March Madness

We apologize for being MIA for a few days.  But have no fear, you won't miss out on any of the delicious meals we've made recently.  Also, please excuse the inconsistency of our posts.  We are still trying to figure out what format we like best.  Please feel free to give us your feedback too!

Cavatappi with Asparagus, Arugula, Walnuts, and Blue Cheese
(The New Best Recipe)


Key Ingredients: Strozzapareti, roquefort, asparagus, walnuts, and baby arugula

This pasta was delicious.  Instead of using cavatappi like the recipe calls for, we used strozzapareti.  The pasta was incredibly fresh.  And the roquefort mealted instantly, spreading the blue cheesy flavor throughout the whole dish.  Jon says this is the best pasta he's ever had.  And I have to say, it's up there for me too!

Pan-fried Catfish
(The New Best Recipe)

Key Ingredients: Catfish, mayo, sour cream, chipotle peppers, and lime



This dish was not as healthy as we thought it would be before we started making.  It was pretty much deep-friend (not fantastic given that we are on a diet).  We also burned the first filet (not pictured).  However, Jon, being the gentleman he is (and also liking burnt food more than I do) had that piece and saved me this one.  All in all, this dish was good.  The inside was juicy and the outside was crispy and crunchy.  Nevertheless, I think we'll be trying a few other catfish dishes before coming back to this one.

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Orange Pan Sauce and Middle Eastern Spices
(The New Best Recipe)

Key Ingredients: Lamb, orange, chicken broath, shallots, cumin, cardamum, cayanne pepper, and cinnamon

My favorite part of this dish was definitely the sauce.  Although Jon wished it had been thicker, I was in heaven.  Next time we are going to make a red wine rosemary sauce.  This was the first time Jon ever made a rack of lamb.  Way to go!  It was also the first time he ever cut himself on a chef's knife.  I told him months ago that it happens to every great chef.  Although it bled a lot at first, there definitely was no need to go to the ED (Emergency Department).  The way he cut himself was pretty stupid.  But it wasn't nearly as stupid as when I cut myself on a knife today when we were in a kitchen supply store off of Capitol Square (I ran my figure along it because I didn't think it looked very sharp...as my father would say, "What a maroon!").

Coming up Next on The Kitten's Kitchen...

We bought a pizza stone today!

And even more exciting...Susan is visiting this weekend!  We are uber excited.  Did you know that the last time she visited us in Madison we adopted Azula? 

Key Ingredients: Azula and milk



Pan-Fried Fresh Salmon Cakes

We've been digging the seafood lately.  But, we felt like we were making the same things all the time.  We decided to mix life up by making salmon cakes.  Boy, were these delicious! 

They were best salmon cakes either of us have ever had.  Restaurant quality, really! 
The panko bread crumbs made the cakes perfectly crispy.  But the inside was still moist.  The cakes weren't too oily, too salty, or too rich.  We both also loved the lemon  in the dipping sauce.

Yet again, The New Best Recipe has blown us away.  So glad we didn't halve this recipe (Yay for leftovers!).

Step 1: Prepare Ingredients

Key Ingredients: Salmon, mayonnaise, lemon juice, onions, chopped bread, and parsley

Step 2: Mix Ingredients, Roll into Cakes, and Place in Freezer for 15 min.



Step 3: Bread Salmon Cakes

Key Ingredients: Flour, eggs, and Japanese panko bread crumbs

 

Step 4: Serve with Sweet Corn, Brussel Sprouts, and Dipping Sauce

Key Ingredients: Mayonnaise, lemon juice, parsley, thyme, and scallions

Step 5: Enjoy

Key Ingredients: Azula licking her lips

Chickens Around the World

Coq au Vin
The New Best Recipe (Cook's Illustrated)

We cooked this during the State of the Union Address, so there was excitement all around us.  Jon assembles his own giant teabag (or as the French say, a Boquet Garni) to create this dish.  The teabag includes thyme, parsley, and bay leaves.  As is the case with tea, you don't eat the bag, but enjoy the juices which have sopped up all of the important flavors.  Jon also wanted me to write something about a beurre manie to show off our Frenchiness.

Key Ingredients: Chicken, bacon, red wine, pearl onions, white mushrooms, carrots, onions, and shallots

Chicken Marsala
The New Best Recipe (Cook's Illustrated)

The sweet marsala makes this dish, for lack of a better word, sweet.  We love the pancetta.  We'd make it more often if it were healthier.  We plan on adding less butter than is called for next time.  We'll keep you posted on the results.

Key Ingredients: Chicken, sweet marsala wine, pancetta, and white mushrooms

Chicken Provencal
The New Best Recipe (Cook's Illustrated)

We make this dish on a regular basis because it is the healthiest of all three here.  The herbs, anchovies, olives, and tomato paste make the sauce really flavorful.  We actually cooked this dish yesterday.  I was too lazy to pick up the nicoise olives, so we had it with pasta instead (a strange substition, I know).  It actually made for a very nice tomato sauce.  I think I'm going to pressure Jon into making it this way more often.  Unlike he and his lovely cardiologist father, I adore carbs.

Key Ingredients: Chicken, nicoise olives, tomato paste, anchovy, and herbs

Caternet Sauvignon

The New Best Recipe (Cook's Illustrated)

Key Ingredients: Azula in a wine bag

Welcome to The Kitten's Kitchen

Here are some dishes that we've made in the past that we love.

Trout and Prosciutto Risotto Rolls

Potato and Rice (Barker, Mansfield & Ingram)

This is one of our favorite risotto recipes.  And if you know us, then you know we love risotto.  This delicious dish looks like it requires much more effort than it really does, which is awesome when you're trying to impress new friends (Jeff and Willa).  First, you cook some shrimp.  Next, you cook a standard risotto base with porcini mushrooms.  Then, you wrap a strip of prosciutto around a piece of trout and some of the risotto and bake it in the oven for 15-20 minutes with the rest of the risotto.  The fish is perfectly cooked.  This was the first dish that included fish that we've ever cooked before.

Key Ingredients: Trout, prosciutto, shrimp, and porcini mushrooms

Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Soy Sauce with Scallions

The New Best Recipe  (Cook's Illustrated)

This tuna was simple, but very good.  This is a great time to mention that The New Best Recipe is currently our favorite cookbook (thanks James!).  Jon loves how precise the instructions are (down to 15 second intervals, just like my time-logging...erlaack).  The recipes are tested and perfected.  The authors even explain how they came up with these recipes (for example, they took their favorite three recipes and created one that used bits and pieces of each).  The sauce was sweet and tangy.  I especially enjoyed mixing it with some wasabi sauce that we purchased at Capitol Center (henceforth, Cap Center).

Key Ingredients: Tuna, asparagus, and udon

Spicy Stir-Fried Sesame Chicken with Green Beans and Shiitake Mushrooms

The New Best Recipe  (Cook's Illustrated)

We eat this dish about every other week.  I'll never order in Chinese food again so long as I'm with Jon.  This dish is spectacular.  So full of flavor.  The chicken is breaded (less so than General Tso' chicken, but similar idea) in a way that keeps the chicken juicy and delicous.  I love Jon and I love chicken!  So does Azula (I think she was getting tired of the tuna).

Key Ingredients: Chicken, shiitake mushrooms, green beans, and white rice

White Chocolate Fur Ball with Chocolate Sauce and a Side of Cuteness

The Kitten's Kitchen (Azula Grimmelmann-Lima)

This is by far our favorite dessert because it is the sweetest of them all.  Yum yum!

Key Ingredients: Azula on a plate