Fork and The Cork

As one of the newest endeavors of Fork and The Cork, I joined Mario's Weekend Cooking Challenge.  The premise is simple:  Once a month we cook the same recipe, compare notes, and discuss it in the group. Please post a photo of your finished dish!!! Many photos will be posted in the Martha Stewart Radio Blog!!! This Challenge was created by Mario Bosquez, host of Living Today, on the Martha Stewart channel of Sirius Satellite Radio.  The Challenge was a success, and my picture made it on Martha Stewart's Radio Blog!  Check it out at: http://theradioblog.marthastewart.com/2010/03/results-from-living-todays-weekend-cooking-challenge.html#more-4098 My picture is #3 out of 15, I am Listener Laurie.  The recipe was chosen by Mario:  Spinach Torta , by James Beard Award-Winning author Laura Schenone.  Spinach Torta via Hoboken This recipe is part of Living Today’s weekend cooking challenge. The recipe is adapted from “The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken...

I've always been of the kitchen mindset that any dish is really best, made from scratch . Or almost entirely from scratch (clearly am not going to make my own cheese, milk a cow, raise chickens, etc. etc. but I am  extremely thankful for those that do do that). But I recently did a " taste test " of sorts with a prepared product, vs one made from scratch, and the prepared product came out on top. Mind you it was a product from Williams Sonoma so there was a good possibility it's going to be really good . Have I ever mentioned that I worked at Williams Sonoma (thanks to some coercing from my oh so charming brother in law)? It was a seasonal gig, and the discount was worth every minute of it (my family agreed-- I did everyone's Christmas shopping for them that year, after work). Ok, so what is it that the self proclaimed kitchen goddess/warrior can't top the shop with?? Of all things, it's a pulled pork starter. I discovered slow roasted pulled pork ...

My mother didn’t really cook. But she did make key lime pie, until the day the top of the evaporated milk container accidentally ended up in the pie and she decided cooking took too much concentration. — William Norwich Forging ahead in my "I KNOW HOW TO COOK" challenge, I am learning some important lessons: 1. It really only takes a few ingredients to make incredible food. 2. Either the French are very VAGUE by nature, or in the interest of supporting their stereotype of American's being terrible cooks they are omitting details like amounts of ingredients from recipes. 3. Even the French think it's ok to use purchased puff pastry! Never was going to make it myself, and this just reaffirms WHY. 4. My own home cook "instincts" are being put to good use-- I'll be ready for an Iron Chef battle after this little project. 5. Don't look at the pictures in the book-- let's just say it's not like Martha Stewart directed the food photo...