There are as many recipes for cold Asian noodles as there are people in the world. That isn’t true. But it sometimes feels true. Versions of this vaguely Asian (pan-Asian?) dish (does anyone know the origins? or when this because popular in the states?) pop up on restaurant menus and recipes for it make regular rotations through food magazines. They always remind me of the 90′s and eating at restaurants that felt cosmopolitan because they had this or Chinese Chicken Salad on the menu (Wolfgang Puck, yo!). I love these type of noodles and am on a life-long quest to put together the perfect recipe. Whenever I find a new version to try, I consider it a research opportunity.

This is another recipe from the current issue of Bon Appetit. Can we stop for a minute and talk about Bon Appetit? After months of watching it spiral into food magazine hell, it seems to be returning to form. Or at least returning to the realm of food magazines. It has held onto its handsome new design but threw out much of the star-fucking that was making it totally inane and unbearable (Armie Hammer eats at McDonalds! Kelly Westler doesn’t like food! Fashion!). The last couple of issues feel like the magazine has gotten back on track and is headed in a better direction. It is nice to see. Although, even this month Patrick Dempsey was interviewed- but at least he seems to like food! Celebrities are just like us, they eat food. In any case, I hope that it continues to improve and focus on food and the people who love it, because, whatever its faults, Bon Appetit is pretty good at choosing and developing recipes. Recipes! Back to the noodles….

This is among my favorite preparations of this dish. These are some seriously delicious and well-balanced cold noodles and I plan on eating them all summer. The highlight is the chili oil you make and add to the dish. It is spicy, seriously spicy. I want that. I want my lips to burn. I already knew I preferred tahini to peanut butter in these types of recipes, but this confirmed it. Peanut butter can be so heavy and flat tasting, I think the tahini works better with the other ingredients. I didn’t change much about this, I increased the amount of scallions and added more of the chili oil than called for, but you can adjust the spice to your liking. Also, this isn’t reflected below, but next time I would increase all of the dressing ingredients by 25% so that this uses the entire box of spaghetti. I hate when recipes only use a portion of the box. Otherwise, this is some salty summer noodle goodness.

Sesame Noodles with Chili Oil and Scallions (recipe from Bon Appetit)

• 4 scallions, whites and greens separated, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper, coarsely chopped
• 12 ounces thin ramen noodles or spaghettini
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar

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Summer might be my least favorite season in Chicago. I know! I know! I feel very conflicted about it, too. Admittedly, there is much I like about summer, especially as it relates to food: farmers markets! local everything! hot dogs! The thing is, I really dislike being hot. My thermostat is off, I run hot already. And the humidity in Chicago really gets me down. So, unlike every other Chicagoan who cant wait for summer….I am ambivalent. Of course, there are those dry sunny days in the 70′s that I too love, but they’re pretty rare. Mostly it is too hot and too humid. So, I look for ways to cool off. This lassi does the trick.

It is more of an idea than a recipe, try adding some coconut milk to your shake. Not enough to make this very coconut-y or tropical, just enough to add a little suppin’ suppin’. I got the idea from this month’s Bon Appetit, which has a whole spread on strawberries—harbingers of summer in the Midwest. The original recipe was a little more subtle, I wanted a bright pink drink, so I increased the amount of strawberries. You do what you like. But do make this, because it is really delicious and it gave me another reason to appreciate summer.

Strawberry-Coconut Lassi (recipe adapted from one by Yvette van Boven)

• 2 cups halved, hulled, strawberries
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Serves 2.

***Bryan astutely observed that the sliced strawberries looked exactly like dolphins! Cute overload.

Permalink to Strawberry Lassi | 23 comments so far

I am a Zoe Nathan superfan. She and her husband, Josh Loeb, own a bunch of really rad restaurants (Rustic Canyon Wine Bar, Huckleberry, Milo and Olive, Sweet Rose Creamery) in Santa Monica that I eat at whenever I am in town. Zoe also grew up with a bunch of my dearest friends (hi Tini!) and worked at Tartine with another dear friend who happens to own my favorite bakery in Chicago. It is a small world of wonderful people. I convinced Zoe to stop by L + D to share a recipe and answer the ole L+D food quiz—remember that thing?

I first tasted some of Zoe’s cooking when she was the pastry chef at Rustic Canyon, I was immediately enamored. The lady knows how to end a meal. I was thrilled to learn she was opening a bakery across Wilshire, and completely fell in love with Huckleberry on my first visit. The bakery/cafe seems like the full expression of Zoe’s wonderful vision. It is full of good energy, friendly people, and outrageously beautiful pastries. Her food is exuberant. There is no preciousness in her world— it is wild, rustic, and ambitious. She doesn’t hold back and you will love her for it (I told you I was a superfan!).

I asked Zoe to share her recipe for Walnut Jam Scones, which is one of my favorite things ever. Ground walnuts and cornmeal add some character to a buttery scone dough, and raspberry preserves round things out. These are perfect, and should be made often. They’d be great for Mother’s Day (spoiler alert, mom!). The nice thing about scones is they are quick to prepare and the unbaked scones can be stored in the freezer and baked as you need them. Win-win. Without further delay, here’s Zoe:

LOTTIE + DOOF FOOD QUIZ with ZOE NATHAN

Sweet or salty?
Both. The best dishes in the world are always sweet and salty, whether it’s a pastry or potato pancakes with apple sauce.

Chocolate or vanilla?
Vanilla, always vanilla. I like chocolate but I love vanilla.

Hot (spicy) or mild?
Spicy. I’m a California girl, I like spicy.

What won’t you eat?
There’s not a lot I won’t eat but I’m embarrassed to say that even though as a person in the industry I’m supposed to like the nasty bits, I don’t.

Most memorable meal?
Recently, a piece of cinnamon sugar toast at The Mill in San Francisco. It was perfect.

Favorite object in your kitchen?
My oven.

What are you scared of in the kitchen?
People finding out that I don’t always know what I am talking about.

Do you prefer to cook alone or with others?
It depends. At work I thrive off of baking/cooking next to a bunch of really amazing people. But at home after I put my son to sleep I love the quietness of cooking dinner for my husband in a quiet kitchen.

Where would you like to travel to for the food?
I’d love to spend some time in the South eating pie and good Southern food.

If you were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be?
A giant bowl of strawberries. I like to think of myself as very generous.

What is the best thing about writing a cookbook?
Being able to cook in my home kitchen next to my son and imagining that someone soon could be making my recipes at home. It warms my heart to think of that.

***

[Yes, that's right folks, the Huckleberry cookbook will be released in 2014. Never in my life have I been more excited for the publication of a cookbook. For real.]

Walnut Jam Scones recipe by Zoe Nathan

• 1 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 1/2 tablespoons toasted and ground walnuts
• 3 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 9 ounces cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 tablespoons cold buttermilk
• 1-1 1/4 cup raspberry preserves
• egg wash (1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon heavy cream + pinch of salt)
• additional sugar for topping

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, walnuts, sugar and salt in a very large bowl.  Toss well.

Throw in the cold butter and work it with your fingertips until the pieces are pea and lima bean-sized.

Add buttermilk.  Lightly toss to distribute. Immediately, dump everything out onto a clean surface, allowing more than enough space to work the dough. Using only the heel of your palm quickly flatten out the dough. Gather it back together in a mound and repeat the flattening gesture. After two or three repetitions, the dough should begin holding together.

Be sure to avoid overworking.  You should still see some pea-sized bits of butter.

Form the scones by tightly packing the dough into an ice cream scoop (3oz) or by dividing dough into 12-13 pieces. Place on an ungreased sheet tray (or one lined with parchment, for easier clean-up). Dip a round tablespoon measure in flour, then press it into the center of the scone to form a deep well for the jam.

Freeze for at least 2 hours before baking, or up to 1 month wrapped tightly.

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

Remove scones from he freezer, space out on 2 ungreased baking sheets with plenty of breathing room, brush outer rim with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with
sugar. Fill indentations with a generous tablespoon of jam.

Bake from frozen, until baked through, nicely browned, and easily lifted off the tray, about 30 minutes.

Best the day they’re made, but they keep, tightly wrapped at room temperature, for up to 2 days.

***

Can’t resist including this video profile of Zoe from Thrash Lab, which will charm your socks off:

Permalink to Lottie + Doof + Zoe Nathan = Scones! | 24 comments so far

Deborah Madison has published a new cookbook, and the food-universe is rejoicing. With good reason, it is a beautiful book. The food-trend pendulum has swung back to vegetables, and so a resurgence in Madison’s popularity makes perfect sense. Vegetable Literacy is one of a slew of new books focusing on vegetables. The recipes are organized by plant families and you get good information about the growing and care of each vegetable. In some ways, it is the American version of Tender. It is fresh and bright and perfect for spring.

I took it for a test drive with this carrot soup. The soup itself is pretty mundane, and honestly not worth making without the accompaniments. But the accompaniments elevate this to delicious. Madison cleverly includes some collard greens that have been tossed with coconut butter, and a sprinkling of dukkah, the delicious Egyptian spice and nut blend. The greens and dukkah make this a  lovely bowl of soup that is a great way of celebrating spring. I am looking forward to trying more recipes from the book as our market gets up and and running, and local vegetables return to my kitchen.

***

If anyone is interested in a day in my life, check it out over at So, How Was Your Day?, a blog that I love reading. It is fun getting glimpses into strangers’ lives.

So, seriously—you have to make all three parts of this recipe. Together they are magic. I happened to have coconut butter, you might not. You could try just sauteing the blanched greens in coconut oil, though they will be less flavorful. Maybe get some coconut butter? It is delicious. Also, I ended up adding a little acid to the soup because I thought it needed some brightness. The lime juice will work, otherwise a few drops of vinegar. Salt is your friend in this recipe.

Carrot Soup with Tangled Collard Greens in Coconut Butter and Dukkah (adapted slightly from Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison)

The Soup

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 pounds carrots, scrubbed and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons peeled and slivered fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Sea salt

The Collards

• Several smallish collard leaves
• sea salt
• coconut butter
• squeeze of lime juice

• Dukkah for serving (I basically used this recipe but with hazelnuts)

Warm the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, ginger, cumin, and 1 teaspoon salt, give it a stir and cook until wilted, about 6 minutes. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the collards. Trim the stems, stack the leaves, roll them up, and then slice thinly crosswise. You’ll have a pile of long, thin, slices of collards. Bring a skillet of water to a boil, add a little salt and the greens and simmer until tender, a few minutes. Drain well and toss while hot with the coconut butter to taste. Add salt and lime juice to taste.

When the soup is ready, puree until smooth. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary. You can thin the soup with water at this point.

Ladle the soup into bowls and set a tangle of collards atop each serving and top with a generous amount of dukkah.

Permalink to Carrot Soup + Collard Greens in Coconut Butter + Dukkah | 23 comments so far

Stop the World I Want to Get Off, is the name of a musical I have never seen. It is also how I feel. I’m having hard time being a person this week. Things keep exploding. And flooding. And being shameful. And being racist. And being anti-gay. And being irresponsible. And being ridiculous. And all anyone does is complain about it on Facebook.

***

My best friend had a baby last week. Best friend doesn’t really do it justice. We are kin, and the most powerful kind of kin because we adopted each other—there were no obligations. She and her husband made the most beautiful baby that I have ever seen. Yes, I am biased but he really is perfect and I can already sense his extreme intelligence and creativity. He is currently experiencing his 7th day of life. Everything is new to him. Life is stretched out before him—The Future.

There are weeks (like this one) when the future seems completely terrifying to me. My initial response is always flight. I want to move to a forest (I can’t really explain this one). I want to move to another country (What is the name of that country that doesn’t have any problems?). I want to watch American Idol (the final three better be Kree, Amber, and Candice— otherwise I’m coming for you America). Then, I get angry and scream about fucking politicians or those idiots to Bryan who is overwhelmed by my intensity, but sympathetic.

But mostly I don’t do anything. I sit here, angry sometimes, and I eat donuts. And I look for good news. And there is always some good news. And the good news makes me forget all of the terrible stuff for a while. I have the privilege of being able to forget.

***

So once again it is hard to write about food. We gotta get out there and make things better—stand up to a bully, call your representative, recycle something, teach somebody something. Because donuts are important, but not as important as not getting shot. Or love. Or babies.

So make some donuts to celebrate surviving this week and share them with friends. And then, figure out how you’re going to make things better so that more people can have the privilege of reading food blogs, and making donuts, and temporarily forgetting.

These are from the spectacular Saveur donut issues which is a real stunner. These are crunchy and heavily spiced and SO delicious. They also, remarkably, tasted almost as delicious the next day. I can’t wait to make them again.

Old-Fashioned Spiced Sour Cream Donuts (from Saveur)

• 4 cups (1 lb. 2 oz.) bread flour, sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 4½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1¼ cups sour cream
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Canola oil, for forming and frying
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 3 tsp. nutmeg, ginger, 1½ tsp. allspice, salt, and cloves in a bowl; set aside. Combine eggs, sour cream, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; beat until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add dry ingredients and mix until a soft, sticky dough forms.

Heat 2″ oil in a 6–qt. saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 325°. Using lightly oiled hands, roll about ¼ cup batter into a loose, sticky ball; pat gently into a disk. With your thumb, make a 1½″ hole in the center of dough; carefully slide into oil and fry, flipping once, until puffed and golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a baking sheet with a wire rack; repeat with remaining dough and let donuts cool completely.

Whisk remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, plus confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and ¼ cup water in a bowl until smooth. Dip tops of donuts in glaze and return to wire rack until glaze is set.

Permalink to Donuts + The Future | 60 comments so far

What is the future of publishing?

LOL, how would I know?!

But maybe one thing might be more independently published books, which I am down with if they are all as beautiful as Lark, Cooking Against the Grain by John Sundstrom, chef/owner of Seattle’s Lark restaurant. The cookbook was funded through Kickstarter and produced entirely in Seattle, taking the whole local movement up a notch. The book is beautiful to the extreme, in fact, it is more beautiful than most of what is coming out of the major publishing houses in our country. So there’s that. I think the secret to that beauty is, in part, a singular, very personal vision. Lark tells the story of a way of cooking and interacting with the earth that draws you in and makes you want to be a part of it. It is comprehensive, not only including recipes, but also ways of dealing with ingredients and sourcing food.

Sundstrom smartly divides the book into three “seasons” Evergreen, Bounty, and Mist—each specific to his Pacific Northwest. Even that simple chapter division seems revolutionary in a world of cookbooks that can all start to feel the same.  Original voices and extreme beauty? Maybe those are what will keep printed books alive.

You’re not necessarily going to tackle every recipe in the book (some lean more toward restaurant cooking than home cooking), and for those of us outside of the Pacific Northwest, ingredient sourcing might occasionally be tough, but there is enough here you will be anxious to make. And the rest will serve as inspiration. I find the dessert recipes to be particularly accessible and I am looking forward to trying all of them. I started with this relatively simple malted ice cream, which is elevated to dessert-status with the addition of some almond croquant (crunch!). It is such an elegant little sundae that I can imagine finding many reasons to make this again. It is a perfect little end to a meal, and another reason to own Lark.

Between this book and the Dahlia Bakery cookbook (and, you know, Linda), the real question is: how and when am I going to get myself to Seattle?!

Malt Ice Cream (from Lark: Cooking Against the Grain)

• 2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup malt powder (Horlicks or Carnation)
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium sauce pan combine the milk and heavy cream and bring the mixture just to a simmer over medium heat.

While the milk mixture is warming, combine the sugar and egg yolks together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Prepare an ice bath.

Take the milk mixture off of the stove and while whisking the egg mixture, slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture to gentle heat them. Whisk in another 1/2 cup of the hot milk. Whisk constantly so the egg yolks do not scramble.

Now whisk the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan while slowly pouring the now-warmed egg mixture into the saucepan. Place the saucepan back on medium heat and stir constantly with a heat-proof spatula. Continue stirring until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon and has reached 180°F.

Remove the custard from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh strainer into a metal bowl or container.

Whisk in the malt powder and strain through a fine mesh strainer again. Add a pinch of kosher salt and the vanilla extract. Immediately place the bowl into the ice bath and stir to cool down the mixture. Once cooled to room temperature, place the container in the refrigerator and chill  completely, preferably overnight.

Churn in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Almond Croquant

• 1 egg white
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 ounces sliced almonds
• Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the egg white until it’s foamy and then stir in the sugar.

Add the sliced almonds and pinch of salt to the sugar and egg white mixture and stir to combine.

Spread the mixture thinly onto a buttered baking sheet (or a sheet lined with a non-stick baking mat).

Bake until golden brown all over and crispy on the edges. Cool completely to room temperature, break up into smaller pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to serve.

Permalink to Malt Ice Cream with Almond Crunch | 22 comments so far

A while back, my friend Amelia wrote about this chopped salad which comes from the Mozza Cookbook by Nancy Silverton (and Matt Molina and Carolynn Carreno!). I had been eying the same recipe. As is often the case in these circumstances, I lost interest after reading Amelia’s post. Not because she made the salad seem bad, because, well, blogging is just weird—this sort of thing happens. But time passed and spring hit the horizon. All I want are fresh fruits and vegetables but I do not have them yet and I thought of this salad again. And I made it. And it is great and you should make it too. I agree with Amelia that you should make the chickpeas (ceci) as described, they are worth the effort. But I also think the whole salad is worth the effort. Chopped salads are among my favorites. It is a delicious meal, and we were able to get four hearty servings out of it.

Chopped salads and death do not go that well together, but I am super bummed about Roger Ebert’s death. I didn’t personally know Ebert, though we did live in the same neighborhood for a while. I would sometimes see him and his wife out for an evening stroll. This was long before any illness. You would recognize his familiar voice in the dark before making out his face. I don’t know what it is like where you are, but Chicago felt so very sad yesterday afternoon. He was loved by his fellow citizens.

My friend Katie owns a copy of I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie which is a collection of Ebert’s best negative film reviews. We would crack each other up reading parts of it aloud. His review of Anna and the King remains my favorite.

****

You can get the chopped salad recipe over at Amelia’s (or better yet, buy the book which is fantastic). One of my favorite things about Nancy Silverton is how controlling she is about salads. You’ll see when you read the recipe. She tells you EXACTLY what to do. But she is also always right, so just listen to her. Except I am now going to tell all of the ways in which I didn’t listen to her. Oh, I don’t know. I wanted more onion, which I almost always do, so I nearly doubled it—same with pepponcini. I cut the provolone into cubes rather than strips, I like cubes in chopped salads. And I used a Milano salami from Creminelli, which is basically the same as a Genoa. So, minor adjustments, but I listened to most of what she told me to do. Also, the ceci recipe is really special and what you don’t use in the salad you’ll find plenty of reasons to eat.

Permalink to Chopped Salad | 15 comments so far

Sarah Linden is the name of the main character in AMC’s drama The Killing. Her colleagues call her Linden, because they are police officers and that’s how they roll. But for the first few episodes I misunderstood what they were saying and thought her first name was Linda. When he realized this, Bryan had a good laugh at my expense. I still call her Linda.

Linda (played by the totally amazingly awesome Mireille Enos) is a tough nut to crack. Despite being kind of a shitty (though loving!) mom, a terrible partner (her poor fiancé!), and a loose cannon of a cop (what rules?!) she somehow manages to elicit an unusual amount of empathy from me. I love her. Love. I love her smarts. I love her sense of justice. I love her silence and her rage. I love her Fair Isle sweaters and somber parkas. I love her constant gum chewing. I love her ponytail.

I also worry about her. She doesn’t take care of herself. In fact, I think Linda has been uncomfortable for so long (both physically and emotionally) that it has become her normal. Consequently, I spend a surprising amount of time thinking about making Linda a nice home-cooked meal. Throughout the series we mostly see her eat out of vending machines, though I suspect there are days when she doesn’t eat much at all. She needs a break. She needs nourishment. She needs biscuits.

I would like to make her these malted buttermilk biscuits which, like Linda, happen to come from Seattle via The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. They are easy and delicious. A very crisp crust gives way to a tender interior with a subtle malt flavor. They should be made, and made often. Maybe you’ll serve them with some homemade orange marmalade. Maybe you’ll eat them while watching The Killing? Maybe they’ll write me and these biscuits into the third season of The Killing?

This is the second recipe I have loved from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. It is a fantastic book and worth checking out if you’re a home baker.

Malted Buttermilk Biscuits (from the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook)

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup (8oz) unsalted butter, frozen for 15 minutes- plus some additional melted butter for brushing tops
• 1 cup buttermilk, cold
• 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup
• sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Using a box grater, grate the frozen butter over the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to distribute the butter throughout the flour.

In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and barley malt. Stir to blend thoroughly. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour-butter mixture, stirring with the rubber spatula just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly and quickly knead the dough

to finish incorporating all of the ingredients. Then gently press the dough together into a flattened ball.

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a 1-inch thickness. Cut out biscuits using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (remember not to twist! punch straight down and up). You can reroll scraps once, remaining gentle with the dough.

Place the biscuits about 1-inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with a flaky sea salt (like Maldon).

Bake until golden and cooked through, about 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Permalink to Malted Buttermilk Biscuits for Linda | 57 comments so far

A few weeks ago Luisa wrote about some beautiful bitter orange marmalade she made. I usually do whatever Luisa tells me, and I’ve been wanting to make marmalade for years, so I started checking around to see if I could find me some Seville (sour) oranges in Chicago. I found folklore-like reports online of sightings at this ethnic market or that grocery store…but nothing panned out. I started to give up and move onto other projects. But while we were in Los Angeles, some friends who took us to Lindy & Grundy, a super rad butcher shop in West Hollywood. I picked up a jar of orange marmalade that turned out to be fantastic and renewed my determination to find the oranges. I found a place online where I could order a case of Seville oranges, and despite the high cost, decided that the elusive Seville oranges would be mine.

The marmalade I bought in LA was made by the talented Kevin West who writes about preserving on his beautiful blog Saving the Season (he’s also about to publish a cookbook). It was an extremely delicious marmalade, “strong marmalade” as he calls it—sweet, bright, bitter, oily. The recipe was published on his site (and another version of it in the current issue of Lucky Peach). I gave it a try so that you’d have a couple of recipes to choose from if you find yourself some Seville oranges.

Preserving fruit remains my all-time favorite kitchen activity (ice cream making might be a close second). There is magic that happens when you turn fruit into jam. Seville oranges ain’t joking. They are very, very bitter. Like, inedible. They require cooking, soaking, and lots of sugar to fight that bitterness. This particular marmalade is perfect because it retains a lot of that bitterness. It isn’t for everyone, but it is for me in the most serious of ways. Also, look at it! It could not be prettier. The jars remain on my window ledge for me to admire. It is great on toast, but also nice on a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

My version below is an adaptation of the Kevin West recipe. I leave the processing up to you, folks have different opinions on how to safely can fruits and I don’t want get involved in that discussion right now. There is plenty of information online.

Seville Orange Marmalade (recipe adapted from Kevin West)

• 3 pounds Seville oranges
• 2 quarts water
• 3 pounds granulated sugar

Scrub the oranges well in cold water. (If you’re using oranges that have been waxed, use hot water to scrub and remove all traces of wax.)

Put the whole oranges and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook at a lively simmer for 70-90 minutes, until the peels are soft and the fruits have started to deflate a little.

Remove the cooked oranges with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet or large platter to cool. Measure the remaining cooking liquid. You want to have around 6 cups, so add or subtract water to reach the correct amount. Transfer the 6 cups of cooking liquid to a large bowl.

Once the oranges are cool enough to handle, halve them and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Pick through the pulp for seeds and place them into a small muslin bag, or a pouch made from a double-thickness of cheesecloth. You don’t need to be too careful with this, no need to clean off bits of pulp or find every single seed. Add the bag of seeds to the bowl of liquid.

Cut each half peel into quarters and then each quarter into thin strips. Add to the bowl of liquid. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight.

The next day, squeeze the bag of seeds to extract as much pectin-y liquid back into the bowl of oranges at possible. Discard the seeds. In a preserves pan, or large dutch oven, combine the sugar and oranges with their liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook at a moderate boil, stirring regularly. After 40 to 60 minutes (may be longer or shorter depending on heat and oranges) the marmalade will turn glossy and darker. Check for a gel set by placing a teaspoon of the preserve on a chilled saucer in the freezer for one minute. If the puddle of cooled marmalade has formed a skin and wrinkles a bit when you push on it, it is done. If not, keep cooking for another couple of minutes and test again.

Remove pan from heat and ladle marmalade into prepared jars. Because of the high amount of sugar and acid, Seville orange marmalade has an especially long shelf life, 18-24 months.

I got 7 8-ounce jars out of this recipe.

Permalink to Seville Orange Marmalade | 20 comments so far

At the risk of sounding like an old grump, remember when you only ever encountered a handful of pasta shapes on a restaurant menu—ravioli, spaghetti, penne? Just when we’d all mastered those we were presented with agnolotti, creste, and gigli. I like to joke that when I don’t know a word on a menu, it is usually a pasta shape(I’m hilarious!). Gnudi isn’t a pasta, but it is a name that makes me think of nudie and giggle.

This concludes my Italian lesson for the day.

But seriously, I like that we’re getting more invested in the foods of other cultures and I am happy I now have a better vocabulary when it comes to food. I am even happier to have this recipe in my life. Gnudi are small ricotta dumplings. These gnudi are light (cloud-like!) and creamy (ricotta-y!) and so good (seriously!) that I encourage you all to make them right away. This is the sort of food you miss when it is gone. Come back, gnudi, come back.

Please, please, please do not make this with anything other than whole milk ricotta. I would go so far as to say you should only make this with high-quality fresh ricotta, but I will settle on NO low or reduced fat ricotta. That stuff is gross, grainy, and has none of the qualities that make ricotta wonderful. Avoid! It takes a little practice to form these into this quenelle shape, but you could also just use an ice cream scoop to form them into balls. Form follows function, right? It will seem impossible to get the the gnudi from the tray into the water. It isn’t. Just pick them up one at a time with a rubber spatula and slip them into the water. The recipe says this serves 6 people—maybe as an appetizer? We got 4 servings out of the recipe. Finally, leftovers were great! Refrigerate the gnudi and sauce separately and then heat them together in a skillet. I was surprised by how delicious they were the next day.

Ricotta Gnudi (recipe by Sara Jenkins/Bon Appetit)

• 16 ounces ricotta (about 2 cups)
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano plus more
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
• 1/2-3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus more
• 3 cups Quick Pomodoro Sauce (see below)

Mix ricotta, egg, egg yolk, pepper, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add 1/2 cup flour; stir just until combined and mixture forms a ball (mixture will be soft and moist with some bits of ricotta remaining; add more flour by the tablespoonful if it feels wet).

Dust a rimmed baking sheet generously with flour. Using 2 large soup spoons, shape heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into football shapes; place on baking sheet and dust with more flour (you should have 30).

Cook gnudi in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and tender, 5-6 minutes (gnudi will quickly float to surface; continue cooking or gnudi will be gummy in the center).

Using a slotted spoon, divide gnudi among bowls. Top with Quick Pomodoro Sauce and more Parmesan.

Pomodoro Sauce

• 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Kosher salt

Pulse tomatoes with juices in a blender to form a coarse purée. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add tomato purée and sugar and season with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently until sauce is slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes. DO AHEAD: Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Permalink to Ricotta Gnudi | 51 comments so far

English muffins are one of the first foods I can remember eating. My mom has always liked eating breakfast at diners, and as a child I would accompany her to various diners on the southwest side of Chicago. This was in the days when you could smoke in a diner, which lent a certain ambiance that doesn’t exist any more. They were pretty magical places full of regulars, and sassy waitresses. Our usual order was two English muffins and an order of bacon (crisp, please!), which we would split. She had coffee, black, and I had orange juice. It was fun.

When I was a teenager I made a lot of English muffin-pizza-things. It was a good after school snack at a time when I was always hungry.

In Paris I like to get the muffins from the American guy at the farmers market on boulevard Raspail. They are delicious, and a good venue for Bordier butter or preserves.

You see, English muffins and I go way back. I keep hoping there will be an English muffin renaissance in Chicago, but it is all bagels right now. Which left me no other choice but to make them myself.

Recently my mom went to Seattle and brought me back the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by the prolific Tom Douglas. The first section of the book is dedicated to English muffins, which the bakery uses for sandwiches. The muffins looked amazing, and so I thought I would roll up my sleeves and tackle this recipe which took up a full 4 pages of the book.

You know you wouldn’t be reading about them if they weren’t good. They’re great. And like all big projects, the feeling of accomplishment (and your first bite into one of the toasted and buttered muffins) make it all worth doing. Now I’ll be honest, this recipe isn’t for everyone. If you scroll down and see the length of the recipe and gasp, it might not be for you. If you have never made bread before, it might not be for you. Then again, maybe it will be. What do I know?

The recipe really stresses the importance of the temperature of both the water and the dough. I used a thermapen to test and did everything exactly as instructed. I wish I could buy each of you a thermapen, it is a great anxiety reliever. The recipe worked out just fine, and was actually pretty fun. I completed the whole process in one day, but the instructions indicate you can refrigerate the dough and continue later.

Toast these and spread them with salted butter. Orange juice compliments English muffins in the most perfect way, I highly recommend a ice cold glass of freshly squeezed juice. Unless of course you want to add a layer of jam on top of the salted butter, in which case I recommend black tea. These freeze perfectly, so don’t feel any pressure to eat the whole dozen right away. But ours went quickly, we managed to find all sorts of uses for them (grilled cheese!)

English Muffins (adapted lightly from the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas)

• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato (140-160 grams)
• First portion of water: 1 1/3 cups (11 ounces) water, at 68°F (cool tap water)
• 3 cups (418 grams) bread flour
• 1/4 cup (28 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• Second portion of water: 1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) water, at 68°F
• Olive or vegetable oil for oiling your hands and the bowl
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal

Peel the potato and cut it into 1-inch chunks. Put the potato into a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the potato is tender, 8 to 10 minutes after the water is simmering. Drain the potato, transfer it to a bowl, and, using a potato masher or fork, mash the potato. Measure the mashed potato. You should have a well-packed 1/2 cup of mashed potato. Discard any excess potato and place the 1/2 cup of mashed potato in the refrigerator to cool. When the potato is completely cool, start your dough.

Pour the first portion (1 1/3 cups) of water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add both flours, the cooled potato, the honey, salt, and yeast. Mix on low speed for 10 minutes. You should have a soft dough that is sticky, stretchy, and wraps around the paddle. Scrape down the dough. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.

After the dough has rested, turn the mixer to medium speed and mix the dough for another 1 or 2 minutes. At this point, the dough should be wound around the paddle and will be stronger, tighter, and stretchier. With the machine running, start adding the second portion (1/3 cup) of water (the water must be 68°F) about 2 tablespoons at a time. Wait until an addition of water is absorbed before adding more water. It is very important to add the water gradually, in about 3 additions. When all of the water has been added, allow the dough to mix for another 2 minutes, until a smooth and shiny dough is formed. Use your thermometer to take the temperature of the dough. The dough must be between 75°F and 80° F.

(If the temperature of your water was 68°F, the temperature of your dough should be in this range. But if the dough is cooler that 75°F, you c

an place the dough in a warm place for a little while and check the temperature again. In the dough is more than 80°F, you can place the dough in a coll spot for a little while.)

Oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and roll and flip it over into a ball, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a slightly warm place and allow to rest for 30 minutes. (Slightly warm means warm room temperature, If your kitchen is 68-70°F or so, just letting the dough sit on the counter is fine.) After the 30-minute rest, uncover the bowl so you can “turn” the dough. Rub some oil on your hands before tuning the dough because the dough is sticky. Use your hands to reach over to the side of the bowl farthest from you and pull straight up on he dough on that side, stretching it upward. Then drop the dough as you fold it over toward the side of the bowl now closest to you. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat, pulling the dough on the side of the bowl farthest from you, stretching i straight up, then folding the dough over toward the side of the bowl closest to you. Continue giving the bowl a quarter turn, and stretching and turning the dough, until you have gone around the circumference of the ball of dough a total of 4 times.

Then turn the dough over, cover it again with plastic wrap, and return it to the slightly warm place to rest for another 30 minutes. Again, “turn” the dough with oiled hands as described above, working your way around the circumference of the call of dough a total of 4 times. Then cover the bowl, return it to the slightly warm place, and allow the dough to rest for an hour (which adds up to 2 hours total resting time). The dough should be sticky, bubbly, and active.

At this point you can either finish the English-muffin-making process in a single day and continue to shape, poof and

bake the English Muffins or cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to shape and bake the English muffins, combine the 2 tablespoons flour, and 2 tablespoons cornmeal (for dusting pans) in a small bowl. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust them with the flour-cornmeal mixture. Set the pans aside.

Generously flour a work surface, then dump the dough out onto it. Using a a floured metal bench scraper or a floured knife, cu the dough into 12 equal pieces. To shape each muffin, roll each portion of dough firmly between the palms of both hands, flouring your hands if needed.

Place 6 English muffins on each prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Cover the rolls of dough with clean kitchen towels and put them in a slightly warm but not hot place until they have doubled in size, which will take 1 hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes if the dough has not been refrigerated and will take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the dough has been refrigerated.

When the English muffins have doubled in size, the dough will feel a little less sticky to the touch. Also, when you press gently on the dough, it will feel light and airy, not dense and you may see some bubbles. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425° F.

Put the pans in the oven and bake the muffins for 8 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and flip each muffin over to the other side. Use your hand to give each muffin a firm pat to flatten it slightly–but do it quickly and be careful of the hot steam. Rotate the pans and return them to the oven, switching them between the racks. Bake the muffins until they are golden and baked through with a few browned patches, about 8 minutes more (about 16 minutes total baking time).

Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes, then slice each English muffin crosswise in half and toast.

Permalink to English Muffins | 45 comments so far

We’ve been traveling for the past couple of weeks. We were mostly in Los Angeles visiting Bryan’s family and some friends (hi guys!). Bryan’s sister and her husband recently had the most adorable baby ever, and the highlight of our trip was getting to meet our sweet niece. She was in her fifth week of life when we were with her. Five weeks! It is hard to wrap your mind around. In addition to plenty of baby holding, we also took a small side trip to Las Vegas.

Last year when we attended the Saveur Blog awards party, Bryan entered a raffle. Luck was on our side that night because he won the grand prize: a stay at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I think we’d need to be 10 years younger(or 30 years older?), heterosexual, and very drunk to really enjoy Las Vegas, but we did our best. Mostly we enjoyed our truly amazing suite (3 bathrooms!) and marveling at the insanity that is “The Strip”. We ate at a bunch of restaurants, but to be honest I didn’t love any of them. Everything was overpriced and under-loved. It was hard to find magic. We left the strip for a brief excursion to Amber Unicorn Books, which has the most glorious selection of used cookbooks I have ever seen—hundreds and hundreds…maybe even thousands? It is in a pretty nondescript strip mall, a fifteen minute drive from where we were staying. As we drove through the streets of Vegas that most tourists never encounter, I wondered what other secrets were lurking throughout the city. I know that if people come to Chicago and never leave the loop or Michigan Avenue, they have no idea of Chicago. I wondered if it is frustrating to live in a city mostly known for a couple of miles of casinos and shopping malls.

In any case, Las Vegas was a fun diversion, and we drove back to Los Angeles with a trunk full of cookbooks.

L.A. has become a bit like a second home to me over the last decade. Which means, in part, I take it for granted. I no longer worry about where to eat or what to do. I like how that feels, it takes the pressure off, it doesn’t feel like I am a tourist. The one exception is that I always make sure to eat at either Huckleberry or Milo and Olive in Santa Monica, usually I eat at both. They’re two of my favorite places anywhere, it is the sort of food I love eating—vibrant salads, pizzas, rustic pastries. They’re my jam, and Zoe Nathan is a like a pastry hero to me.

These salted caramel shortbread are almost always in the case at Huckleberry, and I love them. They’re sweet and rich (obviously!), but so delicious. Huckleberry cuts these into giant squares which I could never eat in one sitting. I chose to cut them into smaller bites.

I am excited to be back home and in the kitchen, ready to tackle the back-log of recipes I have been waiting to write about (pasta! English muffins!)

Salted Caramel Shortbread (recipe by Zoe Nathan)

Permalink to LA, Vegas + Salted Caramel Shortbread | 36 comments so far

You hate to say things like this too soon, but it has been a remarkably easy winter in Chicago. I have done a minimal amount of complaining about the weather, which has been pretty mild. In fact, I have been thoroughly enjoying this winter and the food that goes along with it, I’m not even tired of citrus fruits yet. For the first time in a while, I am okay with winter sticking around a bit longer. I still have a bunch of cold-weather recipes I want to tackle, and I have been enjoying the excuse to embrace my homebodiness.

Oranges and their kin are popular in our house—usually eaten out of hand, or juiced, but occasionally they make their way into a recipe. Of all the citrus, oranges get the least amount of attention from bakers. I often wonder why, they are definitely my favorite. I jump at recipes that feature oranges in all their bright citrus glory, like this relatively simple tea cake. It ain’t joking, with the zest of three oranges it packs a real flavor punch. I added some Cointreau because I could, but it isn’t necessary.

Bake this cake and celebrate the remaining weeks of winter, good or bad. Soon it will be spring and we’ll be taking another season for granted!

This is another recipe from the wonderful Piece of Cake by David Muniz and David Lesniak which is quickly becoming one of my favorite baking books. The recipe calls for a 9×5 inch loaf pan. If you only have smaller, fill your pan just shy of 3/4 full and bake the remaining batter in a mini loaf pan or other small tin. The smaller tin will bake more quickly, so pay attention! Also, because you are using both the juice and zest of oranges, it makes sense to zest first and then squeeze oranges.

Orange Loaf (adapted slightly from Piece of Cake by David Muniz and David Lesniak)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon cointreau (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange zest (from about 3 oranges)
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs

For glaze:

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, line the 2 long sides and bottom with one piece of parchment, and dust with flour.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the sour cream, vanilla, Cointreau (if using), and orange juice in a large measuring cup. Set both aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fit with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and orange zest on low speed until fragrant. Drop in the butter 2 tablespoons at a time until it is all added. Increase the speed to medium-high and cream the mixture until it is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl as you go. Alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour, and mixing only until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake the loaf for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester emerges clean. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before releasing it from the pan. To prepare the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice in a small pan and bring to a boil, stirring once or twice. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and brush/pour over the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely before serving. Use a serrated knife to slice cake, as the glaze will be hard.

Permalink to Orange Loaf | 47 comments so far

I had to wait until (almost) February to post this recipe for Hot Yogurt and Barley soup. I didn’t want it to be mistaken for some sort of food cleanse or resolution—it contains barley, after all. Every January I am surprised by the intensity with which magazines are pushing “healthy eating”. I guess the idea is that if we drink juice for the month of January we can eat what we want the rest of the year? That seems like a stupid plan. Some food magazines are even profiling celebrities who only drink juice (and plankton) and who seem to generally dislike food (and joy?). Why??! What does the new year do to all of us?!

Back to the recipe, which comes from a little book that you’ve probably never heard of, Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

Just kidding! All anyone talks about is Jerusalem. With good reason, it is perfect. This soup is the kind of recipe that makes your lunch guests nervous. Hot yogurt doesn’t necessarily sound appetizing and to finish the title with barley just ruins everything. Luckily my friends are good sports and agreed to try this with me. Of course we liked it, because this cookbook would never do us wrong. This Armenian soup is similar, in a way, to avgolemono soup which is so popular in Chicago’s Greek restaurants. Here, the tang comes from yogurt rather than lemon, but the results are similarly satisfying. We served it with that spinach and date salad that I can’t shut up about. It was a really nice lunch, and not a juice in sight.

Hot Yogurt & Barley Soup (from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi)

• 7 cups water
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• 2/3 ounce fresh mint, chopped
• 1/3 ounce flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 green onions, sliced thin
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place water, barley, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the barley is al dente, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve 5 cups of cooking liquid. (I drained my barley and measured the liquid and then recombined the two, but you can just wing it)

While the barley is cooking, saute the onion and dried mint over medium in the butter until soft, about 15 minutes. Add the onions and butter to the barley and water.

In a large, heatproof bowl, whisk together the yogurt and eggs. Slowly mix in some of the barley and water, one ladle at a time, until the yogurt has warmed. This will temper the mixture so it doesn’t separate/curdle. Add the warmed yogurt to the rest of the barley and water and return to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the soup comes to a light simmer. Do not boil! Remove from heat and stir in the herbs and green onions. Check the seasoning, you’ll need to add salt and pepper. Serve hot, garnished with extra herbs or green onions, if you like.

Serves 4-6

Permalink to Jerusalem, Again | 55 comments so far

Recently I discovered (and shared on Twitter) that there were 243 cookbooks in my apartment. The number has since risen to 245. I was both proud and horrified by the number. It is a lot of books. It is especially a lot of books for a small, one-bedroom apartment. Poor Bryan. At least a hundred of them are in piles around the house, so my new years resolution is to find a storage solution for all of these books. Wish me luck.

One of the two recent additions to the collection was Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple by David Muniz, David Lesniak and Rachel Allen (published in the UK as Baked in America- which is a much better title). It is a book from the two guys who own Outsider Tart bakery in London. The bakery sells American baked goods (whoopie pies, cupcakes, layer cakes, etc) to Brits, and apparently is popular. I didn’t know much about the bakery, and somehow missed the US release of the book back in the Autumn. I honestly have no idea why I bought this cookbook. Why do we buy most things? Boredom? I read a thing? I was hungry? Anyway, I added another general baking book to the dozens that I own and depleted even more of my expendable income. Bad idea, right?

Wrong! I am here to say, it is a great cookbook. I read so many of these things that I have become skilled at recognizing the real deal. It is the real deal, the recipes are great. I have baked two cakes, both of which we loved, and now these cookies. These insane rainbow-sprinkled cookies that I was afraid I would be disappointed by.

Not liking chocolate, I have eaten a lot of sugar cookies in my day. They are almost always bad—too chewy, too sweet, too eggy, too vanilla-y. I expected these to fall into one of those categories, but I was feeling self-destrucive and baked them anyway. They defied all of the categories of failure (and my expectations!) and are probably the best sugar cookie I have ever eaten. Seriously. They have a crisp edge and a soft center—soft, not chewy. Chewy would be bad. Soft, almost like a cake. Anyway, I am crazy about this recipe. And also, obviously, sprinkles! Sprinkles are just cool. I don’t care what Alice Waters says. Also, I actually believe I like the flavor of rainbow sprinkles. I don’t know if it is the Red 40 or food wax or what, but I think they taste really good. Sorry.

So anyway, this book, which I expected to be disappointed by, is on its way to becoming one of favorite baking books. Oh, life!

You’ll see from the pictures that I also made a classy (I hate that word!) version with white sprinkles. Forget it. Use rainbow. They taste better. The recipe suggests making GIANT cookies. I respectfully disagree. I like smaller cookies, because the crisp edge is my favorite part. I used a 2 oz ice cream scoop. You should do what you like! Also, the recipe can easily be halved. And if you don’t want to roll in rainbow sprinkles, you can top with sugar or glaze….but I can’t vouch for either of those options.

Sugar Saucers (from Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple by David Muniz, David Lesniak and Rachel Allen)

•  4 cups (600g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (120ml) canola oil
• 1 cup (225g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (200g) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• rainbow sprinkles, for decorating

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for about a minute. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the oil, and then add the two sugars, the eggs, and the vanilla. Make sure to stir well after each of the additions. Slowly add the flour mixture, about a quarter at a time. Mix just until the flour disappears. The dough will be soft. Refrigerate for at least an hour before proceeding (up to 3 days).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop (or up to a 5 oz scoop), divide the dough into balls. Roll each ball in rainbow sprinkles until thoroughly coated.  Place them on baking sheets with enough room for them to spread (if you are making giant cookies you will probably only get 4 per sheet). Use your fingers to flatten each ball slightly.

Bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on the size. Bake until the edges start to turn golden. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Permalink to Sugar Saucers | 60 comments so far

Recipes for something called Strange-Flavored Eggplant (or odd-flavored eggplant) pop up a lot in cookbooks from the 80′s. I discovered this while researching the origins of a starter we ate at Nopi in London. The rather unassuming plate was a sort of smashed up eggplant spread flavored with (what tasted like) sesame oil and soy sauce. It was sweet and sour and so delicious that we considered asking for a second of the same plate because we liked it so much. I came home and started to research the dish and kept coming across these recipes for strange-flavored eggplant.

At first I was worried the origins of the name might be racist-y (strange=foreign?). But it seems as though maybe it has more to do with the translation of a Chinese character? I don’t know. The title certainly doesn’t sell the recipe, which is actually quite wonderful. It isn’t what we had at Nopi, but is similar in its vibrancy. It is full of the flavors of Chinese-American cooking and pretty hard to resist. It really does stimulate the palate and get you excited to eat dinner, which is what we are all looking for in a starter.

In other news, I very happily contributed some of my favorite things to the latest issue of Lonny. I care about home design almost as much as I care about food, so it was a fun opportunity to get to engage in some of that with an online magazine I’ve always enjoyed. I am happy with the way my spread turned out (go designers at Lonny!),  I hope you’ll all check it out.

***The dip is best if made the day before you plan on serving it, the flavors really do develop. I served it with some garlic toasts, but I am sure you will have other good ideas. I am thinking about using the leftovers in an improvised fried rice dish.

Strange-Flavor Eggplant (recipe by Barbara Tropp from the China Moon Cookbook)

Eggplant:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pound eggplant
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Aromatics:

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes (or to taste)

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon hot water

Preheat oven to 475°F.

Remove the leaves from the eggplant and prick in several places. Bake, turning once, until fork-tender, 20 – 40 minutes. Remove eggplant from oven and slit lengthwise to speed cooling.

While still warm, remove the stem end and peel, scraping off the pulp and reserving. Process the pulp in a food processor until nearly smooth.

Combine aromatics in a small bowl. Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

In a large skillet over med-high heat, add oil and swirl to coat. Cook aromatics until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the sauce and simmer briefly (30 seconds?). Add eggplant puree to skillet and stir well to blend and heat through.

Remove from heat, taste and adjust chile flakes, sugar or vinegar to achieve a well-balanced flavor. Stir in sesame oil. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to meld. Serve at room temperature.

Permalink to Strange-Flavor Eggplant | 24 comments so far

I thought we’d start off the year the way we’d start off the day, with breakfast. In my case I am also breaking my blogging fast—blogfast? These Liège waffles have been written about before by other bloggers. If you’re anything like me, you skip them because you don’t happen to have any pearl sugar on your shelf—or you read the comments and are annoyed by the discussions of why every recipe is not the authentic recipe. Don’t be like me! Or yourself! These are so good that pearl sugar is worth seeking out, and annoying people are worth ignoring. In fact, a good 2013 resolution is to always seek out unusual ingredients, they’ll teach you something. Also, since the invention of the internet there are not a lot of good excuses for not being able to get your hands on something. It is a wonderful and terrible fact of our time. Pearl sugar is special because it won’t melt under the heat of the waffle iron, leaving little crunches of sugar throughout the waffle. This recipe is not worth making without it. No substitutions! Happy New Year!

The recipe comes from The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee, a book that I unexpectedly loved. I don’t care too much about coffee, and the first half of the book is dedicated to the production and consumption of coffee. The second half of the book contains recipes for things to eat with your coffee, mostly sweets—totally my speed. The book is one of the best looking cookbooks published last year, but what ended up charming me was the writing. It somehow manages to avoid being too esoteric/pretentious/annoying in the way I was worried a book that is essentially a coffee manifesto would be.  Bottom line, I like it. And I’ve liked the recipes I’ve tried from it and I even have liked reading about coffee. So there.

But back to the waffle recipe. The recipe is wonderful. Simple. You obviously need a Belgian waffle iron, but maybe you have one? Or a friend does? We should all share this sort of specialized cooking equipment with our friends. It can’t possibly be used enough in one household. I think these waffles are particularly brilliant because they are delicious at room temperature. In fact, I preferred them after they’d cooled off a bit. It takes the pressure off of serving. I even liked them the next day, how many waffles can you say that about? You need to think of these like a scone or biscuit. They can be eaten out of hand and do not require syrup or any other topping. They are their own beautiful thing. Not too sweet and full of crunchy bits of sugar. They are a great way to start your morning, or year. And yes, they’d be particularly nice with a cup of coffee.

Liège Waffles (adapted slightly from The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water, between 90°F and 100°F
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup pastry flour*
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon Maldon sea salt
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 4 tablespoons pearl sugar

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and water and let sit for 5 minutes.

Melt the butter and let cool to about 115°F. Sift the flours and granulated sugar into a separate bowl. Stir in the salt.

Crack the eggs into a medium bowl. Split the vanilla bean in half, scrape the pulp into the eggs, and whisk vigorously until well-blended. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, along with the yeast and melted butter. Whisk until smooth.

Cover the batter with plastic wrap and let rest until doubled in size, 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.

Gently fold the pearl sugar into the dough and let rest for 15 minutes. Preheat a Belgian-style waffle maker to medium-high heat.

Scoop the amount of batter suggested for your waffle maker into the waffle maker and sprinkle a bit of granulated sugar on top. Cook until the indicator light goes off or until browned (dark) and crisp.

*you can use substitute all-purpose for the pastry flour.

Permalink to Liège Waffles | 42 comments so far

Hello!

At the end of the year, I like to look back over the blog and remember all of the good food we shared. I gave myself the challenge of picking the 5 best recipes of the year.

I failed, so here are 7:

Smoky Eggplant Puree with Pine Nuts and Urfa Pepper

I liked this recipe so much it ended up making it into the wrap I designed to benefit Open Books.

Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds

This remains the most satisfying thing I made all year—simple and delicious.

Potato Rosti

Pure comfort, and probably the most affordable recipe on the site.

Pimenton Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

This chicken is so good I made it three times in the month of November alone. It has become a favorite in our house.

Orange Rolls

OMG—I forgot about these beauties for a moment! They are the best. Can’t wait to make them again.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This makes me nostalgic for England, and Palm Springs. A seriously good dessert perfect for this time of year.

Special Juice

The best juice for brunch.

***

Thanks for your patience as I took some time to recover and relax.

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and that 2013 is the best year yet! Can’t wait. xoxo

Permalink to Best Recipes of 2012 | 21 comments so far

This is what I made for Thanksgiving dinner. It was one of the best recipes I discovered this year, and it seemed perfect for the holiday. I think it would be equally perfect for a Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Years celebrations. Consider it my gift to you, dear reader. The gift of a perfectly roasted paprika and garlic rubbed chicken that cooks on a bed of potato wedges that benefit from chicken fat and high temperatures. When it is done, you have chicken and potatoes and only need a hearty green salad to accompany them. You also have an astonishingly simple and delicious meal. Honestly, this is about as good as it gets. I’ve made this recipe twice already and am giving it another go this weekend. Consider me obsessed.

The secrets of this recipe are in the details, so make substitutions at your own risk. I think Yukon Golds were made for this recipe, and I love them roasted more than people say I should. It is a pain to track down two kinds of paprika- but since you will likely want to make this again it is worth the effort. I think the chicken should sit overnight in the fridge to really develop flavor, but 5 or 6 hours will do in a pinch. On my second go around, I increased the potato quantities because they are just so, so good. I suggest you do the same by including an extra potato or two.

Unrelated: Some of you noticed already, but I have been writing an occasional column for Saveur on cookbooks. You know how much I love cookbooks, so it is a real treat to have a forum for discussing some older, stranger and out-of-print titles. I hope you’ll visit me over at Saveur and check out great books like Lee Bailey’s Country Weekends and the French Farm House Cookbook.

Pimentón Roast Chicken and Potatoes (adapted from David Tanis via Bon Appetit)

For chickens:

• 8 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 3 1/2–4-pound whole chickens
• 2 large bunches fresh thyme

For potatoes:

• 2-3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
• Smoked paprika (for dusting)

Rinse and VERY thoroughly dry chickens. Mix garlic, salt, oil, and both paprikas in a small bowl; mix to blend well. Using your hands, smear paste all over outside of chickens, rubbing to coat the skin. It will be clumpy, don’t worry. Place 1 bunch of thyme inside the cavity of each bird. Chill, uncovered, for at least 6 hours or overnight (for more flavor).

Let chickens stand at room temperature for 1 hour. If paste has clumped, rub to evenly distribute. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then lengthwise into 4 thick wedges (steak-fry style). Place in a large bowl; season generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle in oil and, using your hands, toss well to coat. Spread potatoes in a single layer in a large roasting pan or on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 500°F. Place chickens side by side atop potatoes in roasting pan.

Roast chickens and potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; turn potatoes, rearranging chickens if needed. Reduce oven heat to 425°F. Continue roasting chickens and potatoes until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thighs registers 165° F, 20-35 minutes longer. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving chicken. Keep potatoes warm in oven until chicken is carved and ready to be served.

Transfer potatoes to 1–2 platters; sprinkle with parsley and scallions. Arrange chickens on top of potatoes. Dust lightly with smoked paprika.

Serves: 8

***I trussed the chicken in these photos, which was my first attempt. I don’t think these should be trussed, I think it slowed down the cooking. Don’t bother.

***The skin charred a little both times I made this, but the chickens remained really moist and flavorful. So, no worries- and I liked the dark skin.If your skin starts to get too black for your own taste, you can cover it loosely with foil.

***If the potatoes are getting too dark (you want them a little dark, those are my favorite parts), you can transfer the chickens to their own pan to finish cooking them.

Permalink to Pimentón Roasted Chicken and Potatoes | 66 comments so far

I’ve been randomly exclaiming Christmas is almost over!, since Halloween. Even though I’m not Christian, I love the “holiday season” (by “holiday season” I mean: snow, Christmas decorations, presents, egg nog, good cheer, and all other secular/cultural parts of the holiday). The older I get, the faster the season goes by and the less satisfying it all is. It comes and goes so quickly, hence my anxious exclamation. I’m trying to fight the forward motion of the holidays by baking as much as possible, and watching holiday classics like She-Ra & He-Man: A Christmas Special (seriously weird, and currently streaming on Netflix).

These speculoos cookies from Dorie Greenspan are exactly what we all need to be making this holiday season. The spiced dough (in a magical land somewhere between a gingersnap and a graham cracker) is edged in sparkling sugar and topped with a small amount of glaze. The dough is made in advance and chilled. It turns the assembly of the cookies into a craft project. Gather your colored sugars, dragées and sprinkles and go to town creating these pretty little buttons. I have to admit I initially doubted the importance of the small dollop of glaze; spice cookies are pretty good on their own. But it is, in fact, very important and helps make these cookies special both in terms of taste and looks. These guys keep in an airtight container for a few days, but I would carefully layer them between parchment paper so the glaze doesn’t get messed-up and stick to other cookies.

Speaking of Dorie, why is she so awesome? Here are some reasons: 1) She is now selling her Beurre & Sel cookies online so any of us can have them delivered to our homes. Yes, I have already placed an order. 2) She indicated on her website that she might be selling the metal rings that she has custom made for her cookies. For a cookie nerd like me, this was exciting news. 3) She generously shared her recipes for her famous Jammers with Bon Appetit and Food 52. (remember when I tried my hand at Jammers? Well, now you can make the real deal) 4) look at her sweet self teaching us all how to bake cookies.

Thanks, Dorie, for being so great.

And by the power of Greyskull: Happy Baking Everyone!

(That was definitely a He-Man reference.)

Speculoos Buttons (by Dorie Greenspan via Bon Appetit)

Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• Sanding or other decorative sugar

Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Sprinkles, colored sanding sugar, or dragées (optional)

Whisk first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter in a medium bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add both sugars and molasses; continue to beat until mixture is smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla; mix for 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients and mix to blend well.

Scrape dough from bowl and divide into thirds. Using your palms, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch log. Wrap logs tightly in plastic or parchment paper and freeze for at least 3 hours.  DO AHEAD: Dough can be made up to 2 months ahead. Keep frozen.

Arrange racks in top and bottom thirds of oven; preheat to 375°F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Whisk egg white in a small bowl to loosen; lightly brush all over 1 log. Sprinkle with (or roll in) sanding sugar. Using a long, slender knife, slice off a sliver of dough from each end of log to make ends flat. Cut log into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Transfer to 1 baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart; place in freezer while you cut the next log. (The cookies hold their shape better if you bake when dough is cold.) Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake 2 sheets of cookies, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes, until tops are golden brown and centers are almost firm, 11-13 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool. Repeat with third sheet of cookies. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Mix powdered sugar and 7 teaspoons cold water in a large mixing bowl (glaze will be very thick). Spoon about 1/2 teaspoons glaze onto each button (alternatively, fill a resealable plastic bag with glaze and cut a small hole in 1 corner; pipe glaze in an even circle around edges of cookies, then fill). Decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, or dragées, if desired. Let stand on rack at room temperature for at least 30 minutes for glaze to set. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Permalink to Speculoos Buttons | 40 comments so far