My Madison Bistro

For my next installment of French country cooking, I wanted something fairly simple, yet seasonal. This winter vegetable soup seemed perfect.

I had to trek to a couple of grocery stores to find celery root, though around here that’s not all that surprising. This soup is perfect for a cold winter’s night, and it will warm you up night after night without getting boring.

This soup was worth the trouble it caused me: the vegetable scraps clogged my garbage disposal and sink. Whoops. I’ll refrain from going into detail, but let’s just say that it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Continue reading “Soupe Savoyarde”

Tags: celery root, gruyere, milk, potatoes, turnips

When it comes to cooking magazines, I’m a big dork. I like to organize my magazines by month, so at any point mid-season I can find appropriate recipes. At the beginning of January, I pulled out several January and February issues to discover a section on peanut butter desserts in the January 2009 issue of Bon Appétit.

Seriously, how did I miss that the first time around?!?!

I lovingly pored over each picture and recipe and ultimately decided upon a recipe for peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake brownies. The peanut butter swirl brownies I made last year were good, but a friend complained that the pure peanut butter swirl stuck to the roof of his mouth too much, so the brownies weren’t his favorite. He’s not one to mince words, but he’s also not one to not eat brownies for that silly of a reason.

This recipe is decadent and probably one you want to save for a special occasion. In my case, I suppose I could call them “I Got a New Job Brownies!” Or how about “My Car Actually Starts Again Brownies!” If those aren’t reasons to celebrate, I don’t know what is.

Continue reading “Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies”

Tags: brownies, cheesecake, chocolate, peanut butter

Yet again, I’m posting about how easy it is to perfectly roast a chicken. Why? Because so many people tell me they’re intimidated by the thought of roasting a whole chicken, and really, they don’t have to be.

I know I’ve said it before, but salting the bird beforehand results in a juicy, flavorful bird. And though the whole flipping of the bird can seem like a pain, it’s helping to cook the meat evenly, so don’t skip that step.

It also needs to be said that this roasted chicken is wonderful to transform into other dishes because it stays so moist: pot pies, enchiladas, sandwiches, salads . . . if you have a family, go ahead and roast a second bird for leftovers.

Continue reading “Simple Roasted Chicken”

Tags: chicken

This week, I decided to start things off with a simple dessert designed to last all week. This recipe is simple, easy, and inexpensive to make as it utilizes ingredients that many of us already have on hand.

Perfect.

I’ve made simple cakes like this before and I remembered their penchant for drying out if you’re not careful. I was careful, and the cake still dried out a little. But, that’s what the lime syrup is for, right? In my case, it didn’t really save the cake . . . but looking at the bright side, it was very easy to stop at one small piece after dinner.

Continue reading “Glazed Lime Cake”

Tags: cake, lime