appetite? Whether you’re popping into one of these establishments to sit and dine or to simply pick up a dessert to go, a simple waft of the stuff is an instant hunger killer, that’s what.

So … what to do, what to do. Swing by a Marie Calendar’s and snag a pie with the hopeless hope I can complete a transaction while holding my breath?

Or quit being a slacker and just bake one?

I opted for the latter.

I have an old recipe. And since it’s been ages since I last pulled it out, it was about time I did so. (You can see the result of my effort above.)

The recipe itself is pretty fool proof and you most likely have all the ingredients sitting around in your kitchen anywho, so why not give it a whirl? I know you can do it. It really is a simple process. And isn’t it about time you did something other than poke your finger at a microwave to warm up that barely-tolerable apple pie?

Beside setting a timer so you don’t forget you have a pie in the oven, there are two relatively simple things to do: 1) Make life easy for yourself and, 2) Make certain your pie turns out spiffy.

1) For An Easy Life: If you’re not savvy at making your own crust (I prefer not to), there are a multitude of pre-made, uncooked pie crusts out there in the refrigerated section of your local grocer. Go buy one. There’s no shame in doing so. You’ll thank me. One less thing … you know?

2) For A Spiffy Pie: Scald the milk. Seriously. It’s not that hard. Here … I’ll prove it: Ever burn something? If you have, you can scald milk. Or at least fake it pretty easily. Scalded milk is nothing more than milk that’s been heated to around 180-185°F for a spell. Yeah, yeah, yeah … I know — no one scalds milk anymore. Wrong! You do. You know why? Because it will make your pie better, that’s why. Not only will it dissolve the ingredients more thoroughly (less work for you!), it will help your pie set up better, firmer. You don’t want a sloshy custard pie, do you? I didn’t think so.

Or — if you must take a short cut — you can always forgo the scalding and simply replace a 1/2 cup of the milk called for with condensed milk. But if I were you, I’d scald it. This is your pie we’re talkin’ about here and you want it done right. Besides … there’s just something about scorching food that gets your aggressions worked out … you know what I mean?

So … here’s how you scald milk:  Slowly warm the below noted amount in a pan until steaming. Use a whisk and stir it occasionally until the first wisps of steam begin to come off the surface. Then, continuously whisk it for about 5 minutes or so. Remove from stove. Voila! Scalded milk. (Use a double boiler if you’re a scaredy-cat and a’feared of scorching your pan.)

Now … ready to bake a custard pie? Hokay … here we go:

Michael’s Custard Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 9″ pie crust (unbaked)
• 2 1/2 cups scalded milk (or 2 cups of scalded milk and a can of condensed milk)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar (I prefer cane sugar, but white sugar will work just fine, too)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg white (you can add the egg yolk from this egg to the 3 eggs above, if you like)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (Use freshly ground nutmeg if you can; it gives finished product extra *umph*. Use more or less to your preference.)

What to do with the ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Mix eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Slowly add scalded milk, stirring ingredients in well while doing so.
3. Line a pie dish or pie pan with the unbaked crust and brush with egg white to help prevent sogginess. (I like to spritz a glass pie dish with a little cooking spray to assure ease of removal.)
4. Slowly pour custard mixture into the pie crust.
5. Sprinkle top with nutmeg.
6. Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Insert knife or toothpick in the center of the pie. If your implement of choice comes out of the pie cleanly, the pie is done. Otherwise, give it 5 or so more minutes. Keep you eye on it if it needs a bit more time to cook.
7. Cool to firmness.
8. Slice a hunk and marvel at your accomplishment. Mmmm, mmmm good.

There you go. Deliciousness, courtesy of your very own fingertips. You’ll surprise your family, your friends and yourself.

See? I told you you could do it.

I haven’t been writing a lot, but I have been cooking … and creating … and baking. Oh, the baking. And when life stops getting in the way of my food blogging, you just may hear about some of the recipes we’ve been enjoying.

For now, I’m sharing the skillet cookie that has basically taken over my life. It’s pretty much Heidi Swanson’s whole wheat chocolate chip skillet cookie with 2 and 1/2 cups of whole spelt flour and 1/2 cup arrowroot instead of the whole wheat flour and about 1 and 2/3 cups of palm sugar instead of the 2 cups brown and white sugars.

This isn’t a skillet cookie like these skillet cookies, which you actually cook on the stove top. It’s called such because you bake one giant cookie in a skillet in the oven, much like you’d do cornbread. And I’ve learned some tricks from making this recipe so many times. …

First, this recipe halves very nicely and fits perfectly into a 9-inch cake pan, if you want a smaller cookie. The full-sized recipe easily serves 12-16 people, so you decide how many leftovers you want.

I also didn’t have an oven-safe skillet large enough for the full-sized recipe, so I used a 12-inch springform pan and it worked great. The edges still got cookie-crisp and it was thick enough to slice like a cake.

If you substitute with just straight whole spelt flour, it is a bit crumbly, but the arrowroot helps with that and I’m betting you could use tapioca flour with the same results.

You can serve it after it’s had some time to cool but when the chocolate bits are still melty, or it’s also easy to make ahead and reheat in a 200 degree oven for about 10 minutes to get the same effect.

However you do it, just make it. It will probably take over your life too.

Picture this timeless romantic tableau, courtesy of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám:

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness

That’s all well and good. Lovely even. But there’s something missing which might make it simply perfect: cheese and chocolate.

This is where a classic comes in. Fondue. It’s my favorite romantic meal and it’s SO easy to create at home for a dinner for two or a treat for the kiddos. Check it out. …

First, the right equipment is rather crucial to the fondue experience. The fondue pot, that copper relic from your parents’ ’60s dinner parties, has been updated and streamlined and is available for not a lot of coin at Target, in the event you don’t have one.

I have used a mini crock pot in a pinch in lieu of a real fondue pot – most memorably during a dinner “party” in college designed to impress a gentleman friend but which turned into a celebration of very cheap wine and party crashers. (PS: I did impress my gentleman friend when all was said and done and those people left the apartment. But I digress.)

The great thing about fondue is that it’s all about two things: prep and assemblage.  My favorite recipe is a time-tested one, originally printed in Gourmet magazine in 1966 and currently shared on Epicurious.com. I adapted it a bit after a couple of test drives – but it still proves that you can’t beat a classic.

Cheese Fondue

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine (I like a dry Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc)
• 2 teaspoons kirsch liqueur
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 lb Emmental cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 lb Gruyère, coarsely grated (2 cups)
• 1/4 lb Appenzeller, coarsely grated (1 cup) (optional, but man does it add something)
• pinch fresh ground nutmeg

Accompaniment: cubes of French bread; apple slices; mushrooms; parboiled red potatoes or other veggies of your choice.

Rub inside of a 4-quart heavy pot with cut sides of garlic, then discard garlic. Add wine to pot and bring just to a simmer over moderate heat.

Toss grated cheese together with cornstarch. Gradually add cheese to pot and cook, stirring constantly in a zigzag pattern (not a circular motion) to prevent cheese from balling up, until cheese is just melted and creamy (do not let boil). Add kirsch and stir in. Bring fondue to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Mix in ground nutmeg.

Transfer to fondue pot set and serve with dipping accompaniments.

Now that takes care of the main course. But … is there a better way to end a meal, romantic or not, than with something chocolate? Wait. Don’t answer that. But seriously – a little sweet cocoa delight puts a solid exclamation point on an evening. This recipe, adapted from one from Tyler Florence, is delicious – and better yet, it’s adaptable to suit your tastes.  I like to use Kahlua, but any liqueur or flavored syrup work well.

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces dark chocolate, broken in pieces
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken in pieces
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup caramel topping
• 3 tablespoons flavored syrup or liqueur

Place all ingredients in fondue pot over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is melted and smooth. Do not allow to bubble. Great foods for dipping in the fondue include strawberries, bananas, apples, grapes, cherries, bite-sized pound cake pieces and marshmallows.

Fondue. Easy. Romantic. Delicious. So what are you waiting for – go get to dipping!

I eat a little bit of dark, dark chocolate almost every day. I’m almost sure it keeps the blood flowing in my veins and the antioxidants keep me immortal healthy. No, I am not full of it — I’m like a chocolate vampire. Really. Except the only effect the sunlight has is to sometimes melt the chocolate. …

Each year for Valentine’s Day, Keith and I like to cook up something yummy together and top it off with a spectacular dessert, usually of the chocolate variety. Last year, I had a hard time choosing between these desserts, but it was the falling chocolate cake with raspberry sauce that ultimately won us over. Here are this year’s contenders:

I know, we’ve made Bea’s chocolate tahini gooey cakes about a thousand times (including just last week) but it remains one of our favorites. If we make these, we know that we’re guaranteed the perfect dessert.

Now, if it turns out that we’re in a comfort food kind of mood, I’m definitely making Heidi Swanson’s chocolate chip skillet cookies. Instead of whole wheat flour, I’d use spelt and I’d definitely cut down the amount of sugar. This would satisfy the lazy in me as well, since I wouldn’t have to make individual cookies. So, so lazy. …

Perhaps I’ll want to satisfy the one-bite dessert lover in me; in that case, I’ll be making these chocolate Chambord truffles, but I’ll be using coconut milk instead of heavy cream.

Yeah, I found yet another recipe for molten chocolate cake (I really should do a roundup of those someday), this one spiked with the liquor of your choice. They are nearly flourless, but I’m thinking that the bit that is in there will give these cakes just enough texture to be perfect. And spelt ought to work. …

The radical choice would be these chocolate-orange pots de creme with candied orange peel. Radical, because I’d have to suspend all laziness to attend to the details of this recipe and also because I’d have to take a huge leap of faith in assuming that my bizarre substitutions for dairy will work in this recipe. Can I pull off a food-snob pudding with goat yogurt and coconut milk? If I can make custards and flan with coconut milk and truffles with goat yogurt (which I can), I’m thinking yes.

Time will tell which one it will be … which one would you make?

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I don’t think I’ve ever had chicken paprikash, but it combines every delicious comforting ingredient I can think of: onion, garlic, tomato, mushrooms and thick and creamy broth. I’d definitely serve this over brown rice with a salad.

When I make meatloaf it’s often with ground turkey, but I’ve never tried anything like this turkey and apricot meatloaf. Lest you think it too sweet, it’s spiked with a goodly amount of ancho chili powder, soy sauce and garlic.

How very weird that these apricot glazed chicken drummies are also swathed in apricot … what does that say about my cravings? We adore cooking chicken drumsticks and this overnight marinade sounds so easy — I’ll definitely be giving this recipe a try.

Try this one on for size: Turkish-spiced chicken kebabs with pomegranate relish and tahini yogurt. Yeah, I know, right? The only problem with this recipe is that I’m really going to have to be in the mood for cooking if I attempt it, as I just have a feeling it takes more time than the hour-and-a-half it estimates.

I may not be writing much lately, but I have been cooking. I’ll get my original recipes posted at some point, but here’s a little taste of some recipes from around the internet I’ve recently tried out.

I mentioned this curried carrot soup in my recent post about souped-up carrot soups, but at that point I hadn’t tried it yet. I loved everything about this recipe. It was the perfect flavor, the perfect texture … the coconut milk, curry powder and fresh ginger was the ultimate combination and my lunches all last week were divine.

This roast pork with garlic and rosemary was incredibly flavorful. We served it for guests with the fig and port sauce I created for roast chicken. This too, is a keeper.

If it’s possible for this fragrant orange chicken to be tastier than the recipe and description implies, then it was. We didn’t even marinate it for 2-4 hours like the recipe calls for and it was still incredibly tasty. It was a huge hit with the 6-year-old too, so we’ll definitely be making this again.

I’ve fallen head over heels for Jamie Oliver’s green chili. It’s different — made with ground pork and sage, with lettuce, scallions and fresh mint. Yes people, it’s a super-healthy chili. Get over it and try it.

Braised beef with carrots is such a simple and delicious recipe … and oh-so-French! I could only think of Julia Child as I kept dumping more wine into the pan. We served this with mashed potatoes and a salad.

And this … this would top off any of these meals to perfection. I had been wanting to try to make a coconut milk flan (or creme brulee, which is next) ever since we discovered La Tartine Gourmande’s recipe for baked lime custards. It was easy and delicious, but next time we’re going to try to spike the caramel with some Chambord and serve it with fresh berries.