Cook Day: Early Mother's Day

I know it's been a terribly long time since I've blogged. I've been storing it all away, though, even as I've been busy and distracted by other things.

On Friday, my good friend Jasmine and I decided to have a bit of an early Mother's Day dinner. We chose 5 recipes from 2 different cookbooks:

• Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten and
• The Kitchen Bible by Victoria Blashford-Snell

I've done recipes out of each book and most have been relatively straight-forward. We didn't think 5 recipes would give us too much trouble.

But needless to say, things didn't quite go our way...

Find out what we made after the jump!



Here was our menu:

• Bruschetta with Peppers and Gorgonzola - This recipe was delicious and not only that, but every person enjoyed it which is often hard to achieve. I'll add my modified recipe in a blog post soon. I used Marscapone instead of Gorgonzola, for starters.

• Roasted Beets, Feta and Arugula Salad - This one was also well-received but with less enthusiasm. 

• Herb-Crusted Chicken - Surprisingly, a big hit. During the cooking process, I was so sure this one was not going to go over well. It looked nothing like the pictures but every single person gave this recipe between a 9 and 10.

• Carrot and Parsnip Puree - This one was a big disappointment that night. I've been searching and searching for a good puree that is comparable to restaurants but have yet to find one that I like. I wouldn't make this ever again and won't share the recipe with you because it was just that bad not to mention very labor intensive.

• French Apple Tart - This was another one that I had very low expectations for. I had to make the pastry dough myself and I've never done that before so I didn't think this would turn out well. However, the instructions in the recipe were very good and it turned out delicious. I will definitely be making this again and will share the recipe with you soon.

Overall, the cook day was a lot of fun. Jasmine and I had some conflict and argument but I think that's natural when you're working in a close environment and there are hot and sharp thing involved.