Sunday, January 18, 2009

Cookbook Casting Call: Report Card for Kitchen Sense and A New Week's Book/Menu

The first week of Cookbook Casting Call has come to a close on a pretty high note. The last dish I made from Kitchen Sense was the Turnip and Potato Galette. Like most of the dishes I made this week, this one was quite delicious and pretty easy to put together even if it doesn't photograph very well.

Kitchen Sense:  Potato and Turnip Gratinee

The only dish I didn't make was the Spaghetti Frittata because I had planned on using the leftover Seafood Pasta as the spaghetti component of this recipe. Since that recipe wasn't exactly to my liking, I didn't have any leftover pasta and as I'm trying to stay within the confines of the winter version of the Pantry Plan, I chose to skip this recipe.

Regardless, I think I have enough of an opinion of "Kitchen Sense" to give the cookbook a grade of A-/B+. I would have given the book a solid A except I think some of the directions of the recipes are bit confusing or, as in the case of the seafood pasta, a bit off.

The Winter Pantry Plan grocery total for last week was: $21.07. The most expensive thing I bought was Gouda cheese for the turnip and potato galette.

Now, on to this upcoming week's cookbook. For this week's installment of Cookbook Casting Call we will be cooking from the 1986 edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Cookbook Auditions: Betty Crocker Cookbook

I received this cookbook as a college graduation present and have used it quite a bit, especially as I grew up in a household that used the 1968 version of the cookbook for family meal planning. A side note: I have since acquired both the 1968 version and the original 1950 edition for my collection.

Here is the menu and like last week recipes from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook are noted with an "*".

Menu for 1/19 - 1/24: Week Two Cookbook Casting Call and Winter Pantry Plan

Monday 1/19:
Lunch: Spinach Mushroom Salad*
Dinner: Baked Country Ham and Au Gratin Potatoes*

Tuesday 1/20:
Lunch: Leftover Spinach Mushroom Salad with Homemade croutons*
Dinner: Brunswick Stew with Baking Powder Biscuits*

Wednesday 1/21:
Lunch: Leftover Brunswick Stew
Dinner: Wartime Wednesday Surprise Ham Croquettes and salad
Dessert: Butterscotch Pudding*

Thursday 1/22:
Lunch: Leftover Brunswick Stew and salad
Dinner: Sweet and Sour Meatballs* with steamed rice

Friday 1/23:
Lunch: Leftover Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Dinner: Curried Tuna* and salad

Saturday 1/24:
Lunch: Mushroom Spread* on Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread*
Dinner: Out in NYC with Friends

I'll be shopping for the groceries tomorrow and based upon this menu, it looks like it should only be milk and half & half and some spinach for salads.

Turnip and Potato Galette
Adapted from Mitchell Davis' Kitchen Sense

3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1lb small, firm white turnips, peeled and sliced thin
1lb small, firm Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp crushed dried sage
2 Tbsp dried thyme, not ground
2 Tbsp dried lavender (optional)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
4 oz Gouda cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a deep 8" baking dish (round or square) and set aside. Combine salt, pepper, sage, thyme, lavender (if using), and flour and set aside. Combine Swiss and Gouda cheeses and set aside.

Arrange in layers to cover the entire bottom of pan and in order the following: Turnip, potato, onion, spice mixture, cheese mixture. Continue to do this until all the ingredients are used. This should result in about four layers. Make sure you end up with the cheese mixture on top.

Sprinkle Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top and dot top with butter. Bake for 1 hour and 30 mintues or until top is browned and a paring knife inserted in the middle comes out clean and the potatoes and turnips are cooked completely.