from Cooking LightThis Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze is one of the highest rated and most popular recipes on the myrecipes website for a very good reason: it’s absolutely delicious. Plus, it gave me an excuse to use my (sadly) underutilized fancy mixer, which is always great.
The site indicates that you can sub apple juice for the rum, but come on teetotalers!
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from Cooking LightIt seems that 40 Garlic Clove Chicken is a modern day classic: so many of my cooking friends have already made it and recommended it in one form or another. Perhaps it has to do with what a gourmet, straight-out-of-a-restaurant taste you get from relatively little effort. Sure, it takes a bit of time to prep all the cloves (and yes, it truly calls for forty cloves if you make the full recipe) but the results are more than worth it.
I really can’t express how tender and flavorful this is, and with so few ingredients! If you’re enjoying a romantic night in with someone you love, don’t hesitate to make this – after all, if you love each other, who cares if both of you have garlic breath?
from The Kitchn and Cooking LightWant to throw a brunch party right? Start with one or both of these crowd pleasing egg and bread dishes. My friend Lindsay served this delicious Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole at a recent birthday brunch while I served this Brie and Egg Strata (successfully substituting french bread for ciabatta). Late morning perfection, both.
from Cooking LightThese scones are easy to make; these scones are lower in calories than most
out there; these scones have dried blueberries (if you follow my lead); these
scones taste rich and flaky. In short, these scones are just plain awesome
from Cooking LightWith my very limited patience as a cook and a human being it’s impressive that I spent nearly two hours preparing this Grits, Ham and Mushroom dish the other night, and thank goodness it was all well worth it or I’d never spend that long ever again. I could seriously have served this in my own little country farm, Egg-style restaurant and make a killing, even nabbing a spot on all the Time Out and New York best of lists… but I digress.
The only trouble I encountered was that my grits stayed liquidy rather than congealing into a cake like the recipe intends (though it didn’t affect the magnificent taste one bit). I would probably follow the box directions for the grits part rather than the ones listed in the recipe for more predictable results.
The sauce, by the way, is incredible and must be able to be utilized in other recipes. And don’t skimp on the ham, go for the best you can find.
from Cooking LightIt’s always nice to take a usually greasy food that’s bad for you and make it lighter and tastier. This Cooking Light recipe is super quick and easy (particularly if you get Freshdirect’s heat and eat rice) and can be tampered to your own tastes. I added water chestnuts (a personal love), rice wine vinegar and fish sauce.
from Simple FoodieSpicy ground meat Asian dishes are officially my new specialty and this superb Pad Krapow recipe, which I found at Simple Foodie (who also gave us some incredible fried cow) is going to be added to my roster. FYI: Pad Krapow is a Thai recipe that many restaurants refer to as Basil Chicken.
from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie GreenspanI’ve praised the superlative baking skills of my coworker Sarafina before and I’m thrilled to share another wonderful recipe which she included in this year’s cookie gift bag: World Peace Cookies. The paring of sweet and salty is fantastic; the recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan, the baker bakers swear by. Bring a batch of these to your next holiday party and you’ll be a hit!
from Molto ItalianoMario Batali doesn’t mess around when it comes to his Ragu Bolognese. Veal, pork, and pancetta? No wonder this hearty meal filled us up so thoroughly. Mike, who was nice enough to prepare this dish for us, substituted parsnips for carrots.
The recipe comes from the Molto Italiano cookbook.
From Eating WellHooray! It’s the time of year for chowder consumption (at least it’s meant to be – hello, global warming). This Eating Well Salmon Chowder is nice and thick without resorting to those unhealthy thick creams or milks. Instead, one uses potato flakes, which leaves one in the happy situation of having a box of Idaho Spuds in the house – a purchase one otherwise might feel embarrassed about, despite their deliciousness and ease of preparation.
Plus: my favorite herb (tarragon) gets a starring roll, as does as kicky Dijon and chives.