Food goodness

Found in The Nest , Holiday 2006 issue, from Giada de Laurentiis Geoff and I tried this one tonight, and it's excellent. Smells really wonderful, too. 4 sprigs fresh thyme 1 large fresh rosemary sprig 1 bay leaf 1 T olive oil 1 t unsalted butter 1 cup chopped onion 3 oz pancetta or bacon, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 5-3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 2 14-oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 3/4 cup elbow macaroni freshly ground black pepper 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 T extra-virgin olive oil 1. Wrap thyme, rosemany, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it with kitchen twine. (We didn't have twine, so we knotted the cheesecloth.) 2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy saucepan (we used a 5-qt pot, and it worked well) over a medium flame. Add the onion, pancetta, and garlic, and saute until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, beans, and sachet of herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease

Got this from Rachael Ray, 365: No Repeats I can't believe I haven't posted this one already. 4 quart-size ziploc bags 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 5-oz bag of salted pretzels, any shape 1 T fresh thyme leaves, chopped freshly ground black pepper 2 eggs vegetable oil, for frying 2 T unsalted butter 2 T all-purpose flour 2 cups milk 2 cups grated sharp yellow cheddar cheese 1 cup grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese 2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown mustard salt 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (generous handful), chopped 1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped 1 large sour dill pickle, finely chopped 1 lemon, cut into wedges Sprinkle a little water in the baggies. Place 1 chicken breast in each bag and seal it up, pushing out excess air. Use a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan and pound each breast until flat, just shy of busting out of the bag. Repeat with the other 3 chicken breasts. Place the pretzels in a food processor or blender and grind until fine. (I

I found an article on NPR.org that talked about pomegranates. At the bottom of the post were three recipes, including one for pomegranate soup. We made it last night, and it turned out really well. Geoff made several remarks about how good it was, and we're likely to make it again before they go out of season in January. A word to the wise: As the article says, pomegranates are a "labor-intensive fruit." It takes a little time to get the seeds out of the darned thing, but the reward is worth it. Look to the sidebar for hints on how to seed it without too much of a mess. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6411097 FYI: We seeded two pomegranates, and got about 2 cups of seeds. We still have some leftover, after making the soup. I think Geoff is going to put them on his salads this week.

I've got a ton of blackberries in the freezer from when Becky, Geoff and I went picking this summer. Determined to do something with them, I set out today to find a recipe. Instead of reprinting the recipe here, I'm just going to link to it , and send you all to this fantastic food blog. The cake smells really good (I haven't eaten it yet), and it was easy to make, entirely with ingredients I already had in the house. Super quick, and if it tastes as good as it looks, I'll be making this a lot more. I think it'd probably also work with blueberries, if you've got them. Maybe even raspberries.