A Girl's Gotta Eat!

I know at some point you are going to get tired of me using the same cookbook over and over again. But when the recipes are all so tasty and reliable, why venture to an unknown? Here’s another I tried from Salt to Honey . I omitted the golden raisins (because I don’t like them in stuff like this) and the celery (because I didn’t want to buy the entire bunch to use only one stalk), and opted to add extra dried cranberries and almonds instead. The toughest part of the entire recipe was probably chopping the chicken, but that is only because I’m very particular about not wanting any grisly bits or fatty bites. I will say that the dressing portion made more than we wanted to add, so we saved the extra and decided we could maybe use it for something else later. Use your own judgment when adding it, and hold off dumping the entire amount in if you prefer less dressing as well. We were all set to serve the salad in radicchio leaves as suggested, but the radicchio available to us loo...

There have been so many recipes in our recent issues of Food Network Magazine that have been calling our name that we've been hard-pressed to choose which one to try first. When we finally narrowed it down, we were quite pleased with the results. We had been looking for a meal that seemed fairly quick and easy to execute and that was relatively good for us. This flank steak seemed hearty, but was listed in the magazine as having less than 400 calories per serving. Even better, flank steak is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, and this one didn't need hours marinating before we could cook it. This definitely fit the bill. The steak stayed juicy and flavorful since you sear it. We cooked our for the suggested time per side for medium-rare, but as long as you sear it over high heat, cooking it longer for a more well-done steak shouldn't pose a problem. There are two things I would do differently next time. 1) Double the recipe for the beans. We thought they were excepti...

There's no story behind this post...just a recipe we saw in our latest Food Network Magazine that tickled our fancy: Salami-Mozzarella Calzone. As you have probably gathered by now, I'm a sucker for anything with cheese in it; what you may not know is that salami may well be my favorite deli meat (try a grilled cheese and salami sandwich and you'll see what I mean.) Calzones with salami instead of pepperoni? Yummy indeed. Don't be scared by the pickled vegetable ingredient (giardiniera). It comes in a jar and can be found in the pickle and olive aisle of you grocery store. Look in the international aisle near the Italian food if it's not with the pickles. (This week, Publix has Mezzetta brand on sale for $ .99!) I've never made my own calzones before, so I liked that on my first attempt, two factors made it seem easier. 1) The recipe uses store-bought pizza dough. I'm all for fresh, homemade doughs and pastries, but there is a sense of relief is being ...

Snow is coating everything in sight, so it's time to hunker down and have some grilled cheese sandwiches. This time, though, I'm borrowing an idea from a fellow blogger ( http://www.grilledshane.com/ ) who specializes in all things grilled cheese. Tonight it's all about homemade Beer Bread and melted aged Cheddar. The aged Cheddar was something else we recently picked up from the farmers' market from JD Country Milk , and the beer bread is just about the easiest thing you'll ever make. Fresh from the oven   Easy Beer Bread 3 cups self-rising flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 (12-ounce) beer ( something cheap is perfectly fine ) 3 to 4 tablespoons butter, melted Sift the flour and sugar together in a bowl ( do NOT skip this step ). Stir in the beer until moistened. Spoon into a 5 by 7 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Pour the butter over the top while the bread is still in the pan. Let cool slightly, then remove from the pan. ...