These are the things that I made in January that are now on our "keepers" list.
Hoppin’ John Casserole with Cornbread Crust
www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/hoppin-john-casserole-with-cornbread-crust/ This was a fun new to me way to enjoy Hoppin’ John. Rather than using a cornbread mix, I used this recipe for the cornbread topping:
glutenfreeonashoestring.com/old-fashioned-gluten-free-cornbread/ My preference is for an all-cornmeal cornbread, rather than one that uses a mix of cornmeal and all-purpose flour.
Cannellini with Sage, Tomato, and Sausage
www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/cannellini-sage-tomato-and-sausage/18502Quick and delicious!
I used 3 cups of Rancho Gordo Marcella beans. Instead of sage, I used rosemary. Used a whole pound of sausage. Added a chopped onion with the garlic. Added about 28 ounces of bean cooking liquid with the tomatoes. Did not drizzle with oil. Served with homemade olive bread.
Hatch Chile Breakfast Strata
www.garlicandzest.com/hatch-chile-breakfast-strata/This is my new favorite breakfast casserole! It's a great way to use up odds and ends of bread. I grew hatch chiles last summer and I have a nice stash of roasted hatch chiles in the freezer. This recipe has been on repeat here. I don't always let it sit overnight in the fridge, sometimes just for a few hours and sometimes not at all.
Greek Panzanella Salad
www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/greek-panzanella-salad/Another great way to use the ends of my sourdough breads. We topped this salad with some sheet pan roasted shrimp that were tossed with olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, and dill weed.
Sweet and Sticky Chicken Wings
leitesculinaria.com/337267/recipes-sweet-spicy-chicken-wings.htmlWe loved these wings. I baked them rather than frying them.
Korean Marinated Cucumber Banchan (Oi Muchim)
www.seriouseats.com/korean-marinated-cucumber-banchan-oi-muchimSuper fast and packed with flavor.
Kimchi Fried Rice
www.cookinglight.com/recipes/kimchi-fried-riceI used short-grained brown rice that I cooked and chilled early in the day. This went together fast and went well with the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings and Korean Marinated Cucumbers.
Crisped Cauliflower with Lemon Tahini Sauce
www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/crisped-cauliflower-with-lemon-tahini-sauce/13629The sauce for this roasted cauliflower is to die for.
Pressure Cooker Ribs
leitesculinaria.com/102437/recipes-pressure-cooker-ribs.htmlI did follow the reviewers suggestion of using a dry rub on the ribs before pressure cooking. Also used 1 12-ounce bottle of hard cider instead of water. I cooked the ribs for 25 minutes, should have gone to 30 minutes, they weren't quite tender enough. I glazed the ribs with bbq sauce instead of the mustard and brown sugar sauce in the recipes.
Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta with Spinach
cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021535-spicy-butternut-squash-pasta-with-spinach(That is a gift/unlocked URL so if you aren't a NYT subscriber, you should be able to open the link)
I love butternut squash, but it isn't a favorite of DH, so I am always trying to find ways to make it that he will like so I can selfishly have it more often. He gave this two thumbs up. I skipped the jalapeño, but added more crushed red pepper. I didn't end up finishing it in the oven because I had a loaf of bread in the oven and didn't want to disturb it.
Soul Warming Hungarian Mushroom Soup
littlespicejar.com/hungarian-mushroom-soup/Rich and delicious. I used whole milk rather than half and half. Great dinner on a cold winter day. I have a pint of it in the freezer.
Peanut Chicken Spring Roll Bowls
www.halfbakedharvest.com/peanut-chicken-spring-roll-bowls/Refreshing and fun to make and eat.
Oven Roasted Five Spice Peking Chicken
pupswithchopsticks.com/oven-roasted-five-spice-peking-chicken/Our supper club celebrated Chinese New Year in January. This was my contribution. It took two days to make, but most of that time was marinating time. This is a very tasty roasted chicken. I made two chickens and the 10 of us devoured them. I have three quarts of very flavorful chicken stock in the freezer made from the carcasses.
Orange Moscow Mule Mocktail
www.skinnytaste.com/orange-moscow-mule-mocktail/Another contribution for Chinese New Year supper club. Oranges are a traditional Chinese New Year food. And ginger beer seemed to fit well too. Everyone loved these except for one person who is anti-pulp. If I had known that, I would have strained the juice. When Cara Cara oranges are in season, I juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays so I have the juice to use during the year.
Mini Turkey Meat Loaves with Fiery Tunisian Sauce
www.bhg.com/recipe/mini-turkey-meat-loaves-with-fiery-tunisian-sauce/I scaled this up to use two pounds of meat (one pound each of ground turkey and ground pork). I should not have scaled the sauce, it made a ton. But now I have a pint container of the sauce in the freezer for the next time I make this. I didn't use a muffin tin, just baked the mini meatloaves on a sheet pan. The extra mini meatloaves froze nicely.
Harissa Spiced Tunisian Roasted Carrots
thelemonapron.com/harissa-spiced-tunisian-roasted-carrots/I started with this recipe, but I completely changed the cooking method. I tossed the raw carrots with olive oil, cumin, caraway, smoked paprika, harissa, and preserved lemon paste. I am obsessed with preserved lemon paste. Roasted them on a sheet pan. Topped with cilantro microgreens. We LOVE these carrots.
Chan Saag Curried Chickpeas with Spinach
ministryofcurry.com/chana-saag-chickpeas-and-spinach/Fast and delicious!
Chorizo Shepherd's Pie
www.mustlovehome.com/chorizo-shepherds-pie/I adapted this a little to use some locally made lamb chorizo sausage that I had in the freezer. I used all chorizo, no ground chicken. Instead of pepper jack cheese I used smoked cheddar. I froze extra portions and they held up well in the freezer.
I had a 3 day Soupapalooza with a friend to stock our freezers. We each ended up with 21 quarts of soup for the freezer. My favorite of our soups was Thai Chicken Soup (
www.bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-chicken-soup). Other favorites were Winter Lemon Chicken Barley (
littlespicejar.com/winter-lemon-chicken-barley-soup/ ) When I make this again, I will skip the cream. It doesn't need it. Ribollita (
cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020826-pressure-cooker-ribollita-with-smoked-mozzarella-toasts) (gift link for folks who don't subscribe to NYT Cooking). Didn't do this in the pressure cooker. Used Rancho Gordo Marcella Beans. These soups came in really handy a few weeks ago when DH and I both had colds and I had no interest in cooking.
Thai Basil & Lime Ice Cream
straighttothehipsbaby.com/fresh-thai-basil-kaffir-lime-ice-cream/WOW! It called for dried lime leaves, but I had fresh frozen lime leaves so we used them. No food coloring. We used all Thai Basil.
Almond Cloud Cookies
www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/almond-cloud-cookies-recipeMy niece made these at Christmas and I liked them so I made the pine nut version. She was short on time when she made them so she just threw all of the almond paste ingredients and the cookie ingredients into the mixer and they came out great. I haven't been happy with my pine nut cookie recipe so I decided to try this one. Instead of almond extract I used King Arthur's Fiori di Sicilia. My family loves pine nut cookies and this is our new pine nut cookie recipe. I love my niece's shortcut of mixing everything together at once.
