The Madison Bistro

Entries tagged as ‘pasta’

New Home

March 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Just a quick note to let you know that my blog has a new home: My Madison Bistro. For an index of recipes, simply click on this link: Recipes

Here is just a sampling of the recipes on the new site – click on any of the links to take you directly to the blog post and recipe.

Blackberry Lime Pudding Cakes

Summer Fruit Crumble
crumble

Lemon Cake
Lemon Cake

Lemon Tarts with Raspberries
Lemon Tarts with Raspberries

Weekends with Julia: Brown-Braised Onions
brown-braised onions

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream, aka the best cupcake I’ve ever had in my life!
vanilla bean cupcake

Weekends with Julia: Beef Braised in Red Wine

Summer Fruit Tart
Summer Fruit Tart

Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart
tomato and goat cheese tart

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
peanut butter crispy bar

Lemon Risotto with Spring Vegetables
lemon risotto with spring vegetables

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
stuffed mushrooms

Categories: Breakfast · Dessert · Holiday · Low-Carb · Main Course · Side Dish · Vegetarian
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Macaroni and Cheese

March 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Mac and Cheese

I have a confession. I pretty much refused to eat mac and cheese until I got to college. Yes, I was such a picky eater when I was young that I refused to eat what was a staple to most kids. And when I say mac and cheese, I refer to the stuff that comes out of a box labeled Kraft.

Mac and Cheese

My love of cheese took me beyond the box of Kraft, though Kraft still has its place every now and then. This particular Barefoot Contessa recipe is excellent, though you may want to ignore the “serves 2″ part of the recipe, or you will likely be clutching your stomach in pain after dinner. However, for presentation purposes, I do still love to make it in the individual gratin dishes.

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Categories: Main Course · Vegetarian
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Anne Burrell’s Pasta Bolognese

March 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Pasta Bolognese

My history with this dish is…interesting. I know “interesting” is kind of a cop-out when it comes to word choice, but because it’s so all-encompassing, I couldn’t resist. And, of course, it doesn’t actually give away too much.

When I watched the very first episode of Anne’s show, she made Pasta Bolognese. I was hooked by how delicious her dish looked, and I was a bit intrigued by how very, very thoroughly she seasoned the dish with salt. Could it be possible by simply salting my cooking a bit more, I too could achieve fabulous results?

Carrots mirepoix
Browning the Tomato Paste Pasta Bolognese

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Categories: Main Course
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Sesame Chicken Pasta

February 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment

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There are two kinds of people in this world, those who like cilantro, and those who hate it. I am a cilantro lover and as such, it’s difficult for me to understand why some people have such an aversion to it. What, exactly, is so offensive about it?

Then again, I should probably keep my mouth shut, as my food aversions list is rather long.

If you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner, give this dish a try. If you prefer starving to cilantro, simply skip it in this dish.

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Categories: Main Course · Quick Meal
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Fettucine Alfredo

February 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

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Fettucine Alfredo is one of those dishes that is very simple to make, yet it doesn’t always turn out quite the way I want it to. So I decided to follow a recipe.

What a mistake!

There are apparently people out there who do enjoy lemon cream pasta (which is what this dish tasted like), but I am not one of them. At first I wasn’t sure how this recipe could garner 4 stars, but then I thought back to some other ratings I’ve seen on Food Network’s website. Let’s see, a number of people have given a recipe five stars without ever having made it (because it looked good!), others completely change the recipe and like the results (five stars for the chef’s version!), and I’m pretty sure at some point someone gave the recipe five stars because they liked her hair that day.

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Categories: Main Course · Quick Meal · Vegetarian
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Spaghetti with Meat & Mushroom Sauce

February 7, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Spaghetti with Meat & Mushroom Sauce

I have a confession: this was a freezer meal. You see, I’ve been really wanting to make Anne Burrell’s Bolognese again (and boy, do I have a story to go with that dish – stay tuned), but I had some meat & mushroom sauce in my freezer that I really had to use first. This is another one of my very own recipes that isn’t really a recipe, it’s just something that I cook. However, the last time I made it, I happened to write down exactly what I did.

And, it freezes beautifully, so when you have a night like I did last night, where you simply don’t want to cook (there’s that dishes thing again) but know you should, you can whip up a meal in minutes.

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Categories: Main Course
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