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 )

I tried this tonight and it's smashing! (Wheee!) I make it with Jameson's, o'course, but I suppose any whiskey will do...

This is another Barefoot Contessa recipe. I love that she not only writes cocktail recipes, but designs them to be made in a pitcher...

( Fresh Whiskey Sours )

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 )

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 )

Enough of politics...let's talk muffins.

I made these for my friend J. on Saturday when she came by to put together her D&D character. Granted, I totally use my friends as guinea pigs for trying out new recipes, but they never seem to mind.

This recipe was from Nigella's new book, Express, and I liked it well enough. The crumb was excellent (what sour cream will do to a baked good), and I actually really liked the texture the chunks of pear gave to the muffin. Plus, since I used canned pears, this was a snap to throw together.

What I didn't like about it so much was the ginger. I mean, I love ginger, but this is almost TOO much ginger. It was a little overpowering; I think these muffins would have done better with a lighter, more spice cake-like flavor. To that end, when making these again, I might cut the ginger in half and make up the difference with cinnamon. Or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg. Which would make these Ginger-Cinnamon-Nutmeg-Pear Muffins (GiCiNuPe Muffins), but oh, well...

Also, I sprinkled each one with a little demerara sugar before making and the tops came out crunchy and tasty. Highly recommended.

( Nigella's Ginger-Pear Muffins )

This is, quite possibly, one of the best dishes I've ever made. Hands down.

For just being basically beef, beer and onions, I cannot describe the flavor. The meat was so tender that it fell apart if you looked at it, and since the onions were sliced so thinly, they just fell into the sauce. I think the beer really did it, though - I used the recommended Belgian Chimay (made by Trappist monks, no less), and the flavor was rich and tangy and out of this world. My only regret was that I halved the recipe - no leftovers.

A few pointers:

1.) Cooks' Illustrated did a taste test, and the Chimay was the best beer for this. (Since it's a Belgian beer and a Belgian stew, it makes a certain amount of sense.) You can try another kind of ale, but stouts and dark beers are out. Too bitter.

2.) I cut the onions into thin strips, not minced. This gave the stew a nice texture.

3.) This is one of those stews that tastes best if you make it, then put it in the fridge overnight to let the flavors meld. I cooked it two hours of the recommended two and a half, then put it back in the oven for half an hour to heat through right before serving.

4.) I used flatiron steak.

I cannot recommend this recipe highly enough.

( Cooks' Illustrated Carbonnade )

This is the first recipe I've made from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express, my not-very-well-hidden Christmas present from Bailey. This book is all about quick cooking recipes and shortcuts, but it's still filled with a lot of things I really want to cook.

(Tangent: The thing I like about Nigella, Ina Garten, etc., is that they cook food that I not only can easily recreate myself, but that I'd actually want to eat on a regular basis. Flipping through Jamie Oliver's books, as one example, showed me a lot of things that looked lovely photographically, but seemed too fussy for making after work or serving to a teenager. However - and oddly - his new Food Network show seems great; he made three recipes on the one I saw, and I wanted to immediately get into the kitchen and try all three.)

Anyway, this had a nice French bistro-esque taste to it that I loved. The sauce was really flavorful and you didn't need much, which was nice since it's made with cream. (I am not a big of fan of hard cider - which is an alcoholic beverage, not apple juice - so it did kind of suck that I had to buy a six pack to get 1/2 cup.) I served this with some potato gnocchi that I squished around in the sauce, and some nice fresh vine-ripened hothouse tomatoes drenched in balsamic vinegar and sea salt. Heaven.

( Mustard Pork Chops ala Nigella )

I made these for Bailey this weekend and had planned to bring some to work. None of them made it. Oops. :(

This is another Cook's Illustrated find. The mix of bittersweet chocolate and cocoa (I use a good one from Pernigotti) give it a very deep chocolate taste - more like a dark chocolate bar than your typical chocolate cupcake. The technique of melting the chocolate with butter, plus the sour cream, give these is good moisture and a tender crumb. I frost them with vanilla bean buttercream, but I think they'd be good with a nice cream cheese frosting, too.

( Dark Chocolate Cupcakes )

When you ask a teenager if they want dinner and they say "Nah, I'm not hungry", then you say, "I can heat up what we had last night" and they enthusiastically reply "Now I'm hungry!", you know you have a winner.

I saw this made on America's Test Kitchen and needed to recreate it immediately. And I have to say, it is an excellent recipe. It was fairly easy to make (I threw it together on a Thursday night after work) and tastes great as leftovers. It really is only a one-pan meal, though admittedly you dirty a few plates and implements with the flouring and moving of the chicken. Still.

What's unique about this, though, is the depth of flavors that you just don't expect from a simple chicken and rice dish. The onions and wine give this a risotto-like depth; and I even skipped the scallions (didn't have them), red pepper flakes (allergic) and lemon (couldn't be bothered) that would have given this even more complexity.

Plus, it passes the teenager test.

( Cook's Illustrated Skillet Chicken and Rice with Peas and Scallions )

Here's the thing about nut brittle:

At its core, it's a very simple thing. You take a handful of readily-available ingredients, bung them into a pan, heat them, and pour them out to cool. You don't even have to cut it. Just crack off slabs of buttery, caramel-y, brittle-y goodness and stuff them into your greedy little pie hole.

So close to easy, and yet so far, far away. Why? Because there is a window within which your brittle will turn that perfect golden color, and have that melting, buttery caramel taste. Before that window, your brittle will be pale and tasteless. Afterwards, even if the color looks right, there will be a distinct taste of burnt. And that window of perfection is very, very small. Trust me.

It took three batches for me to hit the perfect brittle taste, but boy is it worth it. I think this one may be a case of trial and error. You need to KNOW what it looks like when it's right. And if you've never made it before, you may want to steel yourself for getting it there. But stay true...this is some good candy.

A few pointers:

1.) The timing is nearly right about 10 minutes. I found that timing more effective than the candy thermometer in this one.

2.) The batch that came out best was the one where I treated it like caramel: in other words, I didn't stir it. Just the occasional swirl in the pan. Whether that helped or not I don't know, but I do know that it seemed easier to hit the right color when I didn't stir.

3.) I found a great nut mix for this: "Planter's NUTrition (yes, I know...sorry) heart-healthy mix". It has peanuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts. I used a little more than one can (actually a single can would probably be fine). I like the flavor the different nuts give the brittle, and the textures and the colors from the pistachios gave it a festive look. I much preferred the one made with this mix to any of the others, especially the all-peanut one, which was boring.

4.) The batch I made in my enameled cast iron Dutch oven didn't come out as nicely brown as the one I did in the all-clad stainless saucepan.

Festive Nut Brittle

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces rosted, salted nuts - peanuts, cashews, pistachios, pecans or any NUTritious combination (sorry, couldn't help it. I went NUTty.)
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring it to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally*, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300 on a candy thermometer - 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the nuts, then scrape immediately onto a large, rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Using the back of spoon sprayed with cooking spray, spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large, piehole-friendly shards.

*Note: From my experience, I would not stir, but would give the pan a swirl once or twice.