This is another recipe adapted from Cuisine magazine. If you’re not yet a subscriber and if you love cooking, you should remedy that. It is the one magazine that I get – and keep every, single issue of.

This Miso Soup was awesome. Light yet filling. And healthy. A perfect thing for a winter afternoon. Miso is heat sensitive, so be sure and refrain from boiling the soup – keep it at a simmer.

The recipe makes 9 cups or six servings and prep time is about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

2 Tbs Sesame Oil

1 Bunch Scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated

2 Tbs Minced Fresh Ginger

1 Tbs Minced Garlic

6 Cups Low Sodium Vegetable Broth

1/3 Cup Red or White Miso

8 oz Shredded Rotisserie Chicken (about 2 cups)

1 Cup Canned Sliced Bamboo Shoots, drained

1 Cup Canned Baby Corn, drained

½ Cup Shredded Carrot

1 Pkg. Ramen Noodles, seasoning packet discarded

2 Cups Baby Spinach

Heat sesame oil in large saucepan, over medium high heat. Add scallion whites, ginger and garlic. Cook until mixture begins to brown, about three minutes. 

Add broth and simmer 10 minutes. Pour 1 cup broth into small bowl, whisk in miso until dissolved, stir broth-miso mixture back into saucepan, reduce heat to low and simmer. Do not boil!

Add chicken, bamboo shoots, carrot, corn and noodles and cook until heated through and noodles are tender, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add spinach. Garnish each serving with scallion greens.

 

 

 

 

This wonderful dish was something we experimented with last night and it got a massive thumbs up. Recipe was from Cuisine, one of our favorite of all culinary mags and relatively easy to make – even the first time out. Warning, if preparing this for someone who is an avowed beet hater, cook them something else. I thought this was fantastic and the kids loved it, too. But beet-hating spouse was not a fan.

Makes: 10 Servings, Prep Time: 25 Mins, Cook Time: 4 Hours

Ingredients:

For the Goulash

1 3# boneless beef chuck roast seasoned with salt and pepper

¼ Cups Flour

2 Tbs. Olive Oil 

2 Cups Diced Onion

2 Cups Freshly Peeled Diced Beets

1 Cup Diced Celery

2 Cups Sliced Carrots, ½ inch thick

¼ Cup Tomato Paste

2 Tbs. Minced Garlic

2 Tbs Hungarian Paprika

2 tsp Coriander

2 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Caraway Seeds

½ Cup Red Wine

1 ½ Cups low-sodium Beef Broth

¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley

2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

For the Noodles

1 Lb Dry Egg Noodles

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

 ½ Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley

Sour Cream

Coat the roast in flour and sear in oil in large sauté pan over high heat until deep brown on both sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer roast to 6-7 qt. dutch oven and reduce pan to medium-high heat.

Saute onion, beets, celery and carrots in drippings to soften, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, caraway and cook 2 minutes more.

Deglaze pan with wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 1 minute. Add broth, bring to a boil and transfer mixture to dutch oven. Cover and cook roast until fork tender on high setting, about 4 hours. Shred the meat, return to dutch oven.

Add ¼ cup parsley and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

For the Pasta, cook noodles in large pot of boiling, salted water. If you want really tasty noodles, cook them in chicken broth instead of water, but that’s not required. Drain noodles, toss with butter and ½ cup parsley, season with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve goulash over noodles and garnish with sour cream.

 

This is, hands down, our favorite new dish, discovered courtesy of Mario Batali and his new cookbook, Molto Batali.

We searched all over town for just the right apples, so don't settle for anything other than what's recommended here - it definitely makes a difference. The original recipe called for Gorgonzola cheese, but we're not fans, so substituted goat cheese instead. It was pure perfection.

2 cups Moscato d’Asti or other sweet, fragrant wine

1 Cinnamon stick

1 3/4 cups sugar

8 Tbs (1 stick) butter, cut into ½ inch cues, plus 2 Ts for the pan

10 medium Golden Delicious, Cortland or Empire apples, peeled and cored

5 very ripe Figs, stemmed and halved lengthwise

10 oz. Goat Cheese (or Gorgonzola – if using Gorgonzola, cut into 1-oz pieces at room temperature)

Preheat oven to 375.

Place sugar, wine and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower th heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the consistency of a thin syrup. Remove from heat and stir in cubes of butter.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 13.9 baking dish and place apples upright in the dish. Press each fig in the shape that will fit into the cavities in the apples and stuff the apples with the figs. Pour the Moscato syrup over the apples, place the dish in the oven and bake, periodically basting the apples with the pan juices until the apples are soft but still standing, 35 minutes.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and immediately place a piece of goat cheese on top of each apple, like a hat on the cavity. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with a spoonful of the pan juices over the top.

 

This dish is a staple around our house - for holidays and for any occasion. And if you don't feel like making the chutney, if you have a great supermarket, you can probably find a jar of fig spread that will also be delicious here. I did that long before I made my own chutney, and it was terrific. But the chutney is super easy to make and fills up the house with a delicious aroma, which makes it even more fun to make and enjoy.

1 Tsb unsalted butter

1 small shallot

½ Cup sugar

½ Cup dry red wine

½ Cup fresh orange juice

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole star anise

1 t yellow mustard seeds

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 ½ lb. firm, ripe figs, stemmed and cut into 8ths

 

1 baguette, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Olive oil

1 package goat cheese

Fig Chutney

Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot; stir to coat. Cook until translucent,about 5 minutes. Add sugar; stir until dissolved. Add red wine and next 6 ingredients. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer until syrupy, about 15 minutes. Add figs; stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, stirring occasionally, until figs are soft, 10-15 minutes, depending on ripeness of figs.

Bruschetta

Preheat oven to 350. Put sliced baguette on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 5-10 minutes until crisp. Remove from oven, spread with goat cheese, then top with fig chutney. Devour. Repeat.

 

 

 

This might be one of the most wonderful things a child - no matter their age - can ever say to you: