Still Savory: Mushroom Turnovers With Sour Cream

Dear faithful and fair-weather readers,

I've been feeling sort of guilty about not tackling another behemoth of a recipe like this one or this one or this one, all of which I have had my eye on and would love to tackle. AND will, soon. In four week's time, I will be permanently reunited with my baking companion, matt, as well as a food processor. This will be blog-changing...

But in the mean time, I am trying to make do. The following is a recipe that tools-wise only called for a rolling pin, which my roommate had. YES! And despite its simple ingredients list and (dishonest) stated prep time of 25 minutes, it was definitely still challenge enough for me to mess it up... as you will see.

Martha's version:

and mine :(

sooooo, it started off easy enough: olive oil, onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper.

But then I had trouble rolling the puff pastry out to the 20x10 inches the recipe called for.

which led to me not trimming the edges like I was supposed to because 1. I thought I needed all the space I could get and 2. at the time, I didn't see the harm in it.

Then I saw the harm. Not only did they end up looking much less uniform/ Martha-esque, but functionally, the edges didn't line up and so they didn't seal up properly and so they leaked juices everywhere:

And due to this leaking, they totally stuck to the pan. So sad.

That being said, they tasted pretty good and even better with a healthy portion of sour cream.

Mini-Étempt: Parchment-Baked Salmon

I'd never baked anything in parchment before and so had previously placed it in the realm of ridiculous recipes I would never make/ thought it would be perfect for this blog, however it was soooooooooo easy that I sort of feel guilty about even posting it, but then, because it was so easy and so delicious, I wanted to share it. (What a conundrum!)

OK, I'm posting it. Here we go. Martha's version:

And mine:

For me, the biggest challenge was getting over the task of buying fish at the supermarket. And when I got there, sure enough there was no black bass, only chilean sea bass and since I watch Top Chef/ worry about overfishing, sustainability, etc., I knew that that was a definite NO for me. BTW, this website is really cool...just type in any fish and it tells you the deal on what you want to buy, etc. So, luckily, I knew my next bet would be wild-caught sockeye salmon. Isn't it pretty?

Honestly, I can't get over how easy and simple this dish was. I'm going to add it to my list of "recipes I feel comfortable making and look good while making it." (I don't really have a list like that and if I did, I wouldn't add this recipe to it, I'd add this recipe).

Another Cover Attempt: Whole Grain Pancakes with Wild Blueberry-Maple Syrup

Hi and welcome to my second cover attempt, this time from the February 2008 issue. Without further ado, I present to you their version: And...here's mine:
I say not too bad. I mean, all things considered.

ALSO, I am convinced that B.A. threw fresh berries on their finished version, which I could have done had the recipe called for fresh berries. :)

That being said, this wasn't too ridiculous of a recipe, which started with the syrup--just a combination of frozen blueberries and maple syrup.

And the pancake batter called for only ONE mixing bowl.

The bon-appetempt nature of it all was that without a griddle or a non-stick pan, I had to keep adding butter and do only one at a time.

This first one was kind of weird and burnt, but no worries, in the style of one of my favorite chefs, Kenny Shopsin (btw, this video of him making his famous mac'n'cheese pancakes is amazing), I just put that one on the bottom/ covered it with the better versions.

SUCCESS?!

p.s. these were delicious.

bon appétempt going savory or "roasting a chicken is sooooooo easy"

I've been meaning to roast a chicken for the last 7 years. Everyone's always talking about how easy it is - using terms like "one-pot wonder" and "easy as roastin' a chicken." I finally decided to give it a go. Keeping in step with the pattern I've set up for myself, I used a Bon Appetit recipe. Here's their version:

And of course, now here's mine (there are veggies underneath there, I swear.):

First step outside of my comfort zone: I had to take a trip to THE BUTCHER ... after some friendly meat-based conversation, he and I decided on a 5 pound organic bird.
I wanted to cook it in my sweet le creuset pot my brother got me for my birthday, but as it turns out, it was too cute and too little. This is where my husband, Matt, began saying things like, "Time to get bon appetempt with it."
We decided on: Lasagna pan with foil enhancements...
Ever rub butter underneath skin? It's weird. VERY weird.
OH and also, I don't have one of those instant-read thermometers you're supposed to put in the bird's leg. We just pulled it out a few times and cut into it in places and then took a vote on whether or not we thought it was ready.

And what do you know? Two hours later, it wasn't overdone or underdone. Here she is, again--poor lil' guy.
The potatoes and carrots and parsnips and yams were perfect. And I hate to say it, but all in all, this meal was fairly easy (and would be even easier with a roasting pan) and with plenty of leftovers. And when I say leftovers, I'm talking about chicken carcass, which I'm currently and proudly simmering for chicken stock.

martha stewart cupcake REDUX

Sara and Sean's awesome baby, Dashiell, turned ONE and when I came over to celebrate and help decorate the cupcakes, she had her laptop on the kitchen counter opened to THIS, which warmed my heart... Anyway, had to share the results:

The hedgehog returns, perhaps as a porcupine:

I personally really liked the vibe this cat was giving off. (Wish I could say the same about the monkey/bear (??).)

But this really says it all:

I think Sara should send this in to Martha Stewart with the following note: My son hates your cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting: A Lesson in Being Honest With Who I Am

So, for my pal's 30th birthday (murder mystery) party, I was in charge of the cake and I really wanted to go classic and layer. So after some flip-flopping, I finally decided on the below red velvet cake recipe from Bon Appétit's website.
BUT then, after writing down the ingredients and thinking about all the work involved and the economic crisis, which is always compounded by the fact that I'm a grad student and then there was the price of berries and seeing that Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe was on sale for $1.99 when just moments before I had felt like nothing could be $1.99, I changed my mind.

Long story short. Here's their version:

and mine:

All that being confessed and me still being me, I still couldn't buy the fake, hydrogenated-oil-laden icing, so I did make that from scratch via the Bon Appétit recipe.

And hey, I still had to hand-mix the batter, didn't I?


Part of the reason why I stuck with the Bon Appétit icing was because the ingredients list was so simple: butter, cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar. Only, it did call for an electric mixer and yes, this is what you get when hand-mixing butter with cream cheese:

Fast forward to the part that I was nervous about...

Almost there...

Look! (and with no offset spatula like they are always telling me to use!)

p.s. dear food stylists, beat this: