A year ago yesterday, a crazy event took place: a Lord of the Rings day. My boyfriend and I, along with another couple, watched all three Lord of the Rings movies. This wouldn’t be much of a challenge, except these were the extended versions – a total playing time of about 11 hours.

To pass the day in style, we prepared and ate food for all 7 Hobbit meals, including “coney stew” (rabbit), which we cooked over a wood fire. Of course, this was accompanied by a decent amount of ale and mead.

Here was our menu:

First Breakfast – omelette, mushrooms, bacon (cooked in the fireplace), coffee – which, fortunately for us, they did actually drink in the books

Second Breakfast – whipped cream and berries, seedcakes

Elevensies – bread, cheese, fruits. This is when the ale started.

Luncheon – leek and mushroom-stuffed puff pastry boxes, cold chicken

Afternoon Tea – seedcakes, banana bread and Keemun tea

Dinner – coney (rabbit) stew with red wine, onions, garlic, carrots and herbs, cooked in the fireplace for about 6 hours

Supper – we were going to have a selection green salads, but could only muster up enough hunger for a few sprigs of watercress

By the time next February comes around, we might actually be ready to do it again.

Sources:

• Rabbit: Antonelli’s Poultry, 62 De Pasquale Ave., Providence RI
• Keemun Tea: Basically British, 16 Cutler St., Warren RI
• Cheese: Farmstead, 186 Wayland Ave., Providence RI

A lot of people find working with yeast dough intimidating. While it does take a bit more time than picking up a loaf at the store, it’s really not all that hard. I’m going to share some tips and my favorite recipes for bread and pizza dough.

The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake – this is mine!

I was lucky – when I was young, my mother let me bake bread with her.  Now, I love the almost flesh-like feeling of dough as I knead it. But I’m far from an expert, and you definitely don’t have to be to turn out some great bread or pizza.

If you’ve never baked bread before, I have two recommendations. One is to buy yeast at Costco or Sam’s Club, where a giant 2 pound package cost me $3.87…22 times less than those puny envelopes at the grocery store! Buying a package not only saves you money, it gives you the flexibility to use a larger or smaller amount than is in the envelope, and you can experiment without feeling wasteful.

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I didn’t realize how much I relied on the internet for cooking ideas and recipes. Of course, my collection of cookbooks is vast and I love to consult them, even as bedtime reading. But often, especially when I’m stuck with ingredients that need to be used up, I head for the world wide web. Usually, I find several recipes and mix techniques and ingredients based on what I have at hand.

In the process of moving, I lost my internet connection for a couple of weeks. On top of that, my laptop is still in the shop, so going online isn’t very convenient. In these tough times (maybe I’m being a bit dramatic) I’ve called upon an old friend – The Joy of Cooking.

The Joy of Cooking has always been my go-to cookbook. I would take it with me to the proverbial deserted island: if nothing else, its directions for prepping raccoons and possums might come in handy. In more mundane situations, the recipes are relatively simple and often are accompanied by tidbits of wit and wisdom.

Cinnamon Buns and Pizza Dough from the Joy of Cooking

Last week, unable to access my favorite bookmarked pizza recipe, I used its recipe for pizza dough on page 610 and it was perfect.

This week, I baked cinnamon buns based on their recipe for Cinnamon Snails (p. 614), leaving in the cardamom because it’s one of my favorite flavors. The recipe for Chicken Marengo seemed like the perfect way to use some of the chicken leg quarters in the freezer, especially after I was seduced by the description of how Napoleon had it prepared after his battles. To soak up its delicious wine and brandy-flavored broth, I whipped up a batch of Cheese Muffins (p. 631) in minutes and simply baked them in the oven with the chicken.

The Joy of Cooking was first published by Irma Rombauer as a way to support her family after her husband’s suicide during the depression. At the time, many families were struggling with very little, and the recipes and techniques in the book were both practical and economical.

I recommend the 1975 version (or earlier), which can often be found at used book stores. The 1997 version lacks many of the classic recipes. The latest 75th anniversary edition returns to the book’s original spirit, but I still prefer the older copies.

Too often, new year’s resolutions seem like a dismal reminder of personal failures. This year, I propose that they should be fun. Fun resolutions are easier to keep, and the satisfaction we get from accomplishing them can improve our lives as much as the draconian un-fun ones.

Here are some food-related new year’s resolutions which should be a pleasure to keep up with. If you have any more, please share. Happy new year!

1. Have people over for dinner at least once a month. I cook a lot. But maybe I’m selfish, or antisocial, because I don’t have people over for dinner nearly enough. I’m hoping this will change, especially since my boyfriend and I are moving into a condo with a big kitchen and room for a table.

2. Plan better lunches. When I lived alone, lunches were usually leftovers from last night’s dinner. Now that I’ve been living with my boyfriend, it makes more sense for us to plan ahead for some healthy and tasty lunch options. This includes making larger amounts of food, especially food that freezes well. I’ll be sure to share recipes and ideas.

3. Try new restaurants. I have something to admit, and you’ll probably think I’m a total dork – I keep a Google spreadsheet of restaurants I’d like to try. Unfortunately, it’s easy to lazily end up at a favorite place than venture into the unknown. I’d like to update and consult my list more often. Ideally, I’d like to limit my restaurant visits to once a week, but even if just half of these are new, I’ll have tried 26 new restaurants by the end of the year.

4. Be aware of what’s in the fridge. I’m usually good about using older food in creative ways (like banana bread and bread pudding), but especially when life is busy, I need to peek in the veggie bin to see what needs to be used. Wasting food never makes sense.

5. Take more food photos. A few years ago I entered, and won, a food photography competition! It was so much fun, but I got a bit burnt out taking photos every night for a couple of months. Also, with a 9-5 job and winter at hand, the lack of daylight is somewhat uninspiring. But I just got a Canon XTi and plan to put it to good use, even if it means setting up a little photography corner in the kitchen.

This year my boyfriend and I cooked Christmas dinner for my family. It’s been a busy December and we didn’t have much time to brainstorm a menu, but I think we came up with a good, and somewhat traditional, dinner.

The beef before baking, shrimp cocktail on the table, the main course

This menu was fairly easy to time. We started the tenderloin first so it had time to rest before going into the oven. The soup could be prepared ahead of time, and the blue cheese and bacon added just before serving. The vegetables were simply roasted with the beef, and the puddings went into the oven as we were eating the main course.

Here’s what we made:

• Shrimp cocktail
• Potato soup with blue cheese and bacon (recipe)
• Beef tenderloin with ancho and fennel seeds (recipe)
• Sides: Garlic mashed potatoes, Roasted carrots, Roasted asparagus
• Individually baked lemon puddings (and a surprise dessert from mom)

We spend the first half of December anticipating the holidays, and all of a sudden we’re sucked into the frantic current of gift-buying and cookie baking.

Rum balls I made to give away for the holidays

One way to battle the last-minute rush is to make your edible holiday gifts ahead of time. I love to make rum balls, which actually improve in flavor and texture after aging a week or two in a tin. I’ve also found that fudge keeps for quite a while in the fridge. Many cookies, such as chocolate chip, freeze and defrost well – just make sure to cool before freezing.

What are your favorite make-ahead holiday treats?

Providence has a large Portuguese population, so Chouriço is easily found on the supermarket shelves. One way I like to use it is in macaroni and cheese.

Photo of chouriço mac and cheese by Jeremy May

Most recently I made this as a Thanksgiving side, and like turkey, it makes for fantastic leftovers. Bake it in ramekins and refrigerate or freeze the individual portions.

Cut one or two chouriço (or chorizo) sausages in quarter inch dice. Cook in a frying pan until it begins to crisp. Prepare your favorite mac and cheese (the recipe I usually use is adapted from this one on the “Heluva Good” cheese website). Stir in the sausage before it goes in the baking dish. Bake and enjoy!

What are the ingredients that make you think of fall, besides the obvious squash and apples? The produce that seduced me on my last shopping trip were golden beets and pomegranates. I bought both without a recipe in mind, but when I walked into my kitchen their fate was obvious – they would make the perfect fall salad.

I roasted the beets and paired the two with cubes of piquant blue cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette. It was so delicious, it’s definitely going to become a fall tradition. The dressing was inspired by a recipe from Food & Wine. The amounts below will make salads for at least 4, if not twice that. I kept the ingredients in the fridge and mixed salads as needed.

For an unusual but delicious pairing, try the salad with Hitachino Nest “Real Ginger Brew“.

Here’s the recipe: (click link to view)

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I’d seen this recipe at 101 Cookbooks before, but didn’t bite – I’m not overly fond of fruit-flavored soups. Maybe this time the title caught my eye because I was planning to stop by an Armenian Festival later in the day.

It turned out to be a fortunate ‘impulse cook’. Armed with a bag of red lentils and amazing Turkish apricots (both from Whole Foods’ bulk aisle) I whipped up a batch. The flavor is complex and like nothing I’ve tasted before.

Some things I might do differently next time: halve the recipe (it made approximately 12 cups, a bit hefty for my apartment-sized fridge), use a tad less cumin, spice it up with a bit of hot sauce, maybe add more water for a thinner soup (though simply adding water while reheating does save fridge space). Oh, and maybe have people over for soup?

If you didn’t catch my link above, you can get the recipe here.

Lately I’ve been occupying my scarce leisure time with an important assignment – clipping the most interesting recipes from my stack of cooking magazines. Luckily, one of the few I’ve tried was a keeper – I’ve already made it twice in two weeks. It’s extremely quick, healthy and perfect for fall.

It isn’t pictured in the magazine, and now I know why – it’s not terribly photogenic.

The recipe is “Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard” from the March 2006 issue of Bon Appetit. It took me a very easy half-hour to make because I cut the butternut squash ahead of time. I added more than the recommended amount of chili powder, extra hot sauce, and substituted vegetable with beef broth for a heartier flavor. Great to bring to work for lunch.