2009 March

Asian Salmon

March 31, 2009 By cheri 1 Comment

I had my first dinner party in my new place. I had forgotten how much I love to entertain. It is fun to actually have a table where I can have more than one friend over at a time. It was great to share my new home with my friends, who are always willing taste testers. I selected Asian Salmon, a recipe I had seen by Ina Garten, for my inaugural meal. I found great salmon at my new favorite story, Fresh and Easy. Have you discovered it? My friend called me from there a week ago saying, “this place [...]

Popovers

March 30, 2009 By cheri 3 Comments

Growing up it was a family tradition on Saturday to go to Bullocks for lunch. It was quite the generational outing that included my mom, grandmother, great grandmothers and aunts. The event was usually for a birthday or special celebration. We would get there early and shop for a while. Then we would go into their lunch room. In addition to the lunch there would be a fashion show. The favorite part of the meal were the popovers. Each person received a piping hot popover at the start of the meal. They would place the popover onto the plate and [...]

Filed Under: Breads Tagged With: maida heatter popovers, Popovers, quick breads

Tomato Goat Cheese Tart

March 26, 2009 By cheri 12 Comments

This week Anne of Anne Strawberry chose Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts from Ina Garten’s Back to Basics. Halfway through making these I realized I had made these for a dinner party in December. Well, these were just as yummy the second time. I made them into little individual size tartlets, just like the first time. They make great pre dinner, standing around in the kitchen sipping wine snacks. Baked in a tart pan this would be great to serve with a salad for a light meal. I like to use the puff pastry at Trader Joe’s but your local [...]

Filed Under: Appetizer Tagged With: barefoot bloggers, Ina Garten, tomato goat cheese tart, tomatoes

Grapefruit Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

March 25, 2009 By cheri 3 Comments

I love grapefruit, really any citrus fruit. I found this recipe for grapefruit cake and as I was reading the history it was “allegedly” from the Brown Derby in Hollywood. It has been gone for a long time but it was legendary in its day. The grapefruit and the restaurant capture the essence of Southern California. Growing up here in Orange County we would take our out of town visitors to Hollywood. We would try and find stars homes in Beverly Hills. We would walk down Rodeo Drive and then go over to Grauman’s to look at the stars and [...]

Filed Under: Cake

Banana Nut Bread

March 24, 2009 By cheri Leave a Comment

I have been cooking up a storm and am excited to share the new recipes with you. This weekend I made Banana Nut Bread. Three bananas were starting to ripen and calling out to be made. I looked at my cookbooks and saw Pastries from La Brea Bakery. The recipe was from created by one of my favorite chefs, Nancy Silverton. The creator of La Brea Bakery but most importantly part owner of two fabulous restaurants here in LA, Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza. They are two of the hottest restaurants in LA and I can assure you they are [...]

Filed Under: Breads Tagged With: Banana nut bread, Nancy Silverton, Pastries of La Brea Bakery

Brownie Pudding

March 19, 2009 By cheri 9 Comments

Today is my first official entry with the Barefoot Bloggers. I told you about them here. I don’t know that I have ever been disappointed by one of Ina Garten’s recipe so it will be fun to cook through her books with fellow Barefoot Bloggers. The Brownie Pudding is a cross between brownies and lava cake. It is fairly simple to make but decadent in taste. It will certainly cure any craving for chocolate. The ice cream and berries are a great compliment. I made this once several months ago and it came out a bit different. This time I [...]

Filed Under: Dessert, Uncategorized Tagged With: barefoot bloggers, Brownie Pudding, chocolate, Ina Gartens brownie pudding, raspberries

Capellini with Lime and Arugula

March 16, 2009 By cheri Leave a Comment

Several years ago on a trip to Australia I discovered Donna Hay, a cookbook author. She has published many cookbooks and a magazine. She is the Aussie Martha but with a more straightforward Australian approach. Many of her recipes are quick and easy. She has 5, 10 & 15 minute recipes with a no fuss approach to cooking. They are simple but packed with flavor and perfect for someone who has to come home and cook for her family after work. Not that I am that girl but still I come home tired and not wanting to spend hours in [...]

Filed Under: Pasta Tagged With: capellini with lime and arugula, donna hay, Pasta, quick meals

Friday Finds

March 13, 2009 By cheri 1 Comment

It is Friday and I thought I would share a few of the things that caught my eye on the web this week. Come back next week to sign up for the first ever Adventures In the Kitchen giveaway! At Matt Bites you can see beautiful pictures from a recent trip with other food bloggers to the Bahamas. Sign up for the Garnish giveaway at Hostess with the Mostess. Garnish has paired great ideas with inexpensive packaging for One of my new blog discoveries is This Week for Dinner. Check it out for menu ideas and great photography. Dream of [...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Chicken Piccata

March 13, 2009 By cheri 1 Comment

My love of cooking really blossomed in my early twenties. I would cook for the guy I was dating at the time or a groups of friends One of my favorite dishes to make was Chicken Piccata. Somehow over the years that recipe dropped off my rotation. I have been considering joining the group Barefoot Bloggers, a group of bloggers who are working their way through The Barefoot Contessa recipes. She is one of my favorite Food Network chefs and I own everyone of her cookbooks. While not officially part of the group yet, I saw that Chicken Piccata was [...]

Filed Under: Chicken Tagged With: barefoot bloggers, Chicken, chicken piccata, lemons