030: March Cooking Notes
Everything I cooked last month
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March was the month that yanked me right out of my cooking rut, everybody. Thank god. Between my son’s birthday, family visiting to celebrate, and the acquisition of some cookbooks—you guessed it: Alison Roman’s new cookbook of desserts, Sweet Enough, among them—I have had a lot of cooking projects to be excited about. Home cooking is most often done out of necessity, but my motivations were varied: celebratory (birthday cake!), indulgent (the 5 desserts I have already made from a cookbook that came out as recently as March 27), and, again, necessary (cooking for visitors). I cooked my way through Roddy’s “minestre” recipes (pasta e fagioli/patate/cece/lenticchia), and I’ve made three versions of Roman’s cover dessert, Raspberries & Cream, which initially didn’t hit for me (more on that below). I made a date-heavy carrot cake during my first virtual cooking class (fun!), and a Cherry Frangipane Cake when we had guests. Despite still waking up to below freezing tempertures, it’s beginning to feel like spring—the magnolia trees are beginning to flower already. Today is the first day of our outdoor farmer’s market, so I am eager for spring weather and spring produce.
The Notables
Chicken with tomatoes and sweet peppers (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome/The Guardian) / I rarely roast sweet peppers, it being a somewhat laborious process (at least by my pathetic standards), but I’m so glad I did this time. This is a beautiful dish, and we had plenty of leftovers for red pepper toasts in the following days.
Cumin-roasted Arctic Char with salad & fennel vinaigrette (Mina Stone’s Lemon, Love & Olive Oil) / this is my favorite fish preparation (ideal for salmon as well). The fish gets roasted in the oven until the skin is pulling away and beautifully crispy. I always serve it, shredded into pieces, on top of lemony arugula or other nice greens. A perfect meal.
Raspberries & Cream (Alison Roman’s Sweet Enough, recipe here) / I’m including this here, not because I am a devotée, but precisely because it didn’t quite hit for me, and I made three different versions to try to find one that worked. To say Sweet Enough is highly anticipated for me is an understatement so it’s hard not to have high expectations of the recipe gracing the cover of the book. The first version (following the spare instructions closely), was too tart for me, with only the raspberries and sour cream going on. Adding more sugar didn’t work. Using blackberries instead (for their milder tartness level) didn’t work. The flavor just wasn’t there (maybe my berries weren’t great?). Once I layered crumbled up Amaretto cookies into it I was on board. For me it needed that extra layer of texture and flavor variation.
Pasta e Patate (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome/similar recipe here) / the first, and I think, best of the five Italian pasta soups that I made this month, with Roddy as my guide. It’s amazing how delicious these classic starchy dishes are. They are now my go-to when we are cooking for out of town visitors. All are quick to get started and simple to monitor while hosting.
Cherry Frangipane Cake (Alexis deBoschnek’s Side Dish) / I’ve made several versions of this cake, from deBoschnek’s newsletter (and cookbook To the Last Bite). I think of the rhubarb version often and can’t wait to make it again as soon as rhubarb begins appearing at the market. This one is a wonderful application for frozen fruit—much appreciated during the last weeks of winter. Foolproof and delicious.
Cauliflower, Leek, & Gruyere Soup (Saltie: A Cookbook) / oh boy, this soup. It’s a bit like broccoli cheddar. So warming and satisfying when you’re in the mood for comfort food.
Bucatini with zucchini, Parmesan, and eggs (Rachel Roddy’s An A to Z of Pasta, My Kitchen in Rome, similar recipe at The Guardian) / this might be my new favorite pasta. I keep describing it as a vegetarian carbonara, which I’m sure a Roman would take issue with, but the preparation is very similar, minus the pork, plus the veg. The zucchini is sautéed along with sliced onions, for a very long time, until they become silky ribbons. This mixture, plus the egg/parm/pepper/pasta water mixture creates the silkiest pasta sauce.
Cold Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting (Alison Roman’s Sweet Enough) / I got into Alison’s virtual cooking class, and it was super fun and instructive. This version of carrot cake omits nuts, and goes heavy on the dates, making it perfectly textured and supple. Carrot cake has never been my favorite—I think of it as being dry—but the dates give it a moist chew. Despite Alison saying repeatedly to let the cake cool completely before cutting into it, I couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve learned my lesson. It was much better cold the following day. Eaten warm, it felt rich.
Sausages with White Beans and Sage (recipe, Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome) / I made this dish twice last month. So crazy good and nourishing. Sage makes everything better. Do you trust me that this book is full of hits yet?
Turkey meatballs with zucchini and mascarpone with marinara sauce (recipe, Colu Henry) / These meatballs are perhaps the most satisfying meal I made all month. Without a doubt, it was the biggest hit in our household. The scant two tablespoons of mascarpone make them incredibly airy, and the zucchini adds wonderful texture and flavor. It had never occurred to me to grate zucchini before but I’m finding it to be a boon for my cooking game. I’ve begun adding grated zucchini to scrambled eggs (to get it into the baby’s diet), but we’ve been loving it just as much.
Everything I Cooked
3.1.23 / Spinach frittata; Raspberries & Cream (Alison Roman’s Sweet Enough/Home Movies)
3.3.23 / Chicken with tomatoes and sweet peppers (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.4.23 / Omelette
3.5.23 / Pork noodle soup with broccoli rabe & fennel (recipe, Alison Roman)
3.6.23 / Roasted red pepper toasts; Broccoli toasts; Cumin-roasted Arctic Char with salad & fennel vinaigrette (Mina Stone’s Lemon, Love & Olive Oil)
3.7.23 / Omelette; Broccoli toasts with gochugaru & parmesan; Pasta e Patate (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.9.23 / Pasta e fagioli (recipe, Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.10.23 / Pork soup with broccoli rabe & fennel (Alison Roman); Cheese manicotti (store-bought) with marinara sauce (Alison Roman); Blackberries & Cream (variation on Alison Roman’s Raspberries & Cream)
3.11.23 / Cherry & Frangipane Cake (Alexis deBoschnek); Pasta e Ceci 2 (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.12.23 / Classic Birthday Cake (yellow cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting) (recipe, Alison Roman [an updated version appears in Sweet Enough])
3.13.23 / Cauliflower, Leek, & Gruyere Soup (Saltie: A Cookbook)
3.14.23 / Sausages & White Beans with Sage (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.17.23 / Pot of chickpeas; Pasta e Ceci (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.18.23 / Scrambled eggs with cream and toast; Pasta e Cece (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome); Salmon and Tomatoes Roasted in Foil (adapted from Mark Bittman’s NYT recipe)
3.19.23 / Scrambled eggs with cream and toast; Bolognese sauce (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome/similar recipe at The Guardian); Spaghettini with bolognese sauce
3.20.23 / Curly pasta with the rest of the bolognese
3.21.23 / Scrambled eggs with cream & toast; Potato gnocchi (store-bought) with homemade marinara sauce; Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (Alison Roman)
3.22.23 / Broccoli Pasta; Roasted sweet potato; steamed broccoli
3.23.23 / Pot of pinto beans; Cabbage & Ham Soup (Saltie: A Cookbook) w/ potato subbed for celery root
3.24.23 / Refried pinto beans (Rancho Gordo Bean Club newsletter); Refried bean and parmesan quesadillas; Meatballs (recipe, Alison Roman) & Marinara Sauce (Colu Henry); Pot of Alubia Blanca beans; Raspberries & Cream (Alison Roman) w/ crushed amaretto cookies
3.25.23 / Scrambled eggs w/ cream & English muffins; Kimchi Fried Rice (Solid Starts); Pasta and lentil soup (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.26.23 / Toasted Annie’s waffles (w/ peanut butter for tycho)
3.27.23 / Spinach scramble w/ avocado & melon; Cara Cara orange vodka tonics; Bucatini with zucchini, parmesan and eggs (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome/similar recipe at The Guardian)
3.28.23 / Tomato scramble (w/ leftover passata); Broiled pork chops with fennel and coriander seed (Rachel Roddy’s My Kitchen in Rome)
3.29.23 / Beans & greens with spinach
3.30.23 / Mushroom scramble; Spring Tofu Soup (recipe, Alison Roman)
3.31.23 / Annie’s waffles w/ peanut butter; Cara Cara & blueberries; Turkey meatballs with zucchini and mascarpone with marinara sauce (recipe, Colu Henry)
xo AV
We’ve made the semolina cake with lemon and fennel from sweet enough twice and it’s been a bit both times!
Thanks for the heads up on Roman's carrot cake!! I have this one bookmarked to make.