I've started a new tradition where once a month I cook a complete meal from the Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home cookbook. I can't say enough how much I adore this book. I love how it is based on seasonal ingredients; there are 52 menus, 13 each for spring, summer, fall and winter. Each four-course meal can be prepared from scratch in about one hour. The photographs (there is a picture for every dish) are beautiful, emphasizing the freshness of the key ingredients. It doesn't hurt that my copy is signed by Martha herself!
By no means is it a perfect cookbook. Sure, the meal takes an hour to prepare - if you have superior knife skills and everything is pre-washed, peeled and chopped. And since each menu calls for at least a few unique ingredients (what, you don't have Bosc pears just sitting in your pantry right now?), dinner at home can get expensive. This is why I'm choosing to use this cookbook as a special treat - a perfect monthly tradition.
Here are the results from my first dinner of 2010 - Winter Menu #5
Artichokes on Toast: love when raw garlic melts into hot toast
Wilted Chicory Salad: delicious, even though I forgot the splash of balsamic vinegar at the end
Spaghetti with Clams: is pasta con vongole ever a bad idea? These were the biggest little neck clams I'd ever seen!
Grapefruit in Moscato: I definitely need to work on my segmenting skills! But it was still a sweet and bubbly end to the meal.
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