#234 jiffy mix chocolate chip bars

1.25 cups jiffy mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup oil (next time use 2 tbsp)
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together everything but chips (mixture will be thick), press into a 8x8 inch pan and top with chocolate chips. Bake ~15-20 mins at 325 until golden

recipe adapted from recipezaar

#233 ricotta gnocci with mushroom sauce

3/4 of a recipe of homemade ricotta gnocci (frozen, recipe #210 below)
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms (diced small)
1/4 onion (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
3 tbsp sour cream
pinch of cayenne pepper

Boil water, simmer gnocci so it doesn't fall apart, 2 mins past the time it floats to the top. Saute onions, garlic, pepper and mushrooms in some olive oil ~5-7 mins until mushrooms are brown. Stir in sour cream and serve with gnocci.

#232 shirmp w/ panchetta and heirloom tomato

1/3 lb shrimp
1 ripe heirloom tomato (diced)
1/2 strip of thick cut panchetta (diced)
1 tsp butter
1 large clove garlic (smashed, cut into 3-4 large pieces)

Heat butter, panchetta and garlic over low heat until panchetta browns. Remove garlic and panchetta, add shrimp and cook 1 min on first side, flip and add tomato. Heat until shrimp is cooked ~3 mins. Serve with the crispy panchetta/garlic and a crusty roll.

#231 green bean, red pepper, basil and panchetta salad

1/4 lb or so of washed, trimed green beans
1 red pepper, sliced
~1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
~1 tbsp chopped panchetta
~1/2 tbsp lemon juice

Cook green beans 3-4 mins in boiling water and drain/set aside. Cook panchetta to render fat, remove panchetta, add red pepper and cook 1-2 mins. Combine beans, pepper, panchetta, basil and lemon juice and heat 1-2 mins before serving.

#230 catfish with brown butter & pecans

1 catfish fillet (.5 lb)
handful chopped pecans
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour

Heat pan with a little olive oil, rinse fish and pat dry, dip in flour to coat and cook 4-5 mins per side until crispy. Remove from pan and wipe clean, melt butter and add pecans to pan and cook until butter browns, ~1 min. Serve pecans/butter over fish

#229 tomato mousse

2 medium tomatoes (stem top part cut off and cut into quarters)
few shakes of vodka
pinch of salt

Puree in a blender 5 mins and then refridgerate at least 1 hr.

recipe from the washington post

#228 fig & pecan muffins

1 cup white flour
1 cup white wheat flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
4 tbsp butter (melted)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
~1/2 cup chopped dried figs
~1/2 chopped pecans
shake or 2 of cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients and add wet ingredients, blend well, batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 ~20 mins.

#227 pork vindaloo

1 lb pork (cut into big chunks)
1 package vindaloo paste (~3 tbsp I think)
1 tbsp grated/diced fresh ginger
2 tsp mustard seeds (next time use 1)
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
rice (to serve)
water

Saute onion and pork in pan until pork is brown on both sides, add in ginger, mustard, garam and garlic and cook 1-2 mins, add vindaloo paste, cook 1-2 mins, cover with enough water to barely cover pork and simmer until pork is tender (30 mins)

adapted from the back of the vindaloo package

#226 peach cobbler

2 large, ripe peaches (~1 lb), cut into wedges
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
few shakes cinnamon
pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp corn starch

1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp butter (cold)
boiling water

1.5 tbsp white sugar
few shakes cinnamon

Combine first set of ingredients (through corn starch) and place in baking pan and bake ~10 mins at 425, meanwhile combine second set of ingredients, adding butter by hand and crumbling until mixture is like course-meal and then adding enough boiling water to make a paste. Spoon over peaches and then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and bake ~30 mins until golden.

adapted from allrecipes.com

#225 rum, basil & cantelope salad

1 small cantelope (diced)
~1 tbsp fresh basil (minced)
1 tsp sugar
~2 tbsp dark rum
juice from 1/2 a lime

Mix together sugar, basil, rum and lime juice and toss with cantelope

#224 white bean hummus

1 can cannelli beans (drained)
1 tbsp peanut butter
juice from 1 lime
pinch of ground cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 clove garlic

Puree in food processor until smooth, add water or oil to desired consistancy

#223 celeriac and potato mash

1 celeriac root (celery root)
1 yellow potato about the same size as the celeriac root
4 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf

1 tbsp butter
2 heaping tsp sour cream

Peel celeriac root and dice, dice potato and boil with garlic and bay leaf until roots are tender. Drain, remove bay leaf and mash with butter and sour cream

#222 cornish game hen

1 cornish game hen
~1 tbsp koser salt
1 tsp pepper
olive oil
1 lemon wedge
6 cloves garlic
2/3 cup chicken broth

Rinse hen and pat dry, coat with oil and then with salt and pepper. Put lemon wedge in cavity along with 1 garlic clove. Sprinkle remaining garlic cloves around bird in a dutch oven. Place in preheated 450 degree oven and bake 25 mins. Reduce heat to 350 and add chicken broth. Cook until temp of thickest part of thigh is 165.

adapted from epicurious

#221 white whole wheat flour bread

1 cup whey (leftover from making ricotta cheese)
1 tbsp butter
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1.5 cups white flour
1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp dry yeast

Put in bread machine according to instructions and turn machine on!

#220 the best thai recipe

so, i finally have found that my favorite "red curry" is actually masaman curry (which is also red, not yellow as i had thought). this is my crowning acheivement 'cause i used to drink this curry sauce back in grad school

2 tbsp massaman curry
2 tbsp fish oil
juice of 1 lime
handful of fresh parsley (chopped)
3 frozen chicken tenderloins (defrosted and diced)
1/2 onion (diced)
1 red pepper
1 can coconut milk

Saute onion 2-3 mins, add chicken and once brown add in curry paste. Stir until fragrant, add coconut milk, fish oil and pepper and simmer 5-10 mins. Add lime juice and parsley and serve over rice

#219 green tomato pasta

1/2 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
4 med-large green tomatoes
1/2 lb pasta

Boil pasta, saute onion in olive oil 4-5 mins, add garlic and saute 1-2 mins. Add tomatoes and cook ~10 mins and serve over pasta.

(next time add feta)

adapted from allrecipes

#218 fried green tomatoes

3 green tomatoes sliced 1/4 inch thin
1 egg
breadcrumbs
canola oil

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in pan, when hot dip tomato slices in egg and breadcrumbs and fry in oil until golden

#217 carrot white rice

1/2 cup white rice
1/2 cup grated carrot (1 large)
1 cup water

Combine it all and simmer until rice is cooked ~15 mins. Serve with butter.

inspired by Martin Yan's chinese cookbook

#216 cajun swordfish

olive oil
cajun seasoning
swordfish

Coat swordfish with olive oil and sprinkle cajun seasoning on top, cook on a hot skillet ~4 mins a side

recipe from the washington post

#215 lemon blueberry muffins (2)

the below muffins were bitter, so i modified the recipe (this recipe omits lemon juice, the muffins aren't bitter but they aren't very lemony either)

1 cup oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Mix oats, flour, sugar and baking powder together, add egg, butter and milk and mix until well blended. Stir in blueberries and bake muffins ~20 mins at 350

#214 ginger carrots

2 carrots (peeled and sliced)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 inch piece ginger (peeled, sliced large)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Put it all in a pot and simmer until carrots are desired consistency (3-4 mins for crunchy)

adapted from epicurious

#213 lemon blueberry muffins

1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup flour
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar

Mix together oats, flour, sugar and baking powder. Mix in lemon juice, zest, egg, butter and milk and stir until combined. Mix in blueberries, bake at 350 ~15 mins

recipes from allrecipes.com

#212 italian sausage pasta

1 italian pork sausage link (~1/3 lb)
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 onion (diced)
spiral pasta

Boil pasta, meanwhile saute onion, garlic and sausage (remove from casing) in olive oil, once sausage is browned add tomatoes and simmer until pasta is done. Mix pasta and sauce and serve

#211 suped up basil pesto

~1 cup basil (all leaves from one bunch from store)
1 large tomato
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tin anchovy fillets in oil (used Vergo brand (greek), but Ciento (italian) used previously was better)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp capers (next time use less, maybe 2 tsp)
1 tbsp olive oil
~1/3 lb curly pasta

In a food processor puree basil, tomato, garlic, anchovy, capers, lemon juice and olive oil. When pasta is done, drain and heat with pureed mixture.

inspired by cooks country

#210 white bean soup

3 slices bacon (diced)
1 can white beans (drained)
1/2 red pepper (diced)
1/2 large onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
~3 cups stock

Cook bacon in large soup pan until crispy, remove bacon, keep fat in pan and add onion, garlic and pepper. Saute ~5 mins, add stock and beans and simmer ~5 mins. Puree 3-4 ladle-fulls of soup in blender and add to pot. Serve with bacon.

adapted from cooking light

#209 ricotta gnocci

1 lb ricotta cheese (1 batch of homemade, see recipe #209)

See recipe in Sept/Oct issue of Cooks Illustrated

#208 homemade ricotta cheese

1/2 gallon whole milk
1/2 tsp citric acid
1/2 tsp cheese salt

Mix everything together in non-reactive pot and heat until temp reaches 195F, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Turn off heat and let sit 5-10 mins and then remove curds to a cheese cloth and let drain ~1 hr.

Recipe and ingredients from http://www.cheesemaking.com/

It is delicious!

#207 beets & walnut vinegarette

4 small beets (yellow and red)
1/4 cup walnuts
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Boil beets ~20-30 mins until soft (pierce with fork to check). Remove and run under cold water until easy to handle. Rub off skins with hands and then slice thinly. Roast at 400 for 20 mins (omit this step next time, it was unnecessary). For vinegarette puree walnuts, lime juice, cilantro and olive oil until it reaches the desired consistency and serve over beets.

Served with crusty sour dough bread and Breseola

adapted from Christina's Tuscan Table cook book