Violet Sky

I’m introducing a new category of posts to this blog, inspired by my weekly scroll through our recipe spreadsheet (yes, even my cooking is organized by spreadsheet) and realizing that it now has over 300 line items in it. I spend a lot of time making favorites of the family, but I also spend a lot of time researching new recipes and trying them in hopes of continuing to expand our culinary options. This roundup is a non-exhaustive list of new recipes I tried, plus any old favorites we resurrected this month.

New Recipes

Mary Berry Cheese Scones – I got this recipe off of Reddit, initially intrigued because they were under 150 calories per scone. I would say that “scone” is a bit of a misnomer, as the self-rising flour makes them much less dense than a true scone, but they were easy to make and also delicious.

One-pot Pesto Chicken and Rice – This tasted good and was easy to make, but didn’t really know what it was on the scale of types of cuisines. My chicken also stuck horribly to the bottom of the pan, which doesn’t usually happen to me, so I’ll probably be making it again at some point to see if I can prevent the unintended shredding of the chicken thighs.

Spicy Korean Chicken and Potato Stew (Dakdoritang) – I had this recipe on my list of recipes to try for literally years. I remember intending to make it a couple years back and then backing out for one reason or another. I made it with boneless skinless thighs because we prefer that to bone-in chicken most of the time, and it was excellent. It’s on this week’s meal plan, in fact.

Sourdough Discard Ciabatta Rolls – September was the month that I bought some sourdough starter from Etsy and thus found myself trying to find uses for all the dang sourdough discard I produce each day. I followed the instructions for using discard and it turned out well.

Easy Sourdough Discard Bread – This recipe is a pro at using up day old starter and being incredibly fast and easy. You can go from mixing to baking in two hours, or have the flexibility to leave it for a while until you’re ready to bake. I’ve been making this on the days that we need bread as a side for our meal and it usually barely lasts a day before the whole family has eaten it.

Easy Beginner Sourdough – I’m approximating the title here because I also found this recipe on Reddit, and it seemed accessible enough to be my first real sourdough recipe. It was very easy and makes a nice, small loaf. I’ll transcribe the recipe here in case it ever disappears from Reddit:

125g active starter, 13g salt, 350ml warm water, 525g bread flour

1. Combine into shaggy dough and let rest on counter for 1 hour
2. Perform 10 stretch and folds then let rest 30 mins
3. Perform 3 more rounds of stretch and folds every 30 minutes
4. Bulk ferment on counter for 2.5 hours
5. Shape dough and proof in fridge for 12 hours
6. Bake covered in Dutch oven 475° for 30 mins
7. Lower temp to 425° and bake uncovered another 6-10 mins until desired darkness

Ouzi – I had ouzi for the first time a few months ago when we visited a Jordanian restaurant that I hadn’t been to in a while. We eat a lot of rice as a family, so adding in an additional easy stir-fry-esque option to the repertoire was nice, though I don’t think I really nailed the recipe when I made it. I’ll have to try again.

Revisited Recipes

French Apple Cake – I made this once about two years ago and have been thinking about it since. Making it the second time, I was surprised by how easy it was – why haven’t I been making this more?!

Picadillo – This is one of our go-to’s when we look at the meal plan for the week and think that we won’t have enough leftovers to eat for lunch. Doubling the recipe makes a whole ton of food, which reheats quite well.

Guinness Stew – A note that didn’t make it into my Ireland/Northern Ireland trip report was our disappointment with the Guinness stews we had in Ireland. They certainly were not bad, but we had kind of assumed that it would be better than the ones we’ve had in the US. This recipe has been on my mind since then and the first time the temperature dropped here, I put it on the meal plan.

Osso buco and saffron risotto – My husband’s favorite dish from our time in Italy was osso buco with saffron risotto. We made an attempt to find osso buco cut meat about a year ago, but none of the grocery stores or butchers carried it. Recently, we were at the farmers market, and we discovered that two of the meat stands carry it! This sequence is a three+ hour labor of love and it turned out amazing, as usual. The second link is in Italian but Google translate does a good enough job to get you through.