Forgot to take a picture once it was out of the oven . . . sorry about that. On top is a nice flavorful layer of Gruyere cheese and buttered bread crumbs.

A post from Carolyn. If any of you are “of a certain age,” you may remember that serving authentic beef stroganoff was a frequent entertaining entree way back in the 60s and 70s. It required copious amounts of sour cream and of course, some kind of tender beef. Whatever type I bought wasn’t ever tender enough. I think tenderloin is the authentic beef recommended – that was way out of my price range, so I used some other substitute (and probably overcooked it, or it was a type that might never get tender) so I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with the results. My other go-to company meal was turkey a la king, served in puff pastry cups – a more inexpensive entree served elegantly in those little buttery vessels. Vaguely I remember when someone decided to make stroganoff with ground beef, but it was considered to be a cheap substitute (and oh, hand up to forehead – gasp – certainly not worthy of a company meal). Over the ensuing years I know I’d made that substitute casserole many times, but it never came into regular rotation. Probably because it was thick, gloopy (is that a word?) and over-the-top too rich.

How times have changed. When I watched Rachael Ray make this on her show, I was intrigued. Why? Because she used a max of 1/2 cup of sour cream (not 1 – 2+ cups as I’d used in my other recipes), it didn’t contain any canned soup (cream of mushroom), and it used sherry wine plus a moderate amount of Worcestershire sauce. Plus it was a much dry-er casserole – no gluey or thick mushy type serving.

Did you know that Worcestershire is an umami flavor? Yup. You can add a little bit to dishes and you’ll not know it’s there, but it adds nice flavor. Mushrooms also have umami, and there are plenty of them in this recipe too. Rachael called for rye or pumpernickel bread crumbs . . . I didn’t have those and wasn’t about to buy a loaf of that bread to garner a cup of breadcrumbs, so I used panko, because that’s what I had on hand. Others who have made this recipe and posted it online mention those rye or pumpernickel bread crumbs as being a real game-changer. I like it just fine with panko crumbs, but agree, the other types might make this casserole even better. The addition of Gruyere cheese also added to the high-flavor profile here.  I buy Costco ground beef – I think it has more flavor than many others, like my local grocery store variety. I keep those Costco cubes in my freezer all the time (they’re 1 1/2 pounds, just what’s called for in this recipe).

If you make this and have leftovers, heat them in servings in the microwave, maybe with a sprinkling of water on the bottom. As I mentioned, this makes a kind of “dry” casserole. I’d reheat them in a bowl rather than a flat plate.

What’s GOOD: really delicious comfort-food casserole. Liked the depth of flavor in this (from the mushrooms, Worcestershire, sherry wine, Gruyere) and will definitely make this again. It should freeze well – I made two small casseroles and one large one. The smaller ones I froze, so I’ll enjoy them in coming months.

What’s NOT: only that it takes about an hour to prepare (plus baking time), with a moderate amount of cutting and chopping; nothing is difficult. You’ll find that the mixture seems quite dry, but it works out fine.

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What a nice, refreshing salad – perfect for the holidays, too.

A post from Carolyn. In early December I attended my first in-person cooking class with Phillis Carey, my favorite cooking instructor. All through Covid she taught via zoom, and if I couldn’t taste the food, why bother, was my motto? After three years, it was so fun to see her (and her cooking friend Diane Phillips) and to eat a treasure-trove of new things. This was one of the recipes I really liked.

Phillis’s heritage is Sicilian, so her recipes were more Southern Italian. This salad could be made ahead up to the point of tossing it. Prep the fennel ahead and the fresh oranges (let the fennel marinate in the orange/juice to keep it from turning brown). Have the arugula part all ready to dress, and toss at the last minute.

The dressing is just slightly different – lemon juice and white wine vinegar, a tetch of honey, and EVOO. Easy to make ahead too. You may also add olives – Phillis added Kalamata, but she also suggested Castelvetrano (I’d prefer those). Your choice, however. The olives add some color to the salad in addition to a punch of flavor. Castelvetrano olives are a ripe olive, very mild, not acidic/bitter like Kalamata. Arugula is everywhere now in the grocery stores, so that wouldn’t be hard to find. You could use baby spinach, I suppose, but it wouldn’t be authentic. I may make this salad for Christmas or New Year’s Eve. One or the other. If you can find blood oranges, that would make an ever prettier platter of salad. Sometimes they’re available around the holidays. I haven’t seen them lately.

You can plate individually, or make a big platter of it with the oranges and olives and fennel piled on top of the arugula, kind of centered. If I do that for the holidays I’ll take a picture of it!!

What’s GOOD: love the acid (lemon juice/vinegar and olives) vs. sweet (honey, oranges). It’s a simple dressing, but perfect for arugula. What a pretty salad it makes. And nice that it can be made ahead up to the point of dressing it. A winner.

What’s NOT: nothing, really – easy to do.

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Certainly I’d never heard of chocolate salami before, but was intrigued when I read the story about them. Italians claim the origin of the recipe, so do Germans, but so do Russians. Mine weren’t as round as the pictures online, but hey, made no difference to the taste!

A post from Carolyn. I think I mentioned recently that I decided to subscribe to the New York Times Food Section. It’s not a cheap purchase, but they offered it for half price ($20/year). If you’re interested, it’s still on offer at that price. I have nowhere near discovered all there is to know about their recipe archives, but this cookie recipe popped up and it’s just so different I had to try it.

So I read, back during the Soviet Russia era, some foodstuffs were hard to come by like cookies and cocoa powder. An ingenious cook combined shortbread cookies and cocoa along with chocolate (available) and hazelnuts (available) to spread the wealth, so to speak. Both the cocoa powder and the cookies then were enjoyed for a longer period of time. Although I have to say, eating one of these is nearly impossible.

A package of hazelnuts was staring at me, so I toasted them up first (about 5-7 minutes in my toaster oven at 375). Then I opened the package of Walker’s shortbread and used my meat pounder (flat) to kind-of mash up the cookies. In the photo above you can see toasted hazelnuts and pieces/crumbs of the cookies. The recipe suggested you sieve the cookies because you don’t want many crumbs. I didn’t wish to waste the crumbs, so I used them anyway. Just make sure you leave some little chunks – more chunks than crumbs if you can do it (and no, it’s not easy to do that).

Meanwhile you melt butter, sweetened condensed milk and bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli, bar type) and unsweetened cocoa powder. Once melted, it’s poured into the cookies and nuts mixture and after it cools a bit. Then you roll it into logs, trying to get them into a rounded shape, then seal up in waxed paper and foil for a longer chill.

My salami were not very round, so a day later I let the logs warm for about 45 minutes at room temperature and then rolled them on my countertop until they formed a more rounded shape. But, as you can see, I didn’t succeed very well with that! You sprinkle the logs with powdered sugar when you’re ready to serve them, then slice. I sliced mine thinner than the 1/4″ recommended. If you use a very slim knife you can do it. Don’t lay the slices in the sugar, however, as that messes up the visual of “salami.”

Oh my goodness, are these ever good. I suppose you could say they’re a variation of fudge, but with the addition of hazelnuts and cookie bits, they’re really not fudge.

What’s GOOD: well, I’m going to be adding this recipe to my regular Christmas cookie rotation. Or maybe not rotation – it’ll be a regular every year here on out. I liked that they were easy – EASY – to make. They’re a real keeper in my book. And, I’ll be adding this recipe to my favorites. Does that tell you how much I liked them?

What’s NOT: nothing whatsoever, other than you can’t eat these immediately – requires overnight or several hours of chilling to make the logs firm enough to slice.

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Another iteration of a different kind of cranberry sauce.

A post from Carolyn. For Thanksgiving I was invited to go to a distant relative’s home, so this is what I made – this sauce plus my regular old-faithful raw cranberry relish I make every year. This new one came from Cook’s Illustrated, from 1999, my records tell me. It was very simple to make – just water, sugar, some grated fresh ginger, a dash of ground cinnamon (which you can taste in the finished sauce, although it’s elusive, but you know something, something is different about it), salt, cranberries and fresh pears. That’s it.

Preparing it ahead a day or two made it easy; all I had to do was package it up and take it on the drive and pour it out into a pretty dish when I got there. The raw relish I made didn’t last all that long after making it (probably because I used half fake sugar, so it didn’t have as much sugar/preservative to keep it from spoiling). As I write this, it’s been made for over 2 weeks, this sauce, and it’s still delicious. I’ve had it spooned over my morning yogurt, and served along with some roasted chicken I had.

What’s GOOD: easy sauce to make – very delicious. I really, really liked it. It may become a regular that I make every Thanksgiving!

What’s NOT: not a thing. Of course, we can’t make this during the summer unless we’ve frozen a bag of cranberries over the holiday time when they’re available!

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This is such an unusual bread . . . unless you come from Naples, where you see it all the time, I suppose. So delicious. Easy. Those little holes you see are where there were little chunks of Provolone cheese that oozed into the little crevices of the baking bread.

A post from Carolyn. At that cooking class I went to earlier in the month, Phillis Carey prepared this quick bread. I’d never had it before, so I went online to read about it. A common bread in Naples, Italy, Babà Rustico (or Rustica) is usually made with yeast and usually it’s made in a tube or ring mold, even a fluted one you’d use for a cake. And, in fact, I found a recipe online that uses yeast but cooks it like a quick bread (no rising required, in other words). I may have to try that version.  But this quick-bread version is just marvelous. It’s so tender (probably from the buttermilk in the batter) and moist (from the eggs and cheeses). It’s a very moist bread, in other words.

You mix up the dry, then stir in add-ins (salami, provolone and parsley). The wet ingredients (eggs, buttermilk, olive oil) are mixed into the dry – remember, with a quick bread you don’t want to over-mix it, just until combined. The batter is quite thick. The Parm gets sprinkled all over the top of the bread, then it bakes for 45-55 minutes (depending on the exact size of your pan). Once out of the oven you drizzle a little bit of EVOO over the top of the bread and let it soak in.

What I will tell you is that the leftover pieces of this make fantastic toast. I toasted it in my countertop oven and slathered just a little bit of butter on it. Oh my. Divine. Do serve it warm if you can. It freezes well too. You can bake it ahead several days (store, wrapped, in the frig).

What’s GOOD: the lovely moist, cheesy texture (like brioche) of this bread is fabulous. You’re gonna love it.

What’s NOT: nothing really except that you may not have salami and Provolone on hand.

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Yummy. Comfort food at its best.

A post from Carolyn. Once in awhile I get a craving for risotto. Usually after I’ve watched someone else make it on a TV program, I’ve seen it on a menu, or someone mentions it in passing. I used to make it much more regularly, but since it’s a very simple carb, I try not to. Yet a craving sometimes needs to be answered. My cousin Gary was visiting and he doesn’t mind having meatless meals. As it happened, I had some chicken sausages that I cooked separately, for some added protein.

I have a relatively “old” Breville multi-cooker – it’s a similar shape to an Instant Pot (smaller in all dimensions). It’s not an Instant Pot (though I have one of those also) – this was before IP came into being and has now taken over pressure cooking in general. This old Breville cooker (that doesn’t pressure cook) has a risotto setting. FYI: you can’t buy these old Breville models anymore. Not sure if anyone manufactures a device that “makes” risotto like it does. This little model does have a saute function, but I was in a relative hurry, so I cooked the shallots and mushrooms in another skillet and added them to the cooker. I’ve revised the recipe with directions for using a regular pan on the range, since I doubt many people have this old Breville thing.

Risotto requires a lot of stirring, and particularly at the end of the cooking time as it could burn easily if you’re not watching it. Have the rest of your meal all ready at this point so you can concentrate on the risotto.

One of the secrets to risotto is adding a little bit of white wine at the very beginning – with the rice – and allowing all the wine to be absorbed by the raw rice. Then you begin adding broth about 1/2 cup at a time and the mushroom concentrate. (A note about that – if you don’t have mushroom base, it’s now available from Better Than Bouillon, and I hear it’s really delicious.) Continue cooking, adding broth, until the rice is done, kind of mildly firm to the tooth, but still just barely cooked through. Then you add a dollop of sherry wine and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. I let it continue to warm through, and maybe add some water if it’s too thick, or to cook a minute or two more if it’s too thin. Scoop into heated bowls and garnish with black pepper and some grated Parm.

What’s GOOD: oh my, yes, I do love risotto. If you like mushrooms, you’ll love the intense flavor in this. Do click on that amazon link above for the mushroom concentrate – it makes a difference. The risotto was so satisfying – comfort food for sure. Leftovers were mixed with a tiny bit of water and served a few days later. Altogether wonderful.

What’s NOT: only the time of cooking risotto, with stirring and stirring.

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It’s holiday time, and my cousin Gary visits most years, and he’s gluten (or at least he’s for sure wheat)  intolerant.

A post from Carolyn. My cousin and I share one very important trait (hmmm, maybe it’s genetic?) – we love chocolate. He will always tell me, “no, don’t bake cookies for me,” but then I think, yes, I should. I didn’t ask him this year, I just made them. It’s the holidays. A reason to try a new GF recipe for him.

Recently the New York Times offered a subscription to their food section and archives (not the daily newspaper) at half price, for $20/year. I don’t know about you, but I think newspapers should offer recipes for free – maybe not the stories, but at least the recipes; but they don’t. Or at least most newspapers don’t. And particularly the New York Times. But at half price I thought it was a good buy. In the past when I’ve discovered the NYT had printed some great sounding recipe, I’d do a search all over the web, and sometimes I’d find the recipe somewhere else. But not always. One of my very favorite cookbooks I own is Amanda Hesser’s gigantic tome, The Essential New York Times Cookbook: The Recipes of Record, a 2021 re-release with new added content. I have the older edition – the one here is the recent one. The older one must be out of print already!

With that in mind, and my new subscription available, I decided to search for GF cookie recipes for Gary, and downloaded this one and made them for him. They’re very straight-forward. No unusual ingredients, providing you have almond flour on hand already. I do. I keep it in the freezer. Do use the pure almond flour – not the one from Trader Joe’s that has the skins included. I buy my blanched almond flour at Costco. I had a small bag of Bob’s Red Mill almond flour in my pantry (that had been there for well over a year) and it smelled just fine, so I’m not sure almond flour needs to be kept in the freezer after all. Might open up some new real estate in my jam-packed freezer.

In this case I used half artificial sugar, half real sugar; the recipe calls for both light brown and granulated; I use half Swerve brown, and half So Nourished erythritol granular. In sampling the finished cookies, I cannot tell there is any artificial sugar in them.

First it’s butter and sugars to be mixed, then eggs, then vanilla, and lastly the dry ingredients. With most new cookie recipes these days, I bake 2-3 of them first to make sure they’re the right consistency. These were; I made no adjustments except for the baking time. The cookies are scooped onto baking sheets and lightly flattened before baking for 13 1/2 minutes (in my oven, anyway). The original recipe made gigantic ones. I made traditional sized, and that’s the time they needed. These cookies were plumper than the ones shown in the newspaper photograph – theirs were very spread out, but still in a nice round shape. Mine were thicker – they barely settled a little in height when baked. That may be why they required a bit more baking time.

What’s GOOD: well, obviously, that they GF. GF cookies (at least those made with almond flour) tend to be a bit more “sandy” in texture. From a frozen state, I liked these better. They’re pretty fragile at room temperature. They’re still a bit fragile from frozen, but manageable. My cousin ate a few every day and liked them.

What’s NOT: nothing really, other than GF cookies tend to have a different texture. If you prefer tender, soft cookies, these will be perfect.

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