The perfect good news dinner party dish

Let's backtrack. Again. (One day I'll write this blog in real time again, promise.)

In January we invited our dear friends over for dinner. They didn't know it, but it was a total setup. Not only were we planning to surprise them with the news that we were pregnant again, but we planned to really surprise them by asking if they'd be Hazel's godparents. Clearly, a damn good dinner was necessary.

Even though I've owned the Momofuku cookbook for years, I've always flipped right past David Chang's bo ssam recipe. This NYT Cooking piece, though, got my attention, which links back to this longer piece. A "recipe to win the dinner party sweepstakes?" Okay then!

The magic of this meal is that it's not at all difficult to put together. It's timely, yes - you'll need to plan in advance so the pork can sit overnight. But compared with lots of the "oh, this is simple!" recipes that I try to throw together when company is over, forgetting that I actually want to be able to converse with company instead of cook up until we're seated, this recipe is tailor-made for being able to enjoy your guests. And honestly? One of the best meals we've cooked all year.

We toasted Baby Dos. LG and B said yes to our big question. We all squealed and hugged and cried. And then we almost died at the deliciousness of the food. Make this dish for your next good news dinner, and then you'll have even more to toast.

Momofuku's Bo Ssam

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

PORK BUTT:

1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 tablespoons brown sugar

GINGER-SCALLION SAUCE:

2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts

½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger

¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

1 ½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

SSAM SAUCE:

(DC peeps - you can find your ssamjang, kochujang and kimchi at the Korean stand inside Eastern Market! The owner makes it herself.)

2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets, and online)

1 tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)

½ cup sherry vinegar

½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

ACCOMPANIMENTS:

2 cups plain white rice, cooked

3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

1 dozen or more fresh oysters(optional)

Kimchi (available in many Asian markets, and online)

Directions

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

Victory is mine: Mustard Dill Salmon

Optimists would say that T eating mustard dill salmon for dinner is a marriage victory. Pessimists would say it's the symbol of a man breaking down underneath an oppressive regime. I say... I don't care! I want to eat salmon for dinner and this is how I can do it. 

See, years back, T was firmly in the No Salmon camp. I've always been Team Salmon, and much like my propaganda campaign for mushrooms, I decided I could turn him. The trick has been cooking salmon with other strong flavors that he really likes, such as mustard and dill. The guy goes crazy for dill from the garden. Enter: a winning, simple recipe! (And a killer mustard sauce.)

Mustard Dill Salmon

Feeds four - or two with leftovers

Ingredients

- 2-lb salmon fillet (wild Pacific salmon is best - avoid farmed Atlantic salmon)

- 8 oz sour cream (small container)*

- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard

- 1/3 cup fresh dill + extra

- 2 cloves garlic

- salt and pepper

- arugula (optional)

Directions

- Mustard sauce: Mix together the sour cream, mustard, dill, and garlic and allow them to sit while you prepare dinner. Add salt and pepper to taste. You'll end up with just over a cup of sauce.

- Heat up your grill

- Coat the salmon fillet with 1/3 of the mustard sauce and place it in an aluminum foil packet

- Cook the salmon in foil on a hot grill for 15 minutes

- Garnish with extra dill and serve alongside fresh greens (I like arugula for this)

- Serve the rest of your sauce at the table with the salmon and arugula

(PS: We served this dish with caponata - still a goodie!)

*I suspect you could substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream here, with some tinkering, if you're so inclined.

Cucumbers of days past

One of my toes is covered with dried blood today, swelled twice its size. It isn't pretty. The reason for my disfigurement? Half classic klutz, half defective product, but all embarrassment: the handle of a 40-lb box of cat litter ripped off as I was carrying it this morning. At 6 a.m. While unloading it from our car on the street, wearing pajamas. (Of course.)

So I'm limping around today, kind of a straight-legged shuffle, which I am not very good at doing with any measure of grace. I'm normally a fast walker, weaving in and out of people to get where I'm trying to go as efficiently as possible. Not today. On my way back from lunch this afternoon (as I'm being passed by people in wheelchairs and tourists dragging suitcases), I had a vision that made me burst out laughing right on the sidewalk. (Ailing and crazy? That's me.) Suddenly I saw my late grandmother, smiling away and bringing up the rear with her cane or walker. "Here I come, Maggie," she liked to say. "Grandma Hippety-Hop."

Granddaughter Hippety-Hop was thinking of home a lot this weekend. We had pork tenderloin on the grill - a hometown fave - and a big pile of squash and zucchini from the market to cook. With North Carolina on the brain, I instinctively reached for the cast iron pan instead of my All-Clad, used butter instead of olive oil. It's the details that matter with hometown cooking.

I asked my mom for the family "recipe" for classic apple cider cucumbers, which are so simple that you can barely use the word recipe at all. Crisp and acidic and eaten hundreds of times with family, these cukes. My grandma and my mom would peel their cucumbers, but I left mine unskinned. I have so many memories featuring a bowl of these on the table, often ridged with a fork (as kids we thought the resulting "designs" were so cool) and usually kept cool with ice cubes. Cucumbers like these have heard all sorts of tales around tables over the years, don't you think?

Southern-Style Apple Cider Cucumbers

 

- Keep the skin on or take it off - your choice. Slice your cucumbers thin. 

- Fill with ice water and salt and let them soak.

- Just before eating, empty our your cukes, rinse with fresh water and pour in apple cider vinegar until they're just covered.

- Grind in some pepper and throw in some ice cubes, and you're done!

 

If you're not eating this for nostalgic family purposes, I'd mix up your vinegars and add in fresh herbs. Rice wine vinegar + dill! White wine vinegar + oregano! And so on. Heck, throw in feta, onion, and tomato while you're at it and make it a meal. I think my grandma might even like that dish.

An Eastern Market weeknight

Yesterday I was having a day. When I left work, I was in a crappy mood and needed to buy ingredients for dinner. One of my friends from high school was in town and coming over to catch up, and there was barely any food in the house. I hit up Eastern Market on the way home without a plan but with a crashing headache, hoping to pull it all together.

Here's the thing about Eastern Market: when we were house-shopping, we literally drew a circle around it on a map to guide us on our hunt. We saw the market then as the heart of where we wanted to be in DC, and now that we're here, it really is the center of our neighborhood lives. We pop in after work regularly for dinner items and we visit at least once a weekend to stroll the flea market and buy food for the week. It's where we see neighbors and buy things we both need and don't need - from vegetables to handmade baby toys.

My first stop was the flower lady. Her flowers are overpriced, but they're also gorgeous and serve as an instant mood-check for me, always. Plus, the peonies on my table from our garden really needed to be replaced. I chatted with her about what she was selling - she had some fun fuzzy yellow ones I'd never seen before and already forgot the name of - and picked up some hydrangeas and irises. Next stop: the pasta counter. We adore buying fresh pasta there (perhaps a little too much, actually), and I was thinking of doing a couple of their delicious ravioli on a plate alongside a spring vegetable and grilled meat. I went with large, savory mushroom ravioli that could be dressed simply with a little brown butter. Yum. The cheese counter is across from the fresh pasta - brilliant placement, really. I needed more parm and wanted a snacking cheese to have out with olives while we cooked, so I sampled two manchegos and had them slice a hunk for me to take home. Now for meat. We ate so much fish on vacation that I've been in withdrawal ever since, but I couldn't remember if my friend Jen was a seafood fan. I skipped the seafood counter (which I always love visiting if only to ooh and aah at the pretty fish!), and went over to pork instead. Pork tenderloin is delicious and simple to throw on the grill - done. 

On Tuesdays the outdoor hall at Eastern Market is lined with Amish farmers who come down from Pennsylvania, and walking by them, arms full of flowers and bag bursting with food, my furrowed brow was definitely gone. The accents, the clothes, the politeness... hard not to smile. After chatting with the cutest little guy in his big black hat, I bought his family's asparagus, strawberries, and his grandmother's pound cake. Done.

Here's the magic of a shopping experience like that: I took my time, but it didn't take long. I had pleasant conversations with five different vendors. I smiled at local dogs and babies. I felt lighter with each new item I put in my bag. I got home and hugged an adorable baby of my own, welcomed an old friend to our home, cooked a simple dinner, and enjoyed it over great company, with the worries of the day behind me.

I'm not saying Eastern Market is magic, but it sure is a magical way of ending a harried workday. Living here, living out the romantic idea we had so many years ago of the urban family life we wanted... some days I can't believe my luck.

Hugs for breakfast

It's cold and rainy here today, a little unsettling after two weeks of pure, unadulterated spring. I'm nursing coffee at my desk right now wishing I was at home, with raindrops tinkering down on the windows, some lowkey music playing, working on something warm and fuzzy in the kitchen. My vote right now would be banana pancakes, something we've been making a lot lately on lazy weekend mornings. Hard to go wrong with this recipe - it's perfect every time. (Heart pancake molds not required, but definitely add to the meal's overall hug factor.)

Banana Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma

 

 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 small, very ripe banana, peeled

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Maple syrup for serving 

 

Directions

1. Cut the butter into 3 equal pieces. Put 2 of the butter pieces in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted. Set aside to cool.


2. Get out two mixing bowls. In one, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix with a fork until well blended.


3. Put the banana in a small bowl. Mash with a fork until almost smooth. Add the milk, eggs and vanilla and stir with the fork until well blended. Pour the banana mixture and the melted butter into the flour mixture. Mix gently until the batter is just blended. The batter should still be a little bit lumpy. Add in your chopped nuts, if using.


4. Put a griddle over medium heat until hot. To test if the griddle is hot enough, flick a drop of water onto it - it should dance quickly and evaporate. Put half of the remaining butter onto the griddle and spread it with a spatula. Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle, spacing them about 3 inches apart. (Or just fill your adorable pancake molds.)


5. Cook until a few holes form on top of each pancake and the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully slide the spatula under each pancake and turn it over. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top is puffed, 1 to 2 minutes more. Using the spatula, transfer the pancakes to a serving plate.


6. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve the pancakes while still hot with maple syrup and sliced bananas (if you choose). Makes twelve 4-inch pancakes.

Dinners these days

I think it's fair to say that T and I have not always been the most structured people. In our personal lives, we are absolutely go-with-the-flow and mellow. And while we love to cook, we've never been good at meal-planning. Dinner conversations would often go like this: "What do you feel like eating tonight?" "I don't know... what do you feel like eating tonight?" "I don't know... want to take Eleanor to the park and think about it later?" Being happy-go-lucky is great and all, but eating at 9 every night isn't really sustainable with a kiddo in tow.

Thanks to Miss H, we've started finally growing up getting real about meal-planning. Our weeks are now a combination of simple go-to dishes, pre-assembled, ready-to-cook meals like scratchDC (looooove them!) or Blue Apron, and maybe one night of takeout or delivery, all planned in advance. Progress!

More than ever, if we're cooking dinner during the week, it's gotta be simple. Cut to Tuesday night, when T said he was stopping by Eastern Market on the way home to take care of dinner. We hadn't made a plan together, so I figured he'd be hitting up the pasta counter (our favorite haunt) or grabbing  a rotisserie chicken. Instead he walks in with some gorgeous tuna steaks and this recipe in hand. Dinner was served in thirty-five minutes, but the main course only took half of that. It was so good that yesterday after work I bought more tuna and we made the whole thing all over again.

Incredibly easy. Incredibly delicious. Tastes like the weekend but perfect for a work night. What more do you need?

Pan-Seared Tuna with Avocado, Soy, Ginger, and Lime

Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

2 big handfuls fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1/2 jalapeno, sliced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, grated

2 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Pinch sugar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 (6-ounce) block sushi-quality tuna

1 ripe avocado, halved, peeled, pitted, and sliced

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir the ingredients together until well incorporated.

Place a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season the tuna generously with salt and pepper. Lay the tuna in the hot oil and sear for 1 minute on each side to form a slight crust. Pour 1/2 of the cilantro mixture into the pan to coat the fish. Serve the seared tuna with the sliced avocado and the remaining cilantro sauce drizzled over the whole plate.

No-bake "energy" "bites"

Lately I've been obsessed with these no-bake energy bites that my college pal posted on Facebook. The source appears to be… Pinterest, with several bloggers offering up different versions. Highly scientific sourcing. So in this post I'll just source the closest post to what I've been making, and their photo. There is no photo of my own because the first two times I made these I forgot to take one, and the last time I made a batch I got pretty classy with it and simply ate gobs out of the bowl with a spoon for two days. Not exactly photogenic that way.

Bottom line: I really dig these. They're the exact level of sweetness I seem to crave these days (did I mention that my pregnancy sweet tooth is still around?), can almost qualify as health food if I pretend not to know better, and feature everyone's favorite milk buddy, oats. (Although in an example of why research is maddening, they also feature ground flaxseed, which appear in lactation cookie recipes but also in warnings about what not to eat while breastfeeding.)

If you can't win, at least don't lose hungry? Something like that.

No-Bake Energy Bites

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix and form into balls. Enjoy playing with your food. Ingest.

Eggs!

You know those moments when you stumble upon a new way of doing a very simple task and feel utterly lame and excited all at once? That's me with this video of how to scramble eggs.

I know... how to scramble eggs. Every child's first cooking project, right?

I've always scrambled eggs by cracking them into a mixing bowl, whisking, and then putting them into a warm pan with a little melted butter or olive oil. I thought I made some pretty decent eggs. But then yesterday, I got an email from Tasting Table showing me just how shortsighted I've been my whole life.

Here's what they recommend:

• Crack your eggs right into the pan, which should be cold
• Add butter after your eggs
• Use one extra yolk in addition to your whole eggs
• Use a spatula, not a whisk
• Don't stop stirring

I followed Tasting Table's recommendations to a tee today, and holy cow... seriously a thousand times better than any eggs I've ever made before. Absolutely creamy, and without any milk, cream, or cheese. SO yummy.

There are more details in the post itself, so go get your egginess on at The Perfect Egg. And look, a video!



Mind blown and bellies full over here. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's been scrambling eggs the wrong way!

Edited to add: Don't let the runniness in the video scare you! Mine have never looked like that. And yes, you can limit the amount of butter and they'll still be delicious :-)

My latest, greatest soup

I'm obsessed with this soup. It's been a cold, dreary March in these parts, and a bowl of this deliciousness has warmed me up on multiple occasions this month. With April fast approaching and snow in the forecast this week (?!), I'm pretty sure I'll be making it again soon.

This soup is hearty without being too filling, comforting while still being healthy, and jam-packed with flavor. Give it a try. And bonus - it's totally doable on a weeknight. One note: don't skip the garlic oil topping. I thought I didn't need it, and then realized what I've been missing all these years. Garlic oil should top everything.

Sausage, Chard, and Lentil Soup

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4-6, depending on appetites. (Serves only 4 in my house.)

 

 

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 large links of sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced or diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into half-moons or diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced (reserve half for later in recipe)
- Kosher salt
- A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups water
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly ribboned Swiss chard leaves (kale works, too)
- Grated Pecorino Romano cheese to finish

Directions

- Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. When hot, add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it starts to brown, about five minutes.

- Add the onion, celery, carrots, first two garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook with the sausage until the vegetables soften a bit, another 5 minutes.

- Add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, water (6 cups = two of your empty tomato can), more salt and black pepper to taste.

- Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes.

- When the lentils are cooked, add the chard and cook until the leaves are tender, just a few minutes more. Discard the bay leaves.

- To finish, divide soup among bowls, then add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 garlic cloves to a small skillet and heat over medium until the garlic softens and hisses. Drizzle this over soup bowls, and top with fresh Romano, passing more at the table.

Salted Caramel Pie

The most indulgent thing I've done in ages is to eat this salted caramel pie. I actually meant to share it with you a year ago, when my sister and I first made it for Thanksgiving 2011. So I'm only a year late on this one. We never stopped talking about the pie, so I made it again for Thanksgiving 2012 and took it the family farm in Bertie County, NC. It was a hit.

And that trip, by the way? So peaceful.

But back to the pie. It's dangerous. My brother doesn't even like sweets and he had two pieces. It's easy to put together, just time-consuming. Have a slow day at home to yourself? Think about whipping this baby together. It's hands-down the best dessert I've ever made, and I'm prepared to make it for the rest of my life, if family requests are any indication.

 

 

Salted Caramel Pie

From Food & Wine

 

 

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 5 ounces)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup light brown sugar

Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

Fleur de sel

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

 

Instructions

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, pulse the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and light brown sugar until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly into a 9-inch glass or metal pie plate. Bake for about 10 minutes, just until lightly browned. Let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 425°.

 

2. Scrape the condensed milk into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish and sprinkle with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of fleur de sel. Cover the dish with foil and place it in a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the baking dish. Bake, lifting the foil to stir 2 or 3 times, until the condensed milk is golden and thickened, about 2 hours; add more water to the roasting pan as necessary. The consistency of the caramel should be like dulce de leche. Don't worry if it is lumpy; it will smooth out as it chills.

 

3. Scrape the caramel filling into the pie crust, smoothing the top. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with vegetable oil spray and cover the pie. Refrigerate until the filling is chilled and set, at least 4 hours.

 

4. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream with the confectioners' sugar until firm. Remove the plastic. Mound the whipped cream on top of the pie and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Cut into wedges and serve.

Orange-Blueberry Pancakes

With all of the fresh blueberries arriving at our doorstep via CSA or down the street at Eastern Market, I've been having fun tinkering with blueberry pancake recipes. They're perfect for lazy weekend mornings, which we tend to celebrate around our house given their relative rarity these days. Something about these pancakes feels to me like celebration. Maybe it's the citrus (which I adore in the morning), or maybe it's just eating blueberries at the height of the season like this. Given that my little blueberry bush out back produced less than ten blueberries before hellish summer weather killed it, let's just say I don't take them for granted.

Another note on this recipe: I like to beat the egg whites separately and fold them in last for extra fluffiness (a technique I discovered via these pancakes), but it's not necessary. I also bet using half wheat flour would be lovely, although I didn't have any on hand when I made these. Something about the combination of wheat and blueberries is really satisfying to me.

Oh and... good morning, everyone!

Orange-Blueberry Pancakes

Adapted from "Fabulous Fairhome: Breakfasts and Brunches"

Makes plenty for two - double if you have more mouths at your table

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1.5 tablespoons sugar

pinch salt

1 large egg

zest of 1 large orange

1.5 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)

1 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat griddle or skillet on medium heat.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, bakind soda, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir until thoroughly mixed and make a well in the center.

3. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white into two other bowls.

4. In the egg yolk bowl, add in orange zest, buttermilk, and melted butter.

5. Pour mixture into the center of the dry ingredients and gently fold together.

6. Beat the egg white until you have stiff peaks, then fold that into the mixture.

7. Coat the griddle/skillet with vegetable oil or butter.

8. Pour about 1/3 cup batter onto the heated griddle/skillet, about 2" apart. Scatter 10 or so blueberries on top of each pancake.

9. When bubbles are rising to the surface and you have solid "footing" underneath, flip the pancake and cook until golden brown. Repeat until you're out of batter.

10. Serve with your favorite accoutrements,and EAT!

Friday I'm in Love

I'm looking forward to a lazy weekend to gear up for a big week of travel. Some baseball, some gardening, some projects around the house... easy. What's on your weekend agenda?

Cutest girls ever.

I bookmarked this forever ago during my blogging hiatus, but I figured if it gives any of you half the pleasure it's given me since then, it's worth sharing. These girls slay me.

Funniest local blog ever.

 DC residents, have you seen this blog yet? I'm sure you have, given the horrified looks on my friends' faces last weekend when they realized I hadn't. At any rate, the When In DC tumblr is just.so.good. What is it about a good gif that just kills me?

Best cauliflower ever.

We're obsessed with this recipe. It's just... luscious. succulent. [enter your favorite sexy food word here]. Make it.

Unread/Snippets

Last night I opened up Google Reader, my sorely neglected portal to the rest of the blogosphere. I currently subscribe to 490 blogs, separated into folders for my sanity. These folders range from Food to News to DC Neighborhoods to Interior Design to Transit Planning. Oh, and then there's "Personal," and that's the folder where you probably reside, if you're reading this and have a blog of your own. My overall Reader count will pop up over 1,000 posts in a single day if I don't open it (I've always viewed Reader's policy to stop counting over 1,000 to be kind), but I normally have certain folders under control. Normally. Only, here's how bad it's gotten: my "Personal" folder, your folder, had 716 unread blog posts in it as of last night. 716. 

So if you're wondering why I haven't commented or chimed in on your stories, both big and small, that's why. I'll get there.

In the meantime:

I cooked this weekend! This is a big deal... my kitchen has been used mostly just for coffee and eggs all month long. But behold, fish tagine and lemon curd tart!

It's awesome having a National League team to root for now. And the stadium a 25-minute walk from my house? Bring. It. On.

I accidentally got sucked into The Voice. Embarrassing.

Aaaaaaand.... that's about it. My life is so crazy, right?

I would ask what's new with you, but I suppose to find that out all I need to do is wade through that Personal Blog folder, don't I?

Red chile and chocolate... need I say more?

I've said it before: I'm not a baker. I'm imprecise and I improv flavors. I don't level off measurements a knife. Sometimes I don't even measure. Baking has always seemed too scientific for me. I don't understand chemistry. Or physics. Or... space. But I can, it turns out, bake a flourless chocolate cake.

Is this a good time to also issue a reminder that I don't have a big sweet tooth? It's true, and probably why I've gotten away with not being interested in baking for so long. Thank goodness T is the same way. We like to drink our desserts around here.

On the rare occasions that I do order dessert, they're almost always in the earthy/spicy/fruity category, save for one lone chocolate entry: flourless chocolate cake. Maybe because it goes so well with red wine? Hmmm.

In keeping with our vow to make something new every Valentine's Day (nope, yesterday's simple goat cheese sauce doesn't count), I decided to go crazy and get out the springform pan. Insanity! I found a dead-simple recipe for a flourless chocolate cake from Gourmet, and then decided to add one little "me" twist: some red chile from Chimayo. Now we're talking. Now this is feeling like my kind of dessert. And guess what? It was delicious with a glass of port.

Red Chile Chocolate Flourless Cake

Adapted from Gourmet

I love spice, and easily could have added twice as much red chile to this cake and been happy. If you do that, I'd suggest adding some sugar to your whipped cream for serving. For this version, I didn't add any sugar to my whipped cream, and enjoyed the way it helped cut the richness of the cake.

Ingredients

•  Two 8 oz bittersweet chocolate bars, chopped
• Two sticks unsalted butter, chopped
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon red chile powder (I used hot Chimayo red, but use your favorite... chipotle, Ancho, whatever you like)
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a large springform pan (or use butter spray). Line the bottom of the pan with a wax paper cutout, and spray that with butter spray, too.
• In a double-boiler or modified double-boiler (I just use a metal bowl over a saucepan), add the chopped-up bittersweet chocolate and butter. Stir until melted and remove from heat.
• Add sugar and whisk it in. (At this stage, transfer to your mixer if you like, or continue to do it by hand.)
• Crack the eggs one at a time and whisk each in separately, until they're all incorporated.
• Sift in the unsweetened cocoa powder and the red chile. Whisk until just combined.
• Pour into the pan and cook for 45-50 minutes. (I'd start checking it at 35 minutes - my oven runs a little cool.) 
• After the cake cools to your liking, serve with whatever strikes your fancy. I used fresh-whipped cream (only vanilla added, no sugar - see note above). Berries would also be delicious. Enjoy!

I heart ravioli.

You probably thought I made our Valentine's Day heart-shaped lobster ravioli from scratch, didn't you?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....... One day I will do that. But this not day.

However, the ravioli does represent why I love my neighborhood so much. Our work schedules didn't allow for a labor-intensive dinner on Tuesday night, so I walked over to Eastern Market to visit the fresh pasta counter, source of many quick and delicious weeknight meals at our place. I knew going in that I was interested in their lobster ravioli, which is typically square with orange stripes. But look! The pasta gods got cheeky! Big pink puffy hearts! Okay then.

Next I had to consider what type of sauce to make. I considered a brown butter, a lemon butter, but it finally hit me... it's Valentine's Day. Be decadent. (That's right: in this scenario, brown butter isn't decadent enough. Go with it) I happened to have lots of leftover goat cheese in the fridge from our party Saturday, and so a dream was born. A deliciously rich dream. One that made me oh so happy.

Here's the (easy!) sauce I made with ingredients I had on hand, which I might add was also delicious as a dipping sauce for steak that night. I reheated the sauce last night and it wasn't quite as good, so I'd just make what you need for dinner that night and enjoy it fresh. You could probably cut this in half if you're just cooking for two, depending on how you're using the sauce.

Goat Cheese Cream Sauce

An accompaniment for lobster ravioli, steak, and more

Ingredients

• One extra-large shallot (or three small shallots)
• Two tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup white wine
• Dash of dried thyme (or better yet, fresh thyme if you have it)
• Dash of white pepper
• Dash of salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 of a small log of goat cheese (use the rest for your salad!)
• Dash of smoked salt if you have it (if not, just another dash of salt to taste at the end)

Directions

• Saute the shallots in butter until soft, being careful not to burn them, 3-4 minutes
• Add white wine and simmer until the mixture is reduced by 2/3
• Add a dash of dried thyme, white pepper, and salt
• Add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir in the goat cheese
• Reduce the sauce by half again
• Sprinkle in some smoked salt to taste

Meal of Love II

Remember last year when we made Valentine's Dinner at home together? Remember me talking about how much I hate going out to eat on V-Day, and how much more romantic it is to stay in? Remember our curried mussels and the first date that never was? Remember the pact we made to cook together every Valentine's Day, to make something new to us?

Here's last night's menu. Recipes to come the rest of the week!

We had so much fun last night.

How did you celebrate?

Chicken and Leek "Stew"

When it became clear on New Year's Day that T's tiptoe into our family dinner of ribs, mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, and collards had been a very bad idea, I set out to make him something he could keep down: the most boring soup possible. You guys have been following my flavor palette for a while now, so you know that under-seasoned is not the way I typically roll. But the soup worked: turkey, white rice, and the smallest hint of celery and onion in the broth. Did you just fall asleep reading that description? Because I almost did.

A few days later, I'm not remembering that boring albeit digestible soup, but a dish I discovered last winter in Food & Wine instead. We made it on a rushed weeknight when it was cold and rainy, and made it again and again throughout the spring. I like to think of it as updated comfort food, fit for both quick dinners and sick loved ones. It would've worked perfectly in place of that boring soup - and been a lot less boring to eat, too.

This dish is described as a "stew," but there's not much broth at all, so adjust accordingly if you want something more traditional. Enjoy... in sickness and in health.

Simplest Chicken and Leek Stew

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

(photo credit: Food and Wine)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium leeks, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch pieces
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• 2 tablespoons sour cream 
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

 Directions

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the leeks and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender, about 4 minutes. Scrape the leeks and mushrooms onto a plate.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet. Add the chicken and cook over moderate heat until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken stock and thyme and simmer over moderate heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to the plate with the vegetables.
3. Simmer the stock over moderately high heat until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Return the chicken, leeks and mushrooms to the skillet and simmer over low heat until warmed through, about 1 minute.
4. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream with the mustard and stir into the stew. Remove the skillet from the heat. Season the stew with salt and pepper and serve.
5. Serve With Steamed rice.

Thanksgivings 1-3

Last weekend, Thanksgiving #1 in Connecticut with T's family. Here's their traditional champagne cocktail... as you might imagine, ridiculous fun and laughter are implied.

Thanksgiving #2 begins tonight, when we're joined by my sister and brother-in-law and these two handsome guys:

If the last time we got together in DC is any indication, we're going to have a great couple of days. Because we didn't want to be turkey-ed out this year, we decided not to make turkey at all for Thanksgiving #2, or to make any uber-traditional dish we may have eaten at Thanksgiving #1 or will eat at Thanksgiving #3, for that matter. Here's our menu:

Not-Terribly-Traditional Thanksgiving #2 Menu

Butternut Squash Soup

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Chestnuts

Fiery Sweet Potatoes

Spinach Madeleine

Potato Leek Gratin

Seared Duck Breasts with Red Wine and Figs

Salad

Dessert: 

My sister's territory... she's going to surprise us.

For Thanksgiving #3, we're headed down to NC to check on my parents' home renovation and to rendezvous with these pretty people:

My family has done so much beach-time this year, between the Outer Banks and my brother's wedding farther south, that I feel like I was barely home in the Triangle at all in 2011. This trip, then, is long overdue for me.

Three Thanksgivings... an embarrassment of riches, no? I'm feeling pretty lucky.

Potato Leek Gratin, and Liam

Hey, Liam, what do you think about having a potato and leek gratin with Thanksgiving dinner at my house?

Okay, great! I've experimented with this recipe a few times and finally have it down-pat. It gets a little weird when I use a turkey baster to limit the runniness and increase the flavor, but just trust me. What do you think?

Alright, settled then! I promise that it's one of the tastiest, coziest dishes you can imagine for fall. So I'll see you and your brother Lucas tomorrow night... and we'll cook up a storm together on Thursday. How does that sound?

Potato Leek Gratin

Liberally adapted from The Beekman Boys

I've added and subtracted some ingredients from the original incarnation of this recipe, which was too soupy. Rather than reducing the amount of cream and milk - because oh how they add so much deliciousness - I've employed a basting method at the end that takes liquid from the bottom of the dish and spreads it back on top. Complicated, maybe - but absolutely delicious, I assure you. This reheats like a dream for leftovers.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds small potatoes (such as red russet or Yukon gold), sliced 1/6-inch thick
• 5 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced to 1/8-inch thick
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for buttering dish
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2-cup panko, plus more for dusting
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4-cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Salt

Directions

• I use my food processor to make quick work of the potatoes and leeks, using the widest slicer setting for the potatoes and one two notches lower for the leeks.
• Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, parboil the sliced potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain potatoes well and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Saute leeks and garlic until leeks are tender, about 7 minutes. Set aside and combine with the panko.
• In a buttered 9x13-inch baking dish, arrange half of reserved potatoes in an overlapping pattern. Pour 1 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk over top and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Top with the reserved leek mixture and arrange the remaining potatoes.
• Pour remaining cream and milk over potatoes and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Dust the top with few sprinkles of panko.
• Bake until potatoes are tender and the top of the gratin is golden brown, about 60 minutes.
• Take the dish out of the oven, and if you see obvious amounts of liquid on the bottom and on the sides of the gratin (I always do), carefully tip it to one side so that the remaining cream and milk gathers on one end. Use a turkey baster to gather the liquid and spread it back on top of the gratin. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the liquids are completely absorbed.
• Garnish with fresh parsley.

Pumpkin pride (and pancakes)

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I'm geekily excited for our first Halloween in our house tonight. Bring it on, cute kiddos! I hope I have enough candy for you. You'll be greeted with a scary jack o'lantern and a happy jack o'lantern. Your parents will be greeted with this, our "Wow, who is that cool couple and just how much do I want to be friends with them?" jack o'lantern:

(kidding)

(sort of)

DC Pride!

Speaking of pumpkins, here's a recipe you've got to make asap. Since it's Monday, that might mean you're waiting until Saturday to make it, but honestly, don't wait any longer than that.

I'm historically not a pancake person - too heavy, and not nearly as fun as the crispiness of a good waffle. These pancakes, though, are changing my tune entirely. I think the difference comes in separating the eggs, then beating the egg whites before folding them into the batter last. It's a technique I'll use for all pancakes going forward. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Adapted from Bon Appetit, found here

Serves 2, double for more

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour (if you don't have any, using 1/2 cup all-purpose flour is fine)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla extract together, mixing well until smooth.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing with a spatula until just combined.
4. In another small bowl, using an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer), beat the egg whites until thick and stiff.
5. Gently fold the egg whites into the pancake batter, mixing until smooth.
6. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat.
7. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray, and, in 1/4-cup increments, cook each pancake until lightly browned on each side, about 1 minute per side.
8.  Repeat with the remaining batter.
9.  Top with your favorite syrup, and enjoy!