Spaghetti with Lemon Pesto recipe and cookbook review: Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean

April 12, 2021

#MilkStreet @MilkStreet #177MilkStreet @177MilkStreet #CPKimball @CPKimball #Mediterranean #TNMEDBOOK @TNMEDBOOK

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know that I love everything Milk Street does. Always phenomenal. If you’re already a Milk Street fan, you are going to love Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean. If you’re new to Milk Street, you’re in for a treat. They are absolute minimalists on everything but flavor. They’ll get you from the counter to the table in the easiest way possible. And they’re really strong flavorists.

I get a super lemony bundt cake on my birthday every year, and I like their Spaghetti with Lemon Pesto even better. It’s terrifically lemony. The lemons, almonds and cheese play beautifully together. It is absolute perfection. And Milk Street’s letting me share the recipe with you!

The recipe calls for 4 lemons, but only the zest is used, so make plans for that juice or use them to infuse water.

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Pasta attachments for the stand mixer, fresh pasta 101 demo, and Cacio e Pepe

April 3, 2021

The guy from Gvode asked if he could send me a meat grinder attachment for my stand mixer to try. My KitchenAid stopped rotating after about two years. Breville, Vitamix, Wusthof, and FoodSaver make things right if there’s a malfunction. KitchenAid walks away whistling like the cable companies used to. They are way too expensive to die that quickly. Not to mention landfills. Where are you going to go, though? It’s essential equipment. My injustice bells went off. So I took it apart and popped up a blogpost teaching how to change the gear, step by step, in case it happened to someone else. It’s one of my most popular posts, so I know it’s common. So will I test out a far cheaper off-brand attachment? Heck yes! The Gvode meat grinder functioned exactly the same as the pricey one and had more accessories. When I blogged about it, the manufacturer came on and commented on my post that he puts it on a sale price every other week on Amazon so my readers can watch for a discount. Class act. He sent a pasta roller and cutter, too. I’m testing that, too, because it can potentially save people money. So let’s make some pasta!

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Mojo-Marinated Cuban-Style Pork recipe and Cookbook review: Instant Pot Miracle

March 31, 2021
#HMHCO @HMHCO

Instant Pot Miracle is a super neat Instant Pot book with a huge range of Instant Pot recipes. It’s pretty much one stop shopping. We loved everything we tried. Note that we found the salt measures really light, and generally doubled the salt. You can tailor the sauciness level afterwards by pulling out the meat or whatever and reduce the sauce to your perfect level using the saute button.

We loved the Mojo-Marinated Cuban-Style Pork, so I wanted to share that recipe with you. It marinates for a day before you make it, so be sure to budget the time. The flavors are spot on. Delicious! I served it with rice and sweet plantains.

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The Best Damn Paleo Brownies recipe from The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day

March 17, 2021
#TheWholeSmiths @TheWholeSmiths #HMHCO @HMHCO

Okay! I told you all about The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day last week. Amazing book!

Here’s that post with her Mole Chicken recipe if you missed it!

One post just isn’t going to do it! The Best Damn Paleo Brownies. I am embarrassed to say that after flipping through the book flagging recipes to try, I stumbled on this little gem, and made it first. LOL! Totally worth it! Because there’s no flour, there’s nothing dulling the flavor of the chocolate. These are intensely chocolately. The flavor and texture are terrific. These are my new favorite brownies! These are not just my favorite paleo brownies, they are my favorite brownies!

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Mole Chicken recipe and cookbook review: The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day

March 8, 2021
#TheWholeSmiths @TheWholeSmiths #HMHCO @HMHCO

Mole chicken. Did you just respond, “Yes, please!”? Mmmmm. Mole chicken is *usually* a really time consuming dish. It’s the kind of thing that makes most cooks just keep flipping through the book to something easier. This is about 1 1/2 hours start to finish, and an hour of that is the Instant Pot doing the work. This has great flavor and is comparatively very easy. Let’s do this!

The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day. I love love love this book! Everything’s delicious, easy, and nutritious. Perfect! I’ll tell you all about the rest of the book after the recipe. Please note ~ I think the author must be using Diamond Crystal Kosher salt because the numbers are at the high end. I’m using plain old salt, so I cut the salt to 2/3 in everything which worked perfectly. Thought I’d share in case you use table salt, too.

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Steak Marchand De Vin (Wine Merchant Steak) recipe and cookbook review: Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple

February 14, 2021
#JacquesPépin @JacquesPépin #Quick&Simple @Quick&Simple #HMHCO @HMHCO

Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple. Jacques is not overpromising with that name. The recipes are just as delicious as you’d expect from him, but they are truly quick and simple. The book is totally newbie-appropriate. Most of them are super wallet-friendly, too, with ingredients like frozen vegetables. I’m so excited to share his recipe with you for Wine Merchant Steak. I’ve made many of Jacques’ different wine merchant steaks and this one is my absolute favorite. I love the addition of the Spicy V8. It’s fantastic. I’m going to try this as a bbq sauce, for a really flavorful, sugar-free option. I just bought crab to make his crab cakes and I’ll add that in later, but it’s Valentine’s Day, and this steak is perfect!!!

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Disney’s Festival of the Arts

February 7, 2021

I just turned 50 in January, and my hubby did back in August when travel was right out, so we headed to Disney last week for a big celebration. 8 glorious days. Two in each park. Perfect! We didn’t realize the Festival of the Arts was going on at Epcot! Even better! There are little stands scattered throughout the World Showcase that generally have 2 entrees, a couple of beverages and a dessert. They are little taster plates and mostly in the $6-$10 range, so you can have fabulous bites around the world, kind of like global tapas. We had a fantastic time. Let me tell you all about it!

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Kung Pao Lettuce Cups recipe and cookbook review: The Primal Gourmet Cookbook by Ronny Joseph Lvovski

January 21, 2021
#Whole30 @Whole30 #PrimalGourmet @PrimalGourmet #HMHCO @HMHCO

The Primal Gourmet Cookbook. He is not overpromising with that title! This is a fun new Whole30 book. He has a great range to suit your mood. There are easy, casual and loose recipes when you’d like to keep it simple and those that are more interesting and involved when you feel like it. The food is fresh, delicious, and nutritious. Perfect!

I’d love to share his recipe for Kung Pao Lettuce Cups with you! I’m making you concerned because it’s a health book? Don’t be! You won’t make them because they’re good for you. Make them because they’re awesome! He says this serves 4 as an appetizer. Double it and serve 4 for dinner. Or breakfast. You do you! A quick note on two ingredients you might not be familiar with: coconut aminos and arrowroot starch. Coconut aminos function like soy sauce and arrowroot starch functions like cornstarch.

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Spicy Shrimp Twice-Baked Potatoes recipe. Cooking Whole30.

January 15, 2021
#MelissaUrban @MelissaUrban #ThisAfricanCooks @ThisAfricanCooks #Whole30 @Whole30 #hmhco @hmhco

I blogged about the updated Whole30 Cookbook, Cooking Whole30, last week. I’m so in love with this book that I wanted to give you one more recipe to try!

Spicy Shrimp Twice-Baked Potatoes. All the yes! The coconut cream instead of the traditional dairy in the twice-baked potatoes made this even more decadent! The shrimp are wonderful! Both of my teenagers proclaimed this to be their favorite shrimp. I’m making the shrimp again with green vegetables. Hope you love it, too!

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