Okay, the three cookbooks I ordered for my birthday came yesterday, and I got to go through them last night. Here are my preliminary thoughts (with the caveat that it's hard to tell on a cookbook til you've tried the recipes):

( The Cookbooks )

On one of my cooking communities, someone posted a question a while back about what gadgets or gear you can't live without in your kitchen. That's gotten me thinking about some of the things I use all the time. There are the basics, of course; the items that come in handy on a day to day basis.

( My Basics )

Normally, I think you have to be careful with gadgets that're designed for a specific purpose, because they can easily become dust-catchers. And yes, I have a waffle maker that I use maybe twice a year, a grill I hardly ever cook on and various hand-held tools that never really make it out of the drawer.

( My Daily-Use Gadgets )

This is called Not-Gumbo, because it's...not gumbo. You see, there are certain things that real gumbo requires that I can't (or won't) eat - like bell peppers, stewed tomatoes and okra. I formulated this recipe to give me some of the taste of gumbo and that warm comfort, without the stuff I can't stomach.

So, while I wouldn't go home to Cajun country and hand my mom a bowl of this and say "Here, have some gumbo!', it's a great, hearty facsimile that is perfect for my tastes. In illustration, I just ate two bowls!

The prep time takes a while, but then you just let it simmer away on the stove.

Try it and let me know what you think!

( Foo's Not-Gumbo )

Okay, this is awesome, and was fairly easy to make. I actually could sit down with a bowl of this and a slice of bread, it's that good. Plus, Stella and Cassie get the leftover ribs, so they love me right now...

I got some help from the butcher, but ended up with four big beef bones (they came in packs of two at 2 1/2 pounds a piece) and a pound of cheap beef ribs - just three ribs. Most recipes I've seen call for only bones, but I like the flavor the little bit of meat on the ribs gives the stock. (You could also just use ribs or short ribs, if you wanted.)

I also roasted my meat, bones and veggies beforehand. I think that's what makes the stock so rich and awesome.

( Rich Beef Stock )

This is a recipe I came up with after hearing a similar suggestion for baking boneless/skinless breasts. I used ciabatta bread and homemade mayo. The ciabatta was a little too much bread for me, so maybe a nice french bread, or a thinner ciabatta might work. I love the homemade mayo with this; certainly a good mayo would work fine, but if you can do the homemade, it's worth it.

( Lemon Rosemary Chicken )

The thing about learning to cook is that you come to find out how much money you wasted on "convenience" foods that are neither convenient nor usually as good-tasting as their real equivalents.

Simple stuff like popcorn. How much have I spent on microwave popcorn, when a bag of regular popcorn is a couple of dollars (at most), makes loads of popcorn and tastes way better. Stays fresh longer, even. Takes about the same amount of time to pop on the stovetop, too.

Or hot chocolate. Did I real drink that powdered nonsense, when a little grated chocolate, some milk, a splash of vanilla and a whisk would get me the real deal?

So that brings us to simple syrup. A while back, I bought a cool glass bottle from Williams-Sonoma of something called "Sugar Shots"... basically liquid sugar. The bottle came with a cool pour spout, and the liquid sugar was good for making homemade lattes and such (which I have also learned to make on the stove). It never occurred to me that this was nothing particularly spectacular or special, until a friend referred to it as "simple syrup".

Sure enough, I looked it up and it's nothing to make. Two cups of sugar, two cups of water, heated til the sugar dissolves.

Seriously.

You don't even have to boil it. I added a tablespoon of corn syrup to keep it smooth and voila. It has the exact same texture and taste as the "pure cane sugar and purified water" that I paid $15 for at Williams-Sonoma.

On the other hand, I now have a cool glass bottle with pour spout for my homemade simple syrup, so I guess it's not all bad.

Next up, I'm going to try flavored simple syrups, with my own lavender buds and mint leaves...

I'm obviously proud of my heritage, and this is one of those days where I get to show it. I may not live in Switzerland and I may not get the day off, but at least I can feel very "Swiss" one day a year.

It was cute; I actually got several good wishes from people at work who knew it was National Day. I chatted with my Swiss ex-officemate, who was so heads-down in work that he still thought it was July. ("Oh, hey!" he said, when he realized it was August 1. "We can set off firecrackers!!")

When I got home, I cracked open some of the pinot noir from my family's winery on Lake Neuchatel, and B. and I decided last minute to make a fondue feast for dinner. We had to settle for a couple of substitutions at the local grocery store - Jarlsberg instead of gruyere (though they did have Emmenthaler) and an Alsatian pinot blanc instead of a Swiss white. (I've drunk all the Neuchatel from Domaine de Montmollin - the family winery - and am left with only red: good for drinking but not for making fondue.)

For the main meal, we had sweet and sourdough baguettes and a sliced Granny Smith apple to dip in the creamy cheese. For dessert, I melted Toblerone bars with cream and a little liqueur, and we dipped strawberries, marshmallows, pound cake slices and biscotti in them.

The coolest part is that I don't actually have a fondue pot (criminal, I know), so we pulled chairs up to the stove, and just ate our fondue right out of the saucepan on the stove. We chatted and laughed and stuffed ourselves silly.

Now, I'm feeling very Swiss and very full. I think I'll go collapse in a heap.

Happy National Day everybody!!

Today was a Pioneer Woman cooking day. I started out making some more of the Olive Cheese Bread I made yesterday, using the leftover cheese mixture I had with some leftover baguette. We basically had that for lunch with a nice cup of tea.

I then made a pot roast with carrots and onions using her recipe. It wasn't that different than pot roasts that I'd made in the past - braised in beef stock and a little wine. The only difference is that she browns both the onions and carrots, as well as the beef itself. I actually think that did give it a little more flavor. The house smelled good all day, that was for sure. We had it with some mashed potatoes...

I finished off the day with her Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce. I did something a little different - instead of the nuts, I sprinkled it with chocolate chips before sticking it in the oven. B., who eats like a bird, had two big bowls. Delicious!

I made this last night for the gamers, and of course, they didn't eat it because they're stupid olive-hating boys. But B., S. and I adored it. It's addictive - and easy to make, too.

This is another recipe I owe to my new-favorite food blogger, The Pioneer Woman

( Olive Cheese Bread )

First of all, I heart icka. I hearted her on day one, and I heart her even more now.


Why? Cause she introduced me to The Pioneer Woman. Not only does this woman cook stuff I want to eat, she does it while taking clear, beautiful pictures and writing step by step instructions.

Love you, icka!!

Know what else I love? PW's Yogurt Cream. Dear God in Heaven. I have never tasted anything so delicious, especially over fresh berries. Even B. gobbled it up. Now I'm searching for something else to put this on, because I ran out of blueberries.

Awesome!!

( Yogurt Cream and Berries )

Don't let the look of these potatoes when you drain them fool you. They will look really salt-crusted, but you'd be surprised at how mild the flavor is. They'll also be perfectly cooked and very tender and creamy.

I am completely sold on this method of cooking potatoes. I'll be hard-pressed to boil potatoes the usual way again.

This recipe came from Cook's Country magazine.

( Syracuse Salt Potatoes )

I promised you recipes and recipes you shall have. First, teh blueberry cobbler.

This is really excellent, and really easy. I made it with fresh blueberries which, while costing a small fortune, made a very fresh-tasting cobbler.

( Blueberry Cobbler c/o Cooks' Illustrated )

I made possibly the best meal I've ever cooked in my life tonight.

I started the ribs yesterday afternoon, with a dry rub of paprika, brown sugar, salt and pepper. They stayed in the fridge overnight, wrapped in clingfilm, and I massaged the rub in occasionally. When I was ready to put them on the grill, I piled the coals on one side and added wood chips, then smoked the ribs for over two hours. I finished them in the oven for a couple of hours wrapped tightly in foil, and brushed them with barbecue sauce at regular intervals.

Holy cow.

They were about perfect. Tender and falling off the bone, but with a crisp dark, caramelized crust. Amazing.

Normally, I'd make baked beans with them (and cut the crisp bits into the beans), but B. doesn't like them. Doesn't like corn, either. I was, in fact, pretty much stuck with potatoes. But I wanted something different, so I tried something called "salt potatoes", which is apparently an upstate New York thing. Basically, you boil small red new potatoes with lots of salt - a whole cup to four cups of water. When you drain them on racks, they form a salty crust. You'd think they'd be too salty, but they aren't, and the centers are creamy and perfectly seasoned. You dip them in chive butter - UNBELIEVABLE.

The finale was a fresh blueberry cobbler with a sweet biscuit crust, dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with a scoop of vanilla Haagen Daaz. I can hardly move. Honestly one of the best meals I've had in forever.

Once I have enough energy, I'll post the recipes...

Okay, I found this recipe on the WeightWatchers message boards, and let me tell you ... this does NOT taste like diet food. And of course, if you end up eating the whole recipe, it really ISN'T diet food, no matter how healthy. But, anyway...

This is awesome. Truly awesome. First, the soy sauce acts like a brine on the chops, so they end up really tender. I don't know what it is about the oniony-cherry-y sauce that reacts with the chops but oh, my. SO. GOOD.

And pretty easy. Start-to-finish this is maybe 15 minutes.

I did a couple of different things. First, I used a little more oil with the sauteeing than the recipe called for - my pan got dry pretty fast. I also tipped my glass of Riesling into the sauce with the cherries, and let that bubble away. Afterwards, I turned it into a bowl and used my immersion blender to make it more of a sauce than a relish. (I'm usually not big on chunky stuff.) I also added a tiny bit of Kirsch (cherry brandy) at the end. It needed a little salt, but otherwise it was great. And again, on the pork chops, it was totally the perfect combination.

You could easily use this with pan-seared pork chops. I have a cast iron grill/griddle pan, so I used that.

( Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Relish )

Since I found golden syrup for the first time, I decided to try this recipe. (You can also make it with dark corn syrup, which is easier to find in the states, but I can't vouch for that.) I picked up a pint of vanilla ice cream for dessert over the long weekend to have with this sauce.

First, I can say it's pretty simple to make. Secondly, the golden syrup does have a unique flavor that I think would be slightly different with dark corn syrup. Third, her instructions are a little vague: "boil for a couple of minutes", etc. However, my guess is that it would be hard to mess this sauce up taste-wise; it's not like a pure sugar caramel which can burn and taste bad. The syrup, butter and cream will prevent that. So, if it's too thin, just put it back on til it gets to where you like it.

That said, it is way sweet. A wonderfully caramel-y sweet, true, but almost too much for me, especially over ice cream. A little goes a long way...

( Nigella Lawson's Sticky Toffee Sauce )

This is ridiculous, and I don't mean the name. (To get the name thing out of the way: the girl who entered it in the 1954 Pillsbury baking contest named it for the effect she said it had on teenaged boys. I'll bet she was a handful.)

I don't know what to say. It's delicious, and was really simple to make. You probably don't even need a mixer (I used mine, though). One thing was that the directions said 45-60 minutes; I decided to check it at about 30 minutes and it was done. My oven does run hot, but still.

I can't say enough about this. This is one of the best coffee cakes I've ever tried, and with how easy it is to make, I can see this becoming a standard in my repertoire.

( Blueberry Boy Bait )

Okay, first of all...how on earth do I cook/bake as much as I do, and have one tiny cookie sheet? I could have sworn I had more than that...

(Note: This is a perfect answer to the "Whatever shall we get Foo for Christmas??" question...)

Okay, so my first impression is that these didn't turn out all that great. The tiny cookie sheet didn't help; they spread all over and were deformed due to not having enough room to stretch their legs (metaphorically speaking).

But, I'm just not sure on the texture and, especially, the taste. My first response is that they're TOO chocolate-y, though I did not realize there was such a thing. They have an overwhelming chocolate taste that almost feels sour. Interestingly, I copied this down from the TV show; online they don't have this particular recipe, but have a similar one without the unsweetened chocolate. I'm betting that they've given up on this ...

I froze half the dough (already shaped into rounds) and may try it on the gaming group and see if it's just me. (Yay for guinea pigs!)

Anyway, here's the recipe:

( Triple Chocolate Cookies from America's Test Kitchen )

Why don't I cook more ham? It's ridiculously easy, and can be used in a lot of different dishes (plus sandwiches) - see Pasta alla Medici, below.

For Easter, it didn't feel right not to have one, so I picked up an uncured and unglazed half ham at Whole Foods. I chose a simple brown sugar and maple syrup glaze, though I was mighty tempted by Paula Deen's peanut butter glaze. I might try that next time.

The one thing I didn't do was score the skin and fat, and do the cloves thing. I probably would next time, because it's hard to get the taste of the glaze all the way into the meat otherwise. Still, it was tasty, and easy. I cooked the (already cooked) ham for 1 1/2 hours - the last half hour I took it out and brushed on half the glaze, then brushed on the rest when it came out of the oven. That way, the glaze didn't burn.

( Maple and Brown Sugar Glaze for Ham )

This is yet another Nigella Lawson recipe, this one from Feast. Forgive the English measurements; I did my best to translate. In any case, I did this by eye. One thing is that I used skim milk instead of cream, and it came out okay - but no doubt it would be thicker and creamier with cream. I just couldn't handle a 900-calorie dinner. I also used less parmesan; do yours to taste.

( Pasta all Medici alla Nigella )

By tradition, I don't care for salad. I don't like the taste. I don't like the texture. I don't like the bugs you find in them. And I don't like that an hour after I've eaten one for lunch, I'm famished.

Still, at the beginning of the year, when I had decided I'd gone about as far in the "Let's see how much weight I can carry" game as I cared to, I found myself back at the salad bar.

Until that point, I walked over to the cafeteria with J. and K. every day. They would get a salad, and I'd get a big sandwich with plenty of mayo, chips and a vitamin water. (Looking back on it, my lunch alone was not only nearly $9, but probably 800-1000 calories.) So, one day, I decided to get a salad, too, and got in line in front of J.

"No, no, no...you're doing it wrong!", he told me. How could I be doing it wrong? It's a salad. He dumped everything out of my container and started refilling it. He started with a bed of spinach, and a few carefully chosen other pieces of green lettuce. He added a smidge of chicken, half a hard-boiled egg, mushrooms and black olives. To this, he added a little cheese (parmesan and some other hard white cheese), some chickpeas, some kidney beans and a few dried cranberries. He ground fresh black pepper over the whole thing, doused it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and handed me a wedge of lemon to squeeze over.

I cannot tell you how good it was. I wanted to lick the bottom of the container. The olives and cranberries gave it a sweet taste. More importantly, there was enough protein that I wasn't hungry until dinner time. The next day, I got another just like it, and another and another. (He had to help me build them 'right', at first.) The first week, all I did diet-wise was replace my lunch with this salad.

I lost five pounds.

So, now that I don't have access to a salad bar (or J.) for lunch anymore, I've made some adjustments. I pack my own "miracle salad" every day, increasing the chicken and egg a bit to make up for some other things I don't feel like dealing with (kidney beans, for instance). Here's my version:

( The Miracle Salad )