Tomato Soup.

Egg? Basil stalks? Vinegar? In our soup? Yep, apparently that's how Jamie does tomato soup and indeed it was good. The color of this soup was far lighter than we'd expected to see but the flavor was good. As usual we served this at a little family gathering when (Kim's) mom was in town. Everyone contributed to the meal, so it was accompanied by salad, asparagus, and chicken (for the meat-eaters).

Eat well,

Kimberly and David

Chicken Tikka Masala

We chose to make Jamie's Chicken Tikka Masala last night for dinner. I have tried making this before using other recipes, none of which I would attempt again. This recipe, however, was much more of an enjoyable process and very, very tasty! For being a dish from India, it's interesting how this Tikka Masala now represents typical British cuisine, replacing the quintessential fish and chips; a remnant of Imperialism. Nonetheless, Jamie has created a wonderful home version of this spice-filled meal. The chicken was so tender after marinating in the spiced yogurt that it just melted in your mouth.

Brian felt that the cinnamon was a bit powerful, so next time I will lesson the amount of Garam Masala. I rounded out the meal with basmati rice (steamed with fennel seeds), fresh green beans (boiled, then tossed in olive oil with slivered garlic and curry powder), whole wheat flat bread, and a hoppy IPA... delicious. This will now be my go-to meal for an Indian inspired evening. This would be easy enough to double and serve for a dinner party.

Stephanie

Pesto and Roasted Chicken

For this month's cookbook I decided to bust out my new food processor. And what better to make with a new food processor than pesto! Jamie has lots of great ideas of what to use the pesto with instead of just pasta, which was great. I decided to go with his first suggestion: roasted chicken. This was my first time cooking a whole chicken and it was very successful! The chicken was stuffed with a whole lemon that was pierced and some rosemary leaves with olive oil. My roommate and I had a girls night for dinner and every body provided a course. My roommate Chrissy made Ina Gartner's bruschetta which I made a few months ago for the club, my friend Emilee brought a salad, and our friend Abbey brought cheesecake... yum yum! In the picture is my chicken and pesto along with Emilee's salad and Chrissy's bruschetta. I also made myself a cosmo, which I learned how to make from Ina's book as well :)

Tagliatelle with Spinach and Mascarpone

Before heading off to a hockey game the other day we feed a small crowd with jamie's pasta dish. Upon finding no tagliatelle at our local grocery store we used whatever pasta looked fun that was on hand. It was definitely a tad on the rich side, but pleased most diners. The leftovers came in handy in the following days for lunches. We liked it so much that we made it again a couple days later.

Eat well,

Kim and Dave

Tomato Macaroni Cheese

We hosted a gathering of friends the other evening, and being that our place is a tiny little studio, I wanted to make something that would be easy enough to eat from small plates while standing. I introduce to you: Jamie's Tomato Mac and Cheese. It was easy, flavorful with just enough reminiscence of childhood to make dinner whimsical and fun. Since the recipe indicated that this dish would serve 4, I decided to double the quantity. Looking at 3 casserole dishes later my astute friend Marcell commented that these must be 4 "American" size servings (which is funny with Jamie being British). Between the 7 of us we barely finished 1 of the 3 casseroles. I had the foresight to at least freeze the 3rd, but Bry and I ate Macaroni and Cheese for a few days.

This was a delicious recipe with enough unsuspecting ingredients (anchovies, basil, sun-dried tomatoes) to make this childhood classic a bit more elegant, with torn bits of mozzarella scattered over the top and a finish of fresh bread crumbs, thyme and parmesan. Jamie's recipe calls for a quick cream sauce (really just half and half spiked with nutmeg) as opposed to a more laborious white sauce, which made for a lighter meal. I kept with the "flashback" theme and served Rice Krispies for dessert. Perfect. All in all, I think everyone enjoyed it and I would make this again for a large gathering.

Stephanie

(Note: this image is actually from the leftovers the next day... sorry, I was too busy enjoying it to whip out the camera!)

I feel part of the magic of Jamie Oliver is revealed while watching him actually cook; his passion and energy are infectious and inspiring. Maybe it's the accent, maybe it's his carefree approach, but after spending a little time with some one-on-one instruction, I fell as if I can accomplish anything in the kitchen. He creates gorgeous food and is committed to responsible growing/harvesting/raising. I love his funny little sayings and his endearing terms for his chickens ("Hello girls!"). Jamie also has a really great website overflowing with food information were recipes are just one aspect of this immense database. These videos are from his Jamie at Home series.

Stephanie

A Little More Moosewood-Thai Coconut Soup pg 66

I confess I made this soup a couple weeks ago and am just now getting around to posting. My husband loves Thai coconut soup and requested that I make this for him. The lemon grass stock is easy to make. I went for leeks as the onion portion. The stock is a beautiful color and had a delicate flavor full of veggie goodness. I do not care for mushrooms so I added carrots to the soup, an idea from pg 67 Thai carrot soup. Also inspired by page 67 I added a green chile to the stock as it simmered away. Instead of tofu I poached some thinly pounded chicken breast in the broth before serving the soup. Trader Joe's has a Harvest Grain blend with Israeli couscous, baby garbanzos, orzo and quinoa that I cooked on the side and then mixed into our soup bowls right before eating. With the chicken and grains it was a delicious complete one bowl meal. We both loved the soup and I hope you all give it a try : ) Amy

Jamie's Pasta with Sweet Tomato Sauce and Baked Ricotta

I have a big, fat crush on Jamie Oliver and it’s been going on for some time. His recent show Food Revolution on ABC was outstanding, his TED Talk rocked my world and his cookbooks are filled with gorgeous food photography, personal notes and even gardening tips. I currently own three of his cookbooks (Jamie At Home, Jamie’s America and Jamie’s Dinners) but I have a confession… I’ve never cooked a single thing from his cookbooks! I know, I know… I can hear the gasps.

Here’s the thing… I find his food rather unapproachable. Weird, right?! Jamie’s whole philosophy is fresh, seasonal, quality food. Nothing about that should be scary! Oh but it is! I will sit on the couch and thumb through his cookbooks over and over again but never have I been inspired to get up off the couch and put a recipe to use.

This month’s cookbook, Jamie’s Dinners, was all I needed as a catapult to challenge my fear of Jamie’s recipes. Lucky for me, when we were up in Portland spending time with Tempa and Jim I found a used copy of Jamie’s Dinners at Powell’s Bookstore, I took it as a sign. I decided to take it slow; I started with something I thought we could potentially adopt into our normal repertoire of dinners: Pasta with Sweet Tomato Sauce and Baked Ricotta (pg. 187).

I had a little hesitancy with the ricotta. It’s not one of my favorite flavors or textures but alas, I married an Italian so I feel obliged to give it a chance to grow on me. I loved the idea of baking it first before adding it to the pasta. It ended up mostly melting into a pool of cheesiness instead of turning “…golden and firm” however. San Marzano tomatoes were my splurge for the tomato sauce and adding the balsamic vinegar added some really nice sweetness and depth but I wasn’t very impressed with the sauce as a whole. Chris loved this dish (I think it just brought up memories of his Grandma’s cooking!) I’d give it a 3/5… don’t know if I’d make it again. It was easy enough to make after a long day of work, which is always much appreciated.


They say you are more likely to accomplish goals if you write them down so... I want to continue to cook AND post from Jamie’s Dinners in hopes I overcome my irrational fear of his “unapproachable” recipes.

annamarie