Instead of popping bottles to celebrate my online debut, I scrolled through the Instagram feed which was the totality of this 'food blog' until 2023. I plucked these gems from the pack to share with you, but found myself incredibly overwhelmed by all the good food we ate last year. I couldn't be more thankful for having no commute and therefore more margin to do what I love, friends who drive
by to help me make a dent in the dish, and a practical hobby that keeps on giving. Here were my top six recipes
(ahem, I posted about desserts separately).
Shepherd's Pie from Magnolia Table - I put off making this one because my husband is NOT a fan of Shepherd's Pie. He is also not a fan of any casserole-style dish. I put this on the table and he gave me a look that said "why did you make this*, you know I hate Shepherd's Pie" but I made sure we had Shepherd's Pie-loving friends coming over for dinner that night. I was scared this was going to be boring but it was not, which was such a joy to me after the man hours behind it. The beef in particular was well-seasoned and rich with the tomato paste, and the whole thing was packed with veggies. I really felt good about this one. When I find more friends who love Shepherd's Pie, I will make this again. Anyone having a baby anytime soon?? Can I make this for you?? Can I also come over when you eat it and have some?
*Disclaimer, any criticisms of my husband's food preferences are in jest. He does not take it personally when I give him a hard time about not being an adventurous eater, and so in return I do not take it personally when he pulls out a box of frozen Taquitos and heads for the microwave. In front of guests. (Angel with halo emoji).
Prosciutto and New Potato Flatbread with Gorgonzola Cream from Magnolia Table - This produced enough Gorgonzola cream to make the recipe about 4 to 6 times over. Am I the only one this happens to? These flatbreads were delicious and so simple to assemble after you put the work into making the cream. Buy a lot of flatbreads so you can just throw these together and pop them in your toaster oven during your lunch break. Not to be dramatic but it feels like a very luxurious lunch when the truth is that it took 4 minutes. Related, I've become an apologist for potatoes on pizza. See also the Potato Burrata pizza from Half Baked Harvest: Super Simple which changed my life.
Asian Beef Zucchini Soup from Whole30 - GIDDY about this soup!!!!!!!! I had low expectations of the Whole30 cookbook because I assumed there was some sort of ceiling for how good the food could be if it was this healthy. I was so delighted to be wrong about this, and the cookbook has delivered over and over. Anyway, about the soup. It was complex! It was primarily vegetables! It was full of umami! It had STEAK (scoring big points with the husband)! I danced circles in the kitchen over this one.
Pretzels with Cheese Sauce from Magnolia Table 2 - I have to admit that the joy of this recipe was that I had serious doubts I could pull it off. Just seemed hard, I dunno... you have to boil them before you bake them? Also, anything that doesn't go into the oven for that long immediately causes me stress about the perceived margin of error. Nonetheless, I have managed to make these multiple times and was only unhappy with them once. The plain variety, to be eaten with the wonderful cheese sauce which was enough for about 18 pretzels, was far superior to the cinnamon variety in my opinion. This feels scandalous to me.
*I will say my hands were SO SORE from rolling this dough. I tried to make them into mini-pretzels once too and that made it so much harder and the juice was not worth the squeeze. No more mini-pretzels. Full size or nothing.
Bacon Gruyere Drop Biscuits from Magnolia Table - I daydream about this recipe - especially since I started making it correctly. I will never stop. I made it for Mother's Day and then my dad requested it for Father's Day. It's just.... dreamy. When I first started making it, I didn't want to fork up the extra cash for Gruyere, so I used White Cheddar. The biscuits were good, but a little salty. I decided to do it right once and it made all the difference in the world. This is everything you love about biscuits, everything you love about bacon, everything you love about a perfect Saturday morning. I can't sing praises high enough.
Chicken Parmesan from Magnolia Table 2 - I've run out of positive things to say about this Chicken Parm recipe. I pull it out when I know our guests will leave happy or I don't care to roll the dice on a new dish. I make it once a month. We've served it with pasta, alongside garlic knots, and in sandwiches. I'm not unwilling to try another recipe, but there doesn't seem to be anything broken about this one*.
*Look the other way when you see that the breading is largely Ritz crackers. I'll run the kitchen the way I see fit.
