Brown Butter Pecan Pie

 K and I were briefly devastated to learn that the pecan pie recipe we'd used for years was pulled down from the Food and Wine website - thank god for the Wayback Machine. We've loved their version, which includes chocolate ganache, since our very first Thanksgiving pie-athon.  It's made with honey instead of corn syrup, which means it's rich instead of saccharine.  I can't link to the original here, but this version is updated & adjusted to include brown butter, nix the ganache, make it a pie instead of a tart, etc. etc.

Ingredients

1 par-baked pie crust (I recommend this crust for single-crust pies, tips for par-baking here)
1 stick + 2 Tbsp. butter (10 Tbsp.), brought to room temp if possible
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups pecans (1/2 pound)

Flaky salt, to finish

Preheat oven to 400. Toast pecans lightly on a sheet pan in oven as it preheats, or in a sauce pan.  Take off heat as soon as they begin to darken.

Cut butter into even pieces and add to saucepan over medium heat (a light-colored pan will help you see when the butter is browning more easily.) Stir butter as it melts and begins to foam at the edges.  Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes, until foam starts to settle and the solids begin to toast.  The butter should be golden brown and smell nutty and rich. Turn off heat briefly. 

Add honey and return pan to medium heat.  Stir until honey is melted into the butter. Add sugars and stir until dissolved.  Allow this mixture to continue to simmer for 1 minute, then stream heavy cream in slowly as you stir. Continue until mixture is smooth and combined. Remove from heat and stir in pecans.

Pour mixture into the par-baked pie crust, spreading over the bottom of crust evenly.  Place pie on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, until there are bubbles around the edge and center is slightly firm. Remove from oven, sprinkle with flaky salt. Allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Blueberry Ginger Dark Chocolate Pie

 A flavor combination that is seemingly common in pastry cases around Quebec is blueberry and ginger - I had a loaf of sourdough studded with each recently and it was a delight.  When some friends wanted to learn to make pie, I was reminded of a chocolate blueberry pie I used to make years ago and couldn't shake the idea of grating fresh ginger into it.  The results were so stellar I needed to write them down somewhere for posterity, so here we are on this defunct little food blog: 

Ingredients: 

A double crust batch of pie dough, rested and ready to roll (I recommend Erin Jeanne McDowell's All-Buttah Dough or this No Fail, Extra-Flaky Sour Cream Pie Dough)

6 cups blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tablespoons cornstarch

2-3 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger (must be fresh!)
1 3.5-ounce dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped

Pinch of Salt

1 Tbsp. Butter
Milk or Egg Wash for the crust

Turbinado or Sprinkling Sugar to finish

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Roll one pie crust slightly larger than your pie plate, place in pie plate and put in fridge to chill.  Here's a good primer on rolling out pie crust. 

Place sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a large bowl.  Add a small amount of the berries and mash slightly to release a little juice.  Add the rest of the berries and chocolate, stir until the berries are well coated. Start by adding 1 Tbsp. of ginger, taste, add more according to preference. 3 Tbsp. should give you a strong ginger flavor, which is my preference. Set aside.  

Roll out top crust until it is also slightly larger than pie plate.  Take chilled crust out of the fridge, add filling, and top with the second crust.  Crimp the edges to seal, and cut small vents in top crust with a knife.  For best results, allow entire pie to chill in the fridge again for 20-30 minutes.  

When ready to bake, brush crust all over with an egg wash or whole milk.  Sprinkle with finishing sugar. Place on a baking sheet and move it to a middle rack in the oven.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake for an additional 50 - 60 minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust and if it starts to brown early, tent with foil.  Pie is done when the crust is evenly browned and the filling is actively bubbling (you should be able to see it through the vents.)

Allow pie to rest out of the oven for an hour before enjoying.

         

Breakfast Burrito

 There's something about breakfast burritos that feel like they should be eaten on a chilled but sunny day, with a hot mug of black coffee on the side. The combined warming force of salsa in your belly and sunshine on your face is restorative from the inside out. That's the way I've been eating them lately, almost daily, and while I can't share my sunny patio with those of you in colder climes, I can share this recipe. 

I consume a lot of food media, and watched an Instagram Live from chef Molly Baz that outlined this recipe. I can't find a written version anywhere, and I keep trying to share it but coming across the (reasonable) road block that not everyone enjoys watching a 25 minute video of someone making food as much as I. So I figured I'd write it down here for easy sharing, and include my own personal tweaks. She does an egg technique called "marbling" that is like a lazy scramble, which I try to describe to the best of my ability.  If you want to watch the video for fun or technique, you can find it here. 

One note: I've written a lot of ingredient options because I'm a firm believer that we do each know what we like.  The best way to replace an ingredient you don't like when cooking (baking is more complicated) is to figure out what purpose it's serving in a dish and find an ingredient that could fit that purpose. Is it salt?  acid? creamy? For example, Molly Baz used classic pickles in her burrito, which aren't my jam, so I replace w pickled jalapenos and serve my hot sauce on the side.  Pick and choose what you like in a breakfast burrito, and try this method to make them! 

For one burrito, you'll need:

Large Flour Tortilla

Butter

Salt and Pepper

A couple spoonfuls of something creamy, i.e. mayo, sour cream, greek yogurt

1 clove of garlic

2 eggs

Cheese (optional), I've been using a sharp cheddar but do as you like

Thinly sliced potato (Molly does slices of tomato instead, this is my personal sub) - or you could do another vegetable

Something pickled/acidic - I use pickled jalapenos, you could do pickles or thin slices of quick pickled red onion. If you don't like any of those, try adding a squeeze of lime or lemon your creamy element

Tender herbs - I've used dill and cilantro or a mix

Hot Sauce or Salsa

Method:

First, finely dice your garlic and stir into your "something creamy". The longer it sits, the more garlicky it will be.  If you're using potatoes, heat some butter or oil in a frying pan, season with salt and pepper and cook until they're golden brown. Set aside and turn off heat from pan so it cools a little. Set your tortilla on a plate and spread the garlicky sauce in a big circle, leaving an inch or two around the sides of your tortilla for wrapping. 

Heat a little butter in your frying pan for the eggs.  You want it hot but not ripping hot, since we're not frying these eggs and want to cook them gently.  If the butter is really sizzling, turn it down a bit. Gently crack your eggs directly into the pan. Without breaking the yolk, use a spatula to start moving the whites around the pan as they cook.  Season with salt and pepper. When the whites are barely set, break the yolks and continue to move the eggs around the pan as they cook.  Turn off heat as soon as yolks are just set.

In the third of the tortilla closest to you, create a horizontal line with your ingredients as you layer them. Continue to leave an inch or two or tortilla bare.  Layer cheese, potatoes (or tomatoes), eggs, pickled jalapenos, and herbs. Fold the sides of the tortilla in, then begin to roll tortilla from the bottom up to the top, keeping ingredients in a compact pile.  Let burrito sit on the seam for a minute to let it press together. 

Heat a little more butter or oil in your pan.  Toast burrito seam side down until a deep golden brown.  Flip and toast on opposite side.  Enjoy with hot sauce or salsa and know the sunshine will come back if you're missing it. 

Vegetarian Red Posole with Jackfruit (Instant Pot)

 Jackfruit does a great job subbing for pork here.  This is a riff on this posole.

Ingredients: 

Group One:

3 guajillo chilis

4 cloves minced garlic

1 small white onion, diced

1 TB ground cumin

2 TB red chili powder

1 can tomato paste (I had to get creative and use 4 TB of harissa paste once instead, and it was great)

Group Two:

3 cans hominy

2 cans jackfruit (make sure you get young jackfruit canned in water, not ripe or canned in syrup)

2 bay leaves

3 cups broth, 4 cups water

To serve: 

Quartered limes, cilantro, sliced avocado, plain yogurt, greens dressed with lime and olive oil, etc. as you prefer

First, halve and de-seed the chilis, and toast them for a few minutes per side in a dry skillet, until they char a bit.  (You may need to open a window).  Put them aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until onion softens, then add the rest of Group One (cumin, chili powder, tomato paste) and cook together.  

Drain the hominy and jackfruit, then add all Group Two ingredients to the instant pot along with the contents of the skillet AND the charred peppers you set aside.  Cook on high pressure for 17 minutes, use quick release, remove the guajillos and bay leaves, and eat.

Hearty Fava and Kale Soup with Polenta Croutons (Instant Pot)

Ingredients

For Soup:

Group One:

1 small white onion, diced

4 cloves minced garlic

2 TB herbs de provence 

Pinch kosher salt 

Pinch crushed red pepper 

Group Two:

1 lb dried fava beans 

4 cups broth, 4 cups water

Group Three: 

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn

For Croutons:

1 polenta log (the firm kind)

Olive oil, salt

More garlic if you like 

To top:  

Hard white cheese and good olive oil

Arugula dressed with olive oil, salt and lemon juice

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil in a skillet.  (You can do this in the bottom of the instant pot on "saute," but I've had that cause a "burn" error often enough that I prefer to use a separate pan.)  After about 5 mins when the onion softens, add the herbs de provence, salt, and red pepper flakes.  

Put the Group Two ingredients in the instant pot, then add the contents of the skillet (Group One).  Set to cook at high pressure for 20 minutes.  

Meanwhile, make the croutons:  cut the polenta into cubes, coat skillet in olive oil, heat to medium, throw the cubes in, add salt and garlic or whatever other herbs you like, cook (tossing periodically) until browned.  

When the instant pot is done cooking, use the quick release method and stir in the kale immediately, then use an immersion blender or potato masher to get the consistency you prefer.  Top with the polenta croutons, dressed arugula, a swirl of olive oil, and grated hard white cheese.

Double Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

I asked a teacher I know what her favorite ice cream was, in order to make it as an offering of a coping mechanism for back to COVID-schooling. Her favorite was Swiss Almond Haagen Daaz, and I can't leave well enough alone so I wanted to add another layer of chocolate almond to it.  The result was a sea salt vanilla ice cream with chocolate almond butter swirl and chocolate covered almonds. I purchased chocolate almond butter for the swirl but found it lacking on the chocolate front. This meant I ended up melting dark chocolate into it to up the ante - meaning this can be made with plain almond butter if that's all you can find.  The extra chocolate helps it drizzle better!

 My roommate says this is her favorite ice cream so far (bless her letting me stack our freezer full of ice cream containers), but she has said that about most of them....no photos, because most of it was gifted away!

Vanilla Sea Salt base adapted from Love and Olive Oil.

For Ice Cream Base:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

4 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For Mix-Ins:
1 4oz dark chocolate bar (70% or higher is best)

Almond butter (Sprouts has chocolate almond butter if you can find, but I would still add chocolate)

Chocolate Covered Almonds (Trader's Joe's Sea Salt ones are the best, but any chocolate covered almonds will do)

Create an ice bath. Place lots of ice and cold water in a large bowl, then nest a slightly smaller (heat-proof bowl) inside. Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into the smaller bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over top. 

In a saucepan, cook remaining cream, milk, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Stir regularly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture just starts to steam. Remove from heat.

Temper the eggs by slowly whisking in a little of the hot milk mixture. Continue to add a little, whisking madly, until well incorporated and the color of the eggs has paled. Transfer yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture in saucepan, whisking to be safe. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (it should coat the back of a wooden spoon after about 2–3 minutes).

Pour mixture through sieve into cold cream. Add vanilla and let cool to room temperature. Stirring rapidly over the very cold ice bath will hasten this process. You can either stir over ice bath until completely cool or refrigerate, at least 3 hours or overnight.

While ice cream base cools, create choco almond swirl.  Break half of your chocolate bar into chunks and place in a mug. Microwave for 30 second intervals until melted.  Stir in 3-4 large spoonfuls of almond butter. Adjust to taste, by adding more melted chocolate or more almond butter until satisfied.

Once custard is cooled, process accorded to ice cream manufacturer's instructions.  Once ice cream is consistency of soft serve, add almonds. Turn off ice cream maker. Drizzle chocolate almond butter mixture on bottom and sides of your ice cream containers.  Alternate layers of ice cream and drizzle until complete.  Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Almond Joy Ice Cream

Make Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate Tahini, but instead of swirling in dark chocolate tahini, mix in chocolate covered almonds.  Or do both! Voila. 

Eggplant, Pasta, & Sundried Tomato Pesto

 This yumminess (which I failed to photograph) had three components: 

(1) obviously pasta.  A kind with ridges to hold the pasta.  I made 2 packages. 

(2) Eggplant and white beans: Peel two eggplants and slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds.  Cook on medium high heat in olive oil, minced garlic, salt and some red pepper flakes until the begin to char and soften.  Add a can of drained & rinsed white beans & keep cooking until those begin to fall apart.

(3) The pesto:  Quantities here are admitted guesstimates because I made it as I went along, but blend up the following: 

About 3 medium-large ripe tomatoes 

about 8-10 sundried tomatos and a glug of their oil 

about a cup of walnuts 

about a cup of grated hard white cheese 

about a tsp of minced garlic 

salt, pepper, juice of half a lemon

1/2 a cup or more of additional good olive oil or lemon oil oil

Blend, taste, adjust, then mix in as much chopped parsley and basil as you have around. 

Mix the 3 parts together in a bowl and serve warm.  Summer heaven.

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate Tahini Swirl

This winter, K discovered the magic of chocolate tahini after picking some up on a whim at the grocery store. When I last visited we were drizzling it over bowls of vanilla ice cream even though it was deep New England winter. It was only fitting, then, that to celebrate her return to the desert, and thereby our living in the same city (for the third time in our adult lives!), that I came up with an ice cream combination involving the magic ingredient. 

The base coconut ice cream came from this recipe, although I did some tweaking -- dialing up the coconut and dialing down the heaviness by subbing half and half for cream.  I keep those adjustments here, because this is a rich ice cream. I loved that this recipe eliminated the need to cook & cool a custard, because it dramatically shortens the prep time. The dark edge of the tahini is a nice contrast to the creamy coconut, and it's pretty to boot!

Ingredients
2 cups coconut flakes
1 13 oz. can unsweetened coconut Milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate tahini (such as Tahini King or Pella brand) 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle the coconut flakes on a baking sheet; then place in the oven for 3-5 minutes until it turns light brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Alternately, toast coconut flakes until golden brown over medium low heat in a saucepan.  Watch closely in either case, as it it will turn quickly.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar and coconut milk in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer or KitchenAid until the sugar is dissolved.

Next, add the heavy cream, half and half, vanilla extract and the toasted coconut. Mix with a spoon until well blended; then pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn for 30 minutes. Once ice cream has firmed, similar to a soft serve consistency, prepare to swirl tahini into ice  cream container.  Drizzle tahini on the bottom and sides of the ice cream container.  Add a little ice cream, drizzle more tahini, and repeat until container is full.  Be careful not to stir tahini into ice cream too much, as it could melt in and lose the swirl effect. 

Place the ice cream into a container, cover tightly and freeze for 4 hours.

Olive Oil Ice Cream with Fig Jam Swirl

Figs start falling off trees mid summer in Phoenix, which means I'm always months too late when I ask my friend for figs off her parent's tree each fall.  This year, she texted me and I snagged some! Wanting to do something special, but still summery, I dreamed up this ice cream. My favorite way to eat figs has been on toast with cream cheese, olive oil, sea salt and honey...which led me to this ice cream...which is now my new favorite way to eat figs.

It's my vision, but a mashup of the two recipes linked below with some tweaks:

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/olive-oil-ice-cream

https://www.deliciouseveryday.com/honey-roasted-fig-ice-cream/

Ice Cream Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
4 large egg yolks
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (+ up to 2 tablespoons more to taste, if desired)

Fig Jam Ingredients
2 cups of fresh figs, quartered
1 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of honey

2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp of whiskey

Instructions

Don't forget to freeze your ice cream maker long enough in advance to make your ice cream! 

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a roasting pan with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Toss figs, honey, brown sugar and sea salt in a bowl until figs are well coated. Transfer to roasting pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until figs are caramelized. Let cool (this will go faster if you transfer to them
Once the figs have cooled place into a food processor, blender or a bowl for an immersion blender. Puree. Add more salt to taste and loosen the mixture with the whiskey. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring milk, cream, salt, and ½ cup of the sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved and remove from heat.

Whisk egg yolks and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a medium bowl until pale and thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes). Temper the eggs by slowly whisking in a little of the hot milk mixture. Continue to add a little, whisking madly, until well incoporated and the color of the eggs has paled.  Tranfer yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture in saucepan, whisking to be safe. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened  (it should coat the back of a wooden spoon after about 2–3 minutes). Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl set in a large bowl of ice water; whisk in oil. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Add more olive oil if desired. Process custard in an ice cream maker according to your maker's instructions. Once ice cream has thickened and firmed, get an airtight container and the fig jam.  Swirl some of the jam on the bottom of the container, top with ice cream, and dollop with more jam.  Continue until filled.  Don't stir or jam will melt into ice cream and no longer be a swirl! Cover and freeze until firm, at least four hours.

Mint Chip Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl

Looking at the prospect of a Phoenix summer without swimming pools, air conditioned restaurants, or air conditioned visits to other's homes, I decided there could be only one solution - I've officially declared it ICE CREAM SUMMER in our home.  I've obtained an ice cream maker and sworn off turning on the oven for at least three months.  Ice cream flavors, it turns out, are incredibly fun to play with, and quality ice cream takes considerable less effort than say, pie.  Why did I ever make pie?


I got simultaneously excited by the idea of blackberry and mint paired together, and by recreating a blackberry chip ice cream I had at an ice cream shop one during winter in Boston (searching for summer).  I pulled from the two recipes linked below and made some adjustments. The result is an incredibly fresh and light mint flavor, with just a hint of brightness from the blackberry.

Sources:

https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/fresh-mint-chip-ice-cream-recipe/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/06/12/recipe-blackberry-mint-ice-cream/
https://thetaste.ie/wp/blackberry-mint-ice-cream-recipe-from-handmade-gatherings-cookbook/

Ingredients: 
Ice Cream Base

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1½ tablespoons cornstarch (or arrowroot)
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups fresh mint leaves

OR 1/4 cup mint leaves, 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
4 oz dark chocolate, from a bar, chopped.

Blackberry Swirl

 6 oz fresh blackberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

Directions: 

Ice Cream Base: 

1. Whisk sugar and eggs together in a large bowl until mixture thickens. Add cornstarch and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
2. Warm 1/2 & 1/2 in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. When it just begins to simmer, turn off heat.  Temper the eggs by slowly & carefully whisking hot 1/2 & 1/2 into the egg and sugar mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring continually, until the mixture thickens enough to cling to the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Strain custard through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside to cool for at least an hour.
3. Stir in the heavy cream, fresh mint, and mint extract (if using). Cover bowl with a clean towel or plate and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight). Whisk the chilled mixture, then strain off the fresh mint and either discard or compost it. For additional mint flavor, finely chop another 1/4 cup of mint and add to custard mixture.

Blackberry Puree: 

4. Combine blackberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for five to ten minutes, stirring and mashing berries while cooking to help release their juices. Once they've broken down, add the cornstarch, stirring well to combine. Remove from heat. Strain mixture through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing the berries through strainer with wooden spoon. Discard the solid blackberry seeds that remain or keep for use as a rough jam. Cover the blackberry puree and chill in the refrigerator until cool alongside base.

Ice Cream:

4. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Freeze it according to your machine’s instructions, adding the chopped chocolate once it begins to firm up, 15 to 20 minutes into processing time. Once ice cream is thickened according to instructions, transfer to container.  As you transfer, drizzle puree into ice cream to create swirl.  Add ice cream to container, then puree, and continue until you've used all of both.  Refrain from stirring or puree will mix thoroughly into ice cream mixture. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours. 

Mum's Chicken Salad

K and I have often lamented that no matter how hard we try, we can never make chicken salad as perfect as our mom's.  While that may be true, it's still pretty darn delicious when I try! Here's a very loose "recipe" she recently emailed me so that we all may soldier on in our attempts:

there was a time when I only posted highly manicured food photos on this blog, but let's just celebrate an actual post eh? also my dog is cute

Shredded baked or rotisserie chicken
Red or green seedless grapes sliced in half
Sliced almonds
Sliced celery
Mayo
Black pepper
All amounts to taste

I like to serve on rye or multigrain toast with a leaf of romaine underneath.  I also at times sub some or all of the mayo with greek yogurt.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

This is an email I sent to my family:

"I just made the best cupcakes of my LIFE.  

I used this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/super-moist-chocolate-cupcakes/

Except I replaced oil with cinnamon applesauce and buttermilk with whole fat yogurt. 

And, I used this frosting, and sprinkled them very lightly with flaky salt over the frosting: https://www.twosisterscrafting.com/buttercream-frosting/ 

SO FREAKING GOOD.  Highly recommend."

Chicken Sausage Hatch Chile Soup

Yet another recipe spurred on by my excitement for a fall-esque week in the desert.  We are in a week of fierce thunderstorms, and when I got home tonight I couldn't resist making a soup from whatever things I had in my fridge.  Many of these items were bound for other cooking projects, and I genuinely get so excited when I can completely riff a recipe and re-purpose what's left in my vegetable drawer. I also keep homemade veggie stock in my freezer, exactly for when soup season comes around and I'm feeling a sudden desire.  I got my chicken sausage from my deli counter, stick to a basic chicken sausage or try to stay in the same flavor profile. With the last of the corn that's sticking around from August, and the hatch chiles that are starting to be roasted at Arizona farmer's markets, this felt like the perfect transition into soup season.

Olive Oil
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 roasted hatch green chiles, seeds removed
2-3 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 links green chile onion chicken sausage, sliced
1 ear's worth of corn kernels (removed from cob)
Smoked Paprika
Cumin
Salt
Black Pepper
Coriander
32 oz veggie or chicken broth (water will do just fine)
2/3 cup rice
Lime Juice
Greek Yogurt

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Once shimmering, add sliced onions and garlic, simmer until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.  Add diced green chiles, then carrots.  Stir to coat with oil, and continue to saute for a few minutes.  Add chicken and allow to begin to brown.  Add corn kernels and spices, to taste.  Stir so veggies and meat are well coated with spices.  Add broth or water.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium low.  Add rice (rinse first if brown rice) and allow to simmer until rice is soft, about 15-20 minutes. Add water or broth as needed if rice is soaking up too much liquid. Top with a squeeze of lime juice or dollop of greek yogurt.

Pumpkin Curry with Chicken or Chickpeas

There is a glorious, rare September thunderstorm happening in Phoenix.  Since it is flooding and I cannot go to yoga class, I am instead happily whipping up pumpkin curry at home.  A rough outline:

Makes at least 4 servings

1 medium yellow onion, large slices
4 garlic cloves
Olive or Coconut Oil
1 inch ginger, sliced
Salt
Black Pepper
Cumin
Curry Powder
Cinnamon
Garam Masala
Coriander
Turmeric
2 carrots, sliced
1 sliced boneless skinless chicken breast OR
1 can chickpeas
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 head of cauliflower, bite size pieces
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, sliced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
1 can pumpkin puree

Heat oil in a wide bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  Add sliced onion, minced garlic, and ginger, simmer until fragrant. Add carrots, cook briefly.  Add spices to taste, roughly 1/2 teaspoon of each (1 teaspoon curry powder).  Add diced chicken breast, cook until browned on both sides. Alternately, add chickpeas. Add more spices to taste. Add sweet potato, cauliflower, bell pepper, and cook until starting to soften and brown.  Add cherry tomatoes, cook until they begin to burst.  Add coconut milk and pumpkin puree, mix well.  Add spices to taste.  Continue to simmer until sauce is cooked down, vegetables are softened and chicken is cooked through.  Serve over rice.

Best Breakfast Smoothie

It's funny what things you pick up on from the people you live with over the years - this smoothie recipe has stuck with me from a roommate I lived with over five years ago. At the time, everyone in our house would make it and jokingly called it "The Kendra."  Every summer, I find myself making it regularly for breakfast. Even though at first I was skeptical of the peanut butter + blueberry combination, something about it works! I've even found a similar smoothie at two of my favorite coffee shops in Phoenix.

I have never, ever, measured the ingredients for a smoothie, so I apologize, but all you are getting is a list of ingredients for you to adjust to your liking.

Frozen Blueberries
Frozen Blackberries
Frozen Raspberries (optional)
Big Spoonful of Almond or Peanut Butter
Dry Oats
Milk (whatever kind is your preference, I use dairy milk or almond)
Spinach (also optional)


Blend and enjoy!

Creamy Sweet Potato Bake with Chile

I was recently at K's house, and she's currently busier than most of us have ever busied.  I've decided to be a meddling little sister and post recipes on her behalf, because at this moment any expectation of her blogging might need to be put off until retirement. ;) She made these for us along with flank steak, some delicious lemon garlic spinach, and cranberry sauce for a lovely meal before we had a glitzy evening at the Nutcracker. This is my best memory, but it was very ad-hoc so if you follow your instincts, I'm sure they'll turn out just fine.

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes
1 russett potato
2 cans diced green chile
1/2 cup (?) of cream
Thyme
Smoked Paprika
Salt
Pepper

Peel and slice all potatoes into 1/2 inch slices.  Layer in a 9x13 pan.  Mix in green chiles and spices.  Pour cream over top until it soaks all the potatoes, but you don't want any puddle of cream in the pan. Bake until soft, about half an hour.

Guest Post: Summertime Salmon Peach Salad

Yet another guest post from our lovely cousin Jessica: 

Summa summa summa time! 

You know those hot summer days where nothing sounds good but a popsicle and all you want to do is lay in front of a fan (no AC in Seattle) and sip a fizzy cocktail? Me too. 

I am a grill 'o' holic in the summer, but the same routine of protein and grilled veggies starts to get me down come August.  Enter in PEACH SEASON!  This salad is the perfect combo of protein, healthy fats, fiber, and greens to make you feel satisfied and full for hours after.  It feels like a cheat meal - but it's not! 

Ingredients: 

Salmon - I used salmon steaks, but you can get whatever is fresh. If Salmon is not fresh, do the same thing with Shrimp or any other seafood

Peaches (can swap any stone fruit - plums, cherries, etc)

Salad greens - 6 cups for two people

Farro or any hearty grain - 1 cup for two people

Mozzarella 

Avocado

Some sort of cream - either mayo or greek yogurt

Brown Sugar - 2 tablespoons

Cumin - 1/4 tablespoon

Chili powder - 1/4 tablespoon (more if you like kick!)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Cherry tomatoes (I like the yellow ones for sweetness) - about 6 per person

Basil

Red onion - 1 tablespoon 

Almond slivers (if desired)

Cook the farro according to instructions. Make a salmon rub from the brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Rub the salmon with the mixture and throw it on a hot grill. (about 5 min each side - salmon should blacken with the sugar)

Meanwhile make the dressing: 1/2 an avocado (or whole if you are cooking for more than two people); a small spoonful of mayo or greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon (more to taste) Salt and pepper

Slice up your peaches and tomatoes

Finely dice some red onion - I don't love a lot, but enough for taste

Dice some basil - about two tablespoons 

In a large bowl, add your salad greens and mix in the dressing - coat really well. add in the basil, and red onion. I also added some almonds, but they weren't necessary

Build your salad: 

Faro - about half a cup

Greens with dressing, onions, and basil mixed in already

Top with salmon, tomatoes, peaches, and mozzarella

Delicious!

Guest Recipe: Granola Template

My roommate Lili makes granola on a regular basis to prepare for the week ahead, and after a couple weeks of our house being filled with toasty warm coconut smells, I begged her for the recipe.  She typed up the recipe - more of a template, so it's flexible - via text, and I've written it out here to save it for myself.  I've since been making it regularly myself, and love having it in the morning with any mix of kefir, fruit, milk, yogurt, or nut butter.

Dry Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1 - 1.5 cups nuts (sliced almonds, pecan pieces, walnuts, etc)
1/2 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey, molasses or maple syrup
1/4 - 1/2 cup oil (coconut, olive, etc)

Optional Add-ins
1 -2 cups seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, etc)
1 cup Coconut
1-3 tsp. spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Other Spices)
1/4 - 1/2 cup pumpkin (warm in saucepan before adding if using)
1/4 cup cocoa or 1 cup chocolate chipes
1/2 tablespoons uncooked quinoa

Preheat oven to 350.  Cover baking sheet with foil or baking mats. Mix all dry ingredients in bowl (including add-ins).  Add wet ingredients.  Mix, taste and tweak to preference. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes total, stopping to stir 15 or 20 minutes in. Stop when looks toasty brown and smells incredible!

Spicy Shrimp Pineapple Fried Rice

A lesson in utilizing this blog better for saving even the quickest recipe I came up with: I clearly remember utilizing this NYT recipe for Hot Honey Shrimp to make something REALLY good last summer, with several tweaks.  I can't remember for the life of me what that was, but at least my attempts to remember resulted in this recipe.

I recently learned that fried rice is incredibly easy to riff off of, and also to hide an assortment of veggies in.  For best results, use at least day-old rice - a little bit drier is better.

This recipe is super quick if you buy already-cooked shrimp, and can easily be packed for lunch.  The shrimp and veggies each have a kick, but the sweetness of the pineapple and coconut rice counter it nicely.

For shrimp (adapted from NYT recipe above):
1/2 lb pre-cooked shrimp, defrosted if needed
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey
A pinch cayenne
¼  teaspoon lime zest
¼  teaspoon grated or minced ginger
1  clove garlic, minced
¼  teaspoon salt
¼  teaspoon ground pepper

For rice:
1 cup coconut rice (replace half of the cooking water with coconut milk)
1 bell pepper or three sweet mini peppers
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of corn kernels
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
3 Tbsp. oil (I used coconut oil)
Sambal Olek hot sauce
Juice of 1 lime
2 eggs
1/2 pineapple. cut into bite-size pieces

First, cook rice in a rice cooker (it's best if it's about a day old).

In a medium frying pan, melt butter.  Add honey, shrimp and the rest of the ingredients.  Continue to cook until shrimp is opaque white, about 8 minutes. Set aside when done.

Meanwhile, saute bell pepper, garlic, corn kernels, and carrots in 1 T coconut oil until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add rice and addition 2T coconut oil to the pan.  Mix well with vegetables, then press rice against the bottom of the pan and let sit for a few minutes.  You want it to get nice and crispy, but not to burn - if you have a lid for your pan, that will help.

Once rice has some nice crispy bits, mix it in the pan again. Clear a space in the side of your pan, and break the eggs into the cleared space. Scramble them with a fork or spatula a bit, then once mostly cooked mix them in with the rest of the rice.

Add shrimp, season with Sambal Olek and lime juice to taste.  Mix in pineapple and serve.

Guest Post: Mandarin Tart

Here's a guest post by my lovely friend and fellow pie baker, Jess. She intros our friendship quite well, so I'll let her take it from here - but you should know observing her tricks as she rolls out pie dough has improved my pies by leaps and bounds. She's a pie expert. 

(Please note that due to my own procrastination, she sent me this lovely winter citrus recipe while Boston was still weathering winter storms, but I am posting it in the high heat of June because I didn't want to delay any longer). 

While I’ve met and appreciated all the sisters associated with this blog, the sister I’ve eaten still-too-hot pie with at midnight is Annalise. We had one class together our first semester of grad school, and spent the next two years fantasizing about crust-filling pie combos to procrastinate writing our papers until the last possible moment.

Annalise has my back by sending me food essays when I max out my quota of news articles. One of the food writers I’ve found on my own is Dorie Greenspan, an American baker and writer who lives half the year in Paris. For a Francophile, she is decidedly not foofoo. Her vibe reminds me of Marion Cunningham, another great American food writer who is not foofoo in the least. (Marion Cunningham edited the modern version of Fannie Farmer Cookbook and has a bonkers recipe for a yeasted waffle I’ve been making too frequently.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/raised-waffles-40050/amp)

I was reading a Dorie recipe for lemon tart, and decided to do a mandarin orange version. Winter citrus like mandarin is how I’ve survived 3 Nor’easters in 11 days here in the greater Boston area, with one more on its way. Before making this tart, have your husband ease the baby into a miraculous 3-hour nap, and happen to have all necessary ingredients on hand. I found those to be key factors to my success.



Aiding in my success was the friendliness of this dough. It was easy to form into a disc and easy to flute the edges, which held perfectly when baked! My pie experiences have taught me how much better a pie crust baked with shortening or lard holds a shape than one baked with butter, because butter has a lower melting point. So I was surprised and delighted and how well this held its shaped edge. It smelled wonderful, like a sugar cookie that isn’t overly sweet. One more small note is that I baked in a pie pan instead of a tart because my tart pan was too large, and the only downside was I couldn’t pop my tart out of it once it had cooled. So pie pan or tart-either are good options for you.

The main difference between my mandarin tart and Dorie’s lemon (her recipe here: https://www.pannacooking.com/recipes/lemon-tart-recipe-dorie-greenspan/) is that using the whole mandarin, skin and all, didn’t work the way it did for lemon. I suspect that because the skin of the mandarin is thinner, it wasn’t captured and puréed as easily by the food processor. I ended up straining out the many small bits of skin and then zesting mandarin skin back into the mix. I also really pulsed the food processor for a while in an attempt to break down the mandarin skin, and this whipped more bubbles into my filling. You want to avoid bubbles because when baking they pop and mar the surface of your tart. Learn from my mistakes—go straight to zesting and juicing! I sifted powdered sugar onto my tart when it was cool to hide the bubble scars, though they really weren’t too bad.

My final important observation is that this tart is pretty jiggly when you take it out of the oven. Embrace the jiggle. You have my word it sets nicely as it cools. While it was cooling, I made use of my fruit leftovers. Because I had to zest 5 additional mandarins, I had these mandarins that needed to be used soon or their scraped bodies would get hard. So I poured myself a glass of lime seltzer and cut the remaining skin off, and used it as a juicy garnish. Beautiful and tasty.

If you also need a break from the news and love food writing, may I suggest these two gems from Dorie.

https://www.saveur.com/dorie-greenspan-new-years-eve-menu

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/25/magazine/food-issue-dorie-greenspan-paris-dinner.html

Ingredients:
For crust:1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut small
1 large egg yolk
Additional butter for aluminum foil and pie plate/tart pan

For filling:
5 mandarin oranges
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Additional confectioners’ sugar for decoration of desired.

Instructions:

Begin with the crust: Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse in short bursts so the butter is pea-sized lumps. I added the butter half at a time to avoid it becoming a clumpy mess, but pulsed until the pieces were much too small, and it worked out totally ok. Add egg yolk and pulse til combined. When the yolk is in, process in 2-3 10 second pulses until the dough forms slightly larger clumps.

Pour your dough crumbles out and knead to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Dorie would have you smear the butter into the flour with the heel of your hand. Revel in this tactile sensation.

Flatten dough into a disc, and then roll out until it is slightly bigger than your pan.

Butter your tart pan (if using one) to help your tart pop out cleanly. Drape your dough into the pan. If using a pie plate, feel free to flute the edges for decorative purposes and to help hold your filling. Prick the dough with a fork and freeze for 30 mins.

While dough is chilling, begin the filling: zest and squeeze the juice of 5 mandarins into food processor. Add sugar and pulse til combined. Then add remaining filling ingredients and pulse on low until evenly mixed. Take food processor bowl off its stand and tap it a few times on the counter to pop bubbles that may have been whipped into your mixture.

Remove chilled dough from freezer. Butter a piece of aluminum foil and drape over crust,being sure to cover the edges of your pie so they don’t overly brown. (I got a little over-browning, myself.) Fill with rice, uncooked beans, or ceramic pie weights and bake for 30 minutes at 350. At that point, remove aluminum foil and pie weights and cook for additional 10 minutes to finish setting the bottom and to brown crust. Remove crust and allow it to cool.

Decrease oven temp to 325. Carefully pour your filling into your crust. If you spill filling on the crust that will remain visible, it will look sticky when baked. If you see bubbles in your filling, you can pop them with your finger or a toothpick. Bake for 20 mins. Up temperature to 350 and bake for additional 30 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool, either to room temperature or in the fridge.

If desired, sift additional confectioners’ sugar on top of your tart. Enjoy!

Smoky Sweet Potato Chorizo Bowl

I don't think I've yet extolled the virtues of the CRISPY. FRIED. EGG. on this blog, but you should go learn about it from Deb and put it on top of every other meal, like I did for roughly February - June of last year.  True story: prior to the crispy egg, I did not like eggs (Sam-I-Am!). Then one afternoon, Deb's writing about a crispy egg atop spaghetti a pangratatto was so good, I tried it on the spot - now here we are.

I threw this bowl together with some leftover chorizo from a birthday dinner. It is a defining Parady trait that we buy too much food for parties, or pretty much any time we feed others, but at least we know how to make the most of leftovers! These sweet potatoes are a smoky, spicy dream, a perfect weeknight meal that doesn't skimp on flavor.

I made this just for myself, but adjusted below for a rough recipe for two.

For two bowls:
1 sweet potato
Cumin
Smoked Paprika
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Olive Oil
1/2 bell pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1/2 cup chorizo
Greens - arugula or spinach
Cotija or Feta
Aguacate or verde salsa
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke sweet potato skin with a fork.  Place in a microwave on high for 4 minutes, or until it starts to soften. Cut into bite-size pieces, skin included. Spread across a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and add cumin, smoked paprika, salt and red pepper flakes to taste. Place in oven for 20 min, but keep an eye on them.

Meanwhile, cut bell pepper and onion into thin strips. Add a tablespoon of oil to a frying pan and add bell pepper and onion.  Cook on medium until onion starts to get transclucent and bell pepper starts to soften, about 5 min.  Add chorizo and continue to cook over medium heat until chorizo has browned and is cooked through.  Drain fat and discard, setting aside chorizo and veggies.

Once sweet potatoes are nice and browned, remove from oven.  Layer bowl with sweet potato, peppers, onions, greens, salsa and cheese.

Heat frying pan again, over high heat.  THEN add olive oil, heat over medium high heat until shimmering.  Once the oil is hot, take a deep breath and crack an egg into it, moving quickly away from the splattering oil. Watch as the egg whites bubble around the yolk.  Let it sit for longer than you think, until the bottom of the egg starts to get crispy brown.  Pour some of the hot oil from the pan over the whites - not the yolk - to speed things along but help the yolk stay runny. Remove and repeat with the other egg.

Top each bowl with a crispy fried egg and a dab of yogurt & salsa. Dig in!

Breakfast Apple & Egg Chop

This is a thing I like to eat for breakfast. 

It's a small apple and a hard boiled egg, chopped up with other things that may include hard white cheese or avocado, pepitas or nuts for crunch, and topped with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and a little salt (or in this case salt I made ages ago that was mixed with crushed toasted nori).  

Instant Pot Dal Makhani

Here is another delicious instant pot find.  I'm writing the recipe up here so I remember to make it again, but it's straight from The Instant Pot Indian Cookbook by Urvashi Pitre.  The dal here retains its shape and the sauce is wonderfully creamy (probably because it includes, um, cream).

With a salad and Heidi's Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma (except I was with non chickpea eaters so we did potato cauliflower):  

Group One: 

1/2 cup whole black urad dal, rinsed

2 bay leaves

1 TB chopped garlic

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 1/2 cups water

Group Two: 

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp each turmeric, coriander, garam masala

1/4 tsp each cayenne, cumin

Group Three: 

2 tsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1 TB tomato paste 

Put Group One in the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 30 minutes, then release naturally (I lost patience and eventually did quick release and it was fine).

While that is cooking, whisk together Group Two in a bowl and set aside.  For Group Three, heat the ghee in a small pan, add the cumin seeds, and when they sputter, stir in the tomato paste until it absorbs the ghee. 

Mix Group Three into Group One, then mix in Group Two as well.  Serve with chopped cilantro and fried garlic.  Yum.  

Instant Pot Split Pea with Spinach, Lemon, and Ethiopian Spices

Tonight I made this soup in the Instant Pot (which, when you're a vegetarian trying to get protein, is a pretty lifesaving legume-cooker).

I subbed split peas for lentils because that's what I had, and served over rice with yogurt on the side. Pressure cooked a little extra (13 mins instead of 10) because of using split peas, although I bet they would have been fine after 10 - they were pretty liquified.  I did find it needed more lemon juice and salt than called for.  It was delicious!

Chicken Soup With Jalapeño and Lime

Years ago, I worked at a shelter for kids who'd crossed the border without an adult.  Not only were the kids from many different countries, the staff were as well. I would have a steaming cup of cafe con leche set in front of me while I worked a night shift, or walk into a staff meeting to find the largest soup pot I'd ever seen perched on the stove top and filled with posole. But there was no day of the week that I looked forward to more than chicken soup day, where inevitably a chicken soup spiced with jalapeño and cumin bubbled on the stove.  I never could pinpoint which country it originated from, and failed to ever get a clear recipe from the several cooks who'd make it.  I searched and searched the internet, to no avail.

A few things were consistent - the chicken legs would be left on the bone, perched in your soup bowl with the meat tenderly falling off.  The rice wouldn't be cooked in the broth, but separately, then passed around for you to add as you please. Sometimes there were large slices of jalapeño nestled amongst the veggies, but there was always a kick to the broth. And besides the bowl of rice, other toppings would be passed around the table as well.  Cilantro, more onion, avocado, more jalapeno - which the teenagers would pass behind me, laughing about how I couldn't handle the heat. Lastly, there was lime or lemon to squeeze over the top of it all, brightening the flavor and bringing the dish over the top.

K helped me recreate the recipe based on the tips I'd been given and the strong memories of the nose and the tongue. It's the kind of soup that feels healing, somehow, and that warms you to your core on a cold winter's day. Below, our best attempt.

3 large carrots
5 stalks celery
2 large yellow onions
2-4 cloves of garlic
2-3 jalapeños
3 to 5 pounds bone-in chicken legs
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Water or Stock

To top:
Lime/Lemon Wedges
Avocado
Cilantro
Yogurt
Cooked Rice
Radish
Cheese
Tortillas

Chop and peel carrots, celery and onion into large, bite-size pieces. Dice the garlic finely. De-seed and chop jalapeño, taking note of how spicy they appear to be.  Add celery, onion, and carrots to a large pot with a few tablespoons olive oil.  Saute in the bottom of the pot until the onions are translucent. Add the jalapeño and garlic, to taste, and saute a bit more.

Add chicken legs and saute a bit to brown the skin. Cover with roughly 8 cups of water or chicken stock. Bring entire pot to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Skim foam continually as it rises to the top.  Taste occasionally, adding more jalapeño or cumin as personally preferred. Simmer the soup for at least an hour, until the chicken is tender and falling off the bones.

While the soup is simmering, cook rice and prepare toppings.  Set tables with toppings in bowls to be shared around the table.  Serve soup with lime, cilantro rice, and yogurt at the least, in addition to any other desired toppings (other suggestions above).

Christmas Roundup

A roundup of sweets & treats that could warm your home this holiday week. I've been prepping away for all the family to arrive in Arizona for a desert Christmas, so here are some recipes we love that you can use to welcome the ones you love! For more holiday pie recipes, please see Thanksgiving roundups One and Two, which list almost all of our favorite pies.

Holiday Snacks
Orange Chipotle Spiced Pecans: A great Christmas gift, or a snack to be made in advance of carloads of family arriving at your door. 

Cranberry Chutney with Baked Brie:  This recipe was included in a past Thanksgiving roundup, but really belongs in your holiday party or lunch line-up, so I'm cross-posting here. 

Baked Feta: Writing this roundup reminded me that I haven't written up a recent Parady sister discovery: almost all baked cheese is magic, feta included.

Ricotta and Roasted Grape Crostini I pulled some recipes from an impressive party menu Sarah once created, but I'm pretty sure I've had these elsewhere and they were excellent.

Stuffed Dates: Sarah does hers with bleu cheese & marscapone, I've had them with parmesan and drool just thinking about it.

Roasted Tomato and Rosemary White Bean Dip: K made this for a Christmas spread one year, and it's perfect party fare - a lovely warm dip, without being too heavy.

Gin-Marinated Olives

Cookies!

Holiday Cookie Roundup  I shouldn't even need a cookie section, because almost all the cookies you could need can be found in this post here, from a year where Sarah was clearly amped on holiday cheer and let it all out in the form of baking.

Spicy Gingerbread Cookies: The way gingerbread is meant to be: dark, strong, and with a kick.

Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies: Another place these flavors blend together perfectly is this pie. 

Sweet Potato Biscotti: A guest post by one of our mum's co-librarians!

G-Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies

Grown-Up No-Bake Cookies

Flourless Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Christmas Wreath Cookies Inexplicably, these cookies that I made as a college student in a tiny apartment reign supreme as one of the top five  most popular recipes ever posted on this blog. 

Eggnog Florentines

Pie & Other Desserts

Chocolate-Covered Candied Oranges My favorite stocking gift as a kid were those chocolate oranges that you "whack and unwrap".  Here, a much classier version. 

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Pie: A recent original Parady pie recipe.

Black-Bottom Citrus Pie: Four & Twenty Blackbirds makes a black-bottom lemon pie that is a dream during citrus season, but I've played with the idea of hearkening to the above-mentioned chocolate oranges by replacing the lemons with oranges here. Let me know if you try it!

The Molasses Pie!: Another cross-post...I know I tell you to make this every Thanksgiving, but you should make it every Christmas, too.  

Egg N' Grogg Pie: Another Four & Twenty Blackbirds creation - all the boozy, creamy goodness of eggnog wrapped up in a pie. 

Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Cake: Can you think of anything else a dessert needs to contain? I can't. 

For Christmas Morning: Growing up, our family used to be gifted with a homemade potica by an old family friend, and I would always have a slice on Christmas morning. Seeing as how I haven't yet mustered the energy to tackle that kitchen challenge, I'm forever in search of a Christmas breakfast that is both festive and minimal effort the morning-of, lest breakfast stand in the way of present-opening.

Applesauce Sticky Cake with Dates

Stromboli: This is a guest post by my very good friend, whose family is filled with chefs, and who whip this up quickly for their family each year while making hundreds of cinnamon rolls for family and friends. 

Orange, Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Green Chili Souffle K & S made this for a long-ago Christmas morning for which I was not present, so I'm thinking I'll force them to make it again this Christmas, no? 

Gingerbread Dutch Baby: Dutch Babies are SO much easier than pancakes and waffles, and here's a perfect Christmas one!

Dark, Stout Gingerbread

Drinks - the warm and the boozy

Winter Marshmallow Trio: Chai, Peppermint, and Espresso: If you're going to get fancy enough to make your own marshmallows, you might as well go to town on the flavors, too. 

Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix: I often find myself disappointed in hot chocolate, and have searched high and low for a recipe that's foolproof to creating a rich, sturdy mug of hot chocolate without being sickeningly sweet.  Deb, of course, had the answer.  You will never need another hot chocolate recipe again.

Italian Amaretto Cookies and Bourbon Hot Toddys: Our hot toddy recipes on this blog are extensive (here, here and here). In this edition, Kate paired them with some lovely cookies for a Christmas celebration.

Coconut Curry Hot Chocolate: Make your hot chocolate with coconut milk and add curry marshmallows, because we all need a little sweet & spicy for our holidays. 

Gingerbread Latte Make a batch of syrup in advance and you're set for holiday coffee without the drive-through line.

Cranberry Sorbet Fizz

Fairytale of New York: This is described as a "winter-spiced old-fashioned", so I made a batch of the syrup in advance of our whiskey-loving family arriving.  It made my kitchen smell like heaven. 

Baked Feta

K told me a secret about a year ago - that Brie isn't the only cheese that gets 5x dreamier if you slip it in the oven before serving.  She has a different baked feta recipe, but below is the version I've been adding to every cheese plate since.  It's a simple way to knock your hor d'oeuvres spread out of the park. I'm confident it would be excellent with any manner of herbs.

Ingredients:

1 block of feta (doesn't need to be fancy, as you're about to fancy it up anyways)
Crushed Red Pepper
Oregano
Olive Oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover the top of your feta liberally with herbs and crushed red pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Bake until just soft, 10-15 minutes.  Serve immediately with your favorite crackers.

Winter Salad with Pear and Pomegranate

When I'm planning my week's lunches, I often shy away from salads because I convince myself that it won't be enough food, or that they won't be as good as I want them to be.  A few years ago, I threw this salad together and it proves both of the above fears unfounded. It also shows that winter salads can be a dream, not just a sad echo of summertime.  It's my favorite desk lunch for this time of year, a welcome contrast to holiday potlucks and winter's more carb-heavy offerings.

Spinach
Pear (I've happily substituted apple as well)
Pomegranate Arils
Pecan Pieces
Cooked Quinoa (I use red here)
Feta
Olive Oil
Balsamic

I unfortunately don't have exact measurements for you, because I think most of us like different proportions in our salad and I tend to just make one serving.  I wash my spinach and cut it with clean kitchen shears into small pieces.  Then I cube the pear and remove the arils from pomegranate before adding them, the pecans, and the quinoa.  Last, I crumble the feta over the salad and drizzle it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Pie

Rich, easy and a show-stopper, this is a recipe that I dreamt up for our Thanksgiving meal, but that I think may actually belong on the Christmas table. My inspiration came from pomegranate bark, where one nestles pomegranate arils in dark chocolate so that the tart juices bursts in contrast to the bitter and sweet.  I'm pleased with the results, but it is incredibly rich, so enjoy in thin slices. If you're worried about the richness, you could reduce one of the ganaches by 1/2, but I recommend keeping the amount of arils consistent regardless.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved, seeds scraped, bean reserved (or sub with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Truffle Ganache:
4 oz semisweet choc
4 oz bittersweet choc
1/2 cup cream
1/2 pomegranate worth of arils

Ganache Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet choc
1 cup cream

For top:
1/2 pomegranate worth of arils

Preparation:
Before you begin:
Preheat the oven to 350.
Remove arils from pomegranate.

For the Crust:
Combine butter, sugar, vanilla seeds, and salt in a large bowl, stir until incorporated. Add flour, stir until just combined and a dough begins to form. Sprinkle dough over the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (alternately, a shallow pie pan also works just fine). Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, until brown.

For the Truffle Ganache:
Chop both types of chocolate very finely.  Heat the cream until hot, just before simmering.  Add the chocolate and stir continuously, until the mixture is glossy.  Stir in the pomegranate arils. Pour into crust and chill in fridge for at least 20 minutes, until firm.

For the Ganache Glaze:
Chop chocolate very fine, heat cream until hot, add chocolate and stir until glossy. Pour over chilled truffle filling.

Sprinkle remaining arils on top in a decorative pattern.
Chill in fridge until firm, at least a half an hour but I recommend 2 hours.