Crumbs in our Pages: What’s for Dinner?

April 24th, 2013 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Curtis Stone’s What’s for Dinner?

Since we haven’t been successful in having Curtis Stone come to our homes in person, we’ll have to settle for the next best thing: Curtis Stone What’s For Dinner? Delicious Recipes for a Busy Life Cookbook! And just so you know, there’s no settling going on here – this is one fabulous cookbook…

What's For Dinner Cookbook

Neatly divided, each night of the week has a different theme:

Motivating Mondays (start the week off right with healthy fare)

Time-Saving Tuesday (because so often Tuesday is “to-do” day)

One-Pot Wednesday (is there anything better for midweek pick-me-up)

Thrifty Thursday (so there’s a bit more for splurging on the weekend?)

Five-Ingredient Friday (being exhausted ≠ drive through window)

Dinner Party Saturday (food + family + friends = joy3)

Family Supper Sundays (#1 best way to grow happy, healthy kids)

And one final chapter, because no dinner is complete without Something Sweet (Peaches with Melted Bûcheron…be still my heart!)

The layout is just like we want it: enticing photograph (every dish!!) and complete recipe on one page (thank you for listening, cookbook editors).

Last week we went for Motivating Monday’s Grilled Chicken with Arugula and Zucchini Salad with Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette (henceforth dubbed A to Z salad).  A simple supper that was packed with bright, light flavors.  The star of the show was the Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette – a snappy sauce that made both the salad and chicken come alive – just a splash was enough to bring a little mojo to what could otherwise be Mundane Monday.

grilled chicken with A-Z salad

arugula - freshly picked

zucchini - micro thin

Last Sunday, Julia, Valerie and I headed to the Tanger Outlets in Texas City where Curtis Stone will be signing copies of What’s For Dinner. Who knows, maybe we’ll even convince his to come to our house for Sunday Supper –Martha

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Crumbs in Our Pages: Mr. Wilkinson’s Vegetables

April 10th, 2013 Posted in Book Reviews, Cooking
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Mr. Wilkinson’s Vegetables: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Garden


Occasionally a dazzling thought comes our way that once read, we know is going to be an essential lifelong truth.This happened the other day as I was drooling over, reading through Mr. Wilkinson’s Vegetables: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Garden by Matt Wilkinson. So what is this nugget of truth? This pearl of great price? Drumroll, please…

“SO WHY A BOOK ON VEGETABLES, I HEAR YOU ASK
It’s quite simple. Thinking about the vegetables first is how I cook. Today a lot of people think about what protein they feel like eating – will it be beef or chicken, fish or pork? Then what starch will be add to bulk out the meal and, as a final touch, throw in a few vegetables. This is where I’m a little different with my veg first approach.”
– Matt Wilkinson

 

Genius! Brilliant! Bouleversant! (one of my all-time favorite French words – loosely translated it means “turns your life upside down!) Once stated, deeply moving truths often elicit the response of “duh, why didn’t I think of that?” and it’s then you realize that deep down this is how you’ve wanted to live, you just needed someone to state the obvious. And so begins a love affair with vegetables, no longer turned to as a last resort, but brought out front and center to shine at each meal.

As a cookbook, Mr. Wilkinson’s Vegetables radiates earthiness and vitality. From the rich feel of the matte pages to the crisp, clean photographs, to the thick cardboard covers, like a garden brimming with plump, luscious homegrown vegetables each pages, begs, “pick me, pick me!”
Thoughtfully arranged from A for Asparagus to Z for Zucchini, Wilkinson has included recipes for 23 of his favorite vegetables as well as recipes for the one vegetable he detests, but included anyway. He leaves it up to the thorough reader to discover which one he just can’t abide.

Also included are two essential tips for a successful culinary experience. The first I already do: clean as you go. A dear friend once taught: upon entering the kitchen to fill the sink with hot soapy water and clean as you go (thank you, Bets!). The second tip is laborious yet in the end provides a more fulsome cooking experience. If I could train myself to do this one essential step (actually 5, but who’s counting), it would, to quote Mr. Wilkinson, “help me immensely”.

 too-many-carrots-2

Having a bounty of carrots and all the other ingredients on hand (always an added pleasure), Carrot Cake was the recipe of choice. More like carrot bread than cake, it was an immediate Blue Willow favorite – especially when served with a slice of brie, as suggested by Mr. Wilkinson.

bit of brie

Years ago in elementary school we had a creative writing unit. I still remember a story written by Juwene Palotta (isn’t that an awesome 60’s name?) entitled Unvegetablitis about a girl who gets sick because she won’t eat her vegetables. Mr. Wilkinson’s recipes for Raw, Pickled & Roasted Cauliflower or Spinach, Mustard Greens & Baked Ricotta Cheese or Roasted Butternut Squash & Heirloom Carrot, Macadamias, Caper & Raisin Dressing guarantee to cure even the most serious case of Unvegetablitis!

-Martha

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Nigellissima

March 11th, 2013 Posted in Book Reviews, Cooking
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Nigellissima

cover

Friend of Blue Willow (you remember her last visit, don’t you?), Nigella Lawson whisks us off for a lovely visit to Italy in her newest cookbook, Nigellissima.  And what a delicious visit it is.

A feast for the eyes as well as the table, Nigellissima boasts more than 100 recipes from pasta to panna cotta – each one promising to be a decadent delight.

When the centerfold of grilled lamb chops scrumptiously arranged on a bed of arugula caught my eye, I knew there was no running from temptation; they would make a memorable meal for this month’s dinner group.  The pistachio pesto green beans, grilled potatoes, and fabulous salad filled our plates with a sumptuous bounty.  Incredibly simple to prepare, it made a wonderful meal to share with guests while not spending hours in the kitchen.

Earlier that morning the veggies were prepped while the lamb chops basked in the herb marinade.
prepped and ready

A quick spin in the food processor created a nutty pesto that sautéed nicely with the fresh green beans.

pistachio pesto

The bed of arugula was a lovely backdrop for the lamb chops and grilled potatoes.

grilled to perfection

Nigellissima offers a bounty of recipes that are not the typical Italian fare, in fact she makes no claims that the “recipes are authentically Italian”.   She makes no apologies but rather invites us to share her passion for all things Italian. I, for one, heartily accept! I’m looking forward to pasta with zucchini next summer when the mountains of zucchini arrive in our veggie co-op boxes and cranberry pistachio biscotti will be pure bliss in my Christmas coffee.  Nigella’s wonderful introduction also includes a brief description on key ingredients, which I find most helpful – as quantities and varieties often make a substantial difference in the outcome of any recipe.  An added bonus is the final chapter – a Christmas dinner that will keep family and friends around the table for all the festivities.

– Martha

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Crumbs in Our Pages: Breakfast for Dinner

February 25th, 2013 Posted in Book Reviews, Cooking
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BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

 

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner? We early birds love it because it harkens back to our favorite part of the day.  You night owls love it because you can enjoy the culinary perks without the pesky getting up before noon thing. There are always ingredients on hand and the whole meal feels lighter while still deeply satisfying – breakfast for dinner is good comfort food.

Husband and wife bloggers, chefs, cookbook authors, and graphic design entrepreneurs (could there be a more talented couple?) Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth have culled together a fabulous collection of recipes, ideas, and inspirations in their new cookbook, Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More!

 

For a super simple supper last week, we effortlessly whipped up a frittata florentine and BLT biscuits. (That last sentence might have a bit too much alliteration, don’t ya think?)

 

A bit of butter makes a beautiful biscuit…

butter-2

And for the honey-mustard sauce – the best mustard ever! Not to worry that the jar is empty – my BFF (Best Francophile Friend Kate) has already brought me another…

mustard

Having all the ingredients on hand is an added bonus…

ingredients

Breakfast for Dinner!

Beautifully photographed (almost a must in today’s cookbook world), every recipe tantalized and beckoned – Italian Style French Toast puts the savory in a perennially sweet favorite, Grapefruit Risotto with Seared Scallops has my name all over it, Huevos Rancheros Tacos are all sure to be crowd pleasers – even for a crowd of one.  This is a fun cookbook you’ll be pulling off the shelf again and again!

-Martha

 

breakfast

breakfast-more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bisquits

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Crumbs in Our Pages: Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen

February 11th, 2013 Posted in Book Reviews, Cooking
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Crumbs in Our Pages: Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen

Mornings are the best time of the day – don’t you agree?  That includes the best meal of the day – Breakfast!    Hands down my very favorite meal to prepare and to eat, breakfast starts us off in a great way.  Those unhurried family weekend breakfasts are one of life’s happy moments.

In this cookbook, Chef Michael Smith shares 100 of his favorite easy recipes.  He believes strongly that food is for sharing, creating, fun, exploring and that food is personal.  This is a beautiful, straight forward cookbook to guide us through simple delicious recipes.  I appreciated how the book is broken down into separate sections with pictures for most of the recipes.

In keeping with my favorite meal to fix and eat, I chose from his Breakfast section – Potato Bacon Cheddar Bake.  I’m telling you this was so easy, it was almost a crime.  I used my cast iron skillet and that was the only pan to clean up.

Here’s how it goes:

  • Saute the bacon until brown.  Set aside on a paper towel.
  • Then saute your potato in your leftover bacon fat about 15 minutes.
  • Add some garlic for flavor and pour in eggs, green onions, salt and pepper and top with cheese.
  • Bake until firm.

I served this with fruit.  It was so easy and delicious!

image 1

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Disclosure – Yes, Mornings are my favorite time of day and yes I do love breakfast to go with that time of day.  My confession is that I love Breakfast for dinner about as much as I love it during its appointed time.  We actually cooked and ate this delicious meal early one evening.  This recipe can be a great supper on a Tuesday night when the house is rocking and the family is going in 4 different directions.  The leftovers weren’t bad either.

-Julia

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Crumbs in our pages: Small Plates and Sweet Treats

January 28th, 2013 Posted in Book Reviews, Cooking
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Several years ago when some in our family needed to explore the idea of going gluten free, I stumbled across the most incredible blog, Cannelle et Vanille.  Though you might think I was drawn to the French title (Cinnamon and Vanilla), it was actually the ethereal photography that literally left me breathless. If you promise to come back and read the rest of this blog, I’ll let you dawdle a bit here.

 

Hey there, thanks for coming back, wasn’t I right?  So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Aran Goyoaga put down her camera for a bit to create this gorgeous cookbook, Small Plates and Sweet Treats.

Small Plates Sweet Treats

It was Aran who taught me, by studying her beautiful photos, to put a sprig of something green to add a sense of freshness to a dish, and to photograph outside in the natural light, and to use roughhewn tables and sweet linens to create contrasts and interest.

You’ll remember that last weekend, our weather turned delightful making a luscious spring soup of asparagus, arugula, and avocado seem just right for our dinner group; we savored every last bite.

 

soupinbowl

 

cookin   dinnerfuntime

 

Small Plates and Sweet Treats is a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.  I know you’ll delight in the fresh salads, crumbly muffins, crispy tartines, and savory soups as much as I do.  The recipes are simple, allowing the rich flavor of each ingredient to mix beautifully with the others, and yet quite unique: squash, apple, and blue cheese muffins or grapefruit, champagne sabayon with candied ginger & almond verrines (don’t fret, she explains what a verrine is) or roasted cauliflower & leek soup with dandelion green & hazelnut pesto (nervous about finding dandelion greens – not to worry, Aran suggests kale or arugula as an acceptable substitute). Divided by seasons, Aran’s recipes encourage us to choose what is local, fresh, and flavorful.  Small Plates and Sweet Treats – a treasure trove of all things delicious!

Martha

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Crumbs in Our Pages – The Mediterranean Slow Cooker

January 21st, 2013 Posted in Cooking
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Have you been lucky enough to visit or live in a Mediterranean country? Then you know the pleasure of savoring the rich, fresh flavors of the local cuisine.  Whether it’s a large platter with a gorgeous caprese salad or bowl of hearty couscous, the Mediterranean table is laden with robust ragùs, chunky pastas, and plentiful salads.  An added bonus is that the Mediterranean diet is touted as one of the healthiest on the planet.  So often though, all those rich flavors come from hours of simmering, braising or roasting – not always easy for our packed-to-the-brim lifestyles.

Say hello to the genius of Michele Scicolone’s Mediterranean Slow Cooker!

Mediterranean Slow Cooker

How perfect is this – chop, dice, sauté a few ingredients, sprinkle with an assortment of herbs and spices, toss it all in a slow cooker et voilà– a few hours later, after you’ve enjoyed the latest best book, a delicious meal finds its way onto your table and into your tummies!

Wanting to try a new taste thrill, I decided a sweet potato and fruit tzimme would make a savory yet sweet addition to any breakfast, lunch or dinner and would be especially welcome during these last few blustery, drizzly days.

Such a thrill to find that I had all the ingredients on hands except dried apricots and prunes!  After gathering, peeling, and dicing the sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots, and prunes, all were tossed in the slow cooker to which was add orange juice, water, honey, ginger, a dab of butter, and a generous zesting of lemon.

The house was filled with the most delightful aroma.

Everyone at staff meeting enjoyed it too!

sweet potato tzimme

Divided into chapters of soups, eggs, seafood, poultry, beef & veal, pork & lamb, pastas, grains & beans, vegetables and desserts, Mediterranean Slow Cooker abounds with a variety of tempting treats.  How about a soufflé? After whipping up the eggs, milk, cheese, basil and scallions, the soufflé dish is lined with green beans, the egg mixture is poured on top and the dish is placed into an inch or so of water and gently cooked to perfection – magnificent! Or a chill chaser soup? We certainly have enjoyed these perfect-for-banishing-winter’s-chill recipes, perhaps you will too?

diced and cubed     Squash Soup

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Crumbs In Our Pages AUTHOR VISIT Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman

November 26th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Editor’s Note: This is definitely one of our FAVORITE COOKBOOKS this year. I ate the broccoli slaw (page 72) for lunch today.

 

Smitten Kitchen

 

It’s ALMOST here!!!!  We have been waiting many months for this day and it is finally almost here.  SMITTEN KITCHEN’s Deb Perlman will be at Blue Willow on December 1.  That is just a week away!!  We are busily planning our menu.  All the Blue Willow bakers and cooks are poring over the cookbook to decide on the perfect treats for the day!  We are so excited to host this author event.

Most of us at Blue Willow follow the wildly popular Smitten Kitchen cooking blog, and Deb has been giving us teasers about the cookbook for a while now.  The other day her Whole Lemon Bars came into my world.  Honestly, I’ve been making lemon bars for years, but these are BY FAR the best ever!   Imagine a little bite of sweet sunshine every time you take a bite.  By the way, I should mention this recipe is grandmother approved – I made them for our Thanksgiving for a “boost” on the dessert buffet!

 

Smitten Kitchen blog

Meyer Lemons from the backyard

 

Ingredients

Ingredients

 

Smells so good

Smells So Good!

 

Start with the crust and press that firmly into your dish and chill.  Now bake the crust until it’s light brown and let it cool.  Next is the gooey lemon layer: whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice – starring MEYER LEMONS from the tree in my backyard!  Pour this lemony goodness over your crust and bake until the filling is set – about 30 minutes.  Let this cool, cut and then dust with confectioners sugar.  ENJOY!  These are perfect for the holidays or any day actually!  Just a whole lot of happy in one little bite….

 

Cutting The Bars

Cutting The Bars

 

Plating The Bars

 

I hope you are all as excited as we are to meet Deb Perlman.  Again, she will be at Blue Willow on December 1st at 1:00.  Her new cookbook is the perfect Christmas gift for all the cooks on your list.  You do not want to miss this one.  All the Blue Willow bakers are ready to go!  Let’s give this New York girl a BIG TEXAS Welcome!

~~ Julia

 

Serving The Lemon Bars At Blue Willow

Serving Lemon Bars to our friends

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Crumbs In Our Pages — The Smitten Kitchen

November 12th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking, Neighborhood News
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Smitten Kitchen

The Smitten Tour is stopping here on December 1.

Bonjour, y’all!  I have left Paris and returned to Houston for the summer (I’ll let you ponder that one for a moment), and Valerie reluctantly agreed to let me jump back on the blog for a guest appearance.  Martha and I had a “Crumbs” reunion and spent a wonderful morning   cooking out of a new cookbook we both love, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.  We were already fans of the wildly successful Smitten Kitchen blog, and had both been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Deb’s first cookbook.  Martha had to wrestle our advance copy  out of the hands of  some other (weaker) BWB employees, and I savored each page of it while our food was in the oven.  It is, as I expected, fabulous.

 

Deb Perelman

Deb Perelman

 

First, lets talk about Deb Perelman, shall we?  She is, like most of us, not a restaurant chef or one who was trained in a culinary institute.  She started a blog because , like most of us, she loves to cook.  I love that.  Deb lives in New York City and creates her incredible dishes in a teeny, tiny kitchen that is probably a fraction of the size of most of ours.  Plus, she is usually kept company in her teeny tiny kitchen by her teeny tiny (and precious) toddler.  All of these contribute to my admiration of this mom who can produce a gorgeous blog, and now an incredible cookbook.  However, what I really love is her casual and funny writing, which makes you feel like you are her best friend and makes you wish desperately you lived next door to her.  Or at least on her floor.  Martha and I suspect that she makes regular deliveries of her kitchen bounties to those lucky enough to actually be her best friends or her neighbors.  The easy, breezy style of her blog is also present in her cookbook, making it fun to read. And did I mention her photographs?  Oh my.  Food porn at its best.
So now that you know why we love Deb and her blog and her new cookbook, I”ll tell you about what we cooked today.
First we made leek fritters with garlic and lemon.  Leeks?  Fritters (=fried)?  Garlic? Lemon?  Really- how could you lose? These came together quickly and were absolutely delicious.  We chopped up three big leeks and cooked them in water.
Leeks

Leeks

 

Leeks Cooking

Cooking Leeks

 

Then we mixed the drained leeks with some dry ingredients and an egg.

 

Mixed with flour

Mixed with flour

 

Then Martha fried them like pancakes in a little olive oil.

 

Martha working hard!

 

As you can see, they get a nice brown crust on the outside.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

 

Finished

 

And Plated

 

Finally, we mixed up a little garlic lemon sour cream sauce to plop on top and it was time to eat!

 

Kate and Martha enjoy their fritters

 

Being the kind of girls we are, we wanted a sweet after our leek fritters, so we whipped up a delectable blueberry cornmeal butter cake.  Oh yes we did!  This cake was a quick but perfect combination of butter, cornmeal, lemon zest, blueberries,plus the other usual suspects.  On top went a streusel topping of sugar, flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, and butter.  Into the oven for long enough to bookmark a dozen other recipes in the cookbook I want to try, and then voila!  A delicious, moist cake with just the right balance of lemon, cinnamon, blueberry and butter.  Oh yeah.

 

Crumble

 

It has been a pleasure reconnecting with my “Crumbs” friends.  Stop by and see what I’m cooking up  at www.maisouiparis.wordpress.com! ~~ Kate

 

 

 

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Crumbs In Our Pages — Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico

November 2nd, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Editor’s Note: Join us in welcoming Hugo at 7 p.m. on Wednesday November 14

 

Hugo

 

I still remember going to Hugo’s for the first time; my girlfriends and I used to try different places around Houston for brunch once a month. As soon as I walked in, I knew it would be a brunch to remember. There was fun music, great people watching and the food was to-die-for!!! I piled my plate high with octopus-ceviche, quesadillas, corn bread egg Benedict and an amazing dessert table- who would have guessed hot chocolate in July would have been so good!?! So when I saw that Chef Hugo had a cookbook coming out, I knew I had to try some of his recipes!

When I first picked up the book I loved going through the recipes- it has everything from rabbit to squash blossoms to corn cups and other traditional Mexican street food fare…. I was excited to see a recipe for flautas- they just make me happy some days. But I decided that my first “Hugo’s recipe” needed to be ceviche.

I’ll have to be honest with you, part of me was scared out of my mind to make ceviche- “cooking” raw fish in lime juice tastes amazing, but 8% of my mind hoped that the shrimp/scallops/red fish  really we’re cooked before I ate it… Little did I realize how easy & impressive this dish would be!! I love the texts I got from friends lining up to try it- hopefully they will still be impressed next time when I try to octopus!

ceviche

Ceviche

 

– Jordan

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