The New Chef's Journal

I recently took a trip to visit some college friends in Madison, Wisconsin. While there I teamed up to make dinner with my friend Anna, the author of the food blog Dining and Opining , which discusses both recipes and the historical, environmental, political,cultural and health impacts of food. Since Anna and her husband Justin are vegetarians, I needed to find a vegetarian recipe. They also requested that I make something that could use up as many of the vegetables they had received in their most recent CSA (community-supported agriculture) box, as they were going out of town for week. To meet these requirements I decided to use a baked penne with roasted vegetables recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis, though I did not follow it closely. Giada's recipe calls for the following vegetables: 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes 4 cremini mushrooms, ha...

For dinner tonight I made turkey burgers stuffed with goat cheese and spinach. This recipe uses the turkey burgers I posted a few weeks ago, with a goat cheese, cream cheese and chopped spinach stuffing which I found on nothingbutcountry.com . This is one of my favorite dishes that I've made for the blog thus far. The burgers were nice and juicy and the warm, melted cheese filling made it literally burst with flavor. I'd highly recommend trying these out. They would work just as well with beef as they did with the turkey. Ingredients: For the meat: 1 1/4 ground turkey (I use the 93% fat free, because the 99% is too dry) Zest of one lemon About 1/4 of a large red onion, finely diced A dash of each of the following: dijon mustard, soy sauce, sriracha hot sauce, salt, pepper, basil and crushed red pepper flakes. For the filling: 4 ounces goat cheese 2 ounces cream cheese 1/2 a package of frozen chopped spinach Directions 1. Mix the burger ingredients and make them into 8 relat...

I made this skillet cornbread to go along with the chili I posted last week. The recipe comes from the Food Network . I was happy with how this recipe turned out, as it made a very nice accompaniment for the chili. Ingredients 1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/3 cup whole milk 1 cup buttermilk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and place a 9-inch cast iron skillet inside to heat while you make the batter. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk in the milk, buttermilk, and eggs. Whisk in almost all of the melted butter, reserving about 1 tablespoon for the skillet later on. 3. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of the hot skillet ...

For dinner on Sunday I decided to make white bean chicken chili and skillet cornbread. I was inspired by the amazing chili at Ted's Bulletin on 8th Street SE in Washington, DC. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it yet. My version is based on a recipe from onceuponachef.com . This turned out very well, though it wasn't quite as good as the stuff at Ted's. I'll be posting the recipe and pictures for the cornbread in a couple days. This recipe is easy enough to make, you just need to let it simmer for a long time to let it thicken and for the flavors to blend. Definitely worth a try if you're a chili fan. Ingredients 3 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes  1 teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons salt, divided 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (about 2 medium onions) 1 red bell pepper, diced 6 medium cloves garlic, minced 2 po...