Gourmet's Fresh Pasta with Crabmeat, Peas and Chile

hi, bon appetempters! check what's on tonight's menu:

their version: (via Gourmet)

my version:

(We used a green chile pepper instead of a red, thus the slight color variation.)

So, this recipe called for two culinary firsts: 1. cooking with chile peppers. I only used half of the "vein" inside the pepper so as not to burn my face off. Also, I washed my hands immediately after handling the serrano so as not to accidentally rub my eyes with pepper juice and end up burning my face off.
and 2. cooking with crabmeat. speaking of which, want a way to rid fresh crab of shell fragments? Put it in the broiler for a minute - the shell fragments will turn RED. Who knew? These people.
(Picture taken pre-broiling. Once again, forgot to take post-picture. My bad.)

People commenting on the recipe online were complaining that the sauce was too bland, so we preemptively added extra olive oil.
Conclusion: this was really delicious, though I wouldn't recommend it if you're on a budget--fresh crabmeat is no joke. (We sprung for it b/c of a some Whole Foods credit.) Up next: crazy dessert time.

Does it Count as Tackling Something Semi-Ridiculous if Working From a Recipe From Real Simple Magazine?

Well, I'm counting it. 1. because it still involved doing something I'd never done before, which is make pizza from frozen pizza dough. AND 2. because I'm driving cross country in two days, so cut me some slack, please. Thanks!

Real Simple's version:

my version:

It all started with four balls of frozen pizza dough, which had to thaw for 6 hours.

Matt enjoyed tossing the thawed dough in the air to the tune of "So you want to make a pizza, yum, yum, yum!" You guys know that one? I didn't.

We forgot to take pictures of the rolling-out process, but here is one of Matt's knife skillzz.
Italian food is pretty.

I wish I had a digital recorder so that you could click on this and hear that pizza song. Yum Yum YUMMMMMMM.

COMING SOON: pictures of something that is going to change the face of Bon Appétempt as we know it.

Medium Étempt: Bon Appétit's Panang Tofu Curry

It's amazing how many of Bon Appétit's main dishes are meat-based. And when I saw this one, it was just like in the pre-blog days when I wasn't seeing recipes in terms of the final picture match up. Back then, I just wanted to eat some delicious food. BUT, of course I still have to do the final picture match up because that's still really fun. I mean, I'm having fun right now.

their version:

my version:

(I really don't know why my color is so off. Too much turmeric?)

I started off with one smile of produce, substituting limes for the kaffir lime leaves the recipe called for.

There's not too much to show as far as this recipe's process, which was basically just chopping things and adding them to a pan, so let me take this time to show you the weird baby pepper that was inside of my red pepper:

Weird, right? I mean, it's green, too. Do red peppers start out green or is this just some freaky pepper that I could've sold on ebay for one million dollars?

I must say that before I added the red and white elements, it was looking sort of gross.

All in all though, this was a tasty, inexpensive meal that fed my roommate and I for days. For this latter fact alone, it would go under the label of success.

Still Savory: Mushroom Turnovers With Sour Cream

Dear faithful and fair-weather readers,

I've been feeling sort of guilty about not tackling another behemoth of a recipe like this one or this one or this one, all of which I have had my eye on and would love to tackle. AND will, soon. In four week's time, I will be permanently reunited with my baking companion, matt, as well as a food processor. This will be blog-changing...

But in the mean time, I am trying to make do. The following is a recipe that tools-wise only called for a rolling pin, which my roommate had. YES! And despite its simple ingredients list and (dishonest) stated prep time of 25 minutes, it was definitely still challenge enough for me to mess it up... as you will see.

Martha's version:

and mine :(

sooooo, it started off easy enough: olive oil, onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper.

But then I had trouble rolling the puff pastry out to the 20x10 inches the recipe called for.

which led to me not trimming the edges like I was supposed to because 1. I thought I needed all the space I could get and 2. at the time, I didn't see the harm in it.

Then I saw the harm. Not only did they end up looking much less uniform/ Martha-esque, but functionally, the edges didn't line up and so they didn't seal up properly and so they leaked juices everywhere:

And due to this leaking, they totally stuck to the pan. So sad.

That being said, they tasted pretty good and even better with a healthy portion of sour cream.

Mini-Étempt: Parchment-Baked Salmon

I'd never baked anything in parchment before and so had previously placed it in the realm of ridiculous recipes I would never make/ thought it would be perfect for this blog, however it was soooooooooo easy that I sort of feel guilty about even posting it, but then, because it was so easy and so delicious, I wanted to share it. (What a conundrum!)

OK, I'm posting it. Here we go. Martha's version:

And mine:

For me, the biggest challenge was getting over the task of buying fish at the supermarket. And when I got there, sure enough there was no black bass, only chilean sea bass and since I watch Top Chef/ worry about overfishing, sustainability, etc., I knew that that was a definite NO for me. BTW, this website is really cool...just type in any fish and it tells you the deal on what you want to buy, etc. So, luckily, I knew my next bet would be wild-caught sockeye salmon. Isn't it pretty?

Honestly, I can't get over how easy and simple this dish was. I'm going to add it to my list of "recipes I feel comfortable making and look good while making it." (I don't really have a list like that and if I did, I wouldn't add this recipe to it, I'd add this recipe).

bon appétempt going savory or "roasting a chicken is sooooooo easy"

I've been meaning to roast a chicken for the last 7 years. Everyone's always talking about how easy it is - using terms like "one-pot wonder" and "easy as roastin' a chicken." I finally decided to give it a go. Keeping in step with the pattern I've set up for myself, I used a Bon Appetit recipe. Here's their version:

And of course, now here's mine (there are veggies underneath there, I swear.):

First step outside of my comfort zone: I had to take a trip to THE BUTCHER ... after some friendly meat-based conversation, he and I decided on a 5 pound organic bird.
I wanted to cook it in my sweet le creuset pot my brother got me for my birthday, but as it turns out, it was too cute and too little. This is where my husband, Matt, began saying things like, "Time to get bon appetempt with it."
We decided on: Lasagna pan with foil enhancements...
Ever rub butter underneath skin? It's weird. VERY weird.
OH and also, I don't have one of those instant-read thermometers you're supposed to put in the bird's leg. We just pulled it out a few times and cut into it in places and then took a vote on whether or not we thought it was ready.

And what do you know? Two hours later, it wasn't overdone or underdone. Here she is, again--poor lil' guy.
The potatoes and carrots and parsnips and yams were perfect. And I hate to say it, but all in all, this meal was fairly easy (and would be even easier with a roasting pan) and with plenty of leftovers. And when I say leftovers, I'm talking about chicken carcass, which I'm currently and proudly simmering for chicken stock.