Bubbling up with Helena

I have been cooking and baking my way through Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway, a Broadway-themed cookbook, ever since it was released in October. The cookbook is a collaboration between actor Gideon Glick and food blogger Adam Roberts. Each recipe is themed after a Broadway musical and includes notes about the musical that inspired it.

I have certainly not made every recipe in the book yet, but I look forward to continuing to make recipes from the book.

Morning Glows

Griddler on the Roof

This challah french toast recipe is inspired by one of my favorites, Fiddler on the Roof. I don’t think I will ever need another french toast recipe. This one is perfectly spiced and just decadent enough. The blueberry “blessing” (a compote) added a nice tangy element to the recipe. 10/10 overall.

Yolklahoma

This was a delicious breakfast bowl filled with bacon, veggies, and potatoes and topped with a fried egg. There is definitely a farmhouse feel to this, which is appropriate since there are several farmers in its namesake musical. The delicious and crispy potatoes were the star of this recipe (especially when covered in runny egg yolk).

Appetizas with a Z

Oliver Twists

We loved these olive-filled breadsticks so much in my house that we made them twice in the span of a few days. The salty olives were such a lovely addition to the breadsticks and gave them some nice texture.

Weenie Todds

These are closer to pigs in a blanket than the meat pies in the musical that inspired the recipe (Sweeney Todd). I was scared of working with puff pastry, but this recipe was pretty user friendly. The pastry came out deliciously brown and the sausage was enhanced by the sharpness of the dijon mustard layer. It’s also pretty cool to say we’ve made our own ketchup. The “Devil’s Ketchup” recipe had a nice kick to it that really elevated the dish.

Soup and Ballads

Little Chop of Horrors

We decided we had to make this salad before we saw Little Shop of Horrors, and I’m glad we did. I don’t usually cook with beets, but the “sticky licky” beets in this salad were delicious. It has a lot of similar ingredients and flavors to a Greek salad (red onions, chickpeas, feta, etc.), so I highly recommend this recipe if you are a Greek salad fan (which I absolutely am).

Mame Dishes

Spring Awokening

We love a stir fry in my household, and I was very excited to try this one (especially since Gideon Glick, one of the book’s authors, was in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening). It did not disappoint. The sauce recipe has become our go to when we make stir fry.

Chicken Breast Side Story

This was a sleeper hit for me. I don’t usually cook with plantains, but I absolutley loved the rich and slighly earthy flavor they brought to the dish. Also, the sazón-flavored rice that serves as the base of this recipe is killer.

Three Penne Opera

I am a sucker for a good baked pasta dish, and this was no exception. The homemade pesto and the garlicky tomatoes put this dish over the edge. We have made it twice already, and I have no doubt we will make it again.

Sound of Moussaka

We timed this dish so we made it right after we saw Sound of Music at Paper Mill Playhouse. I will confess that I don’t eat lamb, so we made this with ground beef instead. The dish was rich and warming, making it perfect for a cold and rainy winter night in the Northeast. We served it with a greek salad, which I highly recommend. (Plan ahead. Making moussaka is a bit of a production, but it’s entirely worth it.)

Sunday in the Pork with George

My experience with this recipe is probably colored by the fact that I was making these meatballs on Halloween as trick or treaters were streaming to my house, which was NOT an easy situation. Once they were cooked, these meatballs were delicious. (I could have done a better job making them look pretty. Next time…) I served them both on top of pasta and on top of a salad and they were excellent both ways.

Sweets Charity

Wickedoodles

As someone with pets named after Wicked characters, I knew I had to make this recipe first. It turned out absolutely wonderfully. The earthy matcha flavor comes through, but it is not overwhelming. They were perfectly chewy, just as a snickerdoodle should be. They were a big hit with my coworkers when I shared them.

Clafoutis and the Beast

I was very excited to try this recipe because I love Beauty and the Beast. It made me smile that the recipe contains rosewater, but it didn’t come through as much as I was hoping. I would definitely add a little more if I made the recipe again. I also thought the thyme was a little overwhelming to the overall flavor, and it made the dish feel almost savory.