January's Cookbook Challenge: Smitten Kitchen

January’s Cookbook Challenge: Smitten Kitchen

Well, I’m officially done with this year’s first month of my cookbook challenge resolution.  This month’s cookbook was Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman of the famous Smitten Kitchen blog.  Overall, I enjoyed the variety and the categories of the recipes—I liked being able to pick out some breakfast options, some meal options, etc. 

Of the 24 planned, 13 were made.  None of the 2 desserts picked were made (a cooking weakness of mine- why make dessert when you can buy a chocolate bar).  A few meals required fresher vegetables more apt to be made in the summer months.  I tended to more of the root vegetable, heartier meals to match this epically cold month we’ve had.

The following are my “keepers”.  With this yearlong challenge, I hope to respectably build my “keepers list” or recipes I define as “so good, they get eaten right away or the leftover never stay in the fridge over 24 hours”

Emily’s keepers:

Tomato- Glazed Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes (Mike’s too) 

Ultimate comfort food.  You will be licking the mashed potatoes straight out of the pan.  The tomato glaze elevates the meatloaf to the next level.  

Sesame- Spiced Turkey Meatballs and Smashed Chickpea Salad 

Probably my favorite meal of the month.  I’ve been craving the chickpea salad ever since I’ve made—it’s definitely worth making on it’s own.  The salad and the meatballs pair perfectly with light and hearty.  Warning: this meal requires two Middle Eastern spices (Sumac and Aleppo Pepper).  If you can’t find them, let me know and I will mail you some. 

Mustard Milanese with an Arugula Fennel Salad (Mike’s too)

The first meal of the month I made.  You can’t go wrong with a thin, breaded chicken breast topped with some tangy greens. 

Leek Fritters with Garlic and Lemon 

Roasted Baby Roots with Sherry- Shallot Vinaigrette 

A great recipe to make use of all of those root vegetables we are left with in the winter.

Others:

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Gallette (picture features a non-baked one)

Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns 

Would be a keeper, but cooking skill wasn’t there:

-Chocolate Chip Brioche Pretzels (Let them rise longer? Don’t use the egg glaze next time?)

-Shaved Asparagus Pizza with homemade pizza dough (Asparagus is a spring vegetable)

-Cinnamon Toast French Toast (couldn’t quite get the layering in the pan down right)

-Big Breakfast Latkes (shredded the potatoes too far)

Good, but not a keeper:

-Slow- Cooker Black Bean Ragout (would be better as a chili)

-Baked Ranchero Eggs with Blistered Jack Cheese and Lime Crema (would scramble the eggs next time)

Skills Gained:

Before this month, I wouldn’t bake anything.  I was convinced that I wasn’t born with the “baking gene”, that it was hopelessly beyond my skill set.  Baking became praxis for last year’s word “engagement” and this year’s word “self-love”.  We all have our own little worlds of self- disapproval, a little voice that criticizes our abilities, our words, our worth.  That little voice always told me baking wasn’t my “thing”.    With engagement, comes facing our fears and challenging our comfort zones – how big or small they might be.  I soon came to enjoy my quiet weekends and snow days filled with peaceful kneading.  It brought me back to an element of womanhood where dough was mixed and kneaded by hand in preparation for that night’s meal- perhaps inspired by my rural country setting.  Kneading dough is also meditative, earthy and full of simplicity.  A meal of our ancestors.  While I won’t be opening a boulangerie anytime soon, I am more apt to the spirit of a fresh lump of dough. 

I’m also not used to cooking with meat.  Ironically all 3 meat dishes were in my keepers list.  I am still a bit scared to venture beyond my chicken breast/pre-ground meat comfort zone.

Food photography

I found out what I knew to be true in my artistic heart- I’m just not that great for it.  Some dimension of its essence escapes me every time.  BUT! I’ve recently purchased two fancy napkins to up my game, so keep a look out for a little pizzazz next month ;).

A Second Life:

Cook some pasta or quinoa to go with leftover ingredients.  I made too much squash for the galette so I tossed it with some quinoa.  Leftover turkey meatballs went into scrambled egg burritos for breakfast, extra meatloaf was paired with toasted bread for a meatloaf sandwich.  I made a tomato and cream shell pasta because I couldn’t help but let the beautiful fat droppings from my turkey meatballs go to waste.  The beauty of a first meal, is that with a little creativity it often becomes a second. 

By the end of this month, I started to feel the combination of meat and baking dishes.  And when I say feel, I really mean feeling the extra padding in my stomach.  Good thing next month is a vegetarian cookbook.  Thanks for joining along, and please come visit so I can feed you (I’m looking at you mom)!

P.S. I tried to include links to the recipes but for some reason they don't show up.  However, if you google the recipe titles exactly as they appear, they should come up.