Five Acres with a View

This recipe for  Hungarian Goulash from an ancient Cutco cookbook  is a favorite from my childhood.

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I made soda bread today using this recipe from Simply Recipes. The article suggested using a cast iron skillet to bake it in the oven, which worked very well.  I followed the recipe except for substituting currents for raisins.  It was quite yummy.

An Irish Chef talks about Irish Soda Bread at Irish soda bread: Not actually Irish? – TODAY Food and wine.

We’ve recently discovered that our waffle maker does a good job of cooking thick cut bacon as well.  (This is yet another Alton Brown suggestion.) Our maker turns out flat, crispy bacon in about six minutes.  If you want more ways to use your waffle maker, go to the Waffleizer, a weblog devoted to alternate uses for a waffle iron.

This weekend, Jack made an Alton Brown pasta recipe, Cracker Noodle Do, that incorporated two of Paula Deans four food groups:  crackers and butter.  It was very tasty with a little grated parmesan added.  Jack has started watching Alton Brown’s show on the Food Network.  Be afraid,  be very afraid.

Jack received a copy of  Alton Brown’s Good Eats – The Early Years from my sister for Christmas.  The poor guy didn’t even know who Alton Brown is.  We also received some Omaha Steaks from a friend.  So New Year’s Eve Jack prepared the first application in the book:  Pan Seared Rib Eye Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network. The steak was wonderful. (I plan on reading the cookbook myself when Jack stops fondling it.)

In a series of graphs, The New York Times shows the frequency of requests of various recipes in various parts of the United States at Allrecipes.com:  What’s Cooking on Thanksgiving.

Stephanie, at A Year of Slow Cooking, has an unnatural obsession with her slow cooker.  She’s okay with that.

Upscale restaurants are known for their beautiful presentation of food. Fancy Fast Food is a web log that applies these techniques to present fast food. The Colonel’s Chicken Corn Chowder looks pretty good to me. The sidebar explains:

These photographs show extreme makeovers of actual fast food items purchased at popular fast food restaurants. No additional ingredients have been added except for an occasional simple garnish.

Jack made this recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew IV that he found at Allrecipes.  I don’t usually care for stew made in a slow cooker, but this turned out very well, even without the wine.