Smitten Kitten's Miso Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl

Why don't I have a photo of this deliciousness? I don't know, but I loved the miso sauce. Easy to prepare, and an excellent contrast to the vegetables.

Homemade Hamburger Buns & Breakfast Sandwich

The problem with shopping at Costco is that one ends up with a quantity of foodstuffs (e.g. cheddar cheese slices) that one is then compelled to create as many dishes as possible utilizing said items. This is how I found myself making burger buns. The buns did not come out as soft as I was hoping for, but that may be to my own baker error.

Easiest buttermilk biscuits

I had a craving for biscuits, ones that would be rich but also light, that would be a perfect foil to melted butter or also sweetened strawberries. This recipe, recommended by Lainey Gossip, does indeed live up to its name. The only problem is, I cannot find buttermilk in Taiwan, and instead must use soured milk. I'm sure this must affect the flavor of the final product.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Cranberries

Last Monday's dinner menu:

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Cranberries
• Pork Burgers (adapted from this meatball recipe)
• Shredded Carrot Salad with Sesame Dressing

Now, while overall I liked the menu, the kids did not. My attempts to get them to like brussels sprouts were for naught. I thought Ree Drummond's take on the sprouts might be helpful, with all the sweetness, but I think the kids were turned off by the darkness of the balsamic vinaigrette glaze. I halved the sugar and the recipe was too sweet for my tastes.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze and Cranberries by Ree Drummond/The Pioneer Woman

The pork burgers were more successful, as I adapted Deb Perleman's recipe. So easy, and so yummy.

No pictures of the carrot salad (it was simply shredded carrots), but I'm quite certain my kids wouldn't eat as much salad as they do without Kewpie Sesame Dressing. It's full of umami, creamy, and not too sweet (at least the one made in Japan).

Homemade Pizza, Revisited

I've made pizza often in the past, making dough from the recipe in Wildly Affordable Organic or King Arthur Flour's basic recipe. On a Smitten Kitchen kick, I decided to try her recipe. The kids rolled out the dough, so it was a bit thicker than I'd like, but the sauce was a revelation. In the past, I've just used jarred pasta sauce, but I tried her recipe which is simple - just drained canned whole tomatoes, whizzed in the food processor with a little salt and fresh garlic - and it made a huge difference.

Hawaiian Pizza, from the side

Since it has been awhile since we made homemade pizza, I forgot that I usually have the kids roll it between two sheets of parchment paper, so there was a big floury mess on the dining table when they had finished. Cornmeal also makes a superior substance to dust baking pans with, to prevent sticking.

I had leftover sauce, shredded cheese, canned pineapple, and Canadian bacon, so I made the pizza again today. The first time I followed her 22-hour recipe (starting it at night before I went to bed, for a lunch of pizza) and today I had only time for a 6-hour rise. I definitely recommend the flavor with a longer rise...although since I rolled out the dough today, it was much thinner. Also, I substituted whole wheat flour, for a proportion of 175g whole wheat flour and 200g bread flour.

kid-created pizza

Deb Perleman’s Carrot Soup with Meatballs and Spinach

Smitten Kitchen has always been a favorite, and her recipe for Carrot Soup with Meatballs and Spinach was another winner. After I puréed the soup with an immersion blender, the soup started splattering everywhere - I'm unsure how to prevent that from happening again. I liked the meatballs, of which I used about a 50/50 mixture of ground chicken and ground pork. Next time I might use all pork because the chicken was too lean. Also, while the kids complained that their carefully cut carrots had been blended into a mash, Miss Nomad Foodie chose to have another serving instead of the miso sweet potato and broccoli bowl that I'd prepared for dinner. A final note: I think I'll use butter to sauté the vegetables in next time because I like the flavor of butter in soup.

Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta Recipe

I tried this recipe and while the taste was good, it was a bit too watery.
http://www.food.com/recipe/creamy-garlic-penne-pasta-43023

Baked Pacherri Pasta Stuffed with Ricotta Mushroom Filling

This was an experiment as I had a lot of enoki mushrooms and ricotta to use up. I sautéed chopped enoki mushrooms with some garlic, and then folded it into ricotta. I stood the Pacherri on end in a casserole, put the filling into a plastic bag and piped it into the tubes, then covered the whole in bottled pasta sauce and sprinkled with cheese. I baked it in an oven for 45 minutes. Next time I'll actually pre-cook the pasta before as it came out very chewy, but it wasn't bad.

Hot-smoked salmon with dill pasta

I keep buying hot-smoked salmon from Costco in an attempt to up my Omega-3 intake, but most recipes that use smoked salmon refer to cold-smoked salmon (the kind you'd put on your bagel with cream cheese). Then, the packets of salmon just sit around my pantry forever.

Anyways, I found this recipe from BBC Good Food (seems like hot-smoked salmon is more common in the UK than in the US). I didn't have just plain peas, so I subbed the frozen veg mix I had on hand, as well as leftover heavy cream for the creme fraiche. Still quick and delicious!

Little Miss Nomad Foodie seemed to like the salmon and dill, but not as much as the pasta Bolognaise that I made a couple of weeks ago.

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms

From Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen - excellent, something I'd make again:

1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden and bubbly garlic sauce forms below, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, with crusty bread on the side for swiping up the juices.