My Madison Bistro

Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate, here is a recipe I put together earlier this fall, to highlight local, seasonal produce: Cortland and McIntosh apples, and fresh cranberries. The spices and fruit flavors simply scream the holidays to me.

But I do have a confession. Originally, this recipe was supposed to be a pie with a crumble topping. But when the crust was ready to be blind-baked for 10 minutes (to help ensure a crisp crust on the bottom), I discovered I had nothing to weight it with. I crossed my fingers and tried to bake it a few minutes without weights…Well, if you’ve ever done that yourself, you know it doesn’t work. The edges of the crust just sort of sink.

So I tossed the crust, switched baking dishes, and turned the dish into a crumble reminiscent of the holidays.

Continue reading “Cranberry Apple Crumble”

Tags: apples, cinnamon, cranberries

Every Christmas my mom makes soft molasses cookies, rolled in red and green sugar. I didn’t really appreciate the molasses flavor of these cookies until a few years ago, but now I love them. They are especially good with coffee (I know, I seem to say that about all cookies), and I have to admit, I have the bag of these stashed away in the freezer for whenever I need a little pick-me-up.

Because these cookies freeze so well, you can make them early in the holiday season. They’re easy to make and require only ingredients that are fairly standard at this time of year. Incidentally, they are also B’s favorite cookie, so when my mom packs up holiday goodies to send back with me, she loads his container full of molasses cookies. I asked him once why he likes them so much.

The response? They taste like Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream (his favorite). And Steep –n- Brew’s Oatmeal Cookie coffee, a flavor they only release for a few short months each year.

Continue reading “Soft Molasses Cookies”

Tags: cinnamon, cookies, ginger, molasses

Usually comfort food brings about nostalgia for childhood or a specific time in our lives. It brings forth the memories, the sense of warmth, the feeling that your family and friends are right there.

And yet, some of my favorite comfort foods are more recent additions to my diet: baked macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, risotto… I suppose the risotto shouldn’t be all that surprising, considering I often enjoyed Rice a Roni when in college, and even now, when I’m sick, I generally want rice that’s been cooked in chicken stock.

The first time I made mushroom risotto, it was love at first bite (that sounds so corny, but it’s the truth). It’s the dish I turn to when I simply want my food to comfort me. Unfortunately, I don’t always feel like standing in front of the stove and stirring.

Continue reading “Oven-Baked Mushroom Risotto”

Tags: comfort food, mushrooms, parmesan, rice

Sometimes I forget about posting things other than hearty meals and baked goods, but since I often turn to food blogs for salad ideas, I thought I should contribute as well. It’s not that I don’t love a good salad; on the contrary, when I’m in the mood for salad, I can eat it daily. But so often I go with a simple salad and throw my energy into the meal.

Since cranberries are everywhere, I thought I’d pair them with a basic spinach salad, yet give it a bit of a twist by using cinnamon cranberry goat cheese. It’s not available everywhere, but plain goat cheese works just as well.

Continue reading “Spinach Salad with Cranberries and Goat Cheese”