Hits & Misses October 2019 (1,215 views)

Wow! You did have a busy month Erin and happy belated b-day! 

I can never remember everything that I make each month and I always swear that I will keep track but I don't! Here's the ones I do recall though. Most things were tried and true oldies for me this month so I will start there:

Tried and true:

-Tuscan bean Soup-Cook's Ill. Love this soup and made it with kale harvested from the garden plus a bit of escarole I had leftover. Used my absolute favorite bean, RG Royal Coronas....YUM!
-Roasted Vegetable Bean Soup-Epicurious/Bon Appetit-https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/white-bean-kale-and-roasted-vegetable-soup-102844.  Been making this for years. An excellent, hearty fall vegetarian soup. used gaarden tomatoes.
-Caramelized Vegetable Meatball Soup- www.sunset.com/recipe/caramelized-vegetable-meatball-soup. Has many of my favorites of fall including parsnips, fennel, butternut squash and homemade turkey meatballs (I like Ina's or Giada's recipe for these and I roll them small for soup). I don't make the meatballs in the recipe.
-Almond flour Chocolate Chip Cookies-I am not gluten free or on any such diets but these are just one of my favorite cookies....soft and almondy.
-Oatmeal raisin and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie-same recipe but half the dough got chips and other half raisins just cause I felt like it! My fav. oatmeal cookie from Cook's Ill.
-Toffee Almond chocolate chip biscotti
-Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip biscotti-One smart cookie cookbook
-Spinach Artichoke stuffed spaghetti squash with chicken

New recipes:

-Garlic Knots-Experimenting with different recipes for Thanksgiving (garlic theme this year!). Made 2 so far. Cook's Illustrated was very garlicky in a good and mellow way and nice texture but I did not weigh portions so all different sizes. 2nd batch was just my pizza dough recipe from Eating Well mag. embellished with garlic and garlic butter with a dusting of Parmesan....also good and more uniform i.e. "pretty" looking. Both worth repeating!
-Roasted Cauliflower steaks with spanakopita stuffing-Eating Well. Much more filling and "meaty" than I expected. Had with some salad and bread but probably could have done without bread. Very good.
-Samafaina-Martha Rose Schulman form Mediterranean vegetarian cooking. A catalan ratatouille made to use up the last of my garden eggplant and squash. Used it as a bread/crostini topping. Mild but tasty. Needed to add a touch more salt
-Whole Wheat Linguine with lentils and Escarole-Cook's Illustrated. used some nice pasta I bought at a local garlic festival and french green lentils. Very earthy, savory, hearty and tasty.
-Parmesan Chicken Bean Soup with roasted Delicata squash-Half Baked Harvest blog. She has 3 cooking methods listed. I did mine on stovetop. Loved this! Only change I may make is adding a bit more broth next time. It was very full of good tasty stuff but not a lot of broth but still so good.
-Pumpkin Banana breakfast Cookies-https://marshasbakingaddiction.com/pumpkin-breakfast-cookies/. was not expecting much but I had one dead banana to use and not a lot of time so whipped up a half batch of these and I really did enjoy this for breakfast with fruit and yogurt. I think what saves it is all those chocolate chips!!!
-Chickpea Peanut Butter chocolate chip cookie energy bites-nice snack
-Chocolate Peanut butter cookie bars-only made this because I needed to supply a sweet for something and accidentally bought a box of yellow cake mix (long story!) Ehh....would not make again but good if you are into that combination and like a quick easy baked item. cakemixdoctor.com/2016/02/chocolate-peanut-butter-bars/

Always surprised at how many I really do end up remembering....guess I am not too senile....yet!!!
Karen

Applecrisp-the chickpea bites were inspired by various energy ball recipes on line but with my own spin which is why I did not give a link. But they were no bake energy balls with oats, chickpeas, peanut butter, a bit of maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate chips thrown in for good measure, of course. Roll into balls and chill. I keep them in the freezer and often have one before I go to bed as a quick snack!

And I love those S.K. Broccolli Melts too. Have not made those in a long time...may have to now the next time broccoli is on sale. And I, too, still love that chili. I make a lot of other recipes but that one is still my favorite.

Karen

I love this thread!  So much fun and inspiring to see what everyone is cooking!    I thought October was going to be a "slow" month recipe wise, but I surprised myself with quite a few new recipes:

Would make again:
Eating Well, Sept 2019 Beef and Ginger stir-fry
Eating Well, Sept 2019 Squash, lentil and millet stew
Eating Well, Sept 2019 Spanikopita Calzones
Ckng Light, Nov 2016  Spiced Cranberry-Apple Relish
Eating Well, Jan 2019  Herbed Roasted Chicken
Bon Appetite               Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries
Eating Well Sept 2019 Penne Pasta with Sausage, Squash and Chard
Eating Well Sept 2019 Carne Asada tacos (shredded pork tacos)
Eating Well Oct 2019   Butternut and apple squash soup

Just "okay"
Eating Well online Winter Minestrone Soup
Jamie Oliver          Baked Saffron Rice

Full recipes and reviews can be found here (ad free!) SciFi with a Dash of Paprika

This is funny - I don't subscribe to Eating Well, but I was in Half Price Books the other day, and I bought the Sept. 2019 issue, the "The Convenience Issue."  There are so many recipes that I want to try! 

Here are some that looked good to me:

Crispy Ravioli with red pepper and mushroom balognese
Ginger Beef & Broccoli
Everything Bagels Chicken Tenders Salad
Spanakopita Filling (for Grilled Sandwiches, Calzones, etc.) 
Madeira Roasted Mushrooms & Shallots
Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole
Creamy Tomato Soup with Tortellini
Chicken Enchilada Soup


I'm so glad to see your positive reviews of some recipes in that issue!! You've given me some more recipes to think about, too.

Will Make Again
Korean Garlic and Chile Pork (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/korean-garlic-and-chile-pork). I used 1 pound of ground pork instead the pork shoulder the recipe calls for.

Vinegar Chicken with Crushed Olive Dressing (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020486-vinegar-chicken-with-crushed-olive-dressing) we loved this. I used chicken thighs.

Better than Takeout Thai Drunken Noodles (https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/better-than-takeout-thai-drunken-noodles/) I use ground chicken for this and added lots of vegetables.

Homemade Cheddar Biscuits (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-cheddar-biscuits/) I skipped the garlic butter topping. I made them once with regular cheddar and once with smoked cheddar. Yum.

Lamb Steaks with Lebanese Spices )https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018274-lamb-steak-with-lebanese-spices) I made the baharat seasoning based on a recipe for it in the comments and some googling. Used leg of lamb steaks.

Freeform Chicken Meatballs with Carrots and Yogurt Sauce (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/freeform-chicken-meatballs-with-carrots-and-yogurt-sauce) I used ras el hanout instead of garam masala in the "meatballs". Loved the carrots. I served this upside compared to the recipe instructions. Arugula on the bottom meatballs and carrots, drizzle with yogurt sauce.

Green chile Mac and Cheese (https://leitesculinaria.com/180889/recipes-green-chile-macaroni-cheese.html) Used poblano chiles and canned green chiles because the store only had two poblanos. I also added some chorizo. And used whole milk instead of cream. I can't remember the last time I made mac and cheese and we both enjoyed this version.

Italian Pot Roast (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1650-italian-pot-roast-stracotto) did this in the instant pot. I roasted a pan of baby potatoes, carrots, and whole mushrooms to serve with it.

OK, But Not a Repeater
Dill Pickle Chicken Wings (https://www.lifesambrosia.com/dill-pickle-chicken-wings-recipe/) We both wanted these to have more flavor.

Tried and True
Italian Beef
Greek Shepherds Pie with Potato Feta Topping
Bibimbap