Cooking without a book: Potatoes au Gratin

For dinner last night I wanted to make potatoes au gratin. My mom made these occasionally while I was growing up, but I had never made it myself. So I called for the recipe. There isn't one. So I used my best judgement and threw it together.

I sliced 4 large potatoes. I'd place one potato (sliced) down, add some salt and pepper, add a few dots of butter, a handful of cheddar cheese, and light drizzle of heavy cream. Repeat until all potatoes are used. I topped it off with a lot of cheese. Put it in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour at 350.

The result: probably one of the most fattening foods you can possibly eat... but worth every calorie. The whole meal I proclaimed my love for potatoes and made my husband jealous, it was worth it though.

The beauty of cooking without a recipe is you can do whatever you want! Tweaking it to you and your family's preferences. I added a shallot to my casserole. It added a nice flavor without totally repulsing my onion-phobic husband. You can change the vegetable, the cheese, the seasonings to whatever you heart desires.

Steamed Artichokes p. 253-4

I do love a good artichoke. Steamed artichokes with a good dipping sauce are the perfect appetizer for an intimate meal.

The only tricky part is preparing it. You have to trim the leaves and scoop out the middle part. But all that work is worth it in the end.

Steam your whole artichoke(s) for 20-40 minutes until done.

Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. I personally like melted butter with lemon and garlic, or a nice rouxemalade or comeback sauce.

If you've never had an artichoke like this, you take off a leave, dip the end in your sauce, and bite off the end, scraping the leaves with your teeth (much like a crab claw).

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank my best friend Allyn A. Sossaman for introducing me to the glories of a fresh artichoke. Thank you, Allyn.

Mashed Potatoes p. 339

I'm not sure why its taken me this long to try Mark Bittman's mashed potatoes. Maybe because its such a simple thing.

Last week I made pot roast for the first time. It just seemed natural to make mashed potatoes to go with it.

Start off by boiling your potatoes. When done, drain. Melt butter and warm milk in the drained pot, then add your potatoes back for mashing. At this point I veered from the recipe. I just added milk, butter, cheese, and salt to it satisfied my taste buds. I don't think you could mess mashed potatoes up. Unless you over salt them.

Leeks Braised in Oil or Butter p. 311

I've made leeks a few times, and I love them. Each time I made them I grow to love them just a little bit more.

For this recipe simply melt some butter and throw in your leeks. Add salt and pepper and some stock. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes or until tender and liquid is gone. Add a bit of lemon juice before serving.



This is a great, easy recipe to keep on hand for a simple weeknight meal.

Oven Baked Ratatouille p. 373

Lately I've had a craving for fresh vegetables. Probably because we've been eating out as well as eating our of the freezer a lot lately.


I was never sure what exactly Ratatouille was, but I guess its more of a mixture of vegetables. For this dish I used onions, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic. Chop your vegetables up and layer them in a deep casserole dish generously adding olive oil.

After an hour in the oven you have a delicious mixture of vegetables.



I served ours over rice, which Bryan appreciated since he had maybe two bites of the vegetables.

Flash-Cooked Collards with Lemon Juice p. 308

This was Bryan and my first time to have collard greens. My mom never served them growing up since she didn't like them herself. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I went into this experiment with an open mind.

This recipe is much the same as how I cook fresh spinach. The exception though is that Mark Bittman suggests cooking the stems as well. Collard leaves are much thicker than spinach and that didn't change after they were cooked. Bryan actually liked that the leaves were thicker and distinguishable as opposed to spinach.

The flavor was nice, I added some red wine vinegar as well as a little lemon juice, which, to me at least, made the collards edible.



It may not be my favorite vegetable, but at least I gave it a fair shot.

Mixed Spicy Vegetables, Thai Style p. 374

This is an interesting vegetable dish for a week night. Its also very flexible to what you have and what is in season. While not exactly in season, I used squash.

Start by cutting your vegetable into chunks. The recipe calls for onions, but of course, I had to leave them out. Heat some oil in a pan and throw in your onions if using. Let them soften. Then add chopped garlic, chiles, and your vegetable. Cook until the vegetable softens. Add coconut milk and lime leaves (I used zest. I had never heard of using leaves before.) Let it simmer for a few minutes and add soy sauce or fish sauce. I had recently purchased fish sauce out of curiosity and found in this dish that I do not like the flavor. Use soy sauce instead.

Serve warm.

Braised and Glazed Radish p. 348

Braised and glazed radish... say that 10 times fast. For weeknight dinner, I was searching for some new vegetable to try. I was feeling experimental. So I happened upon radishes. I'm not sure if I've ever really had a radish. If I had it was on a salad and I had missed a piece to pick out. But I was feeling adventurous and so we wrote down what we needed from the grocery and headed out.

Once we arrived at the grocery we were unprepared to begin our radish hunt. Neither of us could think of what they looked like and it took several tours of the produce section to find them.



This is what a radish looks like. (Image: www.umassvegetable.org)

Back in the kitchen, it was smooth sailing. Wash your radishes and then cut into chunks. Which isn't easy given their size. One cut was all that was needed for some of mine. (It was unclear to me in the book if I was to peel them or not, so I did a few and then realized it was a big pain and decided against doing the rest.)

In a pan put your radishes, some butter, and stock or water. (I used water because we have been going through stock faster than I can make it.) When it gets to a boil, cover it. Let it simmer until all the liquid is gone and the radishes are tender.



Its hard to describe the taste, other than a savory root vegetable cooked in butter. But it was good and we both ate our share. Served here with spicy broiled shrimp and roasted asparagus.

Hot and Smoky Corn Gratin p. 332

I was looking for a casserole type dish to take to a holiday potluck and came across this dish. It is more of an appetizer/dip than a casserole or side dish, but it was definately delicious.

The main recipe is Chile Cheese Gratin, but I have a fear of peppers, both of picking them out and having to actually cook with them. One of the variations suggests using corn and canned chipotle chile with adobo. That sounded do-able to me, so I set to work.



Ingredients: corn, canned chipotle chile with adobo, tomatoes (I used two cans of diced tomatoes), cheese, salt, pepper, cilantro, tortilla chips.

Layer your corn, tomatoes, cheese, and chiles several times and top with crushed chips. Bake for about 25 minutes or until is bubbly.

Mark Bittman suggest using 2-4 tables of the chipotle chiles. Be sure you know your tolerance for chile because I failed to taste it until after I put together the whole dish. Ooops. It was a bit spicy, but everyone seemed to like it.



I would recommend it as an appetizer dip for a potluck or other gathering.

2009 Favorites: Veggies

Bryan and I both love our vegetables... Okay, so I love all vegetables, and Bryan loves anything that isn't and/or touching: onions, peppers, mushrooms, or tomatoes. But other than that, we really love our veggies.

Here are the favorite dishes we tried this year from How to Cook Everything:

1. Creamed corn with cheese. Bryan's favorite vegetable is corn. And this is our favorite way to eat it. What's not to love: butter, cheese, and corn?! Its so good I may even make it again tonight.

2.Mashed Cauliflower with cheese. Oops, beginning to see a theme here. We need our cheese! Oh dear, this was the most delicious thing I ever made. Bryan was not happy when he discovered I had brought cauliflower into our home. I was even a bit skeptical myself. It only took one bite for both of us to fall in love. I think I actually made proclamations that what wasn't on his plate was all mine. I savored that cauliflower, like cauliflower has never been savored before.

3. Sweet Potato Gratin. This is dish is a double whammy: easy and scrumptious. Great for people who don't even like sweet potatoes, like me.

Overall I've attempted approximately 36 vegetable recipes. Pretty decent, but still have a ways to go.

Potato and Leek Soup p. 131

Ingredients: butter, potatoes, leeks, stock.

This is a super easy and super delicious soup to make. Start off by prepping the veggies. Peel the potatoes and cute into small cubes. Then prep the leeks (if you do not know how to do so, like me a few months ago, please visit page 310 which shoes how to trim and wash leeks).

To cook, melt your butter (you can use olive oil if you wish), then add the veggies. After a few minutes, when they start to soften, add stock or water if you don't have stock. Let cook until your potatoes are soft.

One variation suggests pureeing the soup in a blender or immersion blender. One of the things that I've asked for Christmas is an immersion blender. I have a list of things to make once I have it. But this time I decided to use the blender. Did you know that you can't fill a blender up too close to the top and then turn it on? I learned the hard way last night. Oh well... Bryan asked for it lightly pureed... meaning with a few chunks.

The soup was hearty and delicious. Perfect for cuddling up to your significant other or cuddly pet on the couch to watch a movie.

BONUS: I finished off the leftovers and didn't heat them up, which qualifies this as the second variation: Vichyssoise. I'm not even going to try to pronounce that. It was just as delicious cold as it was warm.

Edamame with Stock p. 424

I'm back! Although, if our busy holiday schedule doesn't settle down soon, I'm going to be out of posts... again. Yikes.

Ingredients:ginger, stock, carrot, snow peas, shelled edamame.

I just love edamame. Not only is it yummy, but it also just feels healthy as you eat it. Sometimes I just eat edamame for lunch.

For this recipe however, you sautee your ginger and scallion (I didn't use either because a) my grocery was out of ginger! and b) we don't like scallions). Then add your stock, carrots (I finely chopped it), snow peas, and edamame. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until everything is tender, mine took around 10 minutes.



I served it over rice. It was delicious. However, since we didn't have the ginger we tossed ours with some Hoisin sauce, its my new love. I would like to thank Mark Bittman for introducing us. After opening the bottle last week we're halfway through the bottle... and we only ate at home two nights last week.

Roasted Carrots with Cumin p. 278

Ingredients: carrots, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper.

Cumin is a not familiar with until I began cooking from this book. I am so thankful to Mark Bittman for introducing us. Cumin is one of my now most used spices and it works wonderfully with carrots.

Mark Bittman suggest roasting your carrots, cut into slices, on a cookie or baking sheet. I was using my big oven at a lower temperature, so I put the carrots in a smaller pan that fit into our small oven.



Either way, roasted carrots with cumin are delicious.

Crisp Sauteed Leeks p. 312

Ingredients: Leeks, oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

This dish couldn't be more simpler or delicious. Julienne your leeks - I'm a terrible julienne-r, but it worked. Heat up your oil add in your garlic, after it becomes fragrant... or you can start to smell that delicious garlic smell... only about 20-30 seconds, toss in your leeks. Cook until brown. I tossed all mine in at once and just tossed them about occasionally, but they were delicious. So delicious I ate every last piece... with my hands.

Stewed Tomatillos and Tomatoes p. 359-360

This is my first major failure as I've worked my way through this cookbook. I was particularly sad about it because I was so anticipated the deliciousness of two forbidden vegetables that Bryan doesn't normally let me cook.

Things didn't work out from the beginning. The first step is to cook the onions and let them soften. They nearly burned up. Then you add the tomatillos. They need to cook for a long time until they are "mostly dissolved." Mine refused to dissolve at all. In fact, they stayed in tact the entire time. I even tried to mash them with the back of my wooden spoon, only to fail with most of them. After you're impenetrable tomatillos dissolve add in the tomatoes to cook for a little while til they are soft. Not quite as long. Since the onions almost burned the pan had turned almost black and caused some discoloration in the whole dish.

I was utterly disappointed the way this dish turned out and in the flavor of it. If Julia Child says there are no mistakes in cooking just variations, this is a variation you do not want to try.


Served with garlicy-lime fish, coming tomorrow.

Pasta with Broccoli p. 516

Ingredients: broccoli, olive oil, garlic, pasta, salt and pepper.

Most recipes I have an idea of what they'll be like before I begin. This one I wasn't so sure about. Just broccoli and pasta?

First boil your broccoli for about 5 to 10 minutes. In a seperate pan put your olive oil over the heat and add your garlic. Once the broccoli is boiled add it into the olive oil and garlic. You'll cook it for a few minutes while the pasta is cooking. While it is doing so, smash the broccoli with the back of your spoon. Yeah, I know, a bit different.

In the previous pot with the water, boil your pasta. Once your pasta is cooked add into the skillet with your broccoli and garlic.



Then serve. I topped mine with a bunch of Parmesan cheese, which was nice. Overall it was very easy to make, but just lacked a little pizazz or something. I don't know.

Buttered Cabbage p. 274

Ingredients: salt, pepper, butter, cabbage.

Following my coleslaw dish, I had a whole head of cabbage and no idea what to do with it.

So I made this dish as a side to meatloaf and twice baked potatoes. Hopefully cabbage added some nutritional value to our delicious meal.

First you tear your cabbage head up into leaves. For the inner part I just cut it into chuncks. That's what my mom did growing up, so hopefully Bittman approves. Boil it for about 5 minutes. Drain. Cover in melted butter and salt and pepper.

Bryan and I aren't huge fans of cabbage, but we are out portions. If you like cabbage this is a great and easy way to serve it. If you don't like cabbage, I haven't found a way to cook it so I like it.

Chunky Vegetable Soup p. 123-4

I think this is one of the first soups I've ever made. I'm not sure how I haven't made one before, but this is the first. Its turning cool in our area and soup is a natural comfort for Bryan and I.

This soup is one that you can vary a million ways. Mark Bittman suggests different "hard" and "soft" veggies to use. I opted for potatoes and green beans, some of our favorite veggies. I wasn't pleased with the green bean selection at the grocery, so I decided to use canned. And that was a big mistake. The green beans tasted canned and that ruined every bite I took with them. So learn from my mistake: NO CANNED STUFF!

Other than the green beans, the soup was delicious and easy and nutritious, everything a good soup should be.



Day after update: Bryan and I both thought it was better the day after. Bryan thought the overall taste was better. And I thought the green beans had lost the canned taste.

Roasted Asparagus p. 258

Ingredients: asparagus, oil, salt, lemon

I’ve roasted asparagus since I started cooking. Asparagus is my favorite vegetable. I say it frequently. When friends and family east asparagus they think of me. True story. Its healthy and delicious, never mind what happens after you digest it. That’s just a freaky coincidence.

To roast asparagus, put your trimmed vegetable on a roasting pan or cookie sheet, drizzle some olive oil on top and stir it around so it gets good and coated. Then sprinkle with salt. I used kosher salt this round and it was delicious. Once its prepped pop the pan in your preheated oven (450 degrees) and cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Once you are ready to stir, garnish with some fresh lemon juice. Mark Bittman offers a nice list of classic ways to serve your roasted asparagus. I opted for hard boiled eggs this time. It was nice, but didn’t really add anything special to the asparagus. But I would recommend adding a classic garlic if you are entertaining. It really ups the ante. On their own, though, roasted asparagus is the best, most tender and delicious vegetable you can put in your mouth.

Served with Chicken Braised in soy sauce and lemon.

Stir Fried Broccoli p. 267

Ingredients: oil, broccoli, salt, sugar, stock, soy sauce.

This dish is easy to prepare and also delicious. We love fresh broccoli and this is a recipe I will add to the weekly rotation. More flavorful than steamed broccoli and moister than roasted broccoli.

First you heat the oil in the pan and then add your chopped up broccoli. I wasn’t not sure how small or large to leave my pieces, so I did a variety of sizes. What I found that worked best was about bite-size. That way you don’t have to cut it later when its on your plate.

After a few minutes in the oil add your salt, sugar, and stock and let it simmer until most of the liquid is gone. This is where the broccoli picks up the flavor of your rich stock. Do not skimp here. Its much better when you use a hearty stock… preferably homemade. Water would be a big disappointment in taste.



Once its finished cooking, add a little soy sauce in there and serve.