COOKBOOK PROJECT: Rosemary-Peach Bruschetta Chicken

Rosemary-Peach Bruschetta Chicken

 This latest recipe I tried was an interesting one. I've never combined peaches with bacon in a dinner before. This dish also included rosemary, lemon, shallots, mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes along with the bacon and peaches. 

Chicken in skillet

This recipe was easy to make. I love any recipe that I can use in my cast iron skillet. I would definitely make the rosemary chicken again, but I doubt I will make it with the mozzarella balls. I know this recipe is called "Bruschetta Chicken", but I found the melted mozzarella to be too messy, so I will not include it the next time I make this dish. 

Chicken in oven

Ok, now I'm off to find the next recipe to make from Tieghan Gerard's Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook!

COOKBOOK PROJECT: Extra-Smooth Hummus

 

This week I decided to make a pretty easy recipe from the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook, Extra-Smooth Hummus. I love Hummus and always buy a tub of it when I go to Costco. I've always wanted to make homemade Hummus, and this recipe was very easy. Like the title says, this Hummus is extra-smooth. It tastes great, but the next time I make it I'm going to increase the amount of garlic. I LOVE garlic, and I can't get enough, especially in Hummus.

The earliest known recipes for a dish resembling Hummus were recorded in cookbooks written in Cairo in the 13th century.

If you would like the recipe that I used, check out Tieghan Gerard's cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. I'm on my quest to make every recipe in this cookbook. Well, now I'm off to find my next recipe to make!

Cheers!

COOKBOOK PROJECT: Penne Alla Vodka Two Ways

 

Penne Alla Vodka Two Ways

For my second recipe from the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook, I went with Penne Alla Vodka Two Ways. The tomatoes are used two ways in this recipe, crushed and sun-dried. This was a pretty easy recipe, and it didn't take long at all to make. I love pasta, so I was looking forward to making this dish. 

Minced garlic

The ingredients for this recipe include: butter, garlic, crushed red pepper, vodka, crushed tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, heavy cream, penne pasta, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. I will not list the recipe here. You will need to purchase Tieghan Gerard's Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook for that.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Like I mentioned before, this recipe was pretty easy. The pasta turned out great, and I would definitely make this dish again. The cookbook offers a second recipe for this dish to be prepared as a pasta bake as well. I think next time I will try the pasta bake recipe.

COOKBOOK PROJECT: No-Knead Bread

No-Knead Bread

As I mentioned last week, one of my New Year's resolutions is to cook more at home. I figured a good way to motivate myself would be to cook my way through one of my favorite cookbooks. I chose Tieghan Gerard's Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook. I have been following Half Baked Harvest on social media for years from the recommendation of my Niece. I instantly fell in love with the amazing food photos. Everything looked so delicious! I have purchased two of Tieghan's cookbooks and have used every excuse to not cook more. I'm hoping the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook project will keep me motivated throughout the year to cook more, blog more and have fun with cooking!

I decided to start with an easy recipe, No-Knead Bread. I have never actually made homemade bread, except for banana bread. This bread recipe was super simple. Which I guess is why it's the title of the cookbook. 

Ingredients

I won't be posting the full recipes in any of my posts. If you would like the recipes for any of the food I make from the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook, you can purchase a copy here.

Furious IPA from Surly Brewing Company

I will list the ingredients for this recipe, but again, I will not publish the full recipe. Flour, instant yeast, kosher salt, beer and olive oil are all you need to make this bread. The beer I used for this recipe is Furious IPA from Surly Brewing Company out of Minneapolis, MN. I would have used a much lighter beer, but this is all I had in my fridge, as I don't really drink light beer. I would definitely recommend using a light beer for this recipe. The bread had a pretty strong beer smell and taste to it, due to the fact that I used an IPA.

Dough before rising

Dough going into the oven

Bread out of the oven

Fresh baked bread

This bread was very easy to make. The bread itself turned out great! The crust was perfectly crispy, and the bread was the perfect consistency. The next time I make this bread I will use the lighter beer. It will be perfect then! For my first time ever making a loaf of bread, I would say this was a success!

Now it's time to explore the cookbook to find the next recipe I will try.

Cheers!

Happy New Year!! Chow Down Seattle is Back!!

 

Happy New Year!! Chow Down Seattle is back!! It's been over two years since my last blog post, and over seven years since I posted on a regular basis. I have missed food blogging over the years, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to start food blogging again. I'm looking forward to blogging again. I have been using social media over the years to post about my food adventures, but I truly missed blogging. I know nowadays people would rather go to social media to get their news, food inspiration and daily distractions, but I'm hoping there are still a few of us out there that like to actually read blogs.

Another one of my New Year's resolutions is to cook at home more often. I figured the best way to do this would be to cook my way through one of my cookbooks. I know it's been done a thousand times, but I figured it would be a good way for me to stay motivated, try some new recipes and hopefully learn how to make some delicious food.

The cookbook I will be cooking through is Tieghan Gerard's Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. Tieghan's food looks so delicious and her food photography is amazing! I can't wait to start cooking my way through her recipes. You can check out the Half Baked Harvest website here.

So check back often as I cook my way through one of my favorite cookbooks!

Cheers!