Here's what I've been cooking this week

 I absolutely love to cook. I love trying new recipes. The more complicated the better. I love spending hours in the kitchen and challenging myself to come up with my own recipes. Lately I've been lazy about writing things down or taking photos, but I've been cooking a lot. I also thoroughly enjoy food shopping. Is that weird? I look forward to it every week and take my sweet time going up and down each aisle. I usually buy Finley a bagel or some cheese and juice to snack on and she stays happy.

Ben has been on a gluten free diet for a few weeks. He is trying to figure out if he has food allergies. At this point his symptoms haven't gotten better, but he is staying on the diet for 3 weeks just to be sure. It's fun for me to be creative and come up with things that are gluten free. I think the trick is making things that would already be gluten free, rather than using substitutes. Although we have been eating rice pasta, which is actually pretty good.

Earlier this week, I made this egg casserole dish for dinner. I like to keep frozen spinach in the freezer. I personally think it's the best vegetable to buy frozen. Of course it only works if you want cooked spinach. It's great with casseroles, lasagne, quiche, spinach and cheese pastry. You really can't tell the difference at all. I stocked up a little bit too much and now that we are moving I'm challenging myself to use everything we have before we go. This particular recipe was pretty good. Not amazing, but easy and would make a great one dish breakfast.

Last night I surprised myself with putting together two dishes that didn't seem like they would work, but went well together. The Tangerine-Maple Glazed Drumsticks was modified from a recipe by Bobby Flay, which required a grill. It was wet and gross outside, so I decided to attempt to substitute broiling the meat. It worked! Cauliflower was on sale at the store this week and I decided to try making up a recipe. Soups are easy and are usually variations of the same thing. I was shocked at how delicious the soup was! I substituted corn starch and wheat free soy sauce in my version for my temporarily gluten free husband.

 Potato, Sausage & Spinach Breakfast Casserole 

from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

• 16 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 12 ounces fresh breakfast sausage links
• 2 cups sliced leeks, white and green parts only
• 2 russet potatoes (1 1/2 lb.), peeled, shredded, and lightly squeezed
• 1 pound frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups (4 oz.) grated Gruyère
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz.) grated Parmesan

Preparation

• Position a rack in top third of the oven; preheat to 350°. Whisk eggs, cream, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and 3/4 tsp. pepper in a large bowl; set aside.
• Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a 12” cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add sausages and cook, turning often, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add leeks to skillet. Season with salt; cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.
• Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, spreading out in an even layer. Cook without stirring until bottom and edges are crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Slide potato pancake onto a large plate. Invert onto another large plate. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet. Slide potato pancake into skillet browned side up; cook until bottom is golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Scatter spinach, leeks, and sausages over potato pancake, each in an even layer. Season with salt and pepper, then pour in egg mixture. Sprinkle both cheeses over.
• Bake until casserole is puffed and golden brown, 35–40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Tangerine-Maple Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

 Ingredients 

adapted from a recipe by Bobby Flay

• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 quart tangerine juice or tangerine-orange juice, not from concentrate
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tangerine or orange, zested
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 16 chicken drumsticks
• Salt
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat, add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the juice and thyme, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to approximately 1/2 cup, 20 to 25 minutes.
Strain the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the syrup, soy sauce, zest and black pepper and let cool to room temperature. Set 1/2 cup of glaze aside.
Turn broiler on high and move rack to middle of oven. Melt remaining butter and brush some on broiler to prevent sticking. Arrange drumsticks on broiler and put in oven for 1 minute.  Take drumsticks out and brush with butter, season with salt and pepper. Broil for 10 minutes. Take drumsticks out, turn and broil for another 10 minutes. Take drumsticks out and brush with glaze on both sides in the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Serve with reserved glaze as dipping sauce.

Cauliflower Parmesan Soup 

Soup:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped 
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 carrots,  chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 head cauliflower  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 quart low-sodium chicken stock
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Remove the leaves and core from the cauliflower, chop, and set aside. Heat the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery. Cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the cauliflower and garlic and cook another 3 minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside in large bowl. Over low-medium heat melt butter in soup pot and then add flour. Stir constantly until flour roux is golden brown. Return vegetables to soup pot along with stock and half and half. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and, using an immersion blender puree the soup and return it to the pot. Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.