Channeling Martha Stewart

I love cook books, especially ones with lots of pictures.

I came across this book at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago.

I was very excited because it had a picture with each recipe.  But I was a little nervous because it was a Martha Stewart cookbook and when I think of M.S. I invariably think of the need for minute amounts of very eccentric and expensive ingredients.  Not what I want in a cookbook.  But as I paged through this book, all the ingredients were normal; no truffle oil or saffron or anything like that.

I've made 3 recipes so far and they've all turned out pretty good!  The first one I made was Butternut Squash Soup.  I didn't take any pictures of it, but it wasn't bad.  It's not the best Butternut Squash soup I've ever had in my life, but it was pretty good.

Martha's version

The second recipe turned out great!  Tortilla and Black Bean Pie.  So good right away and even better the next day.  One of the ingredients was beer and I used a homemade beer that my cousin Todd made me.  It was a little sad to use, but we raised a toast to Todd as we poured the beer in the pan.  It added a great flavor!  I got out taco sauce and salsa to serve with it, but really just a little sour cream was all it needed.  I'll probably make a few changes to the recipe when I make it next time.  Mainly, I think I'll try to toast the tortillas in the oven for a few minutes ahead of time to crisp-en them up.

Right out of the oven!

Cut a bit too soon it sets up better after a few minutes of resting.

Last night for dinner I made Garlic Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes.  Again, very good.  The recipe is written to do on the grill, but since we just got a foot of snow, we did it in the oven and on a grill plate on the stove.  Very, very yummy.  Aaron and Esme loved it!  I did mix sweet potatoes in with the baby potatoes, cuz we are a sweet potato family. :)

Martha's

Mine

This will definitely be a regular at our house.

So right now I'm loving Martha.  There were two cookbooks like this and I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the other one as well.  Bon Appetit!