My Madison Bistro

There are two things that signal the transition from spring to summer for me: the changing dynamic of the farmers’ market, with the end of tomatoes and zucchini, and the influx of apples and winter squash; and the transition in my garden from summer flowers to my mums.

September and October mark my favorite time of year; there’s a bounty of produce to be enjoyed, and my garden is its most lush. Herbs grow alongside my flowers and strawberries. The greenery is breathtaking, and my neighbors enjoy the splashes of color, or so they tell me.

When I see the burnt orange and deep purple of the mums, it signals to me the change in seasons, and I immediately want to bake cookies and make soup.

Continue reading “Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons”

Tags: apples, Cheese, comfort food, Vegetables, whole grain

I did it again. I just can never seem to leave well enough alone, but this time I think I’ve finally come to accept that I have already found the chocolate chip cookie recipe that I deem the best. It’s chewy, buttery, and tastes as good at room temperature as it does warm out of the oven.

But, since I’m me, I just had to try another recipe, even though B begged me not to. He tends to like all of them, but I don’t think he can handle listening to me complain about the results. So I told a tiny fib and said I really liked these, when in truth, I only kind of liked them.

I just couldn’t handle hearing “I told you so.”

But we’ve been friends a long time, so just as he knew I would try a new recipe, I know he’s aware that I still didn’t find these as good as my favorites. That being said, they are good cookies – I don’t want to scare you away from trying a new recipe, because we all are looking for something different from our cookies, are we not? These are crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle. They just didn’t have enough buttery flavor for me, and I would have preferred more vanilla, as well. I even added some of my “good” unsalted butter for an extra kick of butter flavor, but it still was not enough to turn this into my go-to recipe.

So, I think I have to retire from trying new chocolate chip cookie recipes and accept that nothing will top my favorite, which to me is chocolate chip cookie nirvana.

Continue reading “Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie”

Tags: chocolate, comfort food, cookies

As I mentioned yesterday, the first leftover transformation probably isn’t the most exciting, because many of us are used to making sandwiches from Thanksgiving leftovers. Then again, I look forward to sandwiches made from Thanksgiving leftovers all year, so perhaps you do, too.

This sandwich isn’t exactly like holiday leftovers, but it bridges the gap between ordinary sandwich and holiday sandwich. The best part is that neither meal takes much effort. The longest task of making the sandwiches involves bringing the cheese to room temperature.

Continue reading “Transforming Leftovers”

Tags: apples, brie, Cheese, cranberries, turkey

As my college roommates can attest, I’ve never been a fan of leftovers. With good intentions, I’d wrap up the food, and into the fridge it would go. The next day, I’d pass over the leftovers in favor of something new, and THOSE leftovers would join the others. After a few weeks, we ended up with a few science experiments, to say the least.

It’s been a long time since my college days, but I still have the same track record with eating my leftovers. Over the years, I kept thinking about how I should really put more effort into transforming leftovers into a new (and exciting!) meal.

So here you have it: a new series of posts, dedicated to taking one meal and transforming it into one or more spin-offs. I can’t promise that all transformations will be exciting, or that they won’t elicit a “Duh! I do that all the time!” response, but I hope to get more creative as time goes on. If you have any favorite transformations, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.

Continue reading “Braised Turkey Thighs”

Tags: apples, everyday food, poultry, shallots, turkey