Magnolia Table Update

The fall season always re-inspires me in the kitchen and I've had my Magnolia Cookbook out often lately, piddling away at each recipe when the right mood hits.  It's worn and a bit tattered by now, with flour on the black binding, tiny speckles of red sauce or small oil stains on the inside, but it's easily become one of my most treasured kitchen companions.  Setting out to try every recipe in the book has been such a worthwhile endeavor.  I've challenged myself to try things I normally would have passed over (hello fish tacos), have discovered new appreciation for unique flavors and combinations (thank you gorgonzola flatbread), and have shared my love of Magnolia with many sweet friends (small group apple pie and leftover soup to a teacher friend).  It's been a fun process and I have every intention of finishing what I started!  Hopefully in time for her next cookbook to come out. ;)

Here's what I've been making as of late...

|| Lemon Lavender Icebox Cookies | I made these the first week of school with my bountiful crop of fresh lavender.  I didn't know if the kids would like these, so I put most of them in the freezer to save for a rainy day.  But to my surprise, they loved them, especially in a big glass of cold milk.  

|| Parchment Paper Cod with Summer Vegetables | This one was definitely a step out of my comfort zone!  We aren't big fish eaters around here and this was a stretch.  It looked SO good as I was preparing it all, but in all honesty, no amount of white wine could disguise the pungent smell and flavors.  

|| Joanna's Perfect Pie Crust and Dulce de Leche Apple Pie | If I had to pick my top five favorite recipes I've made thus far, Joanna's pie crust would hands-down be on the list.  It's easy, no fail (so far), and tastes just like a homemade pie crust should - buttery golden goodness.  This dulce de leche pie was quite the process, but seriously delicious.  Joanna bakes her apples in a saucepan before putting them in the pie shell.  This technique eliminates the watery apples you often get at in your pie plate, especially a day or so after baking.  It worked and the pie tasted just as good three days later.  And by then I had completely forgotten how many dishes I dirtied in the process of baking it!

|| King Ranch Chicken Casserole | This casserole is apparently a Texas staple and combines chicken, lots of cheese, black beans, sour cream, and sliced corn tortilla shells.  It was spicier than I prefer, but my favorite part of the dish was the accompanying jicama and avocado slaw.  It was light, refreshing, and delicious, and paired really well with the casserole.   

|| Layered Arugula Salad with Pears and Pomegranates | I love when this cookbook provides the perfect inspiration for special gatherings and events.  I made this layered arugula salad for IF:Table at Katy's last week and it was delicious paired with her homemade lasagna and garlic bread.  I substituted the blue cheese with feta and used champagne vinegar instead of the pear vinegar it called for.  It tasted like it looks, pretty and full of flavor.   

|| Chicken and Wild Rice Soup | Another major win with this one!  I loved the chunk chicken breast tossed in flour and thrown right into the soup pot to saute with the onions, celery, and mushrooms.  We simmered this on the stove top all afternoon on Sunday and it definitely hit the spot with some warm bread and goat cheese spread.  The kids even liked this one! 

Ashley Cooks Magnolia || Part 4

Coming in today with the second part of my Magnolia Cookbook challenge update.  Yesterday, I shared my ten most recent favorite recipes from Joanna Gaines' popular new cookbook, and today I'm sharing the honorable mentions.  I should preface this by saying that I haven't made a bad recipe yet, some are just not our favorites while some I will be making for years to come!  As a matter of fact, I think I've whipped up JoJo's chocolate chip cookies a dozen times since purchasing the cookbook and I'm not sure I'll ever make another chocolate chip cookie recipe again!  The following recipes were all good, but either the process, timeliness, or taste weren't as "worth it" to me as other recipes I've made so far.  Here's what I've got...

1.  Tomato Fresh Salsa || I have yet to find a garden fresh salsa recipe that I truly love.  I prefer my salsa chunky, more like a pico de gallo, and don't love how the blender makes the tomaotes runny and even a little foamy.  That's the issue I had with this salsa, which may be a product of the cook, not the recipe itself.  It was still good over some Tuesday night tacos, though!  

2. Grilled burgers with Bacon Tomato Sweet Drip Jam || I made the jalapeno drip jam earlier this summer and it was both easy and excellent!  Definitely a make-again recipe in my book.  This one, though, was just a little weird.  The recipe called for pork belly, to which I found at Hy-Vee, however, they didn't slice it in chunks for me and this part alone took forever.  The skin (or fat) on a pork belly is both thick and a little unappealing, and I wasn't even sure how to go about dicing it into the small pieces the recipe calls for.  It took a long time to fry, made quite the greasy mess of my stove top, but eventually came together with the other ingredients to form into a sauce.  It was quite delicious on burgers, but also super messy!  And it made a huge batch, but sadly, we weren't sure how to use it up.    

3. I made this lemon poppyseed sweet bread as an after school snack for the kids on the first day of school.  It was good, but in my book, it doesn't compare to Jo's "After School Banana Bread" in the breakfast section of her cookbook.  This one wasn't as moist as I was expecting, and the glaze hardened on the bread and made a bit of a mess when slicing.  

4. Curried Chicken Salad || I loved this recipe, but think I still prefer a more standard, chicken/grape/celery chicken salad to this more savory one.  I do love the curry kick and my favorite part was the crunch of the water chesnuts.  The toasted almonds got a little soggy over time, so I'd maybe suggest adding them as a topping when serving.  Other than that, this kept well in the fridge for about a week.

5. I made this for our marriage small group on a Sunday night and it was rich and yummy.  Sure, it wasn't the best dessert I've ever had, nor super inventive, but it was quick and tasty, especially with a scoop of ice cream.  

6. Joanna's Grilled Havarti, Tomato, and Basil sandwiches are really good!  If it wasn't for the herbed mayo recipe on the BLTs, this probably would have made the top ten list!  It's a simple summer meal that combined garden tomatoes, garden basil, and cheese - a perfect trifecta if you ask me.  You could also substitute fresh mozzarella instead of the havarti for a softer bite.  

7. Joanna's simple table salad was good.  I like anything that combines sweet and savory, and the mix of dried cherries, feta cheese, and mandarin oranges worked well.  I also made the candied pecans and they were great, too.  

8. We made the Grilled Salmon with Lemons and Creamy Cucumber Salad earlier this summer, too.  Neither Beau nor I are salmon eaters, but we decided if we were salmon eaters, we would like this dish!  The fresh dill, lemon juice, and cucumber salad made for an excellent combination to pair with the fishy dish, and I scarfed down the rest of the cucumber salad for lunch the next few days.  But the smell of salmon is just one my senses will never get used to.  

9. I finally made one of Jo's many quiche recipes in the cookbook, starting with the Three-Cheese Quiche on a rainy Saturday morning.  Beau and I decided we like cheese, and we like eggs, but we're just not sure we like them in a pie crust.  I think it's the pudding texture or something.  Now that baked apple pie recipe, though?  That's a crust dish I can get down with. ;)  

Ashley Cooks Magnolia || Part 3

It's been a little while since I've posted an update on how my adventures in cooking through the Magnolia Table Cookbook are going.  Maybe because I've been too busy cooking!  I am currently 53 recipes in, so over a third of the way through this adventure and I am still absolutely loving it!  As is my husband!  My cooking game is on fire lately and both the creativity and challenge of finding three or four new recipes to weave into each week has kept me focused on something I truly love to do.  It was fun to work many of her recipes into our late-summer garden produce, and I love pulling my cookbook off the shelf to find the perfect accompaniment to special celebrations and milestones around here.  Lemon poppyseed break as an after school treat on the first day of school.  Brownie pie for couples' small group Sunday night.  Lemon pie for IF:Table.  And warm, fresh out of the oven cinnamon squares on a rainy Labor Day weekend morning.  

Summer was fun, but last Sunday afternoon I got out my pretty meal planner and paged through the cookbook to pull out all the recipes that would accompany fall.  I was giddy!  The cookbook is stacked with savory soups, comfort food casseroles, and fresh baked desserts, and I can't wait to get started.  I've come to discover Joanna and I think a lot alike in the kitchen and I'm confident her fall collection of recipes is going to fit quite well at our table.  

I've curated a top ten of my favorite recipes as of late.  Then I'll have another post tomorrow with all the honorable mentions!  

10) This tomato bruschetta was thee perfect start to a summer Friday night at home.  We used some of the first tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden, which I'm convinced is the reason it tasted so good.  If you're used to whipping up a fresh bruschetta, Joanna's recipe is quite different than any one I've made.  The tomatoes soak in a balsamic marinade before going on the freshly toasted bread, and are then topped with a freshly grated fontina cheese.  It's all baked for an additional few minutes so the cheese can melt.  The result is quite good, especially if you like zesty vinegary flavors!  And we're convinced the key to any good cheese dish is freshly grated, always!

9) I picked 14 jalapenos from the garden one morning and whipped up seven jars of Joanna's pickled jalapenos.  I've never done my own jalapenos before, but as I could have guessed, the most time consuming part was slicing all the hot little peppers.  It took awhile, but there's just nothing more satisfying than turning your own home-grown veggies into pantry items you can use through the year.  

The next night, we hosted a summer dinner and every dish was from the cookbook.  Beau grilled amazing beef tenderloin (we used the Magnolia recipe but grilled it instead of baked it), I served it with pickled jalapeno sour cream (using my pickled jalapenos), and for sides I made the garlic and herb baby tomatoes, and creamed corn spoonbread.  The corn could be made ahead of time, the tomatoes were the perfect way to use my abundance of cherry tomatoes, and the beef tenderloin was melt-in-your-mouth goodness! 

8) Another way we put our summer tomatoes to good use was with BLTs.  Three times a week sometimes!  I loved Joanna's recipe for BLTs, especially adding her herbed mayo recipe to the bread.  We then used the leftover mayo as a sandwich spread for the rest of the week.  Definitely a must-make from the book!

7) The beef enchiladas were easy and delicious.  I had never warmed my tortillas up with olive oil prior to filling them, but I think it added a little flavor and crunch when baked in the oven.  I served them with Joanna's apple cider salad and the flavors went so well together.    

6) I loved this twist on the easy caprese salad, using fresh peaches in place of tomatoes, and a white balsamic drizzle instead of the usual dark balsamic.  A tangy, sweet, and healthy summer lunch or pre-dinner dish.  

5) One of my favorite recipes would have to be the buttermilk ranch dressing.  I had never made my own ranch dressing before and I'm telling you, I could have drank the stuff from the jar!  We ate it with everything for two weeks - fresh veggies, salads, Ritz crackers, etc.  I'd love to keep a jar in the fridge at all times; however, I'll be my waistline would prefer I keep my veggies naked. ;)

4) I made Joanna's fresh lemon pie for IF:Table this summer and it was unbelievable!  I bought a store-bought gluten free crust, but everything else was homemade.  The fresh whipped cream is an absolute must with this one.  Holy yum!

3) I have to admit, Joanna's blackened fish tacos with purple cabbage and mango slaw was one of the most daunting recipes for me to tackle.  Other than grilled salmon, I had never attempted fish before, really because we're just not big fish eaters around here.  That said, I love me some fish tacos and knew this would be a recipe to make this summer.  I made them last Sunday night and they are now one of our favorite dishes from the book!  I used tilapia fillets because that's what Hy-Vee carried, and fried them in batches in our cast iron skillet.  They were delicious, especially with the fresh mango slaw, cilantro, and lime.    

2) We were also big fans of the ricotta pancakes!  I loved the vanilla flavoring that stood out, and the ricotta made the batter smooth and rich.  I'm kind of a pancake connoisseur, and these definitely stood up to the test. 

1) And last but not least, Joanna's cinnamon squares.  These were daunting, too, as Joanna herself called them a "labor of love," but we found ourselves with a slow and rainy morning last weekend and decided to give them a go.  The dough went together like a dream, but I ran into issues when trying to spread them out and fold them.  It kept sticking to my butcher block and created quite the mess.  In all honesty, I almost threw it all away!  And boy am I glad I didn't!  They may not have looked pretty, but they tasted amazing!  They're a mix between a cinnamon roll and a bar and they are just right for a hot cup of coffee or a big glass of milk.  And when I looked back at the cookbook after making these little beasts, I notice Joanna's description of them were so similar to the process we encountered, too.  "The kids understand that the bit of extra effort required for these squares makes them something really special."  

Thankful for my little sous chef who loves cracking eggs and playing in the dough as much as her mama does.  

That's a wrap for now!  Stay tuned for lots more delicious honorable mentions tomorrow!